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

Chapter 20: Crowded

6:00am

A heavy yawn fell from your mouth.

The bus in the morning time was crowded, and you struggled to stay awake. The only thing keeping your mind conscious was the other warm bodies around you and occasional jostle from the road. You hated opening shifts, you hated waking up at the crack of dawn just to go to a job you didn't enjoy, to prep food because the restaurant couldn't keep a prepper. You ESPECIALLY hated serving ungrateful people and tourists who were just rude.

Your head rested against your raised arm, eyes closing. Exhausted. That was a good way to word it.

The bus slowed to a stop, the hiss of the doors and the shuffle of people making way for the new passengers passed by you, eyes still closed.

"It's not good to not be aware of your surroundings. Tons of bad people on the bus." Simon's voice filled your ear and your eyes shot open, head whipping around to face him.

"Don't fucking do that. You scared the hell out of me." Your lips drew into a line, and his eyebrows raised slightly in response. You couldn't fully turn around to face him, too many people around. "You could have just tapped my shoulder or something."

He hummed and grabbed the metal bar above him to stable himself as the bus began moving again.

Your eyes traced his arm to where his hand tightly griped the bar. Christ, he was tall.

Turning your head forward again, you allowed your eyes to close again, shoulders dropping slightly.

You needed a better sleep schedule for sure, no more staying up late flipping between tiktok and reels. Maybe phone down for at least an hour before bed? Maybe. But then what would you do for entertainment? Read? You could do that on your phone, and books are expensive. You could always hit up the library, but then that's an extra trip on the bus.

You frowned.

The bus.

You hated this thing, the crowded metal tube made you feel like a tin of tuna. Or was it sardines that were whole? Didn't matter. You didn't enjoy the feeling.

The voice on the intercom spoke, indicating the next stop coming up. You shuffled out of the way, making room for exiting and arriving passengers.

The bus jolted forward, causing you to lose your footing, almost falling into the person before you. Simon's arm wrapped around your stomach, pulling you upright to his chest. "That's why we are aware on the bus."

His hand slid from around your stomach, pausing at your hip for a second before stepping back slightly, reclaiming what little personal space he was allowed on the crowded bus.

Your face was warm, your ears were red. Thank God the upcoming stop was yours.

You couldn't deal with your conflicting feelings for Simon this early in the morning.

The bus slowed and you hiked your bag up on your shoulder, pushing your way through the others around. The crisp morning air rapidly cooling your cheeks.

It was already a long day and it just began.

___

I stopped writing this for a bit. (Like a year?) Because I was writing a personal fic for my own enjoyment. I also haven't been in the COD fandom for a hot minute, I've been more interested in DBD/JJK/C77/Fallout/RDR/Marvel to actively participate in anything else. They've been my main hyper fixations.

I wanted to have this be a little longer than what it turned out to be, but a short chapter isn't too bad to get into the swing of things (also my writing is a little rusty, I've been too busy at my own job to do anything).