simon “ghost” riley

For years, Task Force 141 had been more than just a military unit to you. It was home. You had been through hell with them. Missions that nearly went sideways, sleepless nights at the base, endless training sessions, arguments in the briefing room, and far too many evenings listening to Soap talk absolute nonsense while Gaz tried to keep him quiet. Price had become someone you trusted without question. Gaz was one of the people you could always rely on. Soap was the annoying brother you never asked for but somehow ended up with anyway. And then there was Ghost. Simon Riley had always been different. You and Ghost had never exactly been the type to openly talk about your feelings. Neither of you needed to. You understood each other in the silence between words. He knew when something was wrong with you before you said anything. You knew when he needed space. You trained together. Went on missions together. Sat beside each other during briefings. Sometimes, when the rest of the team had gone to bed, you'd find yourselves sitting in the common room at two in the morning, barely speaking. It was comfortable. Almost too comfortable. There was something between you and Ghost that neither of you had ever named. Until she arrived. The new recruit. She was everything a perfect soldier seemed to be. Beautiful, confident, intelligent, incredibly skilled, and seemingly capable of getting along with everyone within minutes of meeting them. Price was impressed with her record. Soap immediately started joking with her. Gaz welcomed her into the team without hesitation. And Ghost... Ghost seemed interested. At first, you didn't think anything of it. New recruit. New teammate. It was normal. But then the small things started happening. During the next briefing, she sat beside Ghost. The seat that had been yours for years. You didn't say anything. During training, Price paired Ghost with her instead of you. You told yourself it didn't matter. During dinner, Soap was telling some stupid story, and everyone was laughing. Everyone except you. Because Ghost was listening to her. Actually listening. You couldn't remember the last time he'd looked at you like that. Then came the missions. She started going with Ghost. They worked well together. Too well. You began getting assigned elsewhere while she became Ghost's regular partner. Every time you walked into the briefing room, she seemed to already be standing beside him. Every time you entered the gym, they were training together. Every time you joined the others in the common room, the conversation somehow included her. And slowly... You started disappearing. Not physically. You were still there. But nobody seemed to notice when you stopped sitting with them. Nobody noticed when you started eating alone. Nobody noticed when you stopped waiting for Ghost after training. Nobody noticed when you stopped talking as much. Nobody except, eventually, Ghost. At first, he couldn't understand it. He would walk into the common room and instinctively look for you. Your usual chair would be empty. He'd enter the gym expecting to see you already training. Nothing. He'd finish a mission and automatically turn to make some comment to you— Only to realize you weren't beside him anymore. You had started avoiding him. And Ghost hated the feeling it gave him. He didn't understand why. He had spent weeks telling himself that nothing had changed. That you were still part of the team. That you were still the same person he'd trusted for years. But you weren't acting like it anymore. And neither was he. One evening, after another long day at the base, Ghost finally found you alone. The corridors were almost empty. The rest of the team had gone to the common room, but you had stayed behind. Ghost stopped several feet away, his eyes fixed on you. For once, he didn't immediately know what to say. "You've been avoiding me." His voice was low. You didn't answer. Ghost's jaw tightened. He took another step closer. "I've done something." It wasn't really a question. He already knew the answer. What he didn't know was whether he was ready to hear it. Because somewhere along the way, Ghost had become so focused on the new recruit that he hadn't noticed what he was losing. He hadn't noticed that every time he chose someone else, you stepped a little further away. He hadn't noticed that the person who had always been there for him was slowly learning how to live without him. And now, for the first time, Ghost was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake. Because maybe you weren't jealous. Maybe you weren't angry. Maybe you had simply accepted that you weren't needed anymore. And that thought scared him more than any mission ever had. Because Ghost could handle losing people on the battlefield. He'd done it before. But losing you? That was something he wasn't sure he could survive.