INFECTIOUS [GHOSTXSOAP]

XXVIII. TOO CLOSE

WARNING - FLUFF

A/N ... I appreciate every single one of you who have stumbled upon this story of mine and would be absolutely grateful if you could leave a like or sneaky comment on this. It helps me know I'm on the right path but also keeps me motivated to write more stories like this.
Much love.

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It had taken Ghost nearly an hour to arrive at Soap's apartment.

The traffic had been worse than he thought, and each passing minute began to grate on him the longer it took. Hated making the omega wait, especially during his heat, when he had asked for Ghost to come over, to help.

But he spotted Soap's car, parked his bike up next to it and slipped inside, boots silent on the crappy wooden stairs, until he found the floor he needed, then the door, then paused.

What if he's asleep? Ain't got a key.

Nerves began to fire inside Ghost. Worry too. Feeling's he wasn't accustomed to. So unsure how to proceed, what would lay behind the door in front of him? How would he handle seeing Soap in such a pained state? Would the omegas scent drive him into a primal state? Would he lose himself and bond Soap? Would he fuck up?

And before he realised it, he'd been standing for 5 minutes, hands raised to the door, just staring at nothing, until a voice behind him had him jolting damn near out of his skin.

“Dear? Are you ok?”

Ghost spun, eyes searching the hallway, then down.

He'd been so lost in his head, he hadn't even heard or sensed the woman approach, her wrinkled skin and grey/ white hair and tiny frame had him relaxing, and internally cursing himself for letting someone get so close without him knowing.

She stared up at Ghost, eyes a little wide as she took in the mask, before she frowned and leant to the left a little, glancing at Soap's door, then gave one short little nod and looked back up at Ghost. “Friend of John's?” She asked, her voice soft, sweet.

Feeling caught out, Ghost nodded a little sheepishly. “Work colleague.” He tried to correct, though hated how the words sounded, felt odd and heavy on his tongue.

“Mmm. Well, whatever you may be, he's not having a grand ol’ time I must say.” The old lady said rather empathetically. “I'm Margaret by the way.” She introduced herself with a smile, then pulled a set of keys from her pocket. “John's neighbour.”

Ghost looked at the key's, then into Margaret's soft blue eyes. “Simon.” He gave up his name, sensing no threat from the old beta, and then turned slightly to Soap's door. “He asked me to come but…I realised I don't have keys an-”

“You don't wish to knock. I know dear.” Margaret smiled and moved around Ghost, hand shaking as she flipped through the keys, then slid one into Soap's door. “He let me know that some big masked man might come knocking.” She added, and Ghost nearly choked.

He what?!

“Sorry?!” Ghost choked, tried to sound unaffected. Knew he probably failed.

As Margaret unlocked Soap's door, she turned to Ghost, and that soft expression she'd been wearing hardened. “He's a good boy.” She said, pointing a wrinkly finger at Ghost, and to his surprise, the old beta, all 5 feet of her, made him feel more uneasy, than an entire pack of alpha's who were hunting him.

“I know ma'am.” He gulped, hands slowly raising in defence.

She narrowed her eyes at him, held his gaze for a beat, then dropped her hand, expression softening again. “Good. Look after him. If I hear otherwise, sonny boy, I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish.”