just another monday // seven.
One punch is all Soap manages to land before Daniels' stumbles back.
He falls flat on his back onto the pub's sticky floor, his own drink spilling onto him. He watches as Daniels' grimaces and holds onto his jaw. Their eyes meet and Daniels' looks confused, he says something to Soap, but it doesn't register. Soap can hear gasps and shouts—even cheers— from the people now surrounding him, but they all sound so far away. Muffled. As if he's underwater. He's not thinking about anyone else, not focused on anything else. Only the next punch he wants to throw.
He takes a step forward, but he's shoved off to the side by a trio of young women who flock to Daniels' side. They crouch down beside him, cooing at him and helping him up. Soap turns to his left and he squints at the bright light of several phone flashes now being shoved in his face. He turns to his right and he's met with your face.
You're looking at him with wide watery eyes, your mouth parted in disbelief. The anger, jealousy and adrenaline all flood out at him once he sees how scared you look. It makes him uncurl his fist, drop his shoulders and unclench his jaw. Trying to make himself smaller—approachable. He must look deranged to you. Sweaty and drunk with a bruised nose and red knuckles.
He takes a step forward in your direction, but you take a step back. You shake your head and turn around, squeezing through the crowd towards the exit. He follows after you, shouldering his way through the crowd, his eyes never straying from the back of your head. He can hear Gaz's voice calling out to him from behind, but he doesn't stop.
He's at your heels, not even giving you the chance to push open the door before he reaches for you and grabs your elbow. You spin around, your face now twisted in anger. You try yanking and twisting your arm free, but he only tighten his hold as he leads you down a hallway to the left—straight to the men's restroom. He doesn't know where he's going, he should've probably taken you to the women's restroom, but he's not thinking clearly right now.
All he wants to do is get you alone. To explain himself. To apologize for scaring you. To apologize again for manhandling you into this dingy pub bathroom.
"Let go!" You fight him every step of the way, your free hand now smacking at his bicep.
He doesn't loosen his grip as he pushes open the bathroom door and ushers you inside. It's a single stall bathroom, just big enough for the both of you. Once you're both inside he lets go of your elbow and you dart away from him and go to stand near the sink.
He call feel the heat of your gaze on the back of his head when he locks the door. He turns to look at you and all the long overdue explanations and apologizes he planned on saying to you—the ones he's been dying to tell you ever since he saw you working outside his Captain's office just evaporate. His mind goes blank.
Your arms are tightly crossed, he can see how hard you're pressing your fingertips into the crook of your elbows. You're scowling at him, your eyes still shimmering with un-shed angry tears. He can't think much of anything except for how beautiful you look right now.
You're dressed in a little frilly white top and black jeans. A stark contrast to what he usually sees you in now. But, it looks so familiar. It's how you used to dress when the both of you would go out. He remembers how you used to model your clothes for him, asking for his input. He would tell you how beautiful you looked and that would draw out the biggest smile from you every time.
He wants to see it again.
He knows he should say something; that he has to say something. He doesn't know what. Well, he does know what he wants to say—what he knows he's supposed to say and what you're owed, but he's not sure how to say it.
How does he tell you that he regrets sending that message? How does he tell you that he wished he could take it all back? How does he tell you that he hadn't stopped thinking of you—that he hadn't stopped dreaming of you? How does he tell you that it kills him to see you with Daniels? That it hurts—that it burns— when he thinks of you with another man.
How does he tell you that he wants you back? That he wants to try again.
"What the fuck is your problem?" The bite in your voice jolts him back.
He doesn't respond, he just blinks at you.
"How much have you had to drink?" You take a single step towards him, uncrossing your arms. "Eight? Nine? Ten beers?"
Soap shakes his head, "…'m not tha' pissed."
"Oh, right," you scoff, you take another step closer. "I'm sure you're stone-cold sober, yeah. You just go around assaulting people for fun, huh?"
Soap draws out a long exhale, bringing his hand up to swipe at his sweaty brow. He's not exactly drunk. but he isn't exactly sober either. It wasn't the alcohol that made him punch Daniels'. It was only a matter of time, really. He just didn't have a good enough reason to do it; until tonight that is. The way he was looking at you, how he was smiling at you, how he hung on your every word. How close he was to you. It made him see red.
"Thought he was…thought he was someone else," he mumbles, choosing to lie to you isn't the smartest choice (he knows you'll figure him out), but he's already in deep shit with you.
You frown, "Someone else?"
"Yeah. Isn't he s'pose to be…out training or somethin'?"
He raises his brow, feigning interest. "Cancelled? Why's tha'?"
"Stop." You snap at him. "Stop changing the subject. We're not talking about Liam."
Soap holds back a scoff at your use of Daniels' first name. He knows that will only piss you off even more and he doesn't want to risk you giving him the cold-shoulder, not now.
"What the fuck is your problem?" You ask again, you take a final step closer to him. Angling your head up to lock eyes with him. The tips of your flats almost touching the tips of his sneakers. "Why would you do that? The fuck is wrong with you?"
You're so close. Too close. When was the last time you were this close to him? He can't remember. All he sees is you. All he can smell is you. The sweet familiar smell of you, how it swirls around him and intoxicates him. Having you this close makes it hard for him to speak. Hard for him to think.
He plants one large hand on your hip, the other curves to hold onto the back of your neck. He pulls you closer, closing the inches of space between the both of you.
And he presses his lips to yours.
part eight. // masterlist