The Girl In Flat 25 (Simon "Ghost" Riley X F!Reader)

Chapter 19: After

April 21, 6:57 am.

For the second time since your... Friendship? With Simon began, he was ignoring you. Or it felt like it. When you spotted him in the halls and stopped to talk to him he would stare at you blankly, blinking slowly, eyes unfocused as if he was staring directly through you, only giving short small answers or little 'hm's of replies. Or he would just ignore you, walking past you and into his apartment, he had gotten much better at finding his keys.

It fucking sucked.

You regretted asking to sleep together, if this was how he processed it.

You, on the other hand, processed it very, very well. The little butterflies you got around Simon increased tenfold, and when he actually looked you in your eyes, something that had become a rare commodity recently, you swore you felt so hot you could melt. The heat that stung at your ears and face like a sunburn was embarrassing, it made you never want to talk to anybody again if that's how you reacted. Like a blushing schoolgirl working through her first crush.

But this wasn't just anybody, it was Simon. The hottest man you had ever met, the hottest man to live. Maybe. He would be a lot hotter if he would acknowledge you. Especially since he sat on his balcony a few feet away, smoking and staring down at the people on the streets below.

You had been there, bundled up in a blanket, reading some trashy romance novel you got in a three-for-one sale, sitting in silence with Simon, for at least a good hour, maybe more. Occasionally you would pause your reading, just to look up at him, to watch his eyes, painted in the golden warm hue of the hour, flickering between the people in the street, watching them live their own lives. You would love to know what he thought about, how he thought. Maybe you could get some insight into why he was ignoring you, why he liked to pretend you didn't exist sometimes.

In reality, if you could see into his mind, you would recognize an unsettling fear. The fear of fucking up, the fear of scaring you. Not that he liked you, or anything. But if he scares you away? He would miss the homecooked meals you brought him occasionally, or how shitty your tea was. But he didn't like you, not in the manner he feared he might.

Your sighing through your nose caught his attention, causing him to look over through the corner of his eye. You looked comfy, laying on the couch on your balcony, wrapped up in a blanket in the most inefficient way he had ever seen. He could still see your legs, bare to the early evening chill, and your right arm, holding the book you were reading in front of you, eyes lazily dancing through the words carefully printed on the page.

He felt bad about ignoring you, he really did, but the feelings he felt when he looked at you were so alien he couldn't stand it, it made him want to tear his throat out. It made him feel uneasy. He would ask Johnny about it, but he knew he would never hear the end of it, never escape the teasing that MacTavish was so quick to dish out.

Simon pressed his lips together, eyebrows lowering as he went back to watching the people in the streets below.

His eyes paused on a couple, he had seen them around before. They always walked their dog at this hour, hand in hand happily. He felt jealous, not that he would admit it to himself, that he would never have that. Never deserve that.

His eyes went back to you. You were staring right at him, facial expression blank. His head turned to face you, waiting. Watching.

It took a few minutes, the silence roaring between the two of you. Or maybe it was just his tinnitus, either way, the silence felt oddly loud. Drowning out the bustle of the streets below.

You spoke first. Like always. "Why do you ignore me sometimes? If you don't want to talk to me anymore I'd be fine with it, but I'd like a warning about it."

Simon felt awful, all of a sudden.

It would be a lot of he said he didn't mean to ignore you, he did. But saying that out loud felt like a dick move. Very much so.

You watched as he stood to his full height, hands gripping the railing tighter.

"It's not like that." His hands relaxed for a moment before gripping the metal below them again, his eyes going back to staring right through you, uncomfortably. Like you were a piece of glass.

"I understand if it is, I'm not everyone's exact cup of tea but being ignored kind of sucks, Simon." Simon pressed his lips together, mulling over your words. Simon was used to being ignored, used to being alone. But you made it abundantly clear that you were a people person, at least on the outside. You flourished with your friends, flourished with his... Friends.

"I understand."

"Again, I don't think you do. If you don't want to see me, I'm fine with that, we weren't really anything other than neighbours, y'know?" This, for some reason, caused a small pit in Simon's stomach. Why? He stood, silent for a moment, before he turned back to you, his eyes squinting slightly.

"It's not like that. Seriously. I'm just not..."

"A people person?"

"Exactly."

Silence hung in the air again, life from below your balconies being the only thing that kept you from thinking the world had, somehow, paused.

"Well..."

"Well?" Simon echoed you, eyebrows raised slightly.

"I would still like to get to know you, I really am interested in you." You admitted, suddenly feeling like you were being crushed under the mere weight of Simon's dark gaze.

You swallowed, he watched your throat bob, your eyes flicker away from him, then back to him.

Simon nodded, again, his eyes closing momentarily.

"You'll have to earn it." Your heart jumped up to your throat, your eyes widening.

"Really?" You exclaimed, in shock and utter disbelief. No way was he agreeing to this. You had to be dreaming.

"Don't make me change my mind."

___

I'm sorry for the late update. Like super late update. I've just really been interested in other fandoms and kinda put COD on the back burner. (But I would really love to write for JJK soon, im tied between Geto and Gojo, tbh. Might do a weird AU who knows, if you're interested let me know).

Thank you for reading. Mwah!