Call Of Duty

(Backstory)

You never expected to find yourself in this position—on your knees, pleading for someone to choose you. It was so unlike you, to be this vulnerable, this exposed. But with Simon Riley, everything was different.

You first met him in the chaos of war, a mission gone sideways, with bullets flying and explosions deafening your senses. He was cold, distant, his face hidden behind that iconic skull mask. But there was something in his eyes that drew you in, something unspoken that made you want to understand the man behind the mask. You weren't supposed to get close to someone like him—a ghost in every sense of the word—but you couldn’t help it.

As the missions went on, you shared quiet moments during the lulls between the chaos. It was small things at first—him watching your back, you patching him up after a firefight, the occasional nod of acknowledgment that said more than words ever could. Slowly, the two of you started peeling back layers of each other’s walls, even if neither of you admitted it aloud.

But even as you grew closer, Simon never let you fully in. He had lived a life of pain, loss, and betrayal—things you could feel in the heavy silence that often surrounded him. You tried to reach him, to break through the walls he had built around himself, but he always kept you at arm’s length. Still, you held onto hope. You understood him because, in a way, you were the same. You had spent your life being strong for everyone else, keeping your feelings locked away. Always overlooked, never quite enough for someone to truly stay.

And yet, despite your composed exterior, the loneliness had been building up inside you for years. You had tried to be strong, to be resilient, but something about Simon broke through that façade. You couldn’t hide it anymore. You couldn’t pretend you didn’t want more—not just from him, but from life itself.

That’s how you ended up here, hands clutching his shirt like he was the last thing tethering you to the world. All those years of being strong, of never letting yourself be vulnerable, melted away in a flood of emotion. You couldn’t bear the thought of being left behind again, especially not by him. Not by the one person who had somehow made you feel seen.

Now, all you could do was hope Simon would see your vulnerability for what it was—a plea for love, a chance to be chosen for once in your life.