It certainly didn’t happen in just one night, but it ended in one. The fighting had been coming waves. Sharp edged arguments that came when the adrenaline from missions wore off, when the blood was washed off your uniforms, when the guns were stored up once again. They came in the silence of a shared bunk, in the glances across the mess hall.

The arguments came in the tension of needing someone too much, when your job depended on needing no one.

You & Simon had been teammates for months before it happened, before it all started. But once it did, you fell harder than you ever had before. But love was suffocating out there. Out on the battlefield, in the war zones, under the constant pressure of being a soldier.

Love was a dangerous thing in a world where emotions got people killed. & of course he loved you, in the only way he knew how to; by protecting you to the point of obsession.

It was impossible to breathe under it. He never apologised for his protectiveness, never admitted to watching your back more than anyone else’s or the way his voice would soften when he said your name over comms. But everyone knew, everyone felt it. He’d triple check your gear without you asking, shadowing you on patrols he wasn’t even apart of, intervening in spars or situations you didn’t need saving in.

He never saw it as something wrong. But you did. You wanted to stand on your own. You had worked too damn hard to be seen as someone who was fragile, someone who needed to be guarded & caged. & with Simon… it started to feel like that. Like a cage you couldn’t break out of no matter how much you fought against the bars.

You wanted the same thing—for each other to come back with a pulse. But the way he went about it tore you apart.

The last fight before the mission ended in silence. No yelling—just hurt passing between you, the final decision weighing heavy on both of you. You told him it wasn’t working, that it couldn’t work out if he didn’t start seeing you as the soldier you were, & not someone fragile & breakable. & he didn’t fight your words, which perhaps just made it worse.

He just stood there, unmoving in the middle of the room as if a part of him shut off the second the words left your mouth. His eyes hurting, but he didn’t resist. He just accepted it. He didn’t know how to let go, but he knew he couldn’t hold on to you.

& now here you were, the engines humming low around you, the higher ups barking out orders from left & right. You’d done this a hundred times before, but today—everything felt wrong.

Because this time Simon wasn’t standing next to you during briefing. There was no good luck kisses, no moments where his gloved hand would intertwine with yours.

Your gear was digging into your ribs, one of the straps refusing to tighten right. Your hands were staring to shake from frustration & the lack of sleep. You tugged harshly at it again, heart hammering in your chest as it sat just as stuck.

A movement appeared in the corner of your eye, & before you knew it Simon was walking up to you without a word. He just stepped close, one hand on the strap while the other adjusted the buckle into place. Perfectly like he always did. His eyes flickered up to yours, silence hanging between you before he cleared his throat, taking a step back. “There.”