TOP GUN: BACK TO MY ROOTS

THE BEACH

i woke up the next morning to my phone going off, dad was calling me
i wiggled my way out of bradley's arms to grad my phone
"hello?" i yawned the word out i was sleepy
"hey kiddo, sorry if i woke you up, i just had the best idea" he sounded chipper, at least one of us had our morning coffee
"oh god what time is it?" i asked
i could feel bradley wrap his arms around my waist as he pulled me closer into him
"oh about 5 AM"
"what? training doesn't start for another two and a half hours" i groaned
"i know i know but hear me out, cyclone told me we need to make a team, so what are we gonna do, team bonding!" he yelled
"and how exactly are we gonna do that" i asked as i played with bradley's hair, he was still half asleep
"dogfight football, meet me on the beach by the hard deck at 7:00" he said
"okay, are you going to stop at home first?" god i hope not i didn't want brad to leave
"nah i have everything i need right here, i send out a group text in about two hours"
and with that he hung up
i feel back down into bradley's arms not wanting to ever move
"who was it?" he asked me, i could hear the tiredness in his voice
"my dad" i said just above a whisper
"don't worry about it okay, just go back to sleep"
i played with his hair, the room was still dark so it wouldn't be hard for us to fall back asleep

as i walked across the sand i could hear dad calling me name
"Y/N! good to see your up and at em" he said
"you sound happier than usual, what's gone on with you lately"
it was true, he wasn't usually this happy, maybe it was the new job, or being able to spend more time with me, or the jet
"oh nothing, don't worry about it"
he explained the rules of the game to me as people started showing up, when bradley got there i could feel him staring at me
i couldn't blame him, i was wearing a high waisted bikini bottom and a cropped long sleeve
i looked good man.
dad blew the whistle getting everyone's attention
"okay everybody, who's ready for some football?" everyone hooted and hollered
"me and Y/N are team captains, i'll let her choose first"
i looked around, this was supposed to be a team building activity right so..
"bob" dad looked at me with a raised eyebrow
"fanboy" i looked back at him with competition in my eyes
"pheonix"
"payback"
"coyote"
"that leaves us with only rooster and hangman"
dad said
"you can pick again" he was taunting me, making me choose between them
i took a breath
"hangman" i breathed out
"and that gives me rooster"
hangman looked at me surprised that i chose him
after we broke up into teams jake walked up to me, although he didn't say anything
"i'm sorry, really i am" i looked up at him
"it's okay, i was being an ass, im not used to sharing you, and plus" he turned himself away from me
"maybe i like you more than i thought i did" he walked off
wait did jake have feelings for me? why hadn't he told me until now?

after a couple of rounds the boys and pheonix were just messing around
jake had pretended to use the football as a grenade and half the guys pretended to fall from the blast
bradley wasn't paying attention and got smacked in the face with the ball
me and dad were sitting in chairs when a shadow approached us
it was cyclone
"maverick would you like to explain to me why these idiots aren't in the air where i was supposed to be, what the hell is this"he looked at me by the side of his eyes
"and why the hell is she here maverick"
i was going to let dad so the talking i always did that but damn it i was done being pushed around
i stood up out of my seat
"you know just as well as i do how good of a flyer i am, you told us to make a team, well sir there's your team," i said gesturing to the group of pilots out on the sand
cyclone sighed and turned to walk away
dad gave me an approving look
"you know fawkes" cyclone apple again
"if you did decide to fly, i would hesitate to consider you a spot as a captain" and with that he walked away
well that was definitely something to think about, maybe i was ready to get back into the air
i head cheering behind me, i turned around to see bob hoisted up on bradley's shoulders everyone changing for him, now this was a team if i've ever seen one
"i'm glad they're all getting along" dad said
"me too, and don't think i didn't see bradley help you up, it seems your finally getting along aswell" i said
"yeah maybe" he smiled
"i'll be right back" i said as i went up to the group of pilots
"hey fawkes" jake said pulling me in for a hug
"hey jake, having fun?" i laughed out the words
"hmm i don't know, that waters looking pretty nice" he said and wiggled his eyebrows at me
"what are you on about there bagma-" but before i could finish my sentence he lifted me over his shoulder
"ah wait jake no!" i yelled and hit his back
"put me down,please"
"i don't know fawkes, i have to get you back somehow"
"oh come on this is my favorite shirt! jake no!" and with that he threw me in the water, fully submerging me
"jacob seresin! i will kill you" i yelled he turned his back to me and laughed
i jumped on him and tackled him to the ground
"oh that was just mean" he splashed me with water but not before i splashed him first
"ladies! ladies! calm down!" pheonix yelled from a few feet away
"come on, free drinks on the old timer" she said pointed back at dad
i looked back at him as i got out of the water
and that's when i saw him, he was standing with penny, i noticed the way he was looking at her, i hadn't seen him look at someone like that since before mom left, was that why he was so happy all the time, had he been seeing penny?