Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Felicity 'Flick' March (OC)
Absence makes the heart grow fonder; that's what Flick and Jake tell themselves as they prepare for their first deployment as a couple. But being apart only highlights what they need from each oth...
Warnings: 18+ no minors please. Swearing, alcohol, war/combat violence, angst, hospitals and medical emergencies.
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If someone had asked Bradley when he woke up how he thought his Valentine's Day was going to end, he would have shrugged, waggled his eyebrows, and said, "I'll see where the day takes me."
If they sidled up to him in the canteen at lunchtime, however, his answer would have changed to "sitting in my underwear alone and staring at the bottom of a beer bottle."
The swift change in Bradley's mood was all Bob's fault. Well, more precisely, it was Bob's wife's fault. Briony was the one who had taken all the adorable photos of Bob with their baby daughter, Bonnie, whilst away on vacation and plastered them all over social media.
Bradley should have known from the sappy look on Phoenix's face when he sat down with his tray that he would be forced to spend the entire lunch break cooing over the WSO's picture-perfect family. Not that Bradley resented Bob, he was happy for his friend, but it was getting harder and harder for him to forget how far away he was from achieving the same. A partner. Kids. A family of his own.
He was broody. So ridiculously broody. And he cursed whatever branch of patriarchal society had made him assume it was a feeling only experienced by women because he wasn't at all prepared for how heavily the longing would weigh on him. Ever since Flick had made him say it aloud; to admit that he wanted to build a life with someone and be the father his own never got the chance to be, he had been internally re-evaluating every decision he'd made that led to him lacking so much.
The more he thought about it... the more he would rather not think about it.
By the time the end of the workday rolled around, Bradley had convinced himself that heading to the Hard Deck in hunt of a distraction was probably the most sensible thing to do. Yes, he might still be looking at midnight from the bottom of a beer bottle, but at least he'd be in a room of people doing the same thing.
He swung by Flick's apartment on the way to his own and spun some yarn about needing a wing woman when all he really needed was a friend. Unsurprisingly, Flick didn't need much persuading (ending Valentine's Day alone was an equally dismal prospect for her for different reasons).
They'd been at the Hard Deck for only an hour or so when things took a turn for the better.
Zak Perez waltzed into Bradley's life like the melody of a new favourite song. Armed with an endorsement from Flick, a bottle of Bradley's favourite beer, and a smile, he sidled up to him at the Pool table and immediately stole his heart.
"Feel free to turn me down, but something tells me I'd be missing out on the chance of a lifetime if I didn't introduce myself. I think you're captivating and I'd love to get to know you."
Bradley had never abandoned a game of Pool so fast.
Zak was a revelation. Bradley couldn't remember ever feeling so inexplicably drawn to someone. The gentle, slightly husky tone of his voice was an elixir, and his soft yet soul-piercing gaze was utterly absorbing.
