Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x M!Reader

Twenty-Seven

You looked around nervously as you stood at the car early in the morning and buckled Elliot into his seat. He raised his head sleepily, still wearing his pyjamas.

You quickly pulled soft socks over his little feet and wrapped him in a blanket. Matti clung to Kyle's shoulder, completely out of it. His curls were all tousled.

"You don't have to if you don't want to.", you reminded Kyle, looking up from the buckle that held Elliot in his seat.

Soft snoring filled the car. It was foggy, dark and damp. You could feel the wetness settling in your clothes. Dressed in nothing but a tight black shirt and grey sweatpants, he lifted his head.

"Don't worry, I'll drive you.", he assured you, quietly closing the door before sliding into the driver's seat. "I can go back the day before the aptitude test."

Tired, you nodded and dropped into the passenger seat. It was cold. A thin layer of fog had spread across the windscreen from the inside.

With your bare hands, you wiped the field of vision clear while Kyle turned on the heater. In the back seat, Matti tried to find a better position to sleep.

"If we're lucky, they'll be asleep the whole time.", you glanced at the clock.

Six in the morning.

"What if they wake up?", he started the engine and glanced backwards to the boot.

Everything was full of stuffed suitcases, bed linen and presents for your parents. Most of them were pastries from the bakery, tins that were sold as souvenirs for tourists. Whenever there was something new, your parents had to try it. That was the family rule.

The car slowly started to move. Kyle steered it into the street and looked around. You followed his gaze.

A woman stood at the side of the road, hidden between two houses and the trees that separated them. Far too conspicuously, she turned away as you drove past in the car.

"Cunt.", you rolled your eyes.

He glanced at you from the side.

"You know each other?", he asked, turning onto the main road.

"Hm.", you crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You too."

He frowned at you.

"Hit me."

"Kimmy's mum. The woman has absolutely no filter and no common sense either."

"Ah.", he chewed the inside of his cheek. "She's not on your side?"

"No. If anyone doesn't make Kimmy feel consequences it's her. I think she's letting her stay with her. And she can't see the boys either."

His eyebrows lifted.

"Excuse me?"

With a sigh, you squint your eyes and have to massage the bridge of your nose to concentrate.

"When we were fighting for custody, Kimmy's mum got a restraining order put on her.", you tried to block out the headache her face was giving you. "Danger for the children. She was also recommended to see a therapist."

He snorted.

"Wow... The family is getting better and better.", he joked. "Does everyone there have problems?"

You shrugged.

"I don't know. But he's fucking delusional. Thinks it's everyone else's fault."

"I know that song from somewhere..."

Tired, you let your head fall against the cold glass of the window. Although he had turned on the heating, goose bumps covered your whole body.

When would this ordeal finally come to an end?

Maybe never. Or if one of you both dropped dead. Given the fact that both Kimmy and her mum were disgustingly persistent, you'd probably be the first to go underground.

Taking a deep breath, you frowned and sank further into the seat.

"Sleep.", Kyle said, switching off the quiet radio completely.

"I'm not..."

"You don't have to lie. I know you were awake all night."

You sighed again, rubbing your heavy eyes.

"I don't want to let you drive alone.", you mumbled with a yawn.

He smirked.

"It's only four hours.", he replied with a shrug. "Besides, I'm sure the boys won't sleep that long."

You laughed hoarsely.

"Pray that they will.", you said and looked for a suitable position. "Otherwise we'll have to make a thousand stops."

Houses passed by. The neighbourhoods thinned out and more green peeked out between the houses. Early in the morning, the roads were pretty empty, so the journey to the motorway was quick.

His stomach growled.

"I could do with a stop for breakfast sometime.", he admitted with a charming look.

You grinned, reached behind your seat and pulled out a heavy bag.

"I've got snacks.", you opened the bag to show him bags and tins of chocolate, biscuits, apples and other fruit.

"Are those cheese cubes?", he asked and grabbed a bag.

"I have grapes to go with it.", you showed him a bag of red and green grapes, so thick it looked like they were about to burst.

"And crackers?", he grabbed two more bags containing unsalted crackers and crackers with seeds. "Bloody hell this is a banquet."

With a shrug of your shoulders, you opened a bag to pop mini carrots into your mouth.

"I've made the mistake too often of having too little or the wrong with me.", you returned dryly.

"You could feed my whole unit with these.", he shoved a handful of cheese into his mouth.

You looked at him from the side with an amused grin. At that moment you realised that you had never really asked about his life in the military before. Guilt washed over you.

"How many?", you finally asked.

"Hm?", he raised an eyebrow.

"Your team. How many are you?"

Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the windscreen, one hand on the wheel and looked at the road. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"It's not my team.", he finally admitted modestly. "I'm part of the team. It's not... I'm not leading."

"Huh.", you grin teasingly, eyebrows raised.

"I'm just a sergeant. So is Soap."

"Soap? Johnny. Soap is his nickname."

You frowned.

"Strange nickname.", you snort.

"Yup. But that's the way it is, everyone gets a nickname. I'm Gaz. Our captain is just captain. We have a lieutenant who everyone calls Ghost."

A soft laugh escaped your lips.

"Ghost? Is he thirteen?"

He snorted.

"His name is Simon."

"Then I'd rather call myself Ghost too..."

He laughed.

"You'd like Soap."

"And Simon would hate me?"

"Probably."