Fly With Me // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter Seven

It had been a couple of hours since the blowout between Rooster and Hangman. Sophie wanted to give him a little while to cool down before she went to try and talk to him. She had been worried about him but knew it was best to leave him alone for a while. When enough time had passed, she made her way to his room a couple of doors down from hers.

"Hey," Sophie quietly knocks on the door. After a couple of minutes, the door opens with a blank-faced Rooster on the other side. He lets her in with a nod of his head. Sophie cautiously follows him in, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he replies shortly. He walks around his apartment doing small things to make himself look busy. He avoids looking at the woman in his room at all costs.

Sophie has dealt with all kinds of moods Rooster has been in, even times when he was angry with Hangman. This was different though. It felt personal. He wouldn't even look at her. "I'm sorry about Hangman. That was fucked up of him."

Rooster stays silent and looks through some papers on his table. If he looks at Sophie, then he'll cave to her and he's not ready to let go of what Hangman said yet.

"Is there anything I can do for you," she tries again. She can tell that he was trying to close himself off to her, but she wasn't going to give up yet. Rooster wouldn't if the roles were reversed.

Silence falls over the two for more than a few minutes. Sophie awkwardly stands there, twiddling with her thumbs. She was hoping that he'd eventually say something to her. Anything. Or at the very least look at her. After a few more minutes, she catches on that he may just need some space from her. She sighs and heads for the door. His silence upset her, but it was understandable.

Her hand is on the doorknob when Rooster finally speaks up, "Why do you even stick by his side?" He knew it wasn't a fair question to ask the girl, but one he needed to ask anyways. He knew their history and he had always felt like there was more to it than she let on.

She looked at him through her peripheral. "He's the only family I have. You know that." Her tone is more reserved than it was before. Almost like she was walking on eggshells, which is something she never felt like she had to do with Bradley. She knew that Jake was far from being a perfect man, but he was all she had left.

"Do you agree with what he said?"

"What," she asks confused. The question catches her off guard.

"What he said about my flying. Do you agree with it?" His voice raises a couple of octaves, not to the point of yelling, but it was clear in his voice that he was frustrated.

She looks at the ground and he knows her answer. He nods his head, angry that he now had no one who believed in him. "Nice." He tries to walk away, but Sophie grabs his hand to stop him.

"I don't agree with what he said, Bradley."

"Your body language says otherwise," he spits at the girl before yanking his arm away. He sits on the couch with his head in his hands. He was determined to prove everyone wrong, even if it meant Sophie was a part of that group now.

She closes the door and follows him to the couch, taking a seat next to him. She leaves a small space between them and puts her hands on her knees, taking a breath before speaking. "Look, I do think you've been flying a little conservative, but I don't agree with him saying you're not cut out for this mission."

"Then tell me, Razor," his voice raises a little, "What do you think?"

She rolls her eyes at him calling her by her callsign. He was trying to separate her pilot self and her regular self. It was impossible though because Razor and Sophie were the same person. She was the same person in the air as she was on the ground. It was one of the many things that he loved about her.

"I think that you're by the book and that's great because you're an amazing pilot, but sometimes you have to throw the book out the window. This is a mission that no one has ever been on before and in order to complete it and get home, we have to push ourselves beyond what the books says."

He carefully takes in her words and thinks about them for a minute. "We could've made it with the way I was flying," he whispers. Sophie's words felt like a punch in the gut to him. He knew she didn't mean for them to be, but it didn't make him feel that any less.

She sighs, "We wouldn't have. We need to go faster," she paused before continuing. This is about more than just Hangman calling him out. It goes deeper than that, "You have to listen to what Mav is telling us. It's the only way to make it out alive. This is the only way to fly this mission." She squeezes his hand, trying to reassure him.

Rooster lays his head on Sophie's shoulder. He knows his fight isn't with her, it isn't even with Hangman, even though he's still a dick. His fight is with Maverick. It has been since he pulled his papers from the Naval Academy. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You're allowed to be mad at Hangman and Mav, but you can't let it get in the way of your training." She runs her hand through his hair, attempting to comfort him.

"But I'm not allowed to be mad at you for something you didn't do. I know Hangman is all you have, so I'm sorry for even saying anything." They finally make eye contact for the first time all night. Longing is in his eyes. He needs her.

Sophie recognizes the lust filled eyes of his and slowly moves to straddle him. She bends down and kisses him slowly. She wants him to feel her, really feel her presence, and know that she's always been in his corner. She always would be too. Because what she feels for him is something that she's never felt for anyone before. She doesn't even know how to put it into words.

Their lips move in slow synchronization as she moves her hands to the bottom of his shirt. She tugs on it and lifts it over his head, revealing his toned abs. She sucked in a breath before throwing the shirt behind the two of them. Their lips reconnect, but this time they move much faster and more desperately. They needed each other. They have since the first time they met over eight years ago. Rooster swiftly moves Sophie so that he's on top of her on the couch and he removes her shirt.

He looks over her body in awe and grins. "You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever laid eyes on." She can't help the smile that makes its way to her lips. Rooster moves his lips to her neck, leaving a trail of fire everywhere his lips touch.

The rest of the night was blissful. It was exactly what Rooster needed. He needed Sophie. She was always the one to pull him out of his head. He couldn't imagine life without her. He realizes at that moment that he was fucked.