Only The Good Die Young (Top Gun fanfic)

I Can Still Make Cheyenne

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Never squat with your spurs on.

Cowboy Wisdom

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There are two things sacred to cowboys.

The horse and the rodeo.

There are others, obviously, family, land, pride, but the horse and the rodeo reign supreme in their hearts.

Jake was on a horse before he could walk, and Lily Grace and Dustin were only a couple of months old before he introduced them to Trigger and took them riding.

He feels just as home on a horse as he feels in the air, and whenever he goes too long without one, he starts to feel an itch under his skin. Like a sliver of glass just deep enough that he can't get it out.

Something in his chest settles when he's home on the ranch, as much as he loves the rest of the world.

That feeling was what always brought him back, no matter how far he strayed. The same feeling that always brought a Seresin back to this plot of dirt in North Texas, no matter how far they roamed.

Every morning he steps off the porch and onto the dirt. He takes a deep breath of crisp morning air and settles a little bit more.

Someday it'll be enough to stop the urge to wander.

Not yet, but someday.

The dirt on Jordan's grave is still dark, hasn't dried to match the rest in the sun yet, but there are chores and work to be done and lots of guests to manage.

Jake's not a hundred percent comfortable with having them all here, feels like the two compartments of his life are starting to overflow into one another.

He's clinging to Bradley in the face of all this loss, and he knows they're going to have to talk about it at some point, but he doesn't want to do it here.

Doesn't want to taint the feeling of the ranch with the possibility of it ending with Bradley before it really started.

How's that fair?

Jake finally gets the guy he wants but loses his brother.

Now he's only got Peter left, and Peter's almost thirty-six.

What's Jake supposed to do when it's just him?

He won't be long behind him, and then Lily Grace and Dustin will be alone.

It only takes a few minutes to saddle the horses. Mary's Trigger. His dad's Sky Lark. Brian's Cloud. Michael's Gunner. Jessie's Rum Runner. Lily's Rose. Jordan's Baby Seal which they all agreed was the stupidest name ever, but now its stuck).

Peter grabs his gelding, Storm, and Jake his mare, Bluebell. Lily Grace is almost tall enough not to need help saddling Tripper, but Dustin just holds Rain steady as Jake quickly saddles him.

It's an old tradition. For cowboys and cavalry.

The riderless horse.

The herd's getting smaller and smaller as the years go by. Jake can still remember his parents leading his first ride when Lily's Rose was the only empty saddle.

Now they set out as the sun begins to rise, riding hellbent across the prairie straight into the rising sun, chasing the people that went before them and trying to catch ghosts that are always just out of reach.

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There's an art to breaking horses. An art to dealing with all animals, really. Some people forget that humans are just animals too. Maybe that's why everyone struggles to get along.