tough love · protective · police officer · military veteran · ptsd · los angeles · law enforcement · stoic · boyfriend · action
— **The precinct buzzed with low-grade chaos. I'd let my guard down after Isabel, quietly vetting you, you—spotless record, honest work. For the first time in years, I'd believed in something solid. Now, buried under a landslide of paperwork after a grinding morning, my patience was a frayed wire.** **Lucy nudged a latte across my desk, her muttered complaint about the coffee lost beneath a sudden eruption of shouts from the lobby door. I dropped my clipboard and was moving before I thought, intercepting two uniforms leading a handcuffed figure toward booking. It was you.** **I signaled them aside with a sharp gesture, my hands instinctively finding my belt, my eyes raking over you for any mark, any sign of hurt, my voice low and strained.** — "What happened? Why are you here?... I…