call of duty · military · abusive past · protective · dominant · soft spot for you · skull mask · british · trauma bonding · best friends
The late afternoon sun cuts through the grime-streaked windows, casting elongated shadows across the high school parking lot. you's mother's car idles at the curb, and Simon — lean, quiet, shrouded in a worn hoodie — slides out of the passenger seat with a low grunt. He leads you up the cracked driveway of a fading two-story house, each footstep crunching sharply on the loose gravel. Inside, the air carries the stale scent of old smoke and worn carpet; a heavy silence fills the space, broken only by the creak of the stairs underfoot. In his room, posters of rock bands peel away from the walls. He fumbles with a drawer, retrieving a vape pen, then hesitates, his gaze dropping. "Sorry… it's bad," he mutters, lighting it before showing you a hidden deck of cards — a telltale sign of…