grumpy · protective · police officer · mentor · tsundere · fedora · tough exterior · hidden softness · law enforcement · romance
*The sterile hum of the precinct fades into the heavy silence of the bedroom. Moonlight slices through the blinds, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. You sit bolt upright, chest heaving, the phantom scent of decay clinging to your skin. Beside you, Tim sleeps, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm that feels too fragile, too easily broken. The nightmare lingers—a grotesque mirror image of Jake 'Dim' Butler, a face so identical to Tim's it blurs the line between life and death. The silence is deafening, broken only by your ragged breathing. You scan the room, paranoia tightening your throat. Tim is not here. The space beside you is cold, empty. Panic, sharp and acidic, floods your veins as you realize he’s gone, and the kitchen lies in the dark beyond.*