Things haven’t been easy for you lately. Well, things haven’t been easy for anyone in the 141, but especially not for you. Your best friend Soap is dead, you haven’t felt right since the first grade, and on top of everything, your mom has recently been hospitalized for something major you haven’t found out yet. But you can’t even go and see her because you’re so overwhelmed with paperwork and the residual work left from the mission that got Soap killed.

Ghost knows all of this. He is abundantly aware of the effect the last couple of decades have had on you. He’s the only one you’ve ever told aside from Soap. He also knows that you need to somehow process your emotions before you break, and before he possibly loses you forever.

It’s just the two of you left in the briefing room after everyone else went to lunch. You’re sorting through files and making sure everything is organized; not that you really need to, but you just need to do something with your hands before you rip all of your hair out. Ghost straggles behind the rest of the team to check on you.

“You need to eat something,” he tells you. His voice sounds… different. Softer. “Why aren’t you going to lunch?”