•clueless•

•25•

"Good news!" Rooster's voice echoes through the Hard Deck as he joined me at the bar. "Spill." I smile, turning towards him.

"My leave request got accepted. I'm all yours." He beams, leaning against the bar. "Great! I'll let Sienna know." I nod, rounding the corner to press a kiss on his lips briefly. He returns it, his hand resting on my hip.

"I gotta get back to work, but tell the group I said hi." I smile, stepping back to get back to work.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" A customer calls, earning my attention and drawing my mind away from Rooster.

•••

"You ready?" I ask, glancing over at Bradley as we exited the plane. "For?" He asks, placing a hand on my back to lead me in a direction. "Meeting my friends from high school." I reply, looking for the baggage claim.

"I'm actually excited. I get to see little glimpses of you back then." He responds, motioning to the baggage claim sign ahead.

"Now I want to meet your high school friends." I teased, reaching forward and placing my hand on his bicep from behind as we walked. He playfully shakes his head, a soft but warm smile on his perfect lips.

The two of us approached the baggage claim, happily enjoying each other's presence. "I got it." Bradley chirps, reaching down and grabbing my suitcase before handing it to me. "Thank you, B." I leaned up, pressing a kiss on his cheek before looking for his suitcase.

"Rae!" My name echoes. Glancing over, I see Sienna rushing towards me with Ravi trailing behind with a soft smile as he watches her.

"Sienna!" I exclaimed, pushing my suitcase towards Bradley before rushing towards her. "I missed you!" She exclaimed, engulfing me in a hug. "I missed you too! It's nice to see you!" I beam, swaying us as Ravi approached. "Hey, Ravi. Long time no see." I greet, gently pulling away from Sienna. "Hey, Rae. Nice to see you." He chuckled, greeting me with a friendly hug.

"I'm sorry my mom couldn't make it. She had to go to some meetings for her bar." I respond, pulling back. "No worries! We completely understand." Sienna smiles, practically bouncing on her heels.

Glancing back, I see Rooster waiting for his suitcase. Noticing it near me, I reached down and pulled it off for him.

"Babe, I got it." I call, pulling up the handle as he glances up. He was tired, I could tell by his eyes. He grabs mine, joining my side.

"You guys, this is my boyfriend Bradley. Bradley, this is Sienna and Ravi." I introduced them, intertwining my free hand with Bradley's.

"It's nice to meet you guys. Congratulations!" Bradley brightly smiles, extending his hand for a handshake. They smile, enthusiastically returning the handshake.

"Thanks, man! So, I hear you're a navy aviator?" Ravi asks. "Uh, yeah! I have been for awhile." He happily responds, glancing at me briefly. "Let's continue this conversation in the car, you two look exhausted." Sienna laughs, motioning for us to follow her.

Holding onto Bradley's suitcase, I gently let go of his hand to follow Sienna to let them talk. "They seem to be hitting it off." Sienna laughs, glancing back at the two of them behind us.

"Honestly, though." I laugh, following outside to her car. It was a two hour ride back to my hometown.

The two of them continue to hit it off as they packed up the car, forcing us to sit in the car. "It's a long ride back so I suggest you two get some rest." Ravi chuckled as they climbed into the car, Rooster and I in the back.

"You guys hungry or anything?" Sienna asks from the passenger seat while Ravi starts up the car. "Not really, are you?" Bradley turns to me as he buckled up. Shaking my head, I turned to Sienna.

"I can't believe you still have this car. You two remember when it cut out on the highway?" I laugh, glancing at Bradley. "Don't remind me." Sienna laughs, glancing back briefly.

Smiling, I turned to Bradley beside me. He smiles, gently pulling me closer to him. Resting my head on his shoulder, I listened to Sienna and Ravi talk. My eyes flutter closed as I feel Rooster rest his head against mine.

•••

"Rae! It's so nice to see you again!" Sienna's mom, Fiona, greets as we entered their house. We had freshened up in our hotel room, taking a short nap before meeting up with everyone. "Hi! It's nice to see you!" I beamed, engulfing her in a hug. "Ravi! Let him breathe!" Sienna laughs, nudging her fiancé.

"Fiona, this is my boyfriend Bradley. Bradley, this is Sienna's mom Fiona." I introduced, smiling brightly at Bradley as he joined us. "It's nice to meet you. You have a beautiful house." He greets. "Oh, thank you!" She exclaims, glancing at me. "He's a keeper." She affirms, shaking his hand.

"Anyways, we're going out to lunch, you wanna come with?" Ravi asks Fiona as Bradley's arm wraps around my waist. Pressing his lips against my forehead, he rubbed my back. "Perfect timing, I'm starving." Fiona nods, grabbing her keys off the kitchen island. Fixing my glasses, I watched everyone get ready to leave.

"We'll have your dad meet us there." Fiona tells her daughter as we leave the house.

Piling into Sienna's car, I sit between Ravi and Bradley who are continuing to talk. "Rae, how's your mom and sister?" Fiona asks as the car starts up.

"They're good!" I beamed, leaning forwards to hear her better. "I heard you met your dad! How'd that go, if you don't mind me asking?" She asks. "Uh, it was a bit weird at first but we're getting to know each other." I respond, nodding. "That's good!" Fiona responds.

------

"So? How're you liking my hometown?" I ask, sitting down next to Bradley on our hotel bed. He looks up from his phone, his brown eyes settling on my blue eyes as he puts down his phone. "Your friends are really nice. Ravi even told me some embarrassing stories from high school." Bradley smirks.

"No! I'm going to kill him!" I exclaim, lying down beside him. Rooster laughs, scooting closer to me and wrapping an arm around me to pull me closer. My head instinctively buries into the crook of his neck.

"It was cute, love. You really asked some waiter for his number all those years ago and never got it?" Rooster teases me. "I'm going to murder him and you if you don't stop." I feel the warmth creep onto my cheeks. "It's cute!" Rooster responds, pressing a kiss on top of my head.

"It's embarrassing, B. How would you like it if I made fun of your embarrassing moments?" I tease him right back. My head lifts just enough to look up at him. "I'd make you stop talking." Bradley smirks, his eyes softening as he looks at me.

"Oh? How so?" I grin, cocking my head to the side.

"I think you know how I would."