Silver-Lining (Ghost Riley x Reader)

Chapter eight

The sunlight seeped through the curtains, the yellow glow pouring into the dark room. The sound of my alarm clock rudely interrupted the sweet silence. The blaring noise filled my ears, causing my eyes to flutter open. Using my elbow, I pushed myself towards my nightstand, turning the alarm clock off completely.

I sat up in a slouched manner, a yawn escaping my mouth. I threw the thin blanket off of me, getting up completely. Getting ready was a lot easier once the hot water hit my skin. Once I felt more energized, I headed down to the training room. The sound of my boots hitting the floor echoed off the wall as I neared the training room.

I've been doing light training since the gunshot incident because I knew I couldn't risk ripping my stitches since I was a week away from getting them removed.

As I lifted the weights, I could feel the burn in my muscles. My movements were steady and controlled, and I was proud of how far I had come since my minor injury. The stitches on my lower abdomen had healed nicely, allowing me to lift lighter weights and focus on building back my strength. Despite the pain that came with each rep, I was determined to continue my training, knowing that it was essential for me to be ready for whatever challenges lay ahead.

My mind wandered off with each rep I made. I didn't realize that Ghost had made his way down to the training room too. I looked up to see him making his way to the bench press. He began adding more weight to the barbell before sitting down.

He lay down flat on his back, his hands wrapping tightly around the barbell. He lifted the weighted barbell, bringing it down close to his chest and lifting it up. He repeated the motion over and over again. My elbow pressed harshly against the edge of my leg as I continued to lift the weight.

There wasn't much I could do besides lifting, punching, and small exercises. Each movement felt incredibly uncomfortable as the stitches tugged on my skin. I turned my gaze away from Ghost, not wanting to stare for too long.

I had been lifting for quite some time, feeling slight irritation in my stitches as they continued tugging at my skin. As I pulled the weight up one more time the stitch tugged too hard, making a small yelping noise. As I let out a fleeting cry of pain, Ghost immediately stopped lifting as he looked at me through his mask. There was concern evident in his body language, even though he tried to hide it. He let the bar slip from his grasp with a loud thud and approached me, somewhat gently pulling my arm away from the weights.

"You've been lifting for too long," Ghost murmured under his breath, he lifted my shirt slightly, examining the stitches on my lower abdomen with a concerned gaze. He knew I was still healing, and lifting too much could exacerbate my injury. "Let's take a break. We don't need you injured when we leave for the shipment in a few days."

"I'm good man, just slight irritation." I gave him a thumbs-up as I pulled my shirt from his fingertips, yanking it down. "Slight irritation my ass."

I placed my hand on his shoulder, feeling his muscles tense up under my palm. "Look man, I know how much you love me..." I began. Ghost let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. "But you don't gotta worry about me, sweetheart. I'm fine." I assured him. My tone was half serious but still added a joking affect to my tone. "Take a break, Knives." His demeanor came off more demanding than worried.

"Alright, alright you got it." I stepped back. I turned on my heels and walked out of the training room. I found Gaz in the rec room, writing in a journal. "Ya know, this journaling thing isn't as stupid as I thought it was." Gaz smiled widely, his gaze still on the half-written paper. "Told ya so." I sat down beside him. "What are you writing about?" I asked. "Our unrequited love," Gaz spoke jokingly. "Ah, so who's in love with who?"

"You're in love with me, obviously." Gaz rolled his eyes jokingly as he spoke in a sassy manner. "Sassy Gaz, I love it."

Gaz nudged me with his elbow, pushing me over to the side slightly. "Or maybe the real love here is with you and Ghost." Gaz grinned. I pursed my lips as I raised an eyebrow. "What?" I questioned.

"Oh don't play dumb. We all know you and Ghost are down bad for each other." I almost let out a laugh at his atrocious statement. "Gaz, you're an idiot. There is nothing between Ghost and me." I told him. I wondered how he even had a thought like that. "Yeah, okay. And when I hear loud noises coming from either your or Ghost's room and you're walking funny the next day, I'm gonna give you a little 'I told you so.'"

My jaw dropped as I pushed Gaz over to the side. "Gaz!" I was almost dumbfounded by his little comment. Gaz let out a loud laugh as he closed his journal, setting it beside him. "What's so funny?" Ghost's voice caught me by surprise as I snapped my head in his direction. I could only hope that he didn't hear Gaz's little comments.

"Nothing. Gaz is just being an idiot." I gave Gaz a look as I shifted my gaze back to Ghost. "When is he not?" Ghost sat down in the chair, leaning back in it. "I was just pointing out the obvious." Gaz tried shifting to more innocent. "Pointing out what exactly?" Ghost asked.

As Gaz opened his mouth to speak, I clasped my hand over his mouth, yanking him towards me. "Shut your mouth Gaz." I spoke under my breath. Gaz stifled a laugh into my palm.

I could almost see the confusion in Ghost's brown eyes. Ghost eventually stood up and walked off.

"Come on, I was gonna play cupid!" Gaz whined. I rolled my eyes as a small smile formed on my face. "You have better luck winning the lottery than getting me and Ghost to fall for each other. I told him as I stood up myself.

I headed towards the front door, deciding to go for a small walk. As I swung the door open, I came face to face with Graves. "Hey, Knives." A small smile formed on his face as he looked down at me. "Hey." I stepped out of the house, Graves walking by my side. "Is there a reason you're here?" I asked him, trying to come off polite.

"I just wanted to know if there was any further information about the shipments."

I shook my head in response as I continued walking further from the small home. I was hoping Graves would just walk away but it turns out his hint-taking was as bad as his haircut. "So you seriously don't remember me from camp?" He asked me. I shook my head slowly, my hands behind my back as we continued walking.

"We fought against each other like three times." He tried to get me to remember, but I couldn't remember him at all. "I don't remember much from camp. I went against a lot of people." I stopped walking as he mirrored my actions, turning to look down at me.

"Well then maybe I can get a do-over." He suggested. "Wait till I get my stitches removed and we can do it again."
"I didn't mean hand-to-hand."

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly he meant. "You want to be friends?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders, a small smile tugged at his lips. "If that's what you want."
"It's what you suggested." I pointed out.

I could feel someone staring at me. "Your little friend is staring at us." Graves motioned his head towards the side. I looked over to see Ghost. His arms were crossed over his chest as he was staring in our direction with zero shame. "Does he have a staring problem?" Graves asked. "Does it matter?"

I found myself quick to defend Ghost for whatever reason, but it felt needed. I turned to walk off, heading in Ghost's direction. "Is that your new best friend?" Ghost asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes as I smiled. "No one could ever take your place."

"Hooray." He spoke under his breath as he looked down at me in fake disappointment. "You trust that guy?" Ghost asked me, his tone settling into something more serious. "Eh, not really."

It was clear that Ghost felt the same way I did. "Just don't be near him alone." Ghost told me. My eyes lit up as my jaw dropped slightly. "Are you showing... Care for me?" I asked him. Ghost walked away, leaving footprints in the dirt. "It's easier to admit it than the run away from it!" I called out, letting out a light chuckle.

I headed towards the home, the cool AC hitting my skin. "Wait, where the hell is Soap?" I questioned, realizing I hadn't seen him all day.

This chapter isn't that great and I'm aware so the next chapter will be better. Keep in mind ya girl is not only exhausted but sad because spring break is now over for me. I hope you guys have a wonderful day or night and vote and leave a comment if you're comfortable. I love all of you beauties<333