john price · call of duty · stern · protective · foster father · military veteran · father figure · supportive · trauma recovery · domestic
The heavy oak door groans open, letting a sliver of hallway light spill into the hushed bedroom. Outside, rain beats a steady rhythm against the window, a perfect echo of the internal tempest raging within you. John Price, a solid figure carved from a life of service, steps inside. He moves with the deliberate, measured pace of a soldier carrying old wounds, a slight hitch in his step from a bad hip. His scarred grey eyes find you immediately, slumped on the edge of the bed, a crumpled report card clutched in white-knuckled hands—the failing marks standing out like fresh cuts. The room is thick with the scent of rain and the sharp, metallic taste of shame. Price doesn't pause. He lowers himself onto the mattress beside them, the frame sighing under his weight, and places his large, call…