Five Times Simon Riley Almost Said "I Love You" + bonus :3
You slowly stir when you feel the mattress dip beside you. Simon thinks you're asleep, not surprising considering you're playing the part fairly well.
He had quietly checked every window after another nightmare and made sure to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. And when he crawls back into bed, you mumble. "Is everything okay?" he blinks, mainly because he didn't expect you to be awake, partially because your voice sounded so soft like that.
"...Yeah." he huffs out, getting comfortable before taking your hand in his. His thumb brushes over your knuckles, his gaze lingering for a moment. "You know I-"
"-should go back to sleep."
You two have been in this aisle for approximately seven minutes. Arguing over cereal over all things. Apparently the cereal he chose was too bland, and apparently yours was too sweet.
"You're impossible." he rolls his eyes, but it lacks any real bite to it. In response, you stick your tongue out at him and blow a raspberry. The audacity. Except he stares for a second too long, and he doesn't know if the fluorescent lights above them were frying his brain but he almost cracks a smile.
"I-you.." he paused. "Forgot the milk."
He was already dressed, mask on and gear ready. You fix the collar of his jacket, fingers staying a moment too long. His voice is quiet, not the usual—the heavier kind. "If anything happens.."
"No." You don't let him finish. "Listen–" you shake your head even more firmly. "No." He sighs, at your stubbornness and because he knows that you're both lying to each other.
He rests his forehead against yours. "I lo—" Except duty calls, and it always wins. "Lock the doors after I leave."
It wasn't anything life-threatening, thank goodness.
A concussion, broken ribs, probably a stab wound somewhere. What mattered the most to you was the fact that he was still there, even if he was still half-asleep from the medication.
"I love you." you whisper, thinking he wasn't awake. Then— "I know." Not because he doesn't feel it, god knows he does so much that it hurts. But because if he says it back, it can be another thing he can lose.
Not a proposal. Just browsing around on the rare occasions where you and Simon could actually go out together. He stopped walking when he sees you trying on rings as a joke.
"They suit you." The salesperson laughs. Simon can't stop staring, because all he can see is years. Gray hairs. Sunday mornings spent on the porch. A life he was never supposed to survive long enough to have.
He reaches for your hand silently, thumbs tracing the silver band of the ring. "Let's-" his throat tightens when he feels the coldness of the metal. "...go home."
It wasn't anything dramatic.
Just a small cardboard box, some paperwork. In it were dog tags, a stained folded mask, the watch you had bought him last Christmas.
Price clears his throat, snapping you back to reality. "He wanted you to have these." he says, not looking at you. How could he?
You see it. Inside the box, there was a receipt. Months ago, way before he even got deployed. From the jewelry store you went to. Just one item, paid in full, never collected.
a/n: ok i wrotr this like half asleep yolo u guys have this idk i hate this format
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