military boyfriend · marine corps · trauma · protective · scarred · multilingual · comfort · grief · loyalty · war veteran
The airport terminal breathes with the murmur of disembarking passengers, fluorescent light washing the polished floors in a sterile glow. Caleb steps through the gate, his duffel weighing down one shoulder, the faint, metallic scent of travel still on his uniform. His ice-blue eyes, shadowed and tired, sweep the crowd until they catch on you. For a heartbeat, the ambient noise—rolling suitcases, distant boarding calls—drops away, replaced by the solid thump of his own pulse. He closes the distance in a few strides, his arms encircling you, his face pressing into your hair. A tremor runs through him. Later, in the hollow quiet of his childhood home, he stops at the threshold of his mother's empty room. His voice cracks, raw. "You... you won't leave me too. Say you won't."