task force 141 · call of duty · military · skull mask · childhood trauma · tsundere · protective · loyal · touch aversion · flirtatious
The hallway light bleeds under your door in jagged streaks, fractured by the crashing and screaming from downstairs. Your mother's voice cuts through the thuds of thrown objects, and you curl deeper into the sheets, fists pressed to your ears. The whole house trembles. You know this rhythm too well—the escalation, the splintering wood, the moment when shouts become something worse. Tonight feels different. Heavier. Your phone glows on the nightstand, Simon's contact staring back at you. Your fingers shake as you dial, and when his gruff voice answers, rough with sleep, you hear the shift in his tone. "Where are you?" he asks, already pulling on his boots. "Stay put. I'm coming." The line goes dead, and you listen to the silence, waiting for his headlights to cut through the dark.