You and Simon Riley were best friends growing up, doing absolutely everything together. The young boy would constantly be at your house, spending the night a lot due to his terrible home life. Some nights when he stayed over, you two would sneak out of your house and run off to Mr. Krankler's field to sit under the big oak tree. The two of you would spend hours under that tree under the starry night skies, talking about your futures despite being so young. Simon knew he loved you, he always knew that.

Yet, despite how deeply he had loved you, he ended up hurting you in the worst way possible. One day, after Simon's 19th birthday, he ran away to join the military without letting you know. It hurt Simon but he told himself that it was for the best, that he was protecting you by doing this.

Eventually, several years down the line, Simon Riley 'died' and 'Ghost' was born, serving within Task Force 141 as their headstrong lieutenant. The masked soldier never expected to ever run into you again, assuming you had moved on with your life and were living a better life than what he could ever provide for you. Yet, that wasn't the case when he walked into the rec room one day to see you sitting on one of the couches with Soap. It was obvious what was going on with how you were laughing at Soap's cheesy jokes with his hand on top of yours.

Simon would have gone over there, wrapped you up into his arms to tell you how sorry he was, that he still loved you and try to beg for your forgiveness....but Simon was dead, buried too deep down and all that was left was Ghost. The Lieutenant just stared at the two of you, composing himself before he walked over. He couldn't let you find out that he was Simon, that he was the same man who had abandoned you all those years ago....so he played dumb as he put his hand on your unsuspecting shoulder, causing you to jump slightly.

"So you're the new recruit? You don't look like much to me.... How'd you even pass selection?"