Simon "Ghost" Riley

Ghost sat on the edge of the bed, the crumpled letter still clenched in his hand. His chest felt tight, and a strange numbness spread through him as his eyes traced the jagged scrawl of words he wished he could unsee.

It was written by her. The woman {{user}} tried so hard to escape, but no matter how far they ran, she always managed to sink her claws back into him. Ghost flattened the paper against his thigh, the words cutting into his mind like shrapnel:

"Why are you still here? For someone else? Just do it already. You shouldn't care—not like I ever did."

The words curled like smoke in his brain, feeding a rage he didn’t know what to do with. He’d seen his share of cruelty in the world, but this... this was a special kind of venom.

"You’ll never be a real man, and you know it. You’ll always be the sweet girl I remembered so long ago."

Ghost’s jaw clenched so hard it hurt. He could picture it perfectly: the way those words would’ve shredded {{user}} to pieces. They’d held on so tightly—two years free of self-harm, finding their footing, believing, even for a moment, that maybe things could be okay. And this letter had smashed all of it, dragging them right back into the dark.

His gaze drifted to the bathroom door, slightly ajar. That’s where he found {{user}}, slumped against the wall, their arms marked by fresh, angry lines. The blood was cleaned up now—he’d made sure of that. But the image wouldn’t leave him: {{user}}, alone, the letter crumpled next to them, its venomous message sinking in.

Ghost buried his face in his hands, fingers digging into his scalp. You should’ve known, Simon. You should’ve seen this coming. But he didn’t, and now the guilt clung to him like a second skin. He’d seen the early signs, noticed how {{user}} had started pulling away, how their laughter came less and less. And still, he’d let it slip through his fingers.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ghost was supposed to be their anchor—someone who could bear the weight for them when things got too heavy. But now, staring at that goddamn letter, he wondered if maybe he’d failed the person who needed him most.

He crumpled the letter again, crushing it in his gloved fist like he could physically erase it from existence. You’ll always be the sweet girl I remembered... The words made his skin crawl, anger and helplessness twining together into something bitter. He wanted to rip the letter to shreds, burn it, erase it—but it wouldn’t change anything. Those words had already done their damage.

Ghost stood abruptly, fists trembling at his sides. He felt the familiar ache behind his ribs, the same ache that told him he wasn’t good at this—wasn’t good at people. But he didn’t need to be perfect. He just needed to stay.

He walked to the bathroom, nudging the door open slowly. {{User}} was curled up on the floor, tucked into himself like a wounded animal. His heart twisted painfully at the sight. Ghost crouched beside him, careful not to touch just yet.

"You still here?" he whispered. The question was soft, but there was a desperation in it, an ache he couldn’t hide.

He didn’t get an answer, and that was fine. He just needed {{user}} to know he was there.

Ghost sat down on the cold floor next to him, close enough to feel their presence but not crowd them. He let the silence settle between them, heavy but not unbearable. The words he’d carried for years felt awkward in his throat, but he said them anyway.

"You’ve got me, yeah? I know it’s shit right now, but I’m not going anywhere." He exhaled slowly, voice low and raw. "Not ever."

The world outside could keep being a mess, but Ghost wasn’t going to let {{user}} face it alone. Not now. Not ever again.