apter 76: Penny
The Fantoma slem, slow, slow alone my bed. My eyes felline nach Made’s Jary spin i they’re tracing the thoughts I ren’t AEGYOLA Trad Thi be merning sun sneaks through the Minds in sliere acers the wall, warm puİ Hil
I should move. I should get up. Maybe text Mila. Maybe go over rehearsal notes again or start pic go to. But my limbs feel like lead. Heavy with all the things I’m trying not to feel.
wear to this party i don’t pub
There’s a knock. One knock, soft, almost prilite
“Come in,” Ill voice flat.
The door creaks, and 1 til my head just enough to see him–Asher, standing there in a plain black t–shirt and jeans, kes hooked aroved one finger
* need to grab a few things belone I head mit,” he says.
“Okay,” I reply, and look back up at the ceiling.
He doesn’t move sight away. I can feel him looking at me, even though I won’t look at him. Not yet.
He step
* closer. “May 17”
I glance over. He’s pointing at the bed.
My heart jumps a little. “Uh… yeah. Sure.”
which to the side, pressing myself closer to the wall, and he lies down on top of the blanket beside me, leaving just enough space between fer a whisper. One arm bent behind his head, the other resting across his stomach. His gaze follows mine–up, toward the slow–turning fan.
We’re quiet for a while. It’s not uncomfortable. Just quiet in that weird, almost reverent way. Like neither of us wants to be the first to breathe to loud.
Then I say,
classified and you’ll
you’ll have to kill me if you tell me?”
“Can I ask what your friend’s name is? Or is it like classified
His low chuckle vibrates the bed between us. “It’s Eric. But everyone calls him Rooster.”
I blink, “Why?”
He shales through his nose, a soft laugh. “We were deployed in Colombia once. Every morning, without fail, this insane rooster nest our camp would start rowing at like 3:30 am. Eric swore he’d kill it. So one day, he gets up shirtless and half–asleep and tries to chase the thing down. That rooster chased him. Full–on sprint across a field. We all woke up to h
him running like hell, yelling and swearing, with a bird at his heels,”
I snort. “No way”
I laugh into my arm, burying my face. “Please tell me someone got it on video.”
“Ch, these are videos. Every angle.”
When I finally stop laughing. I glance at him. “Do you have a nickname?”
“Yeah.”
He smirks still looking at the celling “Tank,”
My eyebrow go up. “Because you’re built like oneTM
E/L
Chapter 76: Penny
“No.” he says, “It’s short for anygen tank
I squint at him. “What?”
“I don’t need one,” he explains, “We do a lot of underwater missions. Most grys need
I don’t. I ran hold my breach longer than man
“Four minutes.” | say quietly.
He form to me, buw bed
“You said so, remember?” I explain
The nods, “Right. Yeah.”
“So you’re like, a literal tank.”
He lets out a soft laugh. “Well yeah. That too. But most of us are, rrally”
Itum on my side to look at him, eyes maming over his biceps, his shoulders, his everything. “No offense, but I doubt the rest of them look like this
He glances at me. “You don’t believe me?”
“Come to base someday”
“Maybe I will,”
Another beat of silence. Then I ask, “How does a forced leave work?”
He exhales slowly. “It’s when someone higher up–or medical–decides you need time, Mentally, physically, emotionally, Doesn’t matter. If they think you’re compromised, they pull you out.”
My heart tighten. “Is it permanent?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
| swallow. “Se… you’re going back?”
“obably.”
I stare at the blanket between. The threads blur a little. I blink fast.
The shifts his head to look at me. “But not for a while. They mandated six weeks. I’m only two in.”
I nod, not trusting my voice.
Then I ask, “Are you ever scared? When you’re out there?”
He’s quiet for a long time.
“Not really,” he says finally. “Not like people think. You don’t have time for fear. But sometimes… when things go side there’s a moment.”
1 nod, still watching him.
He continues only get scared. then you have something to lose. That’s why I keep may distance. Easier for everyone if something happens.”
And just like that, I’m crying.
2/3
Chapter 76: Penny
In sneaks up em me, just a few trims slipping quietly doses my cheek, striking into his hoodie, I wipe at my fare quickly, heging he doens’t we
But he does. Of court he does
He turns to me. “Hey,
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” I whisper
He watches me, his jaw light.
stalk like you’re disposable. Like people could just get over it if you if something happened”
“I don’t think anyone could just get on you,” I say,
His eyes meet mine then. Dark Steady. Something flickering beneath the naface.
“Would anyone make you scared to lose them?” I ask
He doesn’t answer right away. Just reaches out with that same thumb and brushes away another tear, slow and careful like always.
“Maybe,” he says, voice low
I don’t breathe.
He told my gaze for another second, then shifts, sitting up. He walks across the room, grabs a few things from the chair–wallet, phone, a hoodie–and pauses at the door.
– *I’ll see you later.”
I nod, all lying flat on the bed, eyes on the fan again.
He disappears behind the door with that same quiet grace he always moves with
And I stay there, with a heart that’s beating a little too fast and a tear still cooling on my cheek
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