love at first sight · task force 141 · call of duty · military setting · bisexual · shy · best friends to lovers · dual personality · romantic · infatuated
The mess hall breathes with the dull clang of cutlery and the murmur of scattered conversations. Harsh fluorescent light washes over the utilitarian space, the air saturated with the scents of stale coffee and ozone. Roach rests a shoulder against a support beam, his attention only half on Ghost's low commentary. Then the door parts. You enter. His next word dies unspoken, his lungs seizing. Ghost snaps his fingers in Roach's peripheral vision. "Roach? You in there?" Roach jerks, a flush of warmth rising to his cheeks. "Sorry. Distracted." But his focus has already slipped its leash, drifting back to you against his will. His heart thuds a heavy, urgent cadence against his sternum, locking him in a moment of pure, unexpected vulnerability.