A Ghost Encounter: My Time with Simon "Ghost" Riley

Part Sixty-Four: Breanna Roberts

"Yes, you did! Thank you-Mwah-Thank you-Mwah-Thank you!" I plant a final kiss on his lips as opposed to his cheeks.

Now his smile shows pure joy.

"Wait...but why?" I sketch a brow.

It's not that I'm not grateful it's just I didn't expect to be getting a gift out of nowhere.

"Consider it a welcoming gift." He kisses my cheek and then looks me in the eye. "Welcome to Task Force 141."

Simon brushes a loose strand of hair from my braid behind my ear.

I could melt from the warmth of his touch.

He really is happy I'm here. He really did want me to stay.

"Thank you, Simon." I give him one more tight squeeze and then peel myself from his lap. "I can already think of at least five different books I want to get on here."

I squeal with excitement and do a little dance. Ghost laughs happily from my excitement.

"You're fucking precious," he smirks, a hint of lust shining in his eyes.

Precious.

No one has ever called me—or even considered me—precious.

My entire body warms and my face flushes.

"I need you to go and get changed," he tells me.

"Get changed?" I look at him incredulously.

"Yes. Get changed into something casual. That's an order," he winks.

Something casual? Oh, right! The surprise party...

"Alright, alright." I playfully throw my hands up. "Whatever you say..." I turn on my heel and head for the door.

"The common room. Thirty minutes," Ghost orders as I'm walking out the door.

"Got it," I confirm, making my way down the hall and to my quarters.

Searching through my closet I find a pair of jeans that make my ass look just right, my Doc Martens, and a black long-sleeve.

I've thrown my hair up in a high ponytail and put on a little bit of mascara.

I finish getting ready and make my way to the common room.

What will this surprise party be like? If Soap and Gaz set it up then I don't have the highest expectations...but I'll be happy with anything as long as we're all having fun together.

Turning the corner down the hall I finally reach the door to the common room.

The door is closed and it's normally always open.

I open the door and am greeted with darkness. The lights are off and I can't see a thing.

"Hello?" I call out timidly.

Maybe I'm confused. Maybe I misinterpreted what Soap and Gaz were saying about a party. How embarrassing...

As I'm about to turn around and leave the lights turn on and I hear the group call out, "Surprise!"

My head swings back to the crowd and naturally, it's everyone with big excited smiles on their faces and wearing...party hats? Haha.

"W-what is this?" I chuckle and act surprised.

My acting skills aren't bad. Think there's still a chance for me to run away and join the theater?

"A surprise party!" Soap runs up to me excitedly. "We wanted to throw you a party to welcome you as an official 141 member."

Soap gently places his hand on my shoulder and lets it linger there for a moment—a long moment. That is until we feel the weight of Ghost's I'll kill you glare.

Soap removes his hand, scratches the back of his neck, and nervously chuckles.

"Yeah, welcome to the team!" Gaz flies over to us and wraps his arm around Soap's and my shoulder.

Laswell shakes my hand and welcomes me.

I could tell König felt a little out of place but he congratulated me for being not only accepted into—but invited into—a highly skilled and highly specialized task force. He sealed his congratulations with a soft hug that felt like a warm blanket was being wrapped around me.

"Welcome to the family, sweetheart." Captain Price smiles warmly at me, placing his hand gently on my shoulder.

"Thank you for taking me in." I hug Price.

A thought pops up into my mind so I get on my tippy toes—since everyone here is so damn tall—and whisper in Price's ear, "Thank you. For everything."

When I pull away I see a soft and content smile on his face and he nods his head.

"Let's get this party started!" Soap says with video game controllers in each hand.

We all talked, laughed, played games, and ate a shit ton of pizza all night. I wish it could have lasted forever but like all good things, it had to come to an end.

Absolutely exhausted from all the fun we had we slug our way over to our quarters for bed.

Ghost had to stop by his office to grab something he forgot.

"Breanna." Soap catches me before I'm about to cross the door to my room.

"For you." He hands me a small box.

"Oh, Soap. You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know but I wanted to," he says genuinely, a warm smile on his face.

He will never stop being adorable to me.

I remove the lid of the small box to expose a necklace. A necklace with the letter "S" as a charm.

W-what...

"For Soap?" I sketch a brow and chuckle awkwardly.

He shakes his head while simultaneously chuckling.

"For Sarah."

I swear my heart stops beating for a moment.

"For your sister," he says softly.

I had briefly told Soap a while back that I had a sister who passed when we spent one night in the common room chatting. I didn't think he'd remember.

How incredibly thoughtful.

None of us give—no, I don't give Soap enough credit.

"Soap...thank you so much." With teary eyes, I wrap Soap up in an embrace.

"Of course." He pulls away from the hug and nods. "This was the final thing I wanted to do."

"Final thing you wanted to do?" I tilt my head, confused.

"Yeah...I wanted to do one more gesture for you before I let you go." He smiles but this time it's a sad one.

He's finally letting his feelings for me go and it breaks my heart because I know it's breaking his.

I hug him tightly and try to transfer all my love and admiration for him from my body to his.

"I love you, Soap," I whisper in his ear.

"I love you, too," he whispers back.

I enter my quarters, get ready to sleep, and lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling.

As I'm laying there I can't help but smile.

I've never felt so much love, respect, and acceptance from so many people before.

This night concludes the first chapter of a new beginning.