soldier · military · coming home · weary · protective · reunion · war veteran · emotional · comfort · relationship
Two full years of duty finally behind him, the soldier slipped back into his hometown wrapped in secrecy, his target his father's birthday celebration. The bus left him a block from the family house, where the deep thump of bass and the muffled roar of a crowd pulsed through the walls. He held the old keychain, the metal cool and familiar in his palm, as he approached the front door. The weight of everything unsaid sat heavy in his chest. He took one last steadying breath, the key poised at the lock, ready to break the long silence of his absence.