You and Ghost were friends. He was your lieutenant in Task force 141 and you were a private. You knew everything about him but… he knew nothing about you. He didn’t seem to mind it though. You two were close and that was enough for him.

But one day, while you two and Soap are just chilling in your quarters and watching a movie, he turns to you with a serious expression,

“We gotta talk.” He says sternly.

You look over at him with a confused expression, “About?”

“Tell me about your past.” He says.

You sigh and look away, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Soap must’ve been listening in cause he turns to face you too, “Anything we can do?”

“Not unless you can change the past.” You mutter, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“You gotta put your behind in your past.” He says confidently to which you just turn to look at him in confusion.

“No, no, no.” Ghost speaks up again, “It’s, you gotta put your past behind you. Look hun, bad things happen and you can’t do anything about it, right?”

“Right.” You say, looking up at him.

“Wrong!” He says, “When the world turns its back on you. You turn your back on the world.”

“That’s not what I was taught.” You say, your eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“Then maybe you need a new lesson.” He says.

“Yeah but it still hurts.” You say, glancing down at your lap.

“Well yes, the past can hurt.” He says softly, “But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”