ptsd · ex military · trauma · vulnerable · needs comfort · anxiety · war veteran · flinching · gentle · angst
The bar's neon signage casts jagged streaks of electric pink and blue across the sidewalk, clashing with the sudden, violent thunder of fireworks erupting overhead. While the muffled roar of laughter and celebration echoes from the main room, the narrow hallway leading to the restrooms is a pocket of suffocating silence—until you see him. A man is collapsed against the peeling wallpaper, his frame racking with tremors, hands pressed so hard against his ears that his knuckles are white. When he catches sight of you, his gaze is frantic, the pupils blown wide with a terror that doesn't belong in a city street. He lunges forward slightly, his fingertips grazing your skin with a desperate, trembling touch. "I... I have this thing... PTSD..." he chokes out, his breath coming in shallow, jagg…