Told

Ashley's POV

I sighed, letting all my anger go before entering the med bay. He was laying on his bed with Joshua, Alfred, Mina, Thomas and Milo in the room.

"Can you give the two of us some time?" I asked

They all nodded and left leaving me and Damion alone.

"Hey." whispered Damion

I took a seat next to him.

"How are you feeling?" I asked

"I'm fine, my face just slightly hurts." replied Damion

"Damion, you didn't have to protect me." I said

Damion shook his head.

"Please, don't say that." said Damion, "We both know you needed help."

"Yea, you're right." I sighed, "Thanks."

Damion looked at me then away.

"Ashley..." he whispered

Even though he was looking away I could see tears coming out from his eye.

"What am I to you?" asked Damion

"A friend and comrade." I replied

Damion nodded and he let out a broken sigh.

"I see... that's it huh." whispered Damion

He turned a bit so that his back was now facing me.

"Damion, what's wrong?" I asked

Damion doesn't respond.

"Damion, answer my question." I said raising my voice a bit

"Nothing's wrong, my eyes just feel droopy." said Damion

"Stop lying." I said

Damion shook his head.

"I'm not lying, I'm fine." he said

I sighed and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Damion, I know you like me." I said

Damion slightly moves his head in response.

"Everyone does." I said

Damion doesn't respond.

"Answer me." I pressured him

"I did like you. For 8 years." replied Damion

He looked at me with teary eyes.

"I don't know about you but you don't know what it's like to have someone you loved for 8 years like someone else." said Damion

He looked away.

"I rather just face the fact that I was never good for you." said Damion

"Since when did I ever say that?" I asked

"You didn't, I just know." replied Damion, "Face the facts, Keegan was better than me in so many things."

"Damion, that's not the reason why I like him." I said, "It's because of his personality."

"Also proves that I'm not fit." said Damion

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it." I snapped

Damion nodded.

"I'm sorry Damion." I said

"No need to be sorry. I understand." replied Damion

I looked at Damion and I felt bad so I leaned in and hugged him before getting up and leaving. I got up to a dock which looked over the sea as we headed to America.

"I guess I'm going to revisit Keegan's grave." I sighed

I watched as Lehman and Vanessa were talking to each other.

"Lehman and Vanessa are close."

I turned and saw Brooks standing there with me.

"Of course since their parents are close." I said

"Hey Ashley."

I turned and looked at Brooks.

"Why won't you give Damion a chance?" he asked

"It's not that I'm not giving him, I'm just not feeling it." I said

"He's trying his best to get his chance." said Brooks

"I want to give him a chance." I said

"You just can't seem to find the space in your heart to do that because of Keegan." said Brooks

"No... I got over him." I sighed

"You're lying." said Brooks

"I never lie about my feelings." I said

Brooks nodded in agreement.

"I guess." sighed Brooks

"Damion, is a good guy." I sighed

"He is." Brooks agreed, "He's always there for you."

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Have you not noticed?" asked Brooks, "Whenever you were sad, it was always Damion who came to help you."

I thought about it and I slowly started to remember.

"Damion was always there, making you smile and happy like no one else ever did for you." said Brooks, "It must hurt a lot for him knowing that you never seemed to have acknowledged that."

"I want him to be happy, not sad." I said

I replayed all the times we had during our childhood in my head. All the laughs and cries we had together, all the times we held each other's hands so that we could help each other. But whenever I thought about it, it was hard to even remember a time I had fun with Keegan. He was always either talking about his dad or how he'll be the greatest soldier there is.

I shook my head realizing how much I neglected Damion over the past years we've been together. I sighed and I decided to talk to Damion again so I left to head over to the med bay. Damion was always there, not Keegan. He did care about me but it was nothing compared to how much Damion cared for me. I groaned realizing I was the shitty person for not realizing someone's feelings, not Damion.

I entered the med bay again and I saw Damion still laying on the bed there. He was sleeping and I saw tear stains on his face and pillow. Realizing that he must have cried to sleep I felt guilty and I felt a bit loved for that. Damion went out of his way for me yet I never acknowledged it.

I kneeled in towards his face and smiled a bit. I never realized how good looking he was as a man. Back then, he wasn't really attractive so I never really observed him carefully until now. I slowly leaned in and pressed my lips against his lips.

'I'll lend you my first kiss Damion.'

His soft lips were so addicting that I kept kissing him that I didn't realize that Damion was awake. I opened my eyes and he was staring into my soul. He looked shocked and so confused but I just continued kissing him. Damion didn't know what was going on but he kissed but a bit, going slow. After about five minutes of kissing we slowly parted and he was blushing and my cheeks were burning.

"I'm sorry Damion, I neglected you too much." I said

Damion didn't reply, he was too shook to even think.

"I never realized that I loved you." I said, "I never was able to see it and acknowledge it."

Damion opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"Shh you don't have to say anything." I said

I kissed him again.

'I'll devote my life to you.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 hours later

Reaper's POV

"And boom he knocked him out in one punch." explained Astra

"That's nice." I said

Doc just scratched the back of his neck.

"I mean it wasn't such a huge feat." said Doc

"You're so humble?" said Specter

"It's okay to boast sometimes." said Bullseye

"Yea but that's not my thing." replied Doc

"So modest for what?" teased Specter

"Exactly loosen up my guy." said Dynamite

"I am loosened up." replied Doc, "I'm just you know..."

"No I don't know." replied Dynamite

"Hey hey Kraken is here." said Astra

I got up and Kraken approached us.

"A platoon of Eldians are coming here for some information about Prophet." said Kraken

"When will they be here?" I asked

"I don't know." replied Kraken, "But for now, you guys can have some break."

"We can leave base?" asked Dynamite

"If you want to." said Kraken, "You're all dismissed."

"Y'all want to grab something?" asked Astra

"Nah I'm hella tired, I'm going to take a nap." said Bullseye

"I'm going to take my time and talk with my dad." said Specter

"I'm going to grab something to eat." said Dynamite, "You coming Tower?"

He grunted and left, leaving me and Doc.

"Want to go train?" I asked

"On a break? I don't know, I'm kind of tired." said Doc, "I might want to take a nap."

"Oh okay." I replied slightly feeling disappointed

"But I can use a coffee. Want to uhh come with me?" he asked a bit shyly

My heart fluttered and I smiled.

"I'd love to." I said

He nodded and we made our way to the cafeteria while talking about high school. We made our coffee and found a private area to talk.

"So once I graduated high school I left for boot camp with the others." said Doc

"How was high school? You went to a high school in DC." I asked

"It wasn't bad, would have been uhh a lot more entertaining with you around." said Doc

I took off my mask and took a sip from my coffee.

"Yeah, we always walked home together in elementary and middle school." I said

He takes off his mask as well and his facial expression looks pretty, upset.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"I was just thinking about something." sighed Doc

"About Keegan?" I guessed

He nodded and held his coffee.

"Those times, where we walked home together were nice." said Doc

"They were." I agreed

"I want to... go down that same memory lane. The three of us walking down the street." said Doc

"Yea and that small wooden bridge we always crossed to get over that small stream of water." I said

"We always stopped there to play in that small stream." said Doc

"You would always fall in by accident and then get scolded by your mom." I added

We both laughed a bit from remembering that time.

"Remember when we stayed there for too long that our parents came looking for us. But when they found us, they just watched us continue to play in the distance?" asked Doc

"I remember that day clearly. It was the last day you were with us." I said, "It was like a celebration for your dad and a goodbye to you."

"Yea it was." sighed Doc, "But remember your dad's face?"

"My father's face?" I questioned

"He was smiling the whole time watching us play." said Doc

I looked into his eyes with a bit of confusion, not remembering him smiling.

"I guess... I guess he smiled because..." I trailed off

"Because of what?" asked Doc

"Because your father was happy you guys were experiencing something he never did." said a familiar voice behind me

I got up with Doc and saluted Lieutenant Colonel Kit.

"As you were." he said

He also had a cup of coffee and took a seat.

"Your father smiled that day because he was happy to see you three enjoying life." said Kit, "Even after losing Eren a few months back."

"Right... that's probably why he smiled." I said, "He never experienced a... happy childhood."

"I wouldn't say he didn't. He did live his life even after his parent's death he just never... lived a normal one after that." said Kit

I took a sip of my coffee.

"Sir, I have a question." I said

"About your father?" he asked

I nodded.

"Why would he never talk about his time with Ghost team 116?" I asked

Kit sighed and put down his cup of coffee.

"Because in reality... your father doesn't want to retrace those memories." said Kit

My eyes slightly widened.

"He did get along and they had a close bond but your father... would be considered a lone wolf. He had his moments with them but the bad ones always overtook the good ones." said Kit, "Did your father ever talk about his love life with your mom to you?"

"Hardly, all I know is that they met during bootcamp." I replied

"Your mother rejected your father multiple times. She even lied to him saying that she loved someone else even though in reality, she loved him but wouldn't admit it plus she thought she would never see him again since they both want to join different spec ops." said Kit

Doc's eyes slightly widened and he looked at me.

"I know, it was cruel." said Kit

He looked into his cup of coffee.

"That's when your father became suicidal. Your father would accidentally cut himself without realizing it. That's how bad his mental state was even before his first mission where it took a drastic turn in his life." said Kit

"How did they get together then?" I asked

"They didn't at first, your mother finally confessed but at that point your father didn't have any room to love anyone at that time. He would exclude himself from her until one day, I don't know what happened but they got together." said Kit

"Why did he ignore my mom?" I asked

"He wanted to distance herself from her because he was aware that he was not going to live long enough. So in order for her to let go of him, he had to make the distance between them big enough so that she can forget about him." said Kit

I sighed in confusion, I didn't know anything about this and I didn't think it would be this bad. But then suddenly a loud siren began to blare and alarms began to flash red.

"We're under attack! I repeat we are under attack! All personnel report to your station now!" yelled a voice over the loudspeaker

"What the fuck? Reaper! Doc! On me!" yelled Kit

We put on our masks and bolted after Kit.

"It's fucking titans! Titans are in the perimeter!" yelled a voice over the loudspeaker, "It's him! The Prophet is here!"