{Normal POV}
(Tuesday, December 15, 2020-9:30 pm)
[Aleppo, Syria; M1 Barrack]
It was ten days until Christmas, and Hayden hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Troy about what happened in November when Avery kissed him before Hayden returned to Syria. The initial plan had been for Troy and Hayden to speak on the morning of the 12th in November, but Troy woke up late and ended up sick with the flu of all things for six days. Unfortunately, by that time, the workload began to increase for both Marines. Hayden and Troy were running different missions and shifts, only very few together, but even they; they couldn't talk about personal matters. Also, if Troy had some spare time off, Hayden was stuck in meetings. It seemed they might not get around to talking. A night, the situation wasn't any different because the two of them were exhausted. Hayden hadn't spoken to Avery since the incident, but he did talk to the others and said he didn't know if he could just look the other way this time. Gabriel, Spencer, and Vivian were aware as well. Hayden asked them not to give Avery a hard time to keep the peace because he didn't want to get home in February and have everyone arguing. Hayden was nervous to tell Troy, worried how his boyfriend would react to such news. However, Hayden knew that it had to happen, so he was pulling Troy aside when Troy returned from the showers in a few minutes.
. . .
Minutes passed as soon, Troy entered the barrack with a towel over his shoulder, but fully dressed. Hayden was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and seemingly, zoned out.
"Babe?" Troy asked as Hayden looked at him. "Is everything okay?"
Hayden closed his eyes, sighing, then sitting up and throwing his legs over the edge of the cot. "No, Troy; it's not. I need to talk to you about something," Hayden informed.
"Alright, I'm all ears," Troy stated.
"Not in here," Hayden got to his feet and headed outside the barrack. Troy blinked, but he put his towel down and followed Hayden out.
"What's going on, Hayden?" Troy questioned.
"Something happened last month before I returned to Syria after the five-day leave for my grandfather's death," Hayden began. "I was at the park, just remembering times with Poppy when Avery showed up; she said she was meeting the others for lunch and asked if I wanted to join. I told her yes since I didn't have anything else to do until 1:30 pm when I left Berk for Fort Archian. Avery and I got to talking on one of the benches, and then out of the blue…" Hayden paused, taking a breath. "She kissed me,"
Troy stayed quiet, his eyes widening in surprise at the information.
"I pushed her away instantly, and we fought. Well, more like I yelled and she said she didn't know what came over her, but had always liked me. I reminded her I was gay, and with you, and she just kept apologizing. Avery…begged me not tell you because she knew you'd probably get upset and mad. I ended up calling the chopper to get me early, and I left without really saying goodbye to anything," Hayden continued.
"And this happened last month?" Troy asked, finally finding his words. Hayden nodded. "Why didn't you tell me the night you got back?"
"I tried to, Troy. Don't you remember? I asked if I could tell you the next morning because I was mentally and physically exhausted," Hayden enlightened.
"Then why am I just learning about it now if you told me then?" Troy inquired.
"We never got to talk the next morning. Y-You got sick with the flu, and then after that, we were swamped with work and never getting a minute alone to speak," Hayden explained, becoming nervous.
"So out of nowhere, she just kissed you on the cheek and admitted to liking you even though you're gay, and taken; knowing that entirely, and she still did it with no regard?" Troy looked at Hayden.
"She kissed me on the lips, baby. And I pushed her off right away," Hayden said again. "She's terrified of you,"
"Me?" Troy arched a brow.
Hayden nodded. "Yeah, she begged me not to tell you about this because she knows how protective of me you are,"
"Yet you still didn't tell me for over a month?" Troy looked off to the side.
"N-No; it wasn't because of that, babe. I haven't spoken to Avery at all since that day; I-I told her straight away that I don't keep secrets from you. I told her was appalled that she would ask me to lie to you," Hayden defended quickly. "I-I mentioned that I couldn't deal with what she did and that I didn't know if I could forgive it as she's already hurt me once with the others. It was bad she walked out of my life, but it hurts that she decided that day with everything going on-," he was cut off.
"Who else knows about this?" Troy questioned.
"My friends, parents, and Gabriel," Hayden admitted.
"So everyone has known, except for me?" Troy closed his eyes as Hayden's face fell.
"Avery told them…I-I haven't said anything, Troy. I swear. Avery said something to the friends after I left, and Shane told my parents, who told Gabriel," Hayden explained.
"But you've still known all this time, and couldn't have mentioned it one of the nights before we went to bed? Like you did tonight?" Hayden bit his lower lip. "This girl, with no regard that you are in a relationship; kisses you on the lips, then begs you not to say anything? But here we are a month later from the incident, and I am just finding out about it," Troy clenched his fists a bit.
"I-I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, and all I've been doing is looking for a chance to pull you aside without us being thoroughly exhausted, or busy to inform you. I wanted…to make sure we'd have time to get it out and talk about it without worry of being pulled away for work-related things," Hayden confessed. "A-Are you mad at me?"
"I need to sit with this, and think a bit," Troy replied. Hayden was nervous now.
"It going this long unknown had nothing to do with the fact she pleaded me not to say anything to you. I never intended-," Hayden started.
"Hayden, I did not ask for an explanation. I would like to be left alone, so I don't snap at you, to do some thinking, so why don't you just head back inside the barrack? Alright?" Troy stated. Hayden was taken aback by Troy basically telling him to go away. Hayden didn't say anything else as he felt tears pick at his eyes, and quickly turned heel to get inside. Troy sighed. Yes; he was agitated at this information, and not even that it was a month later. Avery kissed HIS boyfriend, on the lips, and then asked Hayden not to say anything just to cover her own ass from Troy's anger. Damn right that Avery should be afraid. Troy wasn't mad at Hayden, but he was furious with Avery. How dare she kiss Hayden, and put him into a position to have to deal with all this right after his grandfather died!
Aside from Troy being livid that Avery kissed Hayden when she knew entirely that Hayden is gay and in a relationship; Avery chose the day after the funeral to do it? Hayden was at that park to mourn, not be kissed by some girl who has liked him for a long time. Troy only sent Hayden off so he could figure out how he was going to handle this Avery situation. What could he do? Yell at her? No; Avery is a cop, and that would land him in a right place if he threatened her over hurting Hayden again. Troy supposed there was nothing he could without consulting his father on an idea that would be legal.
"Hayden? Are you okay?" the sound of Harry asking Hayden if he was alright got Troy to worry. Troy crept to the semi-open barrack door to see Hayden laying on his bed, trying to hide his tears.
"He's probably missing his grandfather, guys; let's leave him alone," Seymour mentioned. Troy moved back as Commander Bludvist approached and saw him.
"What are you doing outside, Sergeant Raseri?" Donovan asked.
"Just…Getting some fresh air," Troy lied. Donovan arched a brow, then entered the barrack. Troy went inside to see what was going on.
"Lieutenant Haddock," Donovan stated as Hayden stood up, quickly palming away his tears. "I would ask if you're alright, but the tears say otherwise,"
Hayden cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Commander. What can I do for you?" he asked.
Donovan eyed him, then sighed. "There is a situation half an hour away. You're being asked for to take part. If you come with me; I'll explain more on the way to HQ,"
"Aye, sir!" Hayden saluted as he grabbed his things and followed Donovan out, casting a quick glance at Troy who looked worried. Hayden sighed as he remembered that Troy wanted to be left alone to think, so he just focused on his trail behind his commanding officer.
. . .
(Wednesday, December 16, 2020-5:18 am)
[M1 Barrack]
Troy didn't like when Hayden was called away for these special missions because he never went with anyone from the platoon. It was one or two warriors from each company to form Battalion-sized group of Special Ops members. Hayden was the only man picked out of Inferno, and there were even some things Troy wasn't allowed to know, which sucked. Also, Troy didn't like that Hayden had been crying right before he left. Troy wondered if he was the cause of their talk right before Donovan showed up. Troy managed to get a little sleep, but his worry for Hayden being gone since 9:47 pm last night kept him up. Troy checked the clock on his phone; 5:18 A.
"I'm sure he's okay, Troy," Theodore offered.
"How'd you know I was awake?" Troy asked.
"You've only sighed heavily every five minutes since 0445," Andrew chuckled a little.
"I can't help it, guys. Hayden and I kind of got into a small argument earlier, and I feel like I might have been the reason he was crying because I basically told him to leave me alone for a bit so I could think. Gods, I'm such an idiot. I never should-," Troy closed his eyes.
"Troy, you and Hayden have been together for a year and five months without a single problem, even being that we're deployed. Okay? Couples fight all the time, and occasionally, you both need to give one another a little space. It's the only way to keep a relationship strong," Ethan advised.
"What do you mean?" Troy inquired.
"You two are always together when you can be. Meals, your couple date nights, missions, guards, and patrols. Alright? You two never fight about anything, so when something like this happens; no matter what it was about, you need some space away to really appreciate what you have and don't want to lose," Harry offered.
"Yeah. Fighting lets you see how much someone really means to you," Blake jumped in.
"The fact you're lying awake and worried if you're the one who made him cry shows how much you love him, and are willing to talk through the problem and makeup. And Hayden crying means he's afraid that he did something to make you think about leaving him, so he's afraid to lose you. The point is…It's healthy for couples to fight, Troy; it can't always be perfect," Brian interjected.
"You two had your fight or whatever and had some time apart. Next time you see him; tell Hayden you're sorry, that you love him and you two will work it out together. Hug, kiss, and it's all good again," Harvey suggested. Troy nodded, accepting their advice. Right now; he just wanted Hayden back in the barrack to see if he was alright.
. . .
(7:37 am)
[M1 Barrack]
As everyone was preparing to leave for breakfast, the door opened revealing Hayden standing there. Hayden walked in, removing his guns, vest, boots, and helmet. Finally, the outer coat came off as he flopped on his cot, then closed his eyes and appeared to just knock out almost instantly. Troy didn't like that one bit and went to check on him, but Commander Bludvist came in.
"Leave Lieutenant Haddock be, Sergeant Raseri; it's been a long night for him and a small team of others," Donovan informed.
"Are we allowed to know?" Troy asked.
"The basics, yes. You may recall a few weeks ago that three warriors went missing in action. Well, we've been sending recon teams out to infiltrate enemy bases and see if we couldn't locate our missing Marines there. Sure enough, we did. HQ sent a small group of twelve to rescue them, and Lieutenant Haddock was selected to head that detail, and he did spectacularly too. However, it was long, and there were a few setbacks with being pinned and some firefights, and even being captured for an hour an a half, but no injuries or deaths. As I said, Lieutenant Haddock is extremely tired, and I believe he's earned himself a day to catch up on sleep missed, and then one to relax. Off you go to the chow hall now," Donovan motioned.
"Yes, Commander," the others replied to him. Troy glanced at Hayden, then he left the barrack with the rest of the platoon. As soon as he got the chance; he would apologize to Hayden for last night, and then they could make up and put it behind them.