#oc: ronnie bradshaw

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Come Over Here and Overwhelm Me: an even better life (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)

Summary: Goin' to the courthouse and they're gonna get married - life is even better than either of them could imagine.

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)

Word Count: 4815

Warnings: just some old-fashioned tooth-rotting fluff, my babies are getting married y'all, flashforward, pregnancy stuff

EIGHT | NINE | TEN

✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!

✎……we've reached the end girlies - thank you for coming on this journey with me and maybe getting some joy out of this story i wrote. love you all dearly.

✎……masterlist on pinned

Ronnie smoothed out the skirt of her simple white dress one last time. She was lucky she even had one. Tucked away in the back of her closet with the tag still on. She distinctly remembered that she had every intention of returning it, thinking it too bridal for the backyard barbeque she bought it for.

For just a moment she fretted over not having any nice shoes, but everyone insisted the white pair of Berks she owned were too perfect for her not to wear. Too like her. Too like them. 

Then Ronnie adjusted the grip she had on the small bundle of flowers held in her hands. They were nothing special, and she would have been content with no flowers at all. But then Phoenix went outside from where the girls were getting ready at Ronnie’s house, and came back in a few minutes later with the little bouquet. Ronnie recognized the flowers instantly from her neighbor’s yard. A girl needs flowers on her wedding day, Phoenix explained while she put the bundle in a cup of water to keep them fresh.

Ronnie was getting married today.

And according to the clock, she was getting married in less than five minutes. 

The thought made a laugh bubble up in her throat. Unbelieving and giddy like she was sixteen and being asked to prom again. She stared at the wood of the courtroom doors practically begging them to open. Jake was the one who insisted on doing at least this part traditionally. With the reveal of the bride and being walked down the makeshift aisle. Let the anticipation grow a lil’, sweets. 

So Bradley stood beside her just outside the county courtroom, hands folded in front of himself, looking more nervous than she was. Still in his dress khakis, he had readjusted his ribbons at least ten times since they arrived. 

She spent another minute watching his anxious fiddling before he suddenly asked, “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

Ronnie’s eyes went wide for a moment before she guffawed. “What? No! I mean, would that be such a bad thing if I was?”

“No, no! That’s not what I meant. It’s just…Are you sure you don’t wanna… I don’t know… wait?” he asked, looking down at her softly and full of brotherly concern that she missed and hated all at once. “Do the whole ceremony thing with the big dress and the invitations and the party?”

“I don’t really care about any of that stuff.” Ronnie shrugged with a smile. “I just wanna be married. I wanna be married to Jake.” 

Bradley laughed with a disbelieving shake of his head. “How can you be so confident just all the time?”

It was meant to be a joke, but Bradley was pretty sure it flopped. There was too much behind it for it to really land. Bradley had always had a problem with hesitation. Waiting too long to act, going through all the variables, taking things slow just in case. While Ronnie had never hesitated about anything in her entire life. If she wanted something she went after it. A medal in surfing, a degree in business, the man that she loved.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, and Bradley felt even worse that he had to explain himself. 

“I mean…” He sighed, dragging a hand down his face as he thought of the right words. “If I were in your shoes — I’d be thinking over every single little thing. If I were Hangman I don’t even know if I would’ve found the guts to ask you to marry me let alone just elope. I mean, what if things go bad and you get divorced? What if his family doesn’t like you? What if this isn’t the right choice at all?”

“Well, okay, number one — I’m glad you didn’t ask me to marry you, ‘cause that’s gross and also illegal,” she said with a grin and he shoved her shoulder playfully, rolling his eyes. “But, number two, of course I’m thinking about that stuff. I’m not insane. But…None of that really matters. What does matter is that I love Jake and he loves me. Nothin’ else to it. If I’ve got him, none of that other stuff worries me at all.” 

Bradley just looked at her for a moment. Ronnie’s brown eyes so much like his own, so much like their dad’s, that shone with a kind of love he thought was made up for movies. Her in that white dress with the wilting flowers and hair curled. It was a sight he never thought he would get to see — let alone that she would ask him to walk her down the aisle. 

Then he shook his head. “I don’t think I could do that…” 

“That might be my fault, in all honesty,” she chuckled back. “I definitely was insane as a kid. Made you do all my worrying for me.” 

Bradley ran an exasperated hand over his face. “God, remember that time you slid down the roof in a laundry basket and broke your arm?” 

“Yeah. Best ten seconds of my life,” Ronnie joked with a nudge back.

There was shuffling behind the oak doors and Ronnie sucked in a sharp breath. The five minutes were up. It was time. Despite his reservations and concern for her, Bradley offered Ronnie his arm. She took it gladly. He was the only one she would ever let walk her down the aisle. It was always going to be her older brother. No matter how much space was between them. He taught her how to tie her shoes, helped her with her homework, and helped her grow into the woman standing before those courthouse doors. She never wanted her wedding day without him. 

God, she was getting married today.

“I think these ones are about to take top spot,” Bradley muttered.

Ronnie took a deep breath, her heart racing, and butterflies filling her stomach. “You might be right.”

The doors swung open, the first few notes of some NSYNC song filling the too-large space for so few people. It was just a county courthouse, nothing fancy. All wooden furniture bolted to green carpet and pictures of old judges lining the walls. But none of that mattered. 

No, it didn’t matter at all because Jake was standing there in his dress blues with a smile on his face. He had his hands clasped in front of him, but she noticed the way he quickly wiped beneath his eyes as Bradley escorted her down the aisle.

Holy shit, she mouthed to him and he laughed. 

Javy was standing right beside him; hopefully, with his mission completed and a ring in his pocket.  The portly judge with his wire grey mustache, wearing the black robe was on Jakes other side, grinning like it was his own child's wedding. And standing off to the side was Penny, wearing a pretty pink dress and holding a single daisy. 

The rest of the aviators were standing in front of the wooden benches. Mickey held the speaker playing the NSYNC, looking pleased with himself. Ronnie could hear Maverick sniffling as she passed him. She wished her parents could be there to see this, but she was glad Pete Mitchell was. 

Bradley let her hand slip from the crook of his elbow. Then Jake reached for her with a gentle grin, held out his hand for her to take. But Ronnie waited. Looked back at her brother one lsat time. And he grinned at her with a nod of his head, a nudge, go on.

She went. She turned to Jake and took his hand with a smile. The judge started speaking but she couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Not when Jake Seresin was looking at her like his life was truly, finally, completely about to start. With her. Only took them five years and a chance reunion to figure it out. It was insane now, standing in that county courthouse and white-knuckling his hand, to think back on the dread that filled her when he walked into the var that day. There was no dread now, no fear. Just anticipation, just love, just a life truly, finally, completely about to start. Together. 

“Oh, she’s pretty,” a feminine voice said, crackling like they were on the other end of a phone. “Even prettier than the pictures he sent me.” 

“Can you see? She pregnant or what?” a male voice asked. 

“Tony! You shush!” 

Ronnie tried to focus on what the judge was saying, something about opportunities like this and love and never having so many witnesses to a courthouse wedding before, but she was finding it increasingly difficult with that going on in the background. She just barely caught the judge’s instruction for them to turn to one another. Passing off her flowers to Penny before taking both of Jake’s hands. 

The two voices continued to chatter. 

“Who’s on the phone right now?” she mumbled to Jake as the judge went on with the ceremony. 

“Javy — with my parents,” he replied under his breath. “They’re on FaceTime. Don’t think they know we can hear them.” 

“Oh, they definitely don’t,” she chuckled lightly, and he did too. 

“May we have the rings?” the judge asked, looking to Javy, who fished the rings out of his pocket and handed them over with a smile. 

Then the judge passed off the simple golden band to Ronnie. Her breath stuttered out of her as she took it with a shaking hand. Jake gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. But it wasn’t nerves that made her tremble now. It was eagerness. 

“Do you, Veronica, commit yourself to Jake as your husband to learn and grow with, to respect hi min everything as an equal partner, in the foreknowledge of joy and pain, strength and weariness, direction and doubt, for all the risings and settings of the sun?”

“I do,” she answered without hesitation, brown eyes boring into Jake’s with all the love and trust in the world. 

“Now repeat after me,” the judge went on, “With this ring…I wed you…And pledge you my love…Now and forever.”

With her last repetition, she slipped the ring onto his finger. And she grinned from ear to ear at the sight. The ring a few sizes too big on him, but it didn’t even matter. Jake Seresin was hers. Truly, finally, completely. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she looked up into his grinning face. 

“Holy shit,” she said aloud, mostly to herself, thumb running over the cool metal now adorning his finger. 

Distantly, she heard everyone in the room laugh at her proclamation. Even Jake’s parents on the phone. But the only laugh she could truly hear, the only smile she could see, was Jake’s. His eyes watery and crinkled at the corners, and cheeks red as he looked at her like he wanted to spend all his moments in between with her.

The judge handed Jake her mother’s engagement ring. The ring only a few hours ago he asked her to marry him with in the first place. 

“Do you, Jake, commit yourself to Veronica as your wife to learn and grow with, to respect her in everything as an equal partner, in the foreknowledge of joy and pain, strength and weariness, direction and doubt, for all the risings and settings of the sun?”

“Absolutely, I do,” he replied with a kind of stern earnestness that even the most vile would believe to the core. 

“Now repeat after me. With this ring…I wed you…And pledge you my love…Now and forever.”

“Now…And forever,” Jake repeated as he slipped the ring on her finger for the second time that day. 

He wanted her. He chose her. Now and forever. Truly, finally, completely. He wanted to stay. To spend the night, every night. He wanted to hold and comfort as she cried, pick out furniture with her, listen to her singing in the shower, disagree with her over little and big things, know about her day. He wanted her up close and personal and every day. For so long, Ronnie thought no one would ever want her like that. But Jake did. It was written all over his face as he took her hand completely and tugged her in close. 

“By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Everyone cheered and whooped and hollered as Jake pulled her in and pressed his lips to hers. It was firm and sure and sweet. And it didn’t surprise her at all when he dipped her nearly to the floor. Trusting him completely to hold her up as they both smiled into the kiss.

The chilled Maryland spring air blew through the open window. Despite how much she had complained about the cold East-coast weather the past six months, Ronnie had to admit the breeze felt amazing as she lifted one of the last remaining boxes and began carrying it down the hall to the front room. 

It felt like only yesterday they were packing up her stuff in Miramar. But now their time in DC was complete — Jake’s detachment with the Blue Blasters in Oceana had come to a close. They had spent the time making a home together in their cheap rental, attending Navy balls and award ceremonies, and seeing as many of the sights as Jake would allow Ronnie to drag him to. Now, Jake was taking two weeks of leave, the most time he had ever taken since joining the Academy, to get them settled in their new home.

A house built on his parent’s land in Austin, Texas. Ronnie hoped the weather down there would be more agreeable with her. Less cold at the very least. Once settled, he would start his new instructor position at Fort Worth. A brand new training squadron in the heart of Texas. It was amazing the kind of sway he could carry on his requests now that he was a Lieutenant Commander. 

As Ronnie entered the front room, Jake came back inside the small house from where he had been putting things in the moving truck.

He hadn’t shaved in three days, a new record for him, and was already sporting a nice layer of stubble. Ronnie regretted it as soon as she told him it looked good, only succeeding in fueling his ego. He had sweat through his grey t-shirt, leaving massive stains on his chest and back. He puts his hands on his hips and sighed when he spotted her carrying the box into the room. 

“Hey, I got it, darlin’. I got it,” Jake said as he scooped it out of her arms.

Ronnie rolled her eyes. “I can carry a box, Jake. It’s not even that heavy.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a strong and capable woman.” He kissed her forehead as he shifted the box in his arms. 

“Damn straight,” she muttered back with a slight pout. 

“Who’s also eighteen weeks pregnant and has a husband who loves her too much.” 

She looked down at her bump, unsuccessfully hidden beneath the overalls she struggled to put on that morning. Just another thing that no longer fit — but Ronnie swore still did. She felt her cheeks heat up and butterflies fill her stomach as she glanced up at Jake’s knowing grin. It was a little miracle. One that most days she still couldn’t believe. Her greatest dream finally come true — given to her by the man she loved. 

Ronnie looked back up at him now, trying not to smile as she said, “Shut up.”

“No, you shut up.” Jake grinned himself as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her own. Then he nodded his head down at the box. “What’s in this one?”

“Baby stuff,” she replied. 

All those onesies she just couldn’t help but buy even though they didn’t know the sex yet. All those outfits Jake couldn’t stop himself from ordering because he’ll look like a tiny adult. 

“Okay. This one’ll go in the truck. Then I think we’re good to go.” 

He raised his eyebrows at her excitedly before he turned and walked back out the door. Ronnie sighed as she looked around the place one last time. The rental was small and in desperate need of updating. The walls were thin and the grass was perpetually dead. And Jake more than once had to call maintenance and nearly yell at them to get their asses out there to fix something. But it was their first place, their first home, together. Now, all their stuff was packed up save for the furniture they got with the place and were going to leave for the next tenant. The perks of military provided housing. 

She sunk down onto that lumpy couch that was being left behind with another deep breath. Okay, she wasn’t going to miss this exactly. But…

Ronnie found out she was pregnant in that bathroom straight out of the eighties. Screaming and crying and running around the house while Jake just watched her with an amused smile. They tried cooking together in that kitchen. Meal kits with easy instructions because they were both terrible at it. She and Jake slow danced in that front room. When they first moved in — because it was Tuesday — after their first prenatal appointment and they heard that sweet hummingbird-like heartbeat for the first time. Maverick and Penny came to visit and they played charades on that back porch. They heard the good news and Maverick cried, thinking about her mom and dad and how they would be so proud.

There were so many memories in that house. Ones she didn’t want to forget. 

But home was the two of them, together. Soon to be the three of them. Subconsciously, she put a hand on her belly. A year ago she was alone in her room in Miramar, eating Chinese takeout with some shitty reality show on in the background after a day of surfing and feeling sorry for herself. Missing her brother, missing her friends, thinking that maybe she was incapable of finding someone to love. It amazed her now how she thought that life was good. Satisfactory. Enough. This was a good life — an even better one than anything she ever had before. She had a husband who loved her, a brother who called, and a little one on the way she couldn’t wait to meet. 

Jake came back inside, brushing his hands off on one another. He dropped down onto the couch beside her with a groan, slinging one arm up behind her as he took one last look around the place. He smelled like sweat, but Ronnie didn’t mind. She wondered if he was thinking about all those moments too. All those memories they had there. When he reached down and squeezed her shoulder, she knew that he was.

“You ready to go?” he asked quietly, giving her arm another squeeze. 

“Uh, yeah. Prolly should go pee again though.”

“Good call.”

But she didn’t get up. She stayed rooted to the couch, glued under his soft touch and the sinking feeling in her gut at leaving. Starting over. Being with his family. She had seen the pictures. Their house was only a few yards away from the Seresin family ranch where his parents lived. They might not be living in the same house, but they were going to be around all the time. Ronnie had never been that close to family, to people in her entire life. And sure, she met Grace Seresin, that good Southern momma who raised an amazing son, and her husband Anthony, when they came to visit DC for a week. They ate at the good restaurants Jake and Ronnie had found and Grace talked about the party she wanted to throw for them, a late reception, when they found themselves in Texas. But then they left. Ronnie had never loved someone up close before. Even with Jake, it was a struggle at first to have him near and tangible and all the time. Uncertainty filled her now, which Jake seemed to notice, his arm curling around her shoulder and tugging her in close to his sweaty chest. 

“Do you…” she started quietly, reaching up to fiddle with his dog tags that had slipped out from beneath his shirt. “Do you think they’ll like me?”

Jake leaned out so he could look her in the face with a furrowed brow. “They already love you? You talk to my mom on the phone literally all the time.” 

“I know, I know. It’s just…” She sighed, dropping her hand into his lap. “In person is different. And they’re just right there. What if I run out of stuff to talk about?”

“You’re having another Seresin grandbaby — trust me, you’ll have plenty to talk about,” he said with a reassuring grin. 

“But you’ll…You’ll be there to help me though, right?” Ronnie tilted her head up to look at him with those big brown eyes and Jake was a goner. 

“Of course I will, darlin’.” He kissed her forehead, then her lips. “You know I’m always gonna be there.”

Ronnie nodded before she sunk into him further, burrowing her head into his shoulder as she wrapped her arms as best she could around his middle. Jake chuckled as he kissed the top of her head. It was nearly insane to think that a year ago he was a bachelor stationed at Lemoore, hooking up with whoever just to feel something. Anything besides lonely and scared and angry. Thinking about a girl he left behind because he was too stupid to see past himself. Now, he was a husband. He was going to be a father. A thought that terrified and excited him all at once. All with that girl he left and found again — the best thing that ever happened to him. He kissed her head again, breathed in her scent of coconut and sandy shores, and thanked whatever was out there for giving him another chance. 

“Oh!” Ronnie squirmed, the baby who had been still since she woke up that morning now practically doing backflips in her belly. She pried one arm loose to rest a hand on her bump. “Someone finally decided to wake up. Sleepy-head.” 

Jake was quick to have a hand of his own on her growing bump, trying to feel what she felt. His touch was firm, assured against her body as Ronnie angled her back against his chest so he could reach better. With a smile, she placed her hand over his and guided it to where the baby was kicking up a storm, feather-light little pulses that had them both laughing softly. Jake kissed her neck as his fingers spread wide, nearly covering the whole bump, content to stroke her through her overalls. And she was content to feel completely held. 

“I think he’s telling us we should go,” Jake muttered against that spot just beneath her ear, making her shoulders bunch up. 

“He?” Ronnie questioned as Jake untangled himself and rose from the couch with a stretch. “How do you know it’s not a girl?”

He pulled at the hem of his shirt, trying to dry out the massive sweat stains before they rode in the car for ten hours. “Trust me, Seresins are only capable of shooting out boys. Going back three generations.”

“God, now I really want it to be a girl,” she said, scooting herself to the edge of the couch. 

Jake came over and held out his hands, which Ronnie gladly took in order to hoist herself out of the cushions. She hoped the couch his mom picked out was easier to get off of at least. 

“It’s not gonna be,” he told her once she was standing. 

She shrugged. “Okay, well, now you’re just jinxing yourself.” 

“Pee so we can go, please?” he laughed with a roll of his eyes, pointing towards the hall. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

“Yes, Commander.” She saluted playfully and he glared at her before turning towards the door. 

A few minutes later, Ronnie was out the door and locking it behind her. She dropped the key in the old metal letterbox still screwed into the drab tan siding so their landlord could pick it up later. She looked at the place one last time. Took in the flowers she had planted herself that were just coming back up for their second season. Took in the chipped paint on the door that drove Jake insane because he couldn’t just repaint and seal it himself (Yeah, I know the landlord’s supposed to do it, but I know how, Ronnie!). She put her hand to the doorframe with an affectionate smile. 

“Bye, house,” she whispered before turning and going down the front steps. 

Jake stood by the moving truck talking to his brother Darren and his two teenage boys. Ronnie was immensely appreciative that he could take leave and help them get moved. Darren was the only one of Jake’s brothers that she had met so far. He lived in DC, worked in administration at Naval District Washington. Jake joked about him being a Yeoman a lot, but Darren just took it in stride. He was quiet but kind, a sternness about him that really only came with experience. And he loved his little brother a lot. Not to mention, he was attractive. Clean cut jaw and those Seresin green eyes. Ronnie had to wonder if Jake just came from a family of models turned Navy men. 

“There she is!” one of Darren’s sons, Isaiah, cheered as Ronnie came down the last step. The other one, Harvey, just stood there and blushed crimson at his brother’s antics. “There’s that hot mama!”

“Dude,” Jake warned his nephew with one hand up in question.

“What? I love it when eighteen-year-olds call me hot mama,” Ronnie said as she wrapped an arm around Jake’s waist. “I’m hot and I’m gonna be a mama — it’s just facts, babe.” 

“Yeah, it’s just facts, babe,” Isaiah butted in.

“Whatever, can we just go, please?” Jake gestured towards the car. 

“Yep, it’s a long drive, we better get goin’,” Darren groaned, stretching out his back as he pulled the moving truck keys from his pocket. 

Ronnie put a hand to his elbow with a smile. “Thanks for doing this again. Be safe, okay? Call if you need anything.” 

“Happy to help,” Darren replied. 

“See you in Texas, hot mama!” Isaiah called out, already having climbed into the front of the truck with Harvey still blushing crimson. 

Ronnie laughed, head thrown back and a hand on her hip. When she turned, Jake was standing on her side of the car holding the door open, looking slightly grumpy. He got rid of his Corvette a long time ago, albeit mournfully. He really loved that car. But it wasn’t a family car. Now he drove around proudly in a Subaru with a large trunk and enough backseat space for at least two carseats. Something he liked to remind Ronnie about constantly. She shook her head as she approached him.

“Why are you pouting?” she asked, only slightly mocking, as she came to a stop — the car door sandwiched between them. 

“‘Cause…” When he spoke again it was quiet, delivered with a shrug. “‘Cause you’re my hot mama.” 

“Oh, babe,” she laughed, taking his face in her hands and bringing him down for a soft kiss. “Of course I’m your hot mama. Wouldn’t be one without you, so…”

Jake chuckled against her lips before kissing her again. Slow and sweet and filled with so much joy. Then the moving truck’s horn went off and Ronnie nearly jumped out of her skin. The couple turned, and Isaiah was falling back into the passenger seat with a cackle. Jake just flipped him the bird, which earned him a quieter honk from Darren, before giving his wife one last peck at the corner of her mouth. 

“Come on.” Jake nodded his head for her to climb inside the car. 

And she did, settling into the seat and already getting out a packet of chips to munch on. Jake joined her in the driver’s seat soon enough. And then they were off. Towards a new life, a new home, a new adventure. Ronnie’s breath sighed from her like soft summer rain as she looked over her shoulder at the house one last time, watched it disappear from view as they turned onto the main road. Jake took her hand and gave it a squeeze, reassuring and empowering.

With Jake, she was home. She was loved. She was powerful. She could do anything with him by her side. Even live a life better than anything she could have ever imagined.

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates

[indynerdgirl]

Music Game

Rules: Shuffle your “on repeat” playlist from Spotify/the music service of your choice and post the first 10 tracks.

I was tagged by my dear @anniesocsandgeneralstore! 😊 Since I have more than just one playlist on Spotify that I'll listen to on repeat depending on my mood, so I'm just going to use the one I've been listening to on repeat the most lately, which is the playlist I made for The Red Zone (the NFL AU that Annie & I have been working on). It's a monster of a playlist at 5hr 43mins long with 95 songs on it! 😆 [playlist link HERE]

Me, Myself & I by G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha

Casual Affair by Panic! At The Disco

Little Do You Know by Alex & Sierra

Remember the Name by Fort Minor & Styles of Beyond

Sugar by Maroon 5

Slow Down by Selena Gomez

Texas Longhorn by Django Walker

I Should Be Sleeping by Emerson Driver

arms by Christina Perri

With Arms Wide Open by Creed

And fun fact, if you enjoy that AU [you can read it HERE], this playlist is designed to tell the whole story from start to finish via all the different songs. So if you listen to it straight through you can get a pretty good idea of the whole story we've got planned. 😊 No pressure tagging the first five people on my dash: @bradshawsbaby @quo-nunc @iguana-braces @the-catholic-geek @themonkeycabal

And anyone else who wants to play, consider yourself tagged!

[indynerdgirl]

*cracks knuckles* My time has come! 😆 I hope you enjoy these as much as I have! 😊 Jake Seresin Fics

the echo (or the answer) by @anniesocsandgeneralstore Pairing: Jake Seresin x Bradshaw Female OC Rating: Mature for Ch 1-5, Explicit for Ch. 6 (final chapter) Word Count: 48,752 Warnings: language, violence, blood/gore, parental death mention, gun/knife mention, kidnapping, making out/heavy petting, explicit sexual content Tags: Werewolf AU, yearning/pining, slight love triangle, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending Summary: A forest fire forces two feuding werewolf packs to meet, and Ronnie Bradshaw is caught in the middle of it all. Will she stay loyal to her Alpha brother, Bradley - or will the opposing Alpha, Jake seduce her to the other side?

From The Ashes by @myshipsaresunk Pairing: Jake Seresin x Natasha Trace Rating: Teen & Up (via AO3’s rating system) Word Count: 170,977 (40 chapters) Warnings: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Suicide Tags: Rockstar AU, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Recovery from Alcoholism, Working Through Mental Health Issues Summary:  Jake Seresin is a washed-out rockstar one public scandal away from losing everything. Natasha Trace is fresh off her success rehabilitating rising star Bradley Bradshaw when she gets a job offer from Jake's record label. The money is too good to turn down - but she should have known they were desperate for a reason.

Sugar and Spice by @wombtotombx Pairing: Jake Seresin x Female OC Rating: Author didn’t use a rating, but I would say Teen & Up. Word Count: 67,000+ Warnings: Explicit language; Pining; Angst; Some Fluff; References to war; Sexual References/Innuendos (not quite smut); Medical Procedures Summary: Grace “Doc” Parker graduated at the top of her class at the Naval Academy nearly a decade ago, and was selected for the Navy’s prestigious Medical Corps. But now that she’s completed medical school and a surgical residency, she’s been thrown head-first into her first assignment as an aircraft carrier’s ship surgeon - on the brink of a major deployment amid growing global tensions. She’s got plenty of friends on the ship to help her learn about life at sea - if she can survive eight months with the one guy she hates most

Flyboy by @kryptonitejelly Pairing: Jake Seresin x Female Reader (no use of Y/N) Rating: Explicit Word Count: 37,900+ Warnings: Explicit sexual content, Sexual References/Innuendos, Mentions of alcohol/getting drunk, mentions of cheating in a past relationship (reader being cheated on by past boyfriend), mentions of violence, mentions of unwanted physical advances, general cursing Tags: romance, fluff, angst, pining, best friends to loversSummary: Jake gets called back to TOPGUN the same time you’ve been granted a sabbatical from work. He invites you, his purely platonic best friend of years, to live with him for 6 months and you accept. Just two best friends kicking it back for 6 months in San Diego, Fightertown USA, right?

Signed Away by @seresinhangmanjake Pairing: Jake Seresin x Female Reader (use of Y/N) Rating: Teen & Up in the beginning, later chapters Explicit Word Count: N/A Warnings: cursing, eventual smut, loss of rights, feelings of being trapped, poor parent/child relationships, verbal/emotional abuse by a parent Tags: Fluff, Contract Marriage, Non-Pilot AU, angst Summary: You find out about the contractual marriage your parents arranged with Jake’s when you were a baby. You’re plenty angered by it, but Jake doesn’t seem too bothered. He might even be happy.

My Girl by @ereardon Pairing: Jake Seresin x OC [Lawyer Natalie West] Summary: Jake Seresin could be the answer to all of your dating woes. He’s the full package: steady job, mature, dependable, attractive to a fault. The polar opposite of every guy your age and he’s everything you’ve ever wanted in a partner. But there’s one roadblock: he’s a single father to four-year-old Ellie. Jake is looking for a level of commitment you’re not quite sure you’re ready to give, and he’s not willing to bring someone into his daughter’s life who isn’t there for the long haul. And even if you are stepmom material, is Jake ready to let someone back in his life while still mourning the recent loss of his late wife? Bad Medicine by @topguncortez Pairing: Jake Seresin x reader WARNINGS: drugs, guns, stripping, violence, abuse, fighting, prostitution, blood, alcohol usage, mentions of sexual assault, torture, death, cops, stalking. Summary: A wealthy Italian mobster sets up his daughter to marry the head of one of the last remaining mafias in California. The union was supposed to create and heal the damage between two families, but all it does is cause more harm than good. Lost Boy by sleeping_maple Words: 132,687 Chapters: 25 Summary: Jake Seresin was just trying to enjoy an evening with his squad mates before their leave. He was definitely not trying to dive too deep into his very layered and very painful past. And he was definitely not trying to learn the identity of his biological father. But the universe had different plans for him in mind, apparently.

Seeing Red by @callsignmeiga Pairing: Jake Seresin x ex-wife!Reader (Call sign: Red Queen) Wordcount: 46.7k Summary: According to the Red Queen hypothesis, a species needs to evolve and adapt in order to survive because its competitors are doing the same. Or how a young woman who wanted to be a lawyer ended up being a well-known naval aviator, hiding a big secret.

Bradley Bradshaw Fics

Tasting the Ashes by @callsignmeiga Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x pregnant!WSO!reader (Call Sign: Ashes) Summary: Before she became fire, she was water. Quenching the thirst of every dying creature. She gave and she gave until she turned from sea to desert. But instead of dying of the heat, the sadness, the heartache, she took all of her pain and from her own ashes became fire.

Je te Laisserai Des Mots by @jupitercomet Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x reader Warnings: arranged marriage au, heavily inspired by Greta Gerwig’s Little Women because that movie has a choke hold on me, angst, gender stereotypes, somewhat toxic family, chapter specific Summary: Getting married was supposed to be the best day of your life, the day you promised to spend forever with the person you loved. Though you knew very little about love, you’d always been excited for it, playing dress up with your sisters and dreaming of the day you would know love like the back of your hand. Now you were finally getting married and you knew two things for certain: you knew nothing of love and Bradley Bradshaw did not love you.

Swipe Left for Love by @beccaanne814 Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x Reader Warnings: Cursing, Sexual Innuendos, and Allusions to Sexytimes Summary: Bored with the bar scene at the Hard Deck, you start scrolling through Tinder, rejecting every guy that pops up. What happens when the guy you just swiped left on catches you in the act? The Younger Kind by @roosterforme Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x Reader Summary: As a single dad trying to start dating again, Bradley feels like he's constantly running in circles. Hiring a twenty-four year old student to babysit should have made things easier, but no matter how hard he fights it, you're too irresistible to stay away from. That’s A Problem? by @archivallyfound09 Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x Single Mom Reader Running by lcahwriter Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x female reader Word Count: 5.2k Warnings: Anxiety, past abuse, stalking, mentions of sex but no actual smut. Summary: You ran across the country to the place you knew you’d be the safest- with Maverick on a Navy base somewhere in California. Your plan was to lay low until the coast was clear - but then you met Bradley Bradshaw. Will you be able to escape the man who was determined to find you? Will you be able to keep Bradley safe? To fall in love again?

Of Geese and Ghosts by A_Lee Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x Mitchell Daughter OC Words: 23,331 Chapters: 11 Summary: Julie Mitchell loves Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw and her father, Pete "Maverick" Michell, more than anything - she just wished they were both less stubborn and weren't self-sacrificial idiots.

Bradley isn't happy that Maverick has showed up to Top Gun for the same special mission as him, it's hard enough to avoid the man when Bradley's dating Maverick's daughter.

The rest of the team is just confused.

Fic Recommendation Request!

I’ll be stuck in the car all day tomorrow and then all day on Monday (ERAS TOUR HERE I COME!!!🎉) and am planning on passing the time reading as much as possible (and jamming to T-Swift, because obviously). I have a few things on my list already, but I’d love some fic recommendations if anyone has them! I read predominately Bradley, but Jake has been creeping up on me lately, and I’m always a sucker for Javy and the rest of the Daggers, too. Basically, I'm open for anything lol.

Feel free to drop them in the comments so others can see them, or DM me if you'd rather! Thanks in advance💚

(I should clarify that I will read as much as possible so long as the dramamine and zofran don't let me down and I don't get car sick)

[ocappreciation]

ocappreciation + 2022 oc gift exchange ☃

↳ to: @anniesocsandgeneralstore​ → from: @dancingsunflowers-ocs​

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

the echo universe: | a werewolf au | (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)

Summary: After they drop Noah off with Mickey and Reuben, the Red Sky Alpha comes home to nest for his mate.

Pairing: Werewolf!Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Human!OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)

Word Count: 916

Warnings: pregnancy stuff, made-up werewolf lore, nesting and snuggling and FLUFF

✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!

✎……masterlist on pinned

✎……this is like a direct side-quel to this because i couldn't stop thinking about this concept

As soon as they were back inside the cabin, Jake led Ronnie over to the couch and propped her feet up on the ottoman. Setting her up with a snack and a drink and the remote in case she wanted to watch anything. She laughed as she watched him fuss, rubbing patterns into her rounded belly to try and sooth the pup within. 

Once he handed her the chips and salsa that she didn’t really ask for, he looked at her expectantly — practically bouncing in place. 

“Go nest, my Alpha,” she told him with a chuckle. 

Jake quickly bent down to press a kiss to her forehead before bolting back to their bedroom.

She remembered him getting like this when she entered her last few weeks of pregnancy with Noah. The beast within him filling him with this desire to make her as comfortable as possible as she prepared to give birth. He couldn’t even help it. One morning she just woke up to him surrounding her in pillows and blankets and he looked at her like he had been caught. 

I don’t know why, he had said, still knelt by the bed with a pillow in hand. But this just feels right.

She explained what was happening with a gentle hand, watching him continue to search for more blankets and arranging things this way and that. How when the time of the pup’s arrival approached, the parent wolves would nest to prepare for whelping. To keep mother and pup warm and safe from any dangers. Some instinct from a bygone era when werewolves were living in the wild places of the world. 

As a human, Ronnie didn’t feel the urge. No matter how much she wanted to help, she knew she would just get in the way. So there she sat, half watching some documentary about ancient Egypt and mindlessly eating chips. While out of the corner of her eye she saw her mate digging through the closets for more blankets and picking the pillows off the couch one by one.

The pup inside her shifted, and she pushed a hand beneath her shirt to touch her skin directly. Instantly calming him down. 

“Daddy’s almost done, little pup, just you wait. Then you and me are gonna be real comfortable,” she spoke to her belly softly. 

An hour after they came home, Jake finally came back out to the living room with an anxious look on his face. Ronnie found the expression endearing as she turned off the TV to give him her full attention.

“I think it’s done,” he said, pushing a hand through his golden hair. 

She held her arms out to him with a smile. “Take me there, my Alpha.” 

Jake lifted her into his arms with ease. Her arms dangling around his neck as she rested her cheek against his chest, felt his heart beat right against her ear. Once back in their bedroom, he set her down gently to sit at the end of the bed.

The bed that was now covered in a thick layer of blankets and pillows. All of it piled up towards the edges to make a nice concave shape. Ronnie admired for a moment, taking in his hard work and dedication to her comfort. Then she looked back up at Jake with a smile. 

“It’s perfect, Jay,” she said honestly. 

The corner of his mouth ticked up in a grin, all anxiousness gone at her approval. Then, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear he said, “Let’s get you into something more comfortable, yeah, little one?”

“I’m pretty comfortable right now,” she replied, looking down at her sweater and maternity leggings. 

“I know that’s not what you really wanna be wearing.” 

She groaned at the thought, instantly reaching for him to help her up from the bed. “Yeah — that sounds nice.” 

Jake chuckled as he took hold of her forearm and acted as an anchor as she lifted herself up. He already had the clothes laying out on their dresser. An old pair of his boxers and a comfortable bralet. After helping her out of her day clothes, he pulled the boxers up her legs while she tugged on the bra. Stopping once they were snug around her hips to kiss the side of her belly. 

“God, that’s the stuff,” she sighed, head tilted back towards the ceiling as she scratched at her bare skin. 

“Come on, little one,” Jake laughed, nodding back towards the bed and the nest he had worked so hard on.

Ronnie crawled in and laid on her side in the center of the large nest. A pillow already waiting for her head and to support her bump. She sunk into it instantly, feeling completely held and completely comfortable. A noise like a purr echoed in her throat as her eyes slipped shut, legs rubbing together happily. 

“Comfortable? Warm?” he questioned, still stationed at the foot of the bed. 

She peeled her eyes open to squint at him with a smile. “Not quite.” 

“What do you need?” 

He looked ready to run halfway across the world for her. 

“Just you,” she answered.

Jake huffed, hands on his hips. But he was quick to relent as he stripped off his shirt and pants and joined her in the nest. He curled up right behind her, his chest flush with her back — legs tangled together as he cradled her swollen belly in his hand. The pup pressing into his palm happily.

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates

[indynerdgirl]

Shout out to all of my fandom mutuals!

[justfandomwritings]

The Only Thing (Hangman - Part Two)

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Female!Reader; some Rooster x Seresin!OC

Word Count: 11.2k

Summary: Jake Seresin is madly in love with (Y/n). This is not an opinion or a feeling; it is a fact. A law of the universe that will never change. As long as the world is in motion, as long as the sun is in the sky, and possibly even after, Jake Seresin will be in love with her. So why, for the love of all that is good in this world, are they not together? Rooster intends to find out.

Warnings: Angst, Objectively excessive amounts of pining, also Jake Seresin can be an asshole sometimes but so can his sisters, cursing. An emotional amount of found family. Also Christmas is featured, but in a very non-religious celebratory way. Also no Beta-reader, sorry.

Notes: Thank you to everyone who partook in Part One. I hope you all find Part Two, and I hope you all love it. There will be a spinoff oneshot of little tidbits from Jake and Addie's life growing up together and falling in love, etc. etc. If you have any thoughts on particular moments you'd like to see either in that or just in general as blurbs lemme know.

The Only Thing Masterlist

“Not that star! It’s falling apart. Use the new one we bought last year!”

“Seriously Ma, you couldn’t have said that before?” Hangman huffed and readjusted Ronnie higher up on his shoulders. “Bradshaw, get Ronnie whatever fuckin’ star Ma’s talking about.”

Rooster snorted but began rummaging through the ornaments and assorted other tree decorations without much protest. There was a newer looking star topper still in the box at the bottom of the storage bin labeled ‘Tree Stuff’, and Rooster pulled it out.

Holding it up in Debbie’s general direction at the far end of the hall, he asked, “This one?”

“Yes, honey, that’s the one.” Debbie gave him a thumbs up then, satisfied, darted back into the kitchen to continue cooking.

Rooster handed the star up to Ronnie on top of Jake’s shoulders and took the older, beat-up star off her hands.

The Seresins were a very last-minute family when it came to decorating. Mostly, it was that the sisters, Ronnie in particular, considered decorating for Christmas to be a family affair, and they collectively refused to decorate anything at all until their brother was home.

Hangman had, of course, written this off to Rooster as the three of them wanting him to do all the heavy lifting, and while Ronnie and Andy adamantly refused the accusation, Kate nodded along when Hangman’s back was turned. It’d made Rooster chuckle which earned Kate a glare from her brother.

Debbie was milling around the kitchen with Andy, baking and mixing an assortment of things that could be made in advanced of Christmas Day, while Kate draped bannisters in garlands. and Ronnie, Hangman, and Rooster decorated the tree.

They were finally finishing up the tree with the star on top when the front door burst open without any knock or warning.

“I brought candy!”

Rooster would recognize (Y/n)’s voice anywhere by now. As much as he’d heard it over the last couple days with Hangman, he was sure he could pick it out of any crowd.

“I’ll help her.” Rooster quickly volunteered as Hangman was still acting as a step stool for Ronnie to reach the top.

“Thanks,” Hangman bristled as he was forced to walk into the needles of the tree so Ronnie could reach.

With a chuckle, Rooster wandered into the foyer to find (Y/n), arms laden with far too many paper bags.

“Jesus! Did you buy out the whole store?” Rooster rushed forward to take some of the bags out of her hands before a catastrophe occurred.

(Y/n) laughed and pawned off most of the bags on the pilot. “I work at the bakery part-time during the Christmas rush, and Mr. Donaldson always gives me all the imperfect batches that he can’t sell.”

Rooster followed (Y/n) to the kitchen to see what Debbie wanted done with all of it.

“Aren’t you going to keep some of this for yourself?” Rooster lifted the bags of candy in his arms as indication.

(Y/n) shrugged, “No, I'm always here for Christmas anyway. My family don’t really celebrate Christmas.”

“Not Religious?”

“Eh, we all just hate each other. Dad hates my brother. My brother hates me. I hate Mom. Mom hates my brother and me… You get the picture.” (Y/n) waved off Rooster’s question as they entered the kitchen, and Rooster wasn’t sure whether she thought it was unimportant or if she wanted to stop talking about it.

“Besides, why would I want to be anywhere else but here?” (Y/n) loudly announced as she entered the kitchen.

Debbie smiled warmly at (Y/n) as she entered. Her fingers were covered with cookie dough, but she leaned in to kiss (Y/n) on the cheek in lieu of her usual hug. “We wouldn’t want you anywhere else. It wouldn’t be Christmas without you.”

“No cause who else would bring the peanut butter fudge.” (Y/n) turned and eyed the bags in Roosters arms before carefully selecting one in particular and holding it out in her fist as far from her body as possible.

Andy didn’t seem to care about the dough all over her fingers. She greedily snatched the bag from (Y/n) and gave her a one-armed hug in reward, only just avoiding her fingers getting in any hair. “You’re my favorite sister.”

“I won’t tell Kate and Ronnie.” (Y/n) teased.

“Bradley, dear, if you could just set the rest of those on the side table over there.” Debbie pointed to a table that was littered with assorted baking and desert making supplies.

“Of course Debbie,” He’d finally gotten past calling her ma’am, and the smile his familiarity brought to Debbie’s face cemented him using her name.

(Y/n) wandered over to start sorting the bags into different piles. One for fruit candies, one for mint, one for chocolate, etc. She glanced over her shoulder with a faux-sneaky look and passed one of the bags to Rooster. “Try this one. It’s the best candy in the store, and Jake’ll steal it if he finds out I brought some.”

Rooster thanked her, popping one in his mouth. It was some kind of mix of raspberry and chocolate and something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was utterly delicious. The grin on (Y/n)’s face, like school kids who were stealing sweets before dinner, was enough to make him break out in a massive smile in return.

“I’m right, right?” She whispered, stuffing her hand down in the bag and palming several for herself.

“Absolutely,” Rooster quietly agreed, putting an arm around her shoulder and squeezing in what was meant to be a show of affection.

“Hey!”

They both turned, sheepish and wide eyed like they’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Hangman was standing in the doorway with his eyes narrowed in on them.

For a brief, shining moment Rooster was genuinely worried. There was an angry look to Hangman’s brow. Rooster couldn’t tell what it was directed towards, but he had just had an arm wrapped around Hangman’s girl, leaned in inches from her face, as they whispered and smiled at each other. The thought of how it might’ve looked to the other pilot was enough to make him pale.

“Are those the raspberry ones you two are hiding?” Hangman pointed an accusatory finger at the bag half hidden behind Rooster.

“Nope,” (Y/n) stole the bag from Rooster’s hand and took off, shouting unconvincingly as she went, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”  

Hangman rolled his eyes and waved a hand after her. “Little does she know I bought a box on her lunch break that’s hidden in my room, and I’m not sharing.” Kissing his mom on the top of her head as he passed, Hangman wandered over beside Rooster to observe the assortment (Y/n) had delivered to them.

Hangman’s brow was still a bit furrowed.

“Hey, man,” Rooster didn’t whisper, but he did speak under his breath so the other Seresins wouldn’t hear, “I’m sorry if I crossed a line with (Y/n).”

Hangman turned his head and raised an eyebrow, his expression thoroughly disinterested. “You cop a feel or somethin’ I didn’t see?”

“No, never, I-”

“No harm in makin’ friends, Rooster. I know that’s all it was to her. You tellin’ me it’s somethin’ more to you?”

“God, no.”

Hangman turned back to the candy nonchalantly, “Then what are you apologizin’ for? I’m an asshole, but I’m not that kind of asshole.”

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

Hangman’s sisters were very invested in his love life. Mostly, they were very invested in finally getting him and (Y/n) together. It was pretty much the first thing Rooster learned about each of them upon spending time alone with them. Kate had pushed him to knock some sense into Hangman. Ronnie had interrogated him to make sure her brother wasn’t seeing anyone else. Andy had taken to calling (Y/n) her favorite sister or sister-in-law when Hangman wasn’t around.

Clearly born out of a deep love for their brother and a want to finally see him happy, they had all seemingly made it their life’s mission to make him see reason, and with Rooster in town, he had inevitably been drafted in to help.

“I think you may have actually got through to him.” Kate dragged Rooster through the house to the dining table where Ronnie and Andy were already sitting. “But Jake needs a lot of hand holding with things like this. He can’t possibly admit he might have been wrong and making himself miserable for years for no reason.”

Debbie was out running errands, and (Y/n) was helping set up the town’s Christmas Eve parade, which of course meant Hangman was helping set up the town’s Christmas Eve parade. So it seemed prime-time for the Seresin sisters to congregate.

“This is the year. I can feel it in my bones, Kate.” Ronnie was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement at the prospect. “This is the year we finally get him.”

“Get him how?” Rooster took the seat across from Kate and next to Ronnie.

Andy leaned across the table with the closest thing to a serious expression Rooster had seen from her since he arrived. “Every year without fail we plot some storybook, romance novel worthy moment for Jake to finally see reason and declare his love for (Y/n), and every year it fails.”

“It’s a Seresin family tradition at this point,” Kate informed him with a matter-of-fact nod.

“We’ve staged them on a blind date with each other.” Ronnie counted off one on her fingers.

“Jake figured it out when he got there, and they just ended up hanging out.” Andy explained.

“We’ve trapped them in elevators. Twice” Two and three.

“The first time she fell asleep with her head in his lap because she was so tired, and the second time he pried the doors open like fucking He-Man or something.”

“We tried to make Jake jealous and set (Y/n) up with the hottest, richest guy we knew.” Four.

“He got so sad that year and said he hoped the other guy could give her everything she deserved.”

“Yeah, that one was depressing. We’re never trying that again.” Andy and Ronnie nodded along in agreement to Kate’s interjection to their list.

“We trapped them at the top of the ferris wheel the year the town rented one around Christmas.” Five.

“It freaked (Y/n) out too much to be romantic.” Andy added, unhelpfully, “She would not be a good fighter pilot.”

“So what are you three doing this year?” Rooster cut them off when it became clear the list was going to continue.

In a simultaneous motion that would’ve been absolutely horrifying in any horror movie, all three sisters looked up and smiled at his question. “See,” Kate addressed him, “we don’t know. We’re hoping that’s where you come in.”

When exactly Rooster became part of some romcom movie, he wasn’t sure. He was unabashed about the number of romcoms he’d watched over the year, with and without girlfriends present. So he felt pretty educated saying that sitting around a table coming up with a plan to set up two people who were already in love with each other was pretty romcom-esque. It’s just usually in the romcom they didn’t realize they were in love yet.

Rooster didn’t see how any ‘plan’ would work. None of them would resolve the real problem.

Hangman and (Y/n) were both very much in love and very much aware of the fact that they were in love. Neither of them needed to be told or reminded that they had feelings for the other. They were even both aware of the fact that the other was in love with them. There was no moment of realization to be had here. They both knew, and it didn’t seem to change anything..  

Hangman – shockingly – wasn’t selfish enough to ask her to make the sacrifices it would require to follow him, and at the end of the day, Hangman was still going to be a TopGun pilot, and he was still going to be constantly moving, constantly in danger, and constantly away. No romcom movie moment was going to change that.

And (Y/n)… Well Rooster wasn’t sure about (Y/n). He liked her, a lot actually. He could certainly see why Hangman was in love with her, but he just didn’t know her well enough to know what made her tick, to know why a woman so clearly in love with a man who was so clearly in love with her wouldn’t just say ‘screw it’ and show up at his door in San Diego, why she wouldn’t have confronted Hangman at any point in all their years of being ‘not-together’. He couldn’t see what was stopping her, but something clearly was.

Hangman’s sisters were absolutely convinced that they just needed to get through to Hangman, but Rooster wasn’t so sure. There was something nagging at him about (Y/n), telling him that, if they really wanted to make this happen, he needed to talk to her. Easier said than done since she never left Hangman’s side.

He asked the sisters if they could make that happen, if they could separate the two of them for longer than a couple minutes so he could talk to her, and the trio had exchanged long glances before they all burst out laughing like he’d just told the greatest joke they’d ever heard. Kate, promptly, informed him that while their mother made them go to church every Sunday as kids, none of them believed in miracles.

It was oddly endearing watching the sisters plot and scheme, not for their brother’s demise or embarrassment, but for his happiness. Their words did not match their angry, sinister tones. They said things like ‘Why won’t he just tell her he loves her?’ and ‘She already knows he loves her!’ and ‘Well, why won’t he just let her love him back, that asshole!’ and ‘I just want them to be happy and make babies!’ were snarled like insults. They all spat on Jake’s name like it was a vulgar word, while simultaneously trying to come up with ways to make him smile.

Rooster’s heart ceased up in his chest, and he knew he needed to get out of there. “I’ll be back.”

Andy and Ronnie waved him off, barely noticing as he left. They were still batting around ideas about what to do for Hangman. Kate was a different animal. Rooster could feel her eyes on him as his shoulders hunched in time with his constricting chest.

He made a swift exit onto the patio, inhaling fresh air deep into his lungs in an attempt to open up his chest. He was out there alone for less than a minute before a hand touched his shoulder. He should’ve known it was coming, but it still made him jump and turn around defensively.

“Sorry,” Rooster’s voice cracked slightly on the word, and he quickly diverted his eyes away from Kate.

“Are you okay?” Kate asked, leaving her hand where it fell on his arm. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just that…” Rooster wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he couldn’t stop the words coming out. It was something in the water, or in the town, or just in the house. Something that made him want to open up. “I don’t know. Seeing the way you guys are with Jake, it makes me think about what my siblings would’ve been like if my dad hadn’t…”

Kate placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, pulling Rooster’s eyes up to hers “Well, you don’t have to wonder if you don’t want to. I know, we all know, we aren’t replacements, and we won’t try to be. No one can replace what you’ve lost. But just because what you’ve lost is irreplaceable doesn’t mean there aren’t… alternatives.”

It was a sensitive subject, and Rooster could see the way Kate’s eyes darted around, searching for the right words. “We don’t need you to think of us as your real family or as replacements for them. If it helps you open up or cope, we won’t be offended by you thinking of us as a backup, Bradley. I know you’ve only been here for a little while, but we care about you. We will be what you need us to be. So don’t think you have to betray your family to stay here, and don’t think you’re hurting us by thinking of your family first.”

She gave his shoulder one last squeeze then stepped away. “We’re all here for you, even Jake. He wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t want you to be part of this, and we wouldn’t be spending so much time with you if we didn’t want it too.”

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

It was the Eve of Christmas Eve, and Rooster woke up to (Y/n) already at the Seresins’ frying up some eggs for breakfast. Even on leave, Rooster woke with the sun, yet somehow (Y/n) was already there.

She loudly announced that she was kidnapping Jake so they could go into the city to shop for Christmas presents. Rooster was welcome to join or stay at his own risk.

“Do you want to come? Everyone else will be out, so there won’t be much to do here. But if you really wanna stay, you can use my car. It can’t make the trek to the city, but it gets around town in a pinch.”

When she asked, an image of Kate the night before, ‘He wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t want you to be part of this, and we wouldn’t be spending so much time with you if we didn’t want it too,’ flashed through Rooster’s mind.

Jake brought Rooster here, not just to his family home, but to (Y/n), and as he stood – finally alone with her – in the kitchen, Rooster saw it for what it was: the most open and honest way Jake could place his trust in Rooster. It was as good as if Jake had ripped his heart from his chest and put it in Rooster’s palm.

“Of course I’ll come along. Can’t leave you alone with Jake that long. That would be torture.”

(Y/n) beamed. She had a witty retort, but Rooster didn’t hear it. He was too distracted by the way she turned back to the stove, still smiling away, as comfortable in his presence as she was in any of the Seresins.

She looked as ready and willing to accept him into the family as Kate the night before, and Rooster wondered if the two women, or more likely (Y/n) and Jake, had talked about it. If Jake got her permission to bring him here, or if Jake let her deliver her final verdict when he drove her home after the barbecue. Either way, Rooster knew he wouldn’t still be here if she didn’t want him around. But (Y/n) seemed to go so far beyond tolerance, so far beyond acceptance.

When Rooster thought of his family, of his parents and of the siblings he was sure he would’ve had. He found himself picturing (Y/n). Her open smile and accepting nature. He imagined a hellraiser of a baby sister with a nickname like Adrenaline that he was constantly trying to keep out of trouble. He could picture the little girl’s unbridled chaos mellowing into a mischievous glint in the grown woman’s eye. He could see himself bringing home his Navy buddies and giving them all an earful for checking her out.

Void of a biological family that had any real meaning to her, Rooster could pick (Y/n) up and put her seamlessly in his memories with his mom around the dinner table.

Rooster opened his mouth to speak. If he wanted his moment alone to talk with her, this was as good as it would get.

But before he could say anything, Jake came traipsing into the room. “Something smells good.”

“This is your payment for driving me to the city.” (Y/n) informed him.

“Oh?” Jake clearly didn’t know he was going to be doing that today, but he took the surprise easily in hand. “Sounds fun. When are we going?”

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

“Absolutely not!”

“Why not? She would look so nice in this one.”

They’d been in the city shopping for the better part of three hours, and all that was left was to help Jake find one last present for Andy.

Jake and (Y/n) had already gotten presents for each other, or at least Rooster assumed they had because, even after several hours wandering around the mall from store to store, neither of them had picked anything out for each other.

Jake wasn’t really known for being a thoughtful person, and Rooster never would’ve thought he was a romantic or generous person at heart. Before this trip, if he’d have had to imagine Jake buying presents for any occasion, it probably would have been a last-minute whirlwind of boxed chocolates and flowers to get laid on Valentine’s Day. And yet, since coming to Texas, Rooster would bet every dollar to his name that whatever Jake gave (Y/n) was so thoughtful it would make her cry. 

(Y/n) was obviously the kind of person who put a lot of thought into Christmas presents. She’d already gotten gifts for each of the Seresin sisters and Debbie before they went out shopping that morning, but her basket was still laden with little knick-knacks that reminded her of each of them. ‘Stocking stuffers’, she waved off the raised eyebrow Rooster shot her as she picked up a set of shot glasses that looked like beakers for Ronnie. He couldn’t imagine her forgetting to get Jake something. She seemed too good at this.

Jake had defaulted to (Y/n)’s opinion on gift giving up to the last moment, but now he’d fallen at the final hurdle.

“There is no way I am putting Andy in that. Addie, they’re all already picturing her naked. We don’t need to encourage them.”

The issue, a debate that was about as close to a fight as (Y/n) and Jake were capable of, centered around a beautiful, though very skimpy sundress hanging off of (Y/n)’s finger. “They will not be picturing her naked. I have this same one in a different color.”

“Yes, and I’ve been to the beach with you in it. All the guys are picturing you naked too.” Jake said with a roll of his eyes, as if it were the most logical conclusion, and he couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it.

(Y/n)’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she suddenly sounded less sure of herself on that fact. “No they aren’t.”

Jake tilted his head to the side and gave her purse-lipped expression that said she ought to know better, “I have to beat the other guys back like flies, Addie. You just don’t notice any of them.”

There was a rule between the two of them, one that Rooster had quickly caught onto, that in each other’s presence neither addressed the elephant in the room. In keeping with that rule, neither Jake or (Y/n) confronted why it was that (Y/n) wouldn’t notice all of the guys staring at her while Jake was around.

“Look, I won’t tell Andy what to wear any more than I’ll tell you what to wear, but I’m not gonna gift every guy on that trip a wet dream.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, “It’s really not that bad. You’re exaggerating.”

“No, they will definitely be picturing her naked in that.”

“See!” Jake shouted triumphantly, pointing at Rooster, “Rooster agrees with me! He never does that!”

(Y/n) bit back a laugh at Jake’s excitement. Defiantly, though certainly amused, she shoved the sundress in her own basket. “I’ll have you know I met the one that invited her along as his plus one, and he’s a perfectly nice guy. Practically a gentleman.”

“What branch did you say he was?” Rooster piped in.

“Army… I think he’s Special Forces.”

Rooster chuckled, and Jake fumed. “No. Absolutely not.” He stole the dress out (Y/n)’s basket it and hung it back on the rack. “Next you’re going to tell me Kate needs these art supplies so she can paint some Marine in the nude.”

“Well,” (Y/n) hedged, “he’s not a Marine…” Her tone was teasing, and there was just the right amount of mischief in her eyes.

“Ugh!” Jake walked back passed her towards the luggage section, ringing his hands in the air.

(Y/n) burst into a round of giggles as Jake wandered off, and Rooster couldn’t help joining her with a chuckle of his own. “Really though,” (Y/n) said, still trying to sober up, “What’s wrong with Army guys?”

“Well, for one, if he’s Special Forces, he has definitely already seen her naked.” Rooster spoke under his breath, not wanting to tempt fate with Jake’s foul mood, even if he would never actually unleash it around (Y/n), “And for two, Jake can’t scare an SF guy into line.”

“Well I, for one, think he’s great. And I think that will be totally unnecessary.” (Y/n) led their way through the racks, following Jake towards the matching set of bags he was no doubt going to buy Andy instead.

Rooster shrugged, not that (Y/n) could see from in front of him. “He might be a great guy, but still. Jake wants to protect her. He’s just trying to help.”

“Oh of course.” (Y/n) made a point to turn back so Rooster could see her playfully roll her eyes, “Because we women need a big macho man to help us with everything.” The pair broke out into the wider aisle and began walking side-by-side.

“Aren’t you the same girl I just watched pout her way into getting Jake to carry all of her bags out of the last store?” Rooster grinned down at her.

At the reminder, (Y/n) couldn’t hold back the devilish, gleeful smile, “Yeah, because I needed a big macho man to help me with it.”

Rooster chuckled, “You know when I got here I didn’t get it, but now I do. You and Jake make total sense.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment.”

“It was meant as a compliment.”

“For who?”

“Both of you.”

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

Every shop in the quaint downtown area of the small Texas town was strung with twinkling white Christmas lights along its roof. They shown down on the street like stars blinking invitingly to all the parade-goers, drawing them further into the crowd, further into the festivities. The lamps lining the street were all turned off, and the world had taken on a glow of red and green at the street level from countless, lit window displays of reindeer and Christmas trees and Santa Claus.

It was one of those magical scenes from the romantic comedies Rooster always unapologetically watched. Something in the air just screamed excitement and joy. It permeated his skin and filled him with an overwhelming sense of amusement and happiness. He was edging towards belonging, but he drew himself back, fearfully, from the feeling.

Christmas was never a holiday Rooster was particularly attached to. His family had never been particularly religious, and while his mother always made a point to make sure he had the best Christmas she could afford to give him – presents, dinner, family, lights, music – there was always something noticeably absent from Christmas with the Bradshaws. It always rang a little hollow. There was always one too many chairs around the table, one too many servings of pudding, one too many of everything.

But here, in podunk, middle of nowhere Texas, where half the people on the street remembered his name from the cookout and waved and said ‘Hi Rooster’. Where his friend – he felt far less hesitant calling Jake a friend now – walked a few feet ahead of him with the love of his life, and where Debbie clutched his arm and excitedly pointed out every family-owned store in town and raved about the town’s parade and its history.

Where Kate playfully berated her mother for boring him to sleep. And Andy whispered to Ronnie behind him about how she really did like the guy who’d asked her to go on the trip with him and his friends. And Ronnie told her to tell Jake, or Bradley, about the guy just to be safe.

Where he blinked a few times more than was strictly necessary as Andy mumbled that she’d probably talk to Bradley about it later.

“It’s beautiful Debbie,” Rooster barely knew which storefront Debbie was talking to him about this time, but her tone told him she was excited about it.

“Isn’t it just,” She beamed up at him, “The Newman’s always do such a great job. They didn’t make the cookout this time, but when you come back ‘round I’ll be sure to introduce you to ‘em. Their son and Jake were best friends when they were kids.”

Jake seemed to hear what Debbie was saying, and he craned his neck around in their direction, clearly unwilling to remove his arm from (Y/n) long enough to actually talk to them, “His dad used to own the plane, Rooster.”

“Why did you two stop being friends again?” Kate’s question sounded innocent enough, but there was an undercurrent to it that Rooster had come to recognize as common to all Seresin’s.

Debbie leaned around Rooster to give her eldest daughter a playful whack on the back of her hand, “Enough of that.”

The group all laughed.

They soon had to move to a single file line as they hit the town’s main square where the parade actually began, and the street was filling up with people camping out on the sidewalk for the best seats, leaving only a narrow walkway to get around. Kate side stepped in front of Rooster, between him and Debbie.

Rooster took the chance and leaned over Kate’s shoulder, “So why aren’t they friends?”

“Why else,” Kate turned her chin up to say it but didn’t face him, keeping her eyes forward as they duck and weaved their way through the people to keep up with the group, “Newman threw a basketball too hard at (Y/n) in P.E. She fell over, hit her head. Stitches. It was all an accident, but Jake wasn’t so forgiving back then. He’s always been a stubborn ass. They didn’t make up till college.”

“Funny, I thought around here Hangman didn’t have any flaws,” Rooster dared using the callsign. It seemed fitting in the moment.

Kate approved, grinning up at him, “You tellin’ me my brother isn’t an ass?”

“Oh no, he definitely is.”

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

“I’m gonna go get drinks. Wait here?” Jake asked (Y/n).

“Course, we’ll hold down the fort.” (Y/n) reached across the bench and patted Rooster on the knee, the last remaining members of the group.

The Seresins’ had secured a bench and the lip of sidewalk in front of it near the back of the circular route the parade would be taking through the big open square. There were people crowded in around them in lawn chairs or sitting on picnic blankets. Groups of children ran around and played in the empty path that was cleared out for the parade, one of them accompanied by Kate.

While they were waiting on the parade to start, Kate had run off to play with her godchildren, a pair of little girls belonging to her high school best friend. Mrs. Seresin had promptly taken that as her cue to abduct Ronnie and make her talk to someone named Taylor that she swore was just perfect for her. Andy had followed along behind snickering the whole way.

Objectively, it wasn’t that many people. A parade back in San Diego would’ve gotten ten or twenty times as many people as this one, but the shouts back and forth between different little families and the way everyone made room for the next group that came along later spoke volumes about the fact that this wasn’t just a collection of people. It was a community.  

Rooster was pretty sure that, even if they stood up and completely abandoned their stuff, no one would steal their spots or any of their belongings. ‘Holding down the fort’ was almost entirely unnecessary, and yet it provided him the opportunity he had been looking for.

He watched Jake’s back retreat towards a small makeshift shack that appeared to be some kind of concession stand. If he wanted to talk to (Y/n) alone, this was the only chance he’d get.

“Well (Y/n),” He broached in a gentle tone.  He had to be careful about this. (Y/n) didn’t strike him as the tattling or whining sort. If he said the wrong thing, she would probably grin and bear it. But of course, Jake could read her so well. It didn’t matter if she told him or not; Jake would know. So he had to be careful. “Jake’ll be leaving the day after tomorrow.”

(Y/n) gave him a sad smile. “So will you,” She added, “we’ll all miss you.” (Y/n) didn’t mean to redirect him. Rooster knew she wasn’t as sneaky as that. His first night in town she’d done quite a bit of redirecting, but all of it was incredibly obvious and usually accompanied by a look to Jake. This was just (Y/n) being (Y/n), welcoming him into the family.

“Of course,” He’d almost – almost – grown used to the Seresin brand of open affection, “but I’m not Jake.”

The smile stayed on her face even while the light in her eyes seemed to dim. “Well, no, you’re not, and I might miss him a teeny bit more if I’m being totally honest with you.” Her chipper, teasing tone didn’t match the sadness that was coming into her gaze, rolling in like dark clouds signaling a coming storm.

“Can I ask you a personal question, (Y/n)?”

“Of course,” (Y/n) shuffled on the bench. She turned to face him and brought her feet up onto the bench, pulling her knees into her chest.

He wondered absently if it was so she could look him in the eyes or if having her legs in front of her was more of a safeguard, a defense mechanism. Rooster had had several open, honest conversations with (Y/n) during his time in Texas, and some of them had actually been quite personal. But the few times he’d gotten her alone had only ever been long enough for a joke here or there, an offhand teasing comment.

He wondered if she could sense the change in atmosphere, in tone, as much as he could. If she could, she didn’t let on any more than the arm wrapped around her knees.

“Why aren’t you in San Diego? You don’t… really seem like you care about Texas that much, and I kinda get the feeling you’d rather be there.”

(Y/n) sighed like a weight had compressed the air out of her chest, a gust that looked and felt more like it was forced from her lungs than actually given freely. She knew this was coming. Rooster could tell from the way her eyes tilted down as she sucked air back in. “It’s complicated. It’s not as easy as just moving.”

“Well no,” Rooster conceded. “You would need… Well, you’d have to be with Jake, I suppose.”

“Right.”

“Why aren’t you?”

Her teeth caught her bottom lip, and (Y/n)’s eyes darted away as fast as the words left his mouth. They flitted along the crowd. She wasn’t really searching for anything. There was no urgency to her gaze, but she still seemed to be looking into every face that she passed. If for no other reason than to not look back at him.

“Is…” It was a wild thought, an impossible thought. But it was truly the only explanation Rooster could think of, “Is there someone else?”

(Y/n) came to a stop. Her shoulders, going up and down with the weight of her breaths froze in a sort of half shrug. Her eyes came to a stop on some unknown face in the crowd and glazed over as she stared through whoever it was into something that wasn’t there. Her fingers, twitching against the denim of her jeans, stilled and flattened against the fabric. It was like someone had a remote to a tv and hit pause.

“(Y/n)?”

Then, all at once, they were in fast forward.

(Y/n) threw her head back and let out an absolutely raucous laugh. If not for the packed bodies filling in the space around them with a buzz of noise, it would’ve echoed into the night. If not for the Christmas music playing in the background of the entire scene from speakers situated at the base of the sporadic trees decorating the square, her laughter would’ve been so disruptive it would’ve drawn the eyes of everyone in town to them. Not that any of them would’ve said anything beyond a cool, disapproving stare.

As it was, her laughter seemed to only add to the merriment of the moment, a merriment that Rooster’s chosen topic of conversation had pulled the pair of them out of.

Rooster let her have several rounds at his expense, going through another bout of quieter laughter then a few rounds of giggles before she finally managed to settle down enough to address him again. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to laugh at you. Just the idea.”

“There isn’t someone else then I take it.”

“No.” She said emphatically, one last chuckle leaving her lips. “And there never will be.”

Rooster shifted himself to face her this time. A knee pulling up on the bench between them, his elbow resting on the back of the bench, propping up his head to stare her down. “Why not?”

The jovial, amused expression coloring her face softened. They were talking about Jake. Rooster made a note of it; her expression softened when she got to talk about Jake. “I believe it was Betty White who said, ‘When you have the best, who needs the rest?’”

Rooster raised an eyebrow. This was shaky ground. “You don’t have Jake though.”

“Bradley,” (Y/n) sighed and brought her knees down, crossing her legs between them. She leaned in, the amusement and merriment of moments ago, the soft loving expression she got when talking about Jake, gone. “You’ve been here for a little over a week now. Do you think there is anyone in this square, anyone in this town, who could ever love me as much as Jake?”

“No,” It was the easiest question Rooster had ever answered.

“Do you think anyone else in this square, anyone in this town… Fuck it, do you think anyone in all of San Diego could ever love Jake as much as I do?”

“No,” The second easiest question.

“I have Jake.” (Y/n) said, matter-of-factly. Her eyes implored Rooster to see her truth. “He’s mine. In every way that matters, he will always be mine.”

“But he’s not… here.” Rooster hesitated to point out, not because he thought (Y/n) would balk at the reminder. She seemed more sure of herself now, talking about how much she loved Jake and vice versa, than ever. Rooster just didn’t want to cause her pain in his path to answers. “He’s gone, and …. Much as I hate to admit it, he’s probably the best pilot at TopGun besides Maverick. The Navy isn’t gonna let him go any time soon.”

“And I wouldn’t want them to.” (Y/n) agreed.

Rooster raised an eyebrow, “Where does that leave you?”

“Waiting.” Rooster had his answer. He thought about stopping there, turning around and laughing at Kate dancing through the parade route with a little kid holding each hand, wandering over to join Andy teasing Ronnie about Debbie’s latest setup attempt… but he couldn’t.

Rooster saw him approaching behind (Y/n) from his peripheral vision. He tried not to focus on him, to not draw (Y/n)’s attention away. His eyes stayed on her even as the blonde head of hair drew close and closer through the crowd.

This was, he thought, his chance. If he was ever going to get one. His chance to finally do what Kate asked and knock some sense into Jake, and his chance to do what he knew needed to happen and knock some sense into (Y/n).

“(Y/n), you’ll have to forgive me.” Rooster’s next words were for Jake, for Hangman. “I like Jake. And I like you, and I like you both together. But he left, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “He left because I told him to go. He loves flying planes; he loves the Navy. I can wait a little longer.”

Jake was passed the last group now, coming up behind her. Even in his peripheral, Rooster could make out his face now.

“Does he love you more?”

“Of course,” (Y/n) didn’t hesitate.

“Then why aren’t you there with him?”

“I don’t know!”

She shouted then buried her head in her hands. Rooster had never heard her raise her voice before. His entire body drew back. Being shouted at in general wasn’t a pleasant experience, but there was something so much more disquieting about it being (Y/n), about it being someone who was otherwise so unshakably good natured and caring towards everyone. It was his intention to pull the anger and frustration, the sadness, out of her, but he hadn’t realized just how close she was to boiling over.

A few groups near them turned to stare, not just from the volume. Rooster glanced over and saw their faces colored in shock. He saw their eyes flit to Jake, just over her shoulder, and then to him in concern.

They were all right to be concerned.

Rooster made eye contact with Jake and instantly realized it was a mistake. He wasn’t looking at Jake. There was nothing of the mildly mischievous, but secretly kind-hearted family man in the eyes boring into his.

Rooster was staring down Hangman. Hangman with vicious, vengeful eyes. Hangman that could, and had, killed. Hangman that would readily take up a cause as honorable as avenging (Y/n)’s tears with Rooster's blood.

It sent a chill down Rooster’s spine, and for a moment he thought about running, jumping up and sprinting into the crowd for the safety of Debbie or Ronnie or Andy, someone Hangman would never commit a murder in front of. He might be able to duck Hangman’s first blow and make it to Kate and the kids somewhere behind him, but he was also pretty sure Hangman would be willing to commit a murder in front of that particular sibling.

But none of those were really options, and Rooster wasn’t one to run from a fight. There was only one solution here.

“Why haven’t you gone to San Diego, (Y/n)?” Rooster asked, his eyes staring down Hangman’s even as he spoke to her.

Hangman’s hands clenched into fists at his sides; his lips pulling back in a sneer.

“I don’t know,” (Y/n)’s voice, quiet and muffled by her hands over her face, cut Hangman off, “Maybe because… because there has to be a good reason.”

(Y/n) looked up, and Rooster quickly diverted his gaze down to hers.

There were tears welling up in her eyes. She was practically swimming in them, but none had spilled yet. It would probably be Rooster’s only saving grace if (Y/n) didn’t stop Hangman. “Jake has to have a good reason. Right?”

Rooster opened his mouth to respond, to assure her that, whatever else Hangman is, he is in love with her. To tell her she’s right, that Hangman wouldn’t do this without a good reason; it was just a question of whether she accepted his reason. But he didn’t get to say any of that.

(Y/n)’s voice picked up, strength and speed. She was spiraling. “I’m in pain every day, and I hate it. I hate going to friend’s weddings knowing that will never be me. I hate coming home every night to an empty house and an empty bed. I hate that every morning I wake up from blissfully happy dreams about a life with him, and that every morning I have to remember that’s a life I’m not living.”

Rooster chanced a glance over her shoulder.

Hangman was gone.

Rooster didn’t let his gaze linger any longer on Jake than was necessary to ascertain that he was listening. Rooster had tried to get Jake to see sense before, and it had only had marginal if any success. But this was the wakeup call he needed, and Jake was finally hearing it.

“I hate knowing that this is my life until Jake retires from the Navy in like thirty years, but it is. Because there isn’t anyone else, Bradley. There will never be anyone else. I don’t care if that means I have to wait till he retires or if I have to wait for the fucking ocean to dry up. There is nothing and no one that will ever replace Jake for me.”

(Y/n)’s eyes implored Rooster to believe her in a way that was wholly unnecessary. Rooster believed every word she was saying, not just because he thought her incapable of lying about this but because he knew the truth of every word even as she spoke it.

He’d seen it for himself in the way she looked at Jake, the way she smiled at him, touched him, the way her entire body relaxed just at the sight of him. Rooster didn’t need her to tell him how long she would wait for Jake. Rooster had already watched his mother wait.

“I want nothing more than to drop everything tomorrow and buy a ticket to San Diego. Whether there’s a house with a white picket fence or a tiny room with a bunk in an aircraft carrier, I want to be wherever he is. Being without him hurts me every day, but the only thing I know to be absolutely true in this world is that Jake Seresin loves me as much as I love him… and he would never hurt me like this without a good reason.”

“Yes he would.” The words came out broken, as broken as the man who said them.

(Y/n) lurched to her feet and whipped around. “Jake…”

(Y/n) didn’t seem to know what to say.

Rooster felt a pang in his chest at the desperation in her tone. He’d caused that. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but he had staged the moment unfolding before him. He put (Y/n) in position, in the position to stand in front of Jake and falter. Distress didn’t suit her; it wasn’t an emotion Rooster had ever heard (Y/n) express, ever. Certainly, she had never expressed distress towards anything regarding Jake; Rooster doubted she’d ever had cause to even know what distress felt like in the presence of Jake Seresin.

From the corner of his eye Rooster saw Kate take a stumbling step back in their direction. Jake had his back to her, and her eyes were trained on (Y/n)’s face. Kate looked shocked, concerned, possibly even terrified though he couldn’t tell from that distance.

“Jake, I-I can explain. I didn’t… I don’t….” She couldn’t explain.

Jake’s face was in a state of pain Rooster had rarely seen before. Early in his flying career, Rooster had briefly been given a backseater who ejected at too low an altitude and ended up breaking nine ribs. The look on Jake’s face was something akin to that, to his chest caving in.

“It’s not… I mean… Jake,” She sobbed his name.

Whatever else Jake was feeling, he couldn’t stand to hear that. Jake took a slow, deliberate step forward. “There is no reason, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) was struck dumb, and Rooster felt it in the way her knees began to shake that at any moment she was going to crumble. If Jake didn’t explain himself immediately, Rooster was sure she would disintegrate.

Jake clearly felt it too. His hand reached out for hers, but for once, she didn’t offer it freely. He had to take it for himself. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks. Even as people watched, he was completely unashamed to be crying in this moment. He made no move to stop them, no move to wipe them away.

Jake took another step forward, standing chest to chest with (Y/n) and spoke so low that only she and Rooster could hear over the noise of the throng. His voice had a reverence to it that was reserved for religious ceremony – or in Jake’s case, saying (Y/n)’s name. “There is no reason good enough to hurt you, (Y/n). You are the only thing in this world that matters to me.”

(Y/n) flung her arms around Jake’s neck. She buried her face in his chest, and her entire body shook against his from the force of the sobs that overcame her. If not for the arm Jake put around her waist, she would have collapsed against him.

“Please,” (Y/n) mumbled into his chest. One broken, unspecified plea.

Jake’s eyes turned skyward, tears still pouring down his cheeks. “Anything, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) pulled her head back from his chest, and Rooster watched their eyes meet through a web of each other’s tears. They stared at each other for barely a moment. Decades they had waited, but in that moment, they couldn’t wait a second more.

Jake’s hands came up from her waist to cradle her face between his palms as (Y/n)’s hands threaded through his hair and pulled him in.

Their lips met in the middle in a passionate, unhurried kiss, and Rooster smiled. He felt as if he’d put something wrong in the universe right again.

Somewhere in the distance, someone cheered. Rooster thought he recognized it as Ronnie, but before he could turn and find the source, the first voice was joined by a chorus of others and then a resounding, deafening applause.

Jake and (Y/n) hardly seemed to notice at all, their entire beings – as they always were – consumed with each other.

Kate showed up at Rooster’s elbow a tear rolling down her cheek. “Thank you,” She wrenched Rooster into a bone-crushing hug.

The parade started, but in a town where everyone knew everyone and everyone knew everyone else’s business and everyone knew how in love Jake and (Y/n) were, the parade seemed so anti-climactic, not just to the Seresin’s who were practically screaming with joy but to all the onlookers who had also been wondering not if but when.

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

“Rooster, I’m sorry.” (Y/n) held out a Christmas bag to him, “I didn’t have time to wrap it.”

“You…” Rooster stared at the bag in her outstretched hand. “You really didn’t have to, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, but her smile remained unshakeable on her face. Rooster was pretty sure (Y/n) would never be able to stop smiling for the rest of her days.

The thought did momentarily cross Rooster’s mind that she might stop smiling one day because Jake might not be at her side anymore, but that thought was quickly quashed as impossible. Rooster couldn’t see the future, but he was pretty positive that Jake would live exactly one day longer than (Y/n) so he never put her through the pain of living without him, then he would promptly keel over and die from the pain of being without her.

“Of course we did. You put up with this one,” she elbowed Jake in the side, “all the time, so we don’t have to. It’s the least we could do.”

“We?” Rooster tentatively took the bag from her hand and glanced between her and Jake.

Jake, with the arm draped around (Y/n)’s shoulders, pointed at the tree in the corner and a small pile of presents underneath it. “Seresin family tradition to sneak downstairs and steal your presents before morning without getting caught by Ma. Those’ll be yours. You’re the only one left.”  

“I mean, won’t those be…” He nodded his head towards (Y/n).

“No,” (Y/n) shook her head, “I usually break in, but I stayed in Jake’s room last night so I didn’t have to.”

Unsurprisingly, little had changed around the Seresin now that Jake and (Y/n) were finally together. They were so inseparable, so effectively a couple before, that there was virtually no adjustment needed. The arm around her shoulder, the adoring look in their eyes, the way they couldn’t be separated from each other, it was all almost exactly the same. The only difference was this time no one had to pretend it was normal and that nothing was going on. There was something going on, and now it was perfectly normal.

“You usually what?” Rooster doubled back.

(Y/n) shrugged like it was nothing to say she’d broken into someone’s home. “You have to open them before Ma finds you. It’s tradition, and I’ve never been caught.” She grinned at the second half of her comment.

Rooster turned around to look at the tree. There were about half a dozen small packages wrapped in garish red and green paper sitting under it, and now that he was looking at them, he could see the tag on the top one with ‘ROOSTER’ written in massive letters across it.

His words caught on a lump rapidly forming in his throat. “I-I,” He didn’t know what to say. There really wasn’t anything to say.

He’d never gone a year without a Christmas present. Even when he didn’t feel like celebrating all that much, even when they weren’t on speaking terms and he hated his guts, Mav had always sent Rooster something. A few of those years, Rooster wasn’t even sure how Mav had found him and was positive he’d made Iceman pull strings to find out.

“The top one’s from Mav and Penny.” Jake confirmed what Rooster already knew.

It was the others that he wasn’t expecting. A red and green package that was so clearly a book, folded in the neatest wrap job he’d ever seen with a delicate matching bow on top. One misaligned mess that, judging by the poor attempt at wrapping he’d witnessed from her a couple days ago, was almost certainly from Kate. A weird oval shaped thing that had paper twisted and tied at the ends so it looked more like a piece of candy. Two matching square boxes behind those. And a bag, still dangling off of (Y/n)’s outstretched finger.

Rooster blinked rapidly. It felt like there was something in his eye.

Jake cut the tension. He dragged (Y/n) back into his side and whispered conspiratorily into her ear, “He’s just trying to figure out which one’s mine cause he knows about the stink bomb I put in it.”

(Y/n) giggled and laid her head against Jake’s shoulder.

Rooster turned back with a smile, one that he hoped conveyed everything he was feeling towards the couple in that moment, the depth of love he’d developed for them, for all of them really, in just a week.

(Y/n) was still holding out the bag to Rooster.

Rooster cautiously took it from her hand and gently removed the obstructing paper from the top.

“It’s not much, but it seemed your style.”

Rooster let out a full belly laugh as he pulled out one of the most atrocious tropical shirts he’d ever scene. It was dark blue with waves patterned across it, interspersed with tiny spits of islands covered in palm trees and tiny propeller planes of various makes and models.

“Thank you.” His smile was both grateful and relieved. He didn’t have anything to give her in return. If it had been any more than a gag gift…

“There’s actually more in the bottom.”

Rooster pulled the shirt the rest of the way out of the bag and set it to the side. Down in the bottom was what looked like a picture frame.

“We always give Jake a new one every year because the sun bleaches out the photos.” (Y/n) explained as Rooster pulled it out of the bag. “You don’t have to keep it if it’s weird, but he always seems to like them. So I thought you might too.”

Rooster glanced up at her with a furrowed brow before he looked back down and flipped it over.

“It’ll stick to the dash of the cockpit,” Jake explained.

Most of the small frame was taken up by a large picture of his parents, a familiar picture to him of his mom and dad at the piano bench that Mav had taken not long before his dad died. Smushed into the bottom corners were two tiny group photos, one of the TopGun squad posing on the deck of the aircraft carrier after the successful uranium mission and a candid of the Seresin family, plus (Y/n) sans Jake, having a blast on their patio.

“We won’t be mad if there’s someone else you wanna put in there instead. We just…”

“No,” Rooster cut her off, looking up with a teary smile. “I love it.”

He didn’t have anything to give her in return, and the war going on in his head must’ve been written on his face because Jake gave him a small almost imperceptible shake of the head.

A resounding ‘no’. Rooster didn’t need to give them anything else.

“Open mine next!” Andy came screeching down the stairs into the living room, shouting as she went. “You’re gonna love it!”

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

Fanboy spotted her first. He and Payback had a rule for as long as they’d been flying together, a rule that the rest of the squadron all subconsciously adopted for themselves. Whoever saw her first got to take a crack at her. It wasn’t like dibs, because if the woman said no and was particularly into someone else they were allowed to go for it, but only the first pilot to spot her got to approach. Everyone else had to hope she approached them.

Gorgeous women in a skimpy, flowery sundress walking into a bar like this tended to stand out from the crowd, so it wasn’t surprising that Fanboy clocked her the moment she entered the bar, still standing in the doorway looking around like a lost puppy trying to find its owner in the crowd.

Fanboy whistled, low and long, under his breath and elbowed the nearby Phoenix, nodding in the woman’s direction.

Phoenix appraised the woman appreciatively. Whoever she was, she definitely came here dressed like that for a reason. That dress was the dress of sexual awakenings and wet dreams, and gods Phoenix hoped Fanboy wasn’t her type.

“Good luck, man,” Phoenix leaned over the table, eyeing the woman, “She looks like she’s already got somethin’ on her mind.”

“I bet I can take her mind off it,” Fanboy grinned and turned to walk away.

He brushed passed Rooster on his stool, and Rooster glanced around to see who Fanboy’s latest target would be. For Fanboy’s sake, thank God he had.

“Absolutely not.” Rooster’s hand lurched out and caught the back of Fanboy’s shirt, yanking Fanboy back to the table he and Phoenix were currently occupying.

Fanboy stumbled back to the open barstool next to Rooster. “What the fuck man?” Fanboy shrugged Rooster off with an expression that was more confused than angry. “What’d you think you’re doin’?”

Rooster had already turned away, offering Fanboy a half-heartedly, “Saving your fuckin’ life.” He let out a loud whistle, not of the wolfish-catcalling variety, but a loud clear note meant to get attention as it echoed across the bar.

(Y/n)’s eyes darted towards the pool tables, and Rooster tipped his sunglasses up onto his forehead, not that she really needed the help recognizing him. Even as he was reaching for them, (Y/n)’s nervous, overwhelmed expression was giving way to a wide, relieved smile.

(Y/n) darted down the steps and began weaving her way through the thick crowd. Most of the men turned to appreciate her as she passed them by, but none of them made a move to impede her progress – not in this bar, not with the group she was making a b-line towards.

“Wait, is that… that can’t be your girl?” Fanboy pointed between Rooster and the woman rapidly approaching.

“It’s not,” Rooster agreed, hopping to his feet and moving to stand beside the pole at the corner of the pool area. As he went, he thumped Hangman hard on the back where he was bent over the pool table.

“What the fuck, man,” Hangman exclaimed as he missed his shot, standing up and glaring at Rooster’s retreating back.

“8 o’clock,” was all the information Rooster offered up as he walked past.

Hangman’s eyes followed where Rooster was headed, and he suddenly couldn’t give a damn about the shot he’d just missed.

“I saw her first, Bradshaw,” Fanboy declared. His steps followed Rooster’s retreating back up even with Hangman.

Instinctively more than anything else, Hangman’s hand, still holding the pool stick, whipped out, smacking the long rod hard across Fanboy’s stomach, making him double over around the piece of wood.

“No you didn’t.”

As Hangman completely abandoned the table, (Y/n) finally spotted him, and the second she saw a gap in the crowd, she ran the last dozen or so steps to him.

Rooster wasn’t offended or at all surprised when (Y/n) breezed passed him and flung herself into Hangman’s arms.

Hangman caught her with ease, one arm tightly gripping her around the small of her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. Her face burrowed into his neck, and he buried his free hand into her hair, holding her there as his fingers wove into her hair.

Fanboy wandered, stunned, to stand at Rooster’s side. “Hangman has a girl?”

“Told you I was saving your life.”

Fanboy numbly nodded his head in agreement.

Rooster knew from experience that the two of them could stay like this for at least an hour without moving, and he highly doubted Penny would appreciate such a prolonged display of PDA. Or Hangman for that matter, because the pilot clearly didn’t realize the way his hand was fisted in the back of her dress was pulling it slowly further and further up, mere inches from flashing (Y/n)’s ass to the whole bar.

“Oi, lover boy,” Rooster leaned forward and flicked Hangman in the ear, “do that on your own time.”

“Fuck off Rooster,” Hangman grumbled, but he gently lowered (Y/n) down anyway.

(Y/n) stayed pressed against Hangman for another second or two before she took a deep breath, seemingly composing herself, and turned.

“Bradley,” she smiled, genuinely ecstatic to see him despite moments before ignoring his presence. “It’s so good to see you,” (Y/n) pulled him down into a hug.

“Good to see you too. Glad you’re here. Jake was getting intolerable without you.” Rooster said the last part under his breath in her ear as he bent down returning the hug.

(Y/n) laughed and pulled away. “Oh I can imagine,” she agreed. Her hand blindly reached behind her, and Hangman stuck his own out, lacing his fingers through hers and dragging her back into his side.

“What are you doing here?” Hangman punctuated with a kiss to her temple.

“Thought it’d be a nice surprise. After all my friend, Bradley here, promised to get me on base since you were less than forthcoming.” (Y/n) teased him.

Hangman smiled, one of his rare, real smiles that Rooster had never seen outside of Texas. “My apologies, ma’am, but I’m a bit of an asshole sometimes if you haven’t already noticed.”

“Oh we’ve all noticed,” Phoenix butted in.

The four other members of the squad at the Hard Deck that night were all crowded in the space between the couple and the pool table. Completely abandoning any semblance of a game in favor of this utterly stunning development surrounding the squad’s resident asshole and the hot, but entirely random, girl. She had marched into the Hard Deck and, without so much as a flirty wave, laid claim to the Jake Seresin, and the Jake Seresin had accepted it without question. The squad looked varying degrees of stunned, confused, and suspicious.

Phoenix most of all. She stuck out her hand, “Hi, I’m…”

“Phoenix!” (Y/n) happily declared, taking Phoenix’s hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “I know. Jake’s told me all about you. Which means you must be her backseater Bob, and Payback, and Fanboy.”

“Guys,” Hangman seemed to realize at this point that introductions were unavoidable, “This is (Y/n).”

Rooster leaned back against the pole and stuck his head out around the pair with a shit-eating grin, “Otherwise known as Addie.”

There were several long moments as realization slowly dawned on all of their faces.

“Is there anything you care about beside yourself?”

“Addie maybe, but she’s probably it.”

“Addie’s off the table.”

“You’re Addie…” Phoenix said it like it was an epiphany she’d just had, not something Rooster had told her five seconds before.

“Yes, I am.” (Y/n)’s head jerked up to look at Hangman, “And why does everyone around here seem to think I’m a plane? At the airport, Omaha said he thought I was a Cessna, and Fritz said he didn’t know I was a person.”

Hangman’s mouth mimed words but none came out as he searched for an explanation.

Rooster, ever the helpful friend, leaned forward and told her point blank, “He talks about you all the time, but since he named the plane after you, and he’s such an asshole, we all assumed he was in love with a plane this whole time. It seemed more plausible than him being in love with a person.”

“Really?” (Y/n) met Rooster’s mischievous grin with one of her own, “But he’s so clearly in love with himself?”

“Ugh,” Hangman buried his face in her neck to hide the heat (Y/n) could feel rushing to his skin as it pressed into hers, “I really hate that you two are friends.”

“We’re not friends; we’re family. Right, Bradley?”

“Right.” Rooster chuckled.

(Y/n)’s fingers instinctually went about carding through his hair, completely unbothered with messing up whatever product he’d lathered in it that day. The prospect of his messy hair didn’t seem to bother Hangman much either when it was (Y/n) doing it. “Really Jake, I think it’s sweet.”

Hangman pulled his face out of her neck and pulled her against his chest, pressing kisses in quick succession to her lips.

“You knew about this?” Payback asked Rooster, gesturing vaguely to Hangman and (Y/n).

“Oh,” (Y/n) turned her head away from Hangman, but he just continued kissing down her cheek to her jaw then her neck, “We only met when he came to Christmas, but I’ve known Coyote for years.”

“For years?” Bob.

“For Christmas!” Phoenix.

“Yeah.” (Y/n) answered Bob, “Since Jake was in training at least. Coyote picked us up from the airport.”

Hangman’s ministrations froze. “Us?” He said into her neck. This time Hangman stepped back. His hands stayed in place on her hips, but his expression was wary.

“Well you know I hate being in planes unless you’re flying them. I wasn’t going to fly out here alone, and really, Andy and your mom were already both going to be out of town. It seemed rude to leave them behind.”

“Don’t look so scared Jake,” Kate’s voice cut through the moment as she appeared at Rooster’s right hand. “We won’t embarrass you too much.”

No one needed to ask who Kate was. The family resemblance struck each of them as hard as it did Rooster the first time he saw her.

“Kate,” Rooster smiled down at her.

“Bradley,” She returned, wrapping an arm around his waist to hug his side.

Rooster threw an arm around her shoulder returning the hug, though he left his arm in place.

“Where’s Ronnie?” Hangman demanded of Kate. His eyes searched anxiously around the room for his middle sister. Not anxious for her safety, not in Penny’s bar at least. Anxious for a very different, far more pressing reason.

“Oh leave her be,” (Y/n) playfully swatted his shoulder. “You know,” She turned to Phoenix, who still appeared to be processing an overwhelming amount of information, “this reminds of one time in sixth grade. Mr O’Connor’s class had a pop quiz in earth science-”

“Absolutely not!” Hangman threw a hand over her mouth and lifted (Y/n) up around the waist. He set her down behind him, putting his body between her and the rest of the TopGun graduates. “You are not making friends with her.”

(Y/n) said something that was muffled by his hand, and Hangman cautiously moved his hand.

“If you stop me from talking to her, who’s gonna stop Ronnie from flirting with Coyote at the bar?” She nodded in that direction.

Hangman’s eyes whipped around. In mere moments, the trio of women had taken him from cocky, asshole pilot to a frazzled hall monitor trying to keep track of too many children. “I hate you,” Hangman murmured down to (Y/n).

“You love me more than life itself.” (Y/n) dismissed offhand.

“I do,” Hangman agreed and kissed the top of her head before he let her go and disappeared to find Ronnie.

(Y/n) turned around with a smug grin on her face, staring down four dumbstruck TopGun aviators. “That was exactly as much fun as I thought it’d be.” She glanced up to look at Rooster, “Wait till he finds out Andy’s trip got canceled for a storm, and she’s outside talking to Yale.”

“I think that’s Special Forces guy’s problem now.” Rooster reminded her.

Kate shook her head. She leaned in closer to Rooster’s side seemingly to reassure him. “Nah, you were right to talk her out of it. He was a nice guy, but they weren’t a good fit.”

Phoenix cleared her throat awkwardly. It would be days, weeks, potentially months, beforte she processed the series of events that just happened. But one thing did stick out in her mind that she was capable of processing right then, “What’s this about a pop quiz?”

Kate and (Y/n) both burst into fits of laughter. (Y/n)’s hand shot out and took ahold of Kate’s.

“Oh I really,” a tear leaked from the corner of (Y/n)’s eye as she laughed, “I really can’t tell you that one, but I promise I’ll help you make Jake think I did.”

Phoenix smiled, “That’ll do.”

[inklore]

— 𝐅𝐀𝐐 ⋆ ˚｡

this blog is strictly multifandom, but that does not mean that i don’t play favorites for certain fandoms/characters. so there will most definitely be more writings for certain characters and fandoms.

requests: are closed, but thots are always welcome!

in no way shape or form should minors be interacting with anything on or posted to this blog. this is an 18+ space. anon hate and celebrity discourse also has no place here, so please respect that. if you are racist, homophobic, bigoted, zionist, islamphobic, judgmental to what people enjoy writing/reading, can’t depict fiction from real life, you will be blocked.

𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…

rpf, necrophilia, incest, pregnancy, daddy/little play, age play, spitting, kitten, bimbo!reader, foot fetish, animal play, race play, watersports, underage scenarios, alpha/omega, domestic violence, kid fics, male!character x male!oc, i hate the word ‘doll’ as a pet name so i avoid it like the plague.

𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…

smut (refer to the above list when it comes to this), fluff, age gaps, poly/threesome+, reverse harem, dubcon, noncon, yandere, toy play, cheating (to a certain degree), blood play, knife play, some bdsm, breath play, violence, gore, capture x captive, hunter/prey, praise and degradation, power imbalance, step siblings, supernatural, villainary, choking, mommy/daddy kink (to an extent).

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒.

marvel ↷

miguel o’hara, hobie brown, marc spector, thor odinson, loki laufeyson, peter parker (all variants), yelena belova, joaquin torres, doctor strange, wade wilson, carol danvers, eddie brock, scott lang, hope van dyne, kate bishop, hela, pietro maximoff, logan howlett, wanda maximoff, steve rogers, kraven, cable, druig, makkari, thena, blade

dc universe ↷

dinah lance/black canary, diana prince, clark kent, pamela isley/poison ivy, arthur curry/aquaman, harley quinn, adrian chase, pattinson!bruce wayne, edward nashton/the riddler

top gun: maverick ↷

jake 'hangman' seresin, bradley 'rooster' bradshaw, javy 'coyote' machado, mickey 'fanboy' garcia, natasha 'phoenix' trace, beau 'cyclone' simpson, reuben 'payback' fitch

star wars ↷

poe dameron, finn, kylo ren/ben solo, bo-katan kryze, din djarin, young!han solo

scream ↷

ethan landry, stu macher, billy loomis, chad meeks-martin, mindy meeks-martin, amber freeman, tara carpenter

bridgerton ↷

anthony bridgerton, colin bridgerton, benedict bridgerton, kate sharma, simon basset, phillip crane

house of the dragon ↷

ser harwin strong, daemon targaryen, aemond targaryen, rhaenyra targaryen

american horror story ↷

cordelia goode, tristan duffy, michael langdon, harry gardner, madison montgomery, kit walker, xavier plympton, ally mayfair-richards

etc shows ↷

villanelle, lip gallagher, tommy miller, carmy berzatto, luca (the bear), kate parks, daisy jones, billy dunne, warren rhodes, geralt of rivia, love quinn, max wolfe, olivia benson, roman godfrey, dream the endless, lucifer (sandman), jonathan pine, mira phillips, the salesman (squid game), hwang jun ho (squid game), kim geon-woo (bloodhounds)

movies ↷

john wick, finnick odair, peeta mellark, johanna mason, han lue, cipher, walter de ville, tangerine, dave lizewski, thomas sharpe, james conrad, neil (tenet), edward cullen, millie / molotovgirl, dante reyes, thrandull, steve kemp, charlie swan, marquis vincent de gramont, keys (free guy), akira (john wick), beverly marsh (it two), ben hanscom (it two), keith (barbarian), frank (don't worry darling)

adam driver ↷

kylo ren/ben solo, adam sackler, flip zimmerman, phillip altman, charlie barber, henry mchenry, commander mills, rick smolan, officer ronnie peterson, matt the radar technician, clyde logan, paterson, jude

oscar isaac ↷

santiago garcia, poe dameron, nathan bateman, jonathan levy, william tell, blue jones, rydel keener

pedro pascal ↷

din djarin, javier peña, frankie morales, javi gutierrez, joel miller, dieter bravo

chris evans ↷

ransom drysdale, lloyd hansen, andy barber, ari levinson, frank adler, steve rogers, jake wyler

[arrthurpendragon]

My name is Annie and I'm an OC Content Creator!

I started with Harry Potter when I was 14 - and have basically been creating an OC for every piece of media I consume since. I love hiking and reading. My favorite movies are Pride & Prejudice, Little Women, and Jurassic Park. I have a fluffy dog named Bear that is my precious baby boy!

On my blog (I have no others except this one lol), I write fanfic for my OCs, but I also have a list of OC profiles that are available for other people to work with if they feel so inspired!

My current muse is my Top Gun OC Ronnie Bradshaw!

Right now...I really just need more community. People to talk to, to blab about my ideas and OCs too. I've always felt like an outsider in nearly every fandom I've been involved with. People have stopped talking to me often and I've never understood why. Not to get too emotional, but I've been hurt. But I'm ready to engage again!

Thank you for doing this, Kass. You're the best fairy godmother a girl could ask for.

[supernaturaldawning]

@anniesocsandgeneralstore Ronnie in the Fantasy AU ????

As soon as I saw the dresses , this was my first thought

Favourite Designs: The Atelier Couture ‘Paradise’ Bridal Couture Collection Pt.1

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

@indynerdgirl requested: numbers 2, 10, and 72 from the random prompts list (so sorry this took me so long to get to love)

|| prompt list ||

prompts: "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" + "I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice." + "You were put on this earth to give me a headache."

au: nfl

word count: 2183

warnings: drinking, jake being a little shit, some smooching and heavy petting, ronnie has a praise kink and that's just facts

In the 2020 season, the Indianapolis Colts didn’t make it past Wildcard Weekend. Which was disappointing, obviously; but it only added fuel to the fire to perform even better next season and make it all the way to that coveted title of Super Bowl Champion. For now, though, the team was packed into the quarterback's house in order to watch those two teams that did make it all the way duke it out on live TV. 

The Rams versus the Bengals. Most of the Colts were rooting for that Cincinnati team. Something about AFC teams needing to stick together. At least it wasn’t the fucking Patriots again. 

One of the party goers, and Bengals supporters, included new Tight Ends Coach Ronnie Bradshaw. 

She had only been with the team the last few weeks of the season, but she fit in like she had always been there. A Hoosier born and raised, and the daughter of Nick Bradshaw, a famous NFL wide receiver himself, Ronnie had been around football her entire life. She not only knows the game inside and out, but even played it herself when she could. She brought something new and fresh to the team that hadn’t been there in a long time. Everyone could see it. The players, the other coaches, the sport’s greatest critics. Ronnie seemed made for the Colts’ offensive coaching staff — and maybe she was just the breath of fresh air they needed to get them that title they so craved. 

“Gotta admit though, Joe Burrow is a little cutie,” Ronnie commented as she sipped on her White Claw. 

The party was too big for everyone to be in one room, and she ended up on the main floor living room. Sitting cross legged on the couch with a few of the players’ girlfriends and wives. Two lucky guys got the armchairs, but most who decided to watch in that room were sitting on the floor, backs leaning against the couch.

Including tight end Jake Seresin. Who just so happened to be sitting right in front of his new coach. 

He turned to look up at her with a smirk. “Is that a bit of a crush I hear, Coach?”

“Sure,” she laughed, a slight blush tinting her cheeks at the thought. “Cincy’s not too far. We could make it work.” 

The WAG sitting next to her asked a question about Burrow’s career, and Ronnie provided the information with ease. But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Seresin’s face sour. Clearly her answer wasn’t the one he was looking for. Though she was unsure what answer he would want from her. 

Now that the season was over, her interactions with Seresin had been…off. She really couldn’t put a finger on it. He had always been flirty. And as player and coach there was a mutual respect lining the jokes and teasing they often shared. But lately, whenever she turned his flirty remarks into jokes at his expense, he didn’t give anything back. He didn’t laugh. He almost seemed…hurt by it. His smile less genuine and the yes…and-ing cut off abruptly. 

The game went to commercial break, and Ronnie’s White Claw was empty. Taking the opportunity, she got up from the couch for a refill. She never really cared about the commercials anyway. They hadn’t been funny since she was a kid. 

Throwing her empty can into the recycling, she got a plastic cup and began filling it with water from the fridge. She still had to drive home later, after all. She was thankful for the quiet in the kitchen. There was no one else in there, but distantly she could hear the muffled sounds of laughter and jeering. It made her smile. This team was closer than most she worked with, and so far there’d been no talk of trades or free agency. It was a dream team, they all knew it, they just had to find their spark. And Ronnie hoped she could help them. 

“Thinkin’ about that Burrow kid again, Coach?” Seresin asked as he walked into the kitchen. 

Ronnie jumped. Jesus, she didn’t even hear him coming. For such a big guy, he would be very stealthy. 

She rolled her eyes, pulling her full cup from the fridge door. “And what if I was?”

“I’d have to call you a cougar, I think,” he replied as he picked through the snacks laid out on the kitchen island. 

“Hilarious.” Ronnie leaned back against the counter beside him. “I’m not that much older than him. We could still make it work.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled before tossing a jalapeno popper into his mouth. 

All she could do was stare up at his profile for a moment. At the bulging muscle in his jaw as he chewed with a bit more force than necessary and the unreadable look in his green eyes. 

It came as no surprise to her when Jake Seresin was just as pretty as the photos and videos implied. Because that’s what he was: pretty. He had a face like something out of old Hollywood. It made no sense when paired with his perfect Tight End physique. It made him too good to be true in some ways. What was even worse was that he knew it too. Used it to his advantage in nearly every city they travelled to. But even his reputation and his smug awareness didn’t stop her from thinking about him from time to time. And definitely not in a way a coach should think about one of their players. 

Seresin glanced down at her as he put another jalapeno popper in his mouth. And it clicked. Green wasn’t just the color in his eyes right now. 

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” she questioned, teasing and quiet, as she smirked up at him. 

“Of Joe Burrow? Absolutely not,” he answered just a little too quickly, hands coming to rest on the island. 

“Oh, my God, you totally are,” she laughed. 

He glared down at her. “Why would I be jealous?”

“‘Cause I said I think he’s cute and not you,” she explained, her smirk only growing as she watched his jaw tick to one side. 

A sure sign he was getting frustrated and a sure sign she was right. A thrill went up her spine at the thought. That maybe there was something more going on besides the off season and him wanting to distance himself. Because that was the opposite of what she wanted, deep in some secret part of her heart that housed everything else she knew was wrong but desired anyway. 

“Well do you?” he questioned suddenly, turning completely to face her with his hip against the counter. 

It threw her off balance as she gazed up at him. “Do I what?”

“Think I’m cute.”

“You’re avoiding the question,” she said with a shake of her head, looking down at her socks as heat filled her cheeks. 

“So are you.” 

“I asked mine first.” 

“Mine is more relevant.” 

“Jesus Christ,” she groaned, rubbing at her temple. “Were you put on this earth to give me a headache?” 

“New question — negates your previous one.” He grinned impishly at her and she huffed. 

The chatter died down in the other parts of the house. The game must be back on. People would start to wonder where they were. Ronnie pushed away from the counter and away from Seresin. 

“Fine. Don’t give me an answer. I can live without it,” she said, even though it wasn’t true. 

She wanted to know. She wanted to know if he was jealous of some other football player just because she thought he was attractive. She wanted to know if he felt even an iota of what she felt whenever she was around him. Like electricity, like a forest fire — like something powerful but devastating. But it was clear from his teasing that he wasn’t actually jealous, he didn’t feel anything. And she was making a fool of herself. Them having a relationship, even a casual one, was probably off limits anyway. A good way for her to get fired before her career even really got the chance to begin. 

With every intention of going back to the living room and finishing watching the third quarter, and trying to forget this disastrous conversation, Ronnie took a step away from Seresin. 

But then she felt one big hand encompass her wrist, and in an instant she was spun back around to face him again. His expression was unreadable as he pulled her in close. And she went willingly, no fight and no resistance as she drifted into his orbit. About to crash. Eventually, she was nearly chest to chest with him, and her water was taken out of her hands. Set down on the counter behind him.

“So what if I’m jealous?” he asked quietly, voice rumbling in his chest as his fingers slid down to hold her hand instead. 

“New question — negates your previous one,” Ronnie breathed back, overwhelmed but not feeling nearly enough. 

He laughed with a shake of his head. “You drive me insane.” 

She shrugged, trying to keep her cool in the face of his proximity and the feeling of his fingers playing with her own. “Feeling’s mutual.” 

“But I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice,” he said, voice dropped an octave as he pulled her even closer, between his spread legs as he leaned back against the island. 

“Like you haven’t looked at me the same way, Seresin,” she scoffed quietly. 

“So the feeling’s mutual, then.” He smirked, his other hand coming up to cup her cheek. 

He was so close now. She could feel his breath, jalapenos and beer, fanning her face. There was no buzz, no fogged brain. Her mind was clear. White Claws be damned. She knew the risks. Knew it was probably a mistake. But in that moment she couldn’t bring herself to care. All of her life she had done the right thing — and maybe she deserved an indulgence. He was there, this had been building for weeks, and a girl had needs. Needs that she very much wanted Jake Seresin to fill. 

“Guess so,” she whispered, glancing down at his parted lips. 

Seresin looked at her for a moment more, expression all heat and desire, before he muttered fuck it and dove into her. His kiss was insistent, hungry, rough. He instantly pried her lips open with his tongue and pushed his way inside. It felt like a claiming as he tilted her head just the way he wanted and licked into her mouth. It was the kind of kiss that made her dizzy, that made her want more and more. She kissed him back with just as much ferocity, hands fisting his crewneck as she twirled her tongue around his own. 

When he finally drank his fill of her, he pulled away with his teeth sunk into her bottom lip. A soft moan slipped out of her at the sting. He released the swollen, pink flesh with a grin. 

“You like when it hurts a little, Coach?” he questioned.

All she could do was groan in response as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him down into another kiss. Seresin chuckled against her lips, but it quickly dissolved into a grunt when she pressed her hips flush against his own. His hands grabbed, searched, explored. Up and down her back. Over her ass, her thighs. Into her long dark hair that was actually down for once. Ronnie’s heart raced at what this could mean. Where it could go. But underneath that she knew it was the thrill of doing something she shouldn’t for once in her life — and getting caught in the quarterback’s kitchen. Anyone could walk in. Anyone could see his tongue shoved down her throat and her fingers clawing into the back of his neck.

Jake pulled away first again, panting for breath as he leaned to whisper in her ear, “What do you say we finish watching the game…Then you and me head out early? Hmm? Go back to your place?”

She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t. She was his coach, he was one of her players. 

But an answer was coming out of her mouth before she could be more rational about it: “Yes…Please.” 

“Good girl.” 

Ronnie felt her breath hitch, her toes curl, at his praise. And from the smug smirk on his face, he knew that she liked it. Jake let her go with one last kiss and her water pressed back into her hand. Then she turned and went back to the living room, trying to get control of her shaking legs and the heat filling her cheeks. 

Sitting back down on the couch, she noticed the game was on another commercial break. 

“Jesus, Coach, where you been? You missed nearly the entire third quarter! Rams are up by three,” Garcia filled her in and she nodded, mind still reeling. 

“You seen Jake?” Machado asked. 

She shook her head. “No. Haven’t seen him.”

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates!

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Smut prompts: “is that my shirt” and "Why should I wear anything at all if you're going to tear it off?" For werewolf au please

fe my werewolf love 🖤 the second prompt somehow got lost in the ether of me writing this and it's also not very smutty and i apologize...idk what happened

|| prompt list ||

prompt: "is that my shirt?"

au: werewolf au

word count: 397

warnings: jake and ronnie being couple goals as per usual, some werewolf things, suggestive there at the end

✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!

✎……werewolf au masterlist

Jake walked down from the loft bedroom in nothing but a t-shirt and his boxers from the day before. Bleary eyed with sleep and hair going in every which direction. It was approaching noon, and really he just wanted to keep sleeping, but the smell of bacon had pulled him from his slumber. Nothing particularly exciting happened during last night’s full moon, but the forced transformation still left him exhausted.

“Morning, sleepy wolf,” Ronnie called softly from her station at the stove, making breakfast for what looked like a family of five. 

Most of it was for Jake, his stomach rumbling, the full moon messing with his metabolism. 

“Mm,” Jake grumbled softly as he came up behind her, stealing a biscuit from the cooling tray and taking a bite — wrapping his free arm around her waist. 

She turned off the burner and twisted in his hold, a small smile lighting her features. How did he ever survive mornings after a full moon without her? Ronnie made everything better. And she made even better biscuits. 

But then her brow furrowed as she really caught a look at what he was wearing. She smoothed a hand over the university logo on his chest with a cock of her head. “Is this my shirt?”

“Maybe.” Jake felt his cheeks burn as she smiled up at him.

It absolutely was her shirt, but he was a little too embarrassed to admit it. A worn out t-shirt from her university that was several sizes too big on her. But fit him just right. And when he woke up still feeling the effects of the full moon, too big for his skin, he sought comfort the only way he knew how. Wrapping himself in the lavender and old book pages scent of his mate.

“Hmm, looks good on you,” she hummed, one hand trailing down his stomach, the tips of her fingers dipping into the waistband of his boxers. 

Jake swallowed something thick. Vision already blurred as she pushed her hand even lower. Hands so soft and so small wrapping around his rapidly hardening cock. Jake grunted low in his throat as he slowly rutted into her loose hold — chin knocking against her temple. 

“Little one,” he moaned quietly.

“That’s it, my Alpha,” Ronnie kissed his cheek before she slowly sunk to her knees. “It’s time for me to take care of you.”

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Bestie if I may request Jake and Ronnie’s wedding night 🥴

uh yes you absolutely may kee

in case you missed it: the wedding chapter

word count: 1645

warnings: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT 18+ ONLY MINORS DNI (jake being a bit of a tease and is highkey possessive lol, vaginal fingering, unprotected pinv, wife kink, slight breeding kink, creampie, little bit of cockwarming, have some emotions with your porn)

✎……masterlist on pinned

They stepped outside for some air, the other aviators not paying much attention as they drank and partied. Ronnie walked up to the porch railing, letting the cool breeze off the water push back her hair as Jake closed the doors behind them. The music from the jukebox was muffled, the laughter inside distant as the sound of the waves took over.

It was their first moment truly alone since he got back — since they got married. 

Ronnie heard his footsteps behind her as he approached like they were the only sound in the universe. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, her fingers as they fought to shake against her grip on the railing, the insistent need that welled up inside her the closer he got. It was like she was on fire, a blaze of glory that would leave her in smoldering embers if he didn’t put her out soon. The dance, the kiss that sealed them together forever, all of that was well and good but it wasn’t what she needed. It wasn’t what she craved in order to feel put back together again, in order to even feel like a person again. Jake stood with his chest flush against her back. Each of his breaths fanning against her neck as he wrapped his large hands around her ribs. 

Something like a whimper got caught in her throat at the contact. A desperate thing that made Jake pause.

“You okay?” he questioned softly, giving her a gentle squeeze that made her back arch against his chest. 

“Mm — no,” she managed to get out as she continued to wriggle against him, unsure how to even voice what she needed from him now. 

Jake grinned against the flesh of her neck, having some clue. With a small smile he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush with his front. She gasped, knuckles white around the railing, when she felt his own need against her ass — making him chuckle deep in his throat. 

“What do you need, darlin’?” he hummed in her ear, his fingers slowly trailing down her side to the hem of her dress. 

She was untethered, unanchored, adrift in the open air and the open ocean with no hope of survival or coming back to safe shores. But there was a lighthouse in the distance, an oasis, a sandbar that promised safe passage and a warm welcome and maybe even living instead of surviving. Jake brought this to her as his hand pulled up the hem of her dress, fingers skirting along the tops of her thighs as he inched ever closer to where something ached with a ferocity that nearly hurt. It was all too much, all that she wanted to tell him. I missed you, I love you, I was so scared, since when did all that I am become attached to you, how dare you see me and know me and accept me anyway, we’re married, we’re moving to DC, I want a life with you that’s Sunday dinners and shrieking laughter. It was all filling up her chest, leaving little room for air. She feared it was going to be released in a scream. 

But instead, it came rushing out in a desperate whisper as a river with a dam finally broken, “Jake, I need you, please. I need you so bad.” 

“That’s it, sweets,” he groaned as he pushed her soaked underwear to the side, causing her to jerk against him as he whispered against her neck, “That’s it.” 

His fingers merely brushed against her clit and her head fell back against his shoulder, giving him the perfect view of her breasts as her chest heaved with some herculean effort to breathe. He rubbed small, slow circles — precise and expert, just like flying — and reveled in the way her mouth fell open and her hands clutched at his forearms lightly. With his other hand, he held her firm against him, slowly grinding his hard member into her ass as he easily slid two fingers inside her dripping hole. 

“Jake,” she breathed out, her head turning only slightly to press a gentle kiss to the base of his neck. “It’s not…”

She didn’t have to say it this time. He felt it too. It wasn’t enough. Everything needed to be Ronnie. Everything needed to be Jake. It was that kind of need they built monuments to, that sculptors worked marble for, that painters tried desperately to capture. He pulled his fingers from her heat and she cried out quietly at the loss. But she went willingly as he led them over to the wall beside the backdoor, just out of reach of the flood light. 

“Turn around.” His voice was deep and rough, making a surge of need like molten lava go through her as he looked down at her. 

Ronnie followed his direction and put her hands on the wall of The Hard Deck. The siding was rough beneath her fingers. A belt was undone and a zipper pulled down, her dress hitched up around her waist and underwear pulled down past her knees. Her hands were covered by Jake’s in the next moment, his body blanketing the back of hers. Like he wanted to touch as much of her as possible as he molded his flesh to hers as best he could. Jake threaded their fingers together as he pushed inside her, a low noise echoing in her ear as she tried not to cry.

“Jake,” she sobbed as he stilled inside her, a moment to breathe.

“My sweet little wife.” He kissed her shoulder tenderly despite the absolute sin between them. “How d’you feel?”

“So…” She pulled one of their interlinked hands down, gliding it over her belly to that low spot where it bulged around him. He groaned into the flesh of her shoulder as his hips twitched. “So full.”

He pushed their hands against that spot where he could feel himself and she moaned brokenly, chin dropped down to her chest.

“Oh, God,” she cried out softly, head falling back against his shoulder when he did it again.

“Nah, Jake’ll do just fine, darlin’.” He smirked lazily. 

She laughed. Genuinely laughed. “Cheeky bastard.”

Then he began to move; deep, languid thrusts with nearly all his weight behind it. Pushed her until her chest was firmly against the wall and she was gasping directly in his ear. He dropped their interlinked hands down, under her skirt and between her legs, his fingers making her own slide against herself to create that perfect amount of friction.

With every thrust, she felt herself coming back. Coming back to reality. Coming back to earth. Being grounded by Jake Seresin and all that he was and all that they were going to be — together. It built and built until she couldn’t stop saying his name. It just kept falling from her lips like a chant, a prayer to some intimate god. A gasp, a whimper, a cry was released as she came. Her fingers squeezed around his tight, some desire to feel him everywhere as she was brought to this final release — as she was transformed into a white-hot, freshly born star. As she spasmed around him, Jake’s thrusts became faster, his own little moans tickling her ear as he was brought closer and closer. 

“Fuck, Ronnie,” he whispered, breathless as he chased it. “Where d’you want me?”

“Everywhere,” she replied.

She felt his cock twitch inside her and she keened as she forced their conjoined hands out from under her skirt — away from her abused pussy. Jake groaned, dropping his face into her shoulder, hips working faster.

“Fuck — you can’t just say shit like that,” he whispered into the shell of her ear before he took her earlobe between his teeth. “Want me to fill you up, is that it? Have me dripping out of you the rest of the night?”

How could she possibly explain this to him now? How could she possibly tell him that she wanted to carry around a piece of him forever?

Ronnie shifted their hands over that bulge in her belly again. “Please…Want it…”

“Fuck, fuck — mm, my sweet little wife.” His hips stuttered, losing their rhythm as he teetered on the edge, his mouth spewing absolute filth. “Mine. Want them to see — want them to know who makes you feel this good. Your husband fucks you so good.” 

“You — so good. Yours,” she breathed out as the coil inside her tightened yet again. “Yours, all yours. All of me — forever.” 

Jake made a noise like he’d just been punched in the gut, a soft little oomf as he finally stilled inside her. As he spilled rope after rope of his seed into her. A cry died in her throat as she came for the second time, head thrown back against his shoulder as she milked him for all that he was worth. But when he tried to slip out of her, his breathing ragged, she untangled her hand from his against her stomach and gripped the back of his thigh. 

“Stay like this,” she panted, fingers gripping his pants tight. “Just for a minute — please.”

Who was he to deny her? He stayed, rooted to the hilt with his spend dripping down her legs. As he held his wife, pressed soft kisses into her hair that he hoped told her all that she needed to hear, he caught their intertwined hands pressed against the wall. It was their left hands. Both adorned with rings that glinted in the moonlight. His didn’t fit right, but that didn’t matter. He smiled fondly at the sight as his other hand wrapped around her, pushed her back further into him as his hand curled around her ribs.

“I love you — so much,” he finally whispered. 

“I love you too.”

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates!

[fangirlofallthings22]

This entire photo shoot makes me think of Jake from @anniesocsandgeneralstore werewolf AU!! If you haven’t already read it, please head over to their blog and check it out ❤️

for those in need of more scruffy cowboy Glen Powell. // for Gio Journal

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

love and chaos theory - Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC (Jurassic Park AU)

The year is 1990. George H. W. Bush finished his second year as president, Pretty Woman just hit theaters — and Jurassic Park is on schedule to open its gates to the public in four years time. It’s been trial and error for the past ten years. Leasing Isla Nublar from the Costa Rican government, learning genome sequences, and figuring out the best way to care for their animals. All while sparing no expense. 

But now, they’re ready to introduce their first batch of live dinosaurs into the park — and they need some new staff members.

Exotic wildlife veterinarian DR. RONNIE BRADSHAW — who has worked in zoos, wildlife reserves, and animal sanctuaries all over the world. Not to mention her own brother is a paleontologist, making her dinosaur knowledge substantial in comparison. These made her perfect for the job. And as someone always looking for a new challenge, when John Hammond himself called to offer her the position (with a substantial pay raise) she accepted easily. 

Junior game warden JAKE SERESIN — who has been working in Kenya for the past ten years with Robert Muldoon. He knows little to nothing about dinosaurs, except that the triceratops was his favorite as a kid. He only accepted the job because Muldoon offered to take Jake with him as part of his team. It would take him closer to home in Texas and offer a new challenge with wildlife that has never been controlled before. That has never been seen before by man.

But what neither of these new workers knows is the danger that lies around the corner at the park, and what they could possibly mean to one another.

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

the echo universe: | a werewolf au | (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)

Summary: Ronnie invites Blue River to a very important ceremony that will determine the fate of Red Sky Pack - and the fate of the pup she carries.

Pairing: Werewolf!Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Human!OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)

Word Count: 5311

Warnings: heavily game of thrones influenced, slight angst, brad kinda being a dick as usual, made-up werewolf lore, ritualistic stuff, pregnancy mention, nick and carole are mentioned, blood, dead animal, an organ is eaten raw

✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!

✎……masterlist on pinned

✎……this has been sitting in my drafts for literal months and I'm tired of it being there so here we go. don't @ me for using that gif, it's hot. and thank you to my werewolf love @blue-aconite for looking this over for me literally months ago lol

Ronnie knocked on the door and waited. She really hoped he was home. He used to be home around this time. Back from the yard for his hour-long lunch that he only spent ten minutes actually eating. But who really knew? She certainly didn’t. He very well could have changed everything about his schedule since she moved out.

Her hands wrung themselves red as she waited. She had never waited to come inside that house before. But it wasn’t her home. Not anymore. 

She heard the lock click. The door opened a crack, then it swung back completely to reveal Bradley standing on the other side. 

He looked the same, and she was glad. Still wore those same flannels and still had that mustache he refused to shave.

“What’re you doin’ here, Ronnie?” he asked, looking over her shoulder to see if she was accompanied by anyone else.

“He’s not here. I came alone,” she assured, though she didn’t like that she had to. 

Bradley shifted on his feet, hand still held behind him on the door handle. “Why?”

“Did — Did you get my text?” she asked, her fingers beginning to hurt from her pulling. 

She wanted to say she was sorry for not calling. But she didn’t know how to say it. Didn’t know how to deliver such news if she would have to hear some false joy or his barely restrained hurt. Even now, as she looked up into those so similar brown eyes, as she stood merely a few feet from him — she couldn’t have felt farther away. 

It was odd feeling like a stranger on the porch attached to the house she grew up in. It was odd looking into the eyes of a brother who could barely look back at her. 

“Yeah. I got it.”

He glanced down at her stomach. She was barely showing but it was still there, pressing against the fabric of her shirt. Just the other day Mickey told her that he could smell it — the change in her. The life inside her. Ronnie wondered if Bradley could smell it too. 

Ronnie took a deep breath to calm herself, prying her fingers apart to latch onto the ends of her jacket instead. Jake would worry if she came home with rung red knuckles. 

Then she said, “Full moon’s coming up — we’re doing the Plena Luna Corda.”

Bradley took in a sharp breath through his nose as he put a hand on the doorframe, fingers digging into the wood. He dropped his head as he stared down at the space between their shoes. Then he ticked his jaw to one side with a shake of his head. A classic sign that he wasn’t pleased that made Ronnie swallow something thick. 

“I’d like you to be there. I know it’s — it’s not traditional. But I’d like the pack to be there,” she added.

He scoffed. Rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

Ronnie’s fingers curled around the ends of her jacket, bunched it up as hard as she could to keep herself from hitting him square in the chest. Just two words and she knew all she needed to. Knew exactly what he thought — about everything. About her. Then the tears came. Sudden and overwhelming. She wanted to fight them but she couldn’t with her hormones running wild. They spilled over in an instant, hot and frustrated as they tracked down her cheeks. Bradley had the decency to look surprised by their sudden appearance — eyebrows furrowed as he watched her lip tremble. 

“Is that really what you think of me?” she asked as she wiped furiously at her face. “It hasn’t exactly been a fucking trip, Brad. I’m miserable most of the time. In a town with no connections besides a pack that’s barely accepted me and — and Jake. Who tries, but he doesn’t know what it’s like. Blue River’s my family and now…You all rarely talk to me. And-And I get that Red Sky’s supposed to be my family now but they’re just not. B-Because you’re not there and I fucking miss you.

“So, yes — I drove all the way over here to invite you to my Plena Luna Corda because I want you to be there. I want my family to be there.”

The Bradshaw siblings stared at each other for a moment. One with trembling hands and the other with a slack jaw. And when Ronnie couldn’t take it anymore, she wiped at her eyes one last time and pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. 

“Whatever,” she grumbled, then she took the paper and shoved it into the bronze letter box by the front door. “There’s the location coordinates. It’s this Thursday — midnight. Show up or don’t.”

Then she turned and stepped off the porch attached to the house she grew up in. Leaving behind the brother who could barely look at her.

“Thank you for doing this, Penny,” Ronnie said quietly, trying to remain as still as possible. 

“Happy to help, sweetheart.” 

Penny smiled, knowing and sympathetic, as she dipped her brush into more of the red paint. With a final stroke, she finished up the design on Ronnie’s face. Thick around her eyes, winged up into her temples and hairline. A line down the bridge of her note. Then three lines started beneath her lips and went down her chin and neck. Next, Penny moved onto Ronnie’s exposed shoulders and chest. 

Ronnie didn’t know who else to ask to help her get ready for the ritual. Traditionally, it would have been her mother. Or another human connected to Red Sky. But her mother was gone, and Red Sky was still too skittish, too careful to bring anyone else into their ranks. Penny easily accepted when Ronnie called, stating she had nothing better to do on a full moon night with Pete gone. It made Ronnie laugh, but it also made her heart ache. Pete was already gone from their house. He was with Blue River. They weren’t coming.

“So this Plena Lunar Coro…” Penny trailed off, knowing she wasn’t saying it right. 

Ronnie corrected her with a laugh. “Plena Luna Corda.”

“Right. What is it, exactly?”

Ronnie thought back for a moment. She supposed Penny wasn’t around the last time Blue River performed a Plena Luna Corda — when her mother was pregnant with Bradley. She and Pete didn’t find each other again until years later. And Ronnie was always sure the next one she witnessed would be for Bradley’s Luna.

Now, she was a Luna. Now, she was participating in one. 

“It’s a pregnancy ritual,” Ronnie explained as she tilted her chin up at Penny’s gentle urging, the paintbrush dragging down her neck to continue the lines from her chin to her collarbone. “When a Luna gets pregnant with her first pup, the full moon after she finds out she gathers with her pack — all painted with their colors, obviously — and she has to eat an entire wolf’s heart.”

“You — You have to eat a wolf’s heart? Like raw? The whole thing?” Penny paused her painting to stare at Ronnie wide-eyed and baffled. 

“Yes,” Ronnie laughed at her friend’s expression, but she felt the nerves rise up in her chest as she talked through it. “I have to eat the whole thing — raw. If I do, without throwing up or spitting anything out, it’s a sign that the baby will be healthy and the pack will be blessed. If I don’t…It’s a bad omen. For the baby and for the pack.” 

“Jesus, that’s a lot of pressure,” Penny muttered, resuming her painting. 

“I know. And Jake’s a new Alpha, this is his first pup, and this pack has been through so much…I just…A lot is riding on this. On me.”

Penny finished painting her chest and arms. The two outer lines on her neck formed V shapes at her collarbones that went up towards her shoulders, trailing down her arms all the way to the backs of her hands. The middle of the three lines stopped just at the top of her chest. Elegant and simple.

The older woman set down the brush and kneeled down in front of Ronnie. She took her trembling hands in her own with a gentle smile. A motherly smile. Ronnie sucked in a deep breath through her nose and out through her mouth as she stared into Penny’s bright blue eyes. She had been with Red Sky for months, but this was her chance to really prove herself. To assert her role as Luna and as a vessel of the Moon Goddess herself. If she didn’t have the strength to do this, it was a sign she didn’t have the goddess’ blessing. Just another thing gone wrong for Red Sky.

She was only eight weeks along but already her stomach turned at just the smell of certain foods. There was a reason the ritual took place the first full moon after a pregnancy was discovered. When it would be the most difficult for the expectant mother. A true test of her strength. God — what if she couldn’t do it?

“I know this doesn’t mean much coming from me,” Penny said, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze. “But you are going to do amazing. You’re Veronica Bradshaw. You are the smartest, most badass woman I have ever met. You are a daughter of wolf kings. You can do anything.” 

Tears blurred Ronnie’s vision but they didn’t fall. Did Penny know? Had she heard Nick Bradshaw say it before? She must have. Anytime he gathered the pack, his rally cry was always we are the children of wolf kings! It always made Ronnie think that she was a princess, destined for a crown. But now, hearing those words from someone she loved when she felt at her weakest, she understood why her father said it so many times. They imbued her with a kind of power she could never muster for herself. 

She was a daughter of wolf kings.

“Thank you,” Ronnie whispered.

Penny smiled before she stood up again. “Come on, let’s finish getting you ready. 

There were no rules about what a Luna should wear for the Plena Luna Corda, but over the years and through the first-hand accounts Ronnie had read, she noticed that there was definitely a pattern. White — and something that exposed her small belly. The only item the traditions called for was a flower crown made of lupine and moonflowers. Ronnie chose to wear a white skirt, ending just past her knees that hugged low around her waist, and a matching tube top. Barely anything in the chilled night air, but it didn’t matter. Not when her nerves were making her so jittery she felt warm and frozen all at the same time.

At the last, standing in front of the full-length mirror, Penny placed the flower crown on her head — the white and purple flowers stood out in stark contrast to her dark curls. As she looked herself over, she cradled her bump in one hand. Never before had she looked like a princess — a daughter of wolf kings. But she did now. This was her first, true moment as a Luna. The Moon Goddess on earth. A sign of fertility and strength within her pack. She could do this. 

The clock in the hall struck midnight. It was time.

Ronnie took one last deep breath. That tight, anxious feeling in her chest remained, even as she thought over all her reassurances. But she would be with Jake soon. She always felt more confident when he was around.

“I’m ready.”

Javy paced around the front yard waiting to take her to the ritual’s location. He really was a beautiful wolf. Fur brindled and smooth, now painted red in streaks down his sides, haunches, and between his large golden eyes. He shook his head, great ears flopping, at the sight of her stepping down from the porch, trotting closer. The air was freezing, her breath fogged and her skin turned to gooseflesh almost instantly. But she could barely feel it. She padded barefoot across the grass, leaving Penny behind. Then, when Javy lowered his belly to the ground, Ronnie climbed on his back and grabbed fist fulls of his fur. 

He stood back up, her knees tight on his sides and grip on his fur locked. Javy looked back over his shoulder at her once to confirm she was good to go. Ronnie nodded in return. And he took off at a gallop into the woods. 

Ronnie pressed herself firmly against his back to hide against the wind and the rogue branches that would try to cut her. The air was biting cold, forcing tears to leak from her eyes as she buried her face in Javy’s fur. It was different than when she would ride on Jake’s back. The connection, that golden thread, was still there. But it wasn’t as strong. She didn’t feel one with Javy and she liked it that way.

The trees moved by in a blur of dark color, like soldiers in procession, watching their queen go by. That low-hanging fog off the mountain clung to the mossy ground. The full moon hung big and beautiful in the starry sky above. The world was silent, paused, except for the sounds of leaves rushing past and Javy’s growling breath.

Ronnie could have been riding on Javy’s back for hours or moments, she wasn’t sure. But it felt like an eternity and only a breath before they arrived in the proper clearing.

All of Red Sky was there, circled in wolf form and painted all in red, around a giant bonfire. There was a table filled with bowls of red paint and Ronnie could just make out in the orange light of the fire a great pile of furs placed just for her. Javy slowed to a stop with a growl, pawing at the soft earth. Ronnie lifted her head and a smile tugged at her lips. Relief and confidence flooded her veins. 

Jake was still in human form. Taming the beast within that longed to change with the full moon. His chest and stomach were painted with a bold red pattern. He kept his face simple — opting for a line on his chin and across his cheekbones and nose. He looked calm, proud, as he helped her from Javy’s back.

Once he was free of his burden, the brindled wolfmoved to fill the gap in the circle at the edge of the clearing. 

Jake pressed a kiss to her forehead, a low noise echoing in his chest, and she felt instilled with that confidence her mate always seemed to carry. He wrapped a large hand around the back of her neck, fingers tangled in the hair at her nape, and he gently forced her to look up at him. The breath was stolen from her lungs. He looked otherworldly in the firelight. His beard freshly trimmed, hair pushed back, eyes glowing red as blood as he fought against the change the full moon brought. 

“You look beautiful,” he whispered over the roar of the flames. 

And she felt it. 

With that hand still gentle on the back of her neck, he led her over to one side of the fire — where the furs were placed. She could see it before they even arrived. The great, giant paws, the grey fur. A wolf. Freshly sacrificed just for this night. 

Once in her place, standing on the pile of furs, Jake knelt down and shoved one clawed hand beneath the wolf’s ribs. He searched for a moment, then he yanked out a massive piece of raw muscle. Drenched in blood. The wolves around them whined and yipped in anxious excitement.

The heart. 

He rose and held it out to Ronnie. She took it without a hint of hesitation. She had to hold the heart in both hands. The blood instantly began to pour between her fingers, down her arms, and drip onto her feet. Jake could say nothing more to her. No words of encouragement or kind phrases. It was all up to her now. He turned and went around to the opposite side of the fire where a great stone waited for him. He took a seat, legs spread and elbows on his thighs. She could still see him through the dancing flames, his gaze intense and powerful. 

Jake nodded his head. It was time. 

The ritual had begun. 

She was a daughter of wolf kings. 

Ronnie looked down at the heart in her hands. It was still warm. A fresh kill. She remembered talking to her mother about this. Sitting with her unfinished book on her knees and holding out her tape recorder in case she missed anything in her frantic note-taking. Her mother had laughed and she got it on tape. She told her daughter that she got the heart down in five bites. Looking down at an actual one now, Ronnie had to scoff. That was easy for her to say — she was a Beta long before she arrived at her Plena Luna Corda. She had sharp fangs and strength to get her through. All Ronnie had was desperation and Jake’s encouraging face from across the fire. 

She had to do this. She could do this. 

Jake’s eyes told her so. Red and intense through the flames. If she looked at him, only him, that was all she could feel. Confident, capable, whole, filled with a pride earned and humble. She didn’t break eye contact as she sunk her teeth into the meaty flesh of the heart. 

Red Sky howled and yapped softly as she began. 

The meat was tough, but her teeth could get through. She ripped the first bite free and began to chew, her eyes never leaving Jake. The taste was…Appalling. Akin to chicken but she didn’t even really know. All she could taste was animal blood and something vaguely meaty. It made her stomach turn instantly. She wretched just as she swallowed and the bite lept back onto her tongue. A noise of protest slipped between her closed lips as she looked down at the rest of the heart in her hands. It somehow looked like it had gotten bigger since the last time she looked at it. There was so much of it. This was only the first bite. How could she ever possibly get through it all?

Then, that bite still laying heavy in her mouth, she looked back at Jake. 

Jake. 

His gaze was empowering, intense — she nearly wanted to look away. His breaths were even, shoulders rising and falling at a soothing pace. He had his elbows pushed down to his knees, fingers threaded together loosely as he leaned as close as he could get to her. She could nearly hear him talking in her head. 

Come on, little one. You got this. Don’t stop. You’re doing so good. 

She swallowed hard with an audible gulp — and a smirk ticked up the corner of his mouth. 

The next few bites went smoothly. Though achingly slow. Her jaw was beginning to hurt from chewing the tough meat. But she knew she had no chance of swallowing any of this whole. At the fifth bite, nearly halfway through, her stomach betrayed her again. What she already swallowed rose in her throat and she groaned — one bloodied hand shooting up to keep her mouth shut. Across the fire, Jake sat up a bit straighter, his every muscle poised like he was about to leap into the crackling flames. With a grimace, she forced it all back down her gullet. 

That was when the tears came. Ronnie didn’t even know she had begun to cry until she tasted the salt on her lips. Her throat ached from the bile, her stomach churned. And there was a fear now. Visceral and constant no matter how hard she tried to fight it. Push it down. Focus only on Jake and his pride and his confidence. A shaking breath tumbled out of her mouth. There was still so much left. Something ugly curled around her heart now. Like tentacles or knotted vines — something meant to cling and drag down to the very depths of some unknown darkness. 

What if she couldn’t do it? What if she became the very thing that she sought to prevent? Just another pain for Red Sky, another bad omen. What if she let Jake down?

Ronnie looked up at him from across the bonfire. His expression hadn’t changed. Still hard, still calm, still unrelenting in its pride. She could even still hear him, like a whisper at the back of her mind. Just a bit more, little one, you can do it. But it was so hard. Her stomach roiled, screamed at her to get it all out and find some relief. She brought the heart back up to her lips and took another bite. More tears slipped out.

Looking out at the wolves that surrounded the clearing, that watched her every move with eyes like shining gold coins, she wished there were some familiar forms among them. Some furry, time-worn faces that she knew like the back of her hand. Red Sky was trying, trying to encourage in the ways that they could. Barking and stamping at her and howling quietly. But it wasn’t the same. She wished her mother was there. She wished her father was there. 

She wished Bradley was there. Or Pete, or Bob, or Natasha. The pack that raised her. That made her into the woman, the Luna, that now stood across the fire from her mate trying to do the impossible.

Swallowing that bite, she took another and was able to work through it quickly. Bile at the back of her throat threatened to ruin everything. Acid burning her tongue and forcing hot drool to accumulate in her mouth. Ronnie pushed it all down with a soft cry. 

Only two more bites left. One if she tried. 

It wasn’t just her poor stomach telling her to stop now. It was everything inside her. To just give up. Her hands, now painted completely in blood, trembled as she readjusted her grip on what remained of the heart. She couldn’t even look up at Jake. Convinced of the disappointment and anguish she would find there. She wasn’t cut out for this. She wasn’t a werewolf, she wasn’t a Luna, she was just some normal girl trying desperately to cling to something she was never meant to have.

The pack began to growl menacingly, their hackles raised as they turned west. Leaves rustled and twigs snapped. Ronnie looked to the source of the noise, fearing that something had now come to attack at one of the pack’s most vulnerable moments. Jake too was on high alert, stood from his seat with his teeth bared — barely restrained from circling the fire to tuck Ronnie away.

But all the agitation seemed to die away when it was revealed just who was coming into their circle.

“Pete,” Ronnie whispered when the wolf stepped into her view, just beyond Jake’s shoulder. 

She would recognize his wolf form anywhere. Jet black and speckled with grey in the face and chest. She had ridden on his back when she was a child. She had patted his great face with her tiny hands. She had cried into his fur. But now, now he stood alone amongst a pack that only a few months ago was prepared to rip his throat out. Now, he stood with blue paint smeared into his fur like it was done last second. 

He came. 

Then, on Jake’s other side, a larger wolf appeared — the growls of Red Sky picked up. There were scars on this wolf’s face, painted blue and the coat was a deep chocolate brown. His eyes glowed red in the light of the fire.

“Bradley,” she wept.

He came. He really came. And if he was here, then the rest of the pack wasn’t far behind. And they did come, filling in the gaps between the Red Sky wolves with their blue-painted fur. 

Ronnie looked to Jake with a hopeful smile, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Please let them stay. Jake looked at her for a moment, then his gaze fell on his pack and he nodded. Red Sky instantly calmed down at his signal. But they remained restless, shifting quietly and keeping a weary eye on the other wolves. Jake slowly sat back down on the stone, all his focus back on his mate. 

Her family was there. Her pack was there. Jake was there. She was a daughter of wolf kings. She was a Luna, the Moon Goddess incarnate.

Ronnie could do this. 

She shoved the remaining chunk of flesh into her mouth and chewed.

Jake looked like he was about to jump into the fire. Every muscle pulled taut, like a coil under too much pressure. His red eyes shone and were full of power as he watched his Luna eat. And at the last, when it felt soft enough, Ronnie swallowed — all of it. Her hands empty. Everyone watched on bated breath as she swayed on her feet, one hand cradling her belly, fighting against her body to keep everything down. Then she gulped with an audible gasp…

And she knew it was finished. 

Every wolf in the clearing howled up at the moon that cursed and blessed them — Red Sky and Blue River. The pup was going to be strong and healthy, the pack was blessed for it. 

But all Ronnie could focus on was Jake. Proud and steady as he came around the fire to her. A smile quirked the corner of his mouth, his hand dripping with fresh red paint. She wanted to collapse into him, let him be her strength now. But she needed to remain resolute, standing proud as she reunited with her Alpha and her mate. As he claimed their unborn pup for Red Sky. Ronnie gasped at the cold, wet feeling when he pressed his red-dripping hand into her belly. 

“My little Luna,” he spoke in awe.

The howls only grew louder, more consistent, as Jake knelt before her and wrapped his arms around the tops of her thighs. Then he lifted her into the air for every wolf to see. From each pack. This was his mate, his Luna, his love, his queen. Ronnie smiled, happy tears falling down her cheeks now, with her hands in his golden hair. His gaze was locked on her as he walked her around the fire once, twice — the moon shining down on them and wolves from both packs howling in harmony for the first time in centuries. 

When Jake finally set Ronnie back on solid ground, the wolves around the clearing dispersed. Ready to go on their full moon hunt, to fulfill the desire that had been gnawing at them since the moon rose that night. After a moment of pounding feet and calling howls, the clearing was silent. Leaving the Alpha and his Luna with a moment of peace, as was tradition. 

Jake held Ronnie’s face in his painted and bloodied hands, tucked her hair behind her ears as he pulled her flush against him. “You did so good for me, little one.” 

“Yeah?” she questioned quietly, reaching up and gripping his wrists in a loose hold. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled lightly, eyes flicking over the state of her bloodied face. “My little Luna. My moon and stars.” 

Ronnie nodded as her eyes slipped shut, leaning into his firm touch, leaning into his strength. Her fingers slipped from his wrists to touch her bump lightly. Jake pulled her ever closer, breathing in deep as one of his hands cradled the back of her neck — fingers threaded through her hair.

Then she whispered, so soft it would have disappeared on the wind to anyone else, “I don’t think the pup likes wolf’s heart.” 

Jake laughed. One of those deep rumbles that moved his entire body that Ronnie loved. She released her own quiet chuckle as Jake dropped down on one knee before her, her waist in his broad hands. 

“Good thing you only do this once, then, huh?” he looked up at her, his expression soft and full of a powerful sort of love. 

And his gaze dropped to her belly with that same expression. That same soft yet powerful love, that same reverence and awe, as he pressed tender kisses into her flesh. Ronnie sighed, her head thrown back towards the sky, as she threaded her fingers back into his hair. 

“I was so worried,” she confessed, hands trailing over his neck as her mate got back to his feet. 

Jake’s thumb traced over her blood-stained lips, pulled the bottom one down as he dragged the digit down her chin and the column of her throat — where the red paint used to be but was now hidden in blood.

“I never doubted you for a second,” he replied and it made fresh tears blur her vision. 

His kiss was gentle yet commanding as it always was. Soft but powerful. Only now, at this moment, when their kiss tasted like blood and paint and release — there was a certain hunger and pride that rippled in the way he tugged her against him. In the way he urged her lips to part so his tongue could slip inside. 

“Jake,” she panted softly when they parted, an echo of the need that pulsed through her now. 

That need for his strength. His reassurance. His love. 

“I know,” he breathed, almost a growl, as he leaned his forehead heavily against her own. “But we can’t…It’s already getting harder to control.”

Ronnie nodded in understanding. It was a night of the full moon. Jake had already been resisting the beast within for hours now. It was surely clawing at his insides, howling to be released. He was stronger as an Alpha, able to put it off, but if he went any longer it would drive him insane. And he wouldn’t take the risk of hurting Ronnie or the pup. He just wouldn’t. 

So they stood in the clearing for a few more moments. Content to hold and be held. Content to sink into this new feeling now that the Plena Luna Corda was over. Now that there was some assurance from the goddess above that their babe was going to be healthy, that things were finally going to be looking up for Red Sky.

“I love you,” Ronnie whispered.

“I love you, too.” Jake pressed his lips into her hair. “With all of me. With everything.” 

“You should go,” she said, hands smoothing over his bare chest.

He needed to join the hunt, join his pack, lead. He needed to succumb to the curse so he wouldn’t be driven mad when the night was through. Jake gave her one final kiss, soft and full of strength, before he reluctantly pulled away from her. 

“I’ll be back by morning,” he said as he backed away, giving himself some space. 

“We’ll be waiting for you.” Ronnie smiled with a hand on her belly. 

Jake grinned with an unbelieving shake of his head. Then he gave in to the curse. His body was overcome by fur and powerful muscle. In an instant, he was in wolf form. Massive, with his dark gold fur glinting in the firelight. Red paint still visible on his face and chest.

Lowering himself down to the forest floor, Ronnie pulled herself onto his back. Their connection strong and golden as he carried her off into the woods. Back to their cabin. He left her on the porch. Pressing his large, furry head into her middle one last time, Ronnie smiled as she held his massive face in her hands. 

Then he ran off to join his pack.

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates