I plop myself down at the table and everyone immediately turns their attention to me.
"You doing alright, sweetheart?" Captain Price asks me, noticing my little tantrum.
Ghost takes a seat across the table from me.
"I'm doing great," I scoff sarcastically.
I throw back two shots. Everyone looks at me in shock.
I notice Laswell whisper in Price's ear which prompts him to stand up and sit next to me.
The captain cautiously places his arm around me and leans in close.
"What's wrong?" he asks me quietly so only I can hear.
"Nothing," I dismiss poutily.
"Ah, sweetheart. You know you can't get anything past me." Price winks. "Let me go get you some water."
I nod my head and cross my arms.
Price makes his way over to the bar.
"Soap. Drinks. More." I'm starting to heavily slur my words.
Soap looks at me with concern, looks over at Ghost, and then back at me.
"No," Ghost says sternly.
No? As if he's my father and has some fucking say in the matter.
"I didn't ask you," I hiss at Ghost.
"Oh shit," Gaz chuckles. "No one speaks to the Lieutenant like that."
Gaz nods his head at me to show he's impressed.
Ghost gives Gaz a shut-the-fuck-up glare.
Gaz awkwardly shifts his gaze to something on the table and takes a sip from his drink.
"I agree with Ghost. Maybe you should take a break," Laswell tells me, her smile slightly weary.
I know everyone is looking out for me but I feel so angry and I don't know why. My defenses are going up and I'm scared.
Price comes back and hands me a glass of water. I take a big sip. After putting down the glass of water I reach for the bottle of bourbon but Ghost grips my wrist to stop me.
"No. Enough," Ghost growls at me, tightening his grip.
"Fuck off," I snarl and try to pull away from his grasp to no avail.
The animosity between us is putting on a show for all to see.
"You're acting like a child," Ghost hisses.
"And you're acting like my dad. Which you're not. So let go," I say sternly.
The entire table notices the escalation and tries to calm us down.
"Ghost, maybe you should let her go," Price suggests.
"No, she's being reckless!"
"You're being reckless!" I yell.
Ghost jolts his head back over to me, still gripping my wrist tightly. A bruise will probably form.
"Me?" he asks baffled; and angry. "How am I being reckless?"
"You're being reckless with my feelings!" My yell develops into a scream which is mostly covered by the blaring bar music.
Ghost let's go of my wrist.
The entire table falls silent, their gaze not leaving me.
"You told Soap we're not serious?" I scoff, my heart breaking inside.
Tears start to well in my eyes, and my cheeks flush from the alcohol.
Ghost lets out a heavy sigh and then pleads, "Let's talk outside."
"No," I say firmly, not backing down. "The truth. Now."
Ghost remains silent.
"What did he say Soap? Word for word." My eyes don't leave Ghost's eyes.
"I don't think this is a good idea..." Soap's voice is strained, clearly uncomfortable with a situation he started.
"No, this is just fucking great," Ghost scoffs. "Go on, tell her, MacTavish. Since apparently, all you do is yap your big fucking mouth and try to sleep with her."
Things are getting heated now.
Soap scoffs and looks at Price and Laswell in disbelief. Price simply responds by shrugging his shoulders.
Soap gazes back at Ghost angrily. "Fine. Want the truth?" Soap yells. "Before we went to Chicago when we were at the base for a few days, I asked Ghost about your relationship."
"And?" I ask impatiently.
"And he told me that it wasn't serious and even if it was it wouldn't matter because you're leaving," Soap sighs, his jaw clenching as he sees a tear run down my cheek. "Ghost told me he planned on cutting things off with you before you left, which is why I decided to shoot my shot with you."
I don't like this. I feel sick. He said he loved me.
I hate this fucking game we play. One moment we're in love, the next we aren't, then we are again...
"Is that true?" I look back at Ghost.
"Yes," he deadpans, searing my soul with his cold eyes.
I hear an exasperated sigh leave Price's lips as he shakes his head and covers his face with his hand in frustration.
"You big, stupid, idiot!" I yell at Ghost. "So you fuck me, tell me you love me, and then pretend like it never happened?"
I jolt straight to my feet, towering over Ghost.
I yell so loud this time the entire bar turns to look over at us but I don't care who hears. I can see the rage in Ghost's eyes and the furrow in his brows. He's pissed...but so am I.
"This is bullshit," I laugh, baffled. "Whatever. I don't care!"
I definitely care.
I look for my bag to leave.
"Breanna sit down. Now," Ghost demands.
"Why? So you can sweet talk your way between my legs? So you can find comfort in fucking me over, again and again because you're too big of a pussy to actually commit to me? Screw. You." I throw my bag over my shoulder and head for the door.
Ghost gets up to follow me but Price stops him and goes after me instead.
I exit the bar, turn the corner into an alley, and try to calm myself down. It's not looking too good. I'm in full-blown panic attack mode and I have waterfalls coming out of my eyes.
Captain Price joins me shortly after.
"Go away," I sob, quite pathetically.
Without saying anything Price pulls me into a tight and warm embrace. I just sob into his chest.
"Shhh. It's going to be alright, sweetheart." Price rubs my back and comforts me.
He holds me there for a few seconds and then I pull away, wiping my tears.
"I'm sorry," I sniffle. "I ruined the celebration."
Price shakes his head, disagreeing with me.
"Yes, I did. I ruin everything..." I pout.
God, my drunken pity party is getting pathetic...
"You don't." He places a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine. You should go with the server," I sniffle.
"The server?" Price chuckles and then connects the dots. "Ah, well...there's always time for that later."
He's sweet, and caring. Like a father figure.
"I don't understand," I say defeated. "I don't understand him."
Price sighs, "You do. You know what's happening here." Price looks at my tear-stained face. "Simon loves you." Price says this like it's a fact that can't be disputed.
"Yeah, right...this isn't the first time he's strung me along, going back and forth about what he wants," I scoff, the words tasting like poison.
"And he's always come back to you, no?" Price takes a deep breath. "I've known Simon a very, very long time. I know all his baggage and I know for a fact that he loves you. He doesn't say I love you to anyone and he definitely wouldn't say it just to get into bed with someone. Trust me, he's slept around and said much less."
I go to open my mouth to speak my counter argument but Price cuts me off.
"I'm sure he's shown you his face, too," the Captain says confidently.
My heart skips a beat. I pause for a moment but then concede, nodding to confirm.
"My point exactly," he says. "I've only seen his face a handful of times. Outside of me the only other person who has seen it is you."
Not even Soap knows what he looks like...
"He trusts you," Price says matter-of-factly.
He makes a good point but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt.
"What does it matter if he loves or trusts me? Clearly, he doesn't want me. He doesn't want to be with me. So it doesn't matter if he loves or trusts me," I sigh.
"It does matter!" Price says abruptly, with more emotion and passion than I've ever heard from him before. "Simon's never gotten close to anyone, never let anyone in. He's obviously scared. Scared to mess things up, scared to lose you."
"He'll lose me if he keeps pushing me away," I scoff, crossing my arms.
"Then don't let him."
"That's not my job," I huff.
"Do you love him?" A dangerous question.
I feel a lump in my throat.
Of course, I love him. I'm in love with him, dammit. He's just so temperamental and confusing. I get that he's scared but I'm scared too.
"I love him very much," I say strained, trying to hold back my tears.
"Then don't let him go." Price hugs me again. "You two are good for each other. You both just need to stop being so fucking stubborn," he chuckles, trying to lighten the mood.
I nod softly.
"Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to go back into the bar, celebrate, and forget our worries, and you two can talk about this tomorrow. That's an order, Sergeant." Price winks.
"Alright." I wipe my tears and nod.
I'd rather just curl up in a ball and die but I'll power through.
We both re-enter the bar.
The team only stayed for a few more hours before we returned to our base.
I cooled it on the drinks and just drank water. Ghost gave me the silent treatment the entire time. In fact, he left the table and sat at the bar poutily for the remainder of the night, which was fine since it stopped us from bickering.
This gave me time to do karaoke with Laswell, Gaz, and Soap which was really fun.
I'm going to miss them.
Soap apologized over and over again for provoking a fight between Ghost and me and for continuing to flirt with me despite saying he'd stop.
He's so sweet I can't stay mad at him.
At one point Price sat at the bar with Ghost for a long while, talking. I have no idea what they were discussing but I'm going to assume it was about me considering the several glances Ghost made in my direction.
I wonder what Price told him.