𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 ༄ 𝗷. 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗻

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗

Jake woke up out of another cold sweat inducing nightmare.

They had become more prominent in the past month, since everything went to shit. He had reversed all of the progress he had been making and was blowing off therapy sessions for nights out at the bar. Not that he would admit it, but he had become one of the biggest playboys again. His squadron members swore he had taken home a different woman every night. Jake's coping mechanism was ruining everything for him.

Jake looked over his shoulder, at some random brunette woman in his bed. He didn't even know how she had got there in the first place. He got out of bed and got ready for the work day, hoping the woman would take it as a cue to leave.

But alas she didn't.

When he came out of his bathroom she was awake and laying on his bed like she owned it.

"I had fun last night Jake." She purred.

"Uh, yeah me too." He brushed her off and continued to get ready.

"Aren't you going to stay longer?" She pouted.

"No, I have to go to work." He replied bluntly.

"You can go in late." Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"I really cannot, so would you be so kind and leave...uh" Shit he forgot her name.

"You don't remember my name? Asshole." She scoffed and began grabbing her discarded clothes from the previous night. Just as she was about to leave the room she turned around sharply. "My name is Beatrix by the way." She slammed the door behind her.

"Good riddance." He muttered underneath his breath.

How did he always manage to find the worst women. Sure he was only looking for one night stands, but he always chose the women with the most horrific personalities. Or maybe it was the fact he was looking for a certain someone in the likes of someone else. He shook his head and grabbed his duffel from his mess of a desk and threw it into his truck. He lived fairly close to the Corpus Christi Naval Base, despite not living on base, like some of his other squadron members were. Jake hadn't met most of them before arriving there five years ago, but he was somewhat close with them. The only one he knew was Lt. Billy "Fritz" Avalone who had transferred over from the Dagger Squadron, due to his wife being transferred over to work under the supervising Captain Joshua "Forest" Elderwood. Their squadron was VT-31 Wise Owls, which consisted of 6 fighter pilots and 6 foxtrot teams. The Wise Owls were one of the two advanced squadrons stationed in the base.

Jake couldn't lie to anyone, he missed all of his friends back in California but he couldn't bear to go back there. At least not yet anyway. He parked his truck and got out, grabbing his duffel from the backseat. He greeted some of his fellow aviators as he walked in but kept the small talk to a minimum. He put his duffel in his locker and put on his flight suit. Jake adjusted his dog tags, his finger tips grazing over the indentation of Bhavika's name on one of them. Billy walked up next to him and he quickly put them underneath his shirt.

"You don't have to hide those from me. I already know what's on them" Billy chuckled and Jake shrugged. "If you are so over her why do you keep it on there?"

"I'd really rather not talk about this today." Jake asked him and Billy surrendered.

"Alright, I'm sorry won't bring it up again."

The walked out of the locker room and headed to training.

᯾⁂𖣔⁂᯾

They ran drills for what felt like hours, so when Jake found out they were actually in the sky for hours he wasn't surprised. He pulled his phone out of his bag and opened the one text on his phone.

Javy: Me and Cassie are here in Texas. Meet us at the Altitude bar 4 pm.

Great. He loved his best friend but he hadn't talked to him since Christmas Eve a month ago. Not to mention he was bringing along Cassie Kazansky who definitely didn't need to be present,but he couldn't turn Javy's girlfriend away.

He packed up his stuff and quickly left base. He showed and changed when he got home and quickly left again, as the e pm mark was fast approaching. He pulled into the parking lot of the less appealing version of the Hard Deck, Corpus Christi could offer. Jake quickly spotted his friend sitting at a booth in the back corner of the bar. He ordered his beer and joined the couple at the table.

"Jake it's nice to see you again." Javy said leaning over the table.

"You too." He replied. "So what are you two doing here?"

"Well. Billy has been giving me updates on you." Javy started and Jake felt extremely betrayed. "He's been telling me, you've blown off therapy sessions, taking home excessive amounts of women and that you haven't seen your family since Christmas. Jake what the fuck do you think you are doing?"

Jake was angered, but also completely ashamed of himself. "I don't know." He mumbled.

"You've become Jake 1.0 again. This happened right after Madison." Jake flinched at the name. "We just want to help you."

"Jake, hon this isn't healthy." Cassie spoke up and he looked at her.

"Respectfully Cass, I don't think I was talking to you." Jake snapped at the woman.

"Respectfully Seresin you need to man the fuck up and take advice when someone is giving it to you." She retorted harshly, shutting Jake up.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? You are only making it harder for you to cope with the pain." Javy asked him.

"It hurts less, than actually accepting that she may never remember me again."

"So resorting to women and drinking is the best way to deal with that?" Cassie asked him.

"It's the only way I know how to." Jake realized where he had learned the tactic.

His father.

Maybe he was a bastard just like his father. Maybe he deserved everything that had gone wrong in his life.

"Jake, are you ready for this piece of information I'm going to give you." Cassie asked him and he nodded. "I think it's time you come back to California. I think it would do you some good to get back there."

Jake didn't know what to think.

On one hand, he missed his friends back in California. He wished everyday that he hadn't cut them out, yet he did it anyway all those years ago, it was one of his biggest regrets. But, on the other hand, his entire family was here in Texas and he had only lived there for 5 years, it had been to short of a time to consider moving back. Jake was on the fence.

"You can take your time, with this decision." Javy let him know and Jake nodded. "Me and Cass will be here throughout the rest of the week. We don't want to push you in this decision."

"No you are completely right." Jake agreed with Javy, much to his surprise. He had not expected him so agree so quickly.

"Are you sure, you can have more time to think." Cassie offered.

"No I've made my decision. I can't turn into my father, I don't want to ever be like that son of a bitch." Jake said with determination. "I'll go back with you."

"You're sure?" Javy asked for confirmation.

"I'm sure." Jake replied to his friend, with the first real smile that had come to his face in over a month.

Jake Seresin had come to his senses again. With the help of Javy, and Cassie as well.

He made the best decision for his mental state. And decided right then and there to move back to California.