Only The Good Die Young (Top Gun fanfic)

How Do I Live

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Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.

Evangaline Love

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Javy Machado, callsign Coyote.

Javy.

The less Javy has to think about the times he's walked in on Jake and Bradley, the better.

Seriously. They're adults. They have to start keeping their clothes on until they're inside.

Or at least alone.

Also, they're going to die if they don't stop and rest every once and a while.

Also, he's not apologizing for shit.

He doesn't need to see the glazed look Jake gets when Bradley's putting it to him so thoroughly on the couch they're fighting over.

He's going to toss that fucking thing just to put an end to all the pale limbs he's walked in on lately.

So take that, you fuckers.

Aside from all that, he's actually pretty happy.

He and Celia have put off the wedding until after the baby is born, and Javy and Jake cried when they saw the sonogram. He's not even mad that Bradley accidentally walked in and joined them because he cried too.

Javy's going to have a little girl, and Lily Grace is already talking about taking her under her wing.

Maybe Ted and Jordan were right. Maybe Bradley's the one for Jake, and everything else is in the past.

Javy hasn't felt this light in years. Jake's going to have someone else with him until the end. Javy won't be the only one left behind to carry on when the time comes.

Maybe Bradley will stick around after, or maybe he won't, but he seems pretty determined to stick around until then, and that's enough.

Might as well take the happiness where they can.

It figures that when they finally get to this point, is when it explodes.

Javy never, ever thought he'd walk into the Hard Deck and see Julia Fallon laughing with an arm over Nat's shoulders, and the instant, crippling pain in his stomach when he does stops him in his tracks.

She was Nat's roommate in the Academy; Javy never knew that. And she tells him how she and Bradley almost dated like it's a joke.

It's like some weird twilight zone, and he barely gets off a text to Jake in time warning him to stay away. It's clear it's not the first time Julia's met the rest of them and hears stories about a few previous visits.

But what's also clear is that Natasha, who's apparently the link that brought her here, doesn't seem all that happy about it. Julia won't shut up about looking for love and wanting to get married, and Javy does his best to keep his mouth shut as she talks to everyone but him.

Javy never had much to do with her, other than than handful of times he happened to be there when she ran into Jake.

Which was more than enough, really.

She seemed fine on her own, but whenever she was around Jake, it made something in Javy's gut clench.

There was something wrong, but he couldn't put words to it.

Just a terrible, terrible feeling.

The dip before the disaster.

She smiles and laughs and is coolly polite to Javy because she knows he doesn't like her and she doesn't like him.