Rookie's POV
Gerard sits next to me.
"Alright, let's see." he says, slowly removing the bandage. I wince and look away.
"Is it bad?" I ask.
"Well, the good news is, you didn't get shot, but I'm gonna have to amputate your arm." he says.
"What? No!" I say.
"I know, I'm just messin'. You're fine, it's only a scrape. If you're gonna be a killjoy you gotta be able to take some bumps and bruises. I'll fix you up, you're still bleedin',which is weird." he says as he examines my arm.
He takes a canteen of water and cleans the scrape. I flinch, it stings, but his company keeps me calm. If Frank were doing this, heck, I'd be screaming.
Gerard wraps the bandage around my arm. "There, all done." he says.
"So, tell me, if it's not too much for you, could you tell me what happened to your folks?" Gerard asks quietly.
"No, no. It's fine, I just... I just never really told anyone the story. I was six. We were living in this little house in the middle if the desert. Frank and I, we were running around being little kids, and we saw a BLI guy. Frank went up to him and said 'I don't like you.' The guy was like, okay, it's just a little rebel kid, I'll leave him alone. The guy said 'why's that?', and Frank replied 'because my parents are running from you.' the guy says 'oh really, who are your parents?' Frank realized what he did so he took my hand and ran to our house to hide. Bad idea. Our parents were wanted, just as wanted as we are now. Frank and I hid in a closet and watched the whole thing through a crack in the door. It really was the first gunfight we'd ever seen. First-" I sniffle "First my mom went down. Frank and I were sure they were going to win, but then this happened. I didn't see the rest. Frank covered my eyes, but I heard my dad go down. We were in shock. We stayed there for around 15 minutes. Then I smelled smoke. I opened the door abd saw the whole house was on fire, BLI's way of getting rid of the kids. We ran out the house, safe, but after that my brother was never the same..." I let a tear fall down my face.
Gerard inches closer. "They got mine too y'know. Ghosted. Gone. Outta here. But that never stopped me. I kept runnin'. Like they did."
Suddenly I throw my arms around him and cry into his shoulder.
I look up and see a tear run down his cheek.
We wipe our eyes and I lay down on the ground, looking up at the stars.
"Y'know, you're the first person I've told that too." I say, my eyes fixated on the illuminated sky.
"Honored." He smiles.
I don't know what came over me, but I sit up and look at him "You know what else Gerard?"
"What?" He turns to look at me.
"I-I uh, I...."
Just say it Rookie: 'I love you'.
Three. Simple. Words.
That's it.
Simple.
Just say it!
"You ok Rook'?" He asks, his face filled with concern.
I quickly change my expression from deep in thought to happy.
"Oh... Heh... Yeah. I just uh, blanked out. Sorry Gee." I blush.
"Ok, just making sure."
"Yeah.. Well goodnight."
He kisses my cheek, only increasing the blush on my face "Night Rookie."
Oh I wish I could just tell him already.
