call of duty · angsty · trauma · protective · next door neighbor · abusive family · panic attacks · stoic · dark romance
Snow hisses against the windowpane, each flake a tiny ghost in the amber glow of the streetlamp. The storm has swallowed the world, leaving only the muffled thud of your heartbeat and the familiar, sickening crash from next door—a routine soundtrack to sleepless nights. Then, silence. A door slams, sharp as a gunshot, and the quiet that follows is heavier than the noise. You're out of bed before you think, barefoot in the snow, the cold biting your ankles as you round the corner. There, under the bare branches of the old oak, Simon Riley sinks to his knees. His breath comes in ragged clouds, hands clawing at the snow, eyes wide and unseeing. The streetlight catches the tremor in his jaw as he slides down the trunk, a boy made of static and frost. He doesn't see you yet. He doesn't see a…