#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw
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the echo universe: | a werewolf au | (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)
Summary: After they drop Noah off with Mickey and Reuben, the Red Sky Alpha comes home to nest for his mate.
Pairing: Werewolf!Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Human!OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)
Word Count: 916
Warnings: pregnancy stuff, made-up werewolf lore, nesting and snuggling and FLUFF
✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!
✎……masterlist on pinned
✎……this is like a direct side-quel to this because i couldn't stop thinking about this concept
As soon as they were back inside the cabin, Jake led Ronnie over to the couch and propped her feet up on the ottoman. Setting her up with a snack and a drink and the remote in case she wanted to watch anything. She laughed as she watched him fuss, rubbing patterns into her rounded belly to try and sooth the pup within.
Once he handed her the chips and salsa that she didn’t really ask for, he looked at her expectantly — practically bouncing in place.
“Go nest, my Alpha,” she told him with a chuckle.
Jake quickly bent down to press a kiss to her forehead before bolting back to their bedroom.
She remembered him getting like this when she entered her last few weeks of pregnancy with Noah. The beast within him filling him with this desire to make her as comfortable as possible as she prepared to give birth. He couldn’t even help it. One morning she just woke up to him surrounding her in pillows and blankets and he looked at her like he had been caught.
I don’t know why, he had said, still knelt by the bed with a pillow in hand. But this just feels right.
She explained what was happening with a gentle hand, watching him continue to search for more blankets and arranging things this way and that. How when the time of the pup’s arrival approached, the parent wolves would nest to prepare for whelping. To keep mother and pup warm and safe from any dangers. Some instinct from a bygone era when werewolves were living in the wild places of the world.
As a human, Ronnie didn’t feel the urge. No matter how much she wanted to help, she knew she would just get in the way. So there she sat, half watching some documentary about ancient Egypt and mindlessly eating chips. While out of the corner of her eye she saw her mate digging through the closets for more blankets and picking the pillows off the couch one by one.
The pup inside her shifted, and she pushed a hand beneath her shirt to touch her skin directly. Instantly calming him down.
“Daddy’s almost done, little pup, just you wait. Then you and me are gonna be real comfortable,” she spoke to her belly softly.
An hour after they came home, Jake finally came back out to the living room with an anxious look on his face. Ronnie found the expression endearing as she turned off the TV to give him her full attention.
“I think it’s done,” he said, pushing a hand through his golden hair.
She held her arms out to him with a smile. “Take me there, my Alpha.”
Jake lifted her into his arms with ease. Her arms dangling around his neck as she rested her cheek against his chest, felt his heart beat right against her ear. Once back in their bedroom, he set her down gently to sit at the end of the bed.
The bed that was now covered in a thick layer of blankets and pillows. All of it piled up towards the edges to make a nice concave shape. Ronnie admired for a moment, taking in his hard work and dedication to her comfort. Then she looked back up at Jake with a smile.
“It’s perfect, Jay,” she said honestly.
The corner of his mouth ticked up in a grin, all anxiousness gone at her approval. Then, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear he said, “Let’s get you into something more comfortable, yeah, little one?”
“I’m pretty comfortable right now,” she replied, looking down at her sweater and maternity leggings.
“I know that’s not what you really wanna be wearing.”
She groaned at the thought, instantly reaching for him to help her up from the bed. “Yeah — that sounds nice.”
Jake chuckled as he took hold of her forearm and acted as an anchor as she lifted herself up. He already had the clothes laying out on their dresser. An old pair of his boxers and a comfortable bralet. After helping her out of her day clothes, he pulled the boxers up her legs while she tugged on the bra. Stopping once they were snug around her hips to kiss the side of her belly.
“God, that’s the stuff,” she sighed, head tilted back towards the ceiling as she scratched at her bare skin.
“Come on, little one,” Jake laughed, nodding back towards the bed and the nest he had worked so hard on.
Ronnie crawled in and laid on her side in the center of the large nest. A pillow already waiting for her head and to support her bump. She sunk into it instantly, feeling completely held and completely comfortable. A noise like a purr echoed in her throat as her eyes slipped shut, legs rubbing together happily.
“Comfortable? Warm?” he questioned, still stationed at the foot of the bed.
She peeled her eyes open to squint at him with a smile. “Not quite.”
“What do you need?”
He looked ready to run halfway across the world for her.
“Just you,” she answered.
Jake huffed, hands on his hips. But he was quick to relent as he stripped off his shirt and pants and joined her in the nest. He curled up right behind her, his chest flush with her back — legs tangled together as he cradled her swollen belly in his hand. The pup pressing into his palm happily.
i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates
#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: the echo (or the answer)#fd: top gun#werewolf au#werewolf!jake#werewolf!hangman#alpha!jake#alpha!hangman#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#type: drabble
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Jake Seresin x Ronnie Bradshaw F1 AU
A/N: 1st this is for @anniesocsandgeneralstore Ronnie Bradshaw is her OC and I’ve been loving all the AU’s that everyone is coming up for Jake Seresin and Ronnie Bradshaw so I thought id give it a try. 2nd the idea of jake being a formula one driver honestly just makes sense and I love it (yes I did make him a red bull driver you can fight me on this) this was supposed to only be like 10 bullet points max but then i blinked and it was 3 pages long.
Link to masterlist
Ronnie works for the Red Bull Formula 1 team as a media handler for one of the drivers. (in any interview she’s the one holding a recorder next to the driver) Jake is joining the Red Bull f1 for the new season since the old one decided to sign with a new team
Jake and ronnie meet when jake comes to the red bull factory to meet the team and he sees ronnie across the room and is instantly smitten
He just knows that that's the one for him
The team principal aka the boss whos showing jake around the factory introduces jake to ronnie
She’s going to be his media handler and help him prep for interviews and anything else that has to do with media
When jake starts talking to her he turns that southern accent up to like 100 okay man is on a mission
Ronnie sees past the southern charm and is like were staying professional this is my job but deep down she’s also a little smitten
Anyway season starts
Jake and ronnie are becoming friends, bonding over the fact that they are the only americans on the team and reminisce on home and how much different Europe is compared to America
As the season progresses jake is becoming a front runner to win the drivers world championship in only his first year with redbull
BUT BUT BUT
Bradley is also up there in the fight for the championship and they are quickly becoming rivals. (i like to think Brad either drives for mercedes)
But back to jake and ronnie
Fans start noticing in the background of other driver’s interviews that jake and ronnie are being a little flirty and they start suspecting that something is going on
It gets so bad that ronnie and jake are both called top the boss’s office and are basically told if your gonna date try not to let the cameras see it as much
Which is like virtually impossible to do that since during race weekends cameras are on them 24/7
Jake and ronnie do spend the summer break on vacation somewhere isolated and take a break from social media
Some of Jake's crazy fangirls have been leaving nasty comments on Ronnie’s social media and sending her nasty dm’s. It got so bad that ronnie first just turned off comments all together then just stopped posting in general
So it’s the first race back from the summer break and things go downhill
Jake and bradley end up crashing into each other on the first lap and once they’re both out of the cars they start arguing right there on the side of the track
Bradley and Jake both say some really mean things to each other (they’re championship rivals both want their first championship)
“Your only dating my sister to get to me” – Bradley
The cameras pick up that sentence and it is blasted across the broadcast and fans light up social media
Jake and Ronnie had only told their family and close friends about their relationship and now it was out in the open (thanks brad)
Jake’s pissed
Ronnie’s pissed
Maverick does call bradley later that night and yells at him because ronnie wanted it private and that was all she asked for but no Brad had to go and ruin it
Bradley does feel bad after that and does go and apologize to ronnie and jake but it takes him like a week to do so
Jake goes to punch Brad but the race marshall’s separate them and put jake into the medical car to get him back to the pits
Cut to jake’s interviews cause even though he did get into a car crash he still has to go talk to media
“Can you confirm or deny that you are dating your media handler, Ronnie bradshaw?”
Jake looks to ronnie and she slightly nods her head
“Yes we are dating but we’re keeping it private”
Even though they went on dates before they now don’t have to worry about fans catching them
fans do catch them out on dates at each city that F1 races in
Jake and ronnie also walk into the paddock holding hands
Pda is kept to a minimum HOWEVER
Ronnie does give jake a good luck kiss before qualifying and before a race and when he wins one she is there to hug and kiss him before the podium ceremony
Fans love it (they call jake and ronnie F!’s new power couple)
While most fans are supportive there are still some that don’t approve
Some accuse ronnie of only keeping her job because she’s dating jake and jakes like absolutely the fuck not she has it on her own merit and was apart of the team long before he became a driver for them
When jake wins the Austin Grand Prix, first of all he's super happy and excited to win his home race
Once he parks his car in Parc Ferme he jumps out, goes nad celebrates with the mechanics and then he pulls ronnie over the barricade and full on makes out with her
Some of the mechanics wolf whistle and Brad (who got second) ends up pulling them apart because one jake still does have media and other things to do and two he still isn't happy that jake and ronnie are together
“Who is this win for? “This win is for my family, friends, the great people of Texas and my girlfriend Ronnie.”
Red Bull sends Ronnie up to the podium to collect the constructors trophy
Jake and Ronnie hose each other down in champagne while on the podium then once again make out. This time on the top step where everyone can see
Fans go nuts again
Skipping to the end of the season Formula 1 is in Abu Dhabi
Jake and Bradley are separated by only 1 point in the championship, whoever wins this race wins the championship
Ronnie wishes both bradley and jake good luck
Then it’s lights out and away they go
There is some fighting between brad and jake but ultimately it is a clean race
Jake wins the race
When he crosses the finish line, ronnie comes on the radio to tell him he won
He scream in excitement and happiness
He does start crying
He asks ronnie to marry him over the radio (they’ve only been dating since like may and it’s the beginning of december but they are soulmates)
Of course the part where jake asks ronnie to marry him is broadcasted to the world
Jake parks the car in parc ferme and the mechanics are all they're greeting him in celebration
He pushes through them to find ronnie
Ronnie rushes towards him and jumps on him
He catches her and spins her around she kisses his helmet because he still has that on
Cameras are flashing everywhere photographing the new world champion
“Yes I’ll marry you, my cowboy”
Jake swear this is the happiest day of his life (he’ll also say that when each of his 3 daughters are born)
Bradley comes over to shake hands and congratulate jake on the win
“Congrats Seresin. Take care of her”
Ronnie hugs her older brother. She’s happy for both of her boys
TIME SKIP YEARS LATER
Jake still races but for a smaller team now (i’m think aston martin) and he’s decided to retire
He’s giving one of those end of career interviews where he reflects on everything he has done during his career
He’s asked “Who is a celebrity that you have met that has left you in shock that you are meeting them?”
“My wife, Ronnie.”
#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#jake seresin x oc#top gun maverick#au#writings of one#jake seresin#ronnie bradshaw
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The Red Zone
Ronnie Bradshaw just got her dream job: Tight end coach for the Indianapolis Colts, making her just the second female position coach ever in the NFL. Everyone thinks the Colts were crazy to hire her so she's determined to prove the naysayers wrong. What she didn't expect was one of those naysayers to be one of her own players. Tight end Jake Seresin is arrogant, has a reputation as the team asshole, and is seemingly determined to drive her insane. Ronnie tries with all her might to resist him and his southern charm, but it’s no use. Jake's charm wins out and she falls for him — only for everything around her to start falling apart when a pregnancy test returns positive.
Inspired by all of the conversations @anniesocsandgeneralstore and I have been having about the NFL AU we've started to put together for Jake and her OC, Ronnie Bradshaw, I decided to make a playlist!
#The Red Zone#annie's fantastic fanfiction#top gun maverick#jake seresin x oc#jake seresin#jake hangman seresin#ronnie bradshaw#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#NFL AU#top gun maverick AU#top gun#top gun au
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The Maisie AU || jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw
Sneak Peek for a gift for @anniesocsandgeneralstore and her amazing universe she has created! Ronnie is one of my favourite people ever and Annie has created an excellent character. Her and Jake’s story, no matter what AU, is simply incredible!
Annie, my werewolf love 🐺 you deserve the world and I’m grateful you’re letting me write for your wonderful characters
Jake knew he’d made the worst mistake of his life as he left Ronnie’s bed quietly that morning. He loved her, with every fibre of his being. And he couldn’t stay. Loving her terrified him.
He had been clear from the moment he met her that he wasn’t looking for anything serious. His career came first. And it was true. But during the course of their situationship, something had changed.
He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, take her home to his mama in Austin, show her the world. He wanted to give her everything. But he needs to leave anyway. She deserves better than Hangman. He would eventually leave her to hang, just like he did with everyone else. And he couldn’t cope to one day see the resentment in her eyes.
So he quietly picked up his clothes, pressed one last kiss to her head and let himself out. Leaving his heart behind.
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@njpuckbunny ‘s masterlist :)
bold = smut
italic = fluff
starred = angst *
——————————————————————————
ryan gosling
ken first date hcs
bands
falling in reverse
ronnie radke
my chemical romance
gerard way
frank iero
ray toro
sleeping with sirens
kellin quinn
thank god for thin walls
pierce the veil
vic fuentes
jaime preciado
tony perry
metallica
james hetfield
kirk hammett
cuz that’s what friends do, right?
cliff burton
lars ulrich
jason newstead
rob trujillo
miles teller
bradley “rooster” bradshaw (top gun)
instinct and impatience*
jeff (spiderhead)
nightmares
alec (two night stand)
vinny pazienza (bleed for this)
bleeder*
control*
willard hewitt (footloose : 2011)
willard with a gf who plays soccer hc
david packouz (war dogs)
nhl players
jack hughes
crazy love* (pt. 1) crazy love* (pt. 2)
trevor zegras
cole caufield
nico hischer
and any u wanna request !
top gun
pete “maverick” mitchell
tom “iceman” kazansky
nick “goose” bradshaw
jake “hangman” seresin
natasha “phoenix” trace
wednesday (2022)
ajax petropolus
NO xavier thorpe !!!
wednesday addams
enid sinclair
rowan laslow
the walking dead
carl grimes
rick grimes
michonne
daryl dixon
glenn rhee
maggie greene
————���—————————————————————
[my requests are open as of 7/23 so make sure to request whatever u want and whoever u want]
#rooster top gun#top gun#miles teller#jake hangman seresin#hangman top gun#two night stand#spiderhead#fanfic#request#rooster bradshaw imagine#bradley bradshaw x female reader#goose top gun#goose bradshaw#pete maverick mitchell#phoenix#natasha phoenix trace#ronnie radke#ronnie radke x reader#falling in reverse#sleeping with sirens#pierce the veil#vic fuentes x reader#vic fuentes
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Well, does someone want angst?
I swear, it's only an au because I wanted to hurt ronnie...
And because I've fell in love with Chris I can't stop writing him!
@oh-surprise-its-me
"I've been called back to top gun."
That's the first and only thing Jake told his dad. Chris knows better than ask for more knows Jake can't tell him anything else. Besides, if he's been called back, it must be big. His boy is old enough. His boy is strong enough. Chris still is his father, he worries.
"I know you can't tell me more," he told him instead. He pulled Jake closer before he walked toward the plane that would take him to Miramar. He hugged him tight. "Promise you'll be as safe as you can, chickie, okay?"
Jake can only nod tearfully. Chris almost never called him that, it's usually Jake. Jakey. Baby. Never chickie, unless--
"I promise papa. I love you."
"So do I."
Chris slipped not so discreetly something in his pocket. When Jake was sitting on the plane, javy at his side, he pinned the medal to his jacket.
"Any idea why we've been called there?"
Jake shook his head.
"As much as you do, Jav. Uncle is so busy that he even missed dad's birthday."
"You're kidding, I hope. He never--"
"I'm not expecting a text for mine either. Look, Jav, honestly... ever since Papa's--"
"So he just cuts you two off? Seriously?"
Jake doesn't tell him that last time he saw his uncle Ice, at least six months before, he could read him so well, and what he saw was raw pain. Something not even maverick could fix, something Jake only ever saw on his dad.
"The commander is busy..."
Jake said instead, and Javy scoffed. He looked at him, at the medal pinned to his jacket. He gently knocked twice on the medal.
"Admiral kerner, Sir, just in case you can hear me, there's an ass to kick, if you wouldn't mind."
Jake choked a laughter. He knew javy was trying to make him laugh. He also knew he would ask his father that, too. Except if his father was there, javy wouldn't need to ask him.
Seeing Maverick was weird, too. It wasn't like he stopped visiting, he still did it, and he still worked on cars with dad. But he was captain Mitchell there. And he was lieutenant Seresin.
Fuck. He wanted to change his name, he.thpught of that ever since papa and dad got married.
"I wanna take both. Can I?"
He never did, in the end. His name was still Jacob Seresin, and nothing else.
Captain Mitchell gave him a little smile, and Jake smiled back. And that was it. Jake stopped just a moment longer, staring at the pictures in the hall. Just one, long enough to feel himself tear up, and Javy wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"He's proud of you. I know he is. And--"
He hesitated, waited for a group to pass behind them, shielding Jake from their prying eyes.
"He'll watch over you, like always."
Jake knew his best friend meant well, it didn't help him, though, not as he wanted to.
"Don't want him to watch over me, Jav." He sniffled quietly. "I wanted him there with me and dad."
Javy simply held him tight, so tight that Jake wished to disappear into his arms.
God, he missed him so, so much.
Jake almost got mav. God, he got so close to lock on him that it's almost scary. Mav knows he can't pick Jake. He can't play favoritism. Hell, if it was for him, he would pick none of those kids. He would fly out himself, on his own.
Jake almost got him, he's the one who got the closest, no wonder, he has one confirmed kill, too. The kid is good, and he's always been good.
Jake almost got a lock on Maverick, and all he could think as he initiated evasive maneuvers and got a lock on him was how crazy familiar that was.
Jake almost got Mav, the first time round, and it was so fucking painful. Two and half years had passed and Mav thought it was alright, he thought he was alright. He knew Chris would never be, nor would Jake. And God forbid Tom. But he thought he-- God, how wrong he was.
Mav swallowed as he passed the boys doing push up after losing. He didn't look down at them, his back straight, his eyes set ahead.
"He flies like him."
He doesn't say hi when Tom's face appears in the phone screen. Mav's crying, he can't stop, he can't fucking stop. Ice frowned, he tilted his head to the side.
"Bradley?"
They haven't talked to Bradley in years, he saw the photos, he looks exactly like Goose. Down to the last bit. It's like seeing Goose over and over again, there was no other way Mav could react, after all.
Mav shook his head, a louder sob escaping his lips, he wiped his face.
"Jake."
The sound is almost strained. Choked.
A plead.
"Tom, he flies just like Ron. I can't-- I can't even look him in the eyes without seeing him."
Jake had always looked like Ron. Not physically perhaps, but in the way he talked, and moved, amd, yeah... apparently flying, too.
"Mav--"
"Never thought I'd say it, you know? But I miss him. He should've--"
He shook his head.
"Forget I said it, baby."
He muttered when he saw Tom's eyes get glassy.
"I know, Pete. I miss him too."
For once, he spared him of the blame and guilt he felt every time.
Tom still felt guilty, he will always feel guilty. He sent Ron there, he sent him in the mission that ultimately-- he sent him to his death. It was a suicide mission, one with no ways to come out victorious. Or, well, they were victorious, there was no way to win AND come back too. Ron knew, Ron accepted.
Ron kissed his husband, and their son. He kissed Mav on the top of his head. He kissed Tom a moment longer.
Ron knew the risks. Ron knew there was no other way. He could've refused. He didn't.
Tom had to hand out the folded flag without a single tear on his face. Tom had to say a speech he wrote down, a paper where the ink was smudged by thousand tears and the page was crumpled. Tom-- the commander of the pacific fleet had to take off his wings and punch them.
Chris dared to forgive him.
"I miss his every fucking--" he broke.
Tom almost called Mav off when he decided to fly as team leader. He flew to Miramar, burst into the room like a fury, screaming at Maverick before even setting his eyes on him.
"It's suicide. You know it is."
"That's why I can't have the kids do that, don't you think?"
The commander almost called off the mission. Oh, if only he could.
"Tom--"
"I can't lose you. I can't-- I've lost enough already, don't make me lose you too."
"I do the impossible, Mr Iceman. You're not gonna lose me."
Tom prayed. For the second time in his life. He begged them to bring his husband home.
Mav was down.
Tom felt the world spin and shrink around him. Not his husband.
Rooster was down.
Tom felt like he was going to die. Not him too, oh God, not him.
They were back. They were airborne again. A miracle, Cyclone muttered.
Tom knew that miracle really well, and it had golden wings, large enough to shield them.
He promised. He promised, amd they were his pilots. Heavens, he could swear he almost saw a golden shine.
Jake flew like him. Tom realized the.moment he took off and killed the enemy aircraft, emerging from the smoke. It was I'm the mathematical precision he took the shot. It was in the way he inclined his jet to return on the carrier.
But it wasn't everything.
Jake looked like him.
He took his helmet off and hopped down of the jet with a little jump, he rushed to Mav and Bradley. He didn't stophe picked Bradley up, the man gave a strangled squeak as Jake's arms wrapped around him, he held onto him when he spun him around twice, setting him back on the ground, kissing him like that was the last day on Earth. Or perhaps the first.
Tom could see Ron run up to Chris. He was his son down to the last bit.
Mav wrapped himself on him as Tom took out his phone, he closed his eyes, his nose against Tom's neck, he vagiely heard the soft sound of a call in waiting.
"Tommy?"
Mav looked up.
Jake looked back, his face finally detaching itself from Bradley's.
"Hey, Chris, darling... I'm taking our boys home."
Mav saw Chris break in a tearful smile.
"I never doubted you Tommy. Not one time."
#ron slider kerner#tom iceman kazansky#chris seresin#pete maverick mitchell#jake hangman seresin#bradley rooster bradshaw#javy coyote machado#ron slider kerner x chris seresin#pete mitchell x tom kazansky#jake hangman seresin x bradley rooster Bradshaw#dead character#ron is Jake's dead#it's an au. ronnie baby is alive and well...#i needed him dead for the angst#aki writes
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The Only Thing (Hangman - Part Two)
Pairing: Jake Seresin x Female!Reader; some Rooster x Seresin!OC
Word Count: 11.2k
Summary: Jake Seresin is madly in love with (Y/n). This is not an opinion or a feeling; it is a fact. A law of the universe that will never change. As long as the world is in motion, as long as the sun is in the sky, and possibly even after, Jake Seresin will be in love with her. So why, for the love of all that is good in this world, are they not together? Rooster intends to find out.
Warnings: Angst, Objectively excessive amounts of pining, also Jake Seresin can be an asshole sometimes but so can his sisters, cursing. An emotional amount of found family. Also Christmas is featured, but in a very non-religious celebratory way. Also no Beta-reader, sorry.
Notes: Thank you to everyone who partook in Part One. I hope you all find Part Two, and I hope you all love it. There will be a spinoff oneshot of little tidbits from Jake and Addie's life growing up together and falling in love, etc. etc. If you have any thoughts on particular moments you'd like to see either in that or just in general as blurbs lemme know.
The Only Thing Masterlist
“Not that star! It’s falling apart. Use the new one we bought last year!”
“Seriously Ma, you couldn’t have said that before?” Hangman huffed and readjusted Ronnie higher up on his shoulders. “Bradshaw, get Ronnie whatever fuckin’ star Ma’s talking about.”
Rooster snorted but began rummaging through the ornaments and assorted other tree decorations without much protest. There was a newer looking star topper still in the box at the bottom of the storage bin labeled ‘Tree Stuff’, and Rooster pulled it out.
Holding it up in Debbie’s general direction at the far end of the hall, he asked, “This one?”
“Yes, honey, that’s the one.” Debbie gave him a thumbs up then, satisfied, darted back into the kitchen to continue cooking.
Rooster handed the star up to Ronnie on top of Jake’s shoulders and took the older, beat-up star off her hands.
The Seresins were a very last-minute family when it came to decorating. Mostly, it was that the sisters, Ronnie in particular, considered decorating for Christmas to be a family affair, and they collectively refused to decorate anything at all until their brother was home.
Hangman had, of course, written this off to Rooster as the three of them wanting him to do all the heavy lifting, and while Ronnie and Andy adamantly refused the accusation, Kate nodded along when Hangman’s back was turned. It’d made Rooster chuckle which earned Kate a glare from her brother.
Debbie was milling around the kitchen with Andy, baking and mixing an assortment of things that could be made in advanced of Christmas Day, while Kate draped bannisters in garlands. and Ronnie, Hangman, and Rooster decorated the tree.
They were finally finishing up the tree with the star on top when the front door burst open without any knock or warning.
“I brought candy!”
Rooster would recognize (Y/n)’s voice anywhere by now. As much as he’d heard it over the last couple days with Hangman, he was sure he could pick it out of any crowd.
“I’ll help her.” Rooster quickly volunteered as Hangman was still acting as a step stool for Ronnie to reach the top.
“Thanks,” Hangman bristled as he was forced to walk into the needles of the tree so Ronnie could reach.
With a chuckle, Rooster wandered into the foyer to find (Y/n), arms laden with far too many paper bags.
“Jesus! Did you buy out the whole store?” Rooster rushed forward to take some of the bags out of her hands before a catastrophe occurred.
(Y/n) laughed and pawned off most of the bags on the pilot. “I work at the bakery part-time during the Christmas rush, and Mr. Donaldson always gives me all the imperfect batches that he can’t sell.”
Rooster followed (Y/n) to the kitchen to see what Debbie wanted done with all of it.
“Aren’t you going to keep some of this for yourself?” Rooster lifted the bags of candy in his arms as indication.
(Y/n) shrugged, “No, I'm always here for Christmas anyway. My family don’t really celebrate Christmas.”
“Not Religious?”
“Eh, we all just hate each other. Dad hates my brother. My brother hates me. I hate Mom. Mom hates my brother and me… You get the picture.” (Y/n) waved off Rooster’s question as they entered the kitchen, and Rooster wasn’t sure whether she thought it was unimportant or if she wanted to stop talking about it.
“Besides, why would I want to be anywhere else but here?” (Y/n) loudly announced as she entered the kitchen.
Debbie smiled warmly at (Y/n) as she entered. Her fingers were covered with cookie dough, but she leaned in to kiss (Y/n) on the cheek in lieu of her usual hug. “We wouldn’t want you anywhere else. It wouldn’t be Christmas without you.”
“No cause who else would bring the peanut butter fudge.” (Y/n) turned and eyed the bags in Roosters arms before carefully selecting one in particular and holding it out in her fist as far from her body as possible.
Andy didn’t seem to care about the dough all over her fingers. She greedily snatched the bag from (Y/n) and gave her a one-armed hug in reward, only just avoiding her fingers getting in any hair. “You’re my favorite sister.”
“I won’t tell Kate and Ronnie.” (Y/n) teased.
“Bradley, dear, if you could just set the rest of those on the side table over there.” Debbie pointed to a table that was littered with assorted baking and desert making supplies.
“Of course Debbie,” He’d finally gotten past calling her ma’am, and the smile his familiarity brought to Debbie’s face cemented him using her name.
(Y/n) wandered over to start sorting the bags into different piles. One for fruit candies, one for mint, one for chocolate, etc. She glanced over her shoulder with a faux-sneaky look and passed one of the bags to Rooster. “Try this one. It’s the best candy in the store, and Jake’ll steal it if he finds out I brought some.”
Rooster thanked her, popping one in his mouth. It was some kind of mix of raspberry and chocolate and something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was utterly delicious. The grin on (Y/n)’s face, like school kids who were stealing sweets before dinner, was enough to make him break out in a massive smile in return.
“I’m right, right?” She whispered, stuffing her hand down in the bag and palming several for herself.
“Absolutely,” Rooster quietly agreed, putting an arm around her shoulder and squeezing in what was meant to be a show of affection.
“Hey!”
They both turned, sheepish and wide eyed like they’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Hangman was standing in the doorway with his eyes narrowed in on them.
For a brief, shining moment Rooster was genuinely worried. There was an angry look to Hangman’s brow. Rooster couldn’t tell what it was directed towards, but he had just had an arm wrapped around Hangman’s girl, leaned in inches from her face, as they whispered and smiled at each other. The thought of how it might’ve looked to the other pilot was enough to make him pale.
“Are those the raspberry ones you two are hiding?” Hangman pointed an accusatory finger at the bag half hidden behind Rooster.
“Nope,” (Y/n) stole the bag from Rooster’s hand and took off, shouting unconvincingly as she went, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Hangman rolled his eyes and waved a hand after her. “Little does she know I bought a box on her lunch break that’s hidden in my room, and I’m not sharing.” Kissing his mom on the top of her head as he passed, Hangman wandered over beside Rooster to observe the assortment (Y/n) had delivered to them.
Hangman’s brow was still a bit furrowed.
“Hey, man,” Rooster didn’t whisper, but he did speak under his breath so the other Seresins wouldn’t hear, “I’m sorry if I crossed a line with (Y/n).”
Hangman turned his head and raised an eyebrow, his expression thoroughly disinterested. “You cop a feel or somethin’ I didn’t see?”
“No, never, I-”
“No harm in makin’ friends, Rooster. I know that’s all it was to her. You tellin’ me it’s somethin’ more to you?”
“God, no.”
Hangman turned back to the candy nonchalantly, “Then what are you apologizin’ for? I’m an asshole, but I’m not that kind of asshole.”
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Hangman’s sisters were very invested in his love life. Mostly, they were very invested in finally getting him and (Y/n) together. It was pretty much the first thing Rooster learned about each of them upon spending time alone with them. Kate had pushed him to knock some sense into Hangman. Ronnie had interrogated him to make sure her brother wasn’t seeing anyone else. Andy had taken to calling (Y/n) her favorite sister or sister-in-law when Hangman wasn’t around.
Clearly born out of a deep love for their brother and a want to finally see him happy, they had all seemingly made it their life’s mission to make him see reason, and with Rooster in town, he had inevitably been drafted in to help.
“I think you may have actually got through to him.” Kate dragged Rooster through the house to the dining table where Ronnie and Andy were already sitting. “But Jake needs a lot of hand holding with things like this. He can’t possibly admit he might have been wrong and making himself miserable for years for no reason.”
Debbie was out running errands, and (Y/n) was helping set up the town’s Christmas Eve parade, which of course meant Hangman was helping set up the town’s Christmas Eve parade. So it seemed prime-time for the Seresin sisters to congregate.
“This is the year. I can feel it in my bones, Kate.” Ronnie was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement at the prospect. “This is the year we finally get him.”
“Get him how?” Rooster took the seat across from Kate and next to Ronnie.
Andy leaned across the table with the closest thing to a serious expression Rooster had seen from her since he arrived. “Every year without fail we plot some storybook, romance novel worthy moment for Jake to finally see reason and declare his love for (Y/n), and every year it fails.”
“It’s a Seresin family tradition at this point,” Kate informed him with a matter-of-fact nod.
“We’ve staged them on a blind date with each other.” Ronnie counted off one on her fingers.
“Jake figured it out when he got there, and they just ended up hanging out.” Andy explained.
“We’ve trapped them in elevators. Twice” Two and three.
“The first time she fell asleep with her head in his lap because she was so tired, and the second time he pried the doors open like fucking He-Man or something.”
“We tried to make Jake jealous and set (Y/n) up with the hottest, richest guy we knew.” Four.
“He got so sad that year and said he hoped the other guy could give her everything she deserved.”
“Yeah, that one was depressing. We’re never trying that again.” Andy and Ronnie nodded along in agreement to Kate’s interjection to their list.
“We trapped them at the top of the ferris wheel the year the town rented one around Christmas.” Five.
“It freaked (Y/n) out too much to be romantic.” Andy added, unhelpfully, “She would not be a good fighter pilot.”
“So what are you three doing this year?” Rooster cut them off when it became clear the list was going to continue.
In a simultaneous motion that would’ve been absolutely horrifying in any horror movie, all three sisters looked up and smiled at his question. “See,” Kate addressed him, “we don’t know. We’re hoping that’s where you come in.”
When exactly Rooster became part of some romcom movie, he wasn’t sure. He was unabashed about the number of romcoms he’d watched over the year, with and without girlfriends present. So he felt pretty educated saying that sitting around a table coming up with a plan to set up two people who were already in love with each other was pretty romcom-esque. It’s just usually in the romcom they didn’t realize they were in love yet.
Rooster didn’t see how any ‘plan’ would work. None of them would resolve the real problem.
Hangman and (Y/n) were both very much in love and very much aware of the fact that they were in love. Neither of them needed to be told or reminded that they had feelings for the other. They were even both aware of the fact that the other was in love with them. There was no moment of realization to be had here. They both knew, and it didn’t seem to change anything..
Hangman – shockingly – wasn’t selfish enough to ask her to make the sacrifices it would require to follow him, and at the end of the day, Hangman was still going to be a TopGun pilot, and he was still going to be constantly moving, constantly in danger, and constantly away. No romcom movie moment was going to change that.
And (Y/n)… Well Rooster wasn’t sure about (Y/n). He liked her, a lot actually. He could certainly see why Hangman was in love with her, but he just didn’t know her well enough to know what made her tick, to know why a woman so clearly in love with a man who was so clearly in love with her wouldn’t just say ‘screw it’ and show up at his door in San Diego, why she wouldn’t have confronted Hangman at any point in all their years of being ‘not-together’. He couldn’t see what was stopping her, but something clearly was.
Hangman’s sisters were absolutely convinced that they just needed to get through to Hangman, but Rooster wasn’t so sure. There was something nagging at him about (Y/n), telling him that, if they really wanted to make this happen, he needed to talk to her. Easier said than done since she never left Hangman’s side.
He asked the sisters if they could make that happen, if they could separate the two of them for longer than a couple minutes so he could talk to her, and the trio had exchanged long glances before they all burst out laughing like he’d just told the greatest joke they’d ever heard. Kate, promptly, informed him that while their mother made them go to church every Sunday as kids, none of them believed in miracles.
It was oddly endearing watching the sisters plot and scheme, not for their brother’s demise or embarrassment, but for his happiness. Their words did not match their angry, sinister tones. They said things like ‘Why won’t he just tell her he loves her?’ and ‘She already knows he loves her!’ and ‘Well, why won’t he just let her love him back, that asshole!’ and ‘I just want them to be happy and make babies!’ were snarled like insults. They all spat on Jake’s name like it was a vulgar word, while simultaneously trying to come up with ways to make him smile.
Rooster’s heart ceased up in his chest, and he knew he needed to get out of there. “I’ll be back.”
Andy and Ronnie waved him off, barely noticing as he left. They were still batting around ideas about what to do for Hangman. Kate was a different animal. Rooster could feel her eyes on him as his shoulders hunched in time with his constricting chest.
He made a swift exit onto the patio, inhaling fresh air deep into his lungs in an attempt to open up his chest. He was out there alone for less than a minute before a hand touched his shoulder. He should’ve known it was coming, but it still made him jump and turn around defensively.
“Sorry,” Rooster’s voice cracked slightly on the word, and he quickly diverted his eyes away from Kate.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked, leaving her hand where it fell on his arm. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just that…” Rooster wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he couldn’t stop the words coming out. It was something in the water, or in the town, or just in the house. Something that made him want to open up. “I don’t know. Seeing the way you guys are with Jake, it makes me think about what my siblings would’ve been like if my dad hadn’t…”
Kate placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, pulling Rooster’s eyes up to hers “Well, you don’t have to wonder if you don’t want to. I know, we all know, we aren’t replacements, and we won’t try to be. No one can replace what you’ve lost. But just because what you’ve lost is irreplaceable doesn’t mean there aren’t… alternatives.”
It was a sensitive subject, and Rooster could see the way Kate’s eyes darted around, searching for the right words. “We don’t need you to think of us as your real family or as replacements for them. If it helps you open up or cope, we won’t be offended by you thinking of us as a backup, Bradley. I know you’ve only been here for a little while, but we care about you. We will be what you need us to be. So don’t think you have to betray your family to stay here, and don’t think you’re hurting us by thinking of your family first.”
She gave his shoulder one last squeeze then stepped away. “We’re all here for you, even Jake. He wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t want you to be part of this, and we wouldn’t be spending so much time with you if we didn’t want it too.”
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It was the Eve of Christmas Eve, and Rooster woke up to (Y/n) already at the Seresins’ frying up some eggs for breakfast. Even on leave, Rooster woke with the sun, yet somehow (Y/n) was already there.
She loudly announced that she was kidnapping Jake so they could go into the city to shop for Christmas presents. Rooster was welcome to join or stay at his own risk.
“Do you want to come? Everyone else will be out, so there won’t be much to do here. But if you really wanna stay, you can use my car. It can’t make the trek to the city, but it gets around town in a pinch.”
When she asked, an image of Kate the night before, ‘He wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t want you to be part of this, and we wouldn’t be spending so much time with you if we didn’t want it too,’ flashed through Rooster’s mind.
Jake brought Rooster here, not just to his family home, but to (Y/n), and as he stood – finally alone with her – in the kitchen, Rooster saw it for what it was: the most open and honest way Jake could place his trust in Rooster. It was as good as if Jake had ripped his heart from his chest and put it in Rooster’s palm.
“Of course I’ll come along. Can’t leave you alone with Jake that long. That would be torture.”
(Y/n) beamed. She had a witty retort, but Rooster didn’t hear it. He was too distracted by the way she turned back to the stove, still smiling away, as comfortable in his presence as she was in any of the Seresins.
She looked as ready and willing to accept him into the family as Kate the night before, and Rooster wondered if the two women, or more likely (Y/n) and Jake, had talked about it. If Jake got her permission to bring him here, or if Jake let her deliver her final verdict when he drove her home after the barbecue. Either way, Rooster knew he wouldn’t still be here if she didn’t want him around. But (Y/n) seemed to go so far beyond tolerance, so far beyond acceptance.
When Rooster thought of his family, of his parents and of the siblings he was sure he would’ve had. He found himself picturing (Y/n). Her open smile and accepting nature. He imagined a hellraiser of a baby sister with a nickname like Adrenaline that he was constantly trying to keep out of trouble. He could picture the little girl’s unbridled chaos mellowing into a mischievous glint in the grown woman’s eye. He could see himself bringing home his Navy buddies and giving them all an earful for checking her out.
Void of a biological family that had any real meaning to her, Rooster could pick (Y/n) up and put her seamlessly in his memories with his mom around the dinner table.
Rooster opened his mouth to speak. If he wanted his moment alone to talk with her, this was as good as it would get.
But before he could say anything, Jake came traipsing into the room. “Something smells good.”
“This is your payment for driving me to the city.” (Y/n) informed him.
“Oh?” Jake clearly didn’t know he was going to be doing that today, but he took the surprise easily in hand. “Sounds fun. When are we going?”
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“Absolutely not!”
“Why not? She would look so nice in this one.”
They’d been in the city shopping for the better part of three hours, and all that was left was to help Jake find one last present for Andy.
Jake and (Y/n) had already gotten presents for each other, or at least Rooster assumed they had because, even after several hours wandering around the mall from store to store, neither of them had picked anything out for each other.
Jake wasn’t really known for being a thoughtful person, and Rooster never would’ve thought he was a romantic or generous person at heart. Before this trip, if he’d have had to imagine Jake buying presents for any occasion, it probably would have been a last-minute whirlwind of boxed chocolates and flowers to get laid on Valentine’s Day. And yet, since coming to Texas, Rooster would bet every dollar to his name that whatever Jake gave (Y/n) was so thoughtful it would make her cry.
(Y/n) was obviously the kind of person who put a lot of thought into Christmas presents. She’d already gotten gifts for each of the Seresin sisters and Debbie before they went out shopping that morning, but her basket was still laden with little knick-knacks that reminded her of each of them. ‘Stocking stuffers’, she waved off the raised eyebrow Rooster shot her as she picked up a set of shot glasses that looked like beakers for Ronnie. He couldn’t imagine her forgetting to get Jake something. She seemed too good at this.
Jake had defaulted to (Y/n)’s opinion on gift giving up to the last moment, but now he’d fallen at the final hurdle.
“There is no way I am putting Andy in that. Addie, they’re all already picturing her naked. We don’t need to encourage them.”
The issue, a debate that was about as close to a fight as (Y/n) and Jake were capable of, centered around a beautiful, though very skimpy sundress hanging off of (Y/n)’s finger. “They will not be picturing her naked. I have this same one in a different color.”
“Yes, and I’ve been to the beach with you in it. All the guys are picturing you naked too.” Jake said with a roll of his eyes, as if it were the most logical conclusion, and he couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it.
(Y/n)’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she suddenly sounded less sure of herself on that fact. “No they aren’t.”
Jake tilted his head to the side and gave her purse-lipped expression that said she ought to know better, “I have to beat the other guys back like flies, Addie. You just don’t notice any of them.”
There was a rule between the two of them, one that Rooster had quickly caught onto, that in each other’s presence neither addressed the elephant in the room. In keeping with that rule, neither Jake or (Y/n) confronted why it was that (Y/n) wouldn’t notice all of the guys staring at her while Jake was around.
“Look, I won’t tell Andy what to wear any more than I’ll tell you what to wear, but I’m not gonna gift every guy on that trip a wet dream.”
(Y/n) rolled her eyes, “It’s really not that bad. You’re exaggerating.”
“No, they will definitely be picturing her naked in that.”
“See!” Jake shouted triumphantly, pointing at Rooster, “Rooster agrees with me! He never does that!”
(Y/n) bit back a laugh at Jake’s excitement. Defiantly, though certainly amused, she shoved the sundress in her own basket. “I’ll have you know I met the one that invited her along as his plus one, and he’s a perfectly nice guy. Practically a gentleman.”
“What branch did you say he was?” Rooster piped in.
“Army… I think he’s Special Forces.”
Rooster chuckled, and Jake fumed. “No. Absolutely not.” He stole the dress out (Y/n)’s basket it and hung it back on the rack. “Next you’re going to tell me Kate needs these art supplies so she can paint some Marine in the nude.”
“Well,” (Y/n) hedged, “he’s not a Marine…” Her tone was teasing, and there was just the right amount of mischief in her eyes.
“Ugh!” Jake walked back passed her towards the luggage section, ringing his hands in the air.
(Y/n) burst into a round of giggles as Jake wandered off, and Rooster couldn’t help joining her with a chuckle of his own. “Really though,” (Y/n) said, still trying to sober up, “What’s wrong with Army guys?”
“Well, for one, if he’s Special Forces, he has definitely already seen her naked.” Rooster spoke under his breath, not wanting to tempt fate with Jake’s foul mood, even if he would never actually unleash it around (Y/n), “And for two, Jake can’t scare an SF guy into line.”
“Well I, for one, think he’s great. And I think that will be totally unnecessary.” (Y/n) led their way through the racks, following Jake towards the matching set of bags he was no doubt going to buy Andy instead.
Rooster shrugged, not that (Y/n) could see from in front of him. “He might be a great guy, but still. Jake wants to protect her. He’s just trying to help.”
“Oh of course.” (Y/n) made a point to turn back so Rooster could see her playfully roll her eyes, “Because we women need a big macho man to help us with everything.” The pair broke out into the wider aisle and began walking side-by-side.
“Aren’t you the same girl I just watched pout her way into getting Jake to carry all of her bags out of the last store?” Rooster grinned down at her.
At the reminder, (Y/n) couldn’t hold back the devilish, gleeful smile, “Yeah, because I needed a big macho man to help me with it.”
Rooster chuckled, “You know when I got here I didn’t get it, but now I do. You and Jake make total sense.”
“I choose to take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant as a compliment.”
“For who?”
“Both of you.”
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Every shop in the quaint downtown area of the small Texas town was strung with twinkling white Christmas lights along its roof. They shown down on the street like stars blinking invitingly to all the parade-goers, drawing them further into the crowd, further into the festivities. The lamps lining the street were all turned off, and the world had taken on a glow of red and green at the street level from countless, lit window displays of reindeer and Christmas trees and Santa Claus.
It was one of those magical scenes from the romantic comedies Rooster always unapologetically watched. Something in the air just screamed excitement and joy. It permeated his skin and filled him with an overwhelming sense of amusement and happiness. He was edging towards belonging, but he drew himself back, fearfully, from the feeling.
Christmas was never a holiday Rooster was particularly attached to. His family had never been particularly religious, and while his mother always made a point to make sure he had the best Christmas she could afford to give him – presents, dinner, family, lights, music – there was always something noticeably absent from Christmas with the Bradshaws. It always rang a little hollow. There was always one too many chairs around the table, one too many servings of pudding, one too many of everything.
But here, in podunk, middle of nowhere Texas, where half the people on the street remembered his name from the cookout and waved and said ‘Hi Rooster’. Where his friend – he felt far less hesitant calling Jake a friend now – walked a few feet ahead of him with the love of his life, and where Debbie clutched his arm and excitedly pointed out every family-owned store in town and raved about the town’s parade and its history.
Where Kate playfully berated her mother for boring him to sleep. And Andy whispered to Ronnie behind him about how she really did like the guy who’d asked her to go on the trip with him and his friends. And Ronnie told her to tell Jake, or Bradley, about the guy just to be safe.
Where he blinked a few times more than was strictly necessary as Andy mumbled that she’d probably talk to Bradley about it later.
“It’s beautiful Debbie,” Rooster barely knew which storefront Debbie was talking to him about this time, but her tone told him she was excited about it.
“Isn’t it just,” She beamed up at him, “The Newman’s always do such a great job. They didn’t make the cookout this time, but when you come back ‘round I’ll be sure to introduce you to ‘em. Their son and Jake were best friends when they were kids.”
Jake seemed to hear what Debbie was saying, and he craned his neck around in their direction, clearly unwilling to remove his arm from (Y/n) long enough to actually talk to them, “His dad used to own the plane, Rooster.”
“Why did you two stop being friends again?” Kate’s question sounded innocent enough, but there was an undercurrent to it that Rooster had come to recognize as common to all Seresin’s.
Debbie leaned around Rooster to give her eldest daughter a playful whack on the back of her hand, “Enough of that.”
The group all laughed.
They soon had to move to a single file line as they hit the town’s main square where the parade actually began, and the street was filling up with people camping out on the sidewalk for the best seats, leaving only a narrow walkway to get around. Kate side stepped in front of Rooster, between him and Debbie.
Rooster took the chance and leaned over Kate’s shoulder, “So why aren’t they friends?”
“Why else,” Kate turned her chin up to say it but didn’t face him, keeping her eyes forward as they duck and weaved their way through the people to keep up with the group, “Newman threw a basketball too hard at (Y/n) in P.E. She fell over, hit her head. Stitches. It was all an accident, but Jake wasn’t so forgiving back then. He’s always been a stubborn ass. They didn’t make up till college.”
“Funny, I thought around here Hangman didn’t have any flaws,” Rooster dared using the callsign. It seemed fitting in the moment.
Kate approved, grinning up at him, “You tellin’ me my brother isn’t an ass?”
“Oh no, he definitely is.”
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“I’m gonna go get drinks. Wait here?” Jake asked (Y/n).
“Course, we’ll hold down the fort.” (Y/n) reached across the bench and patted Rooster on the knee, the last remaining members of the group.
The Seresins’ had secured a bench and the lip of sidewalk in front of it near the back of the circular route the parade would be taking through the big open square. There were people crowded in around them in lawn chairs or sitting on picnic blankets. Groups of children ran around and played in the empty path that was cleared out for the parade, one of them accompanied by Kate.
While they were waiting on the parade to start, Kate had run off to play with her godchildren, a pair of little girls belonging to her high school best friend. Mrs. Seresin had promptly taken that as her cue to abduct Ronnie and make her talk to someone named Taylor that she swore was just perfect for her. Andy had followed along behind snickering the whole way.
Objectively, it wasn’t that many people. A parade back in San Diego would’ve gotten ten or twenty times as many people as this one, but the shouts back and forth between different little families and the way everyone made room for the next group that came along later spoke volumes about the fact that this wasn’t just a collection of people. It was a community.
Rooster was pretty sure that, even if they stood up and completely abandoned their stuff, no one would steal their spots or any of their belongings. ‘Holding down the fort’ was almost entirely unnecessary, and yet it provided him the opportunity he had been looking for.
He watched Jake’s back retreat towards a small makeshift shack that appeared to be some kind of concession stand. If he wanted to talk to (Y/n) alone, this was the only chance he’d get.
“Well (Y/n),” He broached in a gentle tone. He had to be careful about this. (Y/n) didn’t strike him as the tattling or whining sort. If he said the wrong thing, she would probably grin and bear it. But of course, Jake could read her so well. It didn’t matter if she told him or not; Jake would know. So he had to be careful. “Jake’ll be leaving the day after tomorrow.”
(Y/n) gave him a sad smile. “So will you,” She added, “we’ll all miss you.” (Y/n) didn’t mean to redirect him. Rooster knew she wasn’t as sneaky as that. His first night in town she’d done quite a bit of redirecting, but all of it was incredibly obvious and usually accompanied by a look to Jake. This was just (Y/n) being (Y/n), welcoming him into the family.
“Of course,” He’d almost – almost – grown used to the Seresin brand of open affection, “but I’m not Jake.”
The smile stayed on her face even while the light in her eyes seemed to dim. “Well, no, you’re not, and I might miss him a teeny bit more if I’m being totally honest with you.” Her chipper, teasing tone didn’t match the sadness that was coming into her gaze, rolling in like dark clouds signaling a coming storm.
“Can I ask you a personal question, (Y/n)?”
“Of course,” (Y/n) shuffled on the bench. She turned to face him and brought her feet up onto the bench, pulling her knees into her chest.
He wondered absently if it was so she could look him in the eyes or if having her legs in front of her was more of a safeguard, a defense mechanism. Rooster had had several open, honest conversations with (Y/n) during his time in Texas, and some of them had actually been quite personal. But the few times he’d gotten her alone had only ever been long enough for a joke here or there, an offhand teasing comment.
He wondered if she could sense the change in atmosphere, in tone, as much as he could. If she could, she didn’t let on any more than the arm wrapped around her knees.
“Why aren’t you in San Diego? You don’t… really seem like you care about Texas that much, and I kinda get the feeling you’d rather be there.”
(Y/n) sighed like a weight had compressed the air out of her chest, a gust that looked and felt more like it was forced from her lungs than actually given freely. She knew this was coming. Rooster could tell from the way her eyes tilted down as she sucked air back in. “It’s complicated. It’s not as easy as just moving.”
“Well no,” Rooster conceded. “You would need… Well, you’d have to be with Jake, I suppose.”
“Right.”
“Why aren’t you?”
Her teeth caught her bottom lip, and (Y/n)’s eyes darted away as fast as the words left his mouth. They flitted along the crowd. She wasn’t really searching for anything. There was no urgency to her gaze, but she still seemed to be looking into every face that she passed. If for no other reason than to not look back at him.
“Is…” It was a wild thought, an impossible thought. But it was truly the only explanation Rooster could think of, “Is there someone else?”
(Y/n) came to a stop. Her shoulders, going up and down with the weight of her breaths froze in a sort of half shrug. Her eyes came to a stop on some unknown face in the crowd and glazed over as she stared through whoever it was into something that wasn’t there. Her fingers, twitching against the denim of her jeans, stilled and flattened against the fabric. It was like someone had a remote to a tv and hit pause.
“(Y/n)?”
Then, all at once, they were in fast forward.
(Y/n) threw her head back and let out an absolutely raucous laugh. If not for the packed bodies filling in the space around them with a buzz of noise, it would’ve echoed into the night. If not for the Christmas music playing in the background of the entire scene from speakers situated at the base of the sporadic trees decorating the square, her laughter would’ve been so disruptive it would’ve drawn the eyes of everyone in town to them. Not that any of them would’ve said anything beyond a cool, disapproving stare.
As it was, her laughter seemed to only add to the merriment of the moment, a merriment that Rooster’s chosen topic of conversation had pulled the pair of them out of.
Rooster let her have several rounds at his expense, going through another bout of quieter laughter then a few rounds of giggles before she finally managed to settle down enough to address him again. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to laugh at you. Just the idea.”
“There isn’t someone else then I take it.”
“No.” She said emphatically, one last chuckle leaving her lips. “And there never will be.”
Rooster shifted himself to face her this time. A knee pulling up on the bench between them, his elbow resting on the back of the bench, propping up his head to stare her down. “Why not?”
The jovial, amused expression coloring her face softened. They were talking about Jake. Rooster made a note of it; her expression softened when she got to talk about Jake. “I believe it was Betty White who said, ‘When you have the best, who needs the rest?’”
Rooster raised an eyebrow. This was shaky ground. “You don’t have Jake though.”
“Bradley,” (Y/n) sighed and brought her knees down, crossing her legs between them. She leaned in, the amusement and merriment of moments ago, the soft loving expression she got when talking about Jake, gone. “You’ve been here for a little over a week now. Do you think there is anyone in this square, anyone in this town, who could ever love me as much as Jake?”
“No,” It was the easiest question Rooster had ever answered.
“Do you think anyone else in this square, anyone in this town… Fuck it, do you think anyone in all of San Diego could ever love Jake as much as I do?”
“No,” The second easiest question.
“I have Jake.” (Y/n) said, matter-of-factly. Her eyes implored Rooster to see her truth. “He’s mine. In every way that matters, he will always be mine.”
“But he’s not… here.” Rooster hesitated to point out, not because he thought (Y/n) would balk at the reminder. She seemed more sure of herself now, talking about how much she loved Jake and vice versa, than ever. Rooster just didn’t want to cause her pain in his path to answers. “He’s gone, and …. Much as I hate to admit it, he’s probably the best pilot at TopGun besides Maverick. The Navy isn’t gonna let him go any time soon.”
“And I wouldn’t want them to.” (Y/n) agreed.
Rooster raised an eyebrow, “Where does that leave you?”
“Waiting.” Rooster had his answer. He thought about stopping there, turning around and laughing at Kate dancing through the parade route with a little kid holding each hand, wandering over to join Andy teasing Ronnie about Debbie’s latest setup attempt… but he couldn’t.
Rooster saw him approaching behind (Y/n) from his peripheral vision. He tried not to focus on him, to not draw (Y/n)’s attention away. His eyes stayed on her even as the blonde head of hair drew close and closer through the crowd.
This was, he thought, his chance. If he was ever going to get one. His chance to finally do what Kate asked and knock some sense into Jake, and his chance to do what he knew needed to happen and knock some sense into (Y/n).
“(Y/n), you’ll have to forgive me.” Rooster’s next words were for Jake, for Hangman. “I like Jake. And I like you, and I like you both together. But he left, (Y/n).”
(Y/n) was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “He left because I told him to go. He loves flying planes; he loves the Navy. I can wait a little longer.”
Jake was passed the last group now, coming up behind her. Even in his peripheral, Rooster could make out his face now.
“Does he love you more?”
“Of course,” (Y/n) didn’t hesitate.
“Then why aren’t you there with him?”
“I don’t know!”
She shouted then buried her head in her hands. Rooster had never heard her raise her voice before. His entire body drew back. Being shouted at in general wasn’t a pleasant experience, but there was something so much more disquieting about it being (Y/n), about it being someone who was otherwise so unshakably good natured and caring towards everyone. It was his intention to pull the anger and frustration, the sadness, out of her, but he hadn’t realized just how close she was to boiling over.
A few groups near them turned to stare, not just from the volume. Rooster glanced over and saw their faces colored in shock. He saw their eyes flit to Jake, just over her shoulder, and then to him in concern.
They were all right to be concerned.
Rooster made eye contact with Jake and instantly realized it was a mistake. He wasn’t looking at Jake. There was nothing of the mildly mischievous, but secretly kind-hearted family man in the eyes boring into his.
Rooster was staring down Hangman. Hangman with vicious, vengeful eyes. Hangman that could, and had, killed. Hangman that would readily take up a cause as honorable as avenging (Y/n)’s tears with Rooster's blood.
It sent a chill down Rooster’s spine, and for a moment he thought about running, jumping up and sprinting into the crowd for the safety of Debbie or Ronnie or Andy, someone Hangman would never commit a murder in front of. He might be able to duck Hangman’s first blow and make it to Kate and the kids somewhere behind him, but he was also pretty sure Hangman would be willing to commit a murder in front of that particular sibling.
But none of those were really options, and Rooster wasn’t one to run from a fight. There was only one solution here.
“Why haven’t you gone to San Diego, (Y/n)?” Rooster asked, his eyes staring down Hangman’s even as he spoke to her.
Hangman’s hands clenched into fists at his sides; his lips pulling back in a sneer.
“I don’t know,” (Y/n)’s voice, quiet and muffled by her hands over her face, cut Hangman off, “Maybe because… because there has to be a good reason.”
(Y/n) looked up, and Rooster quickly diverted his gaze down to hers.
There were tears welling up in her eyes. She was practically swimming in them, but none had spilled yet. It would probably be Rooster’s only saving grace if (Y/n) didn’t stop Hangman. “Jake has to have a good reason. Right?”
Rooster opened his mouth to respond, to assure her that, whatever else Hangman is, he is in love with her. To tell her she’s right, that Hangman wouldn’t do this without a good reason; it was just a question of whether she accepted his reason. But he didn’t get to say any of that.
(Y/n)’s voice picked up, strength and speed. She was spiraling. “I’m in pain every day, and I hate it. I hate going to friend’s weddings knowing that will never be me. I hate coming home every night to an empty house and an empty bed. I hate that every morning I wake up from blissfully happy dreams about a life with him, and that every morning I have to remember that’s a life I’m not living.”
Rooster chanced a glance over her shoulder.
Hangman was gone.
Rooster didn’t let his gaze linger any longer on Jake than was necessary to ascertain that he was listening. Rooster had tried to get Jake to see sense before, and it had only had marginal if any success. But this was the wakeup call he needed, and Jake was finally hearing it.
“I hate knowing that this is my life until Jake retires from the Navy in like thirty years, but it is. Because there isn’t anyone else, Bradley. There will never be anyone else. I don’t care if that means I have to wait till he retires or if I have to wait for the fucking ocean to dry up. There is nothing and no one that will ever replace Jake for me.”
(Y/n)’s eyes implored Rooster to believe her in a way that was wholly unnecessary. Rooster believed every word she was saying, not just because he thought her incapable of lying about this but because he knew the truth of every word even as she spoke it.
He’d seen it for himself in the way she looked at Jake, the way she smiled at him, touched him, the way her entire body relaxed just at the sight of him. Rooster didn’t need her to tell him how long she would wait for Jake. Rooster had already watched his mother wait.
“I want nothing more than to drop everything tomorrow and buy a ticket to San Diego. Whether there’s a house with a white picket fence or a tiny room with a bunk in an aircraft carrier, I want to be wherever he is. Being without him hurts me every day, but the only thing I know to be absolutely true in this world is that Jake Seresin loves me as much as I love him… and he would never hurt me like this without a good reason.”
“Yes he would.” The words came out broken, as broken as the man who said them.
(Y/n) lurched to her feet and whipped around. “Jake…”
(Y/n) didn’t seem to know what to say.
Rooster felt a pang in his chest at the desperation in her tone. He’d caused that. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but he had staged the moment unfolding before him. He put (Y/n) in position, in the position to stand in front of Jake and falter. Distress didn’t suit her; it wasn’t an emotion Rooster had ever heard (Y/n) express, ever. Certainly, she had never expressed distress towards anything regarding Jake; Rooster doubted she’d ever had cause to even know what distress felt like in the presence of Jake Seresin.
From the corner of his eye Rooster saw Kate take a stumbling step back in their direction. Jake had his back to her, and her eyes were trained on (Y/n)’s face. Kate looked shocked, concerned, possibly even terrified though he couldn’t tell from that distance.
“Jake, I-I can explain. I didn’t… I don’t….” She couldn’t explain.
Jake’s face was in a state of pain Rooster had rarely seen before. Early in his flying career, Rooster had briefly been given a backseater who ejected at too low an altitude and ended up breaking nine ribs. The look on Jake’s face was something akin to that, to his chest caving in.
“It’s not… I mean… Jake,” She sobbed his name.
Whatever else Jake was feeling, he couldn’t stand to hear that. Jake took a slow, deliberate step forward. “There is no reason, (Y/n).”
(Y/n) was struck dumb, and Rooster felt it in the way her knees began to shake that at any moment she was going to crumble. If Jake didn’t explain himself immediately, Rooster was sure she would disintegrate.
Jake clearly felt it too. His hand reached out for hers, but for once, she didn’t offer it freely. He had to take it for himself. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks. Even as people watched, he was completely unashamed to be crying in this moment. He made no move to stop them, no move to wipe them away.
Jake took another step forward, standing chest to chest with (Y/n) and spoke so low that only she and Rooster could hear over the noise of the throng. His voice had a reverence to it that was reserved for religious ceremony – or in Jake’s case, saying (Y/n)’s name. “There is no reason good enough to hurt you, (Y/n). You are the only thing in this world that matters to me.”
(Y/n) flung her arms around Jake’s neck. She buried her face in his chest, and her entire body shook against his from the force of the sobs that overcame her. If not for the arm Jake put around her waist, she would have collapsed against him.
“Please,” (Y/n) mumbled into his chest. One broken, unspecified plea.
Jake’s eyes turned skyward, tears still pouring down his cheeks. “Anything, (Y/n).”
(Y/n) pulled her head back from his chest, and Rooster watched their eyes meet through a web of each other’s tears. They stared at each other for barely a moment. Decades they had waited, but in that moment, they couldn’t wait a second more.
Jake’s hands came up from her waist to cradle her face between his palms as (Y/n)’s hands threaded through his hair and pulled him in.
Their lips met in the middle in a passionate, unhurried kiss, and Rooster smiled. He felt as if he’d put something wrong in the universe right again.
Somewhere in the distance, someone cheered. Rooster thought he recognized it as Ronnie, but before he could turn and find the source, the first voice was joined by a chorus of others and then a resounding, deafening applause.
Jake and (Y/n) hardly seemed to notice at all, their entire beings – as they always were – consumed with each other.
Kate showed up at Rooster’s elbow a tear rolling down her cheek. “Thank you,” She wrenched Rooster into a bone-crushing hug.
The parade started, but in a town where everyone knew everyone and everyone knew everyone else’s business and everyone knew how in love Jake and (Y/n) were, the parade seemed so anti-climactic, not just to the Seresin’s who were practically screaming with joy but to all the onlookers who had also been wondering not if but when.
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“Rooster, I’m sorry.” (Y/n) held out a Christmas bag to him, “I didn’t have time to wrap it.”
“You…” Rooster stared at the bag in her outstretched hand. “You really didn’t have to, (Y/n).”
(Y/n) rolled her eyes, but her smile remained unshakeable on her face. Rooster was pretty sure (Y/n) would never be able to stop smiling for the rest of her days.
The thought did momentarily cross Rooster’s mind that she might stop smiling one day because Jake might not be at her side anymore, but that thought was quickly quashed as impossible. Rooster couldn’t see the future, but he was pretty positive that Jake would live exactly one day longer than (Y/n) so he never put her through the pain of living without him, then he would promptly keel over and die from the pain of being without her.
“Of course we did. You put up with this one,” she elbowed Jake in the side, “all the time, so we don’t have to. It’s the least we could do.”
“We?” Rooster tentatively took the bag from her hand and glanced between her and Jake.
Jake, with the arm draped around (Y/n)’s shoulders, pointed at the tree in the corner and a small pile of presents underneath it. “Seresin family tradition to sneak downstairs and steal your presents before morning without getting caught by Ma. Those’ll be yours. You’re the only one left.”
“I mean, won’t those be…” He nodded his head towards (Y/n).
“No,” (Y/n) shook her head, “I usually break in, but I stayed in Jake’s room last night so I didn’t have to.”
Unsurprisingly, little had changed around the Seresin now that Jake and (Y/n) were finally together. They were so inseparable, so effectively a couple before, that there was virtually no adjustment needed. The arm around her shoulder, the adoring look in their eyes, the way they couldn’t be separated from each other, it was all almost exactly the same. The only difference was this time no one had to pretend it was normal and that nothing was going on. There was something going on, and now it was perfectly normal.
“You usually what?” Rooster doubled back.
(Y/n) shrugged like it was nothing to say she’d broken into someone’s home. “You have to open them before Ma finds you. It’s tradition, and I’ve never been caught.” She grinned at the second half of her comment.
Rooster turned around to look at the tree. There were about half a dozen small packages wrapped in garish red and green paper sitting under it, and now that he was looking at them, he could see the tag on the top one with ‘ROOSTER’ written in massive letters across it.
His words caught on a lump rapidly forming in his throat. “I-I,” He didn’t know what to say. There really wasn’t anything to say.
He’d never gone a year without a Christmas present. Even when he didn’t feel like celebrating all that much, even when they weren’t on speaking terms and he hated his guts, Mav had always sent Rooster something. A few of those years, Rooster wasn’t even sure how Mav had found him and was positive he’d made Iceman pull strings to find out.
“The top one’s from Mav and Penny.” Jake confirmed what Rooster already knew.
It was the others that he wasn’t expecting. A red and green package that was so clearly a book, folded in the neatest wrap job he’d ever seen with a delicate matching bow on top. One misaligned mess that, judging by the poor attempt at wrapping he’d witnessed from her a couple days ago, was almost certainly from Kate. A weird oval shaped thing that had paper twisted and tied at the ends so it looked more like a piece of candy. Two matching square boxes behind those. And a bag, still dangling off of (Y/n)’s outstretched finger.
Rooster blinked rapidly. It felt like there was something in his eye.
Jake cut the tension. He dragged (Y/n) back into his side and whispered conspiratorily into her ear, “He’s just trying to figure out which one’s mine cause he knows about the stink bomb I put in it.”
(Y/n) giggled and laid her head against Jake’s shoulder.
Rooster turned back with a smile, one that he hoped conveyed everything he was feeling towards the couple in that moment, the depth of love he’d developed for them, for all of them really, in just a week.
(Y/n) was still holding out the bag to Rooster.
Rooster cautiously took it from her hand and gently removed the obstructing paper from the top.
“It’s not much, but it seemed your style.”
Rooster let out a full belly laugh as he pulled out one of the most atrocious tropical shirts he’d ever scene. It was dark blue with waves patterned across it, interspersed with tiny spits of islands covered in palm trees and tiny propeller planes of various makes and models.
“Thank you.” His smile was both grateful and relieved. He didn’t have anything to give her in return. If it had been any more than a gag gift…
“There’s actually more in the bottom.”
Rooster pulled the shirt the rest of the way out of the bag and set it to the side. Down in the bottom was what looked like a picture frame.
“We always give Jake a new one every year because the sun bleaches out the photos.” (Y/n) explained as Rooster pulled it out of the bag. “You don’t have to keep it if it’s weird, but he always seems to like them. So I thought you might too.”
Rooster glanced up at her with a furrowed brow before he looked back down and flipped it over.
“It’ll stick to the dash of the cockpit,” Jake explained.
Most of the small frame was taken up by a large picture of his parents, a familiar picture to him of his mom and dad at the piano bench that Mav had taken not long before his dad died. Smushed into the bottom corners were two tiny group photos, one of the TopGun squad posing on the deck of the aircraft carrier after the successful uranium mission and a candid of the Seresin family, plus (Y/n) sans Jake, having a blast on their patio.
“We won’t be mad if there’s someone else you wanna put in there instead. We just…”
“No,” Rooster cut her off, looking up with a teary smile. “I love it.”
He didn’t have anything to give her in return, and the war going on in his head must’ve been written on his face because Jake gave him a small almost imperceptible shake of the head.
A resounding ‘no’. Rooster didn’t need to give them anything else.
“Open mine next!” Andy came screeching down the stairs into the living room, shouting as she went. “You’re gonna love it!”
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Fanboy spotted her first. He and Payback had a rule for as long as they’d been flying together, a rule that the rest of the squadron all subconsciously adopted for themselves. Whoever saw her first got to take a crack at her. It wasn’t like dibs, because if the woman said no and was particularly into someone else they were allowed to go for it, but only the first pilot to spot her got to approach. Everyone else had to hope she approached them.
Gorgeous women in a skimpy, flowery sundress walking into a bar like this tended to stand out from the crowd, so it wasn’t surprising that Fanboy clocked her the moment she entered the bar, still standing in the doorway looking around like a lost puppy trying to find its owner in the crowd.
Fanboy whistled, low and long, under his breath and elbowed the nearby Phoenix, nodding in the woman’s direction.
Phoenix appraised the woman appreciatively. Whoever she was, she definitely came here dressed like that for a reason. That dress was the dress of sexual awakenings and wet dreams, and gods Phoenix hoped Fanboy wasn’t her type.
“Good luck, man,” Phoenix leaned over the table, eyeing the woman, “She looks like she’s already got somethin’ on her mind.”
“I bet I can take her mind off it,” Fanboy grinned and turned to walk away.
He brushed passed Rooster on his stool, and Rooster glanced around to see who Fanboy’s latest target would be. For Fanboy’s sake, thank God he had.
“Absolutely not.” Rooster’s hand lurched out and caught the back of Fanboy’s shirt, yanking Fanboy back to the table he and Phoenix were currently occupying.
Fanboy stumbled back to the open barstool next to Rooster. “What the fuck man?” Fanboy shrugged Rooster off with an expression that was more confused than angry. “What’d you think you’re doin’?”
Rooster had already turned away, offering Fanboy a half-heartedly, “Saving your fuckin’ life.” He let out a loud whistle, not of the wolfish-catcalling variety, but a loud clear note meant to get attention as it echoed across the bar.
(Y/n)’s eyes darted towards the pool tables, and Rooster tipped his sunglasses up onto his forehead, not that she really needed the help recognizing him. Even as he was reaching for them, (Y/n)’s nervous, overwhelmed expression was giving way to a wide, relieved smile.
(Y/n) darted down the steps and began weaving her way through the thick crowd. Most of the men turned to appreciate her as she passed them by, but none of them made a move to impede her progress – not in this bar, not with the group she was making a b-line towards.
“Wait, is that… that can’t be your girl?” Fanboy pointed between Rooster and the woman rapidly approaching.
“It’s not,” Rooster agreed, hopping to his feet and moving to stand beside the pole at the corner of the pool area. As he went, he thumped Hangman hard on the back where he was bent over the pool table.
“What the fuck, man,” Hangman exclaimed as he missed his shot, standing up and glaring at Rooster’s retreating back.
“8 o’clock,” was all the information Rooster offered up as he walked past.
Hangman’s eyes followed where Rooster was headed, and he suddenly couldn’t give a damn about the shot he’d just missed.
“I saw her first, Bradshaw,” Fanboy declared. His steps followed Rooster’s retreating back up even with Hangman.
Instinctively more than anything else, Hangman’s hand, still holding the pool stick, whipped out, smacking the long rod hard across Fanboy’s stomach, making him double over around the piece of wood.
“No you didn’t.”
As Hangman completely abandoned the table, (Y/n) finally spotted him, and the second she saw a gap in the crowd, she ran the last dozen or so steps to him.
Rooster wasn’t offended or at all surprised when (Y/n) breezed passed him and flung herself into Hangman’s arms.
Hangman caught her with ease, one arm tightly gripping her around the small of her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. Her face burrowed into his neck, and he buried his free hand into her hair, holding her there as his fingers wove into her hair.
Fanboy wandered, stunned, to stand at Rooster’s side. “Hangman has a girl?”
“Told you I was saving your life.”
Fanboy numbly nodded his head in agreement.
Rooster knew from experience that the two of them could stay like this for at least an hour without moving, and he highly doubted Penny would appreciate such a prolonged display of PDA. Or Hangman for that matter, because the pilot clearly didn’t realize the way his hand was fisted in the back of her dress was pulling it slowly further and further up, mere inches from flashing (Y/n)’s ass to the whole bar.
“Oi, lover boy,” Rooster leaned forward and flicked Hangman in the ear, “do that on your own time.”
“Fuck off Rooster,” Hangman grumbled, but he gently lowered (Y/n) down anyway.
(Y/n) stayed pressed against Hangman for another second or two before she took a deep breath, seemingly composing herself, and turned.
“Bradley,” she smiled, genuinely ecstatic to see him despite moments before ignoring his presence. “It’s so good to see you,” (Y/n) pulled him down into a hug.
“Good to see you too. Glad you’re here. Jake was getting intolerable without you.” Rooster said the last part under his breath in her ear as he bent down returning the hug.
(Y/n) laughed and pulled away. “Oh I can imagine,” she agreed. Her hand blindly reached behind her, and Hangman stuck his own out, lacing his fingers through hers and dragging her back into his side.
“What are you doing here?” Hangman punctuated with a kiss to her temple.
“Thought it’d be a nice surprise. After all my friend, Bradley here, promised to get me on base since you were less than forthcoming.” (Y/n) teased him.
Hangman smiled, one of his rare, real smiles that Rooster had never seen outside of Texas. “My apologies, ma’am, but I’m a bit of an asshole sometimes if you haven’t already noticed.”
“Oh we’ve all noticed,” Phoenix butted in.
The four other members of the squad at the Hard Deck that night were all crowded in the space between the couple and the pool table. Completely abandoning any semblance of a game in favor of this utterly stunning development surrounding the squad’s resident asshole and the hot, but entirely random, girl. She had marched into the Hard Deck and, without so much as a flirty wave, laid claim to the Jake Seresin, and the Jake Seresin had accepted it without question. The squad looked varying degrees of stunned, confused, and suspicious.
Phoenix most of all. She stuck out her hand, “Hi, I’m…”
“Phoenix!” (Y/n) happily declared, taking Phoenix’s hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “I know. Jake’s told me all about you. Which means you must be her backseater Bob, and Payback, and Fanboy.”
“Guys,” Hangman seemed to realize at this point that introductions were unavoidable, “This is (Y/n).”
Rooster leaned back against the pole and stuck his head out around the pair with a shit-eating grin, “Otherwise known as Addie.”
There were several long moments as realization slowly dawned on all of their faces.
“Is there anything you care about beside yourself?”
“Addie maybe, but she’s probably it.”
“Addie’s off the table.”
“You’re Addie…” Phoenix said it like it was an epiphany she’d just had, not something Rooster had told her five seconds before.
“Yes, I am.” (Y/n)’s head jerked up to look at Hangman, “And why does everyone around here seem to think I’m a plane? At the airport, Omaha said he thought I was a Cessna, and Fritz said he didn’t know I was a person.”
Hangman’s mouth mimed words but none came out as he searched for an explanation.
Rooster, ever the helpful friend, leaned forward and told her point blank, “He talks about you all the time, but since he named the plane after you, and he’s such an asshole, we all assumed he was in love with a plane this whole time. It seemed more plausible than him being in love with a person.”
“Really?” (Y/n) met Rooster’s mischievous grin with one of her own, “But he’s so clearly in love with himself?”
“Ugh,” Hangman buried his face in her neck to hide the heat (Y/n) could feel rushing to his skin as it pressed into hers, “I really hate that you two are friends.”
“We’re not friends; we’re family. Right, Bradley?”
“Right.” Rooster chuckled.
(Y/n)’s fingers instinctually went about carding through his hair, completely unbothered with messing up whatever product he’d lathered in it that day. The prospect of his messy hair didn’t seem to bother Hangman much either when it was (Y/n) doing it. “Really Jake, I think it’s sweet.”
Hangman pulled his face out of her neck and pulled her against his chest, pressing kisses in quick succession to her lips.
“You knew about this?” Payback asked Rooster, gesturing vaguely to Hangman and (Y/n).
“Oh,” (Y/n) turned her head away from Hangman, but he just continued kissing down her cheek to her jaw then her neck, “We only met when he came to Christmas, but I’ve known Coyote for years.”
“For years?” Bob.
“For Christmas!” Phoenix.
“Yeah.” (Y/n) answered Bob, “Since Jake was in training at least. Coyote picked us up from the airport.”
Hangman’s ministrations froze. “Us?” He said into her neck. This time Hangman stepped back. His hands stayed in place on her hips, but his expression was wary.
“Well you know I hate being in planes unless you’re flying them. I wasn’t going to fly out here alone, and really, Andy and your mom were already both going to be out of town. It seemed rude to leave them behind.”
“Don’t look so scared Jake,” Kate’s voice cut through the moment as she appeared at Rooster’s right hand. “We won’t embarrass you too much.”
No one needed to ask who Kate was. The family resemblance struck each of them as hard as it did Rooster the first time he saw her.
“Kate,” Rooster smiled down at her.
“Bradley,” She returned, wrapping an arm around his waist to hug his side.
Rooster threw an arm around her shoulder returning the hug, though he left his arm in place.
“Where’s Ronnie?” Hangman demanded of Kate. His eyes searched anxiously around the room for his middle sister. Not anxious for her safety, not in Penny’s bar at least. Anxious for a very different, far more pressing reason.
“Oh leave her be,” (Y/n) playfully swatted his shoulder. “You know,” She turned to Phoenix, who still appeared to be processing an overwhelming amount of information, “this reminds of one time in sixth grade. Mr O’Connor’s class had a pop quiz in earth science-”
“Absolutely not!” Hangman threw a hand over her mouth and lifted (Y/n) up around the waist. He set her down behind him, putting his body between her and the rest of the TopGun graduates. “You are not making friends with her.”
(Y/n) said something that was muffled by his hand, and Hangman cautiously moved his hand.
“If you stop me from talking to her, who’s gonna stop Ronnie from flirting with Coyote at the bar?” She nodded in that direction.
Hangman’s eyes whipped around. In mere moments, the trio of women had taken him from cocky, asshole pilot to a frazzled hall monitor trying to keep track of too many children. “I hate you,” Hangman murmured down to (Y/n).
“You love me more than life itself.” (Y/n) dismissed offhand.
“I do,” Hangman agreed and kissed the top of her head before he let her go and disappeared to find Ronnie.
(Y/n) turned around with a smug grin on her face, staring down four dumbstruck TopGun aviators. “That was exactly as much fun as I thought it’d be.” She glanced up to look at Rooster, “Wait till he finds out Andy’s trip got canceled for a storm, and she’s outside talking to Yale.”
“I think that’s Special Forces guy’s problem now.” Rooster reminded her.
Kate shook her head. She leaned in closer to Rooster’s side seemingly to reassure him. “Nah, you were right to talk her out of it. He was a nice guy, but they weren’t a good fit.”
Phoenix cleared her throat awkwardly. It would be days, weeks, potentially months, beforte she processed the series of events that just happened. But one thing did stick out in her mind that she was capable of processing right then, “What’s this about a pop quiz?”
Kate and (Y/n) both burst into fits of laughter. (Y/n)’s hand shot out and took ahold of Kate’s.
“Oh I really,” a tear leaked from the corner of (Y/n)’s eye as she laughed, “I really can’t tell you that one, but I promise I’ll help you make Jake think I did.”
Phoenix smiled, “That’ll do.”
#jake seresin#jake hangman seresin#rooster#hangman#bradley rooster bradshaw#bradley bradshaw#jake hangman seresin x reader#jake hangman x reader#hangman x reader#jake seresin x reader#jake seresin fanfiction#jake seresin x you#jake seresin x y/n#hangman fic#hangman top gun#hangman x you#hangman fanfic#hangman fanfiction#rooster fanfic#rooster fic#rooster x oc#jake seresin fic#jake seresin fluff#hangman seresin#top gun fanfic#top gun fic#top gun fanfiction#top gun x reader#top gun x oc
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— 𝐅𝐀𝐐 ⋆ ˚｡
this blog is strictly multifandom, but that does not mean that i don’t play favorites for certain fandoms/characters. so there will most definitely be more writings for certain characters and fandoms.
requests: are closed, but thots are always welcome!
in no way shape or form should minors be interacting with anything on or posted to this blog. this is an 18+ space. anon hate and celebrity discourse also has no place here, so please respect that. if you are racist, homophobic, bigoted, zionist, islamphobic, judgmental to what people enjoy writing/reading, can’t depict fiction from real life, you will be blocked.
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…
rpf, necrophilia, incest, pregnancy, daddy/little play, age play, spitting, kitten, bimbo!reader, foot fetish, animal play, race play, watersports, underage scenarios, alpha/omega, domestic violence, kid fics, male!character x male!oc, i hate the word ‘doll’ as a pet name so i avoid it like the plague.
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…
smut (refer to the above list when it comes to this), fluff, age gaps, poly/threesome+, reverse harem, dubcon, noncon, yandere, toy play, cheating (to a certain degree), blood play, knife play, some bdsm, breath play, violence, gore, capture x captive, hunter/prey, praise and degradation, power imbalance, step siblings, supernatural, villainary, choking, mommy/daddy kink (to an extent).
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒.
marvel ↷
miguel o’hara, hobie brown, marc spector, thor odinson, loki laufeyson, peter parker (all variants), yelena belova, joaquin torres, doctor strange, wade wilson, carol danvers, eddie brock, scott lang, hope van dyne, kate bishop, hela, pietro maximoff, logan howlett, wanda maximoff, steve rogers, kraven, cable, druig, makkari, thena, blade
dc universe ↷
dinah lance/black canary, diana prince, clark kent, pamela isley/poison ivy, arthur curry/aquaman, harley quinn, adrian chase, pattinson!bruce wayne, edward nashton/the riddler
top gun: maverick ↷
jake 'hangman' seresin, bradley 'rooster' bradshaw, javy 'coyote' machado, mickey 'fanboy' garcia, natasha 'phoenix' trace, beau 'cyclone' simpson, reuben 'payback' fitch
star wars ↷
poe dameron, finn, kylo ren/ben solo, bo-katan kryze, din djarin, young!han solo
scream ↷
ethan landry, stu macher, billy loomis, chad meeks-martin, mindy meeks-martin, amber freeman, tara carpenter
bridgerton ↷
anthony bridgerton, colin bridgerton, benedict bridgerton, kate sharma, simon basset, phillip crane
house of the dragon ↷
ser harwin strong, daemon targaryen, aemond targaryen, rhaenyra targaryen
american horror story ↷
cordelia goode, tristan duffy, michael langdon, harry gardner, madison montgomery, kit walker, xavier plympton, ally mayfair-richards
etc shows ↷
villanelle, lip gallagher, tommy miller, carmy berzatto, luca (the bear), kate parks, daisy jones, billy dunne, warren rhodes, geralt of rivia, love quinn, max wolfe, olivia benson, roman godfrey, dream the endless, lucifer (sandman), jonathan pine, mira phillips, the salesman (squid game), hwang jun ho (squid game), kim geon-woo (bloodhounds)
movies ↷
john wick, finnick odair, peeta mellark, johanna mason, han lue, cipher, walter de ville, tangerine, dave lizewski, thomas sharpe, james conrad, neil (tenet), edward cullen, millie / molotovgirl, dante reyes, thrandull, steve kemp, charlie swan, marquis vincent de gramont, keys (free guy), akira (john wick), beverly marsh (it two), ben hanscom (it two), keith (barbarian), frank (don't worry darling)
adam driver ↷
kylo ren/ben solo, adam sackler, flip zimmerman, phillip altman, charlie barber, henry mchenry, commander mills, rick smolan, officer ronnie peterson, matt the radar technician, clyde logan, paterson, jude
oscar isaac ↷
santiago garcia, poe dameron, nathan bateman, jonathan levy, william tell, blue jones, rydel keener
pedro pascal ↷
din djarin, javier peña, frankie morales, javi gutierrez, joel miller, dieter bravo
chris evans ↷
ransom drysdale, lloyd hansen, andy barber, ari levinson, frank adler, steve rogers, jake wyler
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"Well, we're offically a family now." Normal au
this ended up being slightly to the right of pregnancy cause it's post Maisie being born but the scene just felt too cute not to lol
|| prompt list ||
prompt: "Well, we're officially a family now."
au: regular
word count: 1104
warnings: hospital mention, breastfeeding stuff, girl dad jake at full force
It was dark outside the hospital now, but Jake wasn’t entirely sure what time it was. And he didn’t even care. The thought made him chuckle as he sat back in the rocking chair. First time in his life he didn’t know the time and didn’t really know what was going to happen next — and he was completely content. He would stay right there in that moment forever if the world allowed it.
In that moment right then with his wife fast asleep and his newborn baby girl sleeping in the bassinet beside her.
Nothing else mattered besides that. Not the Navy, not flying, not his career that once seemed like the most important thing in the world. It wasn’t. There were more important things.
Jake wiped at his face. He felt tired, the kind that made tears build at the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t want to miss anything. Didn’t want to miss the way that red cheeked baby looked in that hospital issue bassinet. Swaddled tight in that white blanket dotted with suns and pink little beanie on her head.
Maisie Carole Grace — already so loved.
The privacy curtain was drawn back gently. Nurse Taylor smiled as she looked around for who was awake, and her smile widened when she spotted Jake sitting in the rocker.
“Hey, Mr. Seresin. I’m gonna have to wake mama and baby up to try breastfeeding one more time.”
Jake nodded as he got to his feet. “I’ll get Ronnie.”
He crossed the room to the hospital bed while Taylor went around to get Maisie out of her swaddle. Jake smiled softly as he cupped Ronnie’s cheek. She had only been asleep for maybe thirty minutes, and even in sleep he could see she was exhausted. But getting Maisie to latch was important, and when they tried just a few hours ago the newborn had been stubborn, so they needed to try again.
“Hey, darlin’,” he spoke gently and she instantly stirred, nuzzling into his hand with a small noise of protest. “M’sorry, I know. But Nurse Taylor’s back.”
Ronnie opened her eyes as she nodded. Brown irises rimmed red as she sat up a bit straighter. Jake retracted his hand to help get the sleep shirt they brought in the go-bag up and over her head. With Nurse Taylor, Maisie started to cry loudly at being so rudely awoken. Now unswaddled as Taylor lifted her from the bassinet. Ronnie whimpered as her breasts started to leak.
“Alright, here we go,” Taylor said as she placed Maisie in her mother’s arms. “And after this we can do some skin-to-skin time with Dad, huh?”
Jake couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect. A grin stretching his features as he watched Taylor coach Ronnie through the latching process for the third time. He could tell Ronnie was starting to get frustrated, as Maisie squirmed and seemed to purposefully avoid her mother’s nipple all together. She sniffed, glancing up at Jake with tears brimming her eyes as she continued to do everything Taylor was telling her to. Except it just wasn’t happening.
Placing his hand on the back of her neck, he gave it a gentle squeeze. Ronnie looked up at him just as her first tear slipped down her cheek.
“S’okay, take a deep breath,” he told her in a hushed whisper and she nodded.
She sucked in deep, her chest expanding, and then she let it out slow. Then she tried one last time, nudging her breast lightly against Maisie’s parted lips. And then the newborn latched, cries dying in her throat as she began to suckle and paw at Ronnie’s chest.
“Oh,” Ronnie gasped, smile wide as she brushed her thumb over Maisie’s head of blonde hair. “There you go, Maisie babe. God, that feels fuckin’ weird.”
Nurse Taylor laughed. “Yeah, feels different from the pump, huh?”
Ronnie agreed with a nod. Then she looked up at Jake with that same wide grin and he smiled, all warmth and love, back at her. His girls. His loves. He leaned in close and kissed the side of Ronnie’s head as he whispered his praises.
Once Maisie had drunk her fill, Nurse Taylor took back the newborn and looked up at Jake.
“Alright, Dad, if you wanna take off your shirt and have a seat,” she said, nodding towards the rocking chair he was in earlier.
Jake was quick to pull his shirt up and over his head, throwing in the direction of their go-bag without really looking. He noticed, as he strode across the room to sit down, Nurse Taylor look over her shoulder and give Ronnie an approving look. His wife just laughed, and Jake couldn’t help but smirk to himself.
But the expression was quickly wiped from his face as Nurse Taylor laid Maisie down on his chest — draping the sun blanket over them both. She told him how to support her bottom and to lean back in the rocker just a bit. Maisie felt so small laying against him like that. He could fit her in one arm, carry her around like a football. And she was warm, nuzzling her face into his chest. When he looked down, he watched as her tiny hand wrapped around the chain of his dogtags. He smiled through the tears that blurred his vision as he kissed the top of her head.
His little girl. His Maisie Carole Grace.
He didn’t know what time it was. He didn’t know what was going to happen next. But he loved his daughter. He wanted the world for her. He wanted to do right by her. And he knew he was going to screw up, he was only human. But he was going to try his hardest to be everything she needed him to be.
When he looked up, Nurse Taylor was gone. He didn’t even realize she had left the room. And Ronnie was sitting up in bed with her phone camera pointed at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly tucked it away with a guilty look on her face.
“S’too sweet a moment not to,” she said, “At least I’m not your mom telling you to smile.”
“Yeah, there’ll be plenty of that tomorrow,” he chuckled lightly, then he looked back down at Maisie with reverence and awe reserved for things most precious in this world. “Well…Guess we’re officially a family now, huh?”
“Hmm, guess so,” Ronnie sighed.
Jake told her to go back to sleep, and he held Maisie against his chest until the sun began to stream in through the windows.
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#annie answers#christel my beloved#writing prompt#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: come over here and overwhelm me#fic: what happens in texas stays in texas#fd: top gun#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw
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@indynerdgirl requested: numbers 2, 10, and 72 from the random prompts list (so sorry this took me so long to get to love)
|| prompt list ||
prompts: "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" + "I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice." + "You were put on this earth to give me a headache."
au: nfl
word count: 2183
warnings: drinking, jake being a little shit, some smooching and heavy petting, ronnie has a praise kink and that's just facts
In the 2020 season, the Indianapolis Colts didn’t make it past Wildcard Weekend. Which was disappointing, obviously; but it only added fuel to the fire to perform even better next season and make it all the way to that coveted title of Super Bowl Champion. For now, though, the team was packed into the quarterback's house in order to watch those two teams that did make it all the way duke it out on live TV.
The Rams versus the Bengals. Most of the Colts were rooting for that Cincinnati team. Something about AFC teams needing to stick together. At least it wasn’t the fucking Patriots again.
One of the party goers, and Bengals supporters, included new Tight Ends Coach Ronnie Bradshaw.
She had only been with the team the last few weeks of the season, but she fit in like she had always been there. A Hoosier born and raised, and the daughter of Nick Bradshaw, a famous NFL wide receiver himself, Ronnie had been around football her entire life. She not only knows the game inside and out, but even played it herself when she could. She brought something new and fresh to the team that hadn’t been there in a long time. Everyone could see it. The players, the other coaches, the sport’s greatest critics. Ronnie seemed made for the Colts’ offensive coaching staff — and maybe she was just the breath of fresh air they needed to get them that title they so craved.
“Gotta admit though, Joe Burrow is a little cutie,” Ronnie commented as she sipped on her White Claw.
The party was too big for everyone to be in one room, and she ended up on the main floor living room. Sitting cross legged on the couch with a few of the players’ girlfriends and wives. Two lucky guys got the armchairs, but most who decided to watch in that room were sitting on the floor, backs leaning against the couch.
Including tight end Jake Seresin. Who just so happened to be sitting right in front of his new coach.
He turned to look up at her with a smirk. “Is that a bit of a crush I hear, Coach?”
“Sure,” she laughed, a slight blush tinting her cheeks at the thought. “Cincy’s not too far. We could make it work.”
The WAG sitting next to her asked a question about Burrow’s career, and Ronnie provided the information with ease. But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Seresin’s face sour. Clearly her answer wasn’t the one he was looking for. Though she was unsure what answer he would want from her.
Now that the season was over, her interactions with Seresin had been…off. She really couldn’t put a finger on it. He had always been flirty. And as player and coach there was a mutual respect lining the jokes and teasing they often shared. But lately, whenever she turned his flirty remarks into jokes at his expense, he didn’t give anything back. He didn’t laugh. He almost seemed…hurt by it. His smile less genuine and the yes…and-ing cut off abruptly.
The game went to commercial break, and Ronnie’s White Claw was empty. Taking the opportunity, she got up from the couch for a refill. She never really cared about the commercials anyway. They hadn’t been funny since she was a kid.
Throwing her empty can into the recycling, she got a plastic cup and began filling it with water from the fridge. She still had to drive home later, after all. She was thankful for the quiet in the kitchen. There was no one else in there, but distantly she could hear the muffled sounds of laughter and jeering. It made her smile. This team was closer than most she worked with, and so far there’d been no talk of trades or free agency. It was a dream team, they all knew it, they just had to find their spark. And Ronnie hoped she could help them.
“Thinkin’ about that Burrow kid again, Coach?” Seresin asked as he walked into the kitchen.
Ronnie jumped. Jesus, she didn’t even hear him coming. For such a big guy, he would be very stealthy.
She rolled her eyes, pulling her full cup from the fridge door. “And what if I was?”
“I’d have to call you a cougar, I think,” he replied as he picked through the snacks laid out on the kitchen island.
“Hilarious.” Ronnie leaned back against the counter beside him. “I’m not that much older than him. We could still make it work.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled before tossing a jalapeno popper into his mouth.
All she could do was stare up at his profile for a moment. At the bulging muscle in his jaw as he chewed with a bit more force than necessary and the unreadable look in his green eyes.
It came as no surprise to her when Jake Seresin was just as pretty as the photos and videos implied. Because that’s what he was: pretty. He had a face like something out of old Hollywood. It made no sense when paired with his perfect Tight End physique. It made him too good to be true in some ways. What was even worse was that he knew it too. Used it to his advantage in nearly every city they travelled to. But even his reputation and his smug awareness didn’t stop her from thinking about him from time to time. And definitely not in a way a coach should think about one of their players.
Seresin glanced down at her as he put another jalapeno popper in his mouth. And it clicked. Green wasn’t just the color in his eyes right now.
“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” she questioned, teasing and quiet, as she smirked up at him.
“Of Joe Burrow? Absolutely not,” he answered just a little too quickly, hands coming to rest on the island.
“Oh, my God, you totally are,” she laughed.
He glared down at her. “Why would I be jealous?”
“‘Cause I said I think he’s cute and not you,” she explained, her smirk only growing as she watched his jaw tick to one side.
A sure sign he was getting frustrated and a sure sign she was right. A thrill went up her spine at the thought. That maybe there was something more going on besides the off season and him wanting to distance himself. Because that was the opposite of what she wanted, deep in some secret part of her heart that housed everything else she knew was wrong but desired anyway.
“Well do you?” he questioned suddenly, turning completely to face her with his hip against the counter.
It threw her off balance as she gazed up at him. “Do I what?”
“Think I’m cute.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” she said with a shake of her head, looking down at her socks as heat filled her cheeks.
“So are you.”
“I asked mine first.”
“Mine is more relevant.”
“Jesus Christ,” she groaned, rubbing at her temple. “Were you put on this earth to give me a headache?”
“New question — negates your previous one.” He grinned impishly at her and she huffed.
The chatter died down in the other parts of the house. The game must be back on. People would start to wonder where they were. Ronnie pushed away from the counter and away from Seresin.
“Fine. Don’t give me an answer. I can live without it,” she said, even though it wasn’t true.
She wanted to know. She wanted to know if he was jealous of some other football player just because she thought he was attractive. She wanted to know if he felt even an iota of what she felt whenever she was around him. Like electricity, like a forest fire — like something powerful but devastating. But it was clear from his teasing that he wasn’t actually jealous, he didn’t feel anything. And she was making a fool of herself. Them having a relationship, even a casual one, was probably off limits anyway. A good way for her to get fired before her career even really got the chance to begin.
With every intention of going back to the living room and finishing watching the third quarter, and trying to forget this disastrous conversation, Ronnie took a step away from Seresin.
But then she felt one big hand encompass her wrist, and in an instant she was spun back around to face him again. His expression was unreadable as he pulled her in close. And she went willingly, no fight and no resistance as she drifted into his orbit. About to crash. Eventually, she was nearly chest to chest with him, and her water was taken out of her hands. Set down on the counter behind him.
“So what if I’m jealous?” he asked quietly, voice rumbling in his chest as his fingers slid down to hold her hand instead.
“New question — negates your previous one,” Ronnie breathed back, overwhelmed but not feeling nearly enough.
He laughed with a shake of his head. “You drive me insane.”
She shrugged, trying to keep her cool in the face of his proximity and the feeling of his fingers playing with her own. “Feeling’s mutual.”
“But I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice,” he said, voice dropped an octave as he pulled her even closer, between his spread legs as he leaned back against the island.
“Like you haven’t looked at me the same way, Seresin,” she scoffed quietly.
“So the feeling’s mutual, then.” He smirked, his other hand coming up to cup her cheek.
He was so close now. She could feel his breath, jalapenos and beer, fanning her face. There was no buzz, no fogged brain. Her mind was clear. White Claws be damned. She knew the risks. Knew it was probably a mistake. But in that moment she couldn’t bring herself to care. All of her life she had done the right thing — and maybe she deserved an indulgence. He was there, this had been building for weeks, and a girl had needs. Needs that she very much wanted Jake Seresin to fill.
“Guess so,” she whispered, glancing down at his parted lips.
Seresin looked at her for a moment more, expression all heat and desire, before he muttered fuck it and dove into her. His kiss was insistent, hungry, rough. He instantly pried her lips open with his tongue and pushed his way inside. It felt like a claiming as he tilted her head just the way he wanted and licked into her mouth. It was the kind of kiss that made her dizzy, that made her want more and more. She kissed him back with just as much ferocity, hands fisting his crewneck as she twirled her tongue around his own.
When he finally drank his fill of her, he pulled away with his teeth sunk into her bottom lip. A soft moan slipped out of her at the sting. He released the swollen, pink flesh with a grin.
“You like when it hurts a little, Coach?” he questioned.
All she could do was groan in response as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him down into another kiss. Seresin chuckled against her lips, but it quickly dissolved into a grunt when she pressed her hips flush against his own. His hands grabbed, searched, explored. Up and down her back. Over her ass, her thighs. Into her long dark hair that was actually down for once. Ronnie’s heart raced at what this could mean. Where it could go. But underneath that she knew it was the thrill of doing something she shouldn’t for once in her life — and getting caught in the quarterback’s kitchen. Anyone could walk in. Anyone could see his tongue shoved down her throat and her fingers clawing into the back of his neck.
Jake pulled away first again, panting for breath as he leaned to whisper in her ear, “What do you say we finish watching the game…Then you and me head out early? Hmm? Go back to your place?”
She shouldn’t. She really shouldn��t. She was his coach, he was one of her players.
But an answer was coming out of her mouth before she could be more rational about it: “Yes…Please.”
“Good girl.”
Ronnie felt her breath hitch, her toes curl, at his praise. And from the smug smirk on his face, he knew that she liked it. Jake let her go with one last kiss and her water pressed back into her hand. Then she turned and went back to the living room, trying to get control of her shaking legs and the heat filling her cheeks.
Sitting back down on the couch, she noticed the game was on another commercial break.
“Jesus, Coach, where you been? You missed nearly the entire third quarter! Rams are up by three,” Garcia filled her in and she nodded, mind still reeling.
“You seen Jake?” Machado asked.
She shook her head. “No. Haven’t seen him.”
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#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: the red zone#fd: top gun#nfl au#football player jake#football player hangman#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#type: request
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BABY
For the prompts; come over here and overwhelm me + in a hotel room, up against the window overlooking a busy city.
BUT ITS DILF!JAKE please! Like they’ve attended a navy gala or whatever, Jake is an admiral, someone is watching the kids and it’s just them
DILF!JAKE DILF!JAKE DILF!JAKE thank you for this Fe...I simply let this get away from me....
prompt: in a hotel room, up against the window overlooking a busy city
word count: 2029
warnings: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT 18+ONLY MINORS DNI ( some plot, dilf!jake, lots of teasing, slightly dom jake, kinda public sex, vaginal fingering, unprotected pinv, slight voyeurism)
Jake got down from the stage when his portion of the ceremony was over. When he was done pinning medals and ribbons on bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Lieutenants and Commanders. He shook hands as he serpentined his way back to the table where Ronnie sat waiting for him. Smiling and leaning in close to hear what the older Admirals and slightly younger Captains had to say. He laughed and schmoozed and made people feel important.
But no one felt as important, as loved, as seen as Admiral Seresin’s wife — sitting at their table with eyes only for him as she watched him make his way back to her.
“How many kids do you guys have now?” Mrs. Lawson, wife of some other Admiral, asked with a smile as she leaned closer to Ronnie.
“Three,” Ronnie sighed, smiling at the older woman. “Maisie, Noah, and Rhodes.”
Ronnie pulled her phone from her clutch and showed a picture of the three of them to Mrs. Lawson, who cooed. “Adorable. And where are they tonight?”
“The Admiral and I actually took the week leading up to this off — little vacation. So they’re back home with his parents in Texas getting spoiled rotten.”
“Oh, what fun! I love when the littles get to stay with us,” Mrs. Lawson said.
Jake finally made it back to his seat, sinking down beside Ronnie with a small sigh. He drank greedily from his glass of water, throat parched from the elaborate ceremony and then the chatter on his way back. He set his glass down and smiled as Ronnie continued to be engrossed in conversation with Mrs. Lawson. The two of them fawning over pictures of the Lawson grandbabies. Jake was more than content to sit and listen and watch. His arm propped up behind her chair as he looked at her with a fond smile.
Ronnie looked beautiful tonight. She wore that dress he had picked out for her especially. Green chiffon like his eyes with gold sequins on the bodice. He had sent her to the best makeup and hair stylists in DC just for this event — everything done to perfection and leaving Ronnie feeling just as beautiful as she always looked to him. She looked like a dream. A princess. His princess. His dream. Even after all these years. Even after three kids and too many arguments to count and tears shed and greys and wrinkles starting to show.
As he continued to watch her, watch her lips form around a laugh and words he couldn’t really hear, Jake felt his cock twitch in his pants.
He was quick to adjust himself, scoot back further in his chair and tug at the pant of his dress blues. He focused his gaze on the stitch in the cream tablecloth, willing himself to calm down and not walk out of this important awards ceremony with a visible semi. A gentle hand was placed on his arm and he looked over to see Ronnie smiling at him concerned.
“You good?” she asked, head tilted to one side.
“M’good,” Jake gruffed out in reply.
Oh, but Ronnie knew better. She knew his tells like the back of her own hand. Like her favorite novel. Her eyebrow ticked up as she took in the slight flush of his cheeks, the dilation of his pupils, and the way he was sitting in his chair.
Ronnie gave him an incredulous look as it finally clicked. “Jake Seresin. Right now?”
“What can I say?” Jake shrugged, not even slightly sheepish, as he grabbed hold of her chair and pulled her closer to him — arm wrapping around her waist. “You look really good, sweets.”
“Mm, you do too.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek as she placed her hand on his thigh.
He gave her a look as she squeezed the strong muscle just beneath, huffing harshly through his nose when his cock began to get that familiar ache. Then Ronnie went back to her conversation with Mrs. Lawson, leaving Jake staring at the tablecloth and breathing deeply beside her. Her hand still as could be on his thigh.
It felt like an eternity for the rest of the awards ceremony to finish. Ronnie squeezing his thigh, rubbing up and down the fabric of his blue pants, and occasionally snaking her hand over his growing bulge. Even after all this time, she could be such a tease.
They had to walk out of the ballroom with Ronnie walking directly in front of her husband, his hands firm on her waist to keep her in place, in order to hide what was no longer a semi and definitely a raging hard-on.
Another Admiral stopped them in the hotel lobby, wanting to quickly ask how the kids were doing and what Jake was getting up to at Fort Worth with his newest recruits. Jake tried to keep steady, keep his voice even as he talked about Maisie starting fifth grade and Rhodes loving to skate just like his mom. But then Ronnie took her teasing to the next level. As Jake switched subjects to discuss his training regiment with his pilots, she subtly ground her ass back into his hardened length.
He was able to cover up his groan with a cough and continue on his conversation. But he squeezed Ronnie’s sides tight. A warning for her to stop and she followed that warning with teeth clamped down hard on her lip. She knew she was pushing it, doing that in front of one of his colleagues — an Admiral with one more star than he had. But she really just couldn’t help it.
She behaved the rest of the way up to their hotel room.
With the door closed and locked, Jake walked to the center of the room as he undid the buttons of his dress blues jacket. He laid the jacket down on the desk chair in the corner and it was quickly joined by the white button-up he was wearing beneath it. Leaving him only in his white undershirt, blue dress pants, and his finely polished shoes. All of this was done in silence with Ronnie just standing there watching him — her clutch left on the table and her heels kicked off at the door.
Jake turned to her once his own shoes were toed off, socked feet padding towards her quietly as his green eyes bored right into her. It made her chest heave in anticipation the closer and closer he got.
“You can be such a tease sometimes,” he growled as he cupped her jaw in his hand.
She leveled him with a look. “So can you.”
“Touche.” But his expression turned dark as he pulled her in flush against his chest. “But I don’t tease you in front of your boss, do I?”
“I don’t have a boss,” she replied breathlessly, again, knowing she was pushing it but God this side of Jake didn’t come out often and she wanted to see how far she could take it. “Technically, if we think about it, Maisie is the boss of me. She’s too much like you.”
Jake bit back a grin at her comment about their daughter. It was the truth. But he was too keyed up and too annoyed at her teasing to laugh at it. Instead, he kissed her. Harsh and bruising and full of teeth nipping at lips and nearly bending her backwards as he searched blindly for the zip of her dress. He found it with a small noise of success as he bit down on her bottom lip — pulling back her swollen flesh as he yanked the zipper down. Leaving her in nothing but her delicate lace panties.
He groaned appreciatively as he stepped back from her, watched her thighs rub together to try and relieve the growing pressure between her legs. He smirked as his eyes landed on her flushed face, her blown pupils, the way her hands reached up to toy with her breasts in some gamble to entice him to touch himself.
But Jake had already made up his mind. She needed a bit of punishment, a reminder not to do what she did in the lobby again.
“Take these off.” He hooked a finger in the waistband of her lace and snapped it back against her hip. “And stand in front of the window.”
He jerked his head back slightly towards the window he wanted. Their room was on the fifth floor overlooking downtown Washington DC. There were offices and apartments right across the street. And the hotel was nice, really nice. The windows floor to ceiling and right now the curtains were completely open. Ronnie bit her lip as a thrill went down her spine, making her shudder.
She did as she was told quietly. Taking off her panties, Jake watched and held out his hand for them once she was done. Ronnie looked up at him as she passed them off, doe-eyed and batting her lashes at him innocently. Then she walked over to the windows, hips swaying in that way Jake liked.
Standing there completely naked, for anyone to see, Ronnie watched the DC nightlife go by as she waited for Jake to come to her. Over her shoulder, she heard Jake groan softly as he inspected her panties.
“Your fuckin’ soaked already, aren’t ya, darlin’?” Jake asked as he pressed his chest into her bare back.
She whined quietly at the feeling of his shirt and pants against her skin. He was still wearing them, even while she was completely bare. Jake’s hands clamped down on her waist to hold her still as he bit her earlobe.
“You were so mouthy just a second ago,” he hissed in her ear. “I asked you a question.”
“Yes, yes!” Ronnie gasped. “I’m fucking dripping…Just for you, Jay.”
Taking hold his hand, he allowed her to drag his fingers down to her aching core. And she was right. She was wet, dripping down her thighs. She made a soft little oh noise as he pushed his fingers through her folds, teasing around her clit and at her entrance.
“Jesus,” Jake grunted as he easily inserted two fingers inside her, forcing her up on her toes as he curled them into that spongey spot he loved. “Is it the fact anyone could see you right now? Completely naked for me — getting off on my fingers? Anyone could just look up and see you. Even that three-star Admiral who was eyeing your tits earlier.”
Ronnie gasped as he pressed his thumb hard into her clit, her hands shooting up to the glass to keep herself upright. “Yes — mm — Jay. Want people to look. Want them to see you fuck me so good.”
Jake growled, a rumble deep in his chest as he pulled his fingers from her cunt. Ronnie cried out at the loss, falling further into the glass. Jake quickly undid his pants and pulled out his dick, pumping himself a few times before sliding completely inside her with one smooth thrust.
“Oh, yes, Jake — fuck — ah!”
He pushed her completely flush with the window, her tits pressed against the cold glass. A stark contrast to the heat of Jake moving, thrusting at a brutal pace behind her. He forced his fingers into her perfect updo, pushing her face against the window and making her drool as she took all that he gave her.
“Fuck, I want you to tease me,” Jake breathed harshly into her shoulder. “Want all those fuckers to know that I belong to you — that hot mama with perfect tits.”
Despite everything, despite how turned on and desperate she was, Ronnie laughed. And Jake laughed too. His other hand snaked around to strum at her clit — and after that she was a goner. Pushing back against his thrusts and clenching down on him so tight Jake was sure her pussy was trying to push him out. He thrust up into her once, twice, three more times before he spilled inside her with his teeth biting into her shoulder.
“I’m yours,” Ronnie panted, hand reaching back to hold the back of his head. “You're mine. Always. Forever.”
#annie answers#smut prompts#writing prompts#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: come over here and overwhelm me#fic: what happens in texas stays in texas#fd: top gun#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine#dilf!hangman
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“ i know we want this to be a secret, but people are getting suspicious. i can only turn down champagne so many times… ” regular au
keeping it just their little secret for a while my HEART
also she got kinda long so i'm slapping a read more on here
It was a beautiful wedding. Javy made a handsome groom and Jake an even more handsome best man. Celebrating a couple coming together and love was a beautiful thing - but it was also a great excuse to catch up with old friends and get absolutely hammered.
The old Uranium Mission squad was already four drinks in, and luckily none of them had noticed how Ronnie kept turning down their offers to share shots or get her flutes of champagne. At that point, in their group, Bradley was the only one who knew about the baby. And Jake and Ronnie wanted to keep it that way just for a little while longer. Their little secret. Their little joy.
But it was a secret proving harder and harder to keep as the night wore on.
"Why aren't you drinking?" Natasha asked over the dance music that reverberated through the ballroom.
"Somebody has to make sure you jamokes get back to your rooms!" Ronnie laughed, subconsciously folding her arms over her middle.
"We're all staying in this hotel!" Fanboy butted in. "That's a shit excuse and you know it!"
Ronnie rolled her eyes playfully before she simply walked away without another word. She knew they'd be too hungover in the morning to remember anything, anyway. She found Jake back at their table nursing a water, feeling thankful that he had stayed sober enough to hold a conversation with her.
He pulled her down to sit on his lap with a grin. "Hey, darlin'."
"Hey, Jay," she sighed as she looped her arms around his neck.
"What's wrong?"
"My feet hurt and I'm tired and I barely ate anything cause the smell made me nauseous," she listed off quietly.
"Oh, baby," he laughed sympathetically. "We can get outta here early and go get you some food here in a few minutes."
"Thank you." She sighed as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck. "And...I know we want this to be a secret, but people are getting suspicious. I can only turn down champagne so many times..."
Jake chuckled softly as he spread his fingers over her belly through the soft fabric of her dress. The material fell in just the right way to hide her small bump, though if anyone did notice they would probably just assume she was bloated. She hoped that was what they would assume anyway. His thumb stroked her assuredly as he pressed his lips to her forehead.
"I mean, I'd love to tell them," Jake spoke quietly as he continued to touch her. "But I don't wanna distract from Javy's big day."
"Since when do you not want all the attention for yourself?" she teased.
He pinched her side, making her giggle. "Shut up."
But the entire squad, from across the ballroom, already had some drunken inclination about what the big secret was as they watched the two of them together.
#annie answers#writing prompts#pregnancy prompts#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: come over here and overwhelm me#fd: top gun#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine
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“ was that a kick? ” + “ that was a kick! ” regular au
they're adorable your honor 😭 ty ty my darling
Jake had been waiting for weeks to feel the baby kick. The doctor said it probably wouldn't happen until about sixteen weeks, but that date had come and gone. If Ronnie thought he was handsy before, he was even more now that he was determined to feel those first little movements of their baby.
And it happened when they were in line at the coffee shop. Some little local place that was always packed because everyone knew it was good. They were both just standing there looking at Ronnie's phone, Jake's hands preoccupied against her belly with his chest pressed flush against her back.
But then he felt some feather-light little pulse, almost like a muscle twitching, against his palm - and he stood up a little straighter. Just as Ronnie lowered her phone, her own tentative hand rose to her bump.
"Was that a kick?" Jake asked just as he felt that little trill again, a grin taking over his features.
Ronnie laughed, "Oh, my God! That was a kick!"
"Y'all are real cute," the man standing behind them in line butted in, "But can you move up, please?"
Jake glared back at him before he pressed a few quick kisses into Ronnie's neck. Then he urged her forward with a hand to the base of her spine. But as soon as they were up just that one spot in line, his hands were back where they belonged - feeling even more of those sweet baby kicks.
#annie answers#writing prompts#pregnancy prompts#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: come over here and overwhelm me#fd: top gun#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine
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Smut prompts: “is that my shirt” and "Why should I wear anything at all if you're going to tear it off?" For werewolf au please
fe my werewolf love 🖤 the second prompt somehow got lost in the ether of me writing this and it's also not very smutty and i apologize...idk what happened
|| prompt list ||
prompt: "is that my shirt?"
au: werewolf au
word count: 397
warnings: jake and ronnie being couple goals as per usual, some werewolf things, suggestive there at the end
✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!
✎……werewolf au masterlist
Jake walked down from the loft bedroom in nothing but a t-shirt and his boxers from the day before. Bleary eyed with sleep and hair going in every which direction. It was approaching noon, and really he just wanted to keep sleeping, but the smell of bacon had pulled him from his slumber. Nothing particularly exciting happened during last night’s full moon, but the forced transformation still left him exhausted.
“Morning, sleepy wolf,” Ronnie called softly from her station at the stove, making breakfast for what looked like a family of five.
Most of it was for Jake, his stomach rumbling, the full moon messing with his metabolism.
“Mm,” Jake grumbled softly as he came up behind her, stealing a biscuit from the cooling tray and taking a bite — wrapping his free arm around her waist.
She turned off the burner and twisted in his hold, a small smile lighting her features. How did he ever survive mornings after a full moon without her? Ronnie made everything better. And she made even better biscuits.
But then her brow furrowed as she really caught a look at what he was wearing. She smoothed a hand over the university logo on his chest with a cock of her head. “Is this my shirt?”
“Maybe.” Jake felt his cheeks burn as she smiled up at him.
It absolutely was her shirt, but he was a little too embarrassed to admit it. A worn out t-shirt from her university that was several sizes too big on her. But fit him just right. And when he woke up still feeling the effects of the full moon, too big for his skin, he sought comfort the only way he knew how. Wrapping himself in the lavender and old book pages scent of his mate.
“Hmm, looks good on you,” she hummed, one hand trailing down his stomach, the tips of her fingers dipping into the waistband of his boxers.
Jake swallowed something thick. Vision already blurred as she pushed her hand even lower. Hands so soft and so small wrapping around his rapidly hardening cock. Jake grunted low in his throat as he slowly rutted into her loose hold — chin knocking against her temple.
“Little one,” he moaned quietly.
“That’s it, my Alpha,” Ronnie kissed his cheek before she slowly sunk to her knees. “It’s time for me to take care of you.”
i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates
#annie answers#fe my werewolf love#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: the echo (or the answer)#fd: top gun#werewolf au#werewolf top gun#werewolf!jake#werewolf!hangman#alpha!jake#alpha!hangman#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#type: request#hm feel like this sucks#and i shouldn't post it#but here we are#no one's gonna read these tags anyways#everything i do sucks these days so i guess its on par with everything else
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the echo universe: | a werewolf au | (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)
Summary: Ronnie invites Blue River to a very important ceremony that will determine the fate of Red Sky Pack - and the fate of the pup she carries.
Pairing: Werewolf!Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Human!OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)
Word Count: 5311
Warnings: heavily game of thrones influenced, slight angst, brad kinda being a dick as usual, made-up werewolf lore, ritualistic stuff, pregnancy mention, nick and carole are mentioned, blood, dead animal, an organ is eaten raw
✎……likes are great but comments/reblogs are even better!
✎……masterlist on pinned
✎……this has been sitting in my drafts for literal months and I'm tired of it being there so here we go. don't @ me for using that gif, it's hot. and thank you to my werewolf love @blue-aconite for looking this over for me literally months ago lol
Ronnie knocked on the door and waited. She really hoped he was home. He used to be home around this time. Back from the yard for his hour-long lunch that he only spent ten minutes actually eating. But who really knew? She certainly didn’t. He very well could have changed everything about his schedule since she moved out.
Her hands wrung themselves red as she waited. She had never waited to come inside that house before. But it wasn’t her home. Not anymore.
She heard the lock click. The door opened a crack, then it swung back completely to reveal Bradley standing on the other side.
He looked the same, and she was glad. Still wore those same flannels and still had that mustache he refused to shave.
“What’re you doin’ here, Ronnie?” he asked, looking over her shoulder to see if she was accompanied by anyone else.
“He’s not here. I came alone,” she assured, though she didn’t like that she had to.
Bradley shifted on his feet, hand still held behind him on the door handle. “Why?”
“Did — Did you get my text?” she asked, her fingers beginning to hurt from her pulling.
She wanted to say she was sorry for not calling. But she didn’t know how to say it. Didn’t know how to deliver such news if she would have to hear some false joy or his barely restrained hurt. Even now, as she looked up into those so similar brown eyes, as she stood merely a few feet from him — she couldn’t have felt farther away.
It was odd feeling like a stranger on the porch attached to the house she grew up in. It was odd looking into the eyes of a brother who could barely look back at her.
“Yeah. I got it.”
He glanced down at her stomach. She was barely showing but it was still there, pressing against the fabric of her shirt. Just the other day Mickey told her that he could smell it — the change in her. The life inside her. Ronnie wondered if Bradley could smell it too.
Ronnie took a deep breath to calm herself, prying her fingers apart to latch onto the ends of her jacket instead. Jake would worry if she came home with rung red knuckles.
Then she said, “Full moon’s coming up — we’re doing the Plena Luna Corda.”
Bradley took in a sharp breath through his nose as he put a hand on the doorframe, fingers digging into the wood. He dropped his head as he stared down at the space between their shoes. Then he ticked his jaw to one side with a shake of his head. A classic sign that he wasn’t pleased that made Ronnie swallow something thick.
“I’d like you to be there. I know it’s — it’s not traditional. But I’d like the pack to be there,” she added.
He scoffed. Rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”
Ronnie’s fingers curled around the ends of her jacket, bunched it up as hard as she could to keep herself from hitting him square in the chest. Just two words and she knew all she needed to. Knew exactly what he thought — about everything. About her. Then the tears came. Sudden and overwhelming. She wanted to fight them but she couldn’t with her hormones running wild. They spilled over in an instant, hot and frustrated as they tracked down her cheeks. Bradley had the decency to look surprised by their sudden appearance — eyebrows furrowed as he watched her lip tremble.
“Is that really what you think of me?” she asked as she wiped furiously at her face. “It hasn’t exactly been a fucking trip, Brad. I’m miserable most of the time. In a town with no connections besides a pack that’s barely accepted me and — and Jake. Who tries, but he doesn’t know what it’s like. Blue River’s my family and now…You all rarely talk to me. And-And I get that Red Sky’s supposed to be my family now but they’re just not. B-Because you’re not there and I fucking miss you.
“So, yes — I drove all the way over here to invite you to my Plena Luna Corda because I want you to be there. I want my family to be there.”
The Bradshaw siblings stared at each other for a moment. One with trembling hands and the other with a slack jaw. And when Ronnie couldn’t take it anymore, she wiped at her eyes one last time and pulled a slip of paper from her pocket.
“Whatever,” she grumbled, then she took the paper and shoved it into the bronze letter box by the front door. “There’s the location coordinates. It’s this Thursday — midnight. Show up or don’t.”
Then she turned and stepped off the porch attached to the house she grew up in. Leaving behind the brother who could barely look at her.
“Thank you for doing this, Penny,” Ronnie said quietly, trying to remain as still as possible.
“Happy to help, sweetheart.”
Penny smiled, knowing and sympathetic, as she dipped her brush into more of the red paint. With a final stroke, she finished up the design on Ronnie’s face. Thick around her eyes, winged up into her temples and hairline. A line down the bridge of her note. Then three lines started beneath her lips and went down her chin and neck. Next, Penny moved onto Ronnie’s exposed shoulders and chest.
Ronnie didn’t know who else to ask to help her get ready for the ritual. Traditionally, it would have been her mother. Or another human connected to Red Sky. But her mother was gone, and Red Sky was still too skittish, too careful to bring anyone else into their ranks. Penny easily accepted when Ronnie called, stating she had nothing better to do on a full moon night with Pete gone. It made Ronnie laugh, but it also made her heart ache. Pete was already gone from their house. He was with Blue River. They weren’t coming.
“So this Plena Lunar Coro…” Penny trailed off, knowing she wasn’t saying it right.
Ronnie corrected her with a laugh. “Plena Luna Corda.”
“Right. What is it, exactly?”
Ronnie thought back for a moment. She supposed Penny wasn’t around the last time Blue River performed a Plena Luna Corda — when her mother was pregnant with Bradley. She and Pete didn’t find each other again until years later. And Ronnie was always sure the next one she witnessed would be for Bradley’s Luna.
Now, she was a Luna. Now, she was participating in one.
“It’s a pregnancy ritual,” Ronnie explained as she tilted her chin up at Penny’s gentle urging, the paintbrush dragging down her neck to continue the lines from her chin to her collarbone. “When a Luna gets pregnant with her first pup, the full moon after she finds out she gathers with her pack — all painted with their colors, obviously — and she has to eat an entire wolf’s heart.”
“You — You have to eat a wolf’s heart? Like raw? The whole thing?” Penny paused her painting to stare at Ronnie wide-eyed and baffled.
“Yes,” Ronnie laughed at her friend’s expression, but she felt the nerves rise up in her chest as she talked through it. “I have to eat the whole thing — raw. If I do, without throwing up or spitting anything out, it’s a sign that the baby will be healthy and the pack will be blessed. If I don’t…It’s a bad omen. For the baby and for the pack.”
“Jesus, that’s a lot of pressure,” Penny muttered, resuming her painting.
“I know. And Jake’s a new Alpha, this is his first pup, and this pack has been through so much…I just…A lot is riding on this. On me.”
Penny finished painting her chest and arms. The two outer lines on her neck formed V shapes at her collarbones that went up towards her shoulders, trailing down her arms all the way to the backs of her hands. The middle of the three lines stopped just at the top of her chest. Elegant and simple.
The older woman set down the brush and kneeled down in front of Ronnie. She took her trembling hands in her own with a gentle smile. A motherly smile. Ronnie sucked in a deep breath through her nose and out through her mouth as she stared into Penny’s bright blue eyes. She had been with Red Sky for months, but this was her chance to really prove herself. To assert her role as Luna and as a vessel of the Moon Goddess herself. If she didn’t have the strength to do this, it was a sign she didn’t have the goddess’ blessing. Just another thing gone wrong for Red Sky.
She was only eight weeks along but already her stomach turned at just the smell of certain foods. There was a reason the ritual took place the first full moon after a pregnancy was discovered. When it would be the most difficult for the expectant mother. A true test of her strength. God — what if she couldn’t do it?
“I know this doesn’t mean much coming from me,” Penny said, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze. “But you are going to do amazing. You’re Veronica Bradshaw. You are the smartest, most badass woman I have ever met. You are a daughter of wolf kings. You can do anything.”
Tears blurred Ronnie’s vision but they didn’t fall. Did Penny know? Had she heard Nick Bradshaw say it before? She must have. Anytime he gathered the pack, his rally cry was always we are the children of wolf kings! It always made Ronnie think that she was a princess, destined for a crown. But now, hearing those words from someone she loved when she felt at her weakest, she understood why her father said it so many times. They imbued her with a kind of power she could never muster for herself.
She was a daughter of wolf kings.
“Thank you,” Ronnie whispered.
Penny smiled before she stood up again. “Come on, let’s finish getting you ready.
There were no rules about what a Luna should wear for the Plena Luna Corda, but over the years and through the first-hand accounts Ronnie had read, she noticed that there was definitely a pattern. White — and something that exposed her small belly. The only item the traditions called for was a flower crown made of lupine and moonflowers. Ronnie chose to wear a white skirt, ending just past her knees that hugged low around her waist, and a matching tube top. Barely anything in the chilled night air, but it didn’t matter. Not when her nerves were making her so jittery she felt warm and frozen all at the same time.
At the last, standing in front of the full-length mirror, Penny placed the flower crown on her head — the white and purple flowers stood out in stark contrast to her dark curls. As she looked herself over, she cradled her bump in one hand. Never before had she looked like a princess — a daughter of wolf kings. But she did now. This was her first, true moment as a Luna. The Moon Goddess on earth. A sign of fertility and strength within her pack. She could do this.
The clock in the hall struck midnight. It was time.
Ronnie took one last deep breath. That tight, anxious feeling in her chest remained, even as she thought over all her reassurances. But she would be with Jake soon. She always felt more confident when he was around.
“I’m ready.”
Javy paced around the front yard waiting to take her to the ritual’s location. He really was a beautiful wolf. Fur brindled and smooth, now painted red in streaks down his sides, haunches, and between his large golden eyes. He shook his head, great ears flopping, at the sight of her stepping down from the porch, trotting closer. The air was freezing, her breath fogged and her skin turned to gooseflesh almost instantly. But she could barely feel it. She padded barefoot across the grass, leaving Penny behind. Then, when Javy lowered his belly to the ground, Ronnie climbed on his back and grabbed fist fulls of his fur.
He stood back up, her knees tight on his sides and grip on his fur locked. Javy looked back over his shoulder at her once to confirm she was good to go. Ronnie nodded in return. And he took off at a gallop into the woods.
Ronnie pressed herself firmly against his back to hide against the wind and the rogue branches that would try to cut her. The air was biting cold, forcing tears to leak from her eyes as she buried her face in Javy’s fur. It was different than when she would ride on Jake’s back. The connection, that golden thread, was still there. But it wasn’t as strong. She didn’t feel one with Javy and she liked it that way.
The trees moved by in a blur of dark color, like soldiers in procession, watching their queen go by. That low-hanging fog off the mountain clung to the mossy ground. The full moon hung big and beautiful in the starry sky above. The world was silent, paused, except for the sounds of leaves rushing past and Javy’s growling breath.
Ronnie could have been riding on Javy’s back for hours or moments, she wasn’t sure. But it felt like an eternity and only a breath before they arrived in the proper clearing.
All of Red Sky was there, circled in wolf form and painted all in red, around a giant bonfire. There was a table filled with bowls of red paint and Ronnie could just make out in the orange light of the fire a great pile of furs placed just for her. Javy slowed to a stop with a growl, pawing at the soft earth. Ronnie lifted her head and a smile tugged at her lips. Relief and confidence flooded her veins.
Jake was still in human form. Taming the beast within that longed to change with the full moon. His chest and stomach were painted with a bold red pattern. He kept his face simple — opting for a line on his chin and across his cheekbones and nose. He looked calm, proud, as he helped her from Javy’s back.
Once he was free of his burden, the brindled wolfmoved to fill the gap in the circle at the edge of the clearing.
Jake pressed a kiss to her forehead, a low noise echoing in his chest, and she felt instilled with that confidence her mate always seemed to carry. He wrapped a large hand around the back of her neck, fingers tangled in the hair at her nape, and he gently forced her to look up at him. The breath was stolen from her lungs. He looked otherworldly in the firelight. His beard freshly trimmed, hair pushed back, eyes glowing red as blood as he fought against the change the full moon brought.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered over the roar of the flames.
And she felt it.
With that hand still gentle on the back of her neck, he led her over to one side of the fire — where the furs were placed. She could see it before they even arrived. The great, giant paws, the grey fur. A wolf. Freshly sacrificed just for this night.
Once in her place, standing on the pile of furs, Jake knelt down and shoved one clawed hand beneath the wolf’s ribs. He searched for a moment, then he yanked out a massive piece of raw muscle. Drenched in blood. The wolves around them whined and yipped in anxious excitement.
The heart.
He rose and held it out to Ronnie. She took it without a hint of hesitation. She had to hold the heart in both hands. The blood instantly began to pour between her fingers, down her arms, and drip onto her feet. Jake could say nothing more to her. No words of encouragement or kind phrases. It was all up to her now. He turned and went around to the opposite side of the fire where a great stone waited for him. He took a seat, legs spread and elbows on his thighs. She could still see him through the dancing flames, his gaze intense and powerful.
Jake nodded his head. It was time.
The ritual had begun.
She was a daughter of wolf kings.
Ronnie looked down at the heart in her hands. It was still warm. A fresh kill. She remembered talking to her mother about this. Sitting with her unfinished book on her knees and holding out her tape recorder in case she missed anything in her frantic note-taking. Her mother had laughed and she got it on tape. She told her daughter that she got the heart down in five bites. Looking down at an actual one now, Ronnie had to scoff. That was easy for her to say — she was a Beta long before she arrived at her Plena Luna Corda. She had sharp fangs and strength to get her through. All Ronnie had was desperation and Jake’s encouraging face from across the fire.
She had to do this. She could do this.
Jake’s eyes told her so. Red and intense through the flames. If she looked at him, only him, that was all she could feel. Confident, capable, whole, filled with a pride earned and humble. She didn’t break eye contact as she sunk her teeth into the meaty flesh of the heart.
Red Sky howled and yapped softly as she began.
The meat was tough, but her teeth could get through. She ripped the first bite free and began to chew, her eyes never leaving Jake. The taste was…Appalling. Akin to chicken but she didn’t even really know. All she could taste was animal blood and something vaguely meaty. It made her stomach turn instantly. She wretched just as she swallowed and the bite lept back onto her tongue. A noise of protest slipped between her closed lips as she looked down at the rest of the heart in her hands. It somehow looked like it had gotten bigger since the last time she looked at it. There was so much of it. This was only the first bite. How could she ever possibly get through it all?
Then, that bite still laying heavy in her mouth, she looked back at Jake.
Jake.
His gaze was empowering, intense — she nearly wanted to look away. His breaths were even, shoulders rising and falling at a soothing pace. He had his elbows pushed down to his knees, fingers threaded together loosely as he leaned as close as he could get to her. She could nearly hear him talking in her head.
Come on, little one. You got this. Don’t stop. You’re doing so good.
She swallowed hard with an audible gulp — and a smirk ticked up the corner of his mouth.
The next few bites went smoothly. Though achingly slow. Her jaw was beginning to hurt from chewing the tough meat. But she knew she had no chance of swallowing any of this whole. At the fifth bite, nearly halfway through, her stomach betrayed her again. What she already swallowed rose in her throat and she groaned — one bloodied hand shooting up to keep her mouth shut. Across the fire, Jake sat up a bit straighter, his every muscle poised like he was about to leap into the crackling flames. With a grimace, she forced it all back down her gullet.
That was when the tears came. Ronnie didn’t even know she had begun to cry until she tasted the salt on her lips. Her throat ached from the bile, her stomach churned. And there was a fear now. Visceral and constant no matter how hard she tried to fight it. Push it down. Focus only on Jake and his pride and his confidence. A shaking breath tumbled out of her mouth. There was still so much left. Something ugly curled around her heart now. Like tentacles or knotted vines — something meant to cling and drag down to the very depths of some unknown darkness.
What if she couldn’t do it? What if she became the very thing that she sought to prevent? Just another pain for Red Sky, another bad omen. What if she let Jake down?
Ronnie looked up at him from across the bonfire. His expression hadn’t changed. Still hard, still calm, still unrelenting in its pride. She could even still hear him, like a whisper at the back of her mind. Just a bit more, little one, you can do it. But it was so hard. Her stomach roiled, screamed at her to get it all out and find some relief. She brought the heart back up to her lips and took another bite. More tears slipped out.
Looking out at the wolves that surrounded the clearing, that watched her every move with eyes like shining gold coins, she wished there were some familiar forms among them. Some furry, time-worn faces that she knew like the back of her hand. Red Sky was trying, trying to encourage in the ways that they could. Barking and stamping at her and howling quietly. But it wasn’t the same. She wished her mother was there. She wished her father was there.
She wished Bradley was there. Or Pete, or Bob, or Natasha. The pack that raised her. That made her into the woman, the Luna, that now stood across the fire from her mate trying to do the impossible.
Swallowing that bite, she took another and was able to work through it quickly. Bile at the back of her throat threatened to ruin everything. Acid burning her tongue and forcing hot drool to accumulate in her mouth. Ronnie pushed it all down with a soft cry.
Only two more bites left. One if she tried.
It wasn’t just her poor stomach telling her to stop now. It was everything inside her. To just give up. Her hands, now painted completely in blood, trembled as she readjusted her grip on what remained of the heart. She couldn’t even look up at Jake. Convinced of the disappointment and anguish she would find there. She wasn’t cut out for this. She wasn’t a werewolf, she wasn’t a Luna, she was just some normal girl trying desperately to cling to something she was never meant to have.
The pack began to growl menacingly, their hackles raised as they turned west. Leaves rustled and twigs snapped. Ronnie looked to the source of the noise, fearing that something had now come to attack at one of the pack’s most vulnerable moments. Jake too was on high alert, stood from his seat with his teeth bared — barely restrained from circling the fire to tuck Ronnie away.
But all the agitation seemed to die away when it was revealed just who was coming into their circle.
“Pete,” Ronnie whispered when the wolf stepped into her view, just beyond Jake’s shoulder.
She would recognize his wolf form anywhere. Jet black and speckled with grey in the face and chest. She had ridden on his back when she was a child. She had patted his great face with her tiny hands. She had cried into his fur. But now, now he stood alone amongst a pack that only a few months ago was prepared to rip his throat out. Now, he stood with blue paint smeared into his fur like it was done last second.
He came.
Then, on Jake’s other side, a larger wolf appeared — the growls of Red Sky picked up. There were scars on this wolf’s face, painted blue and the coat was a deep chocolate brown. His eyes glowed red in the light of the fire.
“Bradley,” she wept.
He came. He really came. And if he was here, then the rest of the pack wasn’t far behind. And they did come, filling in the gaps between the Red Sky wolves with their blue-painted fur.
Ronnie looked to Jake with a hopeful smile, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Please let them stay. Jake looked at her for a moment, then his gaze fell on his pack and he nodded. Red Sky instantly calmed down at his signal. But they remained restless, shifting quietly and keeping a weary eye on the other wolves. Jake slowly sat back down on the stone, all his focus back on his mate.
Her family was there. Her pack was there. Jake was there. She was a daughter of wolf kings. She was a Luna, the Moon Goddess incarnate.
Ronnie could do this.
She shoved the remaining chunk of flesh into her mouth and chewed.
Jake looked like he was about to jump into the fire. Every muscle pulled taut, like a coil under too much pressure. His red eyes shone and were full of power as he watched his Luna eat. And at the last, when it felt soft enough, Ronnie swallowed — all of it. Her hands empty. Everyone watched on bated breath as she swayed on her feet, one hand cradling her belly, fighting against her body to keep everything down. Then she gulped with an audible gasp…
And she knew it was finished.
Every wolf in the clearing howled up at the moon that cursed and blessed them — Red Sky and Blue River. The pup was going to be strong and healthy, the pack was blessed for it.
But all Ronnie could focus on was Jake. Proud and steady as he came around the fire to her. A smile quirked the corner of his mouth, his hand dripping with fresh red paint. She wanted to collapse into him, let him be her strength now. But she needed to remain resolute, standing proud as she reunited with her Alpha and her mate. As he claimed their unborn pup for Red Sky. Ronnie gasped at the cold, wet feeling when he pressed his red-dripping hand into her belly.
“My little Luna,” he spoke in awe.
The howls only grew louder, more consistent, as Jake knelt before her and wrapped his arms around the tops of her thighs. Then he lifted her into the air for every wolf to see. From each pack. This was his mate, his Luna, his love, his queen. Ronnie smiled, happy tears falling down her cheeks now, with her hands in his golden hair. His gaze was locked on her as he walked her around the fire once, twice — the moon shining down on them and wolves from both packs howling in harmony for the first time in centuries.
When Jake finally set Ronnie back on solid ground, the wolves around the clearing dispersed. Ready to go on their full moon hunt, to fulfill the desire that had been gnawing at them since the moon rose that night. After a moment of pounding feet and calling howls, the clearing was silent. Leaving the Alpha and his Luna with a moment of peace, as was tradition.
Jake held Ronnie’s face in his painted and bloodied hands, tucked her hair behind her ears as he pulled her flush against him. “You did so good for me, little one.”
“Yeah?” she questioned quietly, reaching up and gripping his wrists in a loose hold.
“Yeah,” he chuckled lightly, eyes flicking over the state of her bloodied face. “My little Luna. My moon and stars.”
Ronnie nodded as her eyes slipped shut, leaning into his firm touch, leaning into his strength. Her fingers slipped from his wrists to touch her bump lightly. Jake pulled her ever closer, breathing in deep as one of his hands cradled the back of her neck — fingers threaded through her hair.
Then she whispered, so soft it would have disappeared on the wind to anyone else, “I don’t think the pup likes wolf’s heart.”
Jake laughed. One of those deep rumbles that moved his entire body that Ronnie loved. She released her own quiet chuckle as Jake dropped down on one knee before her, her waist in his broad hands.
“Good thing you only do this once, then, huh?” he looked up at her, his expression soft and full of a powerful sort of love.
And his gaze dropped to her belly with that same expression. That same soft yet powerful love, that same reverence and awe, as he pressed tender kisses into her flesh. Ronnie sighed, her head thrown back towards the sky, as she threaded her fingers back into his hair.
“I was so worried,” she confessed, hands trailing over his neck as her mate got back to his feet.
Jake’s thumb traced over her blood-stained lips, pulled the bottom one down as he dragged the digit down her chin and the column of her throat — where the red paint used to be but was now hidden in blood.
“I never doubted you for a second,” he replied and it made fresh tears blur her vision.
His kiss was gentle yet commanding as it always was. Soft but powerful. Only now, at this moment, when their kiss tasted like blood and paint and release — there was a certain hunger and pride that rippled in the way he tugged her against him. In the way he urged her lips to part so his tongue could slip inside.
“Jake,” she panted softly when they parted, an echo of the need that pulsed through her now.
That need for his strength. His reassurance. His love.
“I know,” he breathed, almost a growl, as he leaned his forehead heavily against her own. “But we can’t…It’s already getting harder to control.”
Ronnie nodded in understanding. It was a night of the full moon. Jake had already been resisting the beast within for hours now. It was surely clawing at his insides, howling to be released. He was stronger as an Alpha, able to put it off, but if he went any longer it would drive him insane. And he wouldn’t take the risk of hurting Ronnie or the pup. He just wouldn’t.
So they stood in the clearing for a few more moments. Content to hold and be held. Content to sink into this new feeling now that the Plena Luna Corda was over. Now that there was some assurance from the goddess above that their babe was going to be healthy, that things were finally going to be looking up for Red Sky.
“I love you,” Ronnie whispered.
“I love you, too.” Jake pressed his lips into her hair. “With all of me. With everything.”
“You should go,” she said, hands smoothing over his bare chest.
He needed to join the hunt, join his pack, lead. He needed to succumb to the curse so he wouldn’t be driven mad when the night was through. Jake gave her one final kiss, soft and full of strength, before he reluctantly pulled away from her.
“I’ll be back by morning,” he said as he backed away, giving himself some space.
“We’ll be waiting for you.” Ronnie smiled with a hand on her belly.
Jake grinned with an unbelieving shake of his head. Then he gave in to the curse. His body was overcome by fur and powerful muscle. In an instant, he was in wolf form. Massive, with his dark gold fur glinting in the firelight. Red paint still visible on his face and chest.
Lowering himself down to the forest floor, Ronnie pulled herself onto his back. Their connection strong and golden as he carried her off into the woods. Back to their cabin. He left her on the porch. Pressing his large, furry head into her middle one last time, Ronnie smiled as she held his massive face in her hands.
Then he ran off to join his pack.
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#oc: ronnie bradshaw#fic: the echo (or the answer)#fd: top gun#werewolf au#werewolf!jake#werewolf!hangman#alpha!jake#alpha!hangman#werewolf top gun#jake hangman serein#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin imagine#jake seresin imagine#hangman imagine#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#type: drabble
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good life
reunions
night surf
up the coast
bradshaws
karaoke by the sea
iceman
goodbyes
happy reunions
an even better life
keep that mouth busy
the moon and stars as their witness*
my sweet little wife*
just your memory
dr. jake, kiss it, make it better*
some slippery sex*
bridal carry
cleanse me of my misery*
just let go, sweet boy*
jawline kisses*
angry kisses*
last night together
coming soon
christen the new place*
jake's magic hands
back from deployment
dance with my girl
first family christmas
possible baby names
telling rooster
our little secret
that was a kick
intrusive obsession*
pregnancy glow
a little girl
a little bit of you on the fourth of july
dogs can tell
baby shower
what's most important
reunion kiss
knowing his voice
closer still*
this one's a fighter
come back, captain
up against the glass*
a ski trip | the ski trip pt. 2
his turn to be held
teenagers again*
Maisie, Noah, and Rhodes Face Claims
gifset.1 | gifset.2 | gifset.3 | gifset.4 | gifset.5
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othr.1 | othr.2 | othr.3
socials series
#masterlist#fanfic masterlist#writing masterlist#regular au#fic: come over here and overwhelm me#fic: the first time around#fic: the dc chronicles#fic: what happens in texas stays in texas#oc: ronnie bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw#Spotify
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