#it's also like...if i can't tap my fingers together an equal number of times on both sides i feel rly anxious

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 26

Schedule another appointment... (I guess)

The road so far

Previous Chapter : Off the Grid

Thanks @smokeywhalee for the second variation ❤️

What's Behind Door Number Two

Francine "France" Winters

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

Francine never knew this about John MacTavish. He was sure full of surprises behind that arrogant smirk of his. No wonder he oozes confidence. He was a man raised to be proud of himself.

While Gary was all talking about which rooms were occupied, Francine diverted her focus elsewhere. He didn't understand any word he said, instead she looked intently at all the pictures on the wall, the furniture on each hallway and the design of the house. This was the house that raised one John MacTavish. It was beautiful, each photo on the wall described how happy his family was. Each of his achievements were plastered on a grand hall along with trophies, certificates and plaques of his parents. Francine's curiosity toward the man that he wanted to learn more about, was all answered in this house. How much more intel would she get if she gets a glance of his room?

She shook off the ideas scrambling on her mind once she imagined what's inside John's room and how she could get access to it. It was far too early for those thoughts.

"See something ya like?" A mental image of John sprawled across the bed wearing just his boxers assaulted her mind. She felt her cheeks fluster as the mental image continued to play inside her mind.

Maxine nudged her and she completely shook off the memory and immediately nodded, not knowing what she agreed to do. Then it dawned on her. They'll be sharing the same room.

Gary exchanged a few words with Samantha where it involved a little sophisticated exchange. Maxine laughed at it while she proceeded to their room. France whispered that she'll be using the bathroom and quietly excused herself.

Price and Jack, together with Nikolai were gathered around the huge tv in the living room. They were intently watching news clips regarding the culmination of Nero's New York Assault.

"Excuse me, Captain? Where's the bathroom?" She asked, Price didn't turn but pointed toward a hallway. She immediately said her thanks and proceeded to the direction of Price's finger.

There were a lot of doors and France opened them one by one. One consisted of the study, an equally spacious place filled with books. Another one led to a downstairs gym. She was getting tired of opening the wrong doors and she decided to climb up the stairs and check on another door.

She hesitated opening it as it looked far too fancy to just be a bathroom door, but judging from the overall appeal of the house, anything was possible.

She turned the knob and pushed the door wide open revealing a huge navy blue walled room. Posters, flags and paraphernalia of football clubs were hung around the walls along with some notable paintings of scenic landscapes, all coloured and appealing to the eyes.

Her eyes slowly trailed down and turned to the door as it swung open, a very naked John MacTavish emerged from the bathroom door. It was all too late, he didn't even notice it but as soon as she squealed in surprise, John automatically turned and ran to the bed, quickly wrapping himself with his black bathrobe.

"What are you doing here?!" Was all he could ask. France could see him from the hole she made in between her fingers while her hand covered her face.

"I'm sorry, John. I was uh… looking for the bathroom..." she muttered, slowly closing the door, leaving her head peeking.

"The room to the far end of the left hallway." he muttered. He didn't sound mad, but she could sense shock in his voice. Who wouldn't be?

"I'm sorry." She slowly closed the door and paced to the bathroom, trying to forget anything that happened after opening that door.

With Ghost around, Francine sat beside Maxine, who now knows about the situation. She told Roach that she needed to bond with her sister and the considerate guy agreed to temporarily switch places.

Dinner was very awkward for Francine. After that event earlier, she couldn't look at John in the eye and if by chance she accidentally did, the mental image which was now no longer a figment of her imagination, kept reappearing. She couldn't help it, she was already admiring the man.

"I'd like to propose a toast." Price stood up and raised his glass of water. Everyone else seemed okay with the motion and followed.

"But before that I'd like to thank Soap for letting us stay in this wonderful home. Please extend our appreciation to your family."

France's eyes trailed carefully toward John as he nodded and replied, averting her gaze as soon as his eyes moved.

"Will do, Captain. And please, don't be shy and feel at home." he said, his voice mixed with the accent made France's heart skip a little as she loved that about him.

"Now for my toast… 'To apprehending Shepherd and putting a stop to Nero!'" he roared.

Everyone cheered and raised their glasses, clinking it with the person beside them and drinking it afterward. France knew the procedure but as soon as her lips met the glass, her eyes accidentally met with John's, the blue piercing gaze behind the eye scar made her freeze, she immediately closed her eyes after downing her glass of water and breathed heavily.

He saw it. She knew he saw it. Why was she like this with him? Aside from the fact that she really likes him, why be awkward? She looked down and panted her lips still wet from the excess water she drank.

"You okay, France?" Maxine asked.

"Yeah. I just choked on my water. I'll just go to the bathroom." She said, excising herself and making her way to the bathroom. This time, she was sure it's the right door.

As soon as dinner was over, France distracted herself from thinking about John, so she decided to help out Roach and Maxine make their shopping list for tomorrow.

Roach yawned and stretched his arms, landing his other hand on Maxine's shoulder. France noticed this and immediately darted out an eye to Gary as he shyly withdrew his hand and instead tapped it on the wooden table.

"So what else should we get?" Maxine tapped her pen along with Gary's tune.

"Sugar." Gary said, watching Maxine write it down legibly.

"Hmmm." Francine hummed, she imagined herself inside a grocery store and put herself in the situation. What should she buy for ten people?

"You know that huge sausage thing from Germany? I wanted to know what they taste like." Gary asked, picturing the item with his hands. France's mind went somewhere else and she didn't want that to happen.

"You mean bratwurst?" Maxine answered, smiling as Gary looked very satisfied that he found the word he was looking for.

"Yeaaah! That one!" he cheered as Francine silently excused herself hiding the blush of embarrassment burning in her cheeks.

She paced to the hallway on her way to their bed, just as she thought she could finally relax, John was already on the other end of the hallway and was walking toward her direction.

She tried to avoid him but it was far too late, she had no choice but to face him seriously. He was wearing a red checkered sleepwear matching his pajamas and it looked like he outgrew his old clothes too, making the fabric cling desperately to his muscles.

"I've been meaning to talk to you since dinner." he exhaled, France looked elsewhere as to not recall anything.

"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong because…" he trailed and she felt guilty. John didn't deserve any of this from her and she wanted to clear things with him anyway.

"No… it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong… I just felt awkward after what happened earlier."

"It was an accident, France. Shrug it off as a bad memory that your mind wouldn't want to recall. It's unfair for me, you know. The last time we got together I was happily hugging you while we slept and now you're doing everything you can to avoid me." he explained. He was true except she couldn't consider it as a bad memory.

"Besides, I couldn't think of any other reason you're avoiding me other than you can't stop thinking about it, eh?" he wiggled his eyebrows. There he was again with the ego. France blushed red and almost wanted to cry, until she felt John's warm embrace and it immediately cleared her mind.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it that way. When I cracked the joke, you weren't the usual snob that I grew to like." he whispered and she then knew that he already knew her too well.

"It's okay." she croaked as she saw Ghost exit his room their eyes met and she could see the sadness in Simon's eyes. So much for giving him space, it looked like she already broke his heart. She needed to talk to him, to explain that she tried her best.

"You need to buy new sleepwear." Francine muttered and she felt John's body shake as he chuckled, not wanting to leave from the embrace.

"Yeah, will you be there to help me pick one?" he asked, rubbing his rough arms on her back. She closed her eyes wishing this moment would never end. Her hand shyly wrapped around his waist as she pulled him over, almost inviting him for a kiss.

There was still hesitation in her eyes as John looked down on her and their eyes met. His gaze set her mind at ease, and by ease she meant completely blank, her thoughts were hazy and all she could think about was to close her eyes and pucker her lips. And that was what she did.

This kiss was far too different from the one they shared back in the Gulag. Back there she felt relieved, happy and excited. In this one, she felt desire, longing and excitement. The initial impact was slow and intimate and she expected it to continue that way until they broke their kiss but as soon as she opened her mouth and let John's tongue in, the both of them tilted their heads as their hands roamed eagerly around each other, John wrapped his arms from below her waist up to her nape and pulled her close, never breaking the kiss while France also pulled him in as her hand slid from his back to his shoulders, gently trailing her soft touch through his biceps. They were so close to each other that they were swaying as their heads tilted attempting to try kissing on every angle possible. Maxine moaned in between the sounds of their lips clashing and she could already feel the excitement forming on John's body causing her to slowly end the kiss.

As soon as he felt that she was trying to break the kiss, John rested his forehead against hers as they stared longingly on each other, their hands slowly drifted apart as their bodies slowly stepped back from each other.

"Good Night, John." She said nervously, worried about what he might feel toward her actions.

"Good Night, Francine." He replied there was a question on the tone of his voice but France was glad that he was not pushy this time.

She stepped back, and turned to the direction of her room smiling awkwardly as his stare was locked on hers.

"I'll be patient for you… because I know you're worth the wait." he said, a blush forming on her cheek as soon as she realized he really did hear her whisper the last night they slept beside each other.

Without looking back, she walked faster than ever and closed the door, jumping to her pillow and fighting the extreme feeling of embarrassment.

France barely slept. It was like one Scottish man kept her up all night as he continued to stay on her thoughts. She was going crazy over him and she can only think of one way to cure her. Distraction.

She got up around five in the morning, her eyes were sore from the lack of sleep, but she washed it off with an early morning hot shower. If only she knew each room had bathrooms. If only she listened to Roach.

She distracted herself by going to the pantry and started sorting out things for their list, it was a lengthy one and they needed to clear out room for more. Her plan went well until thirty minutes later, a very sweaty John MacTavish, entered the kitchen door.

She immediately turned back to the pantry as soon as the view of him dripping in sweat, wearing a perfectly fit black tank top and sweatpants appeared from the corner of her eye. There he was again, innocently looking insanely attractive. And there she was again, falling for it.

"Looks like you're up too early." His voice was loud enough she couldn't ignore it. She took a deep breath and turned to him. It was the bluetooth earphones.

"Yeah. Figured an early head start would help." She replied. What kind of sentence was that? She didn't know, but she was grateful enough that he was only invested for small talk as he grinned and made his way to his room making France sigh in relief.

Later that morning while they were arranging the supplies, they stumbled upon Alex and Samantha, making out like teenagers by the gazebo. It was supposed to distract her from the Scotsman who was talking to someone over the phone but she couldn't help but remember the kiss they shared last night, making her secretly glance toward John, and then back to the two. Her heart raced as she felt nervous toward herself. She was supposed to be extra careful investing feelings towards someone else in the middle of the fight, but now that she knew John was willing to be patient for her, she was now the one eager for him.

In the afternoon, France wanted to talk to Ghost personally. She wanted to clear out things about what he saw and what occurred in Brazil. Back then, she was confused about what she felt, but now it was clear as day. Roach told her that he never left his room all day and it made her feel guilty. But then again, he never made a move toward her so, technically she didn't have to feel that way. But the idea of clearing things off with him as he began to fall for John was what's best.

She stood by the door, bracing herself before attempting to knock, but as soon as her knuckles were about to touch the wooden door, he heard John's loud announcement from the living room.

Ghost already left. It looked like he didn't need any more explanation from her.

I tried my bestest to describe that part but there's a video to slightly enlighten y'all with what's going on. It's way off than what I wanted it to be when I put it in writing.

Next Chapter : Staying in Shape

Notification Squad my Beloved

@enderio @beemybee @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog @samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee

#horrayfic #codmw #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #alex echo 3 1 #gary roach sanderson #whateverittakes