Falling For Flyboy

Chapter 1: The calling

As the pulsating San Diego sun beats down onto your summer tanned back, you take another sharp breath in, powering your body to keep your steady run. You look up as a bead of glistening sweat runs down the bridge of your nose, making eye contact with the incoming mailman. "Morning, Joe," you manage to pant and the elderly man smiles, the canyons in his face shifting. You jog a few steps behind him and, after what feels like forever, arrive back at your house. Still jogging, you hop up a few wooden steps and open your door, a wave of cold air from the inside filling your nose. Only when the door is closed do you stop running, leaning over and resting your hands against your knees as you catch your breath. Your dog, Koda, barks from the living room and runs to you, her footpads tapping against the polished floors. You rub the space between her dark brown ears and she wags her short tail in response. "Any new mail, girl?" You turn your back to Koda to grab a water bottle. Your dog, trained to the ends of the Earth, just stares at you. When you repeat the question, she yips and trots over to your answering machine, where the flashing red light sticks out like a sore thumb. You approach it and press play. "Lieutenant Y/N L/N, you have been requested at Marine Corps Air Station in 0700 hours." The message ends, leaving you in a shocked puzzle. Had the results come in already? It had only been two days, as grueling and slow as they seemed. The nerves you had suppressed with running and reading novels had rushed back to you in a whirl, leaving your insides to turn to magma and your heart to ice. Every day of training had come to this day. Every argument with your father years ago that pushed you to become a Top Gun flyer was bouncing around in your head like a pinball. Nonetheless, you do what you do best, internalize a situation that you don't have the time to solve. It was time to go to your safe place, inside a cockpit sailing miles above the water. It was time to join TOPGUN.

**POTENTIAL TW** This upcoming paragraph has mentions of an unhealthy relationship with Y/N's father, so read at your own risk!

You are welcomed by two F-14's buzzing the Northeast tower, and you can practically hear Johnson cursing to himself. You chuckle, nothing had changed since you were here to train. "We brought in a few more rookies, hopefully it'll help you blend in." You smile at Commander Metcalf. he and your dad were close before he went off to prison. You used to swear you'd inherit his call sign, "Cobra", but that was before he stole and gambled himself all the way into prison. Your family was the laughing stock for years. After that, you swore to stay away from your father's legacy, and to make your own. Y/N "Hawks" L/N would go down in history. 

You're jolted out of your thoughts by hooting and hollering nearby. You look up to find that the four men that flew those F-18's are jumping out of their planes. One group, an interesting batch, had this look of spite and pure stubbornness on their perfectly tanned faces. Their entire body looked like it had been carved out of cream cheese. You look up from their faces and read their helmets. "ICEMAN" and "Slider". You scoff at the sight of them walking, their chests puffed up like birds when they notice you watching. "Kazansky and Kerner," Commander says with a smirk hidden behind his mustache. You almost just turn and walk inside but an intriguing catchphrase snags your ear. "I feel the need... the need for speed!", so you turn back around. The two other men seem to be oblivious to your presence for the time being, they just goofily walk down the landing patch without a care in the world. One is much taller than the other, with spiky blond hair and a bristled mustache. He's tall and lanky, his long arms swinging at either side. The helmet dangling from his hand reads "Goose". The other man caught your eye for some reason, whether that be his smile, or maybe his eyes, or possibly just the sheer look of him altogether. He was a tad bit shorter than Goose, but you are also 5'4 so you can't complain. He had more muscle than Goose, and a hell of a stunning smile. Even from afar his eyes were bright blue in the afternoon sun. His helmet, bright red and still on his head, read "MAVERICK". Goose catches sight of you first, then he points you out to Maverick. At first, they both just have this joking expression, but once you and Maverick finally lock eyes, he looks a little dumbstruck. His walking stalls for a second and he has to jump forward in his footing to catch up with Goose. They change directions and head straight for Commander and you. "I'll leave you to it, then. Let me know if I need to run them off this base." "Okay, pops," you joke and wave as Metcalf walks away. "Excuse me, miss?" You turn and meet eyes with Goose, who is standing a few feet away from you. "No women allowed out here," he says sternly, crossing his arms. You raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" You guffaw, a testing chuckle following. "Yeah," Maverick pipes in, "-that's the rule: If a pilot gets distracted by a lovely woman like yourself, they have to escort them around." You hum in response, you thought that was going to go an entirely different way. "Fine then, who's the lucky lad?" You decide to play along. Maverick and Goose get to arguing over you like kids over a toy. Finally, another voice speaks from behind you. "Since these amateurs won't grow up and walk you, I will." You nearly choke on air when you realize it is Iceman. "Actually, they just decided! They're both going to walk me around." Iceman's smug expression melts away and he scoffs. "Your loss," he grunts and storms off, Slider peeling into the path from behind a plane. You turn back to the pilots, who both have a mixture of childish spite and success. "So, where's the first stop?"

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Falling For Flyboy! Sorry it was so short, I'll try to make them longer next time. Please leave recommendations in the comments, or send me a message through Wattpad! I will try to publish chapter 2 either tomorrow or the next day, it all depends on my schedule. Eat something and drink water before you go to bed tonight!
Luv you all!
Kenna 💗