𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 [𝗯. 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗱] ✔

Chapter 7

"Hey Lu! Wait up" I hear Natasha's voice coming from behind me and I stop walking. 

She comes running up to me before we continue the journey towards the Top Gun classroom for our second day of dogfighting. 

"Hey Nat, what's up?" I ask the happy looking girl. Almost too happy looking girl... suspicious much? 

"Not much, what's up with you?" she answers rather quickly to be honest. 

"Uhh not much either" I reply, narrowing my eyes at the smirk that's starting to form on her face. "What's going on?" I ask. 

"You tell me" she smirked. 

"I... don't know?" I answered, giving her a confused look. 

"Really? Ms. I-am-great-at-pool-now?" she says, unable to control the giggle escaping her lips. 

"Wait what?" I ask, even more confused now. 

"Oh come on, Lu. You" she points at me, "and a certain WSO with glasses" she makes a heart with her hands. 

"What, Bob?" I ask in more disbelief. 

"Ding ding ding" she giggle, flashing me a bright smile. 

"What are you talking about?" I continue. 

"Don't play dumb with me, Nova. You guys were basically flirting the entire evening. In fact, every time I see you two together, I can practically smell the sexual tension" she says, almost in a whisper since we are approaching the base. 

"What?!" I say, unable to comprehend her words. 

Was I flirting with Bob? No, was he fliting back?!

"You heard me" she crosses her arms, looking at me like someone who just discovered my deepest darkest secret. 

"I seriously don't know what you are talking about, Nat" I say, now unable to control the pink blush that appears on my cheeks. 

"Oh but you do! You are totally blushing right now" she laughs again before I push her slightly. 

"Shut up" I frown, even though it's hard not to laugh a bit. "Let's just get to class" I finish, increasing our pace, but Natasha just laughs and follows me like nothing happened. 

✯

This time it was me, Rooster and Jake in the air as a team. I'm not sure why they coupled up three solo pilots, but I guess it was just to test us and see what would happen or something like that. 

We flew in formation, scouting for Maverick who was nowhere to be seen. But we all knew better, he was here somewhere just waiting for the right moment. 

"So uh Rooster, mind if I ask you a personal question?" My brother decides to open his mouth. 

"Would you care if I said no?" Rooster sighed over the radio. 

Hangman lets out a small chuckle before he continues, "So what's up with you and Maverick-"

"Hangman, don't!" I cut in, knowing that my brother is only trying to tease Rooster so he'll do something stupid and end up getting kicked off of the mission or something. Jake will never admit it, but he does think that Rooster is a good pilot. Maybe he's scared that Rooster will take his place on the mission or something. 

"Oh but it seems like he's got you a little rattled" Jake ignores me. 

"Shut up, Hangman" Rooster says, clearly frustrated, "Where the hell is he?" he continues, probably saying the last thing to himself more than Jake.

"Been here the whole time" out of literally fucking no where, Maverick flies up, flying upside down right above Roosters jet. 

"What the fuck?!" I exclaim, completely shocked. 

Despite their helmets and the fact that they're in a different jet, the anger and tension between them was still crystal clear. Jake was right, something is definitely going on. 

"Come on, let's get this over with" Maverick says, only focusing on Rooster as he continues to fly upside down right above him. 

"Fights on!" Rooster yells. 

Before I know it, they both dive down circling around each other. Diving deeper and deeper they get closer and closer to the ground. 

"What is with these two?" Jake asks, wildly confused. 

Both Maverick and Rooster are shouting at each other over the radio, but none of them are pulling up. This is not gonna end well. 

"Guys, you are way below 5000 feet! Pull up!" I shout, hoping that at least one of those idiots will listen. 

But none of them listen. They continue to fly around each other, heading straight for the ground. 

"Rooster, pull up!" I hope that he'll listen. 

It wasn't until the very last minute that Rooster pulls up, allowing Maverick to fly above and shoot him. A part of me forgot that we were in a dogfight, but Maverick still sends Rooster back to Hondo to do 200 push-ups since he was shot. 

"Same old Rooster" Hangman sighs and I follow him back to the base. 

✯

Hondo just walked away from Rooster, who was sweating and heavily breathing as he plopped down on the ground. I could practically feel my own arms burn from just looking at him. 

He noticed me as I approached him and took a place on the ground besides him where he sat with his head in his hands. 

"What the hell was that up there, Roost?!" I ask, almost surprised at my own outburst. I didn't mean to sound that mean. 

"Don't worry about it, Nova" he replied, but that answer did not help. 

"Don't bullshit me, Roost. You could have died, both of you could have died" I exclaim, making him look straight at me. 

At first he doesn't say anything, but after a bit of hesitation, he finally speaks, "I'm sorry..." is all he says. 

Poor Rooster. 

"What happened between you and Maverick?" I ask, my tone a lot more calm now. 

"It's complicated" Rooster says. 

"Come on, Roost. You're my friend and I care about you, but you gotta give me something. Otherwise you'll end up getting kicked out." I say, and I can see that he knows, I'm right. 

"Fine..." he hesitates again, "Maverick pulled my papers"

"What?" I ask, surprised at his words. 

"He pulled my papers for the Naval Academy. Send me back 4 years" I could see the anger and frustration in his eyes as he spoke. 

"Shit... Rooster, I'm so sorry" I said, not really sure what to say. I felt really bad for him. 

"I know, I'm stupid for letting it get to me, but I just cant help it. Every time I look at his face, all I can see is someone who ruined my life and career. Hell, he used to be like a father figure or uncle figure to me, and now I only feel anger towards him" he explained. 

"I had no idea, you felt this way" I say, giving him a sympathetic smile. 

Rooster then stands up, wiping a bit of sweat away from his forehead. 

"I'm sorry for pulling that stupid move, Nova" he apologizes again, giving me a small smile. 

"I'm just glad you're okay, Roost. And thank you for telling me" I say and despite his sweaty appearance, I give him a quick hug. 

"Now go take a shower, you stick" I laugh, smiling as he chuckles. 

"Yes ma'am" he salutes me and walks away.