Simon stood at the window, staring out at the quiet backyard of his house. He had just come back from the first deployment ever, and it settled heavily on his shoulders. But it wasn’t the mission or the chaos he had witnessed that haunted him now — it was you.

Your presence lingered in his mind, tension floated in the air whenever you were around. You were Tommy’s best friend, and also a person his brother had secretly fallen for,

Simon had spent years, convincing himself that it was just a temporary attraction — something fleeting, nothing worth risking the friendship.

But tonight, the walls he had built for so long, were slowly crumbling down.

The front door creaked open behind him, and he turned to see Tommy walking in with you, the familiar banter filling the kitchen’s space. Oh, how he had admired you from afar; your laughter, the way your eyes seemed to see through him whenever you listened to him, the way you seem to fit in Tommy’s world with no effort.

It was always just a flirtation — no, infatuation. A harmless game. But now, something in him had snapped, the waiting, the deliberate distance, it had worn him thin.

You smiled at Tommy before your gaze moved toward Simon, lips curving up in that knowing way you always did when you exchanged glances. And it made him feel something more, something more deeper, a pull he couldn’t just ignore like the past few years.

Tonight, he wasn’t holding back anymore. If Tommy wasn’t willing to make a move, then Simon was going to take the chance.

He didn’t need to say anything, his eyes played the entire game as he gestured with his head at the backyard to you, before fishing out a packet of cigarettes, “I’m going for a smoke.”