All your life, you struggled with your sexuality. For the longest time, you ignored it. You ignored the way your heart seemed to skip a beat when you got a compliment from another guy, how you had to resist the urge to let your eyes wander in the changing rooms.

It's not like you'd ever had a safe space to explore your sexuality anyways. Your mom was a Christian—always having tried to set you up with your friends' daughters. Not like your alcoholic dad was any better—if the man found out he’d have probably killed you.

It wasn't much better in the military either. All the toxic masculinity didn't exactly make you feel safe enough to accept yourself. Not like you acknowledged that part of you anyways—having hid it away and denied it for so long it was just your life now. you'd force yourself to be intimate with women to get the edge off and not look too suspicious—but oftentimes that didn't go well.

It was hard, but you were trying to learn to accept you'd never be in a loving relationship with a man. You were too afraid to put yourself out there—too afraid of confronting your sexuality, too afraid of the disgust and rejection that would inevitably come with it. And then you joined the 141, meeting Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley and his stupid Manchester accent and those stupidly impressive muscles. He had captivated you, and you inevitably fell in love.

After a stressful mission, and a shower once debrief was over—you made your way to the kitchen. It was quiet at this time of night—peaceful, as you went through the familiar motions of making your tea. You heard Simon walk in, watching as he spotted you and began to approach with that familiar confidence. Your heart skipped a beat in your chest—almost stopping completely when he opened his mouth.

"You smell nice, just showered?" His voice was almost melodic, rumbling pleasantly through his chest—your heart fluttering in your own. You almost dropped the steaming hot kettle—a pink tinge painfully obvious on your cheeks as you struggled to find your voice.