#their first kiss being in the same room jake proposes...

[ncutii-gatwa]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine | 02.23 "Johnny and Dora"

[nanawritesit]

Being EXO’s fem!idol crush who gets shipped with them - Maknae Line Ver.

Hyung Line Ver.

a/n: this is based on the SM girl group idol au that i wrote a while back, please read that first so that the writing will make sense :) AND these scenarios are LONG (esp. Chanyeol’s omg it took FOREVER) so i’m splitting this into two parts! enjoy :)

TW: kissing, sleeping in the same bed, mentions of food, slightly suggestive remarks, mentions of bullying, being held, sitting on his lap, mild cursing

Chanyeol:

You were both sent by the company to be on a new variety show called “Idol Roommates,” where a bunch of idols would be living together in the same house for a month. SM had sent you, Chanyeol, Yeri, and Ten, Hybe had sent Beomgyu, Jake, Sakura, and Minji, and JYP had sent Bangchan, Yuna, Lily, and and Gunil. The fans were super excited to see all of their favorite idols be roommates, and you had to admit, you were a little too excited to be living in such close proximity with Chanyeol.

The first episode began with you all arriving to the house with your label mates, and greeting all the other idols in the kitchen. There were cameras hidden all around the house, except for in the bathrooms, so you never really could tell what was being broadcasted and what wasn’t.

“So, what do we do first?” Sakura asked once everyone had arrived.

“Oh, there’s a note here on the table…” Bangchan said as he reached for it. “‘Welcome to your new home for the next month! In this bowl are all of your names. Please draw for your roommate and choose your rooms in order of your ages.’” he read aloud.

“Well, Chanyeol hyung is the oldest, so he goes first.” Ten explained, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Wow, you don’t have to rub it in.” Chanyeol joked, a playful smile on his face. Everyone laughed along with him, quieting down when he reached into the bowl to draw a name.

“Y/N.” he announced. Everyone turned to you expectantly. Yeri and Ten shot you mischievous grins, to which you blushed and looked away. They knew about your enormous crush on Chanyeol, how he had been your bias since high school, and how you used to have posters of him all over your wall. You shot them a dangerous glare before turning to Chanyeol.

“Alright, shall we go pick our room?” you proposed, desperate to get the attention off yourself.

“Yeah, let’s go!” he agreed, leading you up the stairs.

“This one looks the biggest.” you suggested after you had surveyed all the rooms.

He walked over from the other end of the hall and glanced inside the room you were talking about. “Alright, works for me!”

You had separate beds on opposite sides of the room, but it was still a little awkward. The two of you had several interactions in the past, and they were all pleasant, but mostly formal. You began unpacking your suitcases and shuffling around the room to get settled in silence.

As you did so, you could hear the other groupings running excitedly up the stairs to claim their rooms. Ten and Sakura were first, then Bangchan and Yeri. Gunil had picked Jake, then Beomgyu picked Lily, and that left Yuna and Minji together. Hearing the chatter of your colleagues in the background helped ease the tension a bit.

“Do you sleep with a light on?” Chanyeol asked suddenly, making you jump a bit.

You nodded sheepishly. “I’m a bit scared of the dark to be honest.”

“Ah, you’ll have to remind me. I don’t sleep with a light. Are you okay with having a fan on?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind that!” you told him, shuffling awkwardly. “I’m sorry you got stuck rooming with me. I know I’m not the most fun person in the world.”

“No, don’t be sorry… I’m actually relieved that I drew your name.” he told you reassuringly.

“Really?” you asked, cocking your head to the side in curiosity. “Why’s that?”

“Because you’re one of the few people I feel comfortable around in the idol world.” he answered, a tiny, bashful grin on his face.

You tried to ignore the flush creeping up your cheeks. “I feel the same way about you.”

Suddenly, Bangchan and Yeri appeared at your door. “Hey, are you guys ready for the debrief? We’re all heading downstairs now.” Chan asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Chanyeol replied, leading you out of the room. He followed Bangchan down the stairs, and with their backs to you, Yeri turned around and wiggled her brows at you. You pushed her forward a bit out of annoyance, causing her to tumble down the stairs by a few steps. You instinctively reached out for her, then looked at her, concerned. You both broke out into laughter, her gripping onto the railing and you holding onto her.

“That would’ve sucked.” Yeri chuckled, holding onto her stomach from laughing so hard.

—————

“Okay, so all the housework has been assigned.” Sakura declared, setting down her slice of pizza. “We’ll do meals in order of oldest to youngest, and chores in order of youngest to oldest.”

The production company had sent you all pizza for your first dinner, but you were instructed to prepare meals for the house for the rest of the time you would be there. That meant that you and Chanyeol would be preparing breakfast tomorrow.

For the remainder of the night, you all just chilled in the enormous living room and talked about all of your careers while a movie played on the TV. Conversation was flowing so smoothly that time just seemed to fly by, and before you knew it, everyone was getting up to get ready for bed, including you and Chanyeol.

“You can take a shower first.” he told you, sitting down at his bed to check his phone.

“Okay, thanks!” you chirped, making your way over to the bathroom.

Once you were done and in your pajamas, which embarrassingly enough had little kittens all over them, you padded your way back over to your own bed. “It’s all yours.” you told him.

“Awesome, be right back.” he responded, getting up from his bed. He did a double take as he looked at you. “Nice pajamas. They’re cute.”

You blushed, trying to focus on drying your hair. “Thank you. Kaori got them for me and I just can’t resist wearing them, even if they are kind of silly.”

“They’re perfect.” he smiled as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

You sighed, placing your hands on your cheeks to cool them off. Get it together Y/N. You’re on TV.

You went about the rest of your nightly routine, then curled up in bed to scroll on your phone for a bit. After a while, you heard the water shut off, meaning that Chanyeol was done with his shower. And then it happened. Everything went to black.

You yelped a bit at the sudden darkness, gripping onto your blankets.

“Guys?” you heard Gunil shout from down the hallway.

Everyone started emerging into the hallway with their phone flashlights on. “Is everyone okay?” you heard Lily ask.

“Everyone’s here except for Chanyeol and Y/N.” Jake stated. You heard shuffling down the hallway coming towards your room, which only made your anxiety worsen. You didn’t want any of your adult colleagues to see you scared out of your mind just because the electricity went out.

Just as you were preparing to face your housemates, Chanyeol emerged from the bathroom and practically sprinted over to the door with his own phone’s flashlight.

“Yeah, we’re both good in here.” he told your housemates from the doorway, shielding you from the view. “Since it’s the middle of the night anyway, I say we just all go to sleep. The production company’s cameras will have suddenly shut off, so I’m sure they’ll fix it by morning.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Chan agreed. “Well, since everyone’s okay, let’s just go back to our rooms.”

Once everyone was back in their rooms, Chanyeol rushed over to you, sitting down on your bed. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice dripping with concern. You had never seen him so serious before.

“Yeah… just scared…” you shuddered, gripping onto your blankets.

“It’s okay, nothing is gonna happen to you. I promise.” he comforted you, patting your shoulder. “Do you think you can try to go to sleep?”

You thought for a moment, then shook your head. “I’d be too anxious. I know that nothing is going to happen to me, but it’s just a fear I’ve never been able to shake.”

He looked as if he was tossing an idea around in his head. Hesitantly, he looked back up at you. “Would you be able to sleep if we shared a bed?”

Your eyes went wide. Was Park Chanyeol actually offering to sleep in the same bed as you just so you would feel safe? It was as if all of your dreams were coming true in this moment.

You coughed awkwardly. “Well um… you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable, but… it would definitely help.” you stuttered out.

“I don’t mind at all.” he told you, a comforting smile on his features. “I just want you to feel better.”

You grinned, feeling your heart swell with emotions, then scooched over to make room for him.

It was obviously a little bit awkward at first. You both faced away from each other, a good three inches of space between the two of you. You thought that was going to be how the rest of the night went, until you started shaking.

“Y/N, are you trembling?” Chanyeol asked, turning towards you.

You froze. “Um… yeah. I’m sorry. I’m just scared.” you sighed in humiliation.

“It’s alright… do you want me to hold you?” he offered, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“I… I don’t want you to feel like you have to…” you spat out reluctantly, even though your heart was screaming at you to say yes immediately.

“I want to, Y/N.” he told you, a slight chuckle slipping out as he did so. “I mean, who doesn’t want to hold the person they like as they fall asleep?”

Your heart stopped. More than anything, you said in your head.

Your mouth fell open in shock, and you frantically flopped over to face him completely. “You like me?”

He nodded, a small smirk on his face. “I thought it was obvious.”

Your face broke out into a huge, toothy grin, and you lunged forward to hide your blushing face in his chest. He chuckled at your bashfulness, closing his arms around you in a tight embrace.

“Shall we get some sleep?” he asked.

You happily nodded in his hold. “I think I can manage now that I’ll have something to dream about.”

“Goodnight Y/N.” he whispered, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead before curling up around you.

“Goodnight Chanyeol.”

—————

In the morning, you tumbled awake to see him sitting up against the headboard scrolling on his phone. “I was just about to wake you up.” he chuckled, ruffling your hair. “Did you sleep well?”

You nodded groggily, smiling through squinted eyes. “All thanks to you.” you curled into his side.

“Although you look super adorable right now, we really should get started on breakfast.” he suggested. “We don’t want everyone going hungry.”

“I suppose so…” you sighed, getting out of bed. You both threw on your robes and slippers and made your way downstairs to the kitchen.

“Alright, what are we working with?” Chanyeol inquired as he opened the fridge, inspecting its contents.

“Well first of all, we’re going to need lots of coffee.” you giggled, busying yourself with the coffee pot.

“Very true. I can get started on some eggs and bacon while you do that.” he decided, swiping the ingredients out of the fridge and moving over to the stove. You prepared breakfast in a comfortable silence, that was, until the front door swung open, and three suited men strode in. You recognized one as your manager, but had no idea who the other two were.

“Hyung? What’s going on?” Chanyeol asked one of the men you didn’t know. You now assumed it was his manager.

“Don’t worry, we shut the cameras off this morning.” the man responded to him. “However, the production manager would like to tell you something.” He turned to the last remaining unidentified man and looked at him begrudgingly. Your own manager looked equally as annoyed with the supposed production manager, tapping his foot impatiently.

The man sighed. “The electrical outage was staged last night. Cameras were rolling throughout the entire night, and everything that went on was broadcasted.”

“You mean… the fans saw…?” you asked meekly, feeling your heart drop into your stomach.

“Yes, they saw you and Chanyeol sleeping in the same bed and confessing to one another.” your manager told you, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “I’m sorry kid. They didn’t tell us about this, or else we would’ve told you not to act as if you were in private.”

“There is, however, a bit of good news that goes along with this.” Chanyeol’s manager interjected. “The fans are really happy about it.”

You both snapped your heads up in shock. “Really?”

“Our ratings went through the roof.” the production manager explained. “Just in the past eight hours, we’ve received more viewers than any of our previous pilot episodes combined.”

“What are they saying?” you inquired, still incredibly surprised that the response was positive. Fans were not usually supportive of idol romance, wanting to maintain their own personal fantasies about their idols being available. In fact, “Idol Roomates” was kind of a controversial show because it allowed male and female idols to live together as if they were couples.

“See for yourself.” your manager instructed, holding his phone out to you. You began scrolling through some recent tweets he had pulled up on his phone, Chanyeol looking over your shoulder to read them with you.

I TOLD YOU GUYS IDOL ROOMMATES WAS FIRE, NOW WE GET Y/N AND CHANYEOL CONTENT 🔥

channie was soooo sweet to comfort y/n while she was afraid of the dark 🥺 i love seeing him be so soft to her ❤️

that innocent forehead kiss!!! i love them so much!!! <3

“Wow… that’s amazing.” Chanyeol marveled, running a hand through his hair. “So… what now?”

“Well, that’s up to you guys.” his manager replied. “The company has given us the okay to either confirm or deny the relationship based on your wishes.”

You both glanced at the floor, thinking to yourselves for a moment. Suddenly, you looked up and realized that you didn’t owe anyone an explanation.

“Let’s not say anything.” you suggested. Everyone looked over to you with a slightly shocked expression.

“Nothing?” your manager asked. “You mean, just let them wonder?”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea…” the production manager agreed, tapping his chin in thought. “They are the most popular couple on the show, and no matter what, there are going to be skeptics on whether or not it was staged. Why don’t we just let the show be an experiment?”

“And if we ever do develop a relationship, this can be looked back on as where it developed.” Chanyeol grinned, taking your hand in his.

You grinned at him appreciatively, then turned back to your manager. “Is that okay?”

He shrugged, an amused smile on his face. “It’s your call, kid.”

You looked back over at Chanyeol, who gave you a determined nod.

“Let’s do it.” you decided.

“Alright, case closed.” Chanyeol’s manager stated, clapping his hands together. “We’re going to see that you guys have a few minutes to speak with each other alone before they turn the cameras back on...” He shot a dirty look to the production manager before continuing. “… but other than that, we hope you have fun on the show. And please, don’t take it too far. Fans can be quite temperamental.”

As soon as the three men left the room, you turnt to Chanyeol. “Did you really mean that?”

“What? That I see us developing a relationship?” he asked, scratching his head with a cute smile. “I thought that much was obvious.”

You giggled, shaking your head at yourself. “This is the second time I’ve been completely oblivious. I feel like such a fool.”

“You’re not a fool.” he reassured you, pulling you into his arms for a tight hug. His height always allowed him to give the best hugs. He made you feel so safe and cared for. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Thank you…” you whimpered into his chest. “I really do want to make this work.”

“And it will.” he grinned, rocking you slightly. “I promise.”

You looked up, resting your chin on his chest. “I believe you. You promised nothing would happen to me last night, and you were right.”

He smiled down at you affectionately. “There’s one more thing I want to do with these last few minutes we’ll get alone.”

“Hm?” you asked, once again oblivious to his insinuation.

Before you even had time to register what was happening, his lips were on yours. His hands came up to hold onto your face and press himself further up against you. You held your breath, then relaxed into his arms, hands linking together behind his neck. He began to deepen the kiss, puckering his lips against yours repeatedly and darting his tongue between them periodically. When you were completely out of air, you pulled back, both of your chests heaving against one another.

“I can’t wait until this show is over and we can have some real privacy.” you grinned suggestively. “Now, shall we finish breakfast?”

D.O:

You rubbed your sweaty palms against the rough material of your jeans, taking a deep shaky breath as you waited in the recording studio. Usually when you were nervous in a place like this, it was because you were worried about messing up your notes or forgetting the lyrics. But that wasn’t the case today. You had practiced the drama’s OST relentlessly, and knew the song forwards, backwards, and sideways. What you were nervous about was the fact that you were going to be singing a duet with Do Kyungsoo.

Not only were you totally intimidated by his vocals, but you also had the most mortifying crush on him. Everyone at the company seemed to know about it except him, and you wanted to keep it that day. You just hoped you wouldn’t make a fool of yourself in front of him today.

You jumped as he entered the room, springing to your feet. He looked ungodly handsome, clad in a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway and jeans.

“Hey Y/N.” he smiled warmly as you locked eyes. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, I’ve been really good!” you choked out, playing with the sleeve of your sweater. “How about you? I saw you guys were in Jeju Island last week. I mean, on Instagram, I wasn’t there stalking you or anything. Not that I’m not a fan, but…” you stopped yourself before you dug down into an even deeper hole.

He chuckled at your babbling, somehow finding it endearing. “We were, it was a really good trip. Although I almost threw Baekhyun off a cliff while we were hiking.”

“Oh, that’s not good! Accidents happen, I suppose.” you shrugged, brushing your hair back behind your ears. You could feel a thin layer of sweat on the back of your neck, a telltale sign that you were nervous. You had to tell yourself to calm down, you didn’t want to look sweaty when they filmed the video.

“Oh no, it would’ve been on purpose. He was being insufferable.” he explained, grinning evilly. God, he was so attractive.

You laughed, genuinely this time. “I get it. Sometimes I want to strangle the girls.”

He hummed in amusement. “Look at us, bonding over wanting to kill our members.”

You giggled at his comment, feeling yourself relax slightly. Maybe this isn’t going to be so ba-

“Alright guys, the company wants us to film the video now, so in the booth.” your manager decreed as he entered the room.

Nevermind.

“We don’t get a chance to practice at all?” Kyungsoo asked, looking understandably irritated.

“I’m sorry guys, they forgot about the deadline they gave the marketing team for the drama.” the other man explained sympathetically. “They need it within the next hour, and editing is going to need at least a half hour after we film it.”

“Awesome…” you sighed, grabbing a pair of headphones and following Kyungsoo into the booth.

You could feel your nerves getting the better of you, making your hands shake and your throat go dry, both of which would not be good for your performance.

Kyungsoo seemed to notice this, and grabbed your hand gently. Your heart stopped, making you freeze in place.

“Hey, you’ve got this.” he whispered with a comforting smile. “You have the voice of an angel.”

Butterflies swarmed in your stomach. He thought your voice was angelic?

“Alright guys, camera is rolling.” your manager said from the control panel. Music starting in 3…2…”

You exhaled as the music started, letting yourself ease up. You glanced over at Kyungsoo. He was looking at you with such kind, sensitive eyes. You couldn’t help the smile that appeared on your face as you began to sing your lines. When you were looking at him, it was really easy to belt out a love song.

He seemed to feel the same way as he started singing his own verse, his smile never faltering as he gazed into your eyes affectionately.

As you began to sing the chorus together, it was like the stars aligned. You were perfectly in synch, voices intertwining together like two rivers of golden honey merging into one. You were both putting so much passion and energy into the song, the lyrics resonating in both of your hearts as you looked at one another.

As the song came to a close, you both held your notes until the music ended, looking at each other breathlessly. Both of your eyes were twinkling, and you could feel chills running down your spine. That was the best duet you had ever sung with anyone.

“That was amazing you guys!” your manager suddenly said, snapping you out of your daze. “I don’t know how you guys did it perfect on the first try, but great job!”

“Uh, thanks!” you stammered, removing your headphones. You started to blush as you realized the amazing connection you and Kyungsoo had just had. Your anxiety was quickly returning, causing you to act without thinking.

You turned to him. “God, it’s hot in here. Are you hot? I mean, you are hot, I mean-“

He looked at you expectantly, as if you could possibly recover from that humiliating sentence. However, he didn’t look embarrassed at all. He had a hopeful glint in his eyes and an anticipated smile.

However, you were far too overwhelmed with your own nerves to notice. “Well, I’m gonna go home. See you later alligator!”

And with that, you bolted out of the studio and ran back to your dorm, not stopping until you were back in your bedroom. Nabi and Kaori were shouting after you, but you just ignored them, slamming your door behind you.

You collapsed your back against the door and slid down until you were on the floor, placing your head in your hands. “‘See you later alligator?’ What am I, 50?!”

—————

After a few hours of cycling through rotting in your bed, pacing the floor in anxiety, crying out of humiliation, and passing out from exhaustion, you were disturbed by yet another knock on your door. You groaned, assuming it was one of your members trying to talk to you again.

“Dude, I love you, but go away, I need to be alone.” you grumbled, pulling your pillow up over your head.

You heard the door open and someone walk in, but you didn’t have the energy to look up. Maybe if I stay really still, they’ll think I’m dead, and then they’ll leave, you thought.

You felt them sink down on the bed next to you and place a hand on your shoulder. “Y/N? Can we talk?”

You snapped up, eyes widening as you realized who was in front of you. “Kyungsoo!” You frantically fixed your hair and wiped your face. “Oh god, I look terrible…”

“No you don’t.” he chuckled, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear.

You froze at his touch, relishing the feeling of his fingers in your hair before blinking back to reality. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I just thought you should know how well our OST is doing.” he grinned, pulling out his phone. You leaned forward to see the music video you made that already had millions of views in just a few short hours.

“Wow, people love it this much?” you asked in disbelief.

“That’s not all. Look at the comments.” he handed you his phone, and you did as he asked.

You know this drama’s gonna be good when they got Y/N AND Kyungsoo to sing the OST… total power vocal couple!

Y/N and Kyungsoo might as well be the main couple in the drama, their chemistry is insane

the way they sing the song to each other… my heart 💓 💓💓

You couldn’t help the giddy feeling that was blooming in your chest, attempting to fight off your smile to no avail. “They really like us, huh?”

He nodded, setting his phone back down. “There’s another reason I came here.”

“Hm?” you asked, cocking your head to the side in curiosity.

He took your hand in his, just as he had done in the recording booth earlier. “Y/N, you don’t have to be so nervous around me. I think you’re adorable, and I really like you.”

Fireworks went off in your stomach. “Y-you do?”

“Of course I do.” he laughed, shaking your hand in exaggeration. “Why do you think I asked to sing the OST with you?”

Your jaw unhinged in shock. “You asked to be paired with me?”

“Well yeah, how else was I going to get close to you?” he chuckled. “I was going to ask you out after we finished, but you ran away so quickly, I never got the chance.

You blinked at him a few times, then erupted into a fit of laughter. He joined you, doubling over slightly.

As you both settled down, he leaned in closer. “Will you go out with me?” he practically whispered.

You nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes! Of course I will!”

He smiled brighter than you had ever seen him do before, then slowly inched closer to your face. His eyes were focused on your lips.

Deciding you had been oblivious enough for one day, you took the hint and closed the distance between the two of you, crashing your lips onto his. He placed a hand delicately on your cheek, then began deepening the kiss, until you both pulled away, eyelids fluttering open slowly.

He smirked. “So, where do you want to go, angel voice?”

Kai:

“You’ve got it… you’ve got it…” Ten instructed you, guiding your movements. You were both in the dance practice room, covered in sweat as you went through the routine. You were working on a partner dance for your next solo album, and you wanted it to be with Ten, but somehow it just wasn’t going as planned. You were stumbling through the steps, there was no flow so your movements were jerky, and you somehow couldn’t shake the tense expression from your face.

As the music finished, you awkwardly caught your footing and struck the most pathetic ending pose you’d ever done. Ten gave you a crooked smile out of sympathy, which somehow made you feel ten times worse.

“Ugh, this is hopeless.” you sighed, throwing your hands up in resignation as you plopped down on the floor and leaned your back up against the mirror. “I’m never going to get this routine down in time.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” he attempted to reassure you, sitting down next to you. “You’re doing everything right. Sometimes, it just takes a little while to get the right feel for it.”

“Yeah, or I’m just a horrible dancer.” you huffed. You put your head in your hands and scrunched up your hair. The shoot was in two weeks, and this routine had to be perfect. Your fans deserved nothing less.

Ten was conflicted on what he should say next. On one hand, he wanted to tell you how amazing and talented you were, but on the other hand, he knew it wasn’t going to mean anything if you didn’t believe it yourself. He decided to grab a water bottle and hand it to you with a warm smile. “How about you just take a little break? I’m sure you’ll feel better in a few minutes.”

You smiled back at him, taking the water bottle from him gratefully. Your brow furrowed as he stood up and walked towards the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go find something that’ll help.” he grinned over his shoulder before leaving the room.

You shook your head at his cryptic behavior, then collapsed back against the mirror, staring up at the ceiling in desperation. Please God, if you’re listening, please send me something to help with this dance.

“Y/N?” you heard someone ask from the doorway.

You snapped your head down to see who it was, and smiled widely at the pleasant sight before you. “Kai! What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in on my favorite junior.” he smirked, shutting the door behind him as he strolled in. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jacket as he stopped in front of you, looking you over with a concerned expression. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“Just taking a break.” you replied, stretching slightly. “I’m too bad of a dancer not to.”

He frowned, crouching down to your level to glare at you. “Don’t say that about yourself. You’re an amazing dancer.”

“You haven’t seen me practice this routine.” you chuckled. “I’m sure you would change your mind if you did.”

“Alright then, show me.” he demanded, standing back up and taking a step back.

“Wait, like now?” you asked, slowly getting up yourself. “You don’t even know the routine…”

“I’m sure I can improvise.” he grinned, taking his jacket off and throwing it to the side, leaving him in just a cutoff tank top and sweats. “What, do you doubt my skills?”

“Absolutely not.” you chuckled. You had been secretly admiring him since before you even became a trainee, in more ways than one.

You got into position and waited for the music to start, then thrust into action as you began the routine. The first half went almost perfect, as it was just your solo part. You began to get nervous as the duet portion approached, feeling your muscles begin to tense up.

Kai approached you and placed his hands gently on your waist, a focused spark in his eyes. He somehow knew the exact partner position, and began guiding you across the floor.

“Relax, relax…” he instructed calmly, “remember to breathe.” He spun you around and placed a hand on the small of your back.

You inhaled deeply, holding the breath in your chest for a bit, then exhaled and released all the tension you didn’t realize you were holding onto. You started being able to flow through the moves better, but now you were hyper-focusing the footwork.

“Hey, don’t look at your feet. Focus on me.” he brought you back to center once again, twirling you back to face him and placing his hands on the sides of your face.

You looked up at him, locking in on his pretty brown eyes. It was as if they were telling you exactly what you needed to do, and for a moment, your body was running on autopilot, and all you thought about was being close to him.

“Show me that pretty smile, white swan.” he chuckled with a playful grin, instantly making you giggle and blush.

You actually couldn’t believe that you were going through the entire routine without any problems, and as you struck the ending pose, you were absolutely speechless. “That was…”

“Brilliant!” Ten suddenly interrupted you, causing you to jump away from Kai defensively.

“T-Ten!” you stammered nervously. “We were just-“

“It’s okay, I told him to come here.” your best friend smirked from the doorway. “I found him in the hall and he asked how you were doing.”

“You did?” you asked, a touched lilt to your voice.

“I told you, I wanted to check in on my favorite junior.” Kai explained, brushing the hair out of his face with an innocent half smile. “Ten said you were having trouble with the dance, so I had him show me the training video, and then I told him I’d help you.”

“Oh, well that’s a relief...” you sighed, glad you didn’t have to explain yourself to Ten. “So, you’re not-?”

“Jealous? Hardly.” he chortled, shaking his head. “In fact, I think you should do the dance with Kai for your music video.”

Your jaw unhinged slightly in shock. “Really?”

“Oh yeah, the chemistry is way better. You really seem to enjoy yourself when you’re dancing with him.” he teased, winking at you inadvertently.

You shot him a warning glare, then turned back to Kai. “Is that alright with you?”

“It’d be my pleasure.” he grinned, extending his hand to you. “Shall we?”

—————

It had been a week since your latest solo comeback dropped, and all of Starlight was losing their minds over it. Albums sold out everywhere, you had already one two awards, and everywhere you went, you heard it being played on the radio.

After one of your performance stages, you were sitting in your dressing room, and decided to look over some of the comments on the music video again. You always loved seeing what your fans had to say about your work.

There were a lot about how pretty you looked, how beautiful your vocals were, and how proud of you your fans were, all of which made you giddy with appreciation. However, some were starting to stick out to you and pique your interest. Particularly, the ones about your dance with Kai.

the tension between Y/N and Kai is so thick you could cut it with a knife 👀

i don’t think i’ve ever seen our Y/N dance so well with anyone else than with Kai… i hope they do more stuff together :)

anyone else think Y/N and Kai would make the PERFECT couple??? just me???

You felt your cheeks grow red and warm at the insinuation. I mean, sure, you had been fantasizing about dating Kai for years now. But now that you knew your fans approved, it was all the more flustering.

“Knock knock.” someone interrupted your thoughts as they entered your dressing room.

You looked up, then scoffed playfully. “Kai, if you keep showing up unannounced, I’m going to have to start locking my door. I could’ve been bare faced!”

“And you’d still look just as beautiful.” he commented, smiling at you genuinely.

You pouted your lips affectionately, then stood up to hug him. “Thank you so much.”

“Me? What for?” he asked, wrapping his arms around you to reciprocate the hug.

“If it wasn’t for you, I never would’ve gotten that dance down.” you beamed into his shoulder.

A quiet chuckle rang through your ears. “You already had everything you needed to accomplish it. I just pointed you in the right direction.”

You gave him one final squeeze, then invited him to sit down on the couch with you. “So, what brings you all the way here?”

“Well, I had to admit, seeing you do the dance with that backup dancer on stage made me pretty jealous.” he replied, a more serious expression appearing on his face.

“Oh?” you inquired, folding your hands in your lap. “Is that so?”

He nodded slowly. “Indeed. I was going to let it go, but after reading some of the comments on your music video, I was inspired to do something about it.”

Your heart soared as you imagined him reading the exact comments as you had read previously. Did he feel the same butterflies when he read them over?

“And what exactly are you going to do?” you asked, feeling your nerves vibrate harder with every passing second.

“I want to ask you out.” he told you. He leaned in closer to you, to where you could see the sparkle in his eyes. “Is that alright?”

“Yes, it is.” you replied, letting a huge smile plaster itself across your face. “And yes, I’ll absolutely go out with you.”

He replicated your large grin, patting your leg affectionately. “That’s wonderful. Because I don’t want you dancing with anyone else.”

You chuckled, squeezing his hand a bit. “Well, you’re going to have to fight my members for that right.”

He thought to himself for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think I could take them, they’re pretty tough. I’ll settle for being the only guy you dance with.”

“Deal.” you giggled, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you again, Kai.”

“You’re welcome, white swan.” he chimed. He rose up from his seat and walked over to the door. “I’ll leave you to unwind. I’ll text you later to set up the date, okay?”

You nodded, waving goodbye to him. “Sounds good, talk to you later!”

You turnt back to your mirror, beginning to brush out your curls. However, you were startled as Kai ran back into the room quickly.

He placed a bouquet of flowers on the vanity in front of you, then kissed you on the cheek briskly. “I almost forgot, these are for you. Congratulations on such a good comeback.”

Sehun:

“Excuse me, pardon me, ‘it girl’ coming through!” Nabi declared as you made your way through the busy photo shoot studio.

“Ugh, shut up Nabi!” you scowled over your shoulder at her. “I hate it when you call me that!”

“Hey, I’m not the only one.” the leader shrugged, chuckling mischievously. “Everyone calls you that nowadays.”

“Well, I’d prefer to only deal with it when I’m being interviewed.” you scoffed, setting your bag down at your vanity.

“Spoken like a true queen.” Nabi smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

You rolled your eyes. “Why did you even come with me today?”

The younger girl shrugged. “You’ve been stressed lately. I figured I’d tag along to make sure you have a comedic buffer.”

You softened at her kind gesture, touching her arm lightly. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“They also always have huge snack buffets at these things.” she added. “I’m gonna go get a plate, okay?”

You went back to your previous mood, sighing and sitting down. “Yeah, just get me some chips.”

You watched her skitter off to the snack table, shaking your head at her. In front of the other girls, she was a strict, stern dictator. But around you, the only member older than her, she was a true child. However, she was your best friend, so you tried to find it endearing.

“Y/N?” a deep voice inquired from behind you.

You spun around in your chair and gawked at the realization of who stood in front of you. “Sehun?!”

He smiled at your surprise, holding out his arms in a dramatic gesture. “In the flesh.”

You sprung up out of your chair in an instant, practically jumping into his arms to give him a hug. He stumbled backwards a bit, laughing at your sudden affection, then caught his footing and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’ve missed you so much!” you told him, pulling away. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the Valentine’s Day shoot.” he replied.

You knit your brows together in confusion. “Really? Because this is…” You looked around the studio, then it dawned on you. There were heart shaped decorations and pink balloons everywhere, and the studio had a romantic, dim lighting.

“Oh… they didn’t tell me this would be a couple’s shoot…” you chuckled awkwardly.

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? That’s strange. Maybe they knew you’d be nervous if you were told ahead of time that you’d be doing a shoot with the Great Oh Sehun.” He flipped his hair dramatically, a cocky smirk on his face.

You scrunched your nose up, hitting him on the arm playfully. “Ugh, don’t be so smug. It doesn’t suit you.” You were actually just trying to hide the fact that he was right.

Sehun had been slowly becoming one of your best friends at the company, ever since that day he walked in on you being bullied by a bunch of female trainees and silenced all of them with his presence. He was actually competing with Yeri, Ten, and Karina for a spot on your BFF list.

However, you had always secretly hoped for more with him. He was so kind, even though he could seem cold at first, and he always made you laugh. He was so caring, despite how hard he tried not to be, and had incredible wit and humor. Plus, there was the fact that he was incredibly handsome. Like, obnoxiously so. But, as much you wanted things to go to the next level, they remained stagnant. Neither of you were the most upfront about your feelings.

“There you guys are!” the director suddenly clapped his hands behind you, pulling you away from your conversation. “I’ll let makeup and wardrobe know you’re here, and we should be able to start shooting in about an hour.”

You both nodded and thanked him, then turned back to one another.

“See you behind the camera.” Sehun proposed with a minuscule wink that was so small you wouldn’t have caught it if you hadn’t been admiring his features so closely these past few years.

You sent him one last smile, then turned back to your vanity while he strode over to his own.

Suddenly, Nabi reappeared next to you with a plate full of snacks. “What was that about?” she asked, crunching on a pretzel.

“Oh nothing, I just have to do an amorous photo shoot with my secret crush.” you grumbled, falling back against your chair with your hands bunched up in your hair. “Did you get my chips?”

Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“Nabi! Either be helpful or leave!”

—————

The hour of makeup and wardrobe went by way too fast for your liking. You had been trying to build up your courage to no avail. It seemed hopeless. How on Earth were you going to do a romantic couple’s shoot with your crush without it looking you were hopelessly devoted to him? Not that you weren’t, you just didn’t need the whole world knowing it. That would be mortifying, not to mention a total career killer.

You walked over to the photo setup, which featured a red velvet sofa and a table with an extravagant bouquet of flowers. You swallowed the hard lump in your throat, making one last stitch effort to calm yourself down. Settle down, Y/N. It’s just a photo shoot with your colleague. I’m sure he won’t even be-

“Is this chain on straight?” your thoughts were interrupted by the man in question. You flipped around to see him dressed in a deep v-neck black blazer with a white button-up shirt underneath, the top three buttons undone to reveal his chest, adorned with a glimmering silver chain necklace. His thick black locks were tousled and textured perfectly around his forehead, and his skin was practically glowing.

Okay nevermind, time to panic.

“Holy shit, you look hot.” you heard yourself speak, although you don’t remember making the decision to. Instant regret flooded your brain, and you immediately began apologizing. “Oh my god, I meant the chain looks hot. I’m sorry. I mean, not that you’re not hot, I just…”

“Thank you.” he cut you off, a pleased smile evident on his features. “You look hot too.”

Your heart practically jumped out of your chest. “Th-Thank you…” You were sure your face was as red as a tomato. However, you had to admit, you did look pretty hot in your tight red dress, pearls, vampy lipstick, and red strappy heels.

“Alright, we’re ready to get started!” the director declared from his chair. “Sehun, I’d like to start with you laying on the couch horizontally. Y/N, go ahead and sit on his lap facing the camera.”

You did as instructed, although uncomfortably. He sensed your tension and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“It’s okay, just relax.” he suggested, a reassuring smile directed at you.

You gave him an appreciative grin, loosening up and leaning into his form.

“Okay, now Sehun, put your chin on Y/N’s shoulder and rest your head against her neck. Y/N, just keep looking forward.”

The camera flashed a few times, with a few breaks in between to look over the shots.

“I’m really proud of you, you know.” Sehun told you while the camera crew was busy.

“What do you mean?” you asked him, laying against the back of the couch.

“You’ve come a long way from the girl I met who was letting some older trainees pick on her.” he teased. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when I appeared next to you.”

You laughed at the memory. “And I’ll never forget the looks on those girls’ faces when you told them off.”

He joined you in your laughter. “Notice how none of them are at the company anymore, and how you’re the ‘it girl’ now?”

You smiled contentedly. “Everyone seems to be calling me that these days.”

He suddenly scooped you up in his arms and pulled you down to his chest, ruffling your hair affectionately. “You’ve always been my ‘it girl’ Y/N, from day one.”

You squealed as he caged you in his arms, feigning resistance. A sudden flash went off, and you both looked up to see the camera crew staring at you blankly.

“Ah, sorry guys, that was my fault...” a feeble intern announced nervously. “I accidentally hit the wrong button.”

“Wait, let me see that shot…” the director demanded, motioning for the camera to be brought over to him. He looked it over, then turnt to you both with a baffled expression. “This is it. This is our cover photo.”

“What? No way.” you marveled, getting up and walking over to the director. Sehun followed you, catching you as you stumbled a bit in your heels. You looked at the photo, and soon you were both making the same face that the director had made a few seconds ago. “Woah… this is amazing…”

“Look at how beautiful you are…” Sehun commented, taking in the picture lovingly.

You blushed, nudging him slightly.

The director clapped his hands dramatically, snapping you both back to reality. “Alright, let’s keep this energy going! Next I want a shot of Y/N pulling Sehun in by his chain!”

—————

A few days later, you were chilling out at the dorm with your members, having a much needed girls’ night. All of your favorite snacks were laid out on the coffee table, you were all in your pajamas, and there was a cheesy rom-com playing on the TV, even though none of you were paying attention to it. You were far too busy gossiping, squealing, and beautifying each other. It might have been stereotypical girl behavior, but it was incredibly therapeutic.

“Everyone shut up!” Nabi suddenly decreed, jumping up on the couch and holding something behind her back.

You looked up from braiding Kaori’s hair. “Oh god, what is it now?”

The younger girls all laughed, finding it hilarious that you were the only one able to talk to Nabi like that.

“Well ‘it girl,’ it just so happens that I have the most recent issue of Elle in my hands.” the leader grinned evilly, brandishing the magazine out in front of her.

The other three girls all gasped and rushed over to grab at it, except for Iseul, who just jumped up and down excitedly. Her nails were still wet from Marie painting them a few minutes ago.

“Oh my god, you look so hot!” Marie marveled, flipping through the glossy pages.

“Yeah, and this one of you pulling Sehun in by his chain is just perfect!” Iseul nodded in agreement.

“Wait, the shoot was with Sehun?” Kaori asked, her eyes going wide with innocent shock.

“Yes Kaori, we talked about it three days ago. Keep up.” Marie groaned at the maknae.

“Hey, be nice.” you warned protectively. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah right. You’ve only been in love with him for years now.” Nabi challenged you, jumping down from the couch.

“I am not in love with him.” you rolled your eyes. “Besides, he doesn’t feel that way about me.”

“The fans seem to think differently.” Nabi commented smugly, whipping out her phone. “Look what they’re saying on Elle’s post about it.”

You snatched the phone out of her hand and began to skim over the comments.

you could tell me the cover shot was totally improvised and i’d believe you… their affection looks so real <3

who knew the oldest member of Etoile and the youngest member of EXO would make such a fire couple? TOTAL goals!

The fact that they’ve been friends since Y/N was a trainee makes this so much cuter… they’re clearly in love with each other 💞

These two OWN Valentine’s Day now 😤

“Look at how big her smile is!” Kaori grinned admiringly at you.

“I know, it’s so cute!” Marie added, wrapping her arms around your maknae and twirling her around. “‘Oh Sehun, please marry me!’”

“‘Oh Y/N, I’d love to make you my wife!’” the younger girl acted out, giggling madly.

You scowled, trying not to laugh along with them. “How come you two only get along when it’s at my expense?”

You all froze as the sound of a phone ringing suddenly cut through the noise.

You looked over at the end table to see your phone lit up and vibrating. You picked it up and unhinged your jaw as you saw who it was from. “It’s Sehun. I’m gonna go take this.” You got up and rushed down the hall to your bedroom.

The three youngest members attempted to follow you, but Nabi stood protectively in front of the hallway. “Nope, no one is eavesdropping. This should be private.” Marie, Iseul, and Kaori started pouting and vocalizing their protest. That was, until Nabi gave them her signature glare. “Living room, now.” She really was a great leader when she wanted to be.

Shutting your door behind you, you answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey Y/N, it’s me.” Sehun said from the other end. He sounded uncharacteristically anxious.

“Hey, is everything okay?” you asked in a concerned manner.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” he coughed nervously. “I just wanted to… you know….”

“Wanted to what?” you giggled, sitting down on your bed.

You heard him exhale momentarily as if mentally preparing himself for something. “If you’d like to go out with me for Valentine’s Day?”

Your breath hitched in your chest. “What?”

“Don’t make me say it again…” he sighed, clearly having trouble being this forward. “I just… we had so much fun at the shoot together… and you’re just so cool, and fun, and pretty. I’ve never really known how or when to say it, but… something about that couples’ shoot just pushed me to go for it. So will you?”

You clutched onto your chest as if it was the only thing keeping you grounded to Earth. “Yes… yes, of course I will!”

“Really?” he marveled, sounding genuinely surprised. “I can’t believe you agreed.”

“Sehun, I’ve literally been waiting for you to ask me out for years now.” you chuckled. “You’re the worst at picking up on signals.”

“Yeah, well you’re not very good at sending them.” he teased, clearly getting his confidence back.

You laughed cutely into the phone. “We’re not very good at this are we…”

“No, not at all.” he chortled, shaking his head. You could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. “And just so you know… I meant it when I said that you’ve been my ‘it girl’ since day one.”

You blushed with a small smile. “I usually hate it when people call me that. But with you, it feels good.”

“Well, I’ll have to call you by that name as much as possible. Then you can be mine exclusively, and no one else’s.” he replied.

You laughed once again, feeling like a giddy school girl. “I always have been, remember?”

He laughed at your sudden cockiness, knowing that you definitely learned it from him. “I’ll see you on Valentine’s Day?”

You nodded, feeling your lips curl up into a grin. “I’ll see you then.”

“Goodnight, my ‘it girl.’”

“Goodnight Sehun.” you giggled, hanging up the phone. You then threw it across the room and flopped back onto your bed, rolling around and kicking your feet in ecstasy.

“Y/N! What happened?” Marie suddenly burst through your door, followed by the other girls. You assumed Nabi held them off as long as she could, but eventually lost strength. There were three of them after all.

You sat up, brushing your hair out of your face. “Guess who’s going out with Sehun on Valentine’s Day!”

The four girls all screamed and jumped on your bed, showering you with praise and congratulations. You laughed as you captured them all in a group hug. It was then that you realized you didn’t need to be the ‘it girl’ to be happy, you just needed moments like these. And with Sehun, they seemed to just keep coming.

[callsign-dexter]

"Wait....What?!"

Request: I have been wondering how chicks uncles and aunts would react to her bringing a boy home. (It’s okay if you don’t want to

Pairings: Y/N Bradshaw-Seresin x OC!Mason Floyd, Bradley Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Jake Seresin, Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw x Carole Bradshaw, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell x Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky

Warnings: swearing, fluff

Our Little Girl

Masterlist

A/N: Thank you @callsignblaze for requesting this and I'm so sorry for getting it out soooo late!

You and Mason have been dating for a week now. You both had confessed your feelings to one another shortly after he met you on the beach. The first two people to find out about you and Mason were your fathers, Jake and Bradley. This is just because they had been standing in the kitchen watching out the window and saw you both kiss. Of course, at first, they were against it but they couldn’t have asked for anyone better for you to date, Mason was a Floyd after all they knew how to treat their loved ones and how to take care of them. Just because they had met him doesn't mean that they didn't want to still interrogate him. 

You and Mason had just gotten back from a date and he had just dropped you off. He had walked you to the door and kissed you before turning and leaving. He sat in his truck and made sure you got in safely before he took off and once inside and staring out the window he left. You hadn't noticed that your parents were standing in the door with a cheesy grin on their face. “Have him over for dinner.” Jake said behind you and you jumped out of your skin. You turned around.

“Pops! You almost gave me a heart attack.” You said putting a hand over your heart. You were too busy looking out the window watching Mason leave that you forgot about them being there.

“Sorry, Sweets.” Jake said and you nodded.

“It's ok. Back to the dinner part. You already know him. He hasn't changed.” You said 

“We know him as your friend Mason Floyd but we don't know him as your boyfriend Mason Floyd.” Bradley said and it dawned on you.

“You both just want to interrogate him, don't you?” You said with a signature Seresin smirk on your face they both blushed. They knew they had been caught.

“Yes.” They both said at the same time.

“Fine. I'll invite him over tomorrow night.” You said and they nodded “I'm gonna go shower and change then I'll meet you two down here for a movie and snacks.” You said even though you had just eaten with Mason.

“But we love you just the way you are.” Jake said, matching your smirk and you rolled your eyes.

“You know what I meant.” You said and pushed him playfully and walked off. As you got to your room you pulled out your phone and sent a text off to him.

Dad and Pops know about us. They want you to come over and ‘meet’ you.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: Meet me? They know me. 

Yes, I know. They said and I quote “We know him as your friend Mason Floyd but we don't know him as your boyfriend Mason Floyd.”

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: Omg that's funny. When?

Tomorrow night.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: I'll be there.

This is going to be a disaster.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: No, it won't. It'll be fun and fine. Don't stress over it. 

You always know what to say. I'll text you when I go to bed.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: Looking forward to it. You have a fun movie night with them.

You chuckled and shook your head. He knew that the three of you had a movie night together most nights. You put your phone on charge and then got things for your shower. Once your shower was done you got dressed, grabbed your phone and headed downstairs where your dads were already queuing up a movie. “What are we watching?” You asked.

“The Proposal.” Bradley said as he finished getting the movie ready. Snacks and drinks were already on the coffee table. 

“I love that movie!” You exclaimed excitedly and walked over to the couch and snuggled into Jake and he welcomed it. They both chuckled. 

“We know. We love it too.” Jake said as Bradley sat on the other side of you and now you were sandwiched between them. 

“That's why we put it on.” Bradley said stealing you from Jake.

“Hey!” He protested 

“She's my kid too.” Bradley said and you just chuckled. Soon the movie was starting and the three of you got comfortable. The night continued on watching movies until all three of you were nearly asleep and you decided to call it a night. All 3 of you said your goodnights and I love yous then you were heading to bed. Once in bed you pulled out your phone.

Just got into bed. I'm still dreading tomorrow night.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: It'll be fine. We're in this together, babe. Try and get some sleep and try not to fret about it. 

You always know what to say, one of the many reasons I fell in love with you. Goodnight.

Mason 'My Forever' Floyd: That's because you're my soul mate. Goodnight. 

You blushed furiously as you stared at the text and then you were putting your phone away and falling asleep.

—

The next day was a Saturday and you were thankful for that. Not much was done on Saturdays in the Bradshaw-Seresin household. Really nothing was done on the weekends to you three it was time away from working and going to school. You always looked forward to weekends. 

10 AM rolled around and you were rolling out of bed to the smell of food. Bradley and Jake were always up way too early and they usually did stuff together like workout before they started to wake you up and make breakfast. You started to walk downstairs and into the kitchen to see Jake by the stove and Bradley at the kitchen table on his phone and coffee by his side. He would occasionally step in and help Jake if he needed but the kitchen was left to Jake mostly. “Good morning, Honey.” Bradley said as Jake said “Good morning, Sweets.” That made you smile.

“Mornin’.” You said still not 100% awake. “Smells good.” You said coming to sit on the counter as your parents gave a look but you didn't make a move to get up instead you just smirked.

“So, is Mason still coming over tonight?” Jake asked as he flipped the waffles and you nodded.

“Yes, he is.” You said 

“Good.” He said and Bradley just smiled and chuckled.

“We just want you to be safe and make sure he's the right one for you.” Bradley said and you nodded with a sigh.

“I know but I just really like him.” You said getting a dreamy look in your eye and they smiled.

“You know your dad and I hated each other when we met.” Jake said 

“Really?” You asked and they nodded.

“It wasn't our first-time meeting or dating.” Bradley let it slip.

“Really?” You asked again, shocked and they nodded.

“We dated for a while and then it ended on bad terms. We didn't see each other for a while until we met again at Top Gun. It was very tense but then afterwards we got together, got married, and then decided to have you with the help of Dakota.” Jake said and everyone got sad when Dakota's name was mentioned. The rest of the day and afternoon leading up to the night was filled with you and your dads being together and having family time. You were shocked but it made so much sense. The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent as a family and having the best time together.

 It finally came time for supper and you were so nervous even though they already knew Mason but they would be meeting him as your boyfriend and not their best friend’s kid. You had texted Mason earlier to tell him to be there at 6 PM. When the time came, he was there at 6 PM on the dot. You went and opened the door and there he stood with your favorite flowers, roses, and a gift for Jake, and Bradley. “Hey you.” He said and kissed you and you kissed back.

“Hey you.” You repeated with a smile when you pulled away. You allowed him to come in and he handed you the flowers 

“Good evening, sirs.” Mason said and held out his hand to shake. If this was the first time, he was meeting them as your boyfriend he was going to make a good first impression. 

“Good evening, Mason. You know us so you can call us by our names.” Jake said and he nodded. You had gone to put the flowers in water. He then handed Jake and Bradley arrived and he handed them their gift. 

“I was going to give you individual gifts but since I can't buy alcohol I decided to do a joint gift.” He added a little nervously. They both looked at each other and smiled. They then looked at the gift. It was a 3D Crystal Photo that was etched with a picture of you, Jake, and Bradley. It was a younger you were on a horse and they were on either side of you, you were smiling and they were looking at you smiling. 

“How did you get this picture?” Bradley asked in awe.

“I had Y/N send me it when I asked for it for a gift idea.” He said 

“Did she know about this?” Jake asked and he shook his head. “It's really lovely. We love it.” and Bradley nodded. “Dinner is almost ready. The steaks just have a few more minutes to go.” Jake said as they walked into the kitchen after he put the picture on the space that looked out into the living room to the kitchen.

“Anything I can help with?” Mason asked

“Can you and Y/N set the table?” Bradley asked

“Yes.” You and Mason said at the same time and they smiled. You both went to work setting the table while Jake and Bradley went outside to check the steaks and pull them off the grill. You and Mason chatted and laughed while Jake and Bradley looked into the house smiling. 

“They’re perfect for each other.” Bradley said and Jake nodded.

“Yeah, they are.” Jake agreed and then they were pulling the steaks off and heading back inside. The table was set and Jake was setting the steaks in the middle of the table. “The potatoes and mac n’ cheese are on the stove.” He said and you both nodded as everyone got their steaks and then went to the stove. Once everyone was seated everyone began to eat. It was quiet at first but it wasn’t awkward. 

“This is really good.” Mason said and Jake and Bradley smiled.

“Thank you, the mac n’ cheese is an old family recipe and the mashed potatoes is also a recipe from Jake’s family.” Bradley said and Jake nodded. The rest of the night went off without a hitch and you were so glad about that. They did grill him pretty hard but he stayed calm and answered all the questions with ease. But the time it was time for him to leave it was just like you were hanging out with Mason and it didn't matter that he was your boyfriend. Everything was great. You walked him to the door.

“I'm sorry for all that.” You told him and he shook his head.

“Nonsense. It was great. Your dads love me and I love them.” He said reassuring you and you nodded. “Hey.” He said and you looked up at him. “I love you.” He said.

“I love you too.” You said back and then he kissed you and then he was leaving. You turned around and there was Jake and Bradley.

“We approve.” They said at the same time and you chuckled.

“Thank you.” You said 

“Anytime, Sweets.” Jake said as they brought you into a hug. 

–

A week later Mason was having you over for dinner as a sort of ‘get to know the parents as boyfriend and girlfriend’. “Hey mom and dad I'm gonna have my girlfriend over.” He said looking nervous.

“Oh, how lovely! I can't wait to meet her!” Judy said excitedly and hugged her son and he hugged back smiling. 

“That's great, Mase. I'm sure she's gonna be lovely.” Bob said smiling and Mason smiled.

“She is.” He said and so when he went up to his room, he texted you the details smiling.

******

“Hey I'm going over to Mason's for dinner tonight.” You said and they smiled.

“Let me guess to do the same thing we did to him?” Bradley asked and you nodded.

“I'm actually glad you're doing it this way. Yes, we already know him and Bob and Judy know you but it's nice.” Jake said and you smiled.

“We have to thank you guys for that.” You chuckled

“What time are you heading over there?” Bradley asked 

“He wants me there at 6:30 PM.” You replied “But I'm leaving a little early to grab flowers for Judy and things they like.” You said and they smiled. 

“Bob likes Sparkling Apple Cider. He had it at our wedding and fell in love with it. Penny has it on stock at The Hard Deck.” Jake said and you smiled.

“Thanks Pops.” You said “I should get going if I want to stop by the store and bookstore.” You said

“Bookstore?” Bradley asked and you nodded.

“There is a book Mason has been dying to get but never gets a chance to so I'm getting it for him.” You said blushing a little.

“That is so sweet.” Both Jake and Bradley said at the same time and you looked down. 

“I need to go.” You said and they nodded.

“Yes, go go.” They said ushering you out as you grabbed your wallet and keys to your Jeep. You got in and headed to the bookstore when you parked you walked in and knew exactly where to go. You smiled when you saw it, a copy of The Outsiders and you grinned ear to ear. You walked to pay for it and smiled at the friendly cashier woman, Martha.

“Are you getting this for Mason?” She asked and you nodded.

“That's so lovely. I'm glad you got the last copy of it.” She said 

“Thank you.” You said as you grabbed the back and began to walk out and as you opened the door you looked back “Have a nice day, Martha! I'll see you soon!” You said and she smiled.

“Anytime my dear. Have a good night. Tell Mason I said hi.” She said and you smiled.

“Will do.” You said and then left. You got in your Jeep and put the book in the passenger seat and headed to the grocery store. You were quick to park and walk in. You first grabbed the Sparkling Apple Cider and then an arrangement of Lilies, Daisies, Snapdragons, Alstroemerias, Gladiolus’, Orchids’ and Iris’. You might’ve gone overboard but you couldn't help yourself. Once you were done there you were heading to their place. You were quick to arrive and walked up the door and rang the doorbell and Mason opened it. “Hey, Martha says hi.” You said and he kissed you.

“Hi, when did you see her?” He asked 

“When I got your favorite book that you've been wanting.” You said and pulled it out. 

“Y/N/N thank you so much. I've been meaning to get this.” He said in awe.

“I know I got the last one.” You said and then kissed you and then he was bringing you in. 

“Mom. Dad. My girlfriend is here.” Mason said and here they came.

“Y/N you're his girlfriend?!” Judy said excitedly and you smiled and nodded. “Finally! I'm so happy!” She said and hugged you and you hugged back. 

“I'm so happy you're his girlfriend.” Bob said and hugged you once Judy released you.

“Oh Judy, these are for you.” You said and handed Judy her flowers.

“Oh Y/N/N these are amazing. Thank you so much. These are my favorites.” Judy said and you smiled as she kissed your cheek.

“Bob, these are for you.” You said as you handed him an 18 pack of Sparkling Apple Cider.

“Thank you so much. How did you know?” He asked, looking at you adoringly.

“Pops helped me with the idea. He said that you fell in love with it at their wedding and that Penny has it on stock at The Hard Deck. I also know you don't drink.” You said sheepishly.

“Thank you.” He said and hugged you and you hugged back. Judy had walked into the kitchen to finish dinner and to put the flowers away. About a minute later you, Bob, and Mason walked in. 

“Is there anything I can do?” You asked and she smiled sweetly at you. 

“You can help me with the rest of cutting the vegetables up and fixing the salad while the boys’ man the grill.” She said and you smiled and did just that. 

Soon dinner was ready and you 4 were sitting down to eat. They asked you questions but it wasn't as intense as your dads asked. It helped that they practically helped raise you. You stayed a little bit longer which they insisted that you didn’t need to but you insisted and then you watched a movie together. Once the movie was over Mason was walking you to your Jeep. “I think our parents are ok with us dating.” He chuckled and you nodded.

“I mean they practically did raise us from the start.” You chuckled

“I’m so glad you’re my girlfriend.” He said and you smiled.

“I’m so glad you’re my boyfriend.” You replied and he smiled and kissed you and you happily returned that kiss. Then you were pulling apart and getting in and heading home. He made sure you were out of the neighborhood safely before going back inside. When you got home you let him know it was only fair since he let you know he was home last time.

–

You and Mason had been dating for a month now and it was great. You honestly don’t know what took you guys so long to admit your feelings and just go for it but you’re glad you did. The Daggers would have a monthly BBQ. It was just a way for everyone to be themselves around each other without work and it was a way to make their squadron stronger even though they were a strong squadron. “How do you think I should introduce Mason as my boyfriend? I know they know him but you know.” You said as you guys were shopping for food the day before.

“Well, you could always say your boyfriend is coming over and then Mason shows up.” Bradley pitched and you thought about it.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” You and Jake said at the same time and Bradley chuckled.

“No denying you’re her father.” He chuckled 

“Hey there is no denying you’re her father too, Rooster.” Jake said, bringing out his callsign.

“Oh, you did not.” You and Bradley said at the same time in the same tone.

“See?” Jake asked, smirking. You both rolled your eyes “There it is again.” He chuckled and Bradley flipped him off which made you laugh. The rest of the shopping trip was spent playfully picking at each other and having fun. When you got back into the truck after helping load the groceries you texted Mason the plan and he was all for it and then you texted Bob and Judy and they too were all for it.  

The next day Jake and Bradley started early getting everything set up and cleaned up. When you got up around 10 AM you got yourself ready for the day and then started to help them out. Music was playing and you three made it fun instead of a chore. When everything was done and it was time for The Daggers to come over you guys were ready. They started to show up in pairs or by themselves. They greeted you and your dads and whoever was over at the time. Once everyone was settled and had drinks or food you broke the news. “Hey my boyfriend is coming over in a few minutes.” You said and tried to hide the knowing smile. 

“Oh, Baby Bradshaw-Seresin is dating?” Natasha smirked and you nodded. 

“Who is this mysterious boy?” Javy asked

“You'll find out soon.” You replied. Carole, Goose, Maverick, and Ice were there as well and they knew because you told them and boy were they excited. Goose had to be Goose and be all dramatic about saying ‘My Chick is growing up! She's dating! Next thing you know she's married and having kids! My heart can't take it!’ Everyone just chuckled but they knew he was right they didn't want you growing up too fast but once they found out it was Mason all that changed. They still didn't want you to grow up but they knew Mason would take good care of you.

“How long have you been dating?” Mickey asked 

“A month.” You replied with ease. 

“You're really not going to tell us?” Ruben asked and you shook your head pulling the Seresin smirk. It was a few minutes and everyone went back to themselves and then the doorbell rang.

“Oh, that's him! I'll go and get it!” You said and skipped off. You opened the door and there stood Mason and you kissed him while pulling him in.

“Do they know it's me?” He asked and you shook your head and chuckled “Well let's go and reveal it then.” He said and you grabbed his hand and walked out to the backyard.

“Oh hey, Mason! We're waiting for Y/N's boyfriend.” Natasha said and he looked at you and you smirked.

“Babe, are you cheating on me?” He asked, smirking so you can only see it. 

“On you? Baby not in a million years.” You said and kissed him and then it started to click in people's heads.

“Wait..... What?! No way! You're dating him! Finally! It's about time!” Javy said and ran up to you both and hugged you both and then he lightly hit you “Why wasn't I the first to know! I'm always the first to know!” He said with a hurt expression on his face and you chuckled.

“I know but we wanted some time to actually be a couple before telling people.” You explained and he nodded. He understood. “We really only told Dad, Pops, Bob, and Judy just because they're our parents. Then Goose, Grandma Carole, Grandpa Maverick and Grandpa Ice found out by accident.” You said and they nodded.

“I knew it all along. You two were too friendly with each other. Also, the way you gossiped all about him and were all gushy gushy about him I put two and two together. Also, I saw you two out and about holding hands and kissing.” She said smugly.

“How?” Jake said 

“They happened to be at the same restaurant I was at getting food.” She said with a shrug “Then I saw them going to ice cream and they were holding hands.” She said smirking and you and Mason were blushing and you hid into his neck and he cuddled you. 

“Aww look at them getting all cute!” Carole gushed and that made you go redder. 

“It's too cute!” Goose gushing with his wife. Ice and Maverick just smirked because they agreed with them. 

“No. Absolutely not. Our baby is growing up.” Mickey said in denial. 

“I won't allow it.” Mickey said, shaking his head. You and Mason laughed.

“I'm sorry guys but we really love each other.” You said and Mason nodded.

“No, not the ‘l’ word! I can't… I just can't.” Ruben said and turned away like he was fake crying and Mickey turned to him comforting him.

“I know. I know. Let it all out.” Mickey said and everyone just smiled because they knew they were putting on a show. Ruben turned around and took a breath. He looked at you both in each other's arms.

“Nope. I can't. I just-” He said and you both walked over and hugged him.

“Shhhh, I'm still you're Bunny. I'm still the same energized little girl, I just have a partner in crime now.” You said and he nodded. 

“I'm really happy for you guys. You both picked good ones.” Ruben said 

“They sure did.” Mickey added and joined in on the hug. Everyone was smiling. They were really happy you two had each other and like Ruben said you two picked good ones. Once Mickey and Ruben accepted it the night went on like nothing changed. Mason did get grilled with 20 questions even though they did know him but they just wanted to be sure. You weren't off the hook either, questions were thrown at you too but you answered them. 

The night ended and everyone was leaving. Bob and Judy stayed to help clean up because that's just who they are. You and Mason fell on the couch “Exhausted?” He asked and you nodded and laid your head on his shoulder.

“I'm glad they approve.” You said and he kissed your temple.

“We knew they would.” He said and you smiled.

“Yea I know.” You chuckled then both sets of parents came in.

“We're really so glad you're both dating.” Judy said and everyone nodded and you both smiled. 

“We love you guys. We just want you both to be safe.” Bob said and you both nodded.

“We will be.” You and Mason said.

“Thank you for telling us first.” Bradley said 

“It really meant a lot to us.” Jake said 

“We agreed that we would tell you guys first. You're important to us.” Mason said and you nodded and they smiled. They all hugged you and then left. Now it was you and Mason on the couch enjoying each other's embrace. Tonight, couldn't have gone any better and it was perfect, you both were just glad everyone approved. 

Everything was perfect.

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[talktomegooseman]

Christmas Morning

Ship: Jake Hangman Seresin x Fem! Reader

Words Count: 2109

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Rooster threatens to deck Hangman, Hangman threatens to live up to his callsign. Mentions of being sick (but nothing happens)

Authors Note: This is so fluffy it’s gross. Enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated

It’s the early hours of the morning based on the bright screen of Jake’s phone. He woke up to his phone vibrating from a scam call. He turned his phone off and rolled over to face you. You were sleeping peacefully, mouth slightly open. That’s when he was reminded that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. He’d just gotten home from the uranium mission about a month ago, and he had started thinking about settling down.

He’s had the ring since before he left on the mission, that ring the promise he made to himself that he would come home. And he kept that promise. Hell, he had the ring when he was called to TOPGUN. He’d known for years he wanted to marry you. He just hoped you felt the same.

He wrapped an arm around you, pulled you close, and fell asleep again. You woke up not long after he fell asleep to the weight of his arm around you, and you snuggled further into his embrace. You were glad he was home and safe. Along with the rest of his squad, you considered them family, and you knew they also considered you family.

The early morning light filtered through the bedroom curtains causing you to curse under your breath, not wanting such a bright awakening. You make your way out of bed and to the en-suite bathroom, getting ready for the day, as you knew that Jake was already downstairs, ready for the day.

You walk downstairs and see your favorite sight. Jake and Rudy were playing on the living room floor. The Yorkie tries to win in a game of tug-of-war, and Jake gently fights back. Rudy had come into your lives just months before Jake’s first deployment, the both of you knowing you’d need a companion.

“You don’t have to be that gentle with him, ya know.” You say, sitting on the couch, coffee in hand. “I know, but you’d kill me if I hurt him. Sometimes I wonder if you love the dog more than me.” Jake replies, relinquishing the rope, and watches as Rudy scampers to the corner, lying underneath the Christmas Tree.

“I love you just as much as Rudy. Don’t you fret, dear.” You say, reaching down to pat him on the cheek. “Oh honey, if you knew how much I fret.” He replies, turning to press a kiss to your palm. He moves to sit on the couch, wrapping an arm around you.

“Do you have to go in today?” “No. With the holidays this weekend, I don’t have to go in till next Tuesday.” He says, thinking about the plan he had for the weekend. The squad and significant others were invited to the Hard Deck to celebrate Christmas Day, and he had made a plan to propose. He was hoping you’d say yes.

When he’d first gotten home from the mission and saw you there on the tarmac, it hit him that he wanted to marry you. He just wasn’t sure how to go about asking, so he got the help of your best friend, who he happened to work with.

When you first moved to San Diego, when everyone was called back, you felt out of place. You watched as Jake bantered with and teased the other pilots, and you just laughed, knowing it was just a show. That’s when you met Bob and quickly became best friends. You knew that he would keep an eye on Jake in the air, and deep down, Jake would kill for the man.

Jake had watched as the two of you talked, your bright laugh filling the small corner of the bar. He knew he could trust the man and that you would have someone to lean on if he ever got hurt.

Bob noticed something was on the man’s mind when they got home, so he confronted him about it.

“Bagman! Are you listening?” He says, waving his hand in front of Jake's face as they walk to the locker room. “Mmm, huh?” “Did you hear a word of what I just said? Or were you daydreaming about Y/N again?” “I want to marry her.” “You… what?!” Bob sputters as Jake continues walking, running to catch up.

“You heard me.” “I heard something. That’s for sure.” Bob says as the blond turns to face him. “Bob. Quit snarking for five seconds. I’m serious. I want to marry her. Y/N is the love of my fucking life. She’s why I manage not to be an ass half the time, and I don’t do anything too stupid.” Jake says, running a hand through his hair. Bob opens his mouth to speak, but Jake stops him.

“I’ve had the ring hidden before we were called back for the mission. I was going to propose then, but we got called for the mission, and I knew I had to come back in one piece. And when we got home and I saw that bright smile she always has, I knew right then and there I had to ask. But I need help. Will you help me plan how I’m gonna do this?” He asks the other man nervously.

He gauges Bob’s reaction and sees that he has the biggest grin and is nodding his head yes ecstatically. “Never knew you had it in ya, Seresin. I’ll help.” Bob replies with a smile. “You realize that if you say anything to her, I’ll live up to my callsign in the next dogfight.” “Well aware, Hangman, well aware. My lips are sealed,” he replies as they head to their respective lockers.

Later that night, at the Hard Deck, the pair start planning, and the rest of the squad overhears and joins in with the planning because they love and adore you.

“Hangman, you’re telling me you’ve had this ring for months, and you never popped the question? I could take you outside and deck you right now. Hell, I just might.” Rooster says, standing up from the table they were at. “Hold it, Bradshaw. I was going to, but then we got called on the mission, and I wanted to come home in one piece.” Hangman replies as the other man sits back down, rubbing a hand over his face. Penny overhears the conversation and comes over to the table.

“So I hear you’re planning on proposing to Y/N? Why don’t you do it here on Christmas? I know you are all coming to celebrate anyway. We can decorate for Christmas and make it low-key as you want.” She says, setting the beers down and looking at Jake.

“Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks, Penny.” “Of course, sweetheart.” She went back behind the bar to continue her shift and left the squad to continue brainstorming. Jake felt his heart swell, knowing that this was going to happen.

You and Jake spent Christmas Eve with the rest of the squad decorating cookies and watching movies. Much to everyone’s protests, the main film was A Christmas Story. You argued that it was a classic and promised that other holiday favorites would be watched.

As the night went on, the group was on the couch all wrapped in blankets, Rudy loving the attention he was getting, bouncing in between every member of the group wanting pets and love. “Dude acts like he doesn’t get attention from us,” Jake mutters into your hair. “Much like someone else I know.” You reply, kissing his cheek before leaning into his side.

He looks down at you when you’re not looking, with the most loving look on his face, and Phoenix quickly takes a picture to send to the squad group chat later. Eventually, the squad leaves, and you and Jake head to bed.

The next morning you exchange gifts and then get the gifts for the squad in the back of Jake's truck and head to the Hard Deck. Jake tucks the ring box in the inside pocket of his jacket, knowing that you couldn’t find it if you stuck your hands in his pockets.

You get to the Hard Deck, and Jake being the gentleman he is, opens your door for you, grabs the gifts from the backseat, and heads inside.

You’re greeted with hugs from Penny and Mav and the rest of the squad. You all open gifts from each other and chat for a while. You hadn’t realized Jake had left your side as you were engrossed in a conversation with Bob and Fanboy, trying to make the argument that original Star Wars films were the only good ones.

Jake stood by the bar, his stomach churning. He hadn’t felt like this since the first time he flew. His knees were shaking, his head was spinning, and he felt nauseous. “Lieutenant. You alright?” Maverick asks, scanning his pilot's face.

“Umm, honestly. No. I’m downright terrified. What if she doesn’t say yes? I’ve had the ring since being called back, and I know she loves me, but this shit. This is fucking terrifying.” He says, voice quiet, staring at the countertop.

“You said you know she loves you. That’s enough right there. If you want a mom to talk to, pretty sure Penny can help.” Maverick says, clapping the man on the shoulder as Jake nods his head in response.

Penny comes over not long after. “Heard ya need a mom. Well, I’m here. Lay it out.” She says, sitting on a stool. “Penny. I’m terrified. I feel sick, my knees are gonna give out, and if I chicken out, I’ll never hear the end of it. I love Y/N to the ends of the earth and then some. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But what if she doesn’t want that with me.” He asks, wiping away a tear.

Penny grabs his face in her hands like she does with Amelia when she’s stressed. “Jake Seresin. Listen to me. Only me. Y/N loves you. She’s been in love since you guys got together. I saw how she looked at you when you were first called back. That girl would kill for you, and I know you would do the same for her, and so would the squad. You’ve got this. Trust me. Now ask her to be with you for the rest of your life.” She says, removing her hands and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead.

Jake blew a soft breath and walked over to the tree, where you stood, looking at the lights. “You and lights. What’s up with that?” He asks, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “Not sure. I think I’m like a cat and get distracted by shiny things.” You reply as he leans down to kiss you. You smile as he kisses you and lean into his side.

“Hon. I want to ask you something.” He says, removing his arm from your shoulder, and turns to face you. “Yeah?” You say, watching as he pulls something out of the inside pocket of his jacket and gets down on one knee.

“Jake…” “Love. I gotta know. Will you make me the happiest man in this room? Y/N, will you marry me?” He asks a slight tremble to his voice, his bright green eyes pleading.

“Jake Seresin, you softy, of course! Yes, I’ll marry you!” You exclaim, wiping tears from your cheeks as Jake cheers, picking you up and twirling you around. He slips the ring on your finger, peppering you with kisses. You make your way back to the table the group was at. You grin widely as Phoenix, Amelia, and Penny all examine your ring and as the guys cheer. You all celebrate until far too late and eventually make your way home.

You're laying in bed, your head on Jake’s chest, his arm wrapped around you. “Dear. I gotta know. How did you pull that off?” “Well, the squad helped. And I wanted to propose earlier, but the mission came up, and Rooster nearly decked me. I explained I wanted to come home in one piece. That, and Mav and Penny gave me some pep talks.” He says, shifting so he can look at you.

“I’d say we’ve got some good family. I’m glad I met you and fell head over heels on that first date.” You say, brushing his hair out of his face. “I’m glad too. I love you, honey.” He whispers, pressing a kiss to your jaw. “I love you too, dear.” You whisper, bringing him in for an actual kiss, one that is full of love and excitement for the future.

[dingochef]

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin & Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Warnings: Swearing, Smut (MDNI 18+ Only), angst with a happy ending, Non-linear narrative, fighting, homophobic language, homophobia, song fic

Word Count: 5.5k

Masterlist

Summary: Jake doesn’t remember the route to the elevators or even what the rest of the ICU floor looked like, his only focus was to get to Bradley. They found room 309 at the end of the hallway. Jake paused before stepping into the room. He knew that when he stepped through the door his life would be divided into another era. Another before and another after and he’s so scared of what the after could be if it doesn’t include Bradley.

Don't Let the Light Go Out

Stare at a wall that's told a thousand tragedies

"Bradshaw, Bradley Bradshaw! What room!?" Jake shouted the instant he ran through the sliding doors of the ER, Coyote trailing right behind him. Jake paid no attention to the family crying and clutching each other in the corner as a defeated doctor walked away. He paid no attention to the various grandmothers and mothers clutching rosaries and mumbling prayers to themselves and, hopefully, a sympathetic God. Jake ran up to the desk and slammed his hands on the worn Formica, yelling his plea again,

"Bradley Bradshaw," this time more plaintive, more desperate, "Which room?"

The unmoved charge nurse at the desk asked,

“Who are you in relation to him?"

"His husband."

Coyote grabbed Jake's shoulders, trying to keep him from launching over the counter to look at the goddamn computer himself.

“Room 309, ICU. You’ll need to show some ID so we can get you badged up.”

Jake pulled his wallet out with shaking hands and gave her the plastic square; Javy’s landed on the desk right behind Jake’s. Jake looked at Javy; with the way Javy hated hospitals he hadn’t expected to have a companion on this journey. Javy picked up on his skepticism.

“I’m your wingman. Where you go, I go,”

Javy said, his voice calm in the din of the ER. The nurse interrupted their moment by clearing her throat and handing them two name tags. Jake doesn’t remember the route to the elevators or even what the rest of the ICU floor looked like, his only focus was to get to Bradley. They found room 309 at the end of the hallway. Jake paused before stepping into the room. He knew that when he stepped through the door his life would be divided into another era. Another before and another after and he’s so scared of what the after could be if it doesn’t include Bradley.

Holding a hand that's loved every part of me

He grasped Bradley’s left hand as it was the first part of Bradley he could see that wasn’t covered with medical equipment. Jake noticed his wedding ring was missing; he knew that he would have been wearing it since he was on desk duty that day because there wasn’t a hop scheduled. He can't comprehend the irony of a car crash being what would take down the force that is Bradley Bradshaw, not even being shot down in enemy territory could take him from the skies, but a teenager texting through a red light is what has brought him here. So still and so unmoving. Javy pulled a chair up to the bed for Jake to sit in and then repeated the same motion for himself.

Jake sat there holding his hand; his own wedding ring catching the small amount of light in the room. Bradley had proposed at the Hard Deck of all places, the ring box burning a hole in his pocket. He realized as he watched Jake take the time to teach Bob a pool move, the unguarded Jake, breathtakingly gorgeous, kind, generous, and soft, that there was no perfect time, only the time they had right now, especially in their profession, tomorrow wasn't guaranteed. He attempted to give his pool cue to Phoenix, but she wasn't looking when he let it go, so it fell to the floor. Bradley practically ran to Jake and pulled him into a deep kiss. They broke apart and Jake’s face had filled with his beautiful wide smile, he looked at Bradley and asked,

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's gotten into you, babe?"

"You," Bradley cringed, cursing his impulsivity once again, he decided to go for broke and dropped to one knee, pulled the ring box out of his project with a shaky hand,

"Jake Seresin, the love of my life, the man I love with my whole being, will you marry me?"

Jake's response was so quiet no one heard it, the whole bar watched with rapt attention at the spectacle unfolding next to the pool tables. Everyone saw Jake's lips move, but no one heard.

"You're going to have to speak up and not leave me hanging, darling," Bradley asked, a bubble of nervousness bubbling up from the pit of his stomach.

"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you, Bradley Bradshaw."

A lady comes and tells me that I've got to leave

Javy had left hours ago; he had his own family to take care of. Jake kept his place next to Bradley’s bed. Somewhere around midnight, the nurse is startled when she walks in expecting only one person in the room. She looked briefly at the chart and with all the authority she could muster, said to Jake,

"Commander Seresin, you'll need to leave, visiting hours are over.”

"It's Bradshaw, that emergency contact form is old, it's Bradshaw now."

Jake jettisoned his curse of a last name when he and Bradley got married, filled with the satisfaction of knowing that the miserable Seresin line died with his father.

"I can't go, I have to be here,” Jake answered back, his voice hoarse and dry.

The desperation on Jake's face must have been apparent and for once there was some mercy in the world. She softened,

"You can stay, let me know if you need a pillow or blanket."

Right away everybody is the enemy

When they broke up all those years ago, the month Jake had to endure before he was reassigned was hell.

All people wanted to see was how destroyed Bradley was by their break up and they assumed it had been Jake's doing, perhaps some despicable act and not Jake's own emotional baggage. It was Jake's inability to believe that someone would love him, his disbelief that love could exist, and more specifically that it could exist in his life that had driven a wedge between the two. It was easier for people to see him as the villain and he let people think it. It was easier to let them keep thinking he was the piece of shit everyone thought he was. He didn't want to divulge his tragic backstory, however cliche it was, the distant emotionally stunted father disappointed by his only child being gay. It was such standard fare that Jake didn't talk about it; he let people think there was something more interesting or more nuanced to his assholeness.

The night before he left Virginia for California he grabbed one last beer with Javy.

"Jake, I know you don't want to hear this, but I say this with all the love in the world,"

Javy said, face open and honest.

Jake scoffs at the word love, a bitter concept on the best days and now an acidic notion that makes him nauseous whenever he thinks about it. Javy continues,

"Take this time to figure out yourself, talk to someone, like a professional. You can't go through this world pushing people who want to love you away because of one shitty person."

Jake rolled his eyes and replied,

"Thanks for the motivational speech there, coach, but I think I'm doing just fine."

"Just think about it okay?"

"Sure, do you feel better now we had this little mini intervention? Ready to get your ass kicked at darts one last time?"

Javy sighs, "Sure."

The thought planted in Jake's brain and took root, and it bloomed at inopportune moments. Like when he saw a flash of an ugly Hawaiian shirt in a bar, when a fucking episode of Magnum PI came on, and when a song he remembers being in Bradley's presence for floats out of a grocery store speaker. The thought of Bradley and the Javy's words echoing in response,

"You can't go through this world pushing people who want to love you away because of one shitty person."

He finally makes a therapy appointment as far away from the base as he can and feigns having a toothache to get the time off. If his CO wondered how the Colgate poster child could have a cavity, he let it slide and approved the request.

The office is in an unremarkable strip mall on the far side of Lemoore. A beige waiting room and a cheery secretary greeted him as he walked through the door, specifically in his civvies. He's ushered into an office with soothing lighting, white noise machine, and strategically placed tissue boxes where he meets his therapist, a kind looking lady in her early 50s named Marge.

"Well, what brings you in, Mr. Seresin?"

"Jake, please call me Jake. And I'm here because,"

his mind filled in a detailed bullet list of all the ways he's fucked up, but he chose an easy start,

"Because I don't think anyone can love me and I can't love anyone else."

Marge nods, very kindly,

"That's a good place to start."

Deep breaths from the room where I watch you lie

Any beat from your heart gets me through the night

The ventilator wheezes out a constant rhythm, offbeat from the heart monitor, which does not have a sound like every tv show would have you think. Jake stares at it so long that he has Bradley's heartbeat pattern memorized. He thinks that if, when, Bradley gets out of here that he'll get it tattooed on his chest above his own heart, reminding him to never take Bradley for granted.

The night they got back together, the night Bradley had driven him home, they fell into bed, just to hold each other. Jake remembers the steady beat of Bradley's heart lulling him to sleep and the fade back into consciousness in the morning.

You're my love, you're my death, you're my alibi

The first time he told Bradley he loved him he was drunk, long after they had broken up, not long after that mission that changed them all. The second time he said it was the next morning, cradling Bradley's face in his hands, their foreheads pressed together,

"I love you, Bradley Bradshaw," Jake said into the space between them, his eyes closed,

"I don't expect you to say it back, but I need you to know that. Know that I finally learned how to love."

Jake's heart started to shatter when he felt Bradley's tears on his own cheeks and he hadn't answered back. He had thought that the overwhelming love he once had from Bradley was gone, until Bradley finally spoke.

"You found me,"

Bradley whispers, voice hoarse, "You found me up there when I thought I was going to die, and you found me back here on the ground. I love you, Jake Seresin. I never stopped."

Say this isn't goodbye

"Is this the end of us?" Jake said, so quietly it was almost lost to the roar of the waves along the Virginia coast.

Bradley sighs, eyes teary,

"Yes, for now. I can't keep doing this Jake. I love you with all of my being, but I need something back from you."

He gives Jake one last hug and told him,

"When you figure it out, come find me."

He left Jake staring at the Atlantic Ocean, Jake sat there for hours watching the tide rise, his father's words echoing in his head. 18 years of self doubt and abuse culminating in this broken human being he had become; someone who can't even have basic emotions. He felt so broken because he can't manage such an innate thing. He can't love someone or be loved.

The next morning he requests a transfer to anywhere that isn't Virginia.

Who's gonna drive me home tonight?

The call came in the middle of the celebration of the uranium mission, the mission they weren't supposed to make it back from. Jake was powerless to ignore it, the three letters on his phone more powerful than Jake's own iron will. He pushed his pool cue at Bob and rushed out the door to the patio, answering the phone as he went. Bradley only hears a muffled,

"Sir," as Jake pushes past him into the darkness outside.

He watched through the windows of the Hard Deck as Jake talked to someone; someone who simultaneously made Jake angry, sad, frustrated, and insignificant. By the end of the conversation Jake is hunched up in one of the Adirondack chairs on the bleached wood deck. He's curled in on himself; he looked unusually small and vulnerable to Bradley.

Bradley debated his inner voice on whether he should give in to his impulse to go to Jake and wrap him in his arms; shelter him from whatever storm was battering the man. As usual, Bradley had sat so long contemplating his actions that he missed his opportunity. He looked up and saw that Jake had stood up and wiped at his face. Bradley saw, for a brief moment, Jake without artifice, without Hangman. Just Jake, the man, the very real and vulnerable man. And as fast as Bradley had recognized it, it was gone. The smirk, the Hangman mask pulled down firmly into place.

Jake bypassed the pool tables where the rest of the Dagger squad was, instead settling at the far end of the bar and ordered up a double whiskey, neat.

He stayed there the rest of the night, repeating his drink order, definitely trying to drink away something.

Penny rang the bell for the last call and Jake paid his tab. When he left the stool, he stumbled enough for Penny to notice. She called Rooster over and talked with him, voice low in a way that Jake knew they were talking about him. He attempted to leave the bar, to be anywhere but there.

He was intercepted by Bradley before he could walk, rather stumble, out the door into the San Diego night.

"Hangman, let me give you a ride home," Bradley asked.

The rage that had been simmering under the whiskey poured forth, misguided as it was,

"I don't need your help Bradshaw."

Bradley sighed, trying to be the bigger person,

"Dude just let me help, you can bitch me out tomorrow, it's late, you're drunk and need a ride."

Jake considered his options and settled on the option before him, partly because it would cause the most inconvenience to Bradley.

"Fine, fuck it, let's go, Bird Boy," he taunted.

The silence inside the Bronco was tense, before Bradley decided to break it.

"You want to talk about why you were trying to drink down half the bourbon supply in San Diego county tonight?"

he asked, trying to disguise his concern.

Jake laughed,

"No, but I probably should."

"You were always a surprisingly introspective drunk."

"Yeah, don't get used to it."

Bradley thought that Jake was ending the conversation and resigned himself to driving the rest of the way to Jake's house in silence. He startled when Jake started talking,

"It was my old man on the phone, dear old Dad. Letting me know yet again what a piece of shit I am. I let my Mom know about the mission and the fact I was just a spare. He decided that he needed to relist my many shortcomings. That I'm still the worthless son who isn't good enough to make the team, whether it be All State Baseball or this fucking mission. Said he didn't understand how I could keep going on being so mediocre. And don't forget the piece de la resistance, I'm a faggot, can't forget that old chestnut."

Bradley let the words dissipate into the air, he sneaked a glance at Jake and the blonde was chewing his nails. Out of a long forgotten habit, Bradley reached across and pulled Jake's arm down before he could draw blood. Their hands landed in Jake's lap, intertwined.

"You know none of that shit is true, right? You know why Maverick made you spare right? In case something like what exactly happened happened. And we needed someone who would disobey orders to do the right thing. Do you think if I was on that deck I would have launched with Cyclone breathing down my neck?"

Jake sighed,

"If you felt the way I did…I do, you would have. You literally came back from the dead, Bradley. I thought you were dead, gone forever along with a chance to be with you again."

Bradley looked at Jake, unsure of his meaning.

Jake is nothing, if not bold, he ducked his head down and plowed through his next sentence,

"Fuck it, it's all out there. I love you Bradley fucking Bradshaw, took me five years and some god damn therapy to get here."

He took a breath and squeezed Bradley's hand still in his lap,

"I hope that you still love me the way you did because I think I'm finally ready for this."

Bradley blinked and looked forward watching the road. He took a deep breath and spoke,

"I need you to say it when you're not drunk and not after talking to him. It needs to come from you, Jake."

Jake nodded, understanding, knowing why Bradley was reluctant, why he didn't want to open his heart again. Bradley stopped in front of Jake's house.

"Bradley, come in please," Jake asked. Bradley started to shake his head, and Jake continued,

"Not for sex, but I want you to be there in the morning when I wake up so I can tell you that I love you. Please do that for me?"

"Okay."

Who's gonna argue 'til they win the fight?

The only reason Jake had gone back to his god forsaken hometown in dreary west Texas was his mother. The cancer she had battled along with life on the dusty plains had finally overtaken the force that was Grace Seresin. A god fearing woman, Grace faced death with a poise and attitude befitting of her first name. Jake had gone only to see her and feel her love one last time. Bradley went because he loves Jake and knew that the trip back to Texas would be devastating in more ways than one. He knew the feeling of helplessness that swallowed you up when you watched your loved one die slowly in front of you; he was there to do anything to keep Jake together.

And right then that meant a screaming match and fist fight in the scrap of dried and worn mud that stood in for a driveway at the, generously named, Seresin Ranch. Bradley had reached this point as he sat in the kitchen, trying not to drink too much coffee. Jed Seresin had been skulking around as his only son and child kept a bedside vigil at Grace's side. The doctor had come and gone that morning letting them know the end was coming soon. Jake hadn't moved since that verdict was rendered. Bradley did what he could, cups of coffee and glasses of water that were at least sipped at, bringing and retrieving food that was untouched.

The grandfather clock in the living room that had seen many generations of Seresins come and go, struck midnight. Bradley grimly thought that Grace Seresin had lived long enough to see another day in this forsaken place; he walked up the creaky wooden stairs to check on Jake. The small angle Bradley could open the door without the century old iron hinge squeaking allowed him to see that Jake was still awake, holding his mother's hand to his cheek as he watched her labored breathing.

In the way that he and Bradley had always been aware of each other even when they fell in and out of each other's orbits, Jake knew Bradley as at the door. He looked over to meet Bradley's eyes and he waved him into the room. Bradley stepped in avoiding the floorboards he had memorized as overly loud and knelt beside the chair Jake had been sitting in for the past 18 hours. Bradley did the only thing he knew would bring some comfort to Jake; he draped his long arms around him and pulled Jake's head to his chest. The gesture elicited a soft sigh from Jake and dissolved some of the tension he had been holding onto all day. Bradley lost track of time in how long they stayed in that embrace; it was long enough that his knees ached against the uneven wooden floorboards.

The door opening past the angle that made it squeak alerted Bradley and Jake that the other inhabitant of the house was there. Jed Seresin looked into the room, instantly scowled, and retreated. Their cocoon broken by the intrusion, Bradley asked Jake if wanted some coffee. Jake nodded and Bradley stood and shook off the pain in his kneecaps. He slowly descended the stairs knowing that it was unlikely that Jake would drink the coffee so timely delivery wasn't all that necessary. He entered the kitchen and went through the motions of making another pot of coffee. Bradley didn't look up when he heard Jed enter the room.

"How can you come into my house and do that fag stuff right in front of his mother?"

Jed spat out. Bradley sighed knowing that a reckoning was coming, as sure as the thunderstorm rumbling on the horizon.

"That fag stuff, you mean loving another human? No wonder you're such a fucking monster, because you've never loved anything in your life, especially that amazing man up there," Bradley replied, anger held at bay as he pointed to the bedroom.

"You're as big of a sissy as he is; should have gotten rid of him when I had the chance. Drowned him like a cat no one wants,"

Jed countered, walking up to Bradley. Bradley stood up to his full height, he towered over Jed by five inches.

"That's your goddamn son. How damaged inside are you to not love your son, your only child?"

Jed bites out a bitter laugh,

"That fag, that queer, isn't my son. He's a good for nothing waste of space and a shame to the Seresin name."

"The Seresin name was stained the day you were born, Jed. Jake's only brought it out of the mud you sunk it in."

"Don't you disrespect me in my own goddamn house, fag."

"Jed, I don't give a shit about your ideas of respect. Not after what you did to Jake, not how you made his life hell till he could run away from this hell hole."

"You fucking sissy boy,"

Jed slurs out as he attempts to throw a punch at Bradley's face. The punch was easily evaded by Bradley, leaning back out his swing. He took the moment to push Jed squarely in the chest so he stumbled back towards the porch door. Jed tried to right himself and fell completely back through the door, landing on his ass on the wooden porch. Bradley advanced and Jed scuttled back down the steps to the driveway, where he stumbled and stood back up. Bradley kept following him, and sneered,

"It's different when somebody can fight back, isn't it?"

He pushed the man again and Jed tried to throw another punch that went wide as Bradley ducked.

"Finally going to get a taste of your own medicine, Jed,"

Bradley spat out as he landed a solid punch on Jed's jaw. The older man reeled from the impact.

"That's all you got, sissy boy?" Jed taunted, spitting blood and at least one tooth onto the ground. Jed attempted to hit Bradley and missed again. Bradley landed a heavy blow at Jed's stomach. The man finally staggered and fell to the ground and the thunderstorm that had been threatening broke the skies open with heavy rain. Bradley leaned over Jed and pulled him up by his shirt. The rain was cold and soaked the two men quickly, but neither paid attention to it.

"Jed Seresin, you are a worthless piece of shit and have been a cancer on this world long enough," Bradley calmly stated, enjoying the panic that filled the older man's eyes as he pondered Bradley's words.

"I could kill you dead on this spot, but you aren't worth the fucking jail time. It would be worth it to pay you back for all the pain you gave Jake." Bradley slapped Jed across the face, "Listen to me and listen to me good, after tonight you cease to exist to Jake. If I ever hear about you saying anything to him I will drive through the night to get to this shit hole and I will make you dig your own grave out in those hills before I kill you. Understand?"

Jed nodded, eyes wide with fear. The rain pelted both of the men as they stared each other down.

"Mamma's gone," Jake said from the porch, startling both men. Bradley looked over to Jake, still holding on to Jed like a rag doll. Jake took the scene in and said, with a resigned sigh,

"Let him go, Bradley. He's not worth it."

Bradley complied, dropping Jed into the rapidly forming mud and walked over to the porch. He stepped up and wrapped Jake up his arms,

"I'm so sorry, Jake," Bradley whispered, partly for his mother's death and partly for beating the shit out of his equally shitty father.

"It's okay, it's done,"

Jake replied, pulling back, "It's time to go, there's nothing here for me anymore."

Jed stood up behind Jake and Bradley instinctively moved between Jed and Jake. Jed yelled out, between the thunder claps,

"I'll be damned if you ever inherit this place. I'll burn it to the ground before I leave it to you, fag!"

Jake stepped in front of Bradley, a quiet strength shining through,

"Papa, you already did that years ago, there's nothing left here I'll ever want. Let's go, Bradley."

You're the only one that knows how to operate

My heavy machinery

"Just let yourself be loved, Jake," Bradley, unusually angry given the content of his words, yelled at Jake.

"I don’t know how else to say it,"

he sighed. Jake turned away, the volume and tone of Bradley's words bringing him back to a dusty old house on the West Texas prairie and not his apartment in Virginia.

Bradley recognized Jake's discomfort, but took it to mean that Jake didn't want to engage with him, he ramped up his next volley of words, and hoped they'd hit somewhere useful.

"You can cut all this macho bullshit. This posturing and let me love you."

Jake sighed, trying to stay present in that moment and not one from years before,

"I can't, I'm not lovable. No one loves someone like me, and besides love isn’t real."

He looked Bradley in the eyes and launched his best missile,

"What we do is fuck and hang around each other, this isn't love."

It was a familiar pattern, a routine cadence to their fights.

Bradley with a heart as big as the world, who loves so deeply it consumes him, can't understand why the person he has given his heart to doesn't reciprocate. He can't fathom not believing in love, that Jake doubts his love because he doesn't think love really exists.

When Bradley had poured out his whole being and he ran dry and bitter is when they argued, him trying desperately to get something in return from Jake.

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

A rush of blood floods hot thoughts in my head

Jake spent the first few days of Bradley's hospitalization in a dreamy and blurry mix of cups of mediocre coffee, brief snatches of sleep, and visits from their friends and family. He never left Bradley's side, Maverick and others finally conceding in their pleas for him to go home to get some sleep and instead just brought him clean clothes and watered Bradley's house plants.

It was during one of these fits of sleep that Jake was transported back to a cabin they had rented near Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. It was one bedroom, a studio really, tucked into a little valley with the stereotypical babbling brook. It was early May, a rare opportunity for both of them to get away for the long weekend. Jake's memories flooded back; the hazy wave of the curtains from the door they left open to the deck, the morning sunlight peeking through the towering pine trees into the cabin, and the warmth of Bradley wrapped around him as he woke. The dream changed from those specific details to the long ago memory of the slow and sweet love making session Jake and Bradley had indulged in, rather than the sunrise hike Bradley swore he would get up and wake up Jake for. Jake's brain conjured up the vision of Bradley above him, saying sweet and dirty things each time he thrust into Jake. That same rush of endorphins and the overwhelming feeling of Bradley's love flooded his sleeping brain. Just as Jake recognized it as a dream and started to wake, the world went dark and Bradley disappeared into the swarming darkness. Jake woke up, his upper half collapsed on the bed near Bradley's knees, the memory and feeling of Bradley still washing over him. He felt a wave of shame creep over him for the reason he was hard when he woke up; his husband was fighting for his life, he should be thinking of other things than sex.

Even though Jake could feel the warmth of Bradley's hand, it paled in comparison to the fiery passion and heat that Bradley exuded in every part of his life. The image of the bombastic man who flitted around in garish Hawaiian shirts and banged on a slightly out of tune piano compared to the monotone and still person, hell they had even shaved his mustache off for some procedure, didn't compute in his brain. This was and wasn't his Bradley.

Red roses sitting silently beside the bed

Someone from their squadron had sent a bouquet of red roses; Jake had placed it on the far side of the bed, out of his field of vision. The roses felt cruel. They were Jake and Bradley's flower; the one they gave back and forth, even if it was a romantic cliche. The only flower they had at their simple and elegant New Year's Eve wedding ceremony. The red was a beautiful contrast to the gold and silver accents.

Jake had saved and dried out the dozen Bradley brought home to him on each of their wedding anniversaries; the five bouquets and five love notes decorated their house. Jake wondered if Bradley would see these flowers before they wilted; darkly, he wondered if he would ever receive another dozen from Bradley.

I'm saying more right now than I ever said

So much of Jake's days were spent talking to Bradley, most of the time it was a hushed whisper. To anyone who walked by, it looked like Jake was praying, his eyes closed and his hands clasped around Bradley's hand not encumbered by medical equipment, and the quiet murmuring of words only known to him. While it looked like prayer, and Jake had considered praying to a God he stopped believing in a long time ago and that his mother believed till her last breath, the words were more of a constant plea to Bradley.

"Don't leave, please, please, fight this."

"I hope you can hear me, Bradley."

"I know I don’t say it enough, but I love you, so much it scares me at times. If you come back to me, I’ll say it every hour, every minute of the day."

Don't wanna live if the thought of loving you is dead

When the pleas reached a fever pitch of desperation, Jake let the feelings that threatened to drown him out. It was usually in the middle of the night, when no one else would hear how dark Jake's mind had gotten. "Bradley, I don't know how I'm going to keep going if you're not in my life. I've lived without you and it was pure pain every second. I don't think I can do it again, sweetheart."

Who's gonna drive me home tonight?

Who's gonna argue 'til they win the fight?

You're the only one that knows how to operate

My heavy machinery

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

Don't let the light go out

“Jake?” Bradley rasped out. The ventilator had been removed two days earlier, but the coma had lingered on. The doctors said it was normal, that his body was focusing on healing his injuries. Jake startled out of a light sleep, where he was half bent over the bed. He was so sleep deprived that he believed that the sound of Bradley's voice was his own brain playing cruel tricks on him, till he heard it again. Jake blinked back to consciousness and saw again the one thing he had hoped for all those days next to Bradley's bed, his eyes. Bradley’s dark brown eyes looking back at him with all the love in the world.

[topherwrites]

omg I HAVE to ask about 'tis the damn season and two slow dancers (last ones out) because those are two of my FAVORITE songs!!

also ik you already talked about the while you were sleeping au but i just wanna say that i am sooo excited for it bc it's one of my comfort movies and ive seen it like a billion times <3 i cant wait to see what you do with it

a mitski or taylor title will always slap.

So, 'tis the damn season is a brother's best friend fic. Jake grew up poor and his mother died when he was young, leaving him with his asshole of a father.

Reader's family is very rich, like owning oil fields in Texas rich. Jake and her brother, Ian, were on the same pewee football team as kids and quickly became inseparable, their house always a refuge for him, especially during the holidays.

Jake, after not being able to make it for the holidays for the past few years due to not being able to get time off or being deployed, is bullied by Ian to come. This year the reader's parents are renting a lodge for the entire extended family in a made up skiing town in Colorado.

The reader is spending the holidays single, she has a (ex?)boyfriend she's taking some time apart from after a failed proposal where she told him she 'had to think about it'.

There's been a low simmering tension betweeen them for a number of years, that with her being newly single and Jake being Jake begins to come to a boil. They keep getting just a brush away from kissing—until they finally do.

And then... her boyfriend shows up uninvited. She tries to pretend like nothing happened between her and Jake, which annoys the shit out of him.

And they have to navigate family and insecurites and wants and needs all under a deadline—both of you are flying back to opposite sides of the country on January first.

here's one snippet under the cut and the pinterest board:

“My aunts hit on you yet?” He clicks his tongue. “One out of four so far. Nights still young.” You shrug, throwing back the last swig in your glass, “Or maybe you're losing your touch.”

and here's another, because i'm super excited about this fic.

With your head settled comfortably in his lap, he inquires, “Where's that boyfriend of yours?” “Uh, not, here.” You're quiet for a moment, a pinch to your brow and your lip tucked between your teeth. Clearly uncomfortable, not necessarily by him asking the question but by the memory it recalls. You release it with a sigh, “He proposed.” There’s an odd stirring in his chest, “Oh?” His hand drifts, thumb driving into the muscles below your ear. You let out a soft sigh, eyelashes fluttering, your body comfortably settling at the touch. He assumes why you're sans boyfriend, “And you said no.” It’s sort of a surprise, you don't really seem like the kind of girl who would not know whether you wanted to marry someone after three years, you also don't seem like the kind of girl who turns down proposals. You'd say yes just to keep everyone happy, especially your parents. Your eyes drift back open, yet you don't make eye contact, “No, I said I had to think about it.” “And?” “And… I'm thinking about it.” You take a swig off the bottle, settling your head back down into his hold.  “The sex is bad,” you blurt. It sounds like something you've been mulling over for a long time, the words worn smooth in your head, but it also sounds like you're trying to shove them back in as they come out.

two slow dancers (last ones out) is a second chance romance. The reader has finally filed for divorce from Jake after being estranged for three years because he reenlisted without telling her.

here's a snippet from a very rough draft:

With his hands bunched in the back of your shirt, he tugs, creating breathing room.  “I dont want to fuck you in the driveway.” He also doesn’t really want to fuck you in the shitbox place he’s renting. He wants to fuck you in your house, in your bed. He wants the things you shared to be the both of yours again. He's almost entirely sure that's never going to happen, he's fucked this beyond repair, so he’s smart enough to take what you offer him. You nod. He slides out of the car, a hand on your back and under your ass to steady you. He tosses you over his shoulder, hopping up the steps, carrying you to the door. Leaving one hand hooked over your thighs to keep you steady, he unlocks the front door, his other hand shakes as he fits the key into the lock. An image, now made bitter, of him doing the very same when you bought that big blue house together flashes through both of your minds. So many years younger then, so many older now. He feels ill, and can imagine you feel the same. You smack his back, your voice losing any playful or heady quality, “Put me down.”

thank you for the ask and your kind words!!

[insertsickusername13]

WROTE THIS IN LIKE AN HOUR IGNORING A BIG ASSIGNMENT I HAVE DUE TONIGHT SO GTG BUT HERE IT IS, THIS FIC WAS THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT FOR I CAN'T MISS YOU (the fic i wrote that we do NOT speak of that was embarrassing) THAT GOT LOST ALONG THE WAY I DID NOT REREAD IT SO IF THERE'S GRAMMAR MISTAKES SORRY

word count: 2036

Rich heard from friends that Jake had spent almost every waking moment in the hospital while Rich had been in his coma. According to them, Jake had been worried sick. He talked about Rich constantly, asked about him repeatedly, paid hospital bills, and brought flowers and gifts every other day. 

They also tried to tell him that Jake being incessantly clingy ever since Rich had woken was natural, that it was kind.

Rich was pretty sure it was a trick. There was no way Jake, who had everything and lost everything, could forgive Rich in a heartbeat. Rich knew Jake was perfect from day one, admired every inch of him before Jake even knew Rich's name, but this was too far. This was unnatural, the self-destructive part of Jake taking over rather than an angelic act of kindness. 

"It's okay," Rich said for the umpteenth, "If you need time or space, or—"

"Rich," Jake said, smiling down at him, "I promise. I forgive you."

Rich studied him, searching his face for the lies in his words. He was just the same as Rich had left him: soft lips that formed soft smiles, light freckles like stardust from the heavens, a thin line between his eyebrows from all the times he scowled down at his homework, frustrated that he couldn't be perfect first try.

"Are you s—"

Jake grabbed Rich's unbandaged hand and squeezed gently. The touch had Rich seeing stars. 

"Yes. A hundred percent. More than that. A thousand. A million. Whatever it takes to convince you."

Rich looked down at their hands, his cheeks matching his faded-out streak.

"So," Jake said slowly, as if he was explaining something to a toddler, "I really, really do want you to move in with me, okay?"

He squeezed Rich’s hand again, and when he pulled back there was a key pressed into Rich's palm, cold and metal and real. 

Rich couldn't talk. He nodded rapidly like a lovestruck girl who'd just been proposed to and cried into Jake's varsity jacket when he got to see their apartment for the first time. 

It was too easy.

Setting up Rich's new room was too easy. Making dinner together was too easy. They'd gone from friends to nothing to roommates as if nothing had ever happened—there should have been some difficulty. Some adapting. But when Jake hugged Rich from behind, using Rich as a makeshift cane while his real one leaned against the kitchen island and whispered, "You're the best thing to ever happen to me," Rich was suddenly forced to forget that life could ever be too easy.

Friends to lovers was the same as friends to roommates. Rich confessed to Jake on the couch and Jake dragged them to the shower, turned on the water, and kissed him amidst the steam. 

"What the fuck?" Rich said, smiling so hard the conviction in his words was lost to sugar-like giddiness. 

"I'm not giving you some lame-ass first kiss. Hence: kiss in the rain."

"We're in a shower."

"You're a buzzkill."

"You're an idiot."

"You're a dick."

"Suck my dick."

Jake gave him an ingenuous smile and, like an overeager virgin, promptly stuck his hand in Rich's pants.

Rich didn't think about anything being too easy as Jake took him to dinner a week later, or pecked him on the cheek while walking down the school hallways, or left bruises on his neck in the quieter parts of the library. He only reveled in the feeling of being loved, of having everything he'd never dreamed of without voices screaming in his head and electricity shooting up his spine.

Jake was safety. Being wrapped in his arms was like having everything else erased and blurred into unimportant lines of text, a book Rich no longer had to participate in. He wasn't a determined main character, a traumatized side character, or a comic-relief love interest. He was only Jake's, and everything was perfect that way.

Until some terrifying climax started hovering on the horizon and Rich lost the privilege of living in just the rising action. 

Jake held on too tight. Stayed up too late. Talked too long. He filled every moment of silence with desultory rambling, never giving Rich the chance to ask are you okay?

The terror of losing Jake lived in every molecule of air Rich breathed. There was no SQUIP in his mind to tell him when he was messing up anymore. Every word Rich said could have only been making it worse and he'd have no idea.

He stayed up late overthinking every interaction with Jake, searching for the exact moment he'd fucked up. It must've been something terrible. Earth-shattering. If Jake could forgive him for Halloween but not this, it must've been something so purely unholy even the devil wouldn't know what to say at the sight of it.

Rich stared at the wall in front of him, sorting through memory after memory clumsily; messily; desperately.

"Are you awake?" Jake whispered, voice thick with unshed tears. The noise was sudden and jarring. But, as Rich was learning, if he spoke he might only make it worse. If he gave any indication that he was awake then Jake might force them to talk until everything they'd mended shattered.

Rich stayed perfectly still. He kept his breathing level. He just wanted one more night of Jake holding him, his nose pressed against Rich's spine as he got as close as he could. One more night.

"I miss you," Jake continued. The way he said it, like the moon and stars above were telling him not to, made the words sound thick with shame despite the seemingly innocent, even benign, implications behind them. "I miss you so fucking much and I—I... I'm so sorry."

He burrowed his face into Rich's shirt to muffle a quiet sob. Rich felt Jake's words like acid in his mouth.

"It's not fair. It's not, it's not." Jake pulled back just long enough to gasp in a breath of air before pressing his face against Rich again. His hands were shaking and clutching Rich's torso hard enough to leave bruises.

"I love you. I love you so fucking much it's going to kill me, and—and it's you, I swear it's you, I love you."

Chloe. Christine. Madeline. Penelope. Jackie. Helen. 

Rich trusted Jake with his soul, but the guilt in his voice and stature had the name of every girl Jake had slept with bobbing to the surface. Kayley. Aurora. Nina.

"But—" Rich's heart stopped. “—but...before. The squip. He—fuck."

Jake wrenched himself away, ripping his arms from around Rich to wrap them around himself protectively.

"Fuck. I feel so fucking naive. It was manipulation. I know that."

His words were getting louder, edging on yelling now that Rich wasn't there to muffle the sound. Still, Rich kept his breathing steady. He was asleep. He wasn't hearing this... this... what? Confession? Break-up speech? He was going to puke if he thought about what this could all be leading up to for a second longer.

"And…and he wasn't real. And it was just a robot catering to my every need and want, but fuck, he was my best friend. And you're so different now, and I love you for it. I love you like this. I can't do this, because I've got you right here, I do, I love you, but I lost my best fucking friend, and everyone's acting like I'm supposed to be fine with it and I just—I can't—"

Oh. Jake missed squipped Rich.

Rich's eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Jake was behind him, sitting upright with his hands tangled in his hair. Rich could hear his breathing, echoey and raw, heaved in and out with the desperation of a madman. 

"Fuck. Fuck. You should've just killed me. You should've locked me in my bedroom and watched me die. Put me out of my fucking misery instead of letting fate torture me like this."

Rich had to put a hand over his mouth to stop a sob from escaping. Jake was too lost in his rant to notice, leaning back against the wall with his head tilted back to glare at the ceiling. 

Rich could feel the remnants of the SQUIP scraping at the back of his skull, begging to be let out with a new, desperate fervor that Rich was sure he was feeding into. At that moment, with his eyes squeezed shut and his hand over his mouth to hide his crying, he wanted it back in his mind, if only to erase this night from his memory. If only to make Jake happy. 

"I love you," Jake whispered. He sounded empty now, his anger placated by the catharsis of confessing to the dark. "I love you so fucking much and I can feel myself pushing you away and I can feel you letting me and for the love of all things good and holy, you have to stop me before I ruin the best thing to ever happen to me just because I'm a fucking coward who can't move on from some robot."

Rich didn't want to stop him. Rich agreed. He missed who he was. He missed the easy confidence, the straight-As. The sauntering down the hallways and having everyone bend to his will just because they liked him. He understood what Jake missed. He missed it too.

"Please, please. I can't do this anymore. I can't miss you like I do when you're right in front of me—"

"We both miss him,” Rich whispered, “It's okay."

For a moment, Rich was convinced Jake had ceased to exist. That he'd simply evaporated. He didn't speak, didn't move, didn't breathe. It sounded like his heart had stopped in his chest. 

But then, slowly, his voice trembling, Jake choked out, "...Rich?"

Rich rolled over, unashamed of the tears on his cheeks.

"Yeah?" he replied, sounding casual compared to the destruction tearing through every neuron inside him.

"How long have you…?"

He didn't even need to finish his question to know the answer. He stared down at Rich through the darkness, eyes glistening with tears that matched Rich's. 

"I'm sorry," he breathed, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just rambling, I swear, I didn't... I didn't..."

Rich shook his head. The lump in his throat hurt too much to talk, so he was forced to simply sit up and throw his arms around Jake's neck. Jake didn't hug him back, instead hovering helplessly, his hands up in the air like he was surrendering. 

"You love me?" Rich rasped. 

"With all my heart. I swear, I swear it, okay? I hate myself for—"

Rich shook his head against Jake's neck. "No, no, it's okay. You love me, but he was different. Fuck, he was so easy. He could just...he was so much better than me."

As if he'd never not been hugging Rich, Jake's palms were suddenly pressed against Rich's shoulder blades, warm and safe.

"That's not true," he said, "I only fell in love with you."

"But he made everything so simple. I miss it so much, Jake. He could just talk and everyone was happy and teachers loved him and his grades were perfect and he always knew what to say to make you feel better."

Jake nodded at that, still holding onto Rich like the floor was disappearing underneath them and opening up into the empty void of space. 

"He was never scared," Jake offered quietly.

"He was confident."

"Suave."

"Always knew how to charm a girl."

"He could actually act, unlike some people."

Rich let out a small, watery laugh, and whispered, "He could actually beat you at chess."

Jake hummed and pressed a soft kiss against Rich's hair. 

"Yeah, he could. But do you wanna know a secret?"

"What?"

Jake lifted Rich's head from his shoulder to look him in the eye. He looked exhausted, red-eyed, and scared. There were tear stains on his cheeks and that determined line between his eyebrows. He ran a finger over Rich's cheekbone and smiled.

"I may miss him a little, but I always liked him better when he was drunk."

[we-are-all-of-legend-now]

Fictober Day 7: Do You Recognize This?

Prompt number: Prompt #7

Fandom: American Dragon Jake Long

Pairings/Characters: Jake/Rose; Jonathan; Trixie; Spud

Rating: T

Warnings: memory loss; abandonment; pregnancy mentions

You can read under the cut or click here to read it on fanfiction

Rose held her breath, waiting. Beside her, she knew Jonathan was doing the same thing. The doctors had all said that it wasn’t going to be that easy; a blow to the head like the one Jake had suffered in his accident could prevent his memory from ever coming back completely. Since Jake had woken in the hospital with his amnesia, a lot had come back to him. Gramps had been the first thing that Jake had truly remembered. After that, it had been Trixie and Spud. The memories of the rest of his family were shakier but they still came through. The memory of Susan’s cancer and the reliving the end of it was the worst one to come back. Rose had sat in the hospital room, watching Jake and Jonathan embrace and wishing that she could go and comfort him too, having it kill her that she couldn’t.

                Because the only thing Jake didn’t remember was her.

                Rose and Jonathan had agreed that Jake should come home to the house that he’d shared with Rose for the past ten years. And Rose had been hoping, against every warning that the doctors had given, that Jake would just walk through the front door and know he was home. Jake’s face had been sour in the car and there had been no recognition of their home as they pulled in the driveway. Instead, she and Jonathan followed Jake went from room to room, taking his time to inspect random objects, such as the snowflake printed blanket over the back of the couch in the living room.

                Every inch of Rose wanted to go to him, put her hands over his, and ask if he remembered curling under that blanket, a bucket of popcorn between them, as they watched old movies and got so wrapped up in kissing each other that they didn’t realize the popcorn had spilt and the end credits had roll until long after it had happened.

                Rose didn’t do that.

                Rose just watched him put the blanket down, noting that there was no warmth in Jake’s eyes. It was all as if he were touring someone else’s life. The last stop was their bedroom. Rose had made up the bed just this morning, in Jake’s favourite gold sheets. Jake poked around, going straight to his side of the bed and his nightstand. The flare of hope Rose had at that quickly faded when Jake turned to look at their wedding portrait.

                Jake was still wearing his wedding ring. The doctors had said it was an important reminder of his normal life. It didn’t mean a thing to Jake. Jake had never said it but Rose knew it. Rose had often caught him playing with it in the hospital while watching her left hand. Every time she had wanted to shout that they were matching gold and they’d bought them in Greece the day after he’d proposed because they were so excited at the thought of being Mr. and Mrs. that they almost got married right then and there. She hadn’t said any of that and Jake had never asked her, unlike all the questions that Spud and Trixie fielded. Jake just wasn’t very curious about Rose at all. Rose tried not to let that hurt but how could it not? He was her husband; from the moment they had met, he had been the love of her life. Never had she doubted it until he turned his cold eyes to her, as if she were nothing. Trixie petted and said that it wasn’t Rose’s fault and that she was doing all she could but Rose doubted that too. If she was doing all she could, why hadn’t he come back to her yet?

                Jake turned toward Rose and Jonathan, done with staring at the wedding portrait. “What happens now?”

                “Well, son, I’m gonna head home,” Jonathan said tentatively.

                Roe found it very hard not to burst into tears from the way Jake was looking at her. How could they have been together for fifteen years, lived together for ten, and been married for seven, and there was so much nothing in his eyes? He could remember every Christmas, their high school graduation, and the details of moving Gramps into the old folks’ home; he just remembered it all without her existence.

                “Trixie and Spud are coming over,” Rose said. Jake flinched at the sound of her voice and she pretended not to see it. “They usually come over on Thursdays or we meet up. They’re bringing your favourite.”

                “Mario’s.”

                Jake couldn’t remember buying this house but he could remember the little eatery that had opened the year prior. Grief and rage rolled through Rose, quickly twisting into nausea.

                “Right. Well, they’ll be here in about an hour.”

                Even though it pained her, Rose left Jake to his own devices for that hour. When Jonathan left, Rose made sure she laid out the table and went about her chores quietly so that she could keep track of him. Jake spent most of the time in the bedroom, rifling through what Rose hoped was only his own drawers. She longed to go to him, wrap her arms around his waist, lean up on her tip toes to kiss the back of his neck and tell him, well, everything. Just like she always had. Just like she might never get to again.

                It was such a relief when Spud and Trixie arrived, breathing much needed life into the house. Jake even looked happy for the first time that day, which Rose savoured. They sat down to dinner, which Spud and Trixie kicked off with their usual litany of work stories and complaints. Jake even laughed. It was a sound that the house had been missing for so long and Rose wished she’d known it was coming so that she could record it and play it over and over again.

                It was when they’d moved into the living room that Spud popped the illusion.

                “So, Jake, what’s it like being home?”

                Jake went blank again. “It’s Rose’s house.”

                “You’re everywhere here, Jakey,” Trixie said, putting into words the things that Rose couldn’t. “You can’t believe you never lived here.”

                “I didn’t say that,” Jake said, a note of scorn in his voice. “It’s just not a place I remember. It doesn’t feel like a home. It’s like I’ve never been here before.”

                “It’s been ten years,” Rose whispered but no one heard her.

                Jake was on a roll now, finally with people that he remembered as being trusted confidants. “Like, I see all this stuff and I know it’s all true but it doesn’t feel like the person in all the pictures is me. It’s not me. None of this is me. How can this be the biggest piece of my life when I have no memory of it? Could it really have mattered if I don’t remember?”

                “We have loved each other for fifteen years!” Rose screamed and then she fled from the room before she cried in front of him.

                Rose hid in their bedroom, hiding her face in the pillow, crying unashamedly. She didn’t know that person in the other room. He had her husband’s face and her husband’s voice but he looked right through her. Rose had struggled to be calm and understanding in front of him and Jake just acted like she was furniture.

                There was a knock at the door. “Rose, hon, can I come in?”

                Trixie.

                Not that Rose wasn’t grateful for her friend but, God, would she ever stop hoping that it was Jake instead, back to his old self? At least if it wasn’t his old self, some form of self with empathy.

                “Come in,” Rose said. Maybe it wasn’t ever going to be Jake again. Then what did she do? Rose had never wanted to think about life without Jake – the very idea had torn her heart from her chest. Now, she was stuck with reality.

                Trixie nudged the door open, leaving it half ajar. In her hands were two very full red wine glasses. Trixie put one in Rose’s hands and Rose quickly turned to place it on her bedside table.

                “Come on,” Trixie said, “you deserve something to take the edge of. Nothing you’ve been going through is easy.”

                “It’s not that. It’s … I mean, no, it hasn’t been easy.” Rose picked at the pillow on her lap. “He doesn’t love me anymore, Trixie. Worse than that, he doesn’t feel anything for me. I wish he hated me. I wish there was something but it’s like I don’t exist.”

                “Girl, I know, and I know it’s the worst thing for you. For everyone. I mean, you’re Jake and Rose.”

                “Were.” The tears dripped thickly from Rose’s eyes and she didn’t make any move to wipe them away. “We were.”

                “And you will be again, as hard as it is right now,” Trixie said, but Rose thought that she might be lying. Or, at least, not as confident about it as she wanted to be. “Come on, have a drink with me.”

                “I can’t.”

                “You don’t need to have that clear of a head to deal with Jake. I’ve seen you two drink a bottle of tequila between you before.”

                “He’s not that Jake anymore,” Rose said, and then she took a deep breath. It had been six weeks and she hadn’t said this aloud. This wasn’t how she wanted it to be but the dreams she was dreaming while Jake was being ushered away in an ambulance unbeknownst to her were never going to come true. And, Trixie was her friend too. Trixie would be there for her. Trixie had been there for her. Rose opened her mouth and blurted, “And I can’t because I’m pregnant.”

                Trixie nearly dropped her wine glass. “What? How far along?”

                “Six weeks. I found out the day of Jake’s accident because I was just getting some stupid routine blood work and it’s one of the things they screen for.” Rose sobbed. How many times had she sat in the best, her hands on her stomach, thinking that it was everything that they had ever wanted and nothing that they should have been going through right now? There wasn’t even a we.

                “Oh, Rose. You didn’t say anything?”

“I was planning on telling him we were pregnant and now I’m so terrified for when I’m going to show because what is he going to do? What am I going to do? He barely believes I’m his wife, is he really going to accept this baby? Is it fair to put that on the table? I don’t know. But, I’m pregnant and we’ve been talking about this for so long and I can’t let go of our baby. I can’t. So now I’m here, having Jake’s baby, and Jake doesn’t even know my damn name.” Rose tried to talk herself through how to breathe again. All of the discombobulated thoughts that had been lying in bed with her for the last few weeks were just tossing themselves out of her mouth. “This is going to be it, Trixie. I don’t want to say it but I know it. If he’s not better soon, it’s going to be the baby or him. How do I make that choice?”

                “Rose, you should have told me.” Trixie put her hand on Rose’s knee. “You shouldn’t have been alone with all of this.”

                “I didn’t know how.”

                Trixie put her wine glass down on Jake’s nightstand and then scooted along the bed to pull Rose into her arms. “I’ve got you. No matter what happens, you’ve got Auntie Trixie and Uncle Spud, okay?”

                Rose couldn’t stop crying enough to breathe, let alone respond.

(-.-)

                “You should go after her,” Spud said.

                Jake didn’t really want to but he didn’t really want to sit in the living room and feel Spud judge him, either. Because Spud would judge him. Because Rose was his wife. Allegedly. Apparently. Jake slowly walked from the living room to the master bedroom, drinking in all the sights again and all of the pictures along the walls. It didn’t seem possible that everything else had fallen into place within two weeks of his accident and he was still struggling with his wife – who he had apparently known for half of his entire life – four weeks afterward. Jake wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings or anything but he didn’t know how to talk to her or about her. Jake didn’t even know how to start thinking about her as a person. That was weird. He couldn’t be such a monster that he didn’t think of her as a person but here he was. He was dying every time that she looked at him with expectation because Jake knew he was going to fail. It wasn’t fair to either of them but Jake couldn’t say that to anyone who knew the both of them. They were ‘Jake and Rose’. Allegedly. Apparently. It meant something to everyone else.

Jake approached the open door, hearing Trixie’s voice. Did he knock? Was it weird? At this point, Trixie knew Rose way better than Jake ever expected to. Maybe he should just leave Trixie alone to comfort Rose. Jake turned and then stopped when he heard his own name.

“He’s not that Jake anymore. And I can’t because I’m pregnant.”

Jake froze. No one had told him about a baby.

                “What? How far along?” Trixie asked.

                No one had apparently told Trixie about a baby either.

                “Six weeks. I found out the day of Jake’s accident because I was just getting some stupid routine blood work and it’s one of the things they screen for. I was planning on telling him we were pregnant and now I’m so terrified for when I’m going to show because what is he going to do? What am I going to do? He barely believes I’m his wife, is he really going to accept this baby? Is it fair to put that on the table? I don’t know. But, I’m pregnant and we’ve been talking about this for so long and I can’t let go of our baby. I can’t. So now I’m here, having Jake’s baby, and Jake doesn’t even know my damn name.”

                Jake crept away from the doorway, no wanting to get caught. He knew it wasn’t a conversation that he was ever supposed to hear and he had to figure out how to respond. Easier said than done when he didn’t understand his own head anymore. He went back into the living room and gestured with his head.

                “Can we go for a walk?”

                “Sure, man, just around the block, all right? I don’t want Rose to get upset.”

                “She’s not my keeper,” Jake grumbled.

                “Well, no,” Spud said as they left the house and went out into the wintery air, “but she’s your wife. And you’ve always been sensitive about making sure she knows where you are and that you’re safe.”

                Jake shoved his hands in his pockets, keeping his head down as they walked. He didn’t know what to say to Spud; he wasn’t even sure he wanted to talk to Spud. He just wanted to be on the move because standing still wasn’t getting him anywhere. And, now, Rose was pregnant. Or, apparently, Rose had been pregnant this whole time. Jake had heard the sadness in her voice when she had said it. He could hear how much she loved him. Maybe he had been a brick wall to her and maybe that was unfair but he couldn’t fake the fact that nothing he had learnt about her or them as a couple had made him feel a single thing. He had laughed over memories of Trixie and Spud and cried over memories of his mother in a hospital room and he didn’t even have a single thought about Rose. They were supposed to be this great love but if it was a great love, it should conquer all, shouldn’t it?

                And if it didn’t, what were they supposed to do?

                Jake thought he knew. He just wasn’t sure how to say it especially since it was his first night out of the hospital and at Rose’s house but he didn’t see the point in dragging any of it out.

                They arrived back at Rose’s front door.

                Well.

                Here went nothing.

                “Spud, can you get Trixie out? I want to talk to Rose alone.”

                “Sure, man.”

                Jake waited in the living room, sitting in one of the very comfortable armchairs, looking at a framed photo of he and Rose at the Grand Canyon. They were already wearing wedding rings. Jake took it all in with a clinical eye because none of it meant anything to him. Do you recognize this? Do you recognize that? It had been the never-ending question since he had opened his eyes in the hospital and when it came to Rose his answer was always the same: no. None of it. None of it at all.

                “See ya, Jakey.”

                “Bye, Jake!”

                “Bye, guys. I’ll text you tomorrow!”

                The front door slammed shut.

                Jake didn’t have to wait for long until Rose reappeared. She had washed her face but Jake could still see how red her eyes were. His eyes dropped to her midsection. She didn’t look like she was any thicker than in the recent photos around the house but Jake didn’t know that much about pregnant women and he knew even less about this woman who was supposed to be his wife.

                Rose sat down in the chair across from him, regarding him warily but with a spark of hope in her blue eyes. “Spud said you wanted to talk.”

                “You’re pregnant.”

                Rose clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, damn it. Damn it. You are not supposed to – I was going to tell you. I didn’t know how. I guess I was hoping that if you came home, if you spent some time at home, things would be different and that I could try to tell you. I’m not that far along. I don’t even think I’m supposed to be telling people yet.”

                “Rose, I’m not the father.”

                Jake didn’t have to know her that well to see the hurt that flashed across her face.

                “You are. You’re my husband.” Then came the rage.

                “I’m not your husband either,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Not the way that I should be. I look at you and I feel nothing. I’ve known you for a month and I don’t even feel like we’re friends. Or like I even want to be friends with you. Even with all the amnesia stuff and the head injury, don’t you think that I should feel something? Don’t you think there should be something between us?”

                “You remembered everything else,” Rose said desperately. “Maybe there’s a block or there’s –”

                “It doesn’t matter. I knew from the first time I walked into this house. I’m sorry because I know this is going to hurt you but I need to pull off the Band-Aid right now. I can’t give this anymore time because it’s only going to hurt you more. I don’t remember you. I don’t love you. I don’t like you. I’m not your husband and I’m not your child’s father.” Jake pulled the wedding ring off his finger. “I’m going home to my father’s. I know we’ll need to talk more and everything but with everything else that’s going on, I’m calling it. Best of luck, with your life, okay?”

                Rose was rocking herself and sobbing so hard that Jake thought she was going to fall over. Jake placed his wedding ring on the coffee table in front of her but Rose didn’t even look up, her long blonde hair falling around her shoulders.

                “Goodnight, Rose,” Jake said.

                And then he left her.

(-.-)

                Rose crawled out of the living room.

                She didn’t have the strength to stand or think but she knew that she couldn’t stay in that room where Jake had said goodbye forever. Her Jake had left her. They were supposed to be together. They were always supposed to be together. Hadn’t they promised it again and again, only for it to turn into nothing?

                Rose hauled herself into the bathroom, throwing up. She wasn’t sure if it was grief or baby but she was dizzy by the time that she stopped, flushing it all away. Rose stared at the toilet, wishing that it was that easy for real life. At least her real life. It was all gone for Jake and he was free and easy to run off and do whatever he wanted to and she had to stay here in the ruins of what could have been the greatest love story ever told.

                Rose picked herself up off the floor. She was tough; she had always had to be tough. And even though she wanted to lay down and give up, she knew that she couldn’t. She had baby to think of. Just her and baby.

                Rose made it to their bedroom, looking at the full wine glass on her nightstand. It would be so nice on a night like tonight to just lose herself inside of a bottle and deal with the hangover and the pain and the tears and the fear in the morning but she was locked here, in this moment, where there was no Jake, no hope of Jake, no semblance of the other half of her whole being.

                Rose let out a shriek of rage. Despite her misgivings with the universe, it was the first one since Jonathan had called her to tell her there had been an accident, back when she had been floating on cloud nine about baby’s existence and thinking about how to tell Jake. She let out another shriek of rage and then she let out a full howl. Despite everything that the last few weeks had given her, this was the first time that Rose felt herself give up hope. There was nothing left. There was nothing at all.

                Rose seized the wine glass in her hand and threw it at the wall, watching it shatter against the pale green paint, the red wine splattering across their wedding portrait, turning the best day of her life into one of blood and sadness. Then, Rose slid down to the floor, her back against the bed, and stared at the wine drip. She put her hands on her stomach.

                “It’s just you and me now, baby,” she said.

                The way it was never supposed to be.

[seitmai]

“Never say never.” At that, you lifted your head and playfully glared at him. “So in less than 24 hours, you go from not wanting kids to wanting multiple? Didn’t realize my being sick was such a turn-on for you, Seresin.”

😂😂😂

“Don’t want to open the cut on your foot. Besides, you’re already doing all the work, so it’s the least I can do.”

I'm not gonna argue with him on that 🤷🏻‍♀️

“Is it killing you that I’m drinking something other than water or coffee in bed?” you teased before taking a sip. He tucked your hair behind your ear and smirked.  “Since we’ve gotta renegotiate the contract anyways, might as well throw in anything that’ll make sure you’re not dehydrated. You scared the shit out of me yesterday, and we don’t want a repeat of that.” 

Oh those are gonna be some though contract negotiations

“Been neglecting my girl?” You snorted. “Clearly not, since you managed to get me pregnant.” “That,” he said, punctuating each word with a kiss to your stomach, “I. Did.”

Oh and he is ro proud of it now too 🤭

“Don’t care how many bids you have to get through or if the damn president is visitin’. You don’t feel good, you take care of yourself. You’re carrying a precious payload.” His hand covered your stomach again, stroking softly. 

Cute and hot at the same time 😌

“We have to tell our parents. Oh god, they’re gonna know we had sex.” Jake couldn’t help the laugh that burst out as he crossed the room to tug you into his arms. “There’s knowing hypothetically and then having the physical proof of it.

This cracked me up 😂

“We’re old enough to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. We’re not teenagers; they won’t be mad at us.” 

I'm in my mid twenties and if I see that one of my former classmates or something is having a baby my first reaction is still: "omg what are they gonna do? They are having a baby, thats crazy!"

Which is the same reaction I had in my teenies, I will probably never get over this, everyone my age (+/-2 years) having a baby feels like a teen pregnancy to me lmao

Boyfriend. He didn’t like how that sounded, not when you were scheduling a doctor’s appointment about your kid. It sounded… impermanent. Fleeting. Like he wasn’t as committed as he was.

Alexa play "chapel of love" by The Dixie Cups

“You gonna be like this the whole time?” “Like what?” “Overprotective.” “Better get used to it, Mama.” “You’re ridiculous.” “Marry me.” You froze. “What?”“I love you so much. Will you marry me? I have your ring at home, and I know this isn’t the most romantic way to ask, but - ” “Yes.” 

Ahhh I loved this proposal 🥰

“Can’t wait that long,” he replied, stepping over piles of hangers and shoes to set you on an empty corner of the bed. Laughing, you watched him clear the space as you moved towards the pillows, stripping off your shirt and bra. Finally satisfied, Jake shrugged off his flight suit, pausing to look at his right hand. “C’mere,” he rasped while kneeling on the bed. He twisted his Naval Academy ring off his finger and took your left hand, sliding it onto your ring finger. The metal was still warm from his body, and the band was far too large - the ring twisted so the stone pressed against your palm. But tears sprang to his eyes as Jake looked at the silver band on your finger. “Just until we get home, and I can get yours.” “You’re lucky this is too big, or I’d never give it back.” Smiling, he wiped the tears from your cheeks and slowly lowered you onto the mattress. 

It's such an intimate and simple gesture but it's so beautiful, I loved this part 🥰🥹

Coyote, who knew about the original proposal plan, had rightly called him out for what it was: poor impulse control. 

Hahahah at least Jake held out longer than last time 😅

D-Day by TrickPhotography | Chapter 11

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x female!reader

Word count: 4.2k

Synopsis: After finding out his girlfriend is pregnant, Jake is ready to move in and get married. The last thing he expected was to be hit with a six-month deployment at sea and missing the birth of his first child.

18+, minors DNI

Chapter 10 | Master List | Ao3

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

Chapter 11

Jake jolted awake as the blanket hit his chest, turning in time to see you lurch out of bed and toward the bathroom. Sighing, he scrubbed a hand down his face before getting up, adjusting his morning wood, and going to the kitchen to get a glass of water, a sports drink, and the anti-nausea pills he’d picked up from the pharmacy.

G-force training had taken away a lot of his aversion to vomit. Hell, once you carried your puke bag across the tarmac to the amusement of all the senior pilots, your tolerance was pretty high - but seeing you suffer was the worst. He also felt like shit for not picking up on it sooner. Hearing you tell the med student and doctor your symptoms yesterday made him realize how little you’d talked over the last two weeks. Thankfully, he only had one more week on mids before going back to the day shift. 

The toilet flushed as he set the items on your nightstand. Knocking on the bathroom doorframe, he peeked around the corner to see you sitting against the wall, knees drawn up and head in your hands. “How’re you feelin’, darlin’?” Rather than answer, you gave him a thumbs up. “That good, huh?”

“Ten out of ten, never doing this again.” Chuckling, he crouched beside you and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Never say never.” At that, you lifted your head and playfully glared at him. 

“So in less than 24 hours, you go from not wanting kids to wanting multiple? Didn’t realize my being sick was such a turn-on for you, Seresin.”

“Learn somethin’ new every day. You okay to get up?” When you nodded, he extended a hand and helped you to your feet, guiding you into his arms. You could feel his cock against your stomach as his fingers slipped under your shirt to draw small circles on your lower back. His lips grazed your forehead as you rested your head on his shoulder. “How’s the headache?” 

“Still there, but not as bad as yesterday.” Jake nodded, feeling a bit better about forcing you to eat. If the doc said hydrating and eating would make you feel better, he would ensure you did it. His hands slipped down your back and wrapped around your thighs, lifting you off your feet and setting you on the vanity.

“That’s good, sweetheart.” He grabbed both of your toothbrushes and handed you yours with the bristles damp and a dab of paste. Sighing, you rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes. His cheek rested on the crown of your head for a moment before he pulled away, and the buzz of his electric toothbrush started. You gagged while passing the bristles over your molars and had to focus on your breathing. He gently squeezed your thigh while glancing at you worriedly. His toothbrush turned off, yours doing the same a moment later. The water started as he spit, and when you turned to do the same, Jake's hand curled around your cheek, drawing you closer to press his foamy lips to the tip of your nose. 

“Gross,” you scoffed, pushing him away as he laughed before rinsing his mouth. When you moved to get off the counter, his arm shot out to pin your legs down, fingers curling under the counter lip. 

“I gotcha,” Jake said, stepping between your thighs and guiding your legs around his waist.

“I can walk, you know.”

“Don’t want to open the cut on your foot. Besides, you’re already doing all the work, so it’s the least I can do.” Your arms wound around his neck as he lifted you, the tip of his cock grazing your core. You groaned as he palmed your ass, holding you tightly.

“Don’t remind me,” you huffed against his ear. “You get off with five minutes of work, and I’m stuck doing this for nine months.”

“Darlin’, we both know it was more than five minutes, but it certainly wasn’t work,” he chuckled. Gently, he set you on the edge of the bed and handed you the glass of water before shaking out one of the nausea and two headache pills. Once you’d dutifully swallowed them, he cracked open the sports drink and swapped it for the water. 

“Is it killing you that I’m drinking something other than water or coffee in bed?” you teased before taking a sip. He tucked your hair behind your ear and smirked.  

“Since we’ve gotta renegotiate the contract anyways, might as well throw in anything that’ll make sure you’re not dehydrated. You scared the shit out of me yesterday, and we don’t want a repeat of that.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Shoulda stayed in bed with me… for medical reasons.” Rolling your eyes fondly, you set the drink on the nightstand and scooted back on the bed, flicking the blanket over your lap.

“Well, seeing as I’m not going to work today, and you don’t have to go in for a while, it looks like you got your wish, Lieutenant.” Grinning, Jake capped the drink and moved to his side of the bed, pulling you into his arms so you shared the same pillow. His nose brushed yours before he shifted closer to kiss you. Your hand slipped under the blanket to rest on his hip, fingers sliding into the band of his boxers and thumb tracing the grooves of his muscles. His tongue traced the seam of your lips and, when they parted, he tentatively deepened the kiss, testing the waters with how far he could go. Teasing out those sweet little hums and contented sighs that he loved so much. Slowly, he rolled you onto your back, his knee pushing between your thighs as he braced himself on his forearms. His weight was a comfort, grounding you with all the uncertainty you faced. 

Your stomach clenched, and you whimpered while pushing him away. “Okay?” he asked, cupping your cheek as you breathed deeply. He watched you slowly open your eyes and meet his gaze, your breath washing over him. You hummed, smiling tiredly as his thumb traced your lower lip. “Miss wakin’ up with you, darlin’. Feels too much like when we first started dating, an’ you wouldn’t let me stay over.” 

“Well, you got clingy really fast, and someone had to tap the brakes.” 

“Clingy, huh?” he smirked, hand drifting under the blanket to rest on your waist, his thumb sliding under your shirt to press against your stomach. “Well, you’re stuck with me now. For better or worse.”

“Damn.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, drawing him down to trade lazy kisses. He moved, forcing your legs wide to accommodate him as he lay between your thighs. You could feel his hard cock twitch against your entrance. 

“Once that pill kicks in,” Jake rasped, “wanna see what we can do about that headache?” Rather than answer, you curled your leg around him and lifted your hips. He smiled against your mouth, drawing your shirt up. The material pooled across your neck, and you quickly pulled it off as he turned his attention to your tender breasts. His green eyes flit up to meet yours as he gently stroked you with his tongue, gauging your comfort level - after all, you hadn’t been joking about punching him in the throat the last time he’d touched you there. But thankfully, the sharp pain that had made it difficult to wear a shirt had lessened to a dull ache. You sighed when he covered your breast with his mouth, tongue gently flicking as his thumb circled your other nipple. The warm heat felt so good. He pulled away enough to whisper against your skin, “Lemme take care of you, darlin’.”

At your nod, his hand left your breast to brace himself under the pillow while his other lightly traced your core, smiling at the growing damp spot. “Missed you,” you said, carding your fingers through his hair and holding him close. 

“Been neglecting my girl?” You snorted.

“Clearly not, since you managed to get me pregnant.” Jake chuckled and flung the blanket and sheets off. Goosebumps erupted on your skin as his lips trailed down your chest. 

“That,” he said, punctuating each word with a kiss to your stomach, “I. Did.” Sitting back on his heels, he replaced his lips with his palm, nearly spanning your waist as he spread his fingers and lightly pressed. You covered his hand with yours, and his eyes lifted to meet yours. 

“You’re gonna be a daddy.” A slow smile crossed his mouth as he gripped the sides of your panties and drew them down your legs to drop them off the side of the bed. He was less graceful as he kicked off his boxers before covering you with his body. 

“Feelin’ okay, Mama?” You nodded, and he nudged your legs further apart. He reached down to dip his middle finger into you, gathering your wetness before drawing lazy circles around your clit. Your eyes closed as you settled back into the pillows, lips parting. Jake took advantage and leaned down to kiss you, tongue sliding along yours. When your hips rolled to meet his touch, he smirked. 

“Thought you wanted to help me feel better, not tease,” you groaned. 

“It’s been a little while, darlin’. Just wanna make sure it feels good for you.” 

Huffing, you grasped his cock and lined it up with your entrance, using your other hand to tug him down to say against his lips, “Fuck me, or I’m going to go take care of myself in the shower.” 

“And here I was tryin’ to be nice and sweet.” When his tip breached you, you shifted your hand to his ass, digging your fingers in and making him grunt. He pumped his hips slowly, teasing you with every inch until your hips were flush. Then he stilled.

“Please,” you whined, clenching around him. Jake’s jaw ticked, fighting the urge to move.

“Gonna be good for me?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Gonna tell me when you’re not feelin’ good and take care of yourself?” 

“I - ”

Jake snapped his hips, cutting off your response as you gasped. “That’s a yes or no question.” You nodded when it was clear that he wouldn’t move until you answered. “Words, darlin’.” 

“Yes, fuck. Please.” 

“Good girl,” he smirked, setting a leisurely pace. “Don’t care how many bids you have to get through or if the damn president is visitin’. You don’t feel good, you take care of yourself. You’re carrying a precious payload.” His hand covered your stomach again, stroking softly. 

Groaning, you planted your foot on the bed and pushed, rolling the both of you. Jake huffed in surprise as his back hit the mattress with you straddling him. His hands closed around your hips as you sat up slowly, bracing one hand on his chest to ensure you didn’t get dizzy. As soon as you were steady, you dug your knees into the mattress and lifted yourself before slowly lowering yourself back onto his cock. “Fine,” you breathed. The tendons in his neck strained as you set a languid pace, little moans of pleasure escaping your lips as you rode him. 

“That’s it, baby,” Jake grunted, tightening his grip before thrusting up hard and breaking your rhythm. It was your turn to stop. Smiling, you broke his hold on your hips and kissed his palms.

“You had your chance to do this the way you wanted. Now be a good boy and grab the headboard.” When he looked like he wasn’t going to do it, you raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make me dig out the straps, honey. You know how much I love seeing the velcro around your wrists.” His cock twitched inside you, probably remembering the way you’d teased him for almost an hour the last time you’d talked him into using them, and you responded by rolling your hips. Sighing, he thrust his hands under the pillows and gripped the bottom of the headboard. “Thank you,” you said, kissing the tip of his nose. “Now, watch me take care of myself.” 

And he did just that, hands flexing on the wood as you used him. You banded an arm across your breasts to ease the ache as you bounced on his cock, your free hand circling your clit. Your teeth dug into your lower lip as you watched Jake’s biceps strain with the effort of not touching you. When the coil of pleasure snapped, you gasped, planting a hand on his chest as you fluttered around him. His hands left the headboard and gripped your hips, holding you still as he thrust into you, fucking you through your orgasm until he came with a grunt. 

Panting, you collapsed onto his chest, his arms wrapping around you tightly as he continued to pump his hips. A satisfied smirk crossed his mouth when you whimpered, fingers digging into his pecs. “How’s your head, darlin’?” he asked, brushing the hair from your sweaty forehead. Rather than answer, you gave him a thumbs up, and he laughed into your hair. 

“I’ll get rid of it.” 

“Just move it to the garage,” you countered, leaning against the doorframe as Jake looked around his home gym. The treadmill you sometimes used was tucked into the corner, with his bench press in the center of the room.  

“We wouldn’t be able to park both cars in there. And my truck’s not sitting outside, and you’re not gonna be parking in the driveway. Besides, I go to the gym on base more often than I use this.” Rolling your eyes, you crossed your arms over your chest. 

“I don’t want you to lose your space. We can use the guest room.”

“I have a feeling that we’re gonna be getting more use out of that once the baby gets here. We can move your bed in there and get rid of that one.” 

“Oh fuck,” you groaned, clapping your hands over your face. 

“What? What’s wrong?” he demanded, ready to follow you into the bathroom if your breakfast decided to make a reappearance. 

“We have to tell our parents. Oh god, they’re gonna know we had sex.” Jake couldn’t help the laugh that burst out as he crossed the room to tug you into his arms. 

“I’m pretty sure they know we have sex.” Shaking your head, you leaned into him and groaned again.

“There’s knowing hypothetically and then having the physical proof of it. And it’s not like this was a planned thing, either. They’re going to think we’re so irresponsible. This isn’t funny, Jacob!” you snapped, pushing against his stomach when he continued to laugh. 

“It’s kinda funny, darlin’. Look at me.” When you shook your head, he gently peeled away your hands and forced you to meet his gaze. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he chuckled at seeing the gleam of tears in your eyes before leaning down to kiss you. “We’re old enough to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. We’re not teenagers; they won’t be mad at us.” 

“Your parents already hate me, and this is just gonna give them more reason to.” The laughter died on his lips as Jake realized that he hadn’t thought about telling his parents - he’d been picturing telling yours. Given their excitement when he asked their permission to propose, he knew they would be ecstatic about a grandchild.

But his parents? They hadn’t even crossed his mind. Other than a call to check in every few months, he rarely talked to them. Lina texted him every other week and tried to loop him in on what was happening with them, but he didn’t engage. It was easier to love his family from a distance.

There was no telling how a baby would change that. His mom had been open about how much she wanted grandkids when he was married, to the point where he’d sometimes felt ganged up on by his mom and ex-wife. From what Lina said, she was now also getting pressured to get married and start having kids. Once his mother found out that you were pregnant, she would want to be more involved.

And, unfortunately, that would mean interacting with his father more. 

“Where’d you go?” Pulling himself out of that mental spiral, Jake met your concerned gaze and forced himself to smile.

“My parents don’t hate you, but you giving them their first grandkid isn’t gonna hurt.” Choosing to ignore the beginning lie, you drew him down to press your lips against his. 

“Can we wait to tell anyone? Just for a little bit?” Feeling a bit guilty that he’d already told Rooster, Jake nodded. 

“Whatever you want, darlin’.” A playful smile curved your lips.

“I’m gonna make you regret saying that.” When he opened his mouth to reply, you frowned and held up a finger, pulling your phone out of the pocket of your leggings and glancing at the caller ID. “It’s the doctor’s office.” Gently pushing against his chest, you stepped into the hallway before answering. 

Jake half listened to the conversation while casting a critical eye over the room. It was the smallest of the three in the house but big enough for a nursery. He was sure Bob would take the treadmill, and Payback had mentioned that he was in the market for a weight bench. The full-sized bed in the guest room would be easy to get rid of with all the families moving, and he could rope Coyote into helping him get yours from the apartment. Hell, he could set all of that in motion at Phoenix’s party on Sunday. Now that there was an accelerated timeline for getting you moved in, the sooner it happened, the better. There was no way he was letting you deal with being sick without him, even if it meant operating on less sleep for the next week. 

“-Any late morning or early afternoon appointments? My boyfriend’s on mids and… Two o’clock on Tuesday?” you said, turning and raising an eyebrow at Jake’s frown. He nodded, and you confirmed the appointment.

Boyfriend. He didn’t like how that sounded, not when you were scheduling a doctor’s appointment about your kid. It sounded… impermanent. Fleeting. Like he wasn’t as committed as he was.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Jake trudged up the stairs to your apartment, glad he’d accidentally opened the location app before pulling away from the hanger. After a long night in the air, shooting down baby officers who thought they were hot shit, he wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with you. But instead of being at home, you’d apparently decided to go back to your place. 

When he unlocked the door, he realized why. A handful of plastic tubs were stacked in the corner of your living room, a few picture frames propped against them. Bubble wrap sat on the kitchen counter beside your wine glasses. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who realized that you’d be moving in sooner. He only wished you’d waited for him to help. 

Jake couldn’t help but smile at the sight of you asleep on the couch, one hand resting on your stomach while the other hung off the edge. Your knees were propped against the back cushion, face turned away from him. The TV laugh track sounded as he unlaced his boots and toed them off before walking towards you. Kneeling beside you, he remembered the first night he’d been at your place. He’d been attracted to you when you opened your mouth and compared the F-35 to his Super Hornet.  He’d wanted to know more about you after you called him out on flirting with you at the coffee shop when he was on a date. 

But that night… that was the night he knew he needed you. He would have waited hours for you in that parking lot to make sure that you were okay after the car accident. Teasing you was the closest he felt to the rush of being catapulted off a carrier. And now he was in for the craziest ride of his life. 

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was going to be a dad. 

It had been on the tip of his tongue when Coyote stopped by the hanger on his way out to confirm that you were still attending the party on Sunday. It was what he thought about during the evening briefing, while observing some of the pilots during simulation training, and when he climbed into the Super Hornet cockpit with your picture tucked into his flight suit. So he may have crowed a bit louder when he got tone on one of the other instructors, winning the exercise for his team, and whooped while pulling Gs. 

And it was in the forefront of his mind as he took your left hand and stroked your knuckles, squeezing gently. He’d had a plan: rent a plane and take you flying. When they reached altitude, he would hand over the controls to you so you could finally feel what it was like to be a pilot. And once back on the ground, he would take you for cheap burgers and fries on the beach. 

But that didn’t matter.

He ran his knuckle along your cheek before gently grasping your chin and turning you towards him. Your brows furrowed as you made a discontented little hum. Jake smiled, covering your hand on your stomach with his own and lifting your left hand to his lips, kissing your palm. “Open those pretty eyes, sleepy girl.”

Slowly, you blinked awake, smiling at Jake’s soft expression. “Hey, babe.” 

“Hey, darlin’. Looks like you were busy.” Groaning, you closed your eyes.

“Didn’t mean to fall asleep. Was gonna go home, but ‘m so tired.” 

“‘S okay. You coulda waited for me though - you shouldn’t be lifting anything heavy.” Scoffing, you curled your hand over his jaw, thumb stroking his stubble.

“You gonna be like this the whole time?” 

“Like what?”

“Overprotective.” 

“Better get used to it, Mama.” 

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“Marry me.” You froze. 

“What?”

“I love you so much. Will you marry me? I have your ring at home, and I know this isn’t the most romantic way to ask, but - ”

“Yes.” 

“Yes?”

“Yes!” you laughed. Jake grinned as you sat up to kiss him before throwing your arms around his neck. Sliding one arm under your knees and wrapping the other around your back, he quickly stood, laughing as you shrieked at the sudden change in altitude. 

“I’ve got you,” he assured while walking towards the bedroom. But when he flicked the light on with his elbow, he groaned - the bed was covered in your clothes and an open suitcase. “You’re killin’ me, darlin’.” 

“Let’s go home,” you murmured, pressing your lips to his throat. 

“Can’t wait that long,” he replied, stepping over piles of hangers and shoes to set you on an empty corner of the bed. Laughing, you watched him clear the space as you moved towards the pillows, stripping off your shirt and bra. Finally satisfied, Jake shrugged off his flight suit, pausing to look at his right hand. “C’mere,” he rasped while kneeling on the bed. He twisted his Naval Academy ring off his finger and took your left hand, sliding it onto your ring finger. The metal was still warm from his body, and the band was far too large - the ring twisted so the stone pressed against your palm. But tears sprang to his eyes as Jake looked at the silver band on your finger. “Just until we get home, and I can get yours.”

“You’re lucky this is too big, or I’d never give it back.” Smiling, he wiped the tears from your cheeks and slowly lowered you onto the mattress. 

“Congratulations, Hangman,” Rooster said, handing Jake a beer as they stood in Phoenix’s backyard. Jake shifted his gaze from where you were chatting with Bob and Halo, probably spinning the better version of his proposal you’d given your parents - something about recreating your first date, minus the car accident.

Coyote, who knew about the original proposal plan, had rightly called him out for what it was: poor impulse control. 

“Thanks. You too. TOPGUN’ll be lucky to have you as an instructor.”

“I'm just happy to be getting the hell out of Virginia again. Mav told me they’re trying to get a couple of us back. Who knows, maybe we’ll be stationed together again.” Jake snorted.

“I hope not. Got enough things going on now without having to deal with a PCS.”

“Payback says you’ve been filling in with the Weapon School, so who knows.” 

“Shit.” Jake watched as you quickly excused yourself from the conversation and hurried towards the house. “Hold this.” 

“She okay?” Rooster asked, taking the beer shoved at him. Bob and Halo frowned at your retreating back. 

“Fuckin’ morning sickness.” 

“It’s six at night.”

“What can I say? She’s an overachiever,” he huffed, following you inside. 

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

Author's Note: Jake may not think that it's romantic to propose on a night in, but I definitely do. I had 2 more scenes that I was going to put into this chapter but decided to hold off for the next ones.

Side note - PCS is 'Permanent Change of Station', meaning you move locations (e.g., Rooster moving from VA to CA). Jake is hoping for a PCA, a 'Permanent Change of Assignment', where he could stay at Lemoore after doing his tour with the Vigilantes and just shift to a different squadron.

Thanks for reading!

Read Chapter 12

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[rattyshipss]

Presidential level jealousy (Chapter 3)

Stanley Forbes x reader (Me✌️💖) (Romantic) Pip, Ravi, Cara, Connor, Jamie, Zack, Lauren, Jake, and Devon x reader (Platonic)

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Pulling up to Balzac's, half in Pip's car, half meeting up in Jamie's car parked next to eachother a ways away from the entrance to wait and see Grant enter first, his bodyguards standing on either side as they opened his door.

"Yep, that's him"

"Okay, remember guys, this hangout is key to getting Chucky" "And Grant" Pip nodded agreeing from the driver's seat. Stanley was still getting used to being driven around by someone over 10 years younger than him

"So don't say anything about Chucky." Jake continued. "Fine by me, I hate how much breath we waste on that asshole." (Y/n) said, looking out towards the coffee shop. "Okay, so great Grant topics include television, viral videos, Grant and girls, aka (Y/n)" and Stanley looked towards his girlfriend, maybe he should be just proposed already like Jamie suggested.

"You know if this is what it takes to get a date with you I'm fully willing." Cara said, turning to look (Y/n) up and down causing her to let out a short laugh. "Ok let's go, we've got shit to do." (Y/n) said fixing her hair one last time before giving Stanley a quick kiss on the cheek and leaving the car, Stanley and the others not far behind, yes Stanley had insisted on coming.

"Oh, oh." Jamie said as they were mid walk towards the entrance of the coffee shop. "Okay, listen, I will be right outside if anything goes sideways. And in the event it goes really sideways, we're going to meet back at home base, Watergate Hotel, room 1105. Here's 20 bucks, be safe." He handed (Y/n) the cash as she nodded in reply. Ever since the events of last year happened Jamie, (Y/n), and Stanley have been inseparable, at some points the couple even having Jamie stay over at their home for various amounts periods of time, also meaning that Jamie had become protective of the two, in this moment his worry being targeted at (Y/n).

As the group entered the coffee shop they were almost immediately greeted with the sight of an almost empty coffee shop, except for a few tall men in suits. Body guards? That fit. One of the men walking up to them when he noticed them enter. "Sorry, were closed." Pip was already wracking her brain for an excuse if the Grant hang out path didn't pan out, but before her or anyone else could answer Grant spoke up from his seat across the shop.

"(Y/n)! Hey! How are you thanks for coming." He jumped out of his seat, nearly tripping over his chair as he jogged up to the group. "Good!" (Y/n) smiled sweetly towards him, noticing Cara shoot a short, nervous, wide eyed look towards Stanley, deciding to look down at her shoes rather than Stanley when Grant went to actually hug her. "So good to see you." "Yeah!"

Grant went through his introductions with the group, shaking hands with everybody, Stanley's handshake being the shortest. Grant stepped back from the group noticing his security guards stoic expression. "They're with me. They're just my friends, calm down ok." He thre his hands up in a faux defensive motion laughing before motioning towards the group. "Here they are, irl." There was a long excruciating pause.

"Go ahead"

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Grant led them over to his already fully set and ready table. "I didn't know what you guys wanted, so I figured-why not get it all? Cause I can." Stanley knew her order at every single place in Fairview by heart.

"My bistro is your bistro." "Okay... "Cara leaned forward to grab a muffin, leaning back to take a bite if it scanning the area. "So... you guys ever been to D.C. before? It's like the best city in the world" (Y/n) answered first, prompting the rest of the group. "First time." "Same, I- I mean we're all Jersey born and raised so." Devon held his hand up in a fist. "Hackensack and Fairview strong." He said before nudging Connor with his fist and an awkward, quiet laugh settled over them.

Grant fiddled with his hands, trying to think of something to say. "Wow, living there must feel so... real." Lauren, taking a sip of her drink, gave a short, quarter of a second long wide eyed look. Stanley had already decided to himself to refuse to eat or drink anything there. "Must be so amped to be here, so glad I saw your vid (Y/n/n)" Stanley flinching at that. "I get so many tags a day, it's hard for any of them to stand out, you know."

"Yeah, I can't imagine." (Y/n) said, playing up the fake overwhelmed act, leaning in closer to him. "Oh, um, I'm assuming you guys have TikTok." Grant said pulling out his phone and making eye contact with the group. "Um, yeah actually" Devon began. "I'm a fan of, uh, Conspiratorial Tory. I think you follow her too." "Yeah hold on." Grant pulled up TikTok on his phone. "It says you guys don't follow me?" Another long, awkward silence, followed by nervous laughter. "Take your phones out now. You guys--you guys got to follow me." Connor looked up from his piece of muffin he stole from Cara. "Right now?" "Uh..."

Pip and Stanley eyed eachother nervously before (Y/n) interjected. "Uh, so, Grant, do you watch Outer Banks?" Grant replied, previous conversation abandoned. "Oh, mm-hmm. Total kook here, love your podcast too by the way Pip." Pip gave him a nod in thanks. "Recent Pogue, unfortunately, I'd love to talk spoilers." (Y/n) said as Grant was pulling up something else on his phone. "Mm, yeah, yeah, yeah, lean in." He said holding his phone above the two. "Oh, no, that's ok." (Y/n) said quickly, pausing to rest her chin on her hand, before noticing Pip and Jake giving he a look, causing her to shoot an uncomfortable look at Stanley who was also uncomfortable. "From- that angle." "Mm." She waved her hand reaching up to reposition Grant's phone. "But from this angle..." Grant nodding.

"Oh, there we go."

"Yeah."

"Oh it does look better."

She held up a peace sign, hesitantly taking the selfish with Grant, as Stanley gripped his glass so hard he thought it might shatter. "A couple minutes, then we got to head out, Grant." One of the security guards spoke up from across the room, supposedly not liking the closeness. "Uh, I'm guessing the bathrooms over there, right?" Devon said gesturing to an area in the coffee shop. "Yeah, me too." Ravi said, eyeing the rest of the group to signal for them to follow as they awkwardly shuffled out of their chairs, Pip having to nod her head aggressively signaling for Stanley to follow as he stayed put in his seat before hesitantly getting up aswell, leaving (Y/n) and Grant alone.

"Ah... so, I'm really glad that we got to do this" (Y/n) turned to face Grant as she spoke, who was typing on his phone as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Really loving your vibes." Grant looked up into her bright blue eyes, his own eyes widening in adoration. "Totally, um and look about that girl, in your friends case... um I'll do what I can to help." Grant shifted uncomfortably in his seat, giving her an awkward smile. "Thanks." Grant stared into her eyes for a moment longer before shifting his gaze to the side. "Okay, um, that was a total boner killer." He laughed uncomfortably rivaling (Y/n)'s uncomfortable face. "Whoo! Ok, let's talk about something else."

(Y/n) shot a concerned look towards the others who were conveniently waiting by the bathroom door. "I don't know. I mean, I just- this feels... cool." She gave him her perfect warm smile, the kind that always made Stanley's heart skip a beat. "Yeah I mean, two hot people meeting usually does." And (Y/n) could see Cara out of the corner of her eye reacting to Grant's words, nodding frantically before getting nudged by Connor. (Y/n) giggled, leaning her chin against her hand again and giving Grant a sweet look, clearly flirting in her demeanor and movements. "Yeah. Okay, well, then... I'd like to see you again." And Grant gazed at her like he was in a trance.

"You ever been to the white house?"

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During their trip to D.C. the group had opted for getting a hotel together, the staff a little perplexed at the odd mix of people checking in but there was no reason to deny them, especially after Cara told them they were there for 'Top secret super spy business'. Which wasn't a complete lie, the group currently going over their plan.

"Well it's the fucking white house, so no chance for getting any knives in. That doesn't mean we're totally defenseless. Coco Chanel says in fashion, form is function. We can make the costumes for for us. Jake and (Y/n) were in charge of making the costumes.

"We have to assume Chucky will stay upstairs in the residence. So we'll need Grant to invite us up." Devon was in charge of working on their plan of action once they were inside.

"Me and Jake can find Chucky but you'll have to keep Grant distracted." Devon looked towards (Y/n) with a hopeful look in his eyes and she, in turn looked towards Stanley pouring himself a cup of coffee. "As much as I'd rather not, that won't be a problem."

"We're coming for you Chucky."

No, I'm waiting for you (Y/n). I'm waiting on pins and needles for all of you. I have a feeling this is going to be our bloodiest Halloween yet.

God bless America

[topgun-imagines]

Clock Don’t Stop

Requested: no

Summary: After a big fight, you need some time away from Jake. A song that you are listening to reminds you of a very important lesson. Can you and Jake fix things? 

Word count: 1.7k 

Warnings: Angst. Mentions of fighting and arguments. 

Note: Loosely based off of the song ‘Clock Don’t Stop’ by Carrie Underwood. Part Two of ‘Try Losing One’.

Pairings: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x fem!reader 

The door slammed behind you as you ran for your car. You jumped in and started it faster than you ever had before, desperately needing to get away from the place in front of you. Slamming on the gas, you sped away from your house. Away from Jake. 

It was a stupid fight. Something that grew out of control soon after it started, neither one of you wanting to admit you were wrong. You had been out doing some wedding planning, what exactly you couldn’t remember at this point, when some blonde had wandered up to Jake. You had instantly become jealous. Why, you didn’t know. What you did know was that instead of talking it out with him like a mature adult, you chose to give your fiancé the cold shoulder. You were silent the rest of the way home. 

It had spiralled from there. One thing lead to another and suddenly you were screaming at Jake. The fact that he had acted as if he had no idea what you were talking about didn’t help any. If anything it made it worse, leading to you leaving him in your empty home. 

You needed to get out of there. Arguing back and forth with Jake was tiring, to say the least. Honestly, at that moment you didn’t care where you ended up as long as it was away from Jake. You loved him. Of course you did. It was just moments like this where it was damn near impossible to be in the same room as him. You two rarely fought and when you did it was never this bad. This was a special occasion. One that you hoped would never happen again. So long as the two of you patched things up. 

Slowing down, you parked your car. You had pulled into the Hard Deck parking lot. Hopping out, you headed into the rowdy bar silently. There were groups of people all around you, some with familiar faces and others with complete strangers. Bob, Rooster, and Phoenix were gathered around the pool table in the far corner but you paid them no mind as you walked up to Penny. Ordering a few beers, you tried to ignore the concerned look that the older woman was sending you. You paid for your drinks quickly and rushed out of the bar.

Once you were outside you began walking down the beach. The sun was just dipping below the horizon as you reached the water line. The beach was one of your favorite places to be. Something that you learned when you first moved to North Island was that there was a beautiful part of the beach behind the bar. Usually, it was just the aviators that occupied it and since you saw most of them inside, there was a good chance that you would be alone. 

Being in that part of the beach brought back a lot of memories. That was where your first date with Jake was. Somehow, he had convinced you to give him a shot. He had held your hand the entire walk there, laid out a blanket, and unpacked the picnic he had brought. That date led to three which led to seven which eventually led to Jake proposing. It was by far one of the best days of your life. 

You set the bottles in the sand and sat down on a log. Pulling out your phone, you pressed shuffle on the first playlist you came across. Nearly ten minutes later and you were at the beginning of the fourth song. It was a familiar song but hearing the lyrics now caused you to get lost in thought. “Red dress, spilled wine, caught in a stupid fight, He’s wrong, she’s right, no kiss goodnight.” That’s all that tonight was. A stupid fight with drastic consequences. 

Watching the sunset, you let the words fill your mind. “Ring-ring, telephone, Act like I’m not home, Can’t hear the tears cry on the other end of the line.” That made you wonder. Was Jake crying over this? Was he letting this fight affect him the same way you were? Here you were, sitting alone, crying over someone who might not even care. Tears gathered on your lashes. 

“And the minutes turn to hours, and they’re flying like a jet plane, And we’ll make it right tomorrow, but tomorrow not a sure thing.” A single tear rolled down your cheek. Instantly, your mind wandered to your first big fight with Jake.

It was years ago now, so long ago that you couldn’t even remember what it was about. It had escalated quickly, much like this one, eventually ending in you retreating into your shared bedroom and slamming the door in his face. The door stayed locked for the rest of the night. Jake had slept on the couch, or attempted to anyways. The both of you never slept well when you were apart. It was something that you learned during his first deployment while you were together. 

When you walked down the stairs at four in the morning you expected him to be sound asleep, not sitting at your kitchen table with a glass of water, staring blankly into the dark. You had approached him slowly, not bothering to turn on the lights when you spoke. “Ya know, there was this thing that my mum told me all the time,” He remind stoic. So still, in fact, that you wondered if he was just sleeping with his eyes open. You continued quietly. “She told me that you should never leave someone angry because there’s no promise of tomorrow,” You could hear the hitch in his breath. “Something could happen,” you murmured, sitting next to him. “You could go, and when you come back they're gone. They could be gone forever.” 

You spent that morning crying into each other's arms. It was no secret that Jake’s job was dangerous; you often found yourself thinking of the worst possible outcomes when he was in the air. That day, you made a promise to each other that whatever should happen, you would never leave the other angry. You would always make time to work it out. Tonight that promise was broken. 

The song continued. “Head’s scared, hearts broke, burned from a band of gold, rather just be alone, Burns, just a bad joke,” Your eyes wandered to the ring on your finger. You loved Jake. You were planning to spend the rest of your life with him. There was no way that you were willing to give that up over some stupid fight. More tears fell. 

“Red dress, spilled wine, caught in a stupid fight, I’m wrong, you’re right, Kiss me goodnight.” You had made up your mind. Standing, you brushed off the sand from your jeans and headed back to your car. You quickly pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive home, desperately hoping that Jake would be there when you got there. 

Minutes later you were pulling into your driveway. Jake’s truck was parked next to yours. Hopefully, that meant he was home. Hurriedly, you yanked open the door and walked inside. A pit of dread settled in your stomach when you found it dead silent. The living room was empty; there was no noise from the TV, and there was no music playing. It almost seemed as if no one lived there. You walked into the house, holding back your tears as best as possible. Surely he would be here. Right? 

In the kitchen, you found the lights turned off. A heavy breath escaped your lungs when your eyes landed on the kitchen table. Jake was sitting in front of you with a glass of water clasped between his shaking hands. There were tears leaking down his cheeks as he stared at the wall in front of him. “Ya know,” You called softly. “My mum had this saying. That you were never supposed to leave angry after a fight,” You pulled out the chair and sat next to him. Jake released a trembling breath as you continued. “Because you never know what could happen.” It was choked out through a sob, your tears falling steadily as you watched your fiancé. 

Jake let out a watery chuckle, eyes finally meeting yours. “I’m so sorry.” You whispered sniffling He just shook his head and opened his arms. You fell into them as you sobbed into his chest. You could feel the light kisses he was pressing into your hair causing you to sob harder. How could you have jeopardized this? 

You kept mumbling into his shirt, repeating how sorry you were and how much you loved him. Jake shushed you quietly. “It’s okay, baby. I’m sorry too,” His voice was soft and soothing. His southern drawl was thicker when he was emotional, something that you always loved. “I love you, baby. So much.” You could practically hear the tears in his voice. Pulling back, you were met with the sight of Jake wiping tears from his eyes. He was never one to cry, so seeing him this upset was something new. 

You glanced down and saw the tear stains on his shirt. Before you could start apologizing, Jake grabbed your cheeks with his hands gently and tilted it up to meet his eyes. They were bloodshot and still full of tears but he was staring at you with so much love and adoration that you lost all other thoughts. His thumbs began tracing your cheekbones softly, wiping away any tears. Jake smiled down at you, kissing you softly before pressing his lips to your forehead. 

“I love you.” His words were soft. They were spoken with such certainty that it brought a fresh wave of tears to your eyes. In that moment, you realized just how much Jake Seresin loved you. It was clear in his eyes, his words, the gentleness when he held you. His words were a promise. A vow that no matter what happened, you would always have each other. Sure, there would be more fights and the road wouldn’t always be easy. But you loved each other. And that’s all that matters.

a/n: Thank you for reading! requests for mood boards and fic’s are open. 

[foreverinadais]

tension: m.k

summary: arguing with marc is infuriating- steven and jake decide to take it into their own hands and plan a date night that backfires. luckily, there’s still hope in a zip. moon boys x reader but primarily marc x reader

warnings: gn but reader wears a dress, language, TENSION (mostly involving a zip) , marc being a little bit of a dick, angst, fluff, suggestive content ;)

word count: 4393- this took me days but it’s finally done so wooo

It was strange. You weren’t used to the feeling of pure anger seeing his face. Love, yes. Passion? Of course. The desire to press your lips fiercely to his until neither of you could breathe? Possibly the most beguiling of all. But anger? Sheer agitation? The desire to cover his mouth with your hand so he would shut up?

You and Marc were indulged in a weeklong (and going strong) argument. Everything he did infuriated every fibre of your being. The same could be said for Marc. It appeared that anything either of them did end in 3 variations: a screaming match of venom, a silent treatment, or a dramatic slam of a door. Most often, it was all three.

You were beginning to struggle. You didn’t want to argue with Marc, nor did it bring you any sort of gratification. But his smug face, his insufferable insults, his snide smirks… all of it was a constant reminder of why you were in an argument in the first place.

“He’s ignoring me.” you had said to Steven on the 5th day, sat opposite him at the dinner table and taking a drawn-out sip of coffee, “It’s pissing me off. You know, his silence is worse than his presence.”

“ ‘m sorry, lovie. I wish there was something I could do.” You expression of annoyance softened as you took in Steven’s worried features. It wasn’t his, nor Jake’s fault, this argument was happening. No, it was Marc Spector’s. so it wasn’t fair they were suffering, too. you reached the short distance over to the table to his hand, squeezing it softly in comfort.

“It’s not your fault, Steven. There isn’t anything you can do, and that’s okay. Let’s just talk about something else, yeah? Anything interesting happen at the museum?”

It was becoming suffocating in the small flat you shared with all 3 boys, the added conflicted something none of you wanted nor needed. The tension was palpable. It left a stench behind with it, even when Marc wasn’t fronting.

“We need to do something, Jake. I mean, it’s getting unbearable, innit? Ridiculous, even. Feels cold in the room when I front after him.” Steven was most concerned about the predicament. With you and Marc arguing, it put a damper on moments, his moments, and made everything feel off. Jake agreed, and the two devised a plan: operation date night which will certainly solve everything and probably end in a shag- name courtesy of Steven.

Tonight was the moment you’d been dreading since Steven proposed it to you just last night. You were currently stood in front of the mirror, struggling with zipping the back of your dress up. “Jake?” you called out and within seconds, he was there, eyeing you up and down through the mirror in front of you.

“Hmm?”

“Need help, please.” He smiled, walking to where you were stood. He could sense you were stressed, nervous even, and he knew you thought this plan was ‘stupid and unnecessary, no offence, Steven.’

“Of course, mi amor.” His gloved hands were slightly rough on your skin as he made a point of trailing them up your spine, but it felt pleasing, all the same. “You look so fuckin’ hot.”

“And who said chivalry was dead?” You joked, smiling at him through the mirror, not surprised to see his eyes wandering lower. “Thank you, Jake.” He met your eyes then, and you turned around, lips meeting his in a soft kiss. This changed, however, when you quickly tried to deepen it, hands going to the shirt he was wearing.

“Sorry, Cariño, time for your date.” You gasped in mock surprise, bottom lip pouting out dramatically.

“But I don’t want tooooo.” Jake rolled his eyes at your childish tone, smiling all the same as he raised your chin with two fingers.

“It’ll be fine. Need you two to make up now, both so damn stubborn, and we just want to go back to not living in a war zone, eh?” You sighed, knowing he was right, a part of you wanting this night to be over with, but another wanting it to magically fix everything.

“ ‘m sorry, I know it isn’t either of your faults. If he wasn’t such an arsehole sometimes-”

“Eh, c’mon, relax. I know it’s annoying, but nothing’ll get sorted if you both don’t try.” He tried to lessen the stern tone in his voice by placing a kiss on your forehead, “And besides, Steven’s put his blood, sweat and tears making this evening perfect. Think he wishes he was going on the date.” That made you laugh, partly at how sweet he was, and partly because you could imagine him rushing around planning a date that he wasn’t even going on.

“Your right. And I’ll try for both- all of you.” He grinned, squeezing your chin slightly before turning to leave, leaning forward so his breath was fanning over your lips before he hastily turned away. “Wha- oi! What was that?”

“Later. Have fun on your date, sweetheart!” You shook your head as he left the room, your nerves almost diminishing thanks to Jake’s distraction techniques. No less than a few moments of Jake being in your presence, the sound of the door clicking open echoed in the flat, and your eyes flickered to where Marc had exited the bathroom.

Your gaze met in the mirror, and you instantly felt deflated. By the look on his face, it was a similar story, stern look never faltering as he walked to the closet to retrieve his jacket. He hadn’t even regarded your outfit, nor offered so much as a smile, and you felt suddenly… sad. Jake’s words were flashing in your brain. Of course, you wanted to solve this. So, you would try.

“Let’s go.” Marc muttered, already on the way to the car. You sighed, grabbing your bag and following behind. It was going to be a long night.

The car ride was mind-numbingly silent. After having a debate in your mind about what to say, you decided that ultimately, it was best if you said nothing at all; silence would be the best-case scenario for this evening. It was the longest time you had been in each other’s company without conflict for well over a week now, and with this energy that was vibrating throughout the air… anything could trigger the storm.

You couldn’t help but sneak peeks at him, though. He was wearing a suit that perfectly strained against his arms, complimented his skin just right, and that one good cologne that smelled like him and only him. It was overwhelming, how much you realised you missed this, missed him, suddenly wanting nothing more than to cup his cheeks and kiss him at the next red light.

But he kept his gaze trained firmly on the road, his hands to himself. You felt an odd nostalgia for the times before, not quite realising the toll the argument had on you. But you wouldn’t apologise, not until he did first- or at least until he made any attempt to stay civil.

“We’re here.” His voice broke the silence, but it was short, sharp. You felt your hurt leap into your throat as you saw the restaurant, saw all the happy couples and displays of love. Even after Marc had parked, he didn’t look at you. The door shut harder than usual when he got out the car, and you thought for a moment he had gone in without you until you saw his shadow appear next to the passenger’s side.

Marc opened the door, waiting for you to step out the car, which you did, almost reluctantly, a part of you thinking it was a joke, awaiting the slam. You thanked him quietly, smoothing down your dress as you stood, trying to avoid eye contact which he clearly had no interest in initiating.

Somehow, the silence was worse on the short walk from the carpark to the restaurant, despite the bustling London traffic, and the lively streets. It felt as if everyone was ignited with passion apart from them, as if everyone was happy and they, clearly, were not.

You felt the familiar urge to grab his hand when you neared the restaurant, a particularly rowdy group of drunk people smoking and mingling outside coming into view. Marc must’ve sensed this, used to affirming you when near situations such as this one, and his reflexes automatically took charge. His rough hand found yours in the dark just to offer some unspoken comfort. It almost took you off guard, the familiar dominant squeeze of his hand, fulfilling the promise that despite it all, he was there.

He kept your hand in his even when you were safely in the restaurant. An odd sense of hope filled you, hope that maybe this night wouldn’t be a total write-off, and that maybe, it’ll solve everything.

“Good evening! Is there a reservation for you today?” The front of house lady asked, attention directed away from where you were stood, still clutching onto Marc.

“It’s, uh, Marc. Marc Spector.”

“Good name, very… desirable. Oh, and a handsome face to match it.” Oh. Your eyes widened slightly. Should you laugh? It wasn’t that serious, right? Probably just some Front of House hospitality. You were surprised to see Marc with a smirk on his face. He made a sound of appreciation and nodded his head as a thank you. “Now, let’s get you to that table.”

The short journey from their current spot to the table was accustomed by many flirty comments sent Marc’s way- none of which he even attempted to turn down. The small hope you had for the evening quickly diminished as you dropped Marc’s hand somewhat forcefully as the woman walked away- not before offering a final flirtatious remark to your boyfriend.

You scoffed as you sat in your seat, skin prickling with annoyance. Marc sat opposite, not even noting you, instead looking through the menu finding it very interesting. You almost wanted to scoff again, dramatically so that he had no choice but to take notice of you. But you didn’t. He doesn’t give a fuck anyway.

“Welcome, are you ready for me to take your order?” You hadn’t even looked at a menu yet.

“I’ll have the-”

“Not quite, sorry.” Awkward. Marc sighed slightly, passing the menu to you half-heartedly and the waiter offered a sympathetic smile.

“Take all the time in the world. But don’t make me wait too long or I might miss you.” You were shocked at the waiter’s blatancy but put it down to him just being nice. Marc, however, clocked the suggestive words, and finally looked up, raising an eyebrow at the waiter who was already leaving.

Your eyes scanned the menu before meeting his, seeing his expression, before he looked away. It was infuriating. Truly. It took everything in you to not roll your eyes, or even to shout, but you willed yourself to remain calm. Remember what Jake had said, remember how hard Steven worked.

“You picked yet?” You were almost surprised to hear his voice.

“Still looking.” You muttered calmly, before settling on the first thing that looked good. “Done.” You didn’t know why you were narrating it, part of you hoping it would fill the uncomfortable aura of the table.

“We all ready over here?” The waiter was back, and you smiled politely up at him, nodding.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Perfect. Now, what can I get for you?”

“I’ll have tonight’s special.”

“My apologies, I seem to have mistaken that for you.” You stammered at his gross attempt at a pick-up line, looking to Marc who’s face was burning. “And you, sir?”

“The steak.” His tone was icy, and you swallowed harshly, feeling incredibly awkward at the situation. The waiter thanked him, smiling at you once more before walking away. “Woah.” Marc said, leaning back in his chair, shaking his head slightly. “That was interesting, eh?”

“What?”

“He was flirting with you.” he stated.

“I know.”

“That’s it?”

“What was I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I reciprocated any of it like someone.”

“Huh?” Marc sat forward on his seat, leaning against his hand. After you remained silent, he repeated a stern, “Huh?”

“You know what, Marc. The blatant flirting with the woman at the front? Yeah, I noticed.”

“Flirting? I was being polite.”

“Well, so was I! At least my polite didn’t involve shoving my tongue down their throat with my mind!”

“Where did that even come from?”

“It came from the fact that you’ve been a complete dick this whole evening,”

“Oh yeah? And how is that Y/N?”

“You’ve barely even looked at me!”

“I’ve been trying to avoid confrontation. And, oh, look, hasn’t fuckin’ worked.”

“Of course it hasn’t, dipshit. Because your not even trying. Do you even wanna fix this?”

“Do you?!” You didn’t realise your voices had been gradually raising until a small cough filled the air. Your head snapped around to see your waiter standing with the food, awkward smile on his face. Your embarrassment deepened further when other people were watching, trying to get a whiff of any conflict they could for good dinner conversation.

You muttered a ‘thank you’ to the waiter as you accepted your meal, shoving the first bite in your mouth to ensure you wouldn’t be the first to say anything else. But Marc didn’t even make a move to talk, eating his steak calmly. It was as if he didn’t even care.

Do you even wanna fix this?

He hadn’t answered. Maybe he didn’t. the thought struck your mind, making you freeze for a moment. you looked at him, at how his jaw tensed with each bite, at how his eyes darted over the table but never at you. Maybe he didn’t. what then? Would you lose all of them? Would he break up with you? Maybe he didn’t even lose you anymore. The thoughts clouded your mind until you threw your fork down, the clatter forcing Marc to look at you.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” You muttered, tears clouding your eyes as you didn’t wait for a reply. It didn’t matter anyway; he wasn’t planning on giving you one.

The ride home was just as silent as the ride there- if not even more unbearable. You kept your eyes trained on the window, watching the passing cars, the trees, the blur of the stars. Your brain was corrupted of thoughts, terrible thoughts, of him, all of them, leaving you. Because they could. You hated to admit the hold they had on your heart. That losing them would make you lose 3 parts of yourself.

You hardly waited for him to stop the car as you got out, slamming the door shut behind you and storming to the flat. You cussed as you realised he had the keys, that the dramatic walk up here was in vain because ultimately, he was just going to have to let you in anyway. You turned away from him, body facing the wall as you felt his presence. You heard the jumble of the keys, heard him unlock the flat door and step aside for you to go in first.

You didn’t look at him, didn’t give him the satisfaction.

Instead, you stormed into the bathroom. You tried to control your now heavy breathing, tried to stop yourself from releasing the emotions that were building up and had been for the past week. But knowing he was going to be fronting all night, that there was no escape from yet another argument or agonising silence, made you feel a sense of dread.

You began to clean your face, the sensation of the cold water against your hot skin calming you slightly. You couldn’t wait to be in bed, sleeping off the terrible night until you saw one of the others in the morning. The sooner you were asleep, the sooner it would be over. You patted your face dry with one of the hung-up towels, exhaling deeply to force out any unwanted emotions- they could wait.

You debated showering, deducing it would be probably beneficial despite the growing tiredness in your body. Sighing, you reached round the back of your dress, trying to feel for the zipper, but to no avail. You groaned, gradually growing more frustrated as you battled with the zip, having it in your fingertips before it slipped out of your grasp.

It carried on like this for a few minutes, which felt like hours with how agitated you already were. Anger bubbled in your belly as you tried, with no success, one last time, the zip physically jamming as you tugged it slightly.

“SHIT.” You all but shouted, leaning against the wall in defeat. You couldn’t shimmy out of it, nor could you rip it, as much as that felt like the only option. Shit. It left one thing left, the literally last-case scenario. You would have to swallow your pride, put on a civil face, talk to the man who was being infuriating… but if you wanted to sleep, it had to be done.

Unlocking the door, you felt an odd sense of defeat as you left the bathroom, feet carrying you to where Marc was sat on the sofa, drinking from a beer bottle. His shirt was unbuttoned slightly, tie discarded somewhere in the abyss of the flat, and you couldn’t help but swallow slightly at how attractive he was. It made desire bubble in your stomach, and mixed with the frustration, it wasn’t a good combination.

You coughed slightly to get his attention, but you weren’t heard over his own thoughts, or his own conversation with his alters that he was most probably having. You rolled your eyes, mostly at yourself, knowing you would have to ask for his help. “Marc?” You said as civilly as you could possibly muster, shifting on your feet as his gaze turned to your, surprised.

He rose his eyebrow in response, a small, unspoken motion for you to continue. “M-My dress… the zips broke. Fuck, can you help me?” Marc felt a smirk rise on his lips as he took in your nervous demeanour, feeling suddenly cocky that you were asking for his help. But he hid it, deciding to be the bigger person, as that was clearly what you were trying to do by coming to him.

“What’s the magic word?” He inquired jokingly, though it came across as sarcastic. You all but rolled your eyes, the familiar feeling of agitation rising like bile in your throat.

“Really?” He shrugged, putting his bottle on the side.

“You want my help?” He’s such an asshole with his stupid shirt and his stupid body and his stupid gorgeous face-

“Fine. Please?” This time, he did smirk, wiping his hands on his thighs though his trousers and standing up.

“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” he muttered, coming close to you. You huffed, feeling your heart race as he got closer- the closest he had been to you in a while. You tried to avoid his eye contact as he came in front of you, tried to ignore the growing heat in your stomach which was slowly spreading throughout your body. His expression was stoic as he whispered, “turn around.” With only a little bit of hesitation, you did, inhaling shakily as you felt his hot breath on your neck.

There was no movement for a moment as he examined the situation. You could all but feel his eyes burning holes into your skin, goose bumps prickling the back of your neck. Finally, his hand came up, gently brushing any stray hair away from the area, just as an excuse to touch your skin. You almost gasped as one of his hands came down just above the zip on your skin, holding lightly as his fingers danced around the zip. Slowly, teasingly, he dragged it down, no resistance meeting him as it glided down your back- and with it, his fingers.

They left a little trail down your skin, your back arching slightly into his touch, as he pulled the zip lower and lower… before stopping. You felt his hot breath in your ear as he leaned close, not dropping his hands as he whispered , “All done.” Your eyes fluttered slightly as you relished in his touch slightly, the air around you feeling stuffy with lust and want.

And then, his touch was gone. You broke out of your daze, turning around to see him stalking back over the sofa. You scoffed, shaking the thoughts out of your head as you walked over to where he was. “What the fuck was that?” You still felt your skin burning, pissed that he was so calm.

“I don’t know what you mean.” You groaned at his nonchalance, all the feelings from the past week suddenly desperate to spill out.

“You’ve barely looked at me all-night and now your just gonna do that and-and that’s it?”

“I just did what you asked me to do, baby. That’s all.”

“I asked you to help with my dress, not for a touch-up!”

“So you didn’t like it?” You froze, trying to shake your head but the hesitation was evident. “Don’t lie to me. I could feel you tryna arch into my touch. Is that right, hmm?” You swallowed harshly, trying to keep a strong façade as your body failed you.

“Your so cocky, Marc.” You tried to sound harsh, but your voice came out as small, a whimper compared to his mocking chuckle.

“Is that so?” He was stood up again, walking over to you with a primal look in his eyes. But you didn’t step away, didn’t give him the satisfaction as you held his eye contact.

“You’ve been acting like a dick all week. Especially tonight.” You say, voice more confident than before. Marc stopped just before you, and your voice broke as you repeated, “You barely looked at me all-night.” Surprisingly, his cold manner broke, face softening as he took you in. You looked away, finding it overwhelming to be this close to him after the gruelling week of conflict.

Marc sighed, shaking his head slightly as he muttered, “Your right.” You looked up at him, shock mustering in your features at his words. “I didn’t even try to fix things. I should’ve, but I was too… ‘stubborn’ as Steven would say.” You nodded, agreeing with him, “But I did look at you. Fuck, you look… you always look…” his words trailed off as his eyes scanned you, scanned every feature of your face, every crevice of your body, the dress still hanging to it. You felt vulnerable under his gaze, not used to seeing him without the usual anger, not used to wanting to be his presence, not avoiding it.

“I’m stubborn too.” you whispered, looking to your hands as Marc’s stare became too overpowering for words to form coherently. “I guess I was just… scared?”

“Scared?” he was suddenly terrified you were scared of him, feeling utter dread course through his body as he began to recall every instance in his life where he had been a danger; and if he was a danger to you, well, he wouldn’t, couldn’t forgive himself.

You noted the sudden fear in his eyes and quickly continued. “I thought I was going to lose you.” His features softened again as you spoke, “And that thought fucking terrifies me, because if I lose you, I lose a part of myself. And I don’t think I could love again.” You were finally telling him, letting him in on your greatest fear. Because you believed it. You figured that being annoyed at him would make the blow less painful when he finally called it quits. It was like setting yourself up for disappointment and heartbreak so it would miraculously become easier to deal with.

Marc shook his head, feeling a part of his heart ache. His hands slowly reached out to your cheeks, feeling the fresh skin with the pads of his thumbs. You relaxed in his touch, eyes shutting, blinking out any forming tears. “Baby… you couldn’t lose me, not ever. Hell, I was scared you were gonna leave me. I-I think a part of me was pushing you away so that if and when that happened…” he cut himself off with a shaky sigh, feeling sadness nudge him in the throat.

“I know. I did the same.” There was a moment, a beautiful moment, where the two of you just stared at each other, Marc’s thumbs still drawing soft circles on the apex of your cheeks, your hands finding solace on his chest. The air around you softened, as if the world was fitting back together again. You swore you felt lighter as you relished in the contact.

“I’m sorry.” He suddenly whispered, realising the unspoken words were the ones that needed to be the said the most. Well, nearly. “And I love you, don’t ever doubt that ‘kay?” You found yourself nodding, repeating the words back to him, twice for good measure, before his lips were on yours, settling into each other as if they had found their way back home.

His hands were off your face and on your back, pulling you closer as yours found his hair. It was passion, heat, fire, electric. But it was also love, calm, poetry. It was a silent promise that no matter what, you would find your way back to each other. That you could talk about it, could help one another through everything.

You suddenly felt your dress falling off your shoulder and you pulled away, smile tugging on your lips.

“Guess I left the job half-done.” Marc whispered cheekily and you chuckled, shrugging it off your shoulders and letting it slip down.

“Gonna make it up to me?”

The next morning, you felt sated as you woke up, the covers engulfing your achy body perfectly. You smiled as you remembered the events of the night- where Marc did, in fact, ‘make it up to you.’ But mostly, you were beyond elated that it was okay again. That the argument was over.

And from the bathroom, Steven was hopping around excitedly, exclaiming, “I knew it would end in a shag! You owe me 10 quid, Lockley.”

[mayhem24-7forever]

Hiya! A drabble request for you: fluffy and soft Jake who's about to find out that he's gonna be dad!Jake! The dream, really. Thank you, thank you! 🥰

here you go my darling! i hope you like it!

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin never really saw himself as the fathering type, in fact he’d never seen himself as the marrying type either. He’d always thought he’d be an eternal bachelor with a new girl every week, the kind of guy that never settled down, never fell in love. Just the thought of buying an overpriced sparkly rock and getting down on one knee to ask someone to be his ball and chain for life was enough to make him avoid dating all together, preferring just hooking-up. That was of course until he met Y/N. 

From the moment they met, Jake knew he was going to marry Y/N and somehow that thought didn’t scare him. He wasn’t afraid to buy the ring, not when he thought about her wearing it and showing everyone that she was his. Phoenix found out that she had the same size ring finger as Y/N so he took her to the jeweler with him to make sure that he not only got a ring that would fit, but was also something she’d actually like (because truth be told, Jake really couldn’t tell most of the rings apart, they all “just looked like rings” to him). He asked Bob, the team’s resident romantic, to help him prepare the perfect proposal. Coyote couldn’t wait to give the best man speech at the wedding so he could tell everyone about the time he walked into the locker rooms to see Jake on one knee practicing his proposal speech to Bob, who was wearing a towel on his head as a pretend wig. 

Jake proposed and she said yes and less than a year later he was watching her walk down the aisle in a gorgeous gown, Jake trying (and failing) not to cry. He ended up getting tears on the notecard of his vows, smearing the ink to be illegible although the day was saved when half the wedding party including Rooster stepped forwards to hand him copies they had made just in case. Fanboy had taught Jake how to dance so he could surprise his new wife with their first dance, which she had planned to be just swaying to the beat since Jake had two left feet. Everyone had a fantastic time at the reception, even Payback, who was somehow still a little hungover from the incredibly wild bachelor party two nights before. 

After a picture perfect honeymoon, Jake and Y/N fell into the comfortable rhythm of married life easily, as naturally as couples who had been together for decades. With regular date nights, spontaneous slow dancing in the kitchen, and a more than healthy sex life, Jake wondered how he had ever survived before being married to her. They weren’t specifically trying for kids but they weren’t specifically trying to prevent it either. They had a bit of a pregnancy scare when her period was late and she’d been feeling nauseous but after taking five different pregnancy tests and sitting on the bathroom floor half-panicking about the possibility of being parents, they received five negative results. That night when they were laying in bed she was tossing and turning, unable to sleep when Jake hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against back flush against his chest.

“What’s wrong baby? Can’t sleep?” he asked, voice raspy with sleep in her ear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” she said, beginning to feel embarrassed and upset at having interrupted his sleep. 

“I really don’t mind, I just want you to be able to relax and get some sleep.” he said, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “Just tell me what’s wrong, baby.”

“It’s stupid, really…” she said quietly. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about if the tests had come back positive instead. I know we’re not ready but…”

“But you were a little disappointed when they were negative.” he finished for her and she turned around in his arms to look at him.

“How did you-” she began but he cut her off.

“Because I know you.” he answered. “And because it’s how I felt too.”

“You… you did?” she asked.

“I was terrified that they were going to be positive, that we’d only have nine months to figure out how to be parents and that I just wouldn’t be able to be a good father.” Jake explained. “But then when they came back negative, I thought I’d be relieved but I just felt disappointed, like just thinking about having a kid with you had gotten my hopes up even if I was worried.”

“Jake… is it crazy that I think we should start trying?” she asked, gazing into his green eyes nervously.

“If it is, then I’m crazy too.” he replied with a grin and she couldn’t help but smile. 

“Are we really doing this?” she asked.

“Yes. And there’s no time like the present to start!” he noted as he maneuvered to pin her between him and the mattress.

Starting that night, they spent the next few months doing everything they could to try and improve their chances. Everything from vitamin supplements to tracking her ovulation to even putting a pillow under her ass to raise her hips up after sex and keep his cum inside. Through it all, they made sure that it never felt like a chore or a boring routine, taking care to keep things romantic and spontaneous. A few months after they began trying, Jake returned from work to find his wife pacing in the living room nervously, immediately dropping his bag and rushing over to her, still in his dirty and sweaty flight suit.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked frantically, putting his hands on her shoulders and gazing into her eyes anxiously.

She took a deep breath and picked up a box on the couch and handed it to him as his brows furrowed in confusion and concern.

“Baby, what-” he began but she cut him off.

“Just open it, Jake.” she said with an excited edge to her nervous voice, a tentative smile on her face.

Jake tore it open to find a folded up piece of clothing, holding it up to reveal a small baby onesie with little cartoon airplanes on it. He froze as his mind processed the sight and the realization of what it meant, blinking rapidly.

“I- Are you serious, baby?” he asked breathlessly, placing the onesie on the couch and taking her hands.

“I had a feeling so I went to the doctor this morning and she confirmed it.” she told him and a smile grew on his face with every word, his eyes tearing up. “I’m pregnant, baby.”

“Oh my god! We’re gonna be parents!” he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug and swinging her around happily. “I’m gonna be a dad!”

She laughed happy and Jake suddenly put her down, a terrified expression on his face.

“I shouldn’t have done that! Did I hurt the baby?” he asked frantically, his eyes and hands frantically searching her body for any signs of injury. 

“Jake, it’s alright!” she assured him with a laugh, amused at his panic that he had somehow hurt her with a hug as she put her hands on his cheeks to make him look at her. “You didn’t hurt the baby!

“Are you sure?” he asked nervously and she nodded.

“You’d better not freak out like this every time you touch me for the next nine months.” she laughed.

“God, I love you, Mrs. Seresin.” he said.

“I love you too, Mr. Sersin.” she replied before leaning forwards to kiss him, feeling a happy tear on Jake’s cheek as he grinned against her mouth and returned the kiss.

[princess-prentiss]

All Too Well - Chapter 11

Pairing: Natasha “Pheonix” Trace/Jake “Hangman” Seresin

A/N: thank u for all the love anyway we're back with the regularly scheduled fluff (for now heheh) little shorter than i wanted soz

Natasha watched the two people she loved most in the world interact the way they should have been for the past six years, looking at the man she once considered the love of her life, observing how his eyes glistened with tears of joy as he placed tiny kisses all across her daughter’s head and into her hair.

They moved downstairs together after a while, Natasha’s mom making a speedy exit as she said something about having errands to run, which she knew was a lie but was grateful that her mom was giving them a chance to be their own little family for the first time.

“You know baby, your dad used to make these amazing pancakes for me, I bet if you asked him nicely he could make them for us.”

She looked up at Jake over her coffee cup as she took a long sip from it, raising her eyebrow in a challenge.

She remembered once, for a week over summer break during the academy, they had stayed at one of his parent’s houses on Cape Cod for her twenty-first birthday. She had woken up one morning to the sweet smell of something cooking drawing her from their bed. The sight of him, piling up a stack of pancakes, only wearing his boxers and t-shirt from the night before was something she was sure would remain etched in her memory forever.

All through her pregnancy with Mia, she craved pancakes, at first the ones they served on Sundays at the academy would do, but then, as they graduated and she returned home, she found herself searching stores and recipes for anything that would match his. She never could find anything quite the same. He had claimed that it was a secret that his grandma had told him before she died and made him promise to keep the family secret.

But then he had made some comment about her being his family in every way but one that it would be recognized officially. A small bit of hope allowed itself to weave into her brain then.

Was he going to propose?

But then, instead of a ring, he brought out a golden necklace, a single diamond in the middle of the chain. She adored the necklace he gave her, she wore it every day under her academy uniform, until she walked out of his room and simultaneously out of his life.

She kept it in the back of one of the draws of her dresser, rarely worn since, only for events she felt were important. Natasha remembered feeling the weight of the gold chain against her neck as she waved Mia into kindergarten for the first time, twisting it between two of her fingers as she watched her daughter disappear among the swarm of other children. She wore it on the day she finally finished flight school, two years later than she had planned, and with him nowhere to be seen; she had still felt the weight of the promise they had never made close to her chest.

It only made sense to her now, that one of the first things they would share together should be something that played such a significant role in her memory of him.

“Please daddy, please!” She jumped up and down on the spot looking excitedly up at him with wide eyes, starstruck.

The first time she had called him that he had cried. He wouldn’t try to lie. Not about that, he loved his daughter more than anything and wasn’t afraid to say he cried because of how much he loved her.

At first, he had frozen, lying in Nat’s bed as Mia moved to get up, the tears slowly making the way down his cheeks being the only indication that he had heard her, but then everything came back to him at once. He dragged Mia back towards him, pulling her into him tightly, before grabbing her mother’s arm with his other hand, pulling her towards him, so that his arms wrapped around them both. He would never forget it, Natasha was certain she wouldn’t either.

-

They spent the majority of the afternoon on the couch in her parent’s living room. A blanket thrown over them all, as she sat next to Jake her head resting on his chest, legs pulled up beside her as Mia sat in front of her, leaning back onto her, he had an arm around them both.

They sat through three Disney films together, Mia falling asleep against her mother by the halfway point of the second one, soft snores coming from her mouth, as her mother weaved her hands through the child's hair. Jake looked down at his sleeping daughter with adoration in his eyes before raising his gaze to meet hers, he looked so happy at the simple action that she wanted to hug him and cry at the same time, for the time he had missed with his daughter due to her decision.

He seemed to be able to gather what she was thinking, leaning down to place a kiss on the crown of her head, unspeaking, but then was there to say really?

-

Later in the afternoon, they left the house together, for the first time, Natasha sighting the fact that she wanted a walk because she knew Jake was getting restless without the daily run he had when they were shoreside. Mia ran ahead of them, as they fell into step behind her, both of them wanted to feel the warmth of the other’s palm in their hand, but neither one of them knew what it was that they were. Was showing affection in public something they should be doing?

Sure, Jake thought, they had hugged on the ship, but that was after they had both nearly died, and anyway, she hugged everyone then. So he settled for walking beside her, occasionally when his arm swung back and forth with his steps, it managed to brush against hers.

He broke from his contemplation with the noise of Mia’s laughter from where she had rounded the next street corner before them.

“Awww what a sweet doggie!” He heard her exclaim between her giggles.

The first thing he saw was her patting a large golden dog, who seemed to be enjoying the attention given the vigorous wagging of his tail, which seemed to be hitting its owner's leg with every movement. He raised his vision to look at the man behind the dog.

Maverick.

The color instantly drained from his face at the sight of their instructor, turning to the woman beside him in desperation, he would follow her lead, whatever she wanted to do.

-

Natasha panicked a little when she first heard her daughter’s laughter, Mia knew she shouldn’t go near strangers but the allure of the animal caused her daughter to forget that. Her eyes instantly jumped to the man behind the fluffy creature, taken back at the sight of the man she had thought was dead mere days ago.

“Captain.” She said respectfully.

At her address of him, the older man’s eyes shot upwards, drawing his gaze away from where he had been watching the young girl interact with the animal. If he was surprised to see two of his lieutenants, he hid it pretty well.

“Lieutenants.”

They both unconsciously stood a little straighter.

Jake had seemed to regain his voice, “Is that Penny’s dog?” He spoke in confusion.

“Yeah,” he responded looking down at the creature in question, “Let’s just say I owe her.”

He chuckled at that, Maverick shooting them both a smile.

“So who’s this?”

“I’m Mia.” The girl spoke, clearly not ignorant to the adult conversation going on over her head.

He looked as though his question hadn’t really been answered, so Natasha decided to help him.

“This is our daughter.”

Of all the things he was expecting, it clearly wasn’t that, but now she was confused.

“Sir, she’s in my file?”

Maverick’s eyes jumped back to the aviator questioning him.

“Ah, I’ve never really been one for reading.”

Both she and Jake laughed at that, because of course he wasn’t.

“So you two are together?” He said looking down at the joined pair of hands between them, Jake hadn’t realized that his hand had jumped into Nat’s at the sight of the man in question.

He looked at her nervously, as though he wanted her to tell him what to say.

“Er, it’s complicated.”

Maverick raised an eyebrow at them both in a mixture of disbelief and subtle judgment, before he turned back to the young girl crouched on the sidewalk, talking in hushed tones to the dog.  

“Well Mia it’s lovely to meet you, I’m Maverick, but you can call me Mav.”

[waitimcomingtoo]

Plank All Over Me - 72 Questions With Vogue Edition

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Plank All Over Me Series Masterlist

Regular Masterlist

“Hi. I’m here from Vogue. Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Oh, hey. Didn’t see you there.” You flirtatiously flipped your perfectly curled hair over your shoulder and winked at the camera. “Come on in.”

You walked inside your house, and gestured for the camera man to follow. In preparation for the interview, you and Tom had gotten out every award you’d ever won and strategically placed them around the house. You smiled at the camera and rubbed your hand over your growing baby bump.

“Welcome to my crib. Sorry it’s such a mess.” You rolled your eyes and faked a laugh, knowing the house was far from being a mess. You kept walking and saw Tom in the living room, polishing on of his awards with a feather duster.

“Oh my stars.” You feigned a gasp once you spotted Tom. “Is that my husband, the critically acclaimed movie star and Lip-sync battle winner, Tom Holland? I had no idea he was home.” You winked at the camera again.

“Oh, hello.” Tom stopped dusting and posed with a smile. “Don’t mind me. I was just cleaning this.”

“Might want to give that a dusting too.” You pointed to one of your awards before sending the camera another huge smile.

“Are you guys ready to answer some questions?” The camera guy asked.

“I was born ready.” Tom concurred with a smile.

“You were a C section baby.” You reminded him. “You weren’t even born.”

“I was removed ready.” He kept the same tone in his voice.

“Where did you meet?” The camera man asked as you and Tom began to walk towards your backyard.

“We met at BBC Radio 1 while doing the Plank All Over Me challenge.” Tom answered.

“Where was your first date?”

“Cracker Barrel.” You winked at the camera as you opened your back door. Tom laughed and shook his head at your joke.

“It was not. We got milkshakes at an Ice Cream Shop in Soho.” He corrected you.

“Who made the first move?”

“Why, he did.” You touched a hand to your heart. “He found me after the planking challenge, both our arms sore and aching, and asked me out on a date. We’ve been together ever since.”

“When you did you move in together?”

“About six months into the relationship when I realized she had a bigger bathroom than me.” Tom answered as he took a seat in one of your decorative deck chairs.

“How long have you been together?”

“Since September 29, 2019 at precisely 6:33 p.m.” You responded.

“Wow. Just a year?”

“Realistically, we’ve been together for a few years, but that’s when this series was first posted.” You shrugged. Tom and the camera blinked in confusion for a few minutes as they processed what you said.

“Moving on.” The camera man cleared his throat. “Tom, how did you pick an engagement ring?”

“I went into the shop and I said “which is the least expensive because I’m trying to buy a Porsche” and that’s how she ended up with this bad boy.” Tom smirked as he held up your hand to show off your engagement ring.

“I can’t wait to tell our baby that story.” You played along as you rubbed your baby bump.

“When did you know you wanted to propose?”

“As soon as she started whining because the planking was hurting her arms, I knew she was the one.” Tom joked.

“Did you know he was going to propose?”

“Surprisingly, no.” You laughed. “It’s the one secret he’s ever kept.

“I nearly got an ulcer from trying to keep it from her.” Tom blew out a breath.

“Who planned the majority of the wedding?”

“I did.” You declared. “I had to text Tom the morning of the wedding to remind him where the venue was.”

“Did either of you cry?”

“As soon as I mentioned the yoga challenge in my vows, the whole room was sobbing.” Tom teased.

“How big was the reception?”

“Let’s just say, we had all the Avengers there.” Tom nodded.

“All the important ones, anyway.” You joked. “Mackie couldn’t make it.”

“How did you spend your honeymoon?”

“We went to Bali and didn’t see any of it.” Tom smirked, earning a playful smack on the arm from you.

“What’s been your favorite video together?”

“I loved the prank with Josh.” You answered with a smile.

“I didn’t.” Tom shook his head. “I nearly threw hands with a ginger that day. I quite liked the friendship test.”

“What video gave you the fondest memories?”

“Spill your Guts, for sure. That’s when I learned about the existence of this one.” Tom beamed as he rubbed your baby bump.

“What was your least favorite video to film?”

“We already know Tom’s answer.” You chuckled.

“Prank interview.” He stated. “To this day, I hate it.”

“Did you see yourself getting married when you first met?”

“All I saw were the nose hairs in Tom’s nostrils when we first met.” You laughed. “After all, he did plank on me for six and a half minutes.”

“I had a feeling we would.” Tom smiled shyly. “Or a hope, at least.”

You pouted at his sincerity and leaned forward to kiss him, which his happily accepted.

“Have you thought of baby names?”

“Josh.” You answered immediately and Tom groaned.

“I’m kidding.” You rolled your eyes. “I really like the name Ryan Reynolds though.”

”What are you hoping for?”

“An oscar.” Tom answered at the same time you said “A divorce.”

“You already want a divorce?” The camera man laughed.

“Oh, not a divorce from Tom.” You assured him. “I want Ryan Reynolds to divorce Blake Lively so he can marry me instead.” You explained as Tom nodded along.

“And I want to die every time she says that.” He cracked a smile.

“Let’s get back to the baby questions.” The camera man said as you began to move around the yard. “Do you know the gender?”

“We do.” Tom said deviously. “But we’re not telling.”

“Do you think the baby will be more like their mother or their father?”

“Definitely me.” You stated.

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because Tom’s not the father.” You smiled sweetly. Tom stared at the camera with an unamused expression and shook his head.

“Who’s going to be the fun parent?”

“Considering I’m the parent who can swing from buildings, I say me.” Tom boasted.

“Who’s going to teach the baby how to read?”

“I am. And after the baby learns, they can teach Tom.” You smiled as you patted Tom’s shoulder.

“Do you think the baby will like to plank?”

“If they’re anything like their mommy, no.” Tom poked fun at you.

“And if they’re anything like their daddy, they’ll grow up to play the Green Lantern.” You shot back.

“Hahahah. She’s so funny.” Tom forced a laugh at your joke.

“Do you think the baby will develop your senses of humor?”

“Wait, you have a sense of humor?” You asked Tom. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“She loves me so much, it’s crazy.” Tom deadpanned towards the camera.

“Do you want the baby to grow up to be an actor or actress like you guys?”

“I just want the baby to be happy.” Tom gave a serious answer. “Every thing else will fall into place on its own.”

“That’s a great answer. Do you think you’ll post about the baby a lot of keep them out of the spotlight for the first few years of their life?”

“I think we’ll wait until they’re at least 4 months old until we exploit them for our own financial gain.” You said and Tom nodded along.

“Have you picked out the godparents yet?”

“Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.” You joked. “They’re so excited. Jake said he would take the baby fishing.”

“He’s taken me fishing a few times.” Tom said as he stared off.

“How have you been preparing for the baby?”

“Well, I personally stopped sleeping, changed my whole diet, started lactating, and my pelvic bone separated in the middle so that I could push the baby out. Tom, what did you do?” You tilted your head at him.

“I bought the car seat.” Tom said proudly. “My wife picked it out, though.”

“I also drove him there.” You glared at the camera for a moment, cracking a smile after your joke.

“What are you most looking forward to after the baby is born?”

“Laying on my stomach.” You laughed as you looked down at your protruding bump.

“I also miss laying on her stomach.” Tom pouted as he rubbed the bump. “That was my favorite cuddle position.”

“Aw. I’m sorry we can’t cuddle the way you want to anymore because I’m growing your child inside my body.” You said sarcastically, making Tom laugh.

“Thank you for growing our child inside your body. I don’t say it enough.” Tom praised as he leaned in for a kiss.

“You’re welcome.” You smiled at him before turning to the camera man. “Anything else you want to know?”

“Actually, I have a question.” Tom stated as he looked at the camera.

“What’s that?” The camera man asked. You and Tom looked at each other and exchanged a smile before turning back the the camera.

“Are you excited to meet our baby girl?”

Tag List 🏷

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[na-ta-sh-aa]

This first chapter was one of the most beautiful Christmas surprises there could be, Thank you so much!!🥹 Throughout the entire chapter I never stopped smiling at the joy of reading about Jake and Scout!

“The front door opened, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing throughout the house, a small smile playing at your lips at the familiar sound. The sound of humming accompanied the footsteps as they grew louder, and you turned from the pot in front of you just as Jake Seresin, former outlaw turned honest man, rounded the corner. He held a small bouquet of golden flowers, marigolds, in one of his hands, his hat clutched in the other. His green eyes lit up as they landed on you, lips splitting into a giant grin. Tossing his hat onto the table, he crossed the room quickly to wrap you up in his arms, careful not to crush the flowers in his hand as he did so. He gazed down at you, cupping your jaw with his free hand and running his thumb along your bottom lip. Leaning down, he captured your mouth with his in a kiss which you gladly returned. His lips were surprisingly soft against yours, and all too soon he pulled away, placing a kiss to the tip of your nose.”

This part was pure perfection! I loved so much that Scout immediately recognizes Jake by the sound of his steps, the detail of Jake who from an outlaw has become an honest man for her, him bringing her a bouquet of flowers, taking her in his arms, kissing her, first on the lips and then on the tip of the nose🥹

“Must you?” He asked to neither of you in particular

I think Benji will have to resign himself to the fact that this won't be the last time he finds Jake and Scout together😂

“I don’t give a damn what you do or say until there’s a ring on my sister’s finger.”

Jake better hurry and make a real proposal to Scout

“unfortunately for you, my brother raises an important matter. Until I receive a proper proposal, I’m afraid your word doesn’t carry very much weight in this house.”

“Jake gaped at you, green eyes wide as they took you in.”

“Scout-”

I love how Scout has Jake wrapped around her fingers

“Who could turn down the opportunity to see Bradley up on that stage acting all heroic?”

Bradley taking part in a play must be something unforgettable and so beautiful at the same!

“I told you already,” she grumbled, “I want to establish myself as an individual first. I have a career to think about.”

“Yes, of course,” you nodded. “I think it’s very noble of you to do so, actually. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play the field while you’re establishing your career.”

I love the moments between Scout, Birdie and Bunny so much, I love seeing how they are so close, how they playfully tease each other, give each other advice and always ready to help each other.

“Jake shot you a wink, and you felt your cheeks instantly warm”

I love the effect Jake has on Scout, even though they've known each other for a while, Jake always manages to make Scout feel butterflies in her stomach!

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

I'm so curious to know what will happen and to know who the third man on stage is!

I'm so happy and excited about this series, I absolutely loved their first series and now being able to discover and explore more about their relationship and their future together is something that makes me jump for joy! I absolutely loved the sense of domesticity in the first part of the chapter, you wrote it so well. Just like I loved seeing the love between Jake and Scout again. This first chapter was already a masterpiece as I'm sure the entire series will be, I love this so so much!💗✨

Hanging By a Moment: Chapter One

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Taking place directly after the events of "Don't Hang'em Til Noon," this series follows more of Jake and Scout as they traverse life in the New Mexico territories. Isaac Cassidy's posse is still hanging about, stirring up trouble in the name of their fallen leader. Additionally, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and your brother, Benjamin, have established rights to a gold mine that's now drawing in more and more unsavory characters. Will you have what it takes to survive the growing danger?

TW: Mentions of hangings, Swearing, Hangout being domestic, Fluff, Kissing. I think that's it? Please let me know if I've missed anything.

Word Count: 2.65k

Masterlist || DPU Masterlist || Moodboards || Playlist 1 || Playlist 2 || Jake "Hangman" Seresin Tag List

It was the rooster crowing that awoke you, or perhaps it was the tendrils of sunlight that crept through the curtains to caress your cheeks. Either way, consciousness had now made its presence known and once you were up, you were up. With a groan, you stretched your legs out, relishing in the tender feeling of the muscles in your lower back ridding themselves of their stiffness and aches.

You let your eyes stay closed, the soft lowing of the cattle out in pasture alerting you to the fact that you would have to get up sooner than you would like as the rest of the world stirred around you. You heard the telltale sound of your brother, Benjamin, moving around in his room, and with a heavy sigh, you finally pried your eyes open, taking in the blue rays of the morning sun as they slowly changed to gold. Flipping the blanket down, you let out a small shudder as the cool air caressed your skin, the last remnants of winter still clinging to the world as spring wormed its way in.

Dressing quickly, you made your way downstairs, starting the stove and preparing breakfast for the ranch hands that would walk through the door at any moment. Things had settled nicely since the incident a month prior with Isaac Cassidy, the looming sense of dread that had often filled you giving way to a tender calm ever since the man had hanged at the gallows in place of Jake. Your heart clenched at the memory that you almost hadn’t made it in time to save him.

The front door opened, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing throughout the house, a small smile playing at your lips at the familiar sound. The sound of humming accompanied the footsteps as they grew louder, and you turned from the pot in front of you just as Jake Seresin, former outlaw turned honest man, rounded the corner. He held a small bouquet of golden flowers, marigolds, in one of his hands, his hat clutched in the other. His green eyes lit up as they landed on you, lips splitting into a giant grin. Tossing his hat onto the table, he crossed the room quickly to wrap you up in his arms, careful not to crush the flowers in his hand as he did so. He gazed down at you, cupping your jaw with his free hand and running his thumb along your bottom lip. Leaning down, he captured your mouth with his in a kiss which you gladly returned. His lips were surprisingly soft against yours, and all too soon he pulled away, placing a kiss to the tip of your nose.

“Good morning, honey girl,” he murmured, offering you the marigolds. “Did you sleep well?”

You hummed, a dazed look on your face as you smiled softly up at him.

“Jake,” you sighed, eyes darting down to the flowers he was holding up for you. Your happy expression morphed quickly into one of suspicion as you glanced from the flowers to him. “Are those my marigolds that I’ve been waiting all week to bloom?”

He let out a loud scoff, but the smile was still in his eyes as he turned the scoff back down to you.

“Are you accusing me of stealing?” he teased, leaning in so that your noses were practically touching. You arched an eyebrow at him with an unimpressed frown.

“Answer the question.”

“No, Scout,” he replied, feigning hurt. You waited for him to provide an explanation, scowling when he pulled away to grab a vase from the china hutch by the back door. You watched as he plucked one of the vases from the top shelf, walking over to water bucket to fill it. With a sigh, you leaned against the counter, crossing your arms as you waited for him to give you an answer.

“Jake,” you grumbled, a hint of warning in your tone. The blond hummed, raising his brow at you innocently as he placed the vase of flowers in the center of the table.

“Jake.”

“What’s that, sweet girl?”

“Where did you get the flowers from?” You asked him again, watching as he mirrored your stance against the table. You could see him trying to fight off the smile that threatened to overtake him as he shifted his gaze down to the floor.

“I grabbed’em from Mrs. Wymer’s garden,” he admitted, a blush blooming on his cheeks as he snuck a glance back up at you.

“Jake!” You cried out, eyes growing wide as you gaped at him in disbelief. “You stole that old woman’s flowers right from out of her garden?”

“No!” He exclaimed, pausing as if thinking over his next words. He grimaced and your shoulders slumped as you could already feel the annoyance pass over you. He gave you a sheepish smile. “Well, yes. But it’s not what you think!”

“Oh,” you scowled, rolling your eyes, “please do tell me how it’s not what I think.”

“Well, you see,” he began, his sheepish smile turning devious. He pushed off from the table, sauntering slowly over to where you stood, still scowling at him. “It just so happens that Mrs. Wymer insisted that I take the flowers. Said that she thought I could put them to good use, and so I did just that.”

He stopped back in front of you, a smirk plain as day on his face. You raised an eyebrow at him, the two of you standing in silence as he waited for you to respond.

“You’re a loon,” you mumbled, feeling heat rise to your cheeks as he gazed down at you, those green eyes holding so much adoration as they beheld you.

“Only for you,” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss you once again. You leaned into him, wrapping an arm around his neck as he pulled you closer by the waist, deepening the kiss as his other hand stroked your side.

“Scout have you seen me-”

The two of you sprang apart as Benjamin sauntered into the room. He stopped short as he looked up from buttoning his suit jacket, seeing the position you two were in. He let out a long sigh as he dropped his hands to his sides, giving the both of you a once over and a look of chagrin.

“Must you?” He asked to neither of you in particular.

“Apologies, Benjamin,” Jake snickered, leaning against the counter as you turned your attention back to the pot on the stove. You heard Benjamin scoff as he walked over towards the table, plopping down into one of the many seats surrounding it.

“What was it you were saying, Benji?” You asked him, chancing a glance back at him. He was still scowling, eyes darting between you and the blond at your side. His gaze fixed back on you as he sat up straighter.

“I was asking if you had seen my briefcase,” he said slowly, watching as you scooped a ladle full of oatmeal into a bowl for him. You walked over, placing it gently in front of him as he continued to eye you up and down with an indiscernible expression.

“I’m sure it’s in your study where you left it last night,” you told him, giving him a scowl of your own. “Now stop staring at me. It’s rude.”

He grumbled something under his breath, but turned his attention to his food just as the other ranch hands started filing through the door.

“You better go grab a seat,” you told Jake, grabbing four more bowls from the cupboard. He brushed his hand against yours as he pushed off from the counter to join the others.

You joined them at the table once everyone was served, taking your seat in between Benjamin and Jake, both of whom were nearly finished. Benjamin shoveled the last little bit of his food into his mouth, scrambling to his feet as he glanced up at the clock on the mantle.

“Blast it, the time,” he mumbled, rushing towards the front door. He stopped as he crossed the threshold from the kitchen into the hallway, catching your eye as he did so.

“Scout,” he said, pointing a finger at you, “I’ll see you tonight at the town hall meeting, right? It’s important that you come, and be there by seven.”

“Where’s my invite, Benji?” Jake asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Benjamin spared him a look, jaw twitching at the mischievous expression on the blond’s face.

“Quite frankly, Mr. Seresin,” your brother said evenly, “I don’t give a damn what you do or say until there’s a ring on my sister’s finger.”

Before Jake could respond, Benjamin turned on his heal and walked out. Seconds later, you all heard the sound of the front door opening and then slamming shut, and you let out a sigh. A moment of awkward silence swallowed the room before the other ranch hands thanked you for the meal and made themselves scarce. Jake glanced at you from the corner of his eye as he finished his food.

“He does know we’re practically engaged already, right?” He asked you, shifting slightly in his seat. You snickered, grabbing your bowl and his as you headed towards the sink. Jake’s mischievous look was long gone as he rose to his feet, walking after you. “Scout?”

“Mr. Seresin,” you began, clasping your hands in front of you as you turned to look at him, “unfortunately for you, my brother raises an important matter. Until I receive a proper proposal, I’m afraid your word doesn’t carry very much weight in this house.”

Jake gaped at you, green eyes wide as they took you in.

“Scout-”

You held up your hand to stop him, nearly laughing at the state of him as he stood there in the middle of your kitchen, eyes wide and mouth ajar as he scrambled for something to say. Fighting back a smile, you walked over so that you were standing right in front of him, placing your hands on his chest and gently brushed out the wrinkles in his shirt, peering up at him through your lashes.

“You better get going,” you told him, leaning up to peck him on the cheek. “You have work to do.”

The town hall was filled with the deafening roar of the townsfolk gathered in the assembly hall. It was so crowded, in fact, that you felt immense gratitude towards your past self for thinking to pack your fan in your clutch. You fanned yourself lightly, watching the older women of the community congregate together to discuss town gossip in hushed whispers while their husbands gathered on the opposite side of the room to discuss business. The women your age were gathered in the seats to your left, and you wondered how they kept themselves busy considering that every time you saw them they were gracing the modiste with their presence.

“I heard she stabbed him.”

That caught your attention, and you shifted in your seat subtly to better hear the conversation to your left.

“I heard she lured him into the bedroom and then seduced him before handing him over to the marshal.”

That made you frown. Your actions regarding Isaac Cassidy’s arrest and then subsequent execution had been the talk of the town for a couple of weeks now, and it appeared the rumor mill had run wild. You supposed you would have to do something about that.

“Look at her,” one of the older girls said, and you felt four pairs of eyes land on your profile. You remained stoic, not showing them that you could hear every single word of what they were saying. “She’s a proper lady, you know. From out back east. I doubt she’d be capable of much else other than simple household chores.”

That made you snicker. You attempted to cover it up with a cough, but you were unable to see if your efforts worked because Birdie and Bunny came walking down the aisle towards you.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone gathered in one place before,” Birdie said excitedly, taking the seat next to yours on your left. Bunny smiled softly in your direction before sitting on the opposite side of the young schoolteacher, leaning forward so that she could still hear the two of you over the still growing crowd.

“It is a bit exciting, I suppose,” you smiled. You hadn’t been sure about holding the town hall meeting in the actual town hall versus the church. You had raised the concern to your brother early on that the town hall might be too large a space for the people who regularly showed their faces in town.

“Don’t you worry a thing, Scout,” he had grinned, excitement evident on his face. “People are going to come from all over to hear what we have to say. The farmers and ranchers who almost never make it into town are even coming! I’m worried we might not even have enough space for all of them.”

Glancing around, you were beginning to think his worries might be justified. The room was growing more and more crowded as the minutes stretched on.

“You’re coming to the play next week, right?” Birdie asked you. You turned your attention back to her, giving her a nod as you smiled.

“Yes, of course!” You told her. “I wouldn’t miss it!”

“Who could turn down the opportunity to see Bradley up on that stage acting all heroic?” Bunny teased, nudging Birdie good-naturedly. You saw a tinge of pink creep onto her face as you and Bunny giggled. It was no secret that Birdie and the outlaw had feelings for one another, but getting the schoolteacher to admit that was a feat in and of itself.

“A prince and his princess,” you added, earning a rare scowl from the girl beside you.

“I told you already,” she grumbled, “I want to establish myself as an individual first. I have a career to think about.”

“Yes, of course,” you nodded. “I think it’s very noble of you to do so, actually. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play the field while you’re establishing your career.”

Bunny nodded in agreement, and Birdie turned back to you.

“And what of you and Jake Seresin?” She asked, eyes flaring in intrigue. “Any word of an official proposal yet?”

Before you could answer, the group of girls to your left burst into a fit of giggles, grabbing your attention. Their eyes darted to the back of the room, and your gaze followed, instantly connecting with a pair of green eyes that were already on you.

Jake was leaning against the back wall next to the rest of the Daggers, Bradley standing directly to his left as the brunette laughed at something Reuben had said. Jake shot you a wink, and you felt your cheeks instantly warm. Biting back a smile, you turned your attention back ahead of you, fanning yourself a bit faster.

“The boys are here,” you told Bunny and Birdie as nonchalantly as possible. Both of them turned their attention to the back of the room, instantly turning back around to mirror you as you sat with your back straight and staring pointedly ahead at the stage.

“Damn them,” Birdie murmured, her cheeks as red as rubies now. You let out a chuckle, nodding in agreement.

Just then, Maverick, Benjamin, and a third man you had seen in passing at the law firm stepped onto the stage, and the conversations around the room died down as attention turned to the three men standing in front of everyone. Maverick cleared his throat as the last of the chatter stopped, stepping forward to address all who had gathered. He smiled warmly, gaze traveling across the room as he clapped his hands together.

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

A/N: Here she is! A Christmas surprise for all of you, even if she is a little late. Friendly reminder that I am redoing my tag lists! If you haven't already entered your username into the new one, please do so!! As always, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated. You can also find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I post these updates as well!

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