like a good ‘ol boy~

holding back (part 2)

Ghost had the tiniest of smiles on his face when Price handed him the baby blue bag with an obnoxious “Happy Birthday” on it. Before he had a chance to ask, Price smiled at him. “Your leave is approved. There’s a gift for you.” 

Ghost relaxed. “Thank you, sir.”

Price patted him sadly. “Of course, Simon. You’ll leave at the end of the week. If I had noticed the dates, I would’ve tried to it get it done sooner.”

“It’s okay, Captain. I appreciate it.” Ghost held the little bag in his lap, gently running his finger over the corner. 

“Simon if you ever wan-”

Soap and Gaz started to pound on the door, clearly scared to death. Price laughed. “We’ll talk later yeah?” Once Ghost nodded, he raised his voice to be heard by the men outside. “Come in.”

They rushed inside and closed the door. Gaz noticed the bag and went quiet as Soap explained how this was not really their fault and how could they know their actions could have consequences. 

Ghost picked up the bag and glass clinked in it, which got Soap’s attention. He nodded at Price and then his two sergeants before making his leave. The three of them stared after him and the small bag in his hand. 

Gaz and Soap slowly turned to Price. 

Nik threw the door open. “You two! Outside now!” He was seething, teeth bared and gritted. 

Gaz and Soap looked at Price, their savior, for protection. He shrugged. “Nik, you’re doing the paperwork.”

“I’ll take that deal.” 

Nik made them clean the mess they made in his helicopter and then had them sweep the sunshine off the stairs outside. He noticed them talking and made his way over again. 

It was then that they found out Ghost was going to go on leave for the week and Soap immediately had an idea. They’d have to pull a few strings and they’d have to do it fast, but… 

Ghost was so glad it was the last day before his leave. The past few days had been miserable. Everyone kept talking and then shutting up when he came in the room or hiding messages from him. Paired with the general feeling of this time of year, it wore on him. He didn’t particularly feel like getting out of bed, or his desk chair, or the floor when he was dumb enough to lay on it for a minute. So he just stayed on the floor now. 

There was a pit in his chest that had metastasized to his stomach. He wondered if it was cancer. If like his dad, he could be cracked open and there would be decaying flesh. 

Ghost groaned. He was being melodramatic. Like his dad. 

He was sure that’s why everyone had been avoiding him. He was an empty shell of a person. His chest also hurt. 

The little bag stayed on his desk the entire week. He gingerly picked it up, pulling it to the ground in front of him. Blue tissue paper stuck out of the top. 

Price knocked firmly. “Got a message from Alejandro. Emergency in the meeting room.” 

Ghost was out of the door and at his heels. He realized a tad late that he still had the bag in hand. 

They walked into the the meeting room and paused. 

Everyone had realized that jumping out at two seasoned soldiers who had a platoon’s worth of PTSD was not a good idea, so they settled for just making sure the door would close behind them before the decorations could be seen. 

Price, who had not been informed because they didn’t want him to tell Ghost, had turned rather pale. 

It was simple. Lots of blue balloons though. Same color as the bag. They arched around the room. 

One table had a cake with a photo of the 141 on top and the other had several gifts, all packaged in the same wrapping paper. He assumed, correctly, that the wrapping was a last minute thought. Something that made the lump grow in his throat was that each present was clearly wrapped a different person. 

Someone had made a banner that said “Happy Birthday Ghost”. 

Price and Ghost were silent as half of SpecGru stared at them. 

Alex raised a cup of whatever they had for the drink. “To Simon Riley!”

“Simon Riley!” Several of them raised their cups and cheered. 

Price glared at Soap and Gaz. 

Ghost quietly turned to the table of gifts and set the bag on top of it. He carefully took off his mask and set it right in front of it. 

There were so many gifts. He couldn’t remember ever having so many as a kid. His record was four he was sure. Usually at least two were clothes. 

Gingerly, he picked up one of them. He could tell it was from Rodolfo by the neat wrapping and the handwriting used to write his name. Careful not to tear the wrapping, he undid each piece of tape so that he could unfold it. He carefully straightened it so it was flat and set it to the side to look at the gift. 

It was a tac vest with a rib design on it. It also had some stuff to help with camouflaging and extra knife holders. 

He heard Laswell angrily whispering to Price that she was going to kill him for not telling him it was Ghost’s birthday.

“It’s not his birthday.” Price said quietly and several people were confused. “It’s Joseph’s birthday.”

“I go visit his grave.” Ghost said quietly, unfolding another present silently. “If you guys want the presents back, that’s fine. I’ve never had someone throw me a party like this. I just want to know what’s inside.”

“Of course you can keep the presents.” Chuy told him. “Especially mine.” He shoved his towards him. 

Ghost carefully undid the wrappers. “My mom used newspaper until I was 8. It was cheaper because my grandad like reading them. After he died, she started using wrapping paper. Always easter themed because my actual birthday is in May and it would be on sale.” He pulled the mothman plush out of the paper, staring at it. 

Simon was sure if he was capable of crying, he’d be bawling like a child. But he couldn’t, so instead he smiled. It was incredibly soft. He felt… strange. Surrounded by friends. People he considered close. 

Price gently patted his shoulder. “You alright, son?”

“Yeah.”

“You keep everything.” Soap said softly, watching an unmasked Ghost go through a range of emotions. Nostalgia, sadness, a depth of grief he had no way of understanding. If anyone wanted their gift back, he’d personally pay them for the replacement before he let them take it away from Ghost. 

Reyes had gotten him a new knife holster and some booze, Gaz got him a new knife and Soap had gotten him bourbon and some sketches of Riley since he knew he missed her now when they went on long missions apart. Farah had gotten him a matching keychain with her that was tombstone that when set next to each other said “Buried alive”. She must’ve gotten it custom made. 

Everyone looked away when Ghost had to compose himself. He laughed a little, sounding wet and sad. 

Soap eventually asked if he wanted to open the bag. “You know. For Joseph.”

Simon hesitated before quietly pulling out the tissue paper. There was something methodical about the way he treated each present. He made sure nothing was torn or crinkled if he could help it. 

The bag held a gun, several traveled sized bottles of bourbon, a joint and a small teddy bear. 

The gun was unloaded. 

Soap didn’t ask. He didn’t think he’d like the answer very much. 

Ghost put the teddy bear next to the mothman plushy. They had gotten candles, but hadn’t bothered to set them up, not sure if Ghost would enjoy them. Gaz quickly put a few on the cake and Ghost blew them out. He smiled a little and everyone was determined to keep the good vibes going. 

Alex, with permission, spiked everyone’s drinks and someone broke out cards. They all played and Ghost kept smiling. 

Price watched him carefully, worried he’d reach his limit. He didn’t. Everyone knew how to avoid his boundaries and it meant that Simon got to be around. 

Soap kept staring at him, starry eyed. Everytime Simon laughed or smiled or told one of his shitty jokes, Soap would look a little more smitten. 

Ghost got up after a while, drunk and full of good vibes. “I’m going to go.”

Soap protested immediately, grabbing his sleeve. “Already? Come on it’s not even midnight.”

“Early flight out for Manchester. I appreciate it though, Johnny. I appreciate all of you guys.”

Soap nodded and squeezed him. 

Price waited until Ghost was about to leave before patting his back. “Gun stays unloaded.”

“Gun stays unloaded.”

A week later, Ghost came back. He looked tired, but the moment he was back around his friends, he looked happier again.