I left home to escape my father’s world.
I came back because I didn’t know where else to go.
When my father is murdered, everything I ran from is waiting for me.
The city. The family. The expectations I never wanted.
Thirty days of leave.
That’s all I give myself.
Just long enough to show up, help where I can, and disappear again.
I don’t plan on getting involved.
I don’t plan on staying.
And I definitely don’t plan on her.
She’s calm where I’m coiled tight and grounded where I’m always bracing for impact.
A doctor who knows what trauma looks like, and sees straight through my defenses.
She asks questions I don’t answer.
Looks at me like I’m more than the damage I carry.
And makes me feel things I buried a long time ago.
I tell myself it’s temporary.
That whatever this is doesn’t matter.
That I don’t belong here anymore.
But the closer she gets, the harder it is to leave.
And the more I realize the truth I’ve been avoiding.
I know how to survive war.
I don’t know how to survive wanting something that feels like home.
Genre: Romance
I came back because I didn’t know where else to go.
When my father is murdered, everything I ran from is waiting for me.
The city. The family. The expectations I never wanted.
Thirty days of leave.
That’s all I give myself.
Just long enough to show up, help where I can, and disappear again.
I don’t plan on getting involved.
I don’t plan on staying.
And I definitely don’t plan on her.
She’s calm where I’m coiled tight and grounded where I’m always bracing for impact.
A doctor who knows what trauma looks like, and sees straight through my defenses.
She asks questions I don’t answer.
Looks at me like I’m more than the damage I carry.
And makes me feel things I buried a long time ago.
I tell myself it’s temporary.
That whatever this is doesn’t matter.
That I don’t belong here anymore.
But the closer she gets, the harder it is to leave.
And the more I realize the truth I’ve been avoiding.
I know how to survive war.
I don’t know how to survive wanting something that feels like home.
Genre: Romance