#and also sorry if that ending seems rushed! I was just so tired 😪

[captains-price]

SoapGaz New Years kiss for @gaz-garrick 🥳 making this my first post of 2023 to hopefully encourage me to get more writing done this year and the gay vibes are what I’m bringing into the new year! Happy new year y’all!

———

They didn’t get to celebrate it often. They celebrated it even less together.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to spend the new year on a mission, or to be so busy with life and death situations that it escaped their mind entirely.

On the chance they were actually on leave when New Year’s Eve rolled around, it was hardly ever at the same time as the other 141 members. And it was never all of them together.

That’s what made tonight so special.

They weren’t on leave, technically speaking. But they were on a break between missions as they waited for their next orders to come in and send them to whatever hostile territory they always seemed to get sent to.

But the difference was they were all doing this mission together, and it was 5 minutes until midnight, and that was the important thing, in Gaz’s opinion.

They didn’t have much in terms of decoration as it was an impromptu decision on Soap’s part, but one Gaz had been quick to agree to, and the rest of the team ended up getting dragged into it as well. Their spirit was contagious like that.

They had taken some paper they found in the base they were staying at and written ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR 141’ so large that each letter took up a single page. Price had informed them where they could find some alcohol(it seemed like he had a stash in every base they stayed at but they chose not to question it), and they had all been sipping on it throughout the night. Not enough to get them drunk or stupid, but enough to loosen them up and make their smiles come a little easier.

Alejandro and Rudy had tagged along on the mission early on, and Alejandro’s loud voice carried through the room as he regaled some story to Farah and Alex who were brought in upon arriving at the base for reinforcements. If he was being honest, Gaz had lost the plot of the story 3 non-sequiturs ago but Alejandro’s enthusiasm kept the others entertained.

Ghost and Price were keeping each other entertained with what Gaz assumed was small talk, but it was hard to make out from the corner they had huddled themselves in. Price was smoking a cigar and Ghost had a glass of champagne. His mask was still on his face and Gaz would have thought the glass was just for show but every time he looked back, it was more empty so he figured he was somehow drinking it when no one was looking.

Even Laswell, who unfortunately couldn’t be there, had called and wished them a happy new year and informed them she’d be enjoying some quality time with her wife in this downtime. They all wished her well and sent her on her way.

Gaz felt a wave of fondness start small in his heart and expand through his chest as he watched his closest friends and family chat and mingle together in a moment of genuine happiness. Moments like this were rare for them.

All that’s missing was-

“We put on quite the party, don’t we?” He heard from his side, and when he turned to look, he saw the very man he had just been searching for.

Soap was staring straight ahead at the same scene he had just been looking at. His face was relaxed, more relaxed than Gaz could remember it being for a while. There was an easy upturn to his lips, no doubt feeling just as fond of the rest of the team as he had been.

When he turned to look at Gaz instead with a raised brow and smile so soft that it nearly took his breath away, he realized he still had yet to answer the other man.

“That-that we do.” Gaz said, coughing into his fist to hide his newfound awkwardness. Soap’s smile turned knowing and Gaz felt his lips purse before he was smiling too.

They held each others gaze for a moment before they were laughing, clinking their glasses of imported champagne over something even they couldn’t verbalize.

From there, they were content to stand next to each other in comfortable silence, once again watching their teammates that they’ve come to care so deeply about. It just passed 11:59 when Soap spoke again.

“We should do this more often, Gaz.”

“What’s that, Soap?” Gaz responded quickly, because now that the clock was ticking down, everyone was getting more restless and things were going to pop off soon. “The party? It’s hard to get together like this. This was a miracle enough as is.”

Soap was silent for just a moment longer. “I meant you and me.” Gaz’s head snapped so quickly to look at the sergeant, he swore he heard something pop. It was hard to tell in the dimly lit room, but he swore he saw a warmth to Soap’s cheeks that hadn’t been there before. “We should get together more. Just us. Y’know, away from it all.” Everyone else was still talking together, but at that moment, Gaz only heard Soap.

30 seconds left.

“Soap,” Gaz started, but he was unsure of how to progress. The words didn’t form, and even if they could, there wouldn’t be ones to express what he was feeling in that moment. Instead, as was usually the case, he let his actions speak louder than words.

Carefully, he turned to face Soap fully, and Soap turned towards him when his attention was grabbed. Gaz reached out and took hold of the glass in the other man’s hand. Their fingers brushed as he took it from him, and placed it and his own glass on a nearby table. Soap watched him the whole time with the same intensity he always had. Hyper focused and meticulous. It made Gaz’s skin tingle.

He took a step forward, and another when Soap made no qualms about it. He enjoyed the way Soap’s neck had to crane back to maintain eye contact. Soon, they were chest to chest. 10 seconds left. Everyone else began counting.

“10.”

“You know, Soap. I’ve never had a New Year’s kiss.”

“9.”

Soap looked at him with mild surprise before it was schooled by another smile that only Soap probably knew how to do.

“8.”

“Really? That’s tragic, mate. We cannae have that, now can we?”

“7.”

“Care to help me out with it, then?”

“6.”

Soap’s fingers came up to brush against Gaz’s ribs, gently pulling him closer.

“5.”

“I’ll certainly see what I can do.”

“4.”

Gaz rested his hands on Soap’s arms, feeling the well-trained muscle there. Gaz had seen Soap choke out and snap a man’s neck with those same arms.

“3.”

They were leaning closer together now. Soap’s eyes shut slowly, like he needed to drink in every second of Gaz’s face as possible. Gaz’s own eyes started to slide shut.

“2.”

Gaz felt warm breath intertwine with his a second before he felt what followed after it.

“1.”

Anything else they had to say fell away as Gaz leaned down at the same time that Soap pushed up. The kiss was soft, and gentle. Their lips fit together like they were made for it, and they moved in perfect tandem together. They knew each others moves as well now as they did on the battlefield.

It only took one of them tilting their head to deepen the kiss for Gaz to realize he could very easily get addicted to having Soap like this. He didn’t even care that they had an audience.

An audience, which he had been happy to forget about until one of them whistled loud and low. Gaz would have ignored that too, but then Alex was shouting “Get a room, you two!” and Gaz decided he could at least benefit from oxygen again if he was going to keep getting interrupted like this.

They pulled away from each other, and Soap’s half-lidded eyes were so mesmerizing they made Gaz want to kiss him again. He even started to lean forward to do that very thing but then Soap was turning away from him to look back at the team.

“Will you lot mind yer business? We were having a moment here!” He shouted at them, but that blissful smile on his face proved he wasn’t terribly upset with them.

“Yeah, we could all see your moment. That’s the problem.” Ghost chimed in. Soap, of course, wasn’t going to take that.

“Well look away then, ay? Then there won’t be a problem.” He retorted. Gaz heard other voices pop in with their thoughts and the room was filled with chatter again.

He didn’t listen too much. Instead, he leaned down and pecked Soap’s cheek, causing the other man to freeze mid rant and look back at him. They shared another intimate smile and wrapped each other closer in their arms, already leaning closer for more.

“Happy New Year, Kyle.”

“Happy New Year, Johnny.”