Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x M!Reader

Sixteen

"I can't believe I'm fucking doing this...", you muttered to yourself while you squatted under a gigantic rose bush.

Your hands were smothered with dirt, wet soil stuck underneath your fingernails while you tried your hardest not to tear the roots of the bush with your fingers apart.

Kyle squatted on the other side. His hole was a lot bigger than yours even though you had started at the same time. With time in the military also came the ability to dig, it seemed.

The look on his face was full of dedication. He wouldn't leave this place without the bush full of white roses that his mother had loved dearly.

Your eyes jumped over your shoulder back to the house. There was still no light in the windows nor did it seem like anyone would be home soon.

Then again, you remembered the neighbours and they used to be total cunts, always complaint about the noise that you and Kyle had made while playing, calling the police for trash that had been placed at the door for pickup.

It wouldn't have surprised you if they were still like that. And if they were you'd be fucked because they would call the police before confronting you directly.

With more urgency, you dug your way around the roots. The bush was gigantic and you could only guess how much digging it needed to get it out of the ground.

Your gaze jumped to Kyle.

It worried you a bit what lengths he was willing to go for a plant. Then again, you remembered many summer days in which you had helped his mother tend to the roses. They had bloomed like nothing you had ever seen before.

As a little boy you had always wanted to steal the bush and place it somewhere safe just for yourself to admire. But now you felt bad stealing it.

"Why do you even want it?", you asked with your gaze lowered.

You couldn't help it, the question burned on your soul ever since you had agreed to help him with his stupid idea.

Huffing, he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"This makes me feel like that one time when we stole pie from that lady down the street.", a smile brightened Kyle's gloomy expression. "She had that thing on the windowsill. God that was easy to take."

You stopped to think for a moment.

"Now that you mention it that placement was strangely convenient for two short eight year olds. And she never got mad either even though it was obvious we stole it."

"You think she did that on purpose?", he lifted his gaze, melancholy shimmering in the brown of his eyes.

You shrugged.

"Wanna know what a dad thinks about it?", you asked.

"Shoot."

"I'd do it."

"To raise little thieves?", he asked with a chuckle.

You managed to free a root off enough soil to pull it to the surface and gently placed it on the grass. The garden used to look better, you remembered.

Just like the rose bush.

Even though it was almost time for the buds to bloom the branches seemed to hand unhealthy low. Not because they were heavy but because of lack of care. The leaves didn't have the same shade of green they used to.

And only very few buds showed. It looked like it was about to die. A painful sight considering that Kyle's mother used to put so much love and time into it.

The only thing she had tended to more than the roses had been Kyle himself.

"Sometimes you gotta give them a little thrill.", you stopped digging, wiped away the sweat on your forehead with the back of your hand. "One thing I had to learn quickly was that kids aren't as immoral as adults think. They know right from wrong even if we don't teach them. They still have a sense of shame. Elli once took some of my money to buy him and Matti ice cream. He told Lina I gave it to him."

"He lied?"

"Yeah. But after that he came to me and cried. He said he was sorry. He just really wanted ice cream."

"I don't get your point.", with his attention fixated onto the roots, Kyle kept digging.

"What I'm trying to say is, he did something wrong and he knew it. But did it for a reason. And it made him understand guilt.", gently, you pulled out another root. "We also knew that we were stealing the pie. But we did it anyways, didn't we?"

"It was bloody delicious."

You chuckled.

"Innit? Maybe the old lady just wanted us to have some thrill. So that we could taste how sweet it was to do wrong. And then the consequences of our actions hit us and we cried because we regretted what we did. It wasn't right what we did, Kyle but we learned from it. Kids learn by experience more than anyone else. Right and wrongs."

Thinking, he sat back and stared at the roots. His lips trembled. Then he swallowed hard, squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.

"Mom loved this bloody bush of roses!", frustrated, he hit one of the branches only to be cut by one of the thorns as a consequence. "Bloody hell!"

Sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth, he clenched his hand into a fist a small trail of blood ran down the palm of his hand, which was slightly lighter in colour.

With a sight, you hoovered closer and grabbed his hand with both of yours.

"Why do you want the bush, Kyle?", you asked softly.

Squeezing his eyes shut he had to swallow a wave of rage, turned his face away from you. But his hand opened to reveal the small cuts of the thorns.

"She loved these roses...", his voice was silent, broken as he referred to his mother. "She always said it was a sign of her undying, loyal love to dad."

"That's sweet."

"Yeah. Of her. And now look at this cunt. He married someone new so quickly. Not a year she's been dead. That wife's not even our age!"

"Ugh... yeah, that's a bit tasteless."

"He doesn't deserve the roses. They deserve better. Mom deserves better. I just... never had the guts to do it."

With a sorry smile on your lips, you caressed his palm with your thumb.

"We should hurry then.", you said softly. "I really don't want to be caught dead stealing a bush."