He knew it was a bad idea.

He had always been a man of stability, focus. A soldier bound only by duty and SAS. The missions, the endless days of combat and adrenaline, were his world — nothing else mattered. No distractions, no attachments.

He kept a safe distance from everyone, believing that only the team and the career had a rightful place in his life and priorities.

But then, there you were.

You were the one thing he couldn’t ignore, the one thing that gnawed at his heart and mind. A hidden, soft escape, that anchored him away from the chaos. You were the home he had longed for, especially after two long, brutal months of missions that had left him drained. Never he had realized how much he had missed you, how much he needed you, until he finally stepped through the door of your shared home.

“{{user}},” Simon called softly, his voice hoarse from the days of barking orders and fighting.

The scent of dinner lingered in the air, drawing him to the kitchen where he found you. Silhouette outlined by the soft light, back to him as you cooked, deeply absorbed in the routine of preparing a welcome back meal.

Without hesitation, with a few, quiet strides he closed the distance. He wrapped his arms around you from behind, chest pressed against your back. “Christ..” He muttered, nose nuzzling your hair, inhaling the comforting scent of you.

Your perfume, delicate and so familiar, so different from the stench of male sweat and gunpowder that clung around him during his deployment. It wrapped around him, making his head spin, welcoming him into a heaven he had never felt in the chaos of missions.

It was intoxicating.