Midnight River

Scotch

Soap's pov
Song inspo Crash My Car by Coin

I was surprised when she asked me if I wanted to get a drink with her. The conversation had been simple before, not unfriendly but I could see I'd on her face and in her eyes; she wasn't the type of person to ask random strangers to the bar.

Gemma. It was a pretty name, though not as pretty as she was. When she'd taken her hair out of the bun it had been in it had fallen around her shoulders and face in waves, probably both from being tied up and the rain. It should have been illegal to be that naturally stunning.

And she drove a motorcycle? Safe to say I was intrigued, even more so by the tired and dark look in her bi colored eyes.

So, despite feeling like I wasn't her type of person, there we were in my car on the way to the bar. It wasn't far, a few minutes drive and we'd only gotten more soaked on the walk to the parking lot. It didn't seem like the rain was going to let up anytime soon.

I pulled up to the front of the bar to let her out as close as possible before I went to go park and she turned to look at me before climbing out and hurrying over to stand under the awning to wait.

"What's that saying Americans use when it's like this?" I asked her once I caught up and we headed inside.

"It's raining cats and dogs?" She answered, unsure, as she looked back at me as we made our way to the bar.

"Yea thats it. Daft." I muttered with a light laugh.

"And what do Scots say?" Gemma asked then as she shrugged off her wet jacket and set it on the barstool to her left as she took a seat. I did the same, sitting beside her.

"It's pishin' it doon." I answered her with a smirk.

"Yea, cause that makes much more sense to me." She said with a laugh. She didn't look like the type of person that laughed much, but I liked the sound of it. "A scotch for both of us, neat." She ordered when the bartender came over.

"Ah, so you've got taste then." I muttered, watching as the drinks were prepared for us.

"I'm just not picky." She corrected, bringing the glass to her lips once it was placed in front of her. I let my eyes move over her while she wasn't paying attention. The way her jeans hugged her tightly, one foot bouncing on where it rested on the stool support.

I wanted to know more about her, I was curious though I had a feeling she'd rather not share. I wasn't the type of person to not try anyway.

"So what's your deal then?" I asked lightly, resting my forearms against the edge of the bar as my gaze returned to her face. She cocked a brow at my question and eyed me back for a moment.

"My deal?"

"Yea, I mean, how'd you end up here?"

"Hmm." She hummed back, taking her time to think about if she wanted to answer or not. My eyes couldn't help but find her lips when she pursed them together in thought.

"My dad was in the military, a marine. He died shortly after I got out of college. I decided to travel, came here, fell in love, never left." She answered, keeping it simple.

"Oh." I muttered, not exactly sure on how to respond. I felt bad about her father, but in my experience with loss a 'sorry' was hardly what people wanted to hear. It was the her falling in love that surprised me a bit, along with maybe a hint of disappointment.

"You sound disappointed." She laughed, sipping her drink again. Was I that easy to read? I felt my neck warm at the correct accusation. We'd only just met, but I had been curious to know her more already. Something in those eyes. I somehow managed to surround myself with people with sad eyes; Ghost, Senna, sometimes Price.

"He died too, during a mission." She said with a sigh. Was that why she did what she did? It was a respectable reason.

"I'm sorry." I said instinctively, despite my previous thoughts.

"Don't be, it's something people like us are used to isn't it?" She looked at me then and I wondered if she was searching to see if I'd gone through things like she had. I'd lost people too.

"But keep that disappointment," she warned. "This is a one time thing."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I don't make friends or anything else with soldiers. You were just a convenient distraction" Ouch but at least she was honest. I wasn't sure that would stop me.

I couldn't be surprised, it took a special kind of person to want to hold on to someone when you could never know if they were going to continue making it home to you. In a way that's why I knew Senna and Ghost worked so well, they were alike.

I had a feeling Gemma and I were quite different.

"I don't know about that, I'm quite good at forcing my friendship on people." I replied with a smirk.

"You sure smile more than the rest." She muttered, more to herself but it made me smile more. "Yea like that, stop it." Gemma added then, downing the rest of her drink and I did the same before waving the bartender over for a refill.

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm a curious person." I told her.

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm boring. You know the basics already, isn't much more to me than that."

"Pretty sure that's a lie." Her gaze met mine as I spoke and when it did I knew it was a lie. I could feel that there was so much more to her.

"Let's play a game." She said then, turning on her stool to face me, bringing her drink in her hand with her so I did the same.

"What's that?" I asked

"Never have I ever."