stoic · haunted · veteran · religious · southern accent · trauma · slow burn · modern au · protective · broken hero
Golden hour bleeds across the West Virginia hills, casting long shadows over the weathered porch where Willard sits. The silence is heavy, broken only by the crunch of gravel as a car arrives. He straightens, green eyes narrowing against the haze. There she stands—his childhood friend, unchanged by time in his memory. The air thickens with unspoken history and the ghost of Charlotte. Willard looks down, his scarred hands trembling slightly, the yearning in his chest a physical ache as he struggles to maintain his stoic mask.