Clearer After Midnight Part 2
It was supposed to be a relaxing evening. Getting a bit of gossip on other units. That was till he saw a very drunk guy hitting on a girl in a clearly brand new outfit. She was probably new to this scene, just trying to get a taste of this type of life. Kyle swept in perfect, polite savior. She probably would not come around a place like this again after tonight if someone showed her the right night. Sweet things like her always just wanted the experience.
It was a good night. The girl seemed more than satisfied with the night, but then the phone rang at three am. Price was updating him on the situation over the phone while he was hastily getting dressed. He wasn't necessarily being quiet, but he also didn't want to wake the girl in his bed.
He was asking Price questions when a voice in his room answered instead of Price. Price completely stopped talking. "Sargent who is with you" Kyle turned slowly to his bed one leg in his pants. "I don't know sir. She gave me her name. It was real. I saw her ID but-"
Price was not happy with Kyle when he got there, but he made it back to the house before she left. Ironically, the information she blurted out was exactly what they needed to fix the situation.
Subtle questioning did not yield much information. She seemed completely unaware of him, even having received him the previous night. Luckily, she was open to more time together, so he could keep an eye on her without looking too suspicious.
He genuinely felt bad about leading her on to get more information on her. He found no military connections, even as important points in the relationship occurred, and he met various others in your life.
Still, there was no reason for a civilian to respond with such an answer as she had supplied that night. As he spent more time with her, he started to notice some things. For one, she always wears the same dress suit in different colors. Same shoes. Even when they are just hanging out at his house. It seems like she does not know or understand the concept of comfort clothes. Kyle buys a set of matching sweats to see if she will wear them around his place. She does.
No matter where he takes her on a date, she always seems to pick something in a certain price range, and unless he suggests something different, she will pick that same thing every time they go. Another thing he has noticed is that she will not watch TV unless he suggests it. Except on Sunday, when she is watching early morning documentaries. Eventually, he realizes he can put on any documentary, and she will magically appear at his side, zoned in.
That was when Kyle realized he was attached. He had put on a documentary about penguins with you cuddled into his side in matching pajamas. His theories about you began to shift from potential threat to someone who was some sort of neurodivergent. This was enforced pretty hard when he first saw that the spare room in your apartment was completely empty. The rest of the house was also rather empty. Barely passing as a used living space. His place does not look much better, but he is almost never home.
He knows that telling her about his relationship with the team may lead to her leaving, especially given how long he had let things go while he investigated her. He was in a hell of his own making. He was trying to figure out how to tell her when he got a call for a mission. He had to call off their date. She was so understanding of his work.
The mission went south. He called, thinking it would be his last call to her. Only she apparently answered in her sleep. She heard the machinery in the background and identified it. Her walking him and Soap step by step on how to disassemble something was what saved their lives.
Like before, she had no memory of the conversation. So Kyle began testing her. When she was awake, she either did not have access to the information or she was purposely not responding to his small prompts. However, if he said anything to her in a slightly panicked tone while she was asleep, she would answer. She was a walking encyclopedia and survival guide. At this point, Kyle was actively deciding to take advantage of the women he loves in order to keep the team he loves alive, and trying to hide the situation from both sides. All while the guilt eats him alive.
Over the course of a few months, Kyle had moved her into his home and trained her to answer the phone in her sleep. He knew it was wrong. He knew she would probably want to end things when she found out the full truth, but when they needed a specialist, as long as he called during her sleep time, they typically never had to call anyone else.
Time and time again, this saved his team. Still, his team's lives vs. His relationship with her. It eats at the corners of his mind. He decided the best thing to do for the time being was to keep his relationships a secret. He made sure to spoil her. He bought a nice ring. Did plenty of research on Pinterest. Looked into a meal service after he noticed how long she spent prepping her meals for the week. She seemed really happy about it. He would turn on a new documentary every time she came home from work and get cuddle time. He made sure to be helpful around the house. He would watch for when she struggled and buy her things to help. He noticed that she would not buy most things for herself at first. If he gifted something to her, it was as if she had received permission to have it. That being said, there were things she did not use that he had gifted to her, so she did form opinions. Kyle made a habit of getting her new gifts every time he came home or went to the store.
The team started to ask questions when he started avoiding getting marked up a few days before going home. Price had been the one to read the guilt. He could not justify what happened. He hated how they looked at him, but still, a decision like that was not one they had to make. So that night, they held him a little tighter.
It was not a secret anymore for the team, but it was not an easy topic either. Especially when she started asking about his team. It made sense of course for her to want to meet the men who fought beside him. It made sense that she wanted to know the men her boyfriend owed his life to. He did not expect his team to be so enthusiastic about meeting her. Soap especially had a fondness for her after the calls he had been a part of.
He tried so desperately to keep them apart, but he is just a man, and the puppy eyes were a work of the divine. Still, he struggled to explain that she was different. Naturally, his team was concerned about her just as he was when he first started noticing things. He tried to reassure them, but she kept just staring at them when no one was directly looking at her. They started coming around more and more. Baby steps Price told him. It took dozens of interactions for him to actually see her opening up. He had almost stopped the visits, worried about her getting overwhelmed.
Then one day, Soap came in after being reminded to behave by Simon and Price. Soap gave her a tired smile, and she giggled. A magical sound. Kyle never wants her to leave his arms. He feels the guilt curling in his stomach like a viper ready to strike.
@bubblyskootch @massivescissorsthingperson @lostintransist @spiderfly-tree-rat @little-mini-me-world @maxiipaddss @magicwriterinspo @lovetillost @lala-lxves-u @cc-is-here @doeionic (your profile picture is adorable by the way)
