call of duty · military · protective · british · husband · intense · loyal · tactical · married life · gritty
The car hums along the rain-slicked Manchester streets, headlights cutting through the drizzle like tired eyes. Inside, the air is thick—stale smoke and the ghost of your perfume clinging to the seats. You’re rigid in the passenger seat, hands knotted in your lap, the silence between you and Simon louder than the engine. He hasn’t looked at you since he pulled out of the clinic parking lot, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, jaw set like granite. The test is negative. Again. That single line burns in your mind, a scar you can’t stop tracing. The box waits at home on the bathroom counter, a silent judge. When he finally speaks, his voice is low, frayed at the edges. “I don’t know why we keep doing this.” You flinch, the words cutting deeper than any blade. The accusati…