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simpledyiing · 2 years

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From Paper to Reality ∥ P. Mitchell

Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x (Student) Y/N

Word count - 7k

Y/CS - Your call sign (EX. Hollywood, Dutch, Barbie)

Summary: Y/N has a crush on her instructor, Maverick but can't act on it… haha unless... FUCKING ANGST

A/N: I'm sorry if this is complete shit, please have mercy on my soul. AND No hate to Rooster, I absolutely love him so don't come for me. If anyone wants to get drunk and sing along with Seresin - the song is linked here on Youtube fire by the pointer sisters

1986 — Texas, United States of America

The sun was shining through the little quaint suburb as the birds chirped in sync with sprinklers as they pelt droplets of water on the earth below. The only thing breaking the rhythm was the Paper boy’s bicycle wheels and the thuds of the daily paper hitting against the door to land perfectly on the Y/L/N’s welcome mat.

At the tell-tale sign of the daily paper being just outside the door, Y/N’s mother was bouncing a fussy three year old on her hip. She made her way through the living room to reach the front door, while speaking in a gentle tone considering she has spent the last 10 minutes trying to calm Y/N down, but unfortunately nothing was working. “Aww sweetie pie, what’s the matter? Huh, what’s got you crying like this… shhh it’s okay baby” after placing a gentle kiss on the crying child’s forehead, Y/N’s mother swung the door open and bent down to retrieve the daily newspaper, and at that the crying stopped. The tired woman looked down at the child in her arms and noticed Y/N was hyper-fixated on the front cover photo of a Handsome brunette pilot smiling in front of an F-14 surrounded by several crew members “Huh a Naval pilot really, Your daddy might have a bit of a problem with that sweetcheeks”

Y/N’s crying fit started the second her mother took the paper from her clinging little hands, after a good ten minutes Y/N’s wish was granted as the front cover of the paper was laid in front of her sitting position “Tanks momma” slipped the little girl’s lips as she smiled down at the paper.

The front door of the Y/L/N’s home was gently opened as Y/N’s father peeked into the house to try and not disturb Y/N if she was asleep, but as he walked further into the living room he noticed his daughter was absent from her usual spot, he was ripped from his confused state when he heard a noise coming from the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen his gaze checked the surrounding area to try and find the little terror known as his daughter, but at last Y/N was not in the kitchen “Hey honey, uh where’s Y/N at? The little munchkin isn't in the living room” all he got in response was a tired sigh escaping his wife’s lips before she closed the oven door “I don’t even know at this point, I think she’s sitting under the stairs.. but how was your day hun?” the sound of a chair scraping along the hardwood filled the quiet kitchen, as he dropped his weight into the seat “It was good besides Daniel being a dickhead but that’s normal…. Uh, Honey where is the front page of the paper?”

The sound of his wife’s laugh filtered through the surrounding air “Your daughter” lifting his gaze from the little black symbols covering the page towards his wife “what do you mean Y/N” confusion was laced through his words as he simply stared dumbfounded at the woman in front of him, waiting for her to continue. “Well, you see your sweet little princess is in love! Y/N started crying after you left for work and pretty much spent the whole day balling her eyes out. She finally stopped crying when the paper came with some naval pilot on the front cover. I took the paper away and she started crying again soooo the front page is hers, don’t even think about taking it away from her cuz if you do, I will beat you three ways to Sunday”

Y/N’s father blinked three times processing the information that just flooded his brain, “She stopped crying because of some pilot on the front page?” with a simple nod from his wife, the chair scraped once against the wood as he heads towards the cubby under the staircase, but the soft floral dress hiding under an end table caught his attention, bending down to see his smiling daughter holding the front cover of the paper “Hiii daddy” he couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, “Hi princess, what do you have there?” Y/N reached her arms out to show her father the front page “Mommy said I could have it!” before Y/N knew it she was being pulled out from under the table and into her father’s arms “Hmmm Honey, you are a little too young for boys, and I rather you stay away from military men”

After that Y/N’s mother went around the neighborhood and asked if she could have their front cover page of the newspaper, considering this naval pilot by the name of Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell was the only thing that stopped her daughter from crying endless amounts of tears…. She wasn’t going to risk losing this gift from the skies so she ended up with a stockpile of 43 cover photos of Lt. Mitchell, she even laminated a few and stored the rest in a ziplock bag with parchment paper separating each paper.. Just to be safe!

2000 - Texas, United States of America

The Y/L/N’s resident was filled with laughter and inflated overlapping voices that floated through the baby pink balloons and glittery party streamers that cascaded down from the ceiling, it was Y/N’s seventeenth birthday.

Y/N was currently surrounded by her four aunties, that were currently on attempt #5 of trying to set her up with several different boys, that they know ‘you aren’t getting any younger’ was their chant of the day. The only thing saving the poor girl was her father, “My princess doesn’t care about boys, she’s too busy picking which Ivy league university she is attending, isn't that right pumpkin?” a nervous laugh slipped past her lips accompanied with “Yes, sir! Haha have you seen mom?” the four women surrounding them rolled their eyes, as a proud smile formed on her father’s face “She is in the kitchen, hun” Y/N quickly nodded thanks towards her dad as she made her way towards the kitchen.

The heat radiating from the oven warmed the air around, as a gentle hum floats through the kitchen “Momma, I need to talk to you about something” Y/N’s mother turned her gaze away from the half-frosted cake sitting on the counter towards her daughter “What’s wrong, baby?” Y/N sighed as she dragged herself to sit in the empty chair in front of her mother “Momma, y’know how dad wants me to go to a big ivy league college… well I don’t want to... I-I want to join the Navy and become a pilot” the icing spatula in her mother’s hand fell to the ground with a soft plop “YOU WHAT?” she winced slightly at her mother’s predictable reaction “Mom, you have known this for years. This is all I have ever wanted since I was three years old. Please I need your help I don’t know how to tell Dad, I know he’s going to be extremely pissed off that his pride and joy rather go to naval boot camp than Baylor or A&M but this is what I want to do, will you please help me?” Her mother was silent as she cleaned the dropped spatula under the faucet, before shifting her gaze towards her daughter “Baby if this is what you want, I support you no matter what… We can figure out how to break the news to your father after dinner, okay? But you are a 1000% sure, that this is what you want to do?” Y/N didn’t hesitate as the words pushed off her tongue “Yes, I’m 1 million percent sure, that this is what I want” after a few moments of silence, a heavy sigh passed Y/N’s mother’s lips “Well honey, I’m not going to crush your dreams or spirit, that what life is for” shaking her head as she reached out to hug her daughter.

The day came when Y/N broke the news to her father, as ‘United States Naval Academy’ slipped off her tongue that was the moment she saw the light disappear from his eyes as confusion and disappointment took over. Y/N’s Father thought she was sitting him down to tell him the great news, that she finally decided on a University.. At that moment he knew he should’ve thrown out a certain newspaper, but he knew nothing was going to change Y/N’s mind and opted for the peaceful route of supporting his daughter’s decision. Considering he knew Y/N was going to put everything she had into it and would be top of her class ‘When’ she goes to Top Gun….Which he was correct about, and bragged about even years after she graduated from top gun.

2020 - USS Carl Vinson

If someone told Lt. Y/N ‘Y/CS’ Y/L/N that she would be back at Top Gun she would have called them crazy and laughed in their faces, well that was Y/N’s exact reaction as her superior notified her of her call-back status. Y/N’s time at Top Gun was a love-hate relationship considering she learned her weaknesses and sharpened her skills, and also crossed paths with her best friend, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace. Looking from an outside perspective Y/N had everything and she was envied by her fellow peers, not only was she always top of the class because of her flying skills but the instructors loved her.

But Y/N didn’t have everything, she was in a deep state of depression and was only truly happy when she was flying, considering her three year long relationship with her fiance fell apart when he cheated on her, after that heartbreak her mother was diagnosed with cancer…. but the heaviest hit was her mother dying a two weeks before her graduation.

However, all of those memories and emotions were pushed aside when Phoenix pulled Y/N into a long overdue hug. Even though Y/N was dreading tomorrow, it was still comforting to see a friendly familiar face and I guess… Hangman’s too even though she spent 4 months on a naval carrier with him a couple of months prior to this.

The ringing of a bell filtered through the cramp barroom as it roared to life with cheering, as patrons made their way over to the bar’s counter just as Hangman was weaving through with two glasses in his hands and his trademark smirk. “What’s got you so happy?” Y/N’s words were punctuated with the full glasses landing against the hardwood table “Drinks are on the old guy at the bar, tsk tsk Grandpa didn’t read the sign” Y/N tilted her head to catch a glimpse of the poor guy at the bar but gave up shortly afterwards “hmm I don’t know why you are getting giddy over that, considering you will be that old guy sitting at a bar alone in 10 years” Hangman’s smirked dropped at the thought before leaning closer to his female counterpart “Oh Honey don’t tell me you forgot about our little deal…” as his words drifted through the surrounding air it sparked curiosity in the WSO sitting across, pushing his glasses up along with ‘What Deal?” The groan that emitted from Y/N was a tell-tale sign to stop the conversation but Seresin ignored her protests “Well you see my dear friend, Y/N and I made a deal that if we weren’t married in 10 years.. Well 8 years now, we would get married” the smirk never left his face, even after Phoenix slapped Y/N’s arm “Are you serious right now? Y/N I thought better of you, I am so disappointed and offended right now” rubbing the spot just assaulted by the firey brunette “What I was drunk at the time and wHy are you offended?” her confused state dropped as Natasha replied with “I’m offended because you didn’t ask me first for a marriage pact” Seresin swallowed down his beer before standing up to head over to the pool tables with a “Should have been faster Phoenix, cuz that ass is going to be mine in 8 years” ….

The room was dark except for the moonlight cascading through the window, usually that would be a comfort to her but Y/N was too focused on trying to match her breathing to the low melody coming from the chirping crickets outside her window considering sleep was evading her. Anxiety was washing over her like the California waves gliding over the shoreline, which led her to stare blankly at the small depressions lining the surface of her bedroom ceiling as she flipped through her memories as if it was an old photo album. Y/N knew this was a dangerous past time, but she couldn’t help but indulge this sadistic need as she thought about how tightly her mother embraced her before being torn apart from one another as Y/N left for the Navy. She could still hear her mother’s crying pleas for her to be safe and telling her to try and call, as her father sent her a proud smile accompanied by “Give ‘em hell, pumpkin.”

Y/N’s thoughts soon drifted through what-ifs… how her life would have been so different if she went to that Ivy league school, that her father wanted so desperately for her. She started to wonder if she should thank her 3-year-old self or curse her, considering if she never threw that crying tantrum that morning, she would have never found out about the United States Navy in the form of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell plastered across the front page of the newspaper. But in all honesty not all the blame could be pushed onto three year old Y/N, considering her mother collected 43 copies of the newspaper’s cover and even framed it… at that thought Y/N’s gaze drifted from the off-white ceiling towards the dresser, where three picture frames sat proudly atop of the worn wood; a family photo, a teenage Y/N clinging onto her childhood dog, and the old 1986’s newspaper cover.

She couldn't help but shake her head as a laugh slipped through her lips, considering how ridiculous she was as if she was still that crying three year old girl clinging to the ivory colored newspaper for comfort, as if Lt. Pete Mitchell in paper form was going to dry her tears and hush her worries, unfortunately the thought was cut short when the blaring sound of her alarm disrupted the silence.

The room was spacious but it still didn’t help to drown out her peers' loud chattering, nor the argument brewing between Rooster and Hangman but soon none of that mattered considering Y/N’s focus was aimed at the desk, where a dark blue cup sat with NAVY plastered across the front in bold gold font. Her attention shifted from the design to imagine how long the cup had been abandoned for considering steam stopped rising from it ten minutes ago, and most importantly who left it.

Y/N’s daydreaming was cut off once again almost like deja vu of this morning the only difference was instead of her alarm, it was Hangman producing the annoying sound. Y/N slowly tilted her head to look up at Seresin’s smirking face “Aww did the baby get tired of Bradshaw already?”

Hangman shifted back and forth while rolling his eyes at the younger pilot “No, I just rather spend some quality time with you, sweetheart.. Plus you are a lot easier on the eyes than Bradshaw, so move over” Y/N huffed out a laugh as Bradshaw muttered a ‘fuck you’ but complied with Hangman’s request and moved over to the unoccupied seat. Shortly after that it didn’t take long for Phoenix to drop down next to her, as y’all waited patiently for the instructor to show.

The sound of boots hitting cement over and over echoed through the room as the previously rowdy aviators waited with bated breaths as their heads turned in the direction of the entrance to get a single glance at their instructor.

A mere glimpse of the man’s face was all it took considering three year old Y/N spent hours looking at that man, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The emotions that flooded her system were a mixture of excitement and mortification as she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming, unfortunately the quiet “fuck me no no no” slipped through her lips, which caught Phoenix’s attention as her eyes shifted from Maverick to Y/N “What’s wrong?” Ignoring her, Y/N tilted her head towards Maverick as he lifted the Navy cup off the desk to meet his lips, Which answered Y/N’s previous question as she caught the slight grimace taking over his facial expression as he willed himself to swallow down the cold coffee.

As Maverick’s gaze shifted from the manila folders laid out on the desk to lock eyes with her, the warm comforting smile he sent her way, only frightened the pilot more.. And at that moment Y/N knew her Love-Hate relationship with Top Gun would once repeat itself..

Grunting between deep exhales of air was accompanied by Y/N’s tired sigh escaping her lips as she pushed herself back down just to repeat another sixty times. This was her punishment considering Bradshaw had a tantrum in the sky and bailed as her wingman to go after Maverick, which result in Rooster being ‘shot’ and Y/N a couple of minutes afterwards.

“I’m sorry Y/CS, I should have stuck to the plan” filtered through a low grunt as Rooster pushed his body up from the planked position, “It’s okay birdboy, I was planning on doing 200 pushups after we got back anyways!... but just don’t leave me hanging next time please” Rooster nodded at Y/N as she reached her punishment goal before collapsing face first into the concert to try and cool herself down.

Maverick huffed out a laugh at Y/N’s state “That’s 200 Y/L/N, you are done for the day.. And good job out there” Y/N’s bad mood shifted to pure joy from hearing his praise, but the only response she could muster in her current state was slowly pulling her right arm up to give him a thumbs up.

At the moment Y/N was currently in the Love part of her relationship with Top Gun, considering she was learning how to perfect her dogfighting skill from her hero but was also developing a friendly/flirty relationship with Maverick. She was in pure bliss until her father showed up “Pumpkin!” echoed through the Hard Deck as the familiar voice pierced her ears.

Y/N’s face dropped as she tilted her head away from Maverick to the man approaching her “Oh fuck… Dad! What are you doing here? And how did you know I was even here?” Upon seeing his daughter’s face, a warm smile grew as he finally reached his little girl “I wanted to surprise you! So I called Natasha and she told me I would find you here… and I just wanted to check up on you, considering you’re back at Top Gun”

Before Y/N could respond to her dad, Seresin’s voice broke the silence “Pumpkin? Huh cute” her soft smile dropped as she sent him a death glare over her father’s shoulder.

Y/N pulled herself from her father’s embrace and shifted towards the team as she introduced everyone, he interrupted her before she could finish “Isn’t that the guy from the front page of the newspaper that you were obsessed with? God it’s like from paper to reality huh” Y/N’s smile dropped as she blinked three times as Maverick’s voice filtered through the suffocating air around her “Newspaper?.. Wait was it from the 80s?”

Y/N flinched as her father clapped his hands together “Yes, 1986 front page of the daily paper! When Y/N was younger she was obsessed with it, you were the only thing that could stop my little girl from crying, No matter what” Y/N felt her father nudge her but no words were formed “Honey, do you still have that thing hanging up in your room” when no response was giving he continued “She probably does, considering she took it with her when she joined the Navy…. But I got to say it’s an honor to meet the man that made my job easier, considering all the boys in her hometown envied you and she didn’t even bat an eye at them. She was too busy gawking at yo…” her father’s words fell flat as they muffled against Y/N’s hand “DAd, stop talking now… we are leaving now” without waiting for a reply Y/N dragged him with her towards the door, Y/N’s father waved goodbye as he involuntarily followed.

Hangman was holding his stomach as he laughed out “Oh that’s beautiful, Thank you, Phoenix for giving me this ammunition to use against her” Phoenix’s head shot up before setting her jaw “ Don’t be an ass, bagman” Seresin rolled his eyes at the angry brunette and shifted his line of sight to the aging captain “Oh apple of Y/N’s eyes” after the words slipped thru his lips a pained ‘ow’ accompanied it as Phoenix decked him.

The hard deck was filled with overlapping voices and laughter, as the team crowded around the pool table and surrounding chairs, Y/N instead made a beeline towards the chair against the bar counter considering she was tired of being the butt of the joke, No one seemed to notice.. Except for Maverick.

Which is how he found himself filling the empty seat to her left after a few moments he nudged her “Hey Y/CS, you okay?” Y/N tilted her head to meet his gaze before a heavy sigh was released “Well, considering Hangman has nicked you as ‘Apple of Y/N’s eyes’ mmm and my dad is staying with me for the week, I think I could be better y’know…” a slight hum in agreeance followed her words “Mav, can we just pretend that last night never happened?”

A laugh filtered around the two of them “Was it really that embarrassing for you? I thought it was sweet especially since all the boys in your hometown envied me, little bit of an ego boost… But I am curious do you still have it hanging up” Y/N sat in silence as she sucked in a deep breath “Yes it really was embarrassing for me, but I am so thrilled you are getting a kick out of this.. And yeah it’s still up, but the reason has changed over time. Yeah I had a massive crush on you, but you were the reason why I joined the Navy, I admired you and I still do but after I graduated from Top Gun the reason changed…”

Penny interrupted your thought process as she laid drinks in front of yall, Maverick shot her a small smile with a ‘thank you’ before turning his attention back to Y/N “why did it change..what is the reason now?” but she didn’t reciprocate the action, instead she just stared blankly at the bubbles rising to the top of her beer “When I was little, I would cry endlessly after my dad would leave for work and then one day I saw you on the front page and the crying just stopped. After that my mom went around the neighborhood and collected ‘43’ copies of the front cover, just to make sure I would always have you there to comfort me… So yeah the reason now, it reminds me of my mother’s love, considering not many people would go through the hassle just to make sure I wouldn’t cry ever again…” a thud followed as she pushed her glass back and forth, “it’s a hard choice to pick which reason I like more, but I think it's going to be… the first one”

The dull smack to his upper right arm was her feeble attempt to try and reprimand him, but it only encouraged the smile growing on his face as he reached to give her wrist a small shake, to try and get her attention. “I’m kidding…mostly, but I will say this, I care a lot about you and I am here for you no matter what, in paper form and physically.”

They fell into a comforting silence as Y/N leaned against him the small ‘thanks mav’ was almost drowned out by the loudness of the bar, but the soft smile forming on Maverick’s face confirmed he heard her.

Remember that promise Rooster made about not leaving Y/N hanging? Well, he broke it but this time it almost resulted in Y/N ejecting from her F-14. Everything was going according to plan Y/N took the lead and Rooster was sticking to his promise, until he got in his head and drifted off course and comms to go after Maverick, “Roo you alright? … Rooster do you copy” silence was all she heard over the comms. Y/N understood why he got antsy and jumped the gun considering Maverick shot them down each training session, but she wasn’t expecting Rooster to jerk his plan roughly up, the bad maneuver caused the nose of her F-14 to take a sharp pitch downwards as Y/N’s head slammed against the canopy. The blaring beeps bounced off the canopy disrupting Y/N’s dazed state as the comms lit up “EJECT, Y/CS EJECT NOW… Y/N CAN YOU HEAR ME…” Y/N felt like throwing up as the blood dripped down the front of her right eyebrow, before pulling forward to try and level out the plane before hitting the hard deck, which worked considering the nose of the plane was once again level with the tail.

The second Y/N’s boots touched the ground she was throwing her guts up only pausing to let out a strained “Natasha!” as the brunette took quick strides over to comfort her while sending the gathering crowd a sharp glare for gawking at the scene “Go get her water now” was barked at an onlooker. Y/N wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, as she smiled fondly at Phoenix, “Have I told you about how much I love you” a faint laugh was pulled out from the two before labored breaths from Maverick and Rooster floated through the air “Y/N.. are you okay”

Y/N slowly removed her flight helmet, grimacing as she threw it to the side before her eyes slowly moved to watch the bird soaring above her as a pained laugh followed by “You lucky bastard’ left her chapped lips. Maverick and Phoenix were in front of her instantly upon noticing the crimson liquid dripping down on her flight suit “Jesus Christ, you’re bleeding.. We need to get her to med bay” the only indication that Y/N was aware of the situation was the slight shake of her head and a slurred “Mavvv don’t tell my dad a-about this”

Tension rose among the team, considering Maverick would snap at them for making the tiniest mistake, but everyone thought it would dissolve after Y/N was healed up and cleared to fly again, but it didn’t because Maverick grounded her without a reason after she was given the green light to fly. Y/N shrugged it off but the next day he grounded her from flying again.

Anger washed over Y/N’s form as she waited patiently in the chair adjacent to the desk in Maverick’s office. She was rightfully pissed considering the accident wasn’t even her fault, but the fact that she couldn’t even be up in the one place that makes her truly happy, all because of Maverick.

Y/N’s eyes were piercing through the once again abandoned ‘Navy’ cup that sat proudly on his cluttered desk, she almost had to laugh considering it felt like deja vu of her first day back except the cup didn’t spark her curiosity to daydream about its owner or its story, instead it seemed to mock her childish antics. The sound of the door squeaking open tore her gaze from it, as she waited for Maverick to step into her peripheral “Y/N? Hey, I hope you weren’t waiting for too long…” he trailed off upon seeing her blank facial expression “What’s wrong? Is your head hurting?” As Maverick sat on the edge of his desk, concern was laced in his features as she took a deep breath “I want to know why you grounded me for TWO days in a row after I was given the green light…Mav why, I need an answer?” silence filled the space for what felt like minutes “Y/N, just give it a couple more days” Y/N rolled her eyes at his sorry excuse for an answer, as she pulled herself up to meet his eyes “That’s not an answer, that’s you trying to avoid the question”

Maverick’s eyes scanned the office as if he was trying to avoid the disheveled pilot's gaze, but in reality he was weighing his options “You didn’t follow orders, I told you to eject and you ignored a direct command. You could have passed out up there and crashed, you could have d-died… Y/N, I already lost one person I care about.. On my watch, I’m not going to lose another so just drop it, please.. You are grounded until I say otherwise”

Maverick locked eyes with her as she wiped a hand across her face, “People die every day, let me do my fucking job I’m not some naive child I know what I am doing, especially up there.. But This isn’t about me though is it? This is about you. If you truly cared about me, you would know grounding me is the last thing I need.” She shook her head as a scoff slipped through her lips before turning towards the door, ignoring Maverick’s calls as she slammed the frosted glass door shut behind her as she walked straight into Hangman’s chest “Y/N, hey what’s wrong?” his gaze shifted from the Maverick’s office door before turning Y/N with him to walk in the other direction “How about we go shoot a few rounds of pool at the Hard Deck? Hmm drinks are on me”

The sound of the frosted door rattling against the wall after Y/N stormed out echoed through his thoughts on repeat the only thing that seemed to help drown it out was the monotonous conversation and low laughter that carried through the bar. The heavy sigh released from the aging pilot, as he dropped himself into the bar stool in front of Penny had her raising a brow in question to his soured mood “What’s wrong?” followed along with a freshly poured beer pushed in front of him “Nothing Pen, it was just a long day… um, have you seen Y/N today?” Penny’s brow rose even higher, before pointing to the corner of the bar “long day my ass, what did you do? The poor girl looked like she was about to burst into tears or kill someone when she came in here … but either way if you are going to try and fix whatever you did, you might want to wait for her to sober up” Maverick shifted in his seat to look in the direction she had pointed in, Y/N was clearly drunk and swaying to the jukebox while absentmindedly singing along to the chorus.

The one too many tequila shots produced a numb feeling that successfully pushed her dejected thoughts away for a good couple of hours, she glanced through the bar as Hangman was failing miserably to work the jukebox, and refused her help saying it was ‘a surprise’ before pushing her away. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his childish antics but stayed in place, still swaying slightly to the melody of the bar chatter, until the familiar chorus of Fire rang through her ears as Seresin slurred “I'm ridin' in your caar, you turn on the radio…You're pullllin' me clooose” to try and cheer her up as he pulled her towards him as the pair sung in unison and off pitch, “I just say no,I saaay I don't like it b-but you know I'm a liaar” before others crowded in to join in on their slurred rendition.

Maverick’s eyes were glued to the scene unfolding across the bar, Y/N giggled as Hangman sway her hips back and forth to the beat. At the sight, Maverick’s facial expression was laced with disappointment, before he turned away to reposition himself at the bar’s counter. Maverick was unaware of the suspicions brewing in the brunette’s head, as he brought the glass up to his lips the words slipped out of Penny’s “You’re in love with her?” Penny’s laugh was accompanied by his choking sound, before he could dismiss her accusation he was shushed as Penny shot him a pointed look “yea I am” was huffed out. The look of victory graced her lips as his shoulders dropped in defeat “Well go tell her that loverboy before it’s too late, and do me a favor give her a ride home”

Her face was flushed against the cool bar top, providing her flustered state a bit of relief, she couldn’t help but laugh at her current state considering her mother would be ripping her a new one, grumbling on ‘Y/N sit up that’s unladylike’. The worn table would have been an uncomfortable bed, but Y/N looked past the stickiness and closed her eyes until she felt someone’s callous hands touch the top of her shoulders. A groan of protest left her body as she forced herself to see who disturbed her peaceful table nap, it was Maverick staring down at her with concern swimming through his green irises “Hi Mavv! No wait no, I’m still mad at you so kindly fuck off” the smile forming on his lips stopped her from returning to her nap “Hello to you too, I know you are but can we talk.. Please?” after a few moment’s pasted, as she weighed her options, Y/N figured she could put a pause on her nap for another five minutes “sure, I guess” as she waited for him to drop down in the chair that was previously occupied by Hangman, but he continued to stand behind her “Let me guess, you want to talk outside?” the second he nodded, the agitated pilot lifted herself with a tired sigh as she stumbled slightly to the door.

The humid California air hitting against her flush face made her want to vomit, the only thing saving her was the almost non-existent breeze as she tried to focus on the man in front of her “You are good to fly tomorrow.. Well that’s if your hangover allows it” confusion swept over her features “A few hours ago you grounded me indefinitely just to give me the green light now, what changed?” The usually confident pilot started to fidget under her gaze, which didn’t go unnoticed by Y/N “You were right, okay I grounded you because of my own fears not because you weren’t ready, I’m sorry Y/N. It’s just after you passed out in the med bay, I couldn’t leave you and that’s when I realized something changed” The air around them felt suffocating as Y/N took a cautious step towards him, “Yeahh the Doc told me you were there for over three hours, Thanks by the way for being there…But… Pete what changed” curiosity was entangled in her words, as she tried to play it off as indifferent “my feelings towards you changed, my feelings weren’t friendly but instead It was me falling in love with you, but….” All of the air left her lungs as she clung to each breath he took as if the man standing in front of her was the only thing keeping her grounded on this god-forsaken earth. The warmth radiating off of his sunkissed skin was sinking into her’s but it still felt like he was miles away from her, before she was pulling him down to meet her lips.

The groan that slipped past his lips felt almost intoxicating as she melted in the kiss further until it abruptly stopped. Maverick pulled himself away from her parted lips, Y/N froze wondering if she imagined it all but her kiss-swollen lips served as vindication. He couldn’t even look Y/N in her eyes, guilt loomed over him “but we can’t, Y/N we can’t” Her dazed, doe-eyed facial expression dropped to an unreadable blank canvas “What the fuck Pete, what do you mean we can’t?? What is stopping us huh WHAT? He winced at her words, which felt as if they were punctuated with knives “We just can’t Y/N, I’m your instructor if the Navy found out they would fire us both, it’s inappropriate ..I-I shouldn’t have said anything I’m sorry”

The promise she made to her mother rang through her thoughts, ‘never let them see you cry, don’t give ‘em the satisfaction of knowing how much of an effect they’ve over you” but it was too late, she felt hot tears rolling down her face as she muffled the cry that escaped her mouth. She felt pathetic, ashamed of herself at this very moment for putting herself in this situation. Y/N knew from the start coming back to Top Gun was a mistake but she ignored the warnings, she still was ignoring them as Maverick’s hush tone pulled her into a false sense of comfort just by saying her name.

Her body betrayed her in her delirious state, as she contemplated begging him to just give her something, even if it was just holding her shaking frame as tears soaked through his shirt but instead he couldn’t even look at her, and if he did look it would probably be ridden with guilt or pity. “Y’know Mav, out of everyone I never thought you would make me cry, but huh I guess some things change… Just, why the fuck would you even tell me? To get my hopes up? To hurt me?.....” Her vision blurred from the tears, her only sign that he was still there was the dull sound of his apology ‘I’m sorry, Y/N' the sound made her wince as if it sounded more like nails on a chalkboard. “Pete, shut up I don’t care about your ‘I’m sorry’ just can you pretend for five fucking minutes that all your bullshit reasons don’t exist? Because I know for a fact you couldn’t give two flying fucks about the rules, because you are the reckless, and arrogant Captain Pete Mitchell so what changed? mm I have a working theory, y-you are scared of getting attached and then being a fucking failure when you deliberately ruin things…” She wanted a reaction from Maverick just to know that her words had some effect on him, a small part of her hoped his response would be laced with malice just to give her a reason to hate him.

The heavy sigh slipping from his lips made her want to scream or even hit him, just to force him to feel even the slightest bit of pain that he caused her but even then it would just hurt her more to see him in that state. Her blood ran cold as she acknowledge the fact that she was nothing but a lovesick schoolgirl when it came to this man, he could stomp on her heart and fix it all with a small smile. Everything about this man overwhelmed her with conflicting feelings that should have never see the light of day, yet as those two vague words slipped past his lips, “Fuck it” she was hooked, waiting with bated breaths for him to give her anything to grasp onto.

The feeling of warm fingertips skimming across the exposed skin of her waist flooded her system, the firm hand that tilted her head up was purposeful but felt foreign in every way. The overwhelming fear of rejection loomed over her as their lips met once again, with each passing second Y/N was memorizing the feeling of his lips against hers, the way the air felt so constricting around them as she grasp unto every detail that would later agonize her weeping heart in the late hours of the night. Y/N felt as if she was drowning, every nerve in her body was overwhelmed, and her head was buzzing from her thoughts flooding her brain… ‘why is he kissing me?... is this some sort of sick joke?’ Maverick’s lips twitched up into a smirk before a low groan escaped when his back was pushed against the outside wall of the Hard Deck, followed by Y/N’s full body weight. Y/N laughter was muffled against his lip as another groan of protest left his body, as a small 'sorry' 'filtered around them.

It was the calm after the storm as silence filled the void surrounding them, they stayed pressed up against one another “Mav, Where does this leave us now? Pete shifted his gaze from Y/N to stare blankly at the parking lot as if it held the answer, “We will figure it out tomorrow, but right now how about I take you home so you can shove me up against a different wall?” Y/N couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his antics, even if it caused her cheeks to flush “hmm are you sure your back can handle that?”

Before she knew it she was being pushed off of him and steered towards Maverick’s motorcycle “Watch it, and ehh you’re worth the back pain, sweetheart”......

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