𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 | 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 "𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫" 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞

16: rekindle

present day

bradley, jake, and i left top gun relatively late in the afternoon after our work was done and the students were being watched over by the resident assistants in their rooms. probably playing blackjack or poker with cheap chips or drinking smuggled crown royal from the glass. i smiled to myself remembering the three of us at top gun. we had been wild, and i imagined none of our students would ever be so bold as to run wild like we did.

"are you sure we aren't going to get fired for this?" jake asked.

"chester and beau don't care," bradley replied, "and even if they did, we're off the clock right now and we're not in uniform."

"we always represent the navy, bradley," i smirked referring to a time when maverick had gotten mad that we'd been out to a party in los angeles when we'd first been appointed to higher up positions. as if he hadn't done the same thing hundreds of time before.

"whatever," he snickered and jake just looked at us.

"you two are ridiculous," he said, "i'm genuinely nervous here, okay?"

"first day always puts your panties in a twist," bradley chuckled.

"i'm gonna need more and more alcohol the longer i'm around you," he muttered as we walked into the somewhat crowded beach bar where penny bartended.

"margarita, please," i smiled and she turned around, grinning.

"well, well, well-" her jaw dropped when she saw hangman standing there in all of his glory with the two of us. "holy shit! jake!"

"hi, penny," he smiled.

"when did you get back here?" she asked him.

"a few days ago," he replied.

"he's working at top gun," i smiled excitedly.

"just like old times," penny smiled as she started to pour the margarita mix into a cup.

"and we'll get the tab this time," i said extending my card.

"not happening," she raised an eyebrow, "we've been through this."

"penny-" i tried to protest.

"(y/n), you're all basically like family to me," she said, "i consider you my kids."

"thanks mom," bradley smiled playfully.

"don't push it, bradley," she smiled.

we walked out onto the beach and saw it was pretty much empty. we put all of our drinks down on the picnic table that had been added after we'd graduated from top gun. i handed the margarita to bradley who took a sip from it then started to cough.

"bradley," i took the marg from his hands and he coughed again, "are you okay?"

"yeah, yeah," he said as he stopped coughing, "i just...is that amanda?"

"what?" jake turned his head quickly and sure enough there she stood smiling at us, her feet in the sand. she had on a crocheted crop top and a pair of wide leg jeans.

"oh my..." he couldn't process a single thought as she waved to us with a large grin across her face. he got up from the table and ran across the beach, picking her up and spinning her around in a circle.

"did you know about this?" bradley turned and asked me with a smile in his eyes.

"i might have found amanda in the phone book after stalking her facebook to make sure she was single and then i may have given her a phone call and asked her some questions that led to her saying she still loved hangman," i shrugged.

"you are so sly," bradley shook his head with a smile.

"you know jake never would have done it," i answered.

"true," bradley nodded in agreement, "but how did you...how'd you know to call her?"

"i just felt like i should," i said, "sometimes things are just obvious."

"what'd you ask her?" he asked me.

"it's girl code not to say," i answered.

"oh c'mon (y/n), you know you can tell me anything," he replied.

"and why would i do that?" i asked.

"because you love me and i love you," he smiled.

"i literally just asked her if she still loved jake," i said, "she almost hung up on me then i said he was back and he missed her and still loved her and she started crying."

"i guess old habits aren't the only things that die hard," he replied, "old feelings do, too."

"it's funny watching us all rekindle," i said, "you know, we've all been separated for years and now it's all like it was."

"i kind of hope it never ends, (y/n)," he said, "this nostalgia feels too good to let go of."

"even if it all changes, at least we have each other now," i laid my head on his shoulder and he pulled me in closer.

"i couldn't ask for anything more," he replied.