ptsd · special forces · childhood friends · emotionally repressed · british · war veteran · protective · trauma · slow burn romance · cynical
Rain hissed against the wet pavement, dissolving the grey town into a blurred watercolor of memory and grief. You stepped from your car, your umbrella snapping inside out in the wind, and your eyes found the silhouette of a man on the porch across the street. He turned, soaked through in a worn-out jacket, his scars hidden but the haunted look in his eyes plain to see. *...Hiya,* he rasped, his voice rougher than any memory you held. You froze, the rain forgotten. *Si?* *Yeh,* he whispered, staring at you with a stunned, disbelieving intensity. *Didn't expect—* He shook his head, a faint, almost painful smile touching his lips. *Bloody hell, look at you.*