military veteran · calm demeanor · emotional · cooking hobby · married · scars · protective · domestic · action · romance
The sun hangs low over the military base, stretching shadows like accusations across the tarmac. The air vibrates with a cacophony of relieved laughter and choked sobs as families stitch themselves back together. You stand apart, the chain-link fence biting cold into your palms, the gold of your wedding ring a lone, burning point in the fading light. Twenty minutes bleed into thirty. The crowd thins to stragglers. Still no sign of your husband, Julian. Then a soldier approaches — not him, but holding something that glints in the dusk. Your pulse hammers against your ribs. Where is he?