"Common Mistake…"

Day: 473, 3:36 a.m.

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Task Force 141

Unknown

When I found him, he was in the mess hall on his phone. I hung back letting my previous adrenalin die down, until I was so nervous my palms sweat. He was perfect even still, his mask completely forgotten in my room, and his sunglasses along with it. It occurred to me how tired I was He rubbed a hand over his tired face as he bickered with the other person on the phone.

"No. He kissed me, Eve. I didn't attack him or something. I love him..?" He asked questioningly, but I could see that it was terrorizing him to say this out loud. He rolled his eyes suddenly, and looked slightly annoyed. "I would never want to hurt hi- No! He didn't say why. He just took off, and now I'm freaking out. What is wrong with me?"

I watched him carefully as I crept forward slowly. How could I have not seen it? He was always there. He had saved my ass countless times, and not just in the line of fire. He was my source of comfort and always put me at ease. He was the one that held me even when I fought him to leave, and even now… He sat there thinking that something was wrong with him. What had I done to him? I couldn't imagine what he had been feeling, or how hard it must have been for him to keep it to himself.

I had a scenario in my head. I would clear my throat and he would end his call. We would talk things out, and from there we would see how things went. It was perfect, it was smooth, and it was… ruined as I stepped on my soggy pant leg hitting the floor with a loud thud. I kept my face rested on the floor as red spread across my face. I was completely embarrassed and I was trying to gather some form of dignity. I didn't lift my head to look at him and I think it scared him as he said a quick 'got to go' into the phone before closing it and tossing it to the side.

He walked over to me and I could hear his soft chuckle. He crouched down to help pull me up on my knees so I could see his face as he smiled at me. "You okay there? Wasn't expecting you to drop in." He chuckled as both of his hands helped steady me, but I could tell he was slowly losing his cool once again.

He looked away from me, and once he had steadied me he began to pull away. I panicked and grabbed on to his sleeve holding him still. His face went red, and he looked away, but I stopped him from leaving. "Don't go."

He paused looking at me rather awkwardly as the blush deepened on his face. "I'd never leave you…." He cleared his throat and I watched him swallow rather roughly. "I want to apologize for what I did earlier. I shouldn't have done that, and I am very sorry for having put you in that position. I only hope that you can for-"

"Shut up." I said and he turned his grey eyes to me, just as startled as I was about my sudden outburst. "I don't want an apology for something that I did. I kissed you, and I'm not sorry about it. I'd like to kiss you every day if that is okay with you."

He was quiet for a really long moment and when he finally looked at me I could see that he was trying to catch his breath. "Gary please don't... I don't want you to force yourself to think of me that wa-"

"Didn't I say to shut up? Ghost… Simon just stop talking for a moment. I just learned something fundamental outside. It's okay to cry." I said so fast that I had to take a deep breath when I was done.

He gave me a curious look, and flopped back on his butt making no move to leave. "What?"

"It's okay to cry, and it is okay to love. I thought after I lost Ryan that everything pointed to me being alone." I closed my eyes as I said his name, but I smiled all the same. "But I think… I think I'll be okay. I think I get it now. I think I like you a lot, but I was scared to get close to you. I didn't want you to leave. But it's okay because what Dr. Reed said made sense; 'People will come and go, but they will always remain'. I think that Ryan will always be here, and I think that it's oka-"

"Gary… Shut up." Ghost said to me and I quickly obeyed seeing that I had started rambling once again. I have to stop doing that Ghost might think its weird or maybe he gets annoyed by that kind of thing. I have to-

He nudged me with his foot and I gazed up at him rather happily. He was still blushing, but he said really softly. "Gary… please don't… don't try and make me feel better. It's okay if you don't-"

I darted forward grabbing his face in my hands. I placed a kiss on his nose, and along his cheek bones. "Shut up you idiot. Don't you hear what I've been sayin'?" I asked letting my accent return to me, and I swallowed as it tasted kind of bitter, but I kept on going. "I want to be with you! So stop it. It's okay to love." I said softly as I looked him in the eye. "You are allowed to love Simon."

He looked at me in what looked like a glare, but it was so pitiful that I wouldn't really consider it that. He didn't eve sound angry only hopeful. "What did you say?"

"I said it's okay to love. I want you to love me, please?" I asked and he continued to look at me with grey unchanging eyes.

I was afraid he wasn't going to say anything as he stared at me blankly. I was trying to think of something to say. I didn't want to sound stupid or even pushy, but his silence was killing me. It felt like my heart might come out of my chest and shoot across the room.

He pulled away from me to lean on the back of the couch, but he made no move to leave. I sighed and let myself fall on his chest with a rather loud thump. He seemed a little surprised, but I rested against his chest anyway. He had both of his hands rested on his knees, and I glanced up to see his grey eyes studying me. After a moment he sighed and closed his eyes as I reached up ghosting my fingertips over his jaw line. "I don't... I don't think I can... Everyone. Everyone leaves when I love them."

"I wont leave you. I know everyone says that, but I swear to you. I mean it." I said holding his face in my hands so he couldn't look away from me. "I'm staying right here, until you say you'll love me. I won't leave because... I think I love you too..." I said feeling my face turn a new shade of red, but I didn't look away from him.

He watched me again before leaning down and kissing me rather softly on the forehead. He seemed a little unnerved, and I could feel his heart beating in his chest. I knew my was too, but I refused to focus on myself right now.

"Gary... I think... I'd love to... love you..." He said, his eyes squeezed close as he said it, and my heart fluttered for a second. I thought it had stopped beating all together, but I continued to breathe.

I sighed in relief and kissed him again. It was soft as it was the first time, but this time I felt his lips kiss me in return. He was warm and he smelt of cigarettes and coffee which I was beginning to think was what this man bled. He was intoxicating on his own, he always had been, and kissing him was just as bad, if not worse. I felt his arms close around me, pulling me closer to him. I was afraid to close my eyes, but I let them fall shut anyway. I didn't want to wake up and see it was all a dream. I didn't want this to not be real. It is a common mistake, and everyone makes it. I could feel the air in my lungs diminishing quickly, but I didn't want to stop. He pulled back and took a deep breath before planting quicker kisses against my face. He put his hands against my face as if holding me there, afraid that he would wake up and I would be gone. We were the same.

There was a shuffle from beside up, and we broke apart quickly. We turned around to see MacTavish sitting there with his arms across his chest, looking rather annoyed. He was dressed in his night clothes and had clearly been awoken brashly. He was accompanied by a smiling Dr. Reed, who seemed to not really notice the Captains annoyance, or rather she didn't care.

"You woke me up to show me that my lieutenant and his man crush are making out on the mess hall floor. Woman you do realize that I work in two hours? Could this not have waited?" MacTavish said gruffly as he rubbed a hand over his face trying to wake up, he shot a glare at me and Simon and we both looked away with a nervous chuckle.

Dr. Reed smiled at me before placing a soft hand on MacTavish's arm. "But John. I wanted you to see that your friends were okay. Besides, now Ghost won't take up your lunch telling you the good news. I saved you time."

MacTavish grumbled something, and I watched as Dr. Reed quickly punched him in the stomach. She turned to me and Ghost the smile still in place. "Sorry to interrupt but I figured you would like to know that the security cameras can see you. Figured you'd want your privacy."

MacTavish glared over at her but she didn't seem to notice, once again looking rather happily over at us. "What was that for? All I said was 'you could have asked to eat lunch with me, Jackie."

She turned to him and looked rather exasperated as a glare of her own formed. "Honestly John? You should know better than to call me Jackie. It is Jacquelyn. You seem to say it often enough when we are-"

"Alright. I get it." He huffed at her but I could see the smile that formed on his face. He really liked it when she teased him. What the hell is going on? Is my doctor flirting with my Captain? "You didn't have to hit so hard, Jacquelyn." He said putting infancy in her name.

Dr. Reed smiled at him but her smile was more bright and awake. "If I didn't hit you so hard, you would think I was trying to tickle you again." She gave a soft chuckle and turned to me. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't mean to sound so harsh, or even cruel. I really hope that you ca-"

I held up a hand to cut her off. I thought for a really long time on my next sentence. There was so much that was running through my head and I wasn't sure where to start. I felt Ghost grabbed my hand and I found myself smiling to myself. Everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to be just fine and-

"Is MacTavish your boyfriend?" I said rather startled in the realization that the names matched up. She had mentioned earlier that she had a boyfriend named John.

They looked at each other before their eyes darted away quickly, red covering their faces.

I was going to be just fine. I could feel it.

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