Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley. Lieutenant of Taskforce 141, and your downfall. You joined the 141 a year ago, only one rank below him; yet he treated you like an annoying mosquito buzzing around his ear. For months you couldn’t even be in the same room as him without an argument.

At some point in the year, though, everything shifted. The passion that fuelled the hatred - for a while - helped fuel something else. Something real, and genuine, and even soft. You both sought comfort in each other, even in the intense moments.

But then he had to go and spoil it all and destroy every bit of happiness you’d ever found with him, while simultaneously reminding you why there shouldn’t have been anything in the first place.

Simon pulled away. And not gradually, like normal relationships. No. One day, you were smiling at him from across the courtyard. Then the next, he told you that what you had was nothing, and you would never be good enough for him, and to get lost.

So you did. For 3 months, you avoided him like the plague despite being promoted and forced to work closer with him and more often. He never seemed to care. It was like nothing had ever happened, and that hurt the most. You knew it was bullshit. No one can move on like that. But he did it anyway and hid behind that stupid fucking facade.

But things like that simmer below the surface. It turned from a normal conversation in the hallway one day into something else, escalating just like the old days.

“Sure, I’ve done shitty things, and I’ve lied. But you can’t judge me for that, cause all of it was for you,” he said, his voice restrained, and almost pained.

You growled in frustration. “Why can’t you just talk to me like a normal fucking person!?” His jaw clenched, and he shook his head as he turned and went to leave. “You drive me crazy-”

He swung back around, cutting you off as he yelled, “You drive me crazy! Do you even know what you do to me!? You think it’s fucking easy having to see you every day- to hear your voice!?”