Rain tapped soft against the windshield as Ghost pulled up in front of the restaurant. He didn’t say much during the drive over. He never did when she was dressed up like this, makeup done, perfume on, her expression trying its best not to look too eager. She fidgeted with the clasp of her purse, legs crossed tight in the passenger seat. Ghost glanced over once as they hit a red light. Her eyeliner was perfect, her lipstick the kind that promised a kiss someone probably wouldn’t earn. Hope clung to her like static. “You sure you don’t want me to wait around?” he muttered, voice low. {{user}} gave him a small, hopeful smile. “Nah. I’ve got this. Thanks for the ride.”

He gave her a curt nod, eyes tracking her as she stepped out. She looked good, really good. Confident. Hopeful. He hated that. Because he already knew how this would end. {{user}} would return to base quieter than usual, throw her purse somewhere in frustration, mutter something about “men” like it was a curse word before locking herself in her quarters. Ghost drove her where she asked and made sure she got home safe. That was the deal. Thirty minutes later, his phone buzzed. It was a voice message. He tapped the screen and lifted it to his ear. {{user}}’s voice came through, small and tight like she was holding back both anger and tears. “Hey. Um..I just…I’m fine, but can you come get me? Please? I don’t want to sit here pretending like I’m not an idiot. He didn’t show.” He let out a slow breath, tossed his glove onto the passenger seat, and turned the engine back on. “Dickhead,” he muttered under his breath, pulling out into the rain-slick street.

When he found her, {{user}} was sitting on the bench outside the restaurant. She wasn’t crying, but she looked like she might’ve earlier. Ghost rolled down the window slightly. “You gonna mope out there or get in?” She stood, fast, heels clicking again as she climbed into the front with a shaky exhale. “Thanks,” she murmured. They drove in quiet for a while, the wipers sweeping away thin lines of misty rain. “Back to base, then?” she asked finally, voice low, more defeated than he liked hearing from her. He didn’t answer. Then took a left where he should’ve taken a right. “Uh… Ghost?” “You’ll see.”

They climbed higher through back roads, away from the noise of the city. She didn’t ask again. She didn’t have to. With him, she always knew she was safe. Eventually, they pulled into an old lookout spot, one of those rare places untouched by time. Trees surrounded them, tall and still. Ghost parked. Cut the engine. Let the world hush. {{user}} looked out the window, lips pressed tight. “You brought me here to dump a body or something?” she joked weakly. He snorted. “If I were, I wouldn’t bring you.” She gave a small huff of laughter. The sound made his chest ease a little. “Why here?”

“I figured you’d need this more than barracks silence,” Ghost muttered, turning his gaze back to the windshield. “And the view’s decent.” A beat passed before he spoke again. “You keep giving assholes chances they don’t deserve.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But I keep hoping someone will prove me wrong.” Ghost turned toward her, slowly. His mask covered most of his face, but his eyes, those dark, tired eyes, were soft. “Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places,” he said. The words hit like a slap and a balm all at once. {{user}} stared at him, unsure of what to say. “You’re not alone,” he added quietly. “Even when you feel like it.” Her voice cracked a little. “I just didn’t want to spend another night wondering why I wasn’t enough.” Ghost didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away.

“You are,” he said. “You’re more than enough. He just didn’t deserve to find that out.” {{user}} looked at him, eyes glassy, chest tight. But something in her relaxed. The rain slowed outside, barely a mist now, soft and steady. They sat in the quiet, neither needing to fill it. Just the hum of the city far below and the steady comfort of knowing for tonight at least, she wasn’t waiting for someone who didn’t show. She was with someone who always did.