"If you can sit with your pain, listen to your pain and respect your pain - in time you will move through your pain." - Bryant McGill
Chapter 8: The one where Spitfire finally heals
Bradley's ears start to turn red as he glances away from Spitfire's scrutinizing gaze. He looks at her from the corner of his eye only to see her smirking at him. "Rooster..."
"Alright fine," he lets out a sigh before turning his body towards her, "I might have punched Maverick after he told me what he did - to be fair he did say he deserved it!"
A small frown starts to form on Spitfire's forehead as she faces the front, staring back at the ocean. "Why did you punch him though? We hardly know each other chicken..." She hesitates before glancing back at him.
He smiles, "just because you don't know someone doesn't mean you can't care for them - and I might not know you now but we'll have the rest of our lives to get to know each other." He throws her a cheeky wink making her let out a laugh.
"And what makes you think we'll be spending the rest of our lives together?" she scoots to the edge of the bench before looking at him directly, a smirk evident on her face.
"Well," he looks down at her with a small smile. "I knew from the very first moment that we met that I'll be seeing you walk down the aisle one day. Maybe it was your feisty comments or your sweaty red face that made my heart skip a beat."
He laughs at her when she tries to push him off of the bench, a weird feeling floating in her stomach making her legs feel jelly-like and tingly.
"We'll see if you'll be able to handle these feisty comments of mine, you'll regret saying that," she teases him while standing up. "Come on let's go for a walk you cheesy son of a gun."
"Ah so I'm not a son of a bitch?" He shakes his head at her before standing up, taking the hand she was offering him before dragging her behind him as he started running to the beach.
"Rooster slow down," she manages to get out through her giggles. The man in question comes to a stop right at the edge of the beach, bending down to unlace the combat boots he was still wearing. "I wouldn't want to call your mama a bitch now would I?"
She bends down to unlace her boots as well before holding both in one hand - her socks stuffed into them. Thank god I painted my toenails she glances down at her feet, the light blue nail polish on her toes staring back.
After taking off their shoes and socks, they start walking along the sandy beach, occasionally stealing glances at the other when they weren't looking.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Rooster asks the girl next to him softly. "You don't have to if you don't want to, its just, my mom always told me that its better to get something off of your chest than to let it stay hidden in your heart, holding you down."
She glances at him, "your mother sounds like a very wise woman." As soon as the words slip out of her mouth she regrets it - Rooster's face is one of pain and sorrow for a second before he hides it behind a mask.
It was too late however, Spitfire had already seen it. "Oh roo..." the nickname slipping out unnoticed. "I'm sorry - I didn't know," she tries apologizing but he shrugs it off.
"It's alright Spitfire, how could you have known? No one really knows about it." His gaze is locked onto something in front of them, deep in thought. He sighs before dropping his guard slightly.
"She uh, died when I was 18, right before my papers were pulled by none other than Maverick. I knew she didn't have long left when she told me she had cancer - I just, I wish she could be here... to see where I am in life, what I've achieved and well, to meet you.."
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Spitfire | Top Gun: Maverick
FanfictionIn which a spitfire challenges and outwits every thought of a dashing lieutenant while simultaneously falling in love with him. ───── "This spitfire of a woman, a woman I had every reason to hate, made me question everything." ───── On hold until...