#jake hangman seresin fluff

[bradshawssugarbaby]

Blue Skies and Green Eyes (Jake Seresin x Reader)

A/N: so I decided to just write an air show meet cute for Jake, Bradley and Bob because, even with a poll, how could I ever choose? So, here's the first of three, I guess? 😅

pairing: Jake Seresin x reader

content/warnings: pure fluff, air show inaccuracies because the last time I went to one I was 9, and it was in a cornfield, reader has a named niece and nephew, no physical description of reader given other than an allusion to them being tall.

word count: 2.1k

On the sun-soaked beach, your niece and nephew climbed over one another eagerly on the blanket you had carefully arranged, vying for the best spot to witness the spectacle unfolding overhead. The air show, a cherished tradition passed down from your father to you and your brother, had become an annual pilgrimage for your family. Determined to keep the legacy alive, you eagerly took charge of the tradition when your brother couldn't make it to your nephew's first air show.

For the past seven years, this had been your unique tradition with them. As the jets roared to life in the sky, the kids engaged in a lively dispute, each competing for an unobstructed view of the aerial acrobatics. Your brow furrowed as their bickering escalated, prompting an eye roll from you. Seizing the opportunity to diffuse the tension, you chuckled and settled between them, effectively creating a barrier that halted their squabble.

“Hey!” They both protested, shaking their heads in dismay.

“If it's the only way to prevent a full-blown war between you two, then I'm planting myself right here,” you declared with a playful smirk.

Mia, your spirited niece, responded with a pout and crossed arms, while Aiden, her older brother, countered by sticking his tongue out at her, a mischievous grin adorning his face as he comfortably claimed his spot beside you.

“Aiden,” you warned, catching his silent final shot at his sister out of the corner of your eye.

“Sorry.”

A warm smile adorned your face as you, along with the children, gazed skyward, captivated by the mesmerizing display of aircraft maneuvering through a series of intricate twists, turns, and loops. Aiden erupted in cheers and enthusiastic whistles, his excitement bubbling over as a FA-18 Super Hornet executed a flawless barrel roll high above. Engrossed in the spectacle, he fervently waved at the aircraft above him, a hopeful gesture that the pilot might catch a glimpse and reciprocate in some way. Beside him, Mia eagerly pointed upward, her eyes widening in sheer wonder as the plane effortlessly navigated a knife-edge flight, leaving her with an awestruck expression that mirrored the spectacle unfolding before her.

As the airshow continued, the sky became a canvas for more daring aerobatics. Another set of aircraft roared onto the scene, executing synchronized maneuvers that left trails of smoke swirling against the azure backdrop. Aiden and Mia's attention darted from one spectacle to another, their faces alive with awe and exhilaration. You couldn't help but share in their enthusiasm, reveling in the joy of witnessing these aerial feats with the same awestruck gaze you had as a child yourself, completely fascinated by the skill executed in every move. 

Suddenly, a squadron of jets soared in tight formation, their wings almost touching as they painted the sky with precision. The deafening roar of engines filled the air as the pilots skillfully executed a breathtaking sequence of loops and rolls, creating a symphony of motion that left the onlookers breathless. 

Aiden, his eyes glued to the spectacle, whispered in amazement, "I want to be a pilot one day, just like them!" 

Mia, equally captivated, nodded in agreement, her imagination ignited by the incredible display unfolding above. 

“Do you think we could meet them?!” Aiden asked excitedly as he turned his attention to you.

“I don’t know, honey, they’re probably really busy,” you explained with a nod of your head, knowing that the chances were unlikely to be in your favour.

“Can we try?! Please?” 

You looked at Aiden’s pleading face, and then to his sister, who had decided to match his facial expressions, their innocent faces making nearly impossible for you to say no to. 

“Fine, we can try. But I’m not making any promises, guys. You know, they’re really busy, and they’re actual military pilots, they’ve got lots of stuff to do.”

The children both cheered the moment you agreed to their request, and you could tell that the last portion of your reply was falling on deaf ears. You huffed a mock dramatic sigh as you squeezed both of them into a tight hug, laughing softly. 

After the airshow had concluded, all Mia and Aiden could talk about was how you were taking them to try and meet some of the pilots. You felt an anxious knot in the pit of your stomach, nervous that you’d be unable to fulfill their wish. Holding both of the children’s hands, you approached the airfield fence where the pilots could be seen chatting after the show, their planes merely feet away from where you stood. A group of pilots who appeared to be in their early to late 30s stood together, laughing cordially as they spoke. One of the pilots, a tall blonde with an air of pure, unbridled confidence to his stance took notice of you as you stood with Mia and Aiden. He waved his hand to say hello, and Aiden practically squealed in excitement, jumping up and down on the spot.

The blonde pilot raised his hand to his colleagues, appearing to excuse himself for a moment. Suddenly, you noticed Aiden’s attention turn to the side. You and Mia followed his gaze, noticing that the blonde pilot was now on your side of the fence that separated the three of you from the military aircraft in the field. 

“Hi, did y’all enjoy the airshow?” The aviator asked, flashing a charming smile at you as he lifted his sunglasses to rest on top of his perfectly coiffed hair.

Aiden nodded his head in a stunned silence, starstruck by the man standing before him. The allure of the charismatic Navy pilot was undeniable. His tall, athletic frame exuded confidence, and his sun-kissed skin bore witness to countless hours spent in the cockpit under the Californian sun. Those stunning pale green eyes seemed to hold the vastness of the sky, hinting at the adventures he'd encountered soaring through the clouds. Jake's charming smile had a magnetic quality, drawing you in with its warmth and openness. The subtle southern drawl in his voice added an extra layer of appeal, creating a melody that resonated with the thrill of the airshow and the laid-back atmosphere of the beach.

“We did,” you said after a moment’s hesitation, trying to not appear like a lovestruck teenager as your eyes briefly met with his.

The pilot knelt down to Aiden and Mia’s level, smiling at them both with the same charming grin he gave you a moment ago.

“Do you kids like planes?” 

“I do!” Aiden and Mia both responded in unison. 

“That’s awesome to hear! My name is Jake, I fly planes for the US Navy, see that one there?” He beamed proudly as he gestured towards one of the grey aircraft parked in the distance, “That’s my plane. All of our planes have our names on them so we know who’s is who’s, and our callsigns, so we can just use one word to talk to each other on the radio.”

“What’s your callsign?” Aiden asked, tilting his head as he looked at Jake.

“Hangman. Like the game, where you have to guess letters to find out what the secret word is, do you know that one?”

Aiden nodded his head and grinned. You couldn’t help but admire how patient and friendly Jake was towards Aiden and Mia, taking care to answer their eager questions with thorough answers and explanations, leaving nothing unanswered.  As he spoke passionately about his experiences as a Top Gun graduate stationed at Miramar, you couldn't help but be captivated by the combination of his professionalism, adventurous spirit, and undeniable charm.

“Do you have a rank?” Aiden quizzed, tilting his head.

“Of course! Lieutenant Jake Seresin, US Navy,” Jake grinned, “And what’s your name, little guy?”

“I’m Aiden, and this is my sister, Mia,” Aiden explained, before introducing you as somewhat of an afterthought due to his excitement.

Jake looked up at you, a genuine smile forming on his lips. His green eyes stayed on you, and you could feel a sense of curiosity in his gaze. He turned his attention back to your niece and nephew, his hand resting on his knee as he looked at them both.

“Nice to meet y’all! Maybe, if your aunt says it’s ok, you guys could come back here one weekend, and I could give y’all a tour of the planes, let you meet some other pilots? Sound fun?”

Jake's offer had your niece and nephew practically buzzing with excitement. Their pleading eyes and enthusiastic pleas tugged at your heartstrings, mirroring the eagerness that now danced in your own eyes. You exchanged a glance with Jake, whose genuine smile hinted at an underlying warmth. 

"Well, Lieutenant Seresin," you responded with a playful grin, "it seems like you've just won yourself two eager co-pilots for that future tour of yours."

The prospect of spending more time with Jake and experiencing the world of naval aviation up close had ignited a spark of anticipation within you. As he continued to chat with Aiden and Mia, effortlessly captivating them with tales of high-flying adventures, you couldn't help but appreciate the sincerity in his demeanor. The beach, once a stage for the breathtaking airshow, now held the promise of more extraordinary moments to come. 

With a subtle twinkle in his pale green eyes, he stood up and straightened his posture to his full height, easily taller than you by more than a few inches. He turned his attention back to you, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. 

"You know," he began, his pale green eyes locking onto yours, "meeting someone as captivating as you wasn't part of the airshow program today. Consider me pleasantly surprised."

A warm flush crept across your cheeks as you chuckled at his smooth remark. Jake continued, his voice carrying the lilt of his unmistakable southern drawl, "I was thinking, maybe when I'm not up in the skies, we could grab a coffee or a drink. Talk about something other than planes and maneuvers, you know?"

The subtle invitation hung in the air, and you found yourself nodding, unable to suppress a growing smile. 

"I'd like that," you replied, your eyes meeting his with a shared sense of anticipation.

“How about you share your number with me? That way, we can figure out when to meet up again. And it saves you from having to try and track me down on a Naval base."

Feeling a mix of excitement and anticipation, you retrieved your phone, fingers tapping out the digits as you exchanged contact information. Jake reciprocated, a grin playing on his lips as he entered your number into his phone. The exchange felt like a subtle promise, a digital tether that connected two individuals eager to navigate beyond the boundaries of the beach encounter.

With phones back in pockets, there was a shared acknowledgment that this exchange wasn't just about convenience but a mutual interest in seeing where this connection could lead. As the warm sunlight cascaded down over you, your niece and nephew’s muffled giggles and whispers in the air, and the promise of future messages and potential meetings lingering, it left you both with a sense of excitement for what lay ahead.

"Well, it looks like it's time for me and these two little aviators to head out," you remarked with a playful glint in your eyes. 

The prospect of saying goodbye brought a hint of reluctance to the moment. With a gentle nudge, you encouraged Mia and Aiden to express their gratitude. 

"Come on, you two," you said with a smile, "let's thank Lieutenant Seresin for the amazing day." The kids, still brimming with excitement, turned to Jake, expressions eager.

With genuine appreciation in their voices, Mia and Aiden chorused their thanks.

 "Thank you, Lieutenant Seresin!"

Jake chuckled warmly, crouching down to their eye level. "Y’all can just call me Jake, you know. No need for all the formality, I’m only Lieutenant Seresin if my CO is around." He winked at them, his easygoing nature resonating with their youthful enthusiasm.

As the kids bid their farewells, Jake turned to you, his gaze holding a hint of something more. "Until next time, I suppose," he said, his tone carrying a mix of sincerity and anticipation.

You smiled, reciprocating the sentiment. "Absolutely. Until next time, Jake." 

With a final exchange of glances and well wishes, you, Mia, and Aiden left the beach, the echoes of the airshow and the promising connection with Jake lingering in the warm California breeze. Armed with plans to coordinate with the kids' parents for a tour with Jake, and plans to schedule a date with him, you hoped this encounter marked the beginning of a connection that extended beyond the sandy shores of Coronado Beach.

#jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin fic #hangman fic #jake hangman seresin fic #hangman #top gun: maverick fic #top gun maverick fic #jake seresin #jake seresin x f!reader #jake seresin x gn!reader #jake seresin fanfiction #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin fluff #lt. jake seresin x reader #lt. jake seresin x you #lt. jake seresin

[spideystevie]

💘 + hangman "sharing a bed. then making up more excuses to share a bed after that night just to wake up next to their roommate in the mornings." from the "and they were roommates!" list <3

thank you for your patience! mentions of alcohol but i think that’s it. i had a lot of fun with this one and i hope you like it <3 - [1.2k] | join the party!

It was a one off fluke. Well…it was supposed to be. It was going to be until you realized that there was something sweet in waking up next to your roommate in the morning. 

It didn��t have anything to do with the crush that had just rooted itself in your chest, at least that’s what you told yourself.

That first morning was sweet until you remembered why you were sharing a bed and a wave of embarrassment came over you like a tidal wave. 

You’d come home from a night out, absolutely plastered. In the haze of your memories, you can vaguely remember one of your friends using your phone to call Jake while you were out at the bar. He’d picked up on the first ring and you could hear his voice saying your name like a question over the phone.

“Is that Jake?” your words were slurred but your eyes were bright and shining. Your friend shushed you gently and readjusted your phone against their ear. You tried to grab for it and they turned away from you, keeping their free hand wrapped around your arm.

You can’t remember much of what was said in the conversation, only that your friend told him you needed a ride home and that Jake was already out the door. You squirmed in your friend’s grip, reaching for the phone again. “Lemme talk to ‘im.”

In a blink, your phone was back in your possession but the call had ended. You think you remember frowning at the screen when you noticed. 

“C’mon, he’s gonna be here soon,” your friend said, tugging you towards the entrance of the bar you were at. Sure enough, he’d arrived not even five minutes later. He looked a little tired, fighting off sleep while he waited up for you to come home. 

“Jake!” it came out in something close to a gasp, a great big smile lifting your cheeks. Your inhibitions were low as you stumbled towards him and all but collapsed against him, his arms coming around your waist to catch you. His t-shirt was soft against your cheek and you remember keeping your nose pressed against his chest for an almost embarrassingly long time because he smelled so good. 

He’d smiled and nodded at your friend in a quiet thanks before he led you to his car. You had held your breath while he buckled you in and tried to focus on one point on the horizon to wade off the nausea creeping up. Jake let you lean most of your weight against him as he helped you inside and to your room where you collapsed onto your bed. 

As soon as your head hit the mattress you felt a sleepiness take hold, your eyelids feeling heavier with each blink. You’d groaned when Jake made you go into the bathroom to change for bed and he’d helped you take your makeup off when you were too stubborn to do it yourself.

When you were all settled into bed, advil and water on your bedside table for the morning, he’d turned off your lamp and got up to leave. You feel a slight bit embarrassed when you recall asking him to stay with you before he could leave the room. You hadn’t really expected him to agree, but he did. 

You lift your head off the pillow and it immediately begins to throb, making your face scrunch up and your eyes squeeze closed. Through the building tension, you remember the water and pain relievers he’d set out for you on your nightstand. Your eyes peel open just enough for you to grab them and swallow the pills down with water. 

After setting the water back down, you look over at Jake sleeping in the spot next to you. He looks so serene, features completely relaxed and his face slightly smushed against your spare pillow. His hair’s a bit of a tousled mess from sleep and the sight of it makes you smile. 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he mumbles, eyes still closed. His voice is deeper in the morning, this you already knew but hearing it immediately after he wakes up, in your bed no less, makes a thick, gooey warmth cloud your chest. You roll your eyes, though he can’t see it, fighting off the embarrassment tickling your nerves at having been caught staring at your sleeping roommate. 

“I didn’t think you’d stay,” you say after you’ve laid back down. His eyes blink open and he’s quiet for a minute. He holds your gaze for a minute, lets it wander across your face and then back to your eyes. He shrugs best he can, laying on his side. 

“You asked,” he says simply, like it’s obvious. You swallow and nod. He looks over your features once more, almost like he’s committing them to memory, and Jake realizes he likes having you to wake up next to. 

After that first morning, the two of you find almost any excuse you can to share a bed at night. 

You can’t sleep and knock on his door in the middle of the night, complaining of a minor nightmare. Jake puts his sheets in the wash and claims he doesn’t have a made bed to sleep in, despite the spare set of sheets in the closet. He hosts movie night in his room under the guise of the couch suddenly being too small. 

Slowly, over the course of many nights and phases of the moon, something in your dynamic shifts. He’s a lot more touchy with you, his fingers lingering against your skin. You get braver by kissing his cheek before you get out of bed the last few times. 

It’s an unspoken change, one neither of you really feel the need to address. That is, until excuse number fifteen—the storm outside might make you lose power and it’s better to just sleep in the same bed in case that happens—and he’s holding you in his bed.

The rain splashes against the windows, flashes of lightning lighting up the room as thunder cracks overhead. It’s quiet though in the comfort of his sheets. You can’t decide if you’re starting to prefer his mattress to yours. A hum of your name breaks you from your thoughts and you adjust your head to meet his eye. 

“I’ve been thinking,” he starts and you try to bite back a smirk. 

“That’s never good,” you muse. He laughs and shakes his head. 

“I’ve been thinking,” he restates. There’s the beginnings of a nervous blush creeping across his cheeks. “Maybe we should do this…permanently.”

You blink at him, eyes a little wide. “This, like, sharing a bed this?”

He nods and you think this is the first time you’ve ever seen your roommate so nervous. You start to smile. You make him nervous. The thought makes you feel giddy inside. 

“Yeah. Okay,” you agree and you can feel him physically relax against you. “Now you can stop lying about not having sheets on your bed or the couch being too small.”

He rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face and a laugh bubbling past his lips. He’s just glad he gets to wake up to you every morning now on purpose.

#jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #hangman #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin fluff #hangman fluff #jake seresin blurb #hangman blurb #📝: a writes! #allie's valentine's house party <3 #allie's vday party blurbs!

[bradshawsbitch]

"were you ever going to tell me?" ft. our sweet hangy and maybe a secret pregnancy/baby? 👀

oh, spicy! I like it👀 I hope I did it justice 🫣

warnings: mentions of piv sex, minors dni, pregnancy, wanting to be a mother, afab!reader, mentions of doctors

description: Hangman had a spicy night with his fwb before a long employment, and he left them with a little gift.

It hadn’t been meant to happen this way. You and Jake had been friends with benefits for quite some time now, and you’d had the most delicious encounter just before he was deployed for 6 months. It had been a drunken hookup, but Hangman had seemed more frenzied than previous times, more passionate, more… sweet, too.

It had almost thrown you off, until he’d hoisted your leg high on his shoulder and driven himself harder and deeper into you, making you lose all semblance of stringent thoughts.

Looking back on that night made your face heat up, not only because it was so fucking hot - but because you’d practically whimpered, begged and whined for him to cum in you. He’d been so into it, almost growling as he fucked you harder to chase his relief, wanting to empty himself in you. ‘Leave you with a little something to remember him by until next time’ he’d said. Well, fuck, the man was good. Too good. Leave you with something to remember him by, he certainly did.

It had been weeks since you’d stared at that little plus sign for the first time, and you had no idea what you were supposed to do. You had always dreamt of becoming a mother, ever since you could remember. You had always been the maternal type, the one to take care of people. You sometimes wondered if that’s why Jake liked you. You took care of him even when he insisted he didn’t need it - funny thing was you thought that perhaps Jake needed it the very most. Someone who cared for him through it all, someone who saw through that cocky, self-assured persona he put on. You knew he could be a sweetheart, when he wanted to. When he was cradled in your arms after your encounters, practically purring as you played with his hair - letting him fall asleep on your chest.

Chewing on your bottom lip as you laid on your back, staring at the sterile fluorescents at the doctors office at your second check in on the baby. There had really not been a choice at all for you, that baby was yours whether Jake wanted it or not - which may be a selfish thought. Even though you saw a sweet side to Hangman, he didn’t exactly seem the type to settle down with kids anytime soon. You grumbled to yourself, closing your eyes as you tried to remember what he’d murmured that night before he’d left. It had sounded so tender, as he’d stroked your hair - but you had been so drunk, so tired, so fucked out that you couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.

Contacting Jake at this point was close to impossible - you didn’t know his mail address (who used email as a form of communication to anything non work related?), you knew from previous deployments that he seldom ever checked his phone - probably something along the lines of needing to be focused on being the top 1% type good or something as his reason not to check it. So that’s why you were by yourself, checking up on your baby. You subconsciously let your hand rest on you bump to soothe yourself. You couldn’t kid yourself, you wanted nothing more than for Jake to want this kid as much as you did. You wanted him to want you both.

So that’s how it went. You made it through countless morning sicknesses by yourself, you cried to Notting Hill on your own, and tried to socialise as you normally would - never answering any prying questions. Jake was due to be home any day now, which meant that your belly was too big to hide, 6 months to be exact. You’d sent him a text, telling him that it was important you guys meet. You’d told him to meet you at your apartment at his earliest convenience. His winky smile emoji back almost made you roll your eyes. God, the poor boy had no idea.

You nerves were shot to hell, feeling nauseous at the thought of how Jake would react. How were you supposed to tell him? Should you try hiding behind the biggest damn hoodie you had? Should you sit with a blanket covering you? Or should you just answer the door belly first and watch him run to the hills? God, why hadn’t you even tried calling him? Pushing this stuff on future you wasn’t fair.

Closing your eyes, you took a shaky breath as you tried to steady yourself. You could feel your heart beat erratically in your chest, and soon after felt a flutter from your little baby - which made happy tears brim your eyes. At least you had your little sprog with you. As you were soothing the baby by brushing your hand over your swollen stomach, the door cracked shut and you heard Jake’s upbeat tone say “Honey, I’m home! You better be undressed for me,” god, your breath stuttered in your throat as he appeared in your living room.

He must’ve noticed that you looked stricken with anxiety, because he furrowed his brows, walking quickly over to you to kneel in front of you.

“Princess, what’s wrong?” He sounded so concerned, the tears that brimmed your eyes fell down your cheeks. “Hey, baby, it’s okay, Jakey’s here” he smiled at you. God, you were about to ruin his trust for you completely.

“I-I…” you started, but the words wouldn’t come - your breathing was becoming more shallow, coming in quick bursts, terrified of how he would react. Jake tried to calm you down, but you just shook your head as more tears fell. You felt as Jake took hold of your hands, wanting to hug you properly, and you kept your gaze locked on the floor as you let him help you up to a standing position - where there was no hiding how your top strained against your belly. You didn’t see Hangman’s eyes flowing wide open, but you did hear his gasp as he let go of your hands in shock.

“Princess…” he whispered, you couldn’t look at him, “is… is it mine?” He knew it was, but the question slipped past his lips before he could stop himself. Your nod and sniffle had his heart aching in his chest.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” he almost let out a breathless laughter. He’d been gone six months. Radio silence. You were crying in earnest now, looking up to meet his eyes.

“Jake, I’m so sorry. I know I should’ve tried to contact you, but I was so scared. I want her so much, and I was afraid you wouldn’t want her - or me, and- and I was so frightened. And I will do this on my own if- if you don’t want to. I understand” you were holding your belly, as if to protect yourself.

“H-her?” Jake sucked in a deep breath “I need to sit down” he confessed, plopping down on your couch. He hadn’t taken into consideration that he’d be face to face with your stomach as he sat down. Face to face with his daughter. You were still standing, tears streaming down your eyes as you apologised again. Jake shook his head slowly as he looked up at you, you held your breath - you could tell that the verdict was about to fall.

His large palm slowly rose, and he looked at you expectantly as it hovered over the centre of your bump. You nodded nervously, and his warm hand splayed across your belly - the sensation overwhelming. As soon as Hangman’s hand came in contact with your body, your little baby decided to say hello to her dad - kicking right where his hand was. Jakes eyes widened again, looking up at you with the most precious look on his face.

“She likes you,” you smiled through your tears, and Jake groaned, bringing you closer to him, his face buried in your stomach as his arms embraced you tight.

“And I love her,” he replied, kissing your stomach over and over again. “And I’ve already told you this, but I love her mommy too,” he looked up at you, his beautiful green eyes brimmed with tears. And he looked enamoured, happy, elated - even. You were sobbing now, and Jake stood up.

“My sweet, sweet Princess - I’m sorry you had to do this all by yourself,” his voice held remorse, and he found that he’d wanted to be here all the way through. Had wanted to help you when things got rough. You sobbed into his shoulders, body shaking with relief.

“Y-you want her? You want us?” You blubbered in disbelief.

“My sweet girl, do you not remember what I said before I left?” Jake murmured, stroking your face and placing a sweet kiss to your lips.

“I said that I was planning on taking you on a proper date when I got home, because I was pretty sure I’d fallen in love with you,” he confessed with a grin. You grinned back, leaning up to kiss him again.

His hands never left your stomach, stroking your belly lovingly as you talked. “God, I’m going to be a dad,” he spoke suddenly, his voice filled with pride and love. But suddenly his brows furrowed slightly.

“Princess, as hot as you are pregnant - from now on you can’t call me daddy in bed.”

#jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin fluff #300 celly

[katsu28]

hi my dear kait i was hoping to request something!🍭 + lying on the couch on top of eachother, one combing their fingers through the other’s hair as they watch a movie + hangman please? he's been on my mind lately LOL thank you and congratulations once again<33

lola my dear thank you!!! i too have had hangman on the brain lately. it's a blessing and a curse tbh. please enjoy the mushiest gushiest hangman i've ever written, just for u <333

jake "hangman" seresin x reader, reader has hair that fingers can comb through, 0.7k of lovey dovey pile of mush bagman

Whenever Jake came home from deployment, the only thing he really wanted to do was relax and spend all the time he could with you. There were times when he’d been gone so long, neither of you left the house for days from the second he got back, just wanting to be with each other in the place you loved most—your home. But really, you were his home. 

Today was no different. He’d just gotten back yesterday after being gone on a mission for two whole months, and now here you were, laying right on top of him, a comfortable weight blanketing him as the two of you watched a movie in the middle of the day. 

Jake didn't think he'd ever been more content in his life. 

Your cheek was smushed against the hard plane of his chest, hands tucked under either side of his body as your legs tangled with his. From his position, Jake could bury his nose into your hair, inhaling the achingly familiar scent of your shampoo if he wanted to, but he settled for threading his fingers into your hair, scratching your scalp lightly in a way that he knew you always loved.

The movie was honestly just background noise for him, because he’d stopped paying attention to it ages ago in favor of simply looking at you, taking in every feature, every slope, every soft angle of your face, just so he could commit everything to memory. The crinkle of your eyes when you laughed at a funny scene, the scrunch of your nose at more serious ones. The curve of your lips that always had Jake dying to kiss you until you were both breathless. 

It was the simplicity of things that made Jake the happiest—being with you, doing nothing but bask in your presence. 

“I can feel you staring at me, Jake.” 

You spoke without looking at him, but he was so busy admiring you, he didn’t even notice you’d paused the movie. 

“Good. ‘Cause I really do like what I see.” He hummed, smoothing his fingers through your hair one more time before letting his hand drop down to rest at the curve of your waist. 

You crawled your way up his body until you were chest to chest, nose to nose. If he angled his chin up even a millimeter, he could kiss you right now. Your elbows planted themselves on his pecs, but he didn’t mind the pressure even one bit. Jake always loved being as close as humanly possible to you. 

“I’m so happy you’re home.” You murmured, ghosting your thumbs along the light scruff on his cheeks until they pressed into the dimples of his smile. You loved a clean shaven and smooth cheeked Jake, but there was nothing better than when he went a few days without shaving, because it meant he was home with you for a little while longer. 

That made him grin even wider, and he turned his head to kiss both of your palms. “I’m so happy to be home.” 

“Never leave me again?” 

“I can’t guarantee you that, darlin’. But I can guarantee that I’ll always come back to you.” 

“You better. Or else I’ll be really pissed at you.” 

Jake’s deep laugh boomed through the room, vibrating from his chest to your own body. He gave your hip a teasing squeeze. “Well, we can’t have that, now can we?” 

“No.” You shook your head. “We can’t. Otherwise I won’t kiss you.” 

“Oh come on, honey, we both know you can’t resist me.” 

“I can.” 

“You can’t.” 

“I’m doing it right now.” You moved to pull yourself off him, but his arms circled around your waist before you could get very far, bringing you back down on top of him and finally, finally connecting his lips to yours. You couldn’t help it, you kissed him back immediately. How could you not? 

Jake’s hand slid around the back of your neck, thumb stroking along your skin idly despite the firmness in his kiss. He felt you sigh against his lips, melt into him even more. He didn’t even have it in him to be smug at the effect he had on you, because you had the same one on him. 

You stopped kissing him just for a moment, pressing your forehead against his before speaking. “I love you.” You whispered, a promise of forever and more passing from you to him. 

“And I love you, darlin’. I promise to always come back to you.” 

“Always?” 

“Always.” 

#hangman seresin #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake seresin fluff #hangman seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin fluff #hangman seresin blurb #jake seresin blurb #top gun maverick #glen powell #kait celebrates 1k!

[vivalas-vega]

Can I request a fic with Jake? I was thinking about something where he stands up for the reader when they come over to a family dinner or something like that and her relatives all just keep criticizing her and being mean and she is used to it but Jake won't stand for it and defends her?

Thank you so much either way, I love your fanfics!!!

hi nonnie!!! thank you so much for your sweet words - I hope you like it! and thank you so much to @natrace for beta reading this for me!!

You smoothed your dress over for the dozenth time since parking the car as you waited for the exact right moment to enter the restaurant, swaying uncomfortably from side to side at the way the fabric clung to your calves. “If I smoke really quickly do you think they’ll smell it on me?” you asked Jake who was standing next to you and looking like you’d grown an extra head with how neurotic you’d been acting all day.

“You smoke?” he asked incredulously, and you smiled sheepishly.

“Sometimes, under duress,” you replied, fishing in your purse. 

“You are not under duress, it’s just your family,” he said, grabbing your hands.

“Uranium mission was less stressful than this,” you muttered and he just laughed, tugging you along to walk inside. You were led back to a semi-private area where your mother and father sat who greeted the two of you with tight smiles and one-shouldered hugs.

“It’s nice to see you,” you said, smiling at Jake who pulled your seat out for you. 

“Lieutenants,” your father said, taking a sip of his scotch. “Lucky we were able to catch you while we’re in town.”

“Yes sir, very lucky,” you agreed, reaching for the glass of water on the table. 

“I hear you’ve been doing good out there at Top Gun,” he said to Jake, “how’s Maverick been treating you?”

“Maverick has been great, sir, it’s been an honor teaching alongside him.” he answered and you took a deep breath, dreading the moment he turned his attention to you. 

“It’s nice you’re also back at Top Gun, I was surprised they’d recalled you for that mission at all,” he said and you bit your lip. “Do you feel like you’re learning anything new?”

“Well, there’s always something new to learn, dad, but I am an instructor as well,” you pointed out and he just nodded halfheartedly. 

“That’s a lovely dress, dear,” your mom interjected, trying to grab your attention.

“Oh uh, thank you… I think you got it for me a few years ago, haven’t really had time to do any shopping recently,” you said and she nodded.

“I can pick up a few more things for you when we arrive home and ship them out if you’d like,” she offered and you smiled.

“That’s okay, mom, you don’t have to do that,” really you hoped she wouldn’t.

“It’s no trouble,” she said and you gave a bright smile to the waitress who came to take your drink orders and you watched as your mom was pleased with you not ordering a cocktail and instead ordering a sparkling water. 

“I’ll be right back, need to powder my nose,” you said, not entirely sure what you even meant by that but you hurried down the hallway and flagged down your waitress. “Can I ask you to do me the biggest favor?” you asked and she smiled knowingly.

“Vodka or tequila?” she said and you flushed, “not the first tense family dinner I’ve served.”

“Tequila, you are an angel… thank you so much, you can just slip me a separate tab for the drinks,” you said before heading back to the table where your father was continuing to fawn over Jake. You didn’t mind, not at all… Jake was a great pilot and though his ego rarely ever fit through the door, he did deserve to be told how great he was but you did hope that every once in a while he would acknowledge you as well, but tonight did not seem to be that night.

“You should be spending more time in the air with Jake, you’re lucky to have him on your squad, there’s a lot he can teach you,” he said and you bit your lip as you looked at Jake.

“Well, sir, I actually feel like I learn more from her than she ever could from me,” he said and you smiled softly but you knew your dad wouldn’t accept it.

“She’s unfocused, you being here tonight proves just that… Top Gun isn’t a matchmaking academy but she turned it into one nonetheless.” 

“Well, either way it’s lovely you two found each other,” your mother said, “honey, have you given any more thought to taking a more permanent teaching position?”

“I wasn’t aware that was something I was thinking about,” you replied.

“Oh, I just assumed with the two of you getting together you were finally starting to think about settling down and starting a family,” she shrugged, as if that was the most nonchalant thing ever and Jake reassuringly rubbed your knee under the table.

“That’s not really our priority right now,” you said. 

“Maybe it should be,” your father said gruffly, “being a pilot doesn’t seem to be your strong suit.” Jake went to respond but you just knocked your knee against his and softly shook your head. 

“Besides… I’m sure it’s crossed Jake’s mind once or twice, are you sure you’d be able to withstand the demands of being a wife and mother while being in the Navy?” your mom added and you choked on your drink.

“Excuse me?” you asked, looking at her wide eyed.

“Mind your manners,” she whispered, “I just mean that you’re not getting any younger, dear, and Jake is a good man with a very promising Navy career ahead of him… you’d be smart to start thinking about this now before you lose him,” she finished.

“I haven’t actually,” Jake interjected and you all turned to look at him, “thought about starting a family. We’re not quite there yet, but the two of us will talk about it when the time comes,” he said. “I’m not interested in making her a wife until she’s ready.” 

“You should do it soon, promotions are going to start coming your way Lieutenant, wait too long and you won’t have the time.” your dad said and you suddenly felt like cattle being sold for auction. “And while she has the opportunity to leave the Navy gracefully.” 

“I’d be willing to wager she gets promoted before I do, sir,” Jake said and your dad just shook his head.

“It’s a good thing you’re a better pilot than you are a betting man, son.” 

“If you take a step back from active duty it will give you more time to plan the wedding too, dear… we could have it back home at the country club,” your mom said and you scoffed.

“Are you two even listening to us?” 

“Watch your tone,” your father said and you shook your head in disbelief. “You’re lucky this is all this conversation is with how you’ve tarnished our family name.” 

“Okay, that is enough,” Jake said suddenly, losing his grip on his patience. “You should know that your daughter is better than anyone in our squad and we all know it, we’re all competing for second best because none of us have a shot in hell at taking first with her around.”

“You might want to watch yourself, son,” your father warned.

“I’m not your son. And when your daughter feels ready for me to propose you can bet your ass I’ll do so at the first chance I get, but not a moment sooner because she is not just a potential wife or potential mother to my children for me… she is my partner and should we make any decisions about our future we will be sure to let you know… otherwise, sweetheart, I actually think we double booked ourselves.” he said, standing up and tugging you with him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” your mom asked, looking up at you in shock.

“Right now? Oh, right now I’m going to go get drunk with my friends, thank you for a lovely evening,” you said, tossing your napkin onto the table and walking out of the restaurant with Jake. “Hard Deck is only a five minute walk from here?” you suggested and he nodded, laughing as you took your heels off and let them dangle from your fingers. “Thank you for doing that, standing up to them was incredibly hot of you,” you said.

“Wasn’t going to let them talk about you like that, your dad is insane for not being proud of you… I know I am,” he said, looping his arm around your waist as you walked along the beach towards the bar. 

“I love you, you know that?” you asked and he just nodded, leading you through the front door of the Hard Deck and flipping off your friends as they whistled at your appearances. “Hey Pen, I’m going to need a lot of tequila,” you said, graciously accepting the two shot glasses she set before you. 

“To us and our country club wedding and lots and lots of babies,” he joked, clinking your glasses together as you laughed and downed the shot.

“Wait, what? What babies?” Rooster asked as he approached and you just shook your head as you ordered another round. 

“Come on, I wanna kick your ass at pool,” you said, dragging Jake behind you and giggling as he spun you around and enveloped you in a kiss. 

“I really am so proud of you, you know…” he said and you nodded, leaning up to kiss him again. 

“I know, and I love you so much.”

“I love you too…”

#comet answers #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin fan fiction #jake hangman seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin #jake seresin fan fiction #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x you #jake hangman seresin x you #hangman #hangman fan fiction #hangman fluff #hangman x reader #hangman x you #top gun maverick #top gun fan fiction

[az-cain]

Brave

jake seresin x reader ≈ 400 words masterlist

@babyrooster gif credit

pure fluff.

—

Your legs had been asleep for upwards of 10 minutes. The ache in your back was really starting to set in, and your eyes were drooping. The head in your lap made that discomfort irrelevant. His tan cheek was squished against your sweatpants, always-coiffed hair falling loosely over his forehead. The green eyes you’d come to love were shut delicately while he lay sleeping, and a light snore echoed from where his mouth lay slightly open.

When he was awake, he made sure to keep a careful mask on. His jawline always looked perfect because he held it at the right angle, though the shape he was in helped. While he slept, however, his chin folded down like the rest of his body, laying curled up on the couch under a blanket, one hand thrown across your lap to meet the one that had looped behind your back. His face was softer, more youthful. Moving your hand from his shoulder to his head, you ran your fingers through his hair gently and smiled.

A sad pang shot through you when his eyes opened slightly, peering at you lazily. “Hey,” he murmured, voice gruff with sleep. He’d been out for about 45 minutes, having had a long day after which he just wanted some good old fashioned lovin’.

“Hey, beautiful.”

He smiled at the compliment, half of the smile covered by his folded-over cheek. A light kiss was laid to your belly before he asked “Wanna move to the bedroom? Hold me?”

With a gentle but eager smile, you nodded, to which he sat up with a groan. He rolled languidly off of the couch and onto his feet, not bothering to stretch before he offered you a hand and led you to the bedroom. He flopped down onto the soft mattress and beckoned you over, back nestling into your belly while his head sat back on your chest. You wrapped an arm over him, the other slipping above his head. With a kiss to his head, you told him you loved him and wished him a good night.

He kissed your arm softly and you felt him smile. “I love you, my one and only.”

“Only person brave enough to spoon you, maybe.”

“Only person who’d ever get the chance.”

masterlist

#jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin fluff #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin x you #jake seresin x reader #hangman x reader #hangman x you #hangman fluff #jake seresin x m!reader #jake seresin x gn!reader

[planetpiastri]

happy valentines day vinny !! 💝💝 may i request #88 kisses in which ‘i’ll kiss you right now to prove i don’t feel anything for you’ but the kiss proves the opposite from this list with hangman

loving you && i hope this week is treating you well so far! 🫶

beeeee!!! i love this request SO much omg. reading it back idk if it really captured the Vibe of the prompt buttt i hope you'll like it anyway<33 | [wc - 1.6k]

“Come on, then.” Hangman’s smile is confident and beautiful and infuriating. “Your chariot awaits.”

And he gestures at his bare shoulders.

You groan and roll your eyes, forcing yourself to look away from his glistening, naked torso protruding from the shallow end of the pool. It was a little frustrating to learn that he’d earned the right to feel so confident taking his shirt off in a crowd of people. The guy was an Adonis; his physique was almost unfair. Where did he even find time to do all that working out?

From your place on the side of the hotel pool, you pull your legs out of the water, not trusting Rooster not to pull you in against your will. “I’m good,” you say pointedly, scooting backwards on the tile.

The other pilots boo and make a general uproar, which draws a laugh out of you in spite of yourself. 

“You were the one that suggested we play chicken in the first place!” protests Fanboy, sending a gentle splash of water in your direction.

“Bob’s been doing a good job,” you say quickly, nodding your head towards the goggles-clad man leaning against the lip of the pool. “He and Hangman can team up against you guys.”

Hangman and Bob pull almost identical displeased expressions, which just makes you laugh again. Bob adjusts his goggles—which somehow make him look even dorkier than his usual clear frames—and says, “I’ve lost three times. I think everyone is tired of seeing me get knocked over.”

Hangman starts to wade through the shallow water, striding towards you. “Come on,” he says. “I promise not to let you fall. Just get in.” As he approaches, he shoots you a cocky wink. “I know you just don’t trust yourself to behave with your thighs wrapped around my head.”

“Oh my god!” you shout, your face burning as everyone laughs uproariously.

This is the usual when you hang out with the group. Everyone except for you is convinced that you’ve got it bad for Jake Seresin. You don’t, for the record. He’s frustrating and cocky and entirely too chiseled, and not your type, and you don’t have feelings for him! End of story!

But no one believes you. Least of all Hangman.

And you running around the pool, giggling stupidly while he chases you, certainly isn’t helping your cause.

So you get in the pool. And you climb up on his shoulders. And you play chicken against Rooster and Phoenix. And you don’t think about his hands splayed across your bare thighs and the muscles in his shoulders flexing under you and the way the sun glinting off the water in his hair turns him golden—

Phoenix shoves you hard and you topple backwards, landing in the water with a loud splash.

When you come up, everyone’s laughing and cheering. Hangman has his hand on your back, saying, “Sorry—are you okay?”

“Fine,” you splutter, wiping water from your eyes. “You said you wouldn’t let me fall.”

“My bad,” he chuckles, brushing some hair out of your face. “How can I get you to forgive me for letting you down?”

“We have to win at least one time,” you say, straightening up and knocking Hangman’s hand away from your face. “Turn around. Rooster! Phoenix! We’re going again!”

“Your funeral,” says Phoenix with a teasing shrug. She always gets this way during competitions. When you're on the same team, it's awesome. When you aren’t, it's was infuriating.

Without waiting for Hangman to drop down in the water, you place your hands on the smooth planes of his back and climb him like a tree, clambering your way onto his shoulders as he stumbles and laughs, reaching up to help where he can.

“Easy, now,” he says, his voice thick with amusement. “Let’s save that for when we’re alone, alright?”

“God, shut up,” you grumble, your heart pounding. You thread your fingers through his hair, holding tight as he and Rooster step towards each other, squaring off.

Across from you, Phoenix says, “It’s not too late to back down.”

“Your head’s almost as big as his, Trace,” you laugh, patting the top of Hangman’s hair.

“You take that back,” she retorts, falsely serious.

“Go!” shouts Fanboy.

Both sides surge forward. Your hands meet Phoenix’s, both of you laughing and straining against one another. Hangman’s grip on your thighs is grounding and forceful. This time, you know he won’t let you fall.

Phoenix’s eyes go wide, and you know you’ve got her. She yelps, and Rooster makes a strangled squawking sound very representative of his namesake, and they both tip over backwards, falling apart as soon as they hit the water.

“Yes!” Hangman yells, reaching up and lacing his fingers through yours in celebration. The spectators ooh and aah and whoop appreciatively, and you easily slide off of Hangman’s shoulders, landing with a small splash next to him.

Before you can speak, he bends and wraps his arms around your waist, lifting you partially out of the water in an embrace. Your stomach flip-flops, and it’s all you can do to hang on before he puts you down again—but doesn’t take his arms away.

“Oh, my god,” Phoenix calls, standing near Bob at the edge of the pool, wiping the water out of her face. She’s smiling, and she’s pitched her voice up a few levels to let you know she’s teasing. “Just kiss already!”

Hangman laughs. You don’t.

Then, to your horror, Coyote—who up till now had been minding his business on one of the loungers by the pool—puts his lips together and makes a loud, obnoxious smooching noise.

You disentangle yourself from Hangman’s arms and begin to wade back towards the steps, your face burning as everyone laughs, no one seeming to pick up on your genuine frustration. “You’re all children,” you call, not caring who hears you.

“Oh, come on—” Hangman’s voice starts out loud, but then gets quieter as you hear him splash ungracefully through the water after you. His fingers gently brush your wrist, but you shake him off and don’t look back.

“You cannot seriously be following me right now,” you grumble, grabbing up a towel and making straight for the pool house, Hangman’s footsteps following you the whole way.

“I’m sorry, okay?”

That stops you short. You turn, adjusting the towel, and stare at him with an arched eyebrow.

“I should have said something,” he says, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes. He didn’t bother to grab a towel like you, so his chest is still bare and dripping and stupidly distracting. “I don’t know why I let them tease you like that. I should have told them to stop. I’m sorry. Can you just…come back out? Please?”

“I don’t have feelings for you,” you say stubbornly.

“I know.” He doesn’t sound like he does.

“I don’t,” you say again.

“Okay,” he says, holding his hands up defensively.

“I mean it, Hangman.”

“I’m not arguing!” he says, a laugh bubbling out of him.

You’re not sure what takes over you, but suddenly you’re striding across the floor of the pool house, the towel falling out of your hands and pooling on the floor, and grabbing Hangman’s face in your hands, pulling him down to meet your mouth in an angry kiss.

Well, now you’re here, you think. Now what? 

Hangman answers that question for you. His hands meet your waist, sending shivers through you, and he tilts his head, deepening the kiss. His skin is cool and damp and intoxicating, and the droplets on his cheeks—

You pull away abruptly, blinking stupidly.

Fuck.

“What was that?” Hangman asks after a moment, eyeing you cautiously.

“I was proving a point,” your mouth says without permission.

“Okay.” He glances sideways before looking back at you. “What point?”

“That I don’t have feelings for you.”

He blinks. “Okay?”

An awkward silence settles over the pool house. Outside, you can hear splashing and laughter. No one is gathered at the door, clamoring for proof. No one has their ear pressed to the door, straining to hear you and Hangman’s juicy conversations. And you realize that you just kissed Jake Seresin for no real reason except… except….

Oh, god.

Except you wanted to.

You have feelings for Hangman.

“Oh, my god,” you groan, driving the heels of your palms into your eyes. “Oh, my god.” 

“I’m so confused,” says Hangman, and it comes out like a disbelieving laugh. “Do you seriously think this is all on you? You think they all tease you because of what you’re doing?”

“Oh, my god, stop talking,” you blurt, covering your face. “This cannot be happening.”

But Hangman steps closer. “It’s ‘cause I have feelings for you. And they all know it! That’s why they tease us.” He sighs. “And I’m sorry. I know you don’t feel the same.”

“Jake,” you snap, interrupting whatever self-righteous spiel he was clearly gearing up to give, and the usage of his name instead of his call-sign brings him up short. “Jake,” you say again. “I’m stupid.”

“I’m so confused,” he says again, and this time it sounds like he really means it.

But then you smile at him, and understanding finally, finally dawns in his eyes. You take half a step forward, closing the gap between you two, and you say softly, “I was too. But kissing helped a lot.”

He smiles crookedly, and this time, it isn’t infuriating. It’s endearing. And when he says in a low voice, “Guess I’ll just have to kiss you again, then,” it isn’t cocky and self-assured. It’s just Jake, knowing what he wants and finally getting it.

And you’re so glad to give it to him.

#jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin x you #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin fanfic #jake seresin fic #jake seresin blurb #jake seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin fic #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin blurb #jake hangman seresin fluff #hangman fanfic #hangman fic #hangman x reader #hangman x you #vinny's valentine's prompt party #vinny fics #sunlitide

[pinkdaisies9285]

gold rush

Jake Seresin x F!Reader (Callsign: Circe)

Warnings: Angst reader is in sad boi hours

Word Count: 1102

a love confession through music Masterlist

Author's Note: Welcome to my new Jake series. Each Chapter is going to be inspired by a song! The first song is gold rush by Taylor Swift!! I hope I can appease the Jake girlies. Also, thank you to all my beta readers who had to read my ROUGH draft.

You watched his laughter light up the entire room from the corner. The type of laugh that made everyone turn their heads and see who it was. It made you envious of him and everyone else. Jealous of him drawing in so many admirers and jealous of everyone else being drawn into him. Yet, you couldn’t stop yourself from being drawn into Jake Seresin. The Navy pilot was beautiful and was the poster child of a ladies' man. Smart, funny, and easygoing, the list could go on.

You knew what you signed yourself up for when you joined Top Gun: difficult missions, high expectations, and hard senior officers. You weren’t signed up for falling in love with Jake “Hangman” Seresin. When you met Jake for the first time at the Hard Deck, you felt a rush of emotions. First was annoyance with his cocky attitude, next was the slight embarrassment when he asked about your callsign and you didn’t immediately reply, and finally was the feeling of knowing that a crush was starting to develop. 

“Hey, Circe, are you okay?” Bob’s question broke you out of your daydream. You didn’t even realize that you had gone so quiet for a while. 

“Yeah, I’m good. What’s up, Bob?”

“Oh, nothin’. Your face had a look of frustration so I was just worried,” The WSO had a concerned expression on his face. “Was it because of what happened today during the training exercises?”

The training exercises were hellish and frustrating for you. Maverick had decided to do dogfighting techniques and made you and Jake go against each other. While you were always up to practice dogfighting, you weren’t as successful against Jake. He was a distraction. Jake would toy with you over the comms the entire exercise. He said, “Come on, Circe, is that all you got?” Or “Not close enough, Cir. Try again.” 

Everything was said with a cocky tone and you could imagine the smirk on his face while he said these things. The teasing and missed shots resulted in you having to do at least 200 push-ups, and you could still feel the soreness in your arms from doing those push-ups. Either way, you were appreciative of Bob worrying about you and why you were going through what seemed like a spiral. “It's not that, Bob, but thank you again for looking out for me. I just have something on my mind but, hopefully, I’ll figure it out soon.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Bob seemed like he wanted to help you with whatever was going on in your head. Besides you had helped him with setting him up with his girlfriend. The least he could do was help you with your problems.

“Nah don’t worry about it.” you smiled his way and decided to get up and get a drink from the bar. Maybe Penny could help you with your woes, whether it be with a drink or conversation. Weaving yourself through the crowd to the bar, you leaned on the edge of the counter waiting to flag down Penny. 

“What’s up, Circe? Got something on your mind?” Penny asked while getting your regular order ready. “Man troubles?”

“How did you know?” you asked while looking slightly surprised that she instantly knew what was your problem. “Was it obvious?”  

“Your face is kinda an open book when you’re here,” she replied with a slight smile. “Also you’ve been staring at Jake for a good 40 minutes with a longing look.”

You were stunned by how easily Penny could figure out, not only what the problem was, but who was at the center of the problem. Were you that easy to read? Could Jake notice it too? Either way, you decided to confide in Penny with your dilemma. “Well, you got me there, Penny. If I’m being honest–”

“You like Jake. Regardless of his reputation.” Penny finished your sentence knowing exactly how you felt because she had felt it with Maverick when they first met in the 80s. “I’ve been in your shoes, Circe, and it’s hard to want a man who seems unattainable. Do you want to pursue these feelings or get rid of them?” 

That question made you think. Do you want to try for Jake, or do you want to get over him and move on? Whatever option you picked, you felt like you would suffer some type of consequence. Being with him would probably make you harbor feelings of jealousy about being with someone everyone wants. Not being with him would make you feel stupid and confirm your fears of not being worthy of him. “I’m not sure Pen. I feel like it's a Catch-22 situation for me.”

“Well, you better decide quickly because someone else is trying to snatch up your man.” Penny pointed over to the beautiful woman who had caught Jake’s attention. 

Jake had instantaneously started to flirt with her and it hurt to watch. Yet, this happened every time at the Hard Deck. You would sit and watch Jake pick up a drop-dead gorgeous woman and leave with her. It made you feel like you shouldn’t even try. Based on the type of women Jake goes for, you didn’t compare. It was one of the main reasons why you hadn’t tried to pursue him. The other one was that Jake seemed to treat you “like one of the guys.” It didn’t matter what you did, trying to wear a little bit of makeup or stepping up your casual outfits to the Hard Deck. He didn’t see you as anything but a coworker. 

You down the drink Penny had put in front of you and gave her your card. You couldn’t stand to watch this unfold for the thousandth time. After Penny closed your tab, she gave back your card with a sad smile on her face. “You calling it a night, Cir?”

“Yeah, I think I need to figure out what I’m going to do. Thanks for the advice, Penny.” you got up and said goodbye to the older woman. Weaving your way to the door, you took a deep breath after stepping out the door. 

Fishing your keys out while meandering over to your car, you thought someone said your name. Turning back you see no one, so you hop into your car. Sighing, you put the key into the ignition, and it sputtered to life. The sound of your phone connecting to the Bluetooth was instant. It started playing the next song on your playlist from the drive to work this morning. The first notes began.

“Gleaming, twinkling…….”

Tag List: @nerdgirljen @just-in-case-iloveyou @tgmreader @jessicab1991 @gaysnowrose @mamaskillerqueen @waywardhunter95

Next

Divider Credit: @cafekitsune

#a love confession through music #jake seresin #jake seresin fanfic #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin fic #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin angst #hangman #hangman top gun #hangman x reader #hangman fic #hangman angst #hangman fluff #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin fanfic #jake hangman seresin fic #jake hangman seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin angst #jake hangman #jake hangman fic #jake hangman x reader #jake hangman fanfic #jake hangman fluff #jake hangman angst #top gun maverick #top gun maverick fic #top gun maverick fanfic #top gun #top gun fic

[seresinsbabe]

Hi Ash!! Congrats on the 1K!!! For the celebration, could I get a blurb with Jake with the angst prompt “Am I the reason you cry every night?” and the fluff prompt "i've loved you since the moment i first laid my eyes on you." (Jake says both of these), pretty please? Thanks!!!

Thank you thank you!!!! you've been one of my biggest supporters and I am truly so thankful for you!

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x fem!reader

Warnings: 18+ mdni! nothing bad, just angst, tears and fluff

Ash's 1K Follower Celebration

This was the last thing he wanted. In fact he had never wanted this. Seeing tears well up in your eyes until they fell in fat drops down your cheeks had his heart in a vice grip.

He knew those tears were his fault. However he'd never thought that he'd hurt you this bad.

"I'm the reason you cry every night?"

Hearing the words repeated to you made you feel even worse. It was so stupid to be this upset over him. Jake had made you feel like you were on top of the world. Like you were the only girl that mattered and then he would shatter the façade. Just when you thought he'd finally give in to what you thought he'd been feeling. Or at least the feelings he'd been leading you on to believe he had it would all come crashing down. Jake would have some pretty girl, the opposite of everything you were, on his arm. And your heart would break a little bit more.

That wasn't what Jake thought he was doing.

In his mind you were too good for him. That you would never slum it with a cocky asshole like him. Even if he was pretty he didn't feel he deserved you.

All those girls were his way of trying to get over you. It never worked - because they weren't you.

Never had he thought that he was hurting you. You swallowed hard and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to will away the tears and will up the courage to finally speak.

"I shouldn't I know I just-" you took a deep breath to keep yourself calm. "Jake you make me so happy. Make me feel so good like we could be something and then you go and pull the rug out from under me when you walk in with those women. Women that I could never compete with." You felt like you sounded so pathetic. Pouring your heart out to this man who thought of you as nothing more than a friend.

Jake's came out to cup your cheek, pushing ever so slightly to get you to look at him. "Beautiful, I never wanted those women. They were my attempt at getting over you." It sounded like he meant it, but your brain couldn't wrap around the idea that Jake wanted you in that way.

Confusion warped your features.

"What?"

He chuckled softly. "I've loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you."

Disbelief combined with the confusion. Jake Seresin loved you? Jake Seresin has always loved you. "Then why..."

He shrugged. "I didn't think I deserved you. You're too good for me."

You frowned. How could you be too good for him? It should be the other way around.

"But it's true and if you give me the chance I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never shed another tear." His other hand cupped your face, his eyes searching yours.

Softly your head nodded and Jake's mouth formed a saccharine smile before they melded with yours. He pulled away as soon as he felt something wet hit his cheek.

"No, no more tears." The pad of his callused thumb swept along your cheek, wiping away the liquid.

You gave him another peck and pulled away, wiping your own tears this time. "It's okay, they're happy tears."

#ash hits 1k #seresinsbabe 1k celebration #jake seresin #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x you #jake seresin angst #jake seresin fluff #hangman #hangman x reader #hangman x you #hangman angst #hangman fluff #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin angst #jake hangman seresin fluff #tgm fic #tgm angst #tgm fluff

[bradshawssugarbaby]

God, Your Mama and Me (Jake Seresin x Reader)

A/N: told y'all I listened to country music and it inspired me. Inspired by and quotes God, Your Mama and Me by Florida Georgia Line. I'm not religious but that song gets me all heart-eye emoji every time.

pairing: Jake Seresin x reader (I'm 99% sure I kept reader GN the whole time with no mentions of appearance)

content/warnings: reference to God via the song (the line is "no one's ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me"), Jake being adorable and trying his best to be romantic but he's more awkward than he wants to be bc he doesn't do PDA, brief references to potential character death (I promise no one dies)

word count: 1.6k

Jake took you by the hand, running playfully through the sand. Coronado Beach was where he’d taken you for your first date. It was where you’d met, where you spent every free weekend, where you’d meet with his friends at The Hard Deck for drinks on Friday nights and where you’d sit and watch the planes taking off from North Island as you waited for him to come home, not knowing what each day would bring but hoping and praying he’d come home to you safe and sound every time. 

For the last three years, Coronado was an integral part of your life. It was where you’d held Jake’s 35th birthday party, a spontaneous beach gathering complete with a cooler of chilled beers and a portable speaker belting out country tunes. Despite the groans from others, the music had a magical effect on the usually reserved Jake, prompting him to join in with spirited, off-key singing every time. 

It was where you and Jake had shared your first kiss, where he’d first told you he loved you - a sentence he admitted he never thought he’d say to anyone, swearing up and down he’d lead the bachelor life until he either died or retired, whichever came first. He’d always claim it was because he just “wasn’t the settlin’ type”, but his friends always saw right through it. 

“He’s just scared,” Bradley had assured you one day over a beer while Jake tossed darts effortless at the board a few feet out of earshot. 

Reading the puzzled look on your face, Natasha hummed playfully as she sipped her drink before raising an eyebrow at you. 

“He doesn’t want to settle down because he’s scared,” She and Bradley nodded in unison. 

“Yeah, doesn’t wanna leave behind a war widow kinda thing,” Bradley shrugs, “You’d think it’d be me who feels that way considering my dad died when I was literally a toddler, but no, apparently it’s Blondie who’s got the commitment issues.”

The first time Jake referred to you as his girl, the usually chatty Bradley had been rendered speechless, mouth agape while Natasha had choked and sputtered on her beer as she looked wide eyed at Bradley and back at Jake. Jake shrugged it off as if it was nothing, but everyone, even you, knew it was uncharacteristic of him. 

The following weekend after stunning his Navy buddies, he’d been called away to the first mission since you’d started dating. You weren’t expecting it, but you got a heartfelt, emotional goodbye from Jake, one that was genuine and raw, a side of him you’d never seen before. He’d hugged you tightly and kissed you slow and sweet, making it last, permanent on your mind in case he didn’t make it back. As he promised you he’d return, you could hear his normally velvety smooth Southern drawl crack as his voice caught in his throat. 

When he came home a few weeks later, you’d greeted him with a warm embrace, and he held you tighter than he ever had before, his first true public display of affection towards you. Bradley and Natasha could be heard whispering, while Bob simply looked on smiling, knowing how in love Jake really was, watching as it mirrored Bob’s own relationship with his girlfriend. 

“Jake, where are you taking me?” 

You laughed as you snapped back to the present, raising an eyebrow at him as he continued to lead you across the sand. His cargo shorts were hugging his hips perfectly, golden-tanned skin from the California sun illuminated in the light of the setting sun. His green eyes were full of a child-like excitement, his signature grin plastered on his face, looking like it couldn’t be wiped off even if you tried.

“Just trust me, ok? You trust me, don’t ya, Sugar?”

“Alright, alright, I trust you.”

“Atta girl, c’mon, almost there.”

You shook your head and shot him a playful eyeroll as he continued to guide you along the shore. Your mind flashed back to when you and Jake had first slept together - instead of the playful arrogance, overwhelming confidence and cocky egotistical attitude he gave off around his friends, he was the opposite when it came to loving you. He was gentle, caring, passionate and considerate. He checked in with you, making sure you were comfortable and enjoying it. He was selfless in the way he loved you - making sure you were taken care of in all aspects before he was, and if for whatever reason, his climax came before yours, he made a point to bring you to yours by whatever means necessary. 

When Jake asked you to move in with him, the look on your face was one of pure shock and disbelief, you were sure you were dreaming it. Your wide-eyed gaze and raised eyebrows were enough to make Jake laugh, shaking his head at you.

“Now that’s not how I thought you’d react, babe.”

“I’m sorry…I just…can you say it again?”

“Ask you again?”

“Yeah, please?”

“Ok, Sugar, you’re losin’ it, but sure, I want you to move in with me, that sound alright to ya? We both complain we don’t see each other enough, and well, I just feel like it’s time we do somethin’ ‘bout it, right?”

You nodded your head and simply threw your arms around him, letting Jake embrace you tightly as he kissed your cheek. He had his friends help you pack and by the end of that week, you were moved in with him, sharing the little house on base together. His Cowboys jersey hanging in the closet next to your Commanders one - your teams were bitter rivals, and Bradley, who had come from Virginia, your home state, was beyond shocked to see Jake allowing you to wear a Commanders jersey to their Sunday night football watch parties. Bradley, forced to wear a jersey for another team, pouted at Jake.

“How come when I wear my Commanders jersey, I get told to fuck off and stay outside?”

“You don’t look cute in Washington’s colours, Bradshaw,” Jake replied matter of factly as he kissed you on the cheek, leaving Bradley to pout once again.

Jake stopped in front of you, turning his body to face you, bringing you back to reality for another moment. His unwavering grin still on his face, smiling at you as if you were the only sight around him for miles. Your heart melted when he looked at you - it always did - the love he had for you was always evident on his face, his gaze full of admiration and affection for you.

Your eyes widened as Jake went down on one knee in front of you. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sandy coast echoing softly around you. The odd passerby gawking as they went for their stroll in the dusky glow of the beach as the sun began to set on Coronado. Jake beamed up at you from where he stood on bended knee, his eyes matching the seafoam that was pooling around you, inching closer and closer to where you stood. 

“Darlin’, remember that date I took ya on, where you made me dance with ya on the beach, after I swore I never would? That song you made me dance to, the one by Florida Georgia Line?”

“I remember,” you said, gazing at him with tear soaked eyes.

“Sugar, you know I’m not good at this kinda stuff - it’s more Bradley’s thing, being all sentimental and shit, but I’m gonna try my damnest, ok? You know how that song goes, “Baby you know my love is never gonna run dry, never gonna come up empty, now until the day I die, unconditionally,”

Jake’s cheeks blushed a soft pink as he tried his best to carry the tune, serenading you by the oceanside, “then it’s like, “You know I’m always gonna be here for ya, no one’s ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me”? Guess that’s what I’m tryin’ to say here, no one on this earth is gonna be able to love you, or anyone else more than I do. I’m sure of it. I didn’t even think it was possible for me to love you as much as I do, but Baby, do I ever love you.”

“Jake,” you started, feeling yourself becoming breathless with excitement as he spoke.

“Babygirl, will you do me the greatest honor ever, and become Mrs. Seresin? I never thought I’d ever marry anyone, but I’d be a fool to not marry you, darlin’.” 

Speechless, you nodded your head quickly, unable to make any sound other than an excited squeal of delight as he slipped the ring onto your finger. As Jake stood upright, he wrapped his arms around you, enveloping you in a loving embrace, his lips crashing against yours as he kissed you passionately.

From behind you, you could hear familiar voices cheering - you broke the kiss and turned to see Reuben, Javy, Mickey, Bradley, Natasha and Bob standing there, all beaming at you. Bradley wiped a single tear from his eye in his usual dramatic fashion, while Bob gave a proud thumbs up to Jake. A congratulatory smile formed on Natasha’s features, while Javy, Mickey and Reuben all applauded you both. You were overcome with emotion as you shared this moment with Jake and your friends. 

“You all knew?”

“Of course we knew, Jake can’t keep a secret to save his life,” Natasha grinned, shrugging her shoulders.

“I get to be best man, right?” Bradley grinned as he clapped his hand onto Jake’s shoulder in a congratulatory substitute for a hug. 

#jake seresin fic #jake seresin fanfiction #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin fluff #top gun maverick fic #top gun maverick imagine #hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #hangman fic #jake hangman seresin fic #hangman #top gun: maverick fic #jake seresin #jake seresin x f!reader #jake seresin x gn!reader #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin fluff #lt. jake seresin x reader #lt. jake seresin x you #lt. jake seresin

[spideystevie]

tugging on the bottom of someone’s shirt with hangman! please and thank you!🤍

hii! thank you for requesting, i hope you enjoy <3 (0.8k) 

17. tugging on the bottom of someone’s shirt

The morning brings with it a chill. An icy kiss to start your day, though maybe that’s just from your hand hitting the empty side of the bed next to you. 

Something close to a groan gets muffled by your pillow as you roll completely onto your stomach. You knew it had to be early from the lack of soft early morning sunlight filtering through the curtains. There’s the regular Monday morning commotion down the hall in the kitchen, something you didn’t hear very often.

Jake always woke up before you, leaving for work far earlier than you had to be awake. Yet, he always made sure he came in to say goodbye with a kiss to your head, even if your response was slurred from being half asleep.

This morning, however, after your fruitless attempts of trying to fall back asleep, you find him in the kitchen. His back is to you and he’s not yet dressed in his uniform, his hair still soft and a little sleep mussed. A dopey, sleepy smile rounds your cheeks at the sight. 

At the sound of your footsteps, he looks over his shoulder and is more than a little surprised when he sees you standing there, smiling. A pinch forms between his brows. 

“Hey, did I wake you?” his voice is full of concern, body shifting to face you completely. You shake your head. 

“No,” you say it so softly, you wonder if he even heard it. “Bed was cold.”

His shoulders sag a little, lips twisting into an apologetic frown though there’s nothing for him to be sorry for. He pads over to you, arms open at his sides and you fall into them easily. A tired slump against his chest, your arms around his middle and his holding you tight around your shoulders. 

The cold drifts away almost instantly being pressed against him like this and you think you could fall asleep standing here in the middle of the kitchen. Like he can sense this, Jake takes a step back and lets his hands come to rest against your upper arms. 

You don’t let go of him though, letting him walk you over to the barstools until the back of your legs hit one, forcing you to sit down. He kisses the top of your head and untangles himself from you to continue what he was doing before you came in. 

You watch him, blinking slow and heavy while you do. He rinses and cleans the dishes he used as quietly as he can, well aware of your lethargic focus on him the whole time. The water shuts off and he passes by where you’re sitting to grab the dish towel to dry his hands.

It’s a gentle tug, the fabric of his t-shirt stretching only just in your grip as he passes back by you again. He looks down at you from where you sit on one of the kitchen barstools, your eyes almost doe-like as they blink up at him. There’s still traces of sleep on your face, the sight warming his chest and causing his lips to curl into a soft smile. 

“What’re you up to?” he muses, stepping a bit closer into your space. You only tighten your fingers around the hem of his shirt. An almost shy smile crosses your features, a little bashful as you look at him and shrug. It’s when your lips pucker out in the slightest that it registers what you’re asking for. 

One of his hands comes up to rest against your face and you press your cheek further into it, almost nuzzling against it. Your eyes are a little drowsy, smile a soft upturn of your lips as you look up at him. He leans down to kiss you, all gentle and slow like the morning. 

He pulls back, chest feeling hazy and warm at the obvious admiring glow in your eyes that’s directed at him. Your fingers loosen their grip on the hem of his shirt, slowly uncurling until your hand falls into your lap. 

“Go back to bed,” he says quietly, moving the hand holding your face to smooth over your hair. You sigh through your nose, chin dropping down to your chest for a moment. Jake smiles at you though you don’t see it, dripping with sticky affection. 

It takes you a minute but you slide off the barstool, letting his arm come around your shoulders as you walk back towards the bedroom.

Something in the morning air makes the two of you both sickly sweet and giving with your affection. A squeeze of a hand here, a tight hug there, a quick kiss somewhere else. It’s your favorite part of mornings together, on the rare occasions that you get to share them. You take his affection this morning with an almost greedy set of open arms. 

He makes sure you’re all tucked back in and cozy, pressing a warm kiss to your forehead before he disappears to get ready. You’re fast asleep when he comes back out but a smile forms in your sleep when he kisses your forehead once more to say goodbye.

#jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #hangman #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake seresin fluff #jake hangman seresin fluff #hangman fluff #jake seresin imagine #hangman imagine #jake seresin blurb #hangman blurb #📝: a writes!

[witchwyfe]

wouldn’t it be nice? - jhs

I pairing: college jake ‘hangman’ seresin x female reader

I précis: doing laundry with jake!

I content/warnings: college au, roommates to lovers (that haven’t gotten past the roommates stage yet)

I word count: 409

I a/n: part of the roommate predicament !!!!

Jake's got a laundry basket propped on his hip when you get back from class, looking deliciously handsome and you have to force yourself to look away. He must've forgone his hair gel this morning because it's all fluffy and natural.

"Hey darlin," He smiles, all warm sunshine and pretty teeth. "How was class?"

"It was good." You smile, still dazed by his handsome face and all the kindness directed at you.

"Great. I was about to do a load of laundry, do you have anything you want me to throw in?"

"Um, yeah let me go grab them." You nod wobbly, setting your bag down. "Thanks Jake."

You beeline to your room and gather up your laundry--which just consists of a few pairs of socks, and the towel you use to dry your face--before bringing it back out to Jake.

You're flustered and you don't quite know why. It's a perfectly reasonable thing for roommates to do laundry together and save water, but it's so domestic you can't help but feel a warm heat floating on your skin at the thought of you and Jake doing laundry together--or even more so, him doing your laundry for you.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" You ask him, cautiously dumping your stuff into his basket.

"Not at all darlin', that's why I asked." He smiles again. "This everything?"

You nod dumbly, sitting on the couch.

"I can fold it, you know, when it's done," you offer awkwardly. "Since you did it and everything."

"Don't even worry about it." He smiles, heading off into the small laundry area.

You find yourself lounging on the couch with your homework until the laundry is finished. Jake had already switched it over and then come to hang out with you.

He bring the basket back and sets it on the coffee table.

"Do you wanna watch something?" You wonder, starting to pull some of your things out of the basket. "There's a new season of Love Island?"

"Yeah." He smiles. "Yeah, that'd be fun."

So the two of you sit on the couch together folding laundry and watching love island. When all of Jake's stuff is folded and put away he comes back and sits down a little bit closer to you than he had been before. And when you come back from putting your own clothes away, you do the same thing. And both of you pretend not to notice.

© witchwyfe 2023. absolutely no reposting, translating, or modifying, even with credit.

#mine #my work #my writing #witchwyfe #witchwyfe writing #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin oneshot #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin fanfiction #jake hangman seresin blurb #the roommate predicament #jake hangman seresin fluff #jake seresin fanfiction #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x you

[eternalsams]

The Song of Achilles ⇴ J.Seresin

pairing: jake seresin x fem!reader

summary: you meet a beautiful stranger at the library and give him some book recommendations.

warnings: none.

words count: 928

a/n: english isn't my first language, please take that into consideration

masterlist

Clutching at the handle of your purse, you walk directly to the aisle you preferred. The music is blasting in your headphones and you’re mumbling the lyrics. You can see a man standing where you usually stand in front of the books, he’s flipping through a book but you don’t want to disturb him so you just ignore him. You grab some book from the shelf next to him to occupy your mind but you cannot help yourself and stare at the stranger. He’s rather tall, he’s got dirty blond hair and a single lock falls in his face. He tried multiple times to tuck it behind his ear or on top of his head with the rest of his hair, but the same lock always falls back. You can’t see his eyes but recognize the look on his face, he seems focused on what he’s reading and a smile forms on your lips. Your eyes fall on his lips, his thin but appealing lips that mouth the words he’s reading. You quickly take a look at what he’s wearing and slightly smile to yourself at the sight of cowboy boots. A country boy? Here in California? You go back to your book but the simple presence of this beautiful man next to you tears you from it.

You’re wondering how he still hasn’t noticed the way you’re staring at him. Can’t he feel your eyes on him? You catch a glimpse of what he’s reading when he turns the pages and your interest for this beautiful stranger only increases. “You should read Stephen Fry’s Mythos.” Your words seem to startle him and he turns to you. “Excuse me?” You’re not sure if he’s annoyed or if he’s genuine but you don’t really find the time to wonder because you finally know what color his eyes are. It was like they were made of emerald but you could see a single blue line circling his irises. You almost lose your words but quickly regroup your thoughts. “If you’re interested in Greek mythology, you should read Stephen Fry’s book. It’s really good.” You nod your head as if to convince him to do so and he rapidly looks down at the book he’s holding. “What about this one?” He hands you the book and you take a look at the cover. “It’s a good one too, I’ve read it. Do you know anything about mythology?” You look up at him and see that he took a few steps in your direction.

“Not really, I’m just trying to find a book to pass the time. Thought Greek mythology could be a great distraction.” He slightly shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. “You’re kidding?” You raise your eyebrows and you can see in his eyes he realizes he’s made a mistake of some kind. “You don’t read a book to distract yourself. You have to give your entire attention to what you’re reading. You have to be genuinely interested.” Even if you pronounce those words with the most serious tone, you cannot suppress the smile on your lips. That’s probably the reason the man before you doesn’t liquefy and only gulps. “I know, I know that. I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I mean that I need something new to read and I don’t really know what I like in literature. I remember reading the Percy Jackson series when I was in high school and loving it. “Percy Jackson, huh?” You ask with a smirk before passing next to him to reach a book on the shelf. You grab it and give it to him. “Here, start with this one. It’s quite easy to understand the whole perverted history of Greek mythology.”

“Perverted? I don’t remember that in Percy Jackson.” He frowns and you can’t help but laugh. The blond only chuckles but what you don’t know is that at this exact moment, he’s wondering whether you’d prefer light green or cream colored paint in your future shared living-room. You pinch the bridge of your nose and nod at the book in his hands. “I’m pretty sure you’re gonna like it. And it’s long enough to distract you for a long time.” You smile at him and he chuckles as he looks down. “Okay, I deserved that.” He absently caresses the front cover before he looks back at you. “I’m Jake.” He holds out his hand for you to shake and you introduce yourself, making him smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Jake.” You put back the book you had in your hands and start to walk away. “Wait!” You stop in your tracks and turn around to see Jake coming to you. “Can I have your number?” You probably look more surprised than you think because Jake chuckles and nervously rubs his neck. “You know, just so I can tell you if I like the book. And you could give me other recommendations too.” You close your mouth you didn’t know was open and slightly smile. “Yeah, of course. Sure. Give me your phone.” You enter your number in his contacts and put your name with a white heart and give him back with a smile. “There you go, text me when you start reading the book.” You give him one last smile and leave the library without looking back. You knew that if you looked back, you’d blush like crazy and would be embarrassed. Jake just watches you leave and looks down at his phone, grinning at the sight of your name with the emoji.

#hangman #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman fanfic #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin fanfic #hangman fluff #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfic #top gun maverick fanfic #jake hangman seresin fluff #glen powell

[vivalas-vega]

sunshine / jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

heyooo !!! the fic I've been teasing for the past few days is finally here ! I don't know that I'm fully happy with it but I've invested a minimum of 25 hours into this and I had to metaphorically put the pen down at some point. I hope you enjoy, as always please please please let me know what you think!

sunshine / jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

add yourself to my taglist

feel free to buy me a kofi if you like my work!

based on this request! here is your fic @gryffindormarveltwilight :)

word count: 14k (estimated read time: 60 minutes)

warnings: language, drinking, some suggestive humor, brief rooster x reader/allusions to rooster x reader, navy inaccuracies, terrible descriptions of flying a fighter jet pls forgive me

Sitting in your superiors' stuffy office underneath dim fluorescent lighting the only thing you could think of was that your best friend was right. A point that you didn’t want to admit to anyone, let alone her… but that was also a lie, the biggest thought dominating your headspace was her brother. Jacob Seresin. She’d told you a thousand times over to get ahead of it, that you couldn’t keep this secret forever and to just come clean to him and your family but you’d dug your heels in, insisted this was the right way to go about things, and god did you hate eating your words. She was fucking right. 

You were reminded of Thanksgiving two years ago, one of the events in a long list of near-misses where your secret almost came to light.

“Sunshine, your phone keeps ringing, do you want me to get it?” Jake asked from across the couch. You were fully immersed in your novel with your legs stretched out and resting against his, you hadn’t even noticed your phone… or anything else for that matter outside of the world you were holding in your palms.

“Just silence it,” you said as you flipped the page.

“Wait a minute,” he said and the shift in his tone pulled your attention to him. He was staring at your phone screen in shock… or was that confusion? “How the fuck do you know Rooster?” he asked and your blood ran cold.

“What?” you asked and he flipped the screen around to reveal Rooster’s contact photo. You thanked your previous self for cropping yourself out of it because this was going to be hard enough to explain without the addition of you in your khakis. “Oh,” you chuckled, hoping to just brush it off entirely as you sat up. “You know, I kind of forgot he was a pilot, too. I met him a few months ago when I went to San Diego for that convention.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me you happened to meet another naval aviator?”

You shrugged, “I didn’t think you knew him.” You knew he did. “We met in a bar and hit it off, we’ve kept in contact since.” 

“Are you like… a thing?” he asked, disgust evident in his tone. 

You laughed, “no, you know… it is possible to meet someone in a bar and not immediately jump their bones.” you said, trying to deflect this conversation in its entirety. 

“Nope, you’re not flipping this around on me.” Damn it. “I find it awfully suspicious this is the first I’m hearing of Rooster… by accident no less.”

You sighed, “fine, you caught me. I’m secretly a naval aviator too and Rooster was my wingman on a mission in Eastern Europe,” you said, and you didn’t try to sound innocent or sarcastic, just the right amount of indifference for him to not believe you.

He chuckled, “yeah of course you are, and I’m not an aviator, I’m actually a fucking astronaut.”  He added an eye roll for dramatic effect. “At least make your lies believable, sunshine, you know you’d never even make it to basic because I’d have killed you before then.”

You let out a laugh but there was no humor in it, “you’re right… me being in the Navy is definitely far fetched.”

“Top Gun, sir?” you questioned, trying to focus your thoughts on the present and he nodded… not even fully looking at you as he sorted through paperwork on his desk.

“Despite your insistence on keeping your achievements quiet, you’ve caught the attention of a lot of people. Mission is need to know, and apparently I don’t make the cut,” there was a bitter taste on his tongue as he spoke the words. “All I know is the best of the best from every aviation squad are headed west.”

“Yes, sir. When do I leave?” 

“You’re on a plane in six hours. Go home, pack, get your affairs in order. You report for duty at 08:00 tomorrow.”  Six hours. 

“They think I’m a research assistant to a fucking archeologist, Sadie! I mean, how stupid could I possibly be!” Your voice was shrill as you shouted in the general vicinity of your phone perched atop your dresser as you threw things into a duffel bag. You weren’t even concerned with what you were packing, you were more concerned with the fact that the single thread holding your intricate web of lies together was unraveling right in front of you. “You were right the other day when you said he already knows, he just… doesn’t know it’s me. I’ve heard of the infamous Hangman, there’s no way he hasn’t heard of Viper.”

“Just take a deep breath, I mean… I won’t say I told you so, even though I totally told you so.” Good thing she won’t gloat. “What’s the worst that can happen? He’ll be shocked, he might yell at you, he might rat you out to our parents but, maybe that’s for the best.”

“Maybe it’s for the best that everyone finds out I’ve been lying to them about what I do for a living for eight years?” you nearly shrieked as you rooted through your drawers for your one good swimsuit.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to stop taking online archeology courses on the off chance people ask you for specifics? Which… no one ever has because you picked a boring fake job to have, or wouldn’t it be nice to actually be able to tell your parents about your job, your achievements? Did I tell you that Jake actually mentioned Viper to me? Said something about some elusive hotshot pilot very few people have ever actually seen but their exploits have been heard everywhere.”

“Sadie, I called you because you’re supposed to be helping,” you groaned.

“Am I not?” she asked, genuinely sounding innocent and you just glared at the phone… and though she couldn’t see it, she definitely felt it all the way back home in Texas. “You know, you never actually told me how you got Viper as a call sign-”

 “You know what, I have to go.” you said abruptly, cutting her off.

“What are you-” you didn’t bother listening to the rest of the sentence as you hung up and quickly dialed a number you hadn’t in months.

“Hey sunshine,” Jake’s voice rang throughout your room and normally the pet name bestowed on you from a very young age, meant to be ironic considering you’ve never had a sunny disposition, would have been comforting but now it just made you feel sick. “What are you up to?”

“Hey you,” you breathed out. “I just got off the phone with Sadie and I figured I’d give my favorite Seresin a call,” you joked and his laughter on the other end did nothing to ease your nausea. 

“I’ll be sure to tell her you said so. Where are you calling from this time?” he asked and you thought there might be a winch in your chest, each sound from his end of the phone cranking it tighter and tighter.

“Uh, I’m actually stateside for a bit… lab work,” you lied. “What about you, jetsetter? Where’s the Navy got you now?” You were fishing.

“Also stateside, at least for now. Your timing is actually impeccable, I’m packing for a last-minute detachment and you were always better at that than me.” He was referencing all the times you’d wander up into his room just minutes before leaving for one of your shared family vacations, finding him standing in front of his closet with a blank look on his face and an empty suitcase on the bed, leaving you to do it all for him.

You chuckled nervously, “after all this time you still can’t pack a bag without my input?”

“Well, you’ve never forced me to figure it out for myself and the times I’ve had to go without I ended up with all the wrong things.”

“I’m pretty sure this is weaponized incompetence. Where are you headed?” You already knew the answer, but there was a small flicker of hope burning within you. 

“San Diego, all I know is I’ve been recalled to Top Gun.” he answered and you felt your heart drop into your stomach.

“Well,” you started, clearing your throat, “definitely some shorts and t-shirts, maybe a few of those ridiculously tight short-sleeve button-ups you always insist on buying… but none of the bright colored ones, they’re awful.” you said and he laughed. “Throw in those green swim trunks if you plan on heckling any innocent women simply trying to enjoy some sun and surf.”

“Heckling innocent women, how do you know I’m not the one being heckled?”

You laughed, “because I know you, you’ve been a heartbreaker since age ten.”

“I prefer the term rolling stone,” he protested and you laughed again.

“I’m sure you do Mr. Rock n Roll but that is not the perception. Your mother worries.”

“Did she call you again?” he asked, voice going up an octave.

“Oh yes, she asked me if we crossed paths in Bosnia… because, of course we would have while I was in Bahrain, said I needed to talk some sense into you.”

“When were you in Bahrain?” he asked and you internally groaned. You’d said too much. But then again, as you looked at the clock it didn’t really matter how much you said. You could say hey Jake, by the way… I’ve been in the Navy all this time, I’ll see you soon! and it wouldn’t make a damn difference.

“Uh, you know… just a few months ago.”

“Huh, I almost went there a few months ago,” he said and you could hear the contemplation in his tone.

“Small world,” you said breathlessly. “Shoot, urgent text from the lab… I’ve gotta head in, call me when you get settled in San Diego?”

“I will, when this deployment is over I was actually going to try and get some leave… come visit you if you’re still stateside, if that’s alright?”

“Of course it is, I’ll talk to you later.” You fell backwards onto your bed with a huff as you disconnected the call, “son of a bitch.”

The red neon sign above the Hard Deck used to be a comforting image, a port in the storm, light illuminating a pathway towards a night of blowing off steam but right now it felt more like the flicker was mocking you, laughing as you prepared to walk through those doors and undo years of lying and manipulating those closest to you. You knew he’d be there. You were. There was nowhere else for aviators to go when arriving in town. Well… nowhere else aviators would go.

“Oh dear god,” you mumbled to yourself, keeping your head low as you waited for your beer. You saw Phoenix strutting across the bar with Fanboy and Payback in tow and the voice that rang out from the pool table made your blood run cold. Of course he was already here.

“What do we have here? If it ain’t Phoenix,” he said, fixing her with that famous smirk as he stood upright. “And here I thought we were special, Coyote. Turns out, the invite went to anyone.”

“Fellas, this here’s Bagman,” she introduced as you carefully approached, mindful of where you were positioning yourself as you started to slide back into your work persona.

“Hangman,” he corrected.

“Whatever.” she dismissed. “You’re looking at the one of only two naval aviators on active duty with confirmed air-to-air kills.”

“Stop,” he said, and you couldn’t help but chuckle and the faux-display of modesty. Always a showboater.

“Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean war.” she smirked, you’d been deployed with her a few times and you always found her ability to outpace the men refreshing and oh-so-needed in the Navy. 

“Cold war,” Coyote corrected.

“Different wars, same century.” Payback said.

“Not this one,” Fanboy added.

“Who are your friends?” Coyote asked, gesturing to the two of them as they introduced themselves. “And I’m assuming this other aviator with a confirmed air-to-air kill will be gracing us with his presence tonight?”

“Her presence,” Phoenix said, narrowing her eyes as she corrected his assumption. “Call sign’s Viper, if you two made the cut then she definitely did.” 

“Ah, Viper.” Jake chimed in and you felt your ears burn as you watched him from your spot behind a beam. The way your name fell from his lips in such a condescending way made your eyes narrow. “You know, I’ve heard an awful lot about this Viper but… I’ve never laid eyes on her. Pretty sure she’s just a myth, what do you think, Coyote?” he asked and his friend nodded his head.

“You just can’t stand that the person holding you in a draw is a woman.” Phoenix quipped and you couldn’t help but smile.

“No one’s holding me in anything, darlin’, but I can’t say I’m not excited to finally meet this elusive pilot… set the record straight on who’s number one.”

“Oh Jakey,” you tutted, finally emerging from your spot behind the beam as you approached the table and you ignored the way he was physically caught off guard, quickly standing from his perch on the pool table. “I wouldn’t hold your breath because it sure as shit ain’t you.” You looked him up and down once for good measure. “Bagman, and Hyena, was it? Names Viper, pleasure to meet you.” You held your hand out for Coyote with a smirk rivaling Jake’s. For all the fear you had about your secret coming to light you knew you had to come in strong, if you showed up with your tail between your legs like your old teenage self, scared of Hangman’s wrath you’d never get out from under it during training.

“So, you’re not a myth,” Coyote responded, shaking your hand but you weren’t looking at him… you were looking at Jake who’s eyes seemed like they were about to bug out of his head as they scanned you, clad in a matching khaki uniform. 

“No, but she is a legend,” Fanboy piped in and you chuckled at the reinforcements.

“Hey V, knew you’d turn up sooner or later,” she said as she pulled you in for a quick hug and you reached out to squeeze both Payback and Fanboy’s shoulders in greeting. “And who’s this?” Phoenix asked, not picking up on the tension rising between you and Jake as her eyes glanced at the man sitting in standard-issue glasses to your left.

“Who’s who?” Coyote asked, not noticing he was there at all. She looked directly at him as he brushed peanuts off his lap. “When did you get in?”

“Oh, I- I’ve been here the whole time.” he answered with a cute smile on his face and you couldn’t help but chuckle at his earnestness. 

“Man’s a stealth pilot,” Jake finally chipped in, seemingly recovering from your shocking arrival but his eyes still held a lot of questions you knew you’d be hearing later. 

“Literally.” Coyote added.

“Weapons Systems Officer, actually,” the man corrected.

“With no sense of humor,” Jake sighed and you narrowed your eyes at him as he passed the pool cue to Phoenix before he made his way to the bar and you took the opportunity to slip away and follow him.

“Penny, my dear,” he started, leaning against the bartop. “I’ll have four more on the old timer.” he said, eyes darting to Maverick and you knew he’d regret saying that later. Everyone else might have been alarmingly slow at connecting the dots but you knew his presence here wasn’t a coincidence. As far as you knew he was supposed to be in Arizona acting as a test pilot.

“Unprepared for an ambush?” you asked and he sighed, you watched as his bicep flexed when he gripped the edge of the bar.

“You could say that,” he replied dryly.

“Doesn’t sound like the Hangman I’ve heard of… always so prepared for everything,” you shot back and he turned to look at you, expression steeled.

“Well, deception sounds exactly like the Viper I’ve heard of.” You couldn’t be surprised, verbal volleyball with him was always your forte and this time he had genuine cause to be upset. “What the hell are you doing here?” There it was.

“Recalled, same as you.” you answered, as if it was really that simple.

“In the Navy,” he clarified. “You didn’t think to mention this when we were on the phone four hours ago? Or better yet, when you joined?”

“Thought this would be better face to face.”

“What, were you calling just to get information from me?”

“I like being prepared, wanted to know what I was walking into.” you replied, keeping your features calm as you looked up at him.

“And you couldn’t have prepared me for seeing my little sister’s best friend in front of all my colleagues?”

“Your colleagues? Thought I was a little more than that,” you responded, focusing your attention forward and subtly nodding to Maverick who was sitting across the bar in lieu of a proper greeting. “You’re a professional, Hangman, I think you handled it well.”

“Like how well you’ve handled lying to your entire family? How was that dig in Bahrain, by the way?”

“Needed to come up with something to account for all the traveling and lack of contact,” you answered, cutting through to the question beneath the question.

“And where do they think you’re off to now?” he asked as Penny set the beers in front of you. “You know, just in case I need to cover your ass.”

“Croatia. Called them before I called you and Sadie.”

“Sadie knows?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why the hell did you keep this from everyone?”

“Are you forgetting the chaos that ensued when you told everyone your plans after high school?” you asked. “Besides, I did tell you in no uncertain terms, you just turned it into a joke.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Thanksgiving a few years ago? When Rooster called?” you prompted and you watched his face fall. 

“Oh my god,” he muttered. 

“Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t believe me which is why I said it to get you off my back… and what you said about killing me before I even made it to basic just proves my reasoning was right to not tell anyone.”

“Wait, so Rooster really was your wingman on a mission?”

“Several.” you answered.

“I don’t understand, I first heard of Viper six years ago. How have we never crossed paths?”

“I asked to keep my accomplishments on the downlow, they thought it was modesty but really I didn’t want you finding out through a Navy newsletter. Truthfully, I don’t know how we haven’t been on detachments sooner, that was just dumb luck.”

“Dumb luck,” he scoffed, looking you over once more. “God dammit. I am happy to see you,” he finally conceded and you let out a laugh.

“Really? I’m not convinced,” you replied as he pulled you in for a tight hug.

“Meant what I said too,” he started, picking up two of the beers and nodding for you to grab the others. “I do intend on winning this tie between us.”

You laughed again, “good luck with that, bud.” you shot back as you walked back to the pool table. You were aware of the questioning eyes but you had no intention of filling anyone in at the moment.

“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe,”Jake said, swiping Bob’s pool cue as you gave Rooster a one-arm hug.

“Hangman, you look… good,” Rooster responded, apprehension clear in his voice and you shared a look with Phoenix.

“Well, I am good, Rooster.” he replied, lining up and taking his shot. “I’m very good, in fact, I am too good to be true.” You rolled your eyes as you watched Phoenix give Rooster an exasperated look.

“So,” Payback interjected, “anyone know what this special detachment is all about?”

“No, a mission’s a mission, that don’t confront me.” You watched in amusement as he made his way around the pool table, oozing arrogance. You’d heard the stories of the cocky pilot but seeing it before you, in stark contradiction to the Jake you grew up with, was jarring to say the least. “What I want to know: who’s gonna be team leader? And which one of y’all has what it takes to follow me?”

“Hangman, the only place you’ll lead anyone is an early grave.” Rooster replied and you watched Jake continue his path with an overwhelming urge to smack the smirk off of his face. If you wanted to, you knew you were the only person here who could get away with it.

“Well, anyone who follows you is just gonna run out of fuel.” Jake shot back, “But that’s just you ain’t it, Rooster? You’re snug on that perch waiting for just the right moment… that’s never gonna come.” He finished, stepping closer. “I love this song,” he added before walking away.

“Well, he hasn’t changed.” Phoenix sighed.

“Nope, sure hasn’t.” Rooster agreed and you chuckled.

“If only you knew how untrue that was,” you said, eyebrows raised as you looked after him, a man almost completely unrecognizable to you now. You were almost impressed that he was able to suppress this new side of himself when he went back home just as easily as you did.

“Thought you were in Bahrain,” Rooster commented and you spared him a quick glance.

“Thought you were in Japan,” you replied simply.

“Looks like your intel is outdated,” he said and you finally looked over to him with a smirk.

“Same goes for you.” You nudged his shoulder with yours, “good to see you, Roo.”

“Does anyone here have a normal relationship with one another?” Coyote asked, watching as Rooster disappeared and as you went to steal some of Bob’s peanuts. 

“This is like a dysfunctional summer camp reunion, Coyote. When have we all been in the same room at the same time?” Phoenix answered.

“Any thoughts as to how this is going to play out?” Jake asked, sidling up beside you as you ordered another beer and you didn’t even look in his direction as you watched Penny mix a drink for someone.

“Thought it was just a mission… none of the details confront you,” you responded and he didn’t miss the air of mockery in your tone.

“I meant between us,” he clarified and you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye.

“Thought we were just colleagues.”

He shot you an unamused look, “are you really going to be like that?” he asked and you shrugged.

“Matching your energy, Hangman. Have to say, I was hoping the rumors were false.”

“Oh yeah? And what rumors are those, Viper?”

“The rumors that you’re an arrogant asshole. Imagine my surprise to find the Jake I know nowhere in sight.”

“Well, imagine my surprise to find out the girl who used to steal my sweatshirts and whine if I didn’t cut the crust off her sandwiches in the Navy with a reputation of being a calculated bitch.”

“I’m a woman in the Navy, what’s your excuse?” you fired back and he nodded his head appreciatively as if to say touche.

He sighed, “I just mean… we have history, how do you want to go about that?”

“Pretty sure everyone here has some form of history with each other, I don’t see why we need to go about it any particular way.” you shrugged and he narrowed his eyes at you.

“Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a long detachment?”

“Probably because you’re right.”

“I just don’t understand why you can’t be a team player. You’re taking this whole Hangman thing too far,” you snapped from your side of the booth. “I’m sick of doing push ups because of you.”

“Ever considered it’s just because you’re the one that’s failing?” Jake asked with a smirk.

“No, it’s just because you’re a shitty wingman, always have been.”

“Now what is that supposed to mean?”

You laughed dryly, “Christmas? Two years ago? You had one job, be a decent wingman. You can’t do it on the ground and you certainly can’t do it in the air.”

“Hold up. Christmas two years ago? What do you mean?” Phoenix asked, having

overheard your latest round of ripping into Jake as she was walking by and you let out a sigh.

“Bagman and I grew up together,” you finally came clean and you gave her an exasperated look as she did a terrible job at masking her shock.

“Wait, like grew up grew up together? As kids?”

“My best friend is his sister,” you explained as briefly as you could. “Well, that makes a hell of a lot more sense than my theory,” she said and you furrowed

your brows.

“What was your theory?” you and Jake asked at the same time.

“I thought you two had slept together on a deployment,” she shrugged and you blinked in surprise. You looked at Jake and waited for him to respond because you were at a loss for words at the implication.

“Your quickness to assume I’ve slept with every woman I’ve come into contact with is frankly insulting,” he said and you bit back a laugh.

“But not entirely untrue,” you muttered.

“Please tell me you have embarrassing stories about him,” Phoenix pleaded and you let out a full laugh now.

“Oh, I definitely do.”

“That will remain in the vault because unless you’re forgetting, I have stories too.” Jake chimed in and you rolled your eyes.

“Hold on, I’ve been deployed with both of you, and mentioned both of you to each other, how is this the first I’m hearing of this?” she asked and you noticed the way almost everyone was not subtly listening in.

“Our families didn’t have the warmest reaction to him joining the Navy, let alone to be a fighter pilot… so I just kept it to myself when I did. Jake didn’t know until last week,” you answered.

She shot him a weird look, “I always forget you have a real name… makes you too human,” she muttered before slipping away and you chuckled. 

“Cat’s outta the bag now,” he said, eyeing you over the rim of his glass as he took a drink and you didn’t miss the way his pupils dilated as Rooster came into his field of vision.

“Buy you a refill?” he asked you and you nodded, allowing him to pull you up and lead you to the bar. “So, you and Hangman have history?” You realized he must have only caught a piece of your previous conversation.

“Mmhm,” you confirmed, “Seems everyone has history with him, including you.” you said as the two of you sat down on the bar stools.

“Nothing beyond the obvious.”

“And what’s the obvious?” you asked and he smirked, sliding a fresh beer towards you.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said and you raised your eyebrows at him before he chuckled. “Thought it’d be good to catch up… haven’t heard from you since our last mission.”

“And whose fault is that?” you shot back, with Rooster it was always about what was unsaid. On the surface you weren’t even sure this would be considered a conversation, too much back and forth with not enough shared in each passing remark.

“You know how it is,” he shrugged and you nodded.

“How was Japan?”

“How was Bahrain?” You stared him down before cracking, a smile spreading across your face as you laughed.

“You know I can’t tell you.”

“You know I can keep a secret. Besides, what are friends for?”

“Oh, are we friends now?” you countered, amusement clear in your tone.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we weren’t.” he shot back.

“Our last communication was you sending me a photo of bird shit on your canopy with a series of emojis that I’m honestly still unsure the meaning of.”

“That’s peak friendship,” he laughed. “What is the story with you and Hangman and why was I not allowed to tell him we knew each other?”

“He’s my best friend’s brother,” you said and realization passed over his features. “He’s a little… protective, and I knew he wouldn’t respond well to me being in the Navy.”

“Ah, well that explains why he looks like he wants to kill me everytime I get close to you,” he said and you looked over your shoulder to find him glaring in your general direction and you let out a laugh.

“That’s just his face when it comes to you.”

“No, pretty sure it’s more than that,” he replied and you raised an eyebrow at him as if to say elaborate. He reached down to grab your stool and yanked you closer, forcing your legs to slide in between his and smirked as he brushed a strand of hair behind your ear while you just looked at him with wide eyes. “I give it five minutes, tops.”

“Five minutes for what?” you asked, coming out a little more breathless than you were hoping for.

“The way he looks at you is far more intense than just being his sister’s best friend… I’m just testing my theory,” he said, voice low with how close the two of you were.

“And what do you think these test results will yield?”

“I think he’s going to stew over there for a moment,” he said leaning closer as he looked over your shoulder and nodded slightly, “just like he’s doing right now… and then when I make any sort of indication of taking this further he’s going to come pull you right out of this chair and drag you off.” 

“Hmm,” you hummed, deciding to lean into it if only for the fact that your life was so hectic you had no time for attention like this… even if it was for show, and you let your fingers absentmindedly drag along his forearm. “And how are you going to indicate taking this further?” you asked, your eyes almost daring him.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he teased, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as his fingers trailed along your thigh.

You gave a half-hearted shrug, “contrary to popular belief, I’m not immune to a little flirting… real or not.”

He frowned slightly, “I know you’re not immune or are you purposefully forgetting our first mission?”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” you replied and now it was your turn to smirk. You saw something in his expression shift, like he was accepting the challenge you’d just given him.

“Do I need to remind you?” he asked, inching closer and your breath hitched when his hand rested on your neck. “Because I remember it quite vividly,” he whispered in your ear and you couldn’t help the shiver that raced up your spine. 

“I think it’s coming back to me now,” you said as he pulled back to look at you and he chuckled.

“Incoming.” you furrowed your brows at him as he leaned away but before you could ask him what he meant you felt a strong hand wrap around your arm and yank you upwards and suddenly you found yourself being pulled across the bar and one glance back to Rooster only revealed a smug look that said I told you so. And he did.

“Get off of me!” you yelled as you pushed Jake’s hand off you, crossing your arms over your chest as you glared up at him and squinted your eyes to shield from the sun setting over the beach… now just a handful of yards away in your new location. “What the hell is your problem?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” You just gestured for him to explain. “Rooster? Really?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Please tell me you’re not that dense,” he said and you could see the disappointment in his features but what you couldn’t figure out was why. You just shook your head and threw your arms out in exasperation and he sighed. “Do you really think flirting with Rooster is a good idea?”

You let out an indignant laugh, “you think that was flirting?”

“Okay, I know you’re not that dense.” 

“I know this has been difficult for you to wrap your head around but I have friendships on this squad outside of you that have been in existence for years. Whatever you think you saw was me catching up with an old friend.”

He scoffed, “and he just had to have his hands on your neck and thigh while doing so?”

“And so what if he did? I’m failing to see where this is any of your business and why it gave you the right to physically remove me from my conversation.”

“Figured I’d save you from making a mistake because it’s never a good idea to get involved with someone on your squad… especially on a mission as hard as this one.”

“You would know wouldn’t you?” you countered. “Speaking from personal experience?”

“Don’t do that, you always find a way to turn it around on me.”

“Maybe because you’re always the one in the wrong!” you shouted. “I know that me being here is weird for you, and I know it’s been an adjustment having me in the air with you but that does not give you the right to act like you have for the past eight years. I am not your kid sister’s best friend anymore, I am not a teenager that needs you to bail her out when guys get handsy.”

“Well, you’re definitely acting like a teenager who needs me to bail her out before she makes a mistake that could follow her around for the rest of her career.”

“You are the one acting like a teenager right now! In case you haven’t noticed because you’ve been too busy strutting around like you’re god’s fucking gift to us all, I’ve built an incredible career for myself, and I’m pretty damn good at what I do… I have to be, right? Because I landed myself here with you. Or do you think that was just a fluke? The only reason this is new to you is because I diminished myself to hide from you because I knew you couldn’t deal with the fact that I can handle my own shit now.”

“You think lying to everyone is handling your shit? You hid because you were too much of a coward to own up to it.”

You let out a bitter laugh, “I lied to everyone because they worry. Your mother cries every day you’re on deployment. Your sister calls me twice as much. Your dad goes to church twice a week. My parents check their phones every hour waiting to see if yours sent them any kind of update. It’s easier for everyone if they believe my traveling and being out of service range is because I’m safe and sound, digging up old relics. I lied because I knew you would act like this and I lied because giving our families some peace of mind was worth more to me than getting credit for everything I’ve accomplished.”

He was silent for a moment as he processed what you’d said, and he took a step back as silence permeated the outdoor patio. “I don’t think it was just a fluke,” he finally said and you let out a sharp exhale.

“Well, obviously it wasn’t, I’m a much better pilot than you.” you joked and he gave you a deadpan look. “Every time you snap at me in the air, or dismiss me in the training room, or conveniently occupy yourself elsewhere when my previous missions become the center of focus, you're only reinforcing the reasons I kept this from you. I didn’t want to. Of course I wanted to tell you of all people, I just… didn’t want to feel like I used to when we were growing up. Like the little kid you got stuck with.”

He sighed, “well, now I feel like a jackass.”

You shrugged, “well… you kind of are a jackass.”

“You’re not the little kid I got stuck with, sunshine. I just-”

“I get it,” you cut him off. You wanted this conversation to end before it got too deep, and you could tell by the look in his eyes you were about to jump headfirst into a conversation neither of you were ready for. “Come on, buy me a beer to make up for what a jackass you were.” 

You were on your third run through of the mission today, probably the dozenth this week and each time something went wrong, or you weren’t fast enough, or nothing went wrong and you were fast enough but you missed the target. Between this and Maverick’s constant reminders of just how impossible this mission was, you were finding it hard to push through the noise and focus on your objectives… something that had never been an issue for you in the past. You’d made a career off of keeping your head down and doing what was expected of you no matter how difficult it was but this? Each time you stepped into the cockpit you couldn’t help but think you were training for your death.

“Talk to me, Bob,” Phoenix said as you flew above the dry terrain. You could feel the clock running out, both on this run through and your mission training in general.

“We are twelve seconds late on target, we gotta move! We gotta move,” Bob replied.

“Copy, try to stay with me,” you said as you increased your speed.

“Wait, who’s that?” Bob asked and you cocked your head slightly, waiting for further information.

“Blue team, you’ve been spotted.” Maverick’s voice rang throughout your headset and you winced.

“Shit, it’s Mav.” 

“What the hell is he doing here?” Phoenix asked,

“I’m a bandit on course to intercept, blue team what are you gonna do?”

“He’s twenty miles left, ten o’clock. Seven hundred knots closure.” Bob supplied.

“Your call, what do you want to do?” you asked Phoenix, looking over your shoulder in the direction of her aircraft.

“Continue, we’re close. Stay on target.”

“He’s swinging around to the north,” Bob said as you began to brace yourself.

“Stand by for pop-up.” 

“Be ready on that laser, Bob,” Phoenix ordered.

“Copy, I’m on it.”

“Blue team, bandit is still closing,” Maverick reminded you and you felt tension settling in your muscles.

“Popping now,” you communicated as you sharply moved to a steep incline. You gasped for air as the weight crushed you backwards into your seat. “Talk to me, Bob. Where’s Mav?”

“He’s five miles out, he’s coming fast.”

“Target’s in sight,” Phoenix said.

“Where’s my laser, Bob?” you asked, already feeling the panic creep in.

“Deadeye! Deadeye! It’s no good. Sorry, I can’t get a lock.”

“We’re out of time, I’m dropping blind,” you said with a slight shake of your head as your thumb hovered over the button as you tried to drop it at the exact right moment. “Fuck, I missed,” you sighed as you began your steep climb out.

“That’s tone,” Maverick said and you could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Maverick’s got missile lock on us.” Bob groaned.

“Shit, we’re dead,” Phoenix cursed.

“Blue team, that’s a fail.” You let out a sharp exhale as you ripped your mask off in frustration. No matter how hard or how many times you tried you were always so close without ever actually making it. “That’s enough for today.” Maverick said as you leveled out and you navigated to flank him. “Bird strike! Bird strike!” he shouted as you tried to avoid the onslaught of birds but it was no use, you felt your jet become unsteady as one flew directly into your engine.

“Shit, left engine’s on fire. Climbing,” you said as you yanked up on the yoke. “Throttling back, shutting off fuel to left engine. Extinguishing fire,” you narrated as you ran through your mental checklist of everything you needed to do. “Fuck, it’s still spinning. Trying to restart,” you tried to keep your voice and your nerves steady but it was no use, the erratic beeping filling the cockpit was threatening to pull you apart.

“Viper, it’s on fire! Don’t start-” Maverick started but you cut him off.

“Throttling up.” You watched as everything flashed at you and you tried to regain control as you quickly lost altitude. “Extinguishing right engine.” Everything was in failure and you were running out of options.

“Viper, punch out.” Maverick ordered as your jet hurtled towards the hillside in a spiral. “You can’t save it. Eject, eject!”

“Fuck, ejecting! Ejecting!” you shouted as you pulled the handles between your feet and the last thing you remembered was watching your plane burn in.

You awoke in a panic, gripping the sheets as a distant beeping accelerated your heart rate and as if on autopilot your hands grabbed for the controls but there was nothing but fabric. “Hey, hey you’re okay,” you heard and you let out a sharp exhale as you saw Jake sitting beside you, leaned forward in his chair with concern written all over his face.

“I don’t- what the hell happened?”

“Bird strike. Thank god you punched out in time but you lost consciousness on the way down. Doc said you’re fine, they’re coming to discharge you soon,” he explained and you nodded as you began to calm down.

“Jesus,” you whispered before another wave of panic rolled over you. “Mav? Phoenix and Bob?” you asked, realizing you’d been so wrapped up in your own cockpit you didn’t even know if the voices coming through your headset were for you or if they were struggling with their own aircrafts.

“They’re good, Mav stopped by earlier to check in and everyone has been blowing up the group chat asking for updates,” he chuckled as he rested a hand on your leg.

“Just another thing to tack onto the long list of failures with this mission,” you sighed, running a hand through your hair.

He frowned at you, “hey, no one faults you for this. You can’t control bird strikes,” he reassured. “Everyone is just glad you got out.” His thumb was rubbing reassuring circles against your thigh and you took a deep breath as you tried to shake off the way he was looking at you. It was concern and… something else you couldn’t place.

“Jake, I don’t… I don’t think everyone’s going to come back from this,” you whispered, it was a universal truth, everyone had thought it at one point or another, Maverick had basically said it without being explicit, and you knew damn well Cyclone didn’t care about casualties so long as the mission was completed. “We can’t even get through dropping the bombs, we haven’t even accounted for SAM’s or bandits.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s us.” he said, voice firm and you knew it was a defense mechanism. He wouldn’t come out and say it but he shared the same fears you did. “Come on, let’s get you up, everyone wants to see that you’re alive and well for themselves,” he diverted but you knew better. He just didn’t want to get into it with you because if he did he wasn’t sure he’d be able to flip the switch back. He had to stay focused and so did you.

The drive to the Hard Deck was silent, much like a lot of your time had been with Jake recently and it made you want to rip your hair out. You couldn’t deal with the hot and cold, one minute you felt like nothing had changed when he brought you your coffee exactly how you liked it, or when you were doubled over in laughter by the dart board and the next he was distant, blowing you off entirely and pretending you were no more than a colleague. You knew things wouldn’t be like how they were back home, this was work and the lives of you and your team were on the line. There were more important things to focus on but when you watched him let loose with Coyote after-hours or humor Fanboy while he talked about some nerdy tv show you couldn’t help but think it felt like a knife to the back. 

“Easy, I know you’re sore even though you’re pretending you’re not,” he said softly as he helped you climb out of the car and you just gave him a deadpan look.

“I’m not pretending,” you protested and he smirked.

“Sure you’re not,” he agreed, even though he really didn’t.

“There she is!” Fanboy cheered as you walked in and you gave a bashful smile, hiding your face behind your hands to shield yourself from the commotion. “How are you feeling? What’d the doctor say?” he asked as everyone looked at you intently.

Bob elbowed him, “you are under no obligation to share your private medical information,” he said, clear disapproval in his tone at everyone’s nosiness.

You chuckled, “it’s okay, Bob. No concussion, nothing broken, just some light bruising in my ribs. Still cleared to fly so it looks like the competition hasn’t been knocked out yet,” you teased.

“Thank god, I couldn’t stand it if you abandoned me,” Phoenix said with a warm smile as she wrapped an arm around your waist carefully. “Are you allowed to drink?”

“It’s actually been encouraged,” you joked and she nodded before disappearing.

“Glad you’re okay,” Rooster said, giving you a sheepish smile. “Scared the shit out of all of us.”

“I like to keep you on your toes,” you replied. “Since I almost died today and all…” you started and he rolled his eyes.

“Oh, so you’re milking this?”

“Mmhm,” you smirked. “Since I almost died today, think you could go play a little something?” you asked and he shook his head with a chuckle.

“For you, I think that can be arranged.” you watched with a small smile as he did his usual routine of yanking the cord of the jukebox out of the wall before sauntering over to the piano. You loved watching the bar crowd around him, watching your new and old friends sing along and bust out terrible dance moves. It made it a little easier to forget the impending doom you were all facing.

“Did you make that happen?” Phoenix asked, placing a glass of bourbon in your hand.

“Not like I had to try very hard,” you laughed, watching as she nearly ran over to join him.

“You’ve always been so good at that,” Jake said, appearing beside you suddenly and you tore your eyes away from watching the fun for a moment to look up at him.

“What’s that?”

“Bringing people together,” he answered, gazing down at you. “This could have been just another detachment. Forced friendship while we’re stuck with each other before we go back to our normal squads, but nothing about that looks forced to me,” he said, turning back to watch Bob twirling Phoenix around, Payback and Fanboy doing the robot to a song completely unsuited for such a dance, Coyote and Rooster singing at the top of their lungs.

“Thank you,” you said and he pulled his attention back to you, an unasked question on his face. “For staying with me, it was nice having you there when I woke up.”

He shrugged, “no problem, you’re Sadie’s best friend… pretty sure she would have flown out here just to kick my ass if I didn’t.” Your face fell for a moment but you quickly recovered.

“Right, just Sadie’s best friend,” you muttered, polishing off your drink in one swig. Suddenly you felt silly, of course that’s only how he saw you. You were naive to think the ‘friendship’ you’d built over the past two decades was nothing more than the fact that you were in his life because of his sister, because your families had bonded over the daughters who couldn’t stand to be apart for more than twelve hours. The quarterly phone calls and drinking sessions past midnight over the holidays were nothing more than circumstantial. 

“Sunshine-” he started but you gave him an empty smile.

“Need a refill,” you said before walking towards the bar and Penny saw you coming, saw the look in your eyes and was quick to pour as soon as you’d set the glass down.

“Gave everyone quite a scare today, you alright?” she asked and you nodded. You knew she wasn’t really asking you about your ejection but you were content to pretend she was.

“All good, comes with the territory,” you chuckled and she gave you a knowing look.

“That one’s on me, consider it your unofficial hazard pay,” she joked and you took a moment to lean against the bar as you collected your thoughts. You couldn’t help but feel stupid  to think that even with the rigors of the job and learning curve of being around each other professionally you’d find some sort of groove resembling the one you settled into back home. You wondered what the hell that even was when you were home. He was always the highlight of your holidays, someone who understood you even though he didn’t know it. You looked forward to sneaking into his room when everyone had gone to sleep with a bottle to talk shit about your families and you shook your head as you sat in the embarrassment of thinking he could have looked forward to that too.

“Sunshine, I didn’t mean-” he started as he approached you and you just shook your head.

“It’s fine, I get it.” you said, focusing your attention on Rooster who was still fiddling with the keys while everyone went back to their groups and listened to it as background noise. “Training is almost over and when the mission is done we can go back to our squads and you can forget about the little kid who’s been following you around for twenty years.” 

“I don’t think you’re a little kid, I really didn’t mean anything by-”

“Jake.” you cut him off, turning to look up at him. “Really, it’s fine. With any luck after this we won’t see each other until Christmas so… maybe it’s better if we just focus on our own shit. We have enough to worry about.” You walked across the bar and slid onto the bench with Rooster who gave you a questioning look.

“Everything okay?” he asked and you nodded, taking a swig of your drink. 

“What do you say to a little Great Balls of Fire?” you asked, resting your head on his shoulder for a moment and with just a few of the opening chords he’d pulled everyone right back in just like he always did.

“It’s been an honor flying with you,” Maverick started as you all stood at attention. “Each one of you represents the best of the best. This is a very specific mission, my choice is a reflection of that and nothing more.” 

“Choose your two foxtrot teams,” Cyclone said and the tension in the room was palpable.

“Payback and Fanboy, Phoenix and Bob.” You smiled softly, that’s exactly who you would have picked.

“And your wingman,” Cyclone added and you felt the anxiety settle in the pit of your stomach. It was between you, Rooster, and Jake… You knew there was a complicated history between Maverick and Rooster, and despite your instability with Jake you didn’t want to be pitted against him.

“Viper.” he called out and the first person you looked at was Rooster who was doing a great job at masking his feelings and he shot you a tight smile. You glanced forward to find Jake looking at you and he gave you a slight nod. You thought getting picked for this mission would feel better than this, but you only felt sick.

“The rest of you will stand by on the carrier for any reserve role that’s required. Dismissed,” Warlock said and your limbs were slow to catch up with your brain as you began to move for the exit to head back to your bunk. You’d been training for weeks yet you felt entirely unprepared. Maverick stepping in as team leader restored a bit of your confidence but even with him leading you knew the odds of actually pulling this off and everyone making it back were slim. Part of you was relieved it was you and not Jake, or Rooster. Rooster still had a legacy to fulfill, and Jake simply wasn’t finished. He had a lot left to learn, and a lot left to accomplish.

“Hey,” Rooster called after you, jogging to catch up and you stopped in front of your door, looking around at the crowded hallway and you subtly nodded for him to follow you. “Congratulations.” he said as you closed the door behind you.

“I’m sorry,” you started but he shook his head.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You earned this, I know better than anyone how good you are in the air. Mav made the right call… I’m only sorry you aren’t team leader, we all thought you would be.”

“If it makes you feel any better you would have been my wingman if I was,” you offered and he chuckled.

“Not Hangman?”

You sighed, “I trust Jake implicitly on the ground, but… I can’t in the air, and he hasn’t had the best reaction to seeing me in this environment. You on the other hand I know I can trust in the air. You’ve saved my ass several times,” you said with a soft smile.

“Only as often as you’ve saved mine,” he replied. “I think you need to look at Hangman’s attitude towards you through a different lens.”

“What do you mean?” you asked as you slightly tilted your head in confusion.

“It’s not that he sees you as his little sister’s best friend, or the kid he can’t seem to escape… it’s the fact that he doesn’t see you that way, and now he’s forced to face it every day.” 

“If he doesn’t see me that way, then what way does he see me?” you asked, struggling to put the dots together and he just smiled.

“I can’t do all the work for you.” he said, pulling you in for a hug. “I’ve missed having you around, V.”

“I’ve missed having you around too, Roo. Let’s be actual friends when this is all over… which means no more sending me photos of bird shit on your canopy,” you said with a laugh.

“I told you, that’s peak friendship!” he said and you pulled away when your door creaked open.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” Jake asked as he poked his head in, clearly uncomfortable and you and Rooster both shook your heads.

“No, I was just leaving… I’ll see you before, yeah?” Rooster asked and you nodded, giving his arm a squeeze as he walked past. “Hey, don’t think, just do, right?” he said before leaving and you nodded.

“Don’t think, just do.”

“Sure you two aren’t a thing?” Jake asked as he walked in, glancing behind him to make sure he was gone and you chuckled.

“Scout’s honor,” you replied.

“I just wanted to come congratulate you,” he said and you let out another soft laugh.

“Seems everyone wanted to do that,” you said. “Thank you, I’m sorry you weren’t picked.”

“Don’t be, you were right. You’re the better pilot,” he said and there wasn’t an ounce of dishonesty in his tone. “I need you to have a clear head while you’re up there, but… can we talk when this is all over? I handled this completely wrong and I don’t want to forget about the girl that’s been in my corner for twenty years when we go back to our old squads.” you smiled at the way he rephrased what you’d said earlier.

You nodded, “I’d like that.”

He moved towards the door but turned back to say, “I know Sadie’s your best friend, but just so you know… you’re mine,” before he left and you let out a sharp exhale and flopped onto your bunk as the door shut behind him. You put your hands over your eyes as you let what both Rooster and Jake said sink in and it left you with far more questions than you had when you entered this dorm… so much for having a clear head. You heard the door push open and let out a groan, sitting up to see who was coming to mess with your head now but quickly turned sheepish.

“Jesus, hello to you too,” Phoenix muttered as she walked in and set something on her bunk. “Saw both your boyfriends leave,” she said with a smirk and you rolled your eyes before laying back down.

“They’re not my boyfriends.” you protested and she just laughed.

“Sure they aren’t. How are you feeling?”

“How are you feeling?” you shot back as she sat next to you.

“Terrified, but we’re as ready as we’re going to be.” You sat up and turned to face her fully.

“I’m really glad you’re flying with me, Phe. How badass are we? Not one but two women selected for the uber secret, uber dangerous mission?” you asked and she let out a laugh.

“Super badass, now we just gotta make sure we come home so we can brag about it.”

You stood on the platform with nerves rattling you to your core. You took a deep breath and shook your limbs out as you looked up at your jet.  You reached up to press your hand to its exterior and said, “no funny business today, alright? I wanna come home.”

“Sunshine!” you heard from behind you and turned to see Jake jogging towards you. You stood in silence for a moment before he pulled you in for a bone crushing hug. “You give ‘em hell, okay?” You nodded when he pulled away and you watched him walk to his own jet where he’d be sitting as Dagger Spare. You made eye contact with Maverick who gave you a nod that you returned, a silent exchange that solidified you were in this together.

“Dagger One, up and ready on catapult one.” Maverick said in your ear and you exhaled forcefully, willing any reservations to leave your body with your breath.

“Dagger Spare standing by.”

“Dagger Four, up and ready.”

“Dagger Three, up and ready.”

“Dagger Two, up and ready,” you said as you focused your mind and pushed out anything but the mission. You weren’t going to think about what Rooster had said, or about what Jake wanted to talk to you about when this was all over, and especially not what you were hoping he wanted to talk to you about. Blocking out the noise was what you were good at, and one of the reasons you were selected. Get in, get out, go home. That’s all you had to do.

You launched off the catapult and fell into formation behind Maverick and listened for the command to fall below the radar. The ocean was closer than it had ever been before and somehow it felt so different from your proximity to the ground during training. This was real. This wasn’t a simulation.

“Feet dry in sixty seconds. Comanche, Dagger One. Picture.”

“Comanche, picture clean. Decision is yours.” 

“Copy,” Maverick replied and waited for a beat before saying, “Dagger attack.” Not that it was an option before but there was no turning back now. You watched the tomahawks fly over your head as you assumed attack formation and marked your time as you entered the valley and rounded the snowy ridges. “First SAM site overhead.”

“Looks like we’re clear on radar, Mav.” Phoenix said.

“Let’s not take it for granted.” You knew they were there but you chose to ignore the presence of the SAM’s above you. Worrying about them now wouldn’t do you any good, you had plenty of time for that later. Your only concern was staying below where you could trigger them.

“We got two minutes to target,” Bob said and you checked your radar, increasing your speed.

“Stay with me, Payback.” you grunted as you overtook a curve.

“I got you,” he confirmed.

“We’re picking up two bandits. Single group, two contacts.” Comanche informed and you furrowed your brows slightly.

“Comanche, what’s their heading?” Phoenix asked.

“Bullseye 090, 50, tacked southwest.”

“They’re headed away from us, they don’t know we’re here,” you replied.

“The second those tomahawks hit the airbase those bandits are gonna move to defend the target, we have to get there before they do. Increase speed,” Maverick ordered and you nodded to yourself as you did.

“We got you Mav, don’t wait for me,” Phoenix responded. You lagged as you finally saw one of the SAM’s, a visual you were trying really hard to avoid and your breath caught in your throat as some of the noise started to creep in.

“Stay with me, V, don’t think.” Maverick said to you and you nodded to yourself again.

“Just do,” you finished as you pushed forward on the throttle.

“Jesus, Viper,” Payback shouted in your ear and you chuckled.

“Come on, Payback, you with me?” you asked. “Watch your heads,” you warned as you navigated through a bridge.

“Right behind you!” he confirmed after Fanboy let out some expletives that let you know they were still tailing you.

“Phoenix, stand-by for pop-up strike.”

“Dagger Three in position,” she replied. You heard their grunts through the headset as they fought against the gravity trying to pull them backwards.

“Get me eyes on that target, Bob!”

“Dagger Three, standby, Mav… Standby… I’ve got it!”

“Target acquired, bombs away.” Mav said and you felt your body stiffen as you waited for confirmation.

“We’ve got impact. Check, direct hit! Direct hit!” Bob yelled and you felt a wave of relief that disappeared as quickly as it had washed over you.

“Dagger Two, status.”

“Almost there, Mav, almost there,” you replied as you flew over the ridge.

“Fanboy, where’s my laser?” you asked as you grew closer to the target.

“V, there’s something wrong with this laser… Shit! Dead eye, dead eye, dead eye!” Fanboy shouted and you cursed under your breath.

“Come on, we are running out of time. Get it online!” you yelled back.

“I’m trying!”

“Come on, Fanboy!” you heard Payback say and you were running a risk analysis in your head.

“Nearly there, nearly there!”

“There’s no time, I’m dropping blind.” you said, voice calm and steady as you focused on the target.

“Viper, I’ve got this!” Fanboy tried and you wanted to reassure him but you couldn’t.

“Pull up. Bombs away, bombs away!” you said as you pressed your button before pulling up.

“Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye!” you heard command say but you couldn’t focus on anything as you tried to get oxygen to your brain, the force was compressing your lungs and you could feel the edges of your vision darken as you let out breathless pants.

“We’re not out of this yet,” Maverick grunted. “Here it comes.” you listened as they communicated, trying to evade the SAM’s. “Viper, status.” You wanted to answer but you couldn’t as you flew over the ridge and onto the radar.

“Oh fuck,” you muttered, looking overhead as the missiles launched. “Smoke in the air!”

“SAM on your six, Viper!” Payback warned.

“Deploying countermeasures,” you called as you slammed the button. “Negative contact.”

“Dagger one defending.”

“Talk to me, Bob!”

“Break right, Phoenix, break right! Mav, nine o’clock! Nine o’clock!” It was pure chaos as they exploded overhead.

“Viper, two more on your six!” you heard someone say but you couldn’t tell who.

“Dagger Two, defending,” you said as you hit your flare button.

“Payback, SAM on your nose.”

“Dagger Four defending.”

“Viper, tally, tally, seven o’clock!

“Talk to me, Bob!”

“On our six!”

“Dagger Two defending.”

“Phoenix, break right!”

“I see it, I see it!” Everyone’s voices were overlapping as you tried to look out for yourselves and each other, in all your years in the Navy you’d been in some pretty fucked up situations but this one just felt different. You yelled out to Phoenix and watched as she came close to taking a hit, and you could hear Fanboy’s panicked shouts trying to keep up with what was going on around you. You thought that if you had the time you might throw up, but you didn’t.

“Dagger Two, defending,” you said as you looked over your shoulder to see two on your tail. “Fuck, I’m out of flares!”

“Viper, evade, evade!” Maverick shouted and you whipped your jet around but shook your head.

“I can’t shake ‘em! They’re on me, they’re on me!” You watched Maverick’s jet pass overhead as he deployed his flares but gasped when one hit his tail. Your heart sank as you watched what was left of his jet fall out of the sky and tears pricked at your eyes that you quickly blinked away.

“Maverick!” you yelled, trying to turn in your seat to look for a parachute.

“Dagger One is hit! I repeat, Dagger One is hit! Maverick is down!” Phoenix called out as the wreckage of his plane floated down around you.

“Dagger One status? Status!” you asked with no answer. “Anyone see him? Does anyone see him?”

“I didn’t see a parachute,” Payback replied.

“We have to circle back.”

“Comanche. Bandits inbound. Single group, hot. Recommend dagger flow south. One minute to intercept.” There was a pause before you heard, “All daggers flow to ECP.”

“What about Maverick?” you asked, chest tightening at the thought of leaving him behind. You couldn’t. You wouldn’t.

“Dagger Spare, request permission to launch and fly air cover,” you heard Jake in your ear and you didn’t realize how badly you’d needed to hear the sound of his voice.

“Negative, spare.”

“Dagger, you are not to engage. Repeat, do not engage.” You gripped your controls as you listened to them ask you to acknowledge you heard the order but it all sounded muffled.

“Viper, those bandits are closing,” Phoenix said. “We can’t go back.”

“V, he’s gone. Maverick’s gone,” Bob added and you could hear the sadness in his voice but you weren’t accepting that. You thought of Rooster… of him telling you Maverick had pulled his papers and how despite how angry he was you could see through it to the hurt. He’d lost his father and alienated his only male role model. You thought of him listening in back at the carrier, the regret you knew he would be feeling as he realized Maverick was gone.

“I’m his wingman,” you said firmly. “Daggers flow back to carrier.” you ordered.

“Viper?” “What the fuck are you doing?” Fanboy asked.

“Dagger Two. Return to carrier.” You heard command say but you ignored it.

“Maverick is down which means I’m team leader now, I’m not leaving him behind.”

“Viper, you can’t do anything for him,” Phoenix tried.

“Only if I don’t try. Return to carrier, now.” you ordered again as you flipped around in pursuit of where his jet had fallen. You flicked off your radio and disconnected the overlapping chatter filling your ear. You whizzed back through the canyon and saw Maverick running through the snow covered clearing, trying to evade a helicopter and you used the element of surprise to your advantage… swinging around behind it.

“Dagger Two, deploying missile,” you narrated as you pressed the button but then let out a breathless laugh as you made contact. “Don’t really know who I’m saying that to.” You moved to circle back around and unknowingly triggered a SAM that quickly intercepted you and you cursed as you pulled up on your ejection loops.

You hit the ground with a thud and rolled over onto your back as you let out a groan. “Son of a bitch,” you muttered, “I am so sick of ejecting.” Your muscles ached as you worked on rolling up your parachute and you lifted your head to see Maverick running towards you.

“You alright?” he yelled and you nodded as you stood.

“Yeah, I’m good. You alright?” you asked but were caught off guard when he sent you flying backwards into the snow. “Oh, Jesus,” you muttered as you hit the ground, again. “What the fuck?” you yelled as you got up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as you threw your helmet to the ground.

“What am I doing here?” 

“You think I took that missile so you could be down here with me? You should be back on the carrier by now!”

“I saved your life!” you shouted.

“I saved your life, that’s the whole point.” he countered and you narrowed your eyes at him as you dusted the snow off your jacket. “What the hell were you even thinking?”

“I’m your wingman!” you shouted, throwing your arms out in exasperation. “That means something to me beyond the mission. I haven’t lost anyone yet and I don’t intend on losing anyone today.” He stared at you for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“Well, it’s good to see you,” he finally said and you put your hands on your hips as you tried to catch your breath.

“Yeah, good to see you too… so, what’s the plan?” you asked and he just gave you that famous Maverick look that said you probably weren’t going to like it.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” you said as you looked at an old plane through your binoculars. “An F-14?”

“I shot down three migs in one of those,” he pointed out and you just gave him an incredulous look.

“We don’t even know if that bag of ass can fly,” you countered.

“Let’s find out!” he said before taking off and your eyes widened.

“Mav!” you whisper-yelled after him. “Okay,” you muttered as you followed suit, stumbling into step with him as you walked out into the open, trying your best to act natural. “There’s a lot of people around.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s more over there.” you said as you looked around as subtly as you could. You knew this mission would be unlike anything you’d ever faced but you really weren’t anticipating being in enemy territory on foot.

“Okay.” he said, looking around. “Let’s start running.”

“Yeah, run.” you agreed, chasing after him into the hangar.

“Once I give you the signal for air, you’re gonna flip this switch until the needle gets to 120. When the engine starts, you gotta pull out the pins and disconnect everything. You understand?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, watching him power it on.

“Once I’m up, stow the ladder,” he yelled as he climbed up and you were quick to fold it away behind him. You gave him a thumbs up as you flipped the switch and watched the dial and when the engine fired on you ran around the jet pulling everything out.

“Ah, shit,” you huffed, struggling slightly as you jumped up onto the wing and climbed into the backseat. “Jesus, this thing is old,” you commented as you looked over everything and tried to make sense of it.

“Canopy?” he asked and you confirmed you were clear.

“Both runways are cratered,” you pointed out. “How are we gonna get this museum piece off the ground?” You looked out the window and furrowed your brows. “Hey Mav, the wings are coming out.”

“Yep.”

“Why are the wings coming out?” you asked but he didn’t answer. “Holy shit, are we really using a taxiway as a runway?” You were absolutely terrified but you’d be lying if you said there wasn’t a small part of you that was absolutely exhilarated. 

“Just hang on,” he said and you flew backwards in your seat as he took off. “Come on, come on, come on.”

“Mav?” you asked, looking ahead of him at the structure you were barrelling towards. “Holy shit,” you muttered as you closed your eyes and felt the wheels lift off the ground. You looked down and switched your ESAT on, hoping they’d see you and send reinforcements.

“Alright Viper, get us in touch with the boat.”

“Working on it, everything’s out. What should I do?”

“First the radio. Throw the uh… the UHF2 circuit breaker. Try that.”

“Sure, I’m not looking at like three hundred breakers or anything… got anything more specific?”

“I don’t know, that was not my department,” he answered and you nodded.

“Where’s Bob when you need him?” you muttered as you leaned down to fiddle with what you could find and your eyes widened when you looked beneath you. “Mav, tally two, five o’clock low. What do we do?”

“Okay, listen. Just be cool. If they knew who we were, we’d be dead already.”

“That’s comforting… what’s the plan?”

“Just put your mask on. Remember, we’re on the same team.” you watched as they pulled up beside you. “Just wave and smile.” You forced a smile as you watched the other pilot gesture with his hands but it wasn’t anything you were familiar with.

“What is that, what’s he saying?”

“No idea. I have no idea what he’s saying.”

“What about that one?” you asked as they changed gestures. “Any idea?”

“Nope, never seen that one either.” Maverick played dumb as he tapped his helmet and gave a thumbs down. “Shit, his wingman is moving into weapons envelope. Alright, listen up. When I tell you, you grab those rings above your head. That’s the ejection handle.”

“Can we outrun them?” you asked, not exactly keen on the idea of punching out for a third time in as many weeks.

“Not their missiles and guns.”

“Then it’s a dogfight,” you said, and he sighed.

“An F-14 against fifth-gen fighters?”

“It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot. What would you do if I wasn’t here?”

“But you are here,” he said and you could hear the apprehension in his tone. “I don’t intend on losing anyone today,” he repeated your earlier words.

“So don’t. Come on, Mav. Don’t think, just do.” He was silent for a moment and your hands flew to brace yourself as he jolted to the side and laid into one of the other jets.

“Tell me when you see smoke in the air,” he ordered and you twisted in your seat to watch behind you.

“Smoke in the air! Smoke in the air!”

“Hang on!” He dropped a missile and led the other plane directly into it.

“Splash one! Splash one!” you cheered, still trying to find your bearings as the plane jolted around. “Here comes another one!”

“Viper, flares, now now now!” he called and you pressed the button, watching as they intercepted the missile. “Splitting the throttles, coming around,” he said as you grunted and placed a hand on the ceiling. “Give me tone, give me tone.”

“You got him, Mav!”

“Taking the shot,” he said as he deployed and you watched the other plane do an evasion maneuver you’ve seen before. “What the-”

“Holy shit,” you said, watching him practically float past your canopy. “What the fuck was that?”

“Hang on, we’ve gotta get low. The terrain will confuse his targeting system.”

“Here he comes!” you shouted as he was hot on your tail.

“Talk to me, Viper, where is he?”

“He’s still on us,” you managed to get out as you bounced from side to side of the canopy. “We took a hit, we took a hit!”

“Damn it.”

“Come on Mav, do some of that pilot shit!” 

“Brace yourself.” You quickly rose in altitude and you struggled to get a breath in as you went careening back into the valley. “I’ve got tone, taking the shot.” he said and you watched the other plane take it out with countermeasures. “Out of missiles, switching to guns.”

“You got him, Mav!” you yelled as the distance lessened.

“It’s not over yet,” he replied. “One last chance.” You watched him use his last round of ammunition to rip into the top of the other jet and you let out a cheer when it crashed into the rocky hillside.

“Yes! Splash two!” you said before you went back to fiddling with the controls, trying to recall anything from initial training back in the day and you exhaled in relief when the system in front of you came to life. “Mav, I got the radio on!”

“Outstanding, get us in touch with the boat.”

“Copy that,” you said just as alarms started ringing. “What the fuck? Where even is he?”

“He’s on our nose,” Maverick said and you really wished you didn’t hear the dread in his tone. “We’re out of ammo. Smoke in the air, Viper, flares!” 

“That was way too close,” you said. “We’re out of flares, Mav! Shit, he’s already on us.” you grunted as bullets began hitting your jet. “This is not good!” Maverick did his best to try and evade but it wasn’t any use. “We took another hit!”

“No, no, no. no!”

“We can’t take much more of this!”

“We can’t outrun this guy, we gotta eject.”

“What?” you yelled, panic creeping into your voice.

“We need altitude. Pull the ejection handles the second I tell you to.”

“Mav, wait-” you started but he cut you off.

“Viper, there’s no other way. Eject, eject, eject!” he ordered and you reached above you to pull on the loops but they were stuck. “Viper, pull the handle, eject!”

“It’s not working!” you yelled back, still trying. “Mav!” You were still rising in altitude and you pressed your hands against the canopy as you realized this was it. You weren’t getting out of this. You thought of Jake, how he was going to have to tell Sadie… how it was going to fall on him to tell your parents not only were you in the Navy but that you were dead. You thought about Christmas Eve’s with him in middle school, dancing with him at his senior prom because even though you were a freshman he’d much rather have danced with you, and laughing at his old school photos while he watched you walk around the museum that was his childhood bedroom with a bottle of whiskey in your hand. It’s not that he sees you as his little sister’s best friend, it’s the fact that he doesn’t. 

“Oh my god,” you whispered, realization washing over you. I know Sadie’s your best friend, but just so you know… you’re mine.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Maverick said and you flinched when you heard an explosion but exhaled in relief when you realized it wasn’t you. You turned to see what was left of the enemy jet floating down to the water as an F-18 emerged through the smoke. Your eyes were wide as you tried to process what was happening… were you actually dead? Is this what the afterlife is?

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your savior speaking.” Jake started and you let out a breathless laugh as he pulled up beside you. “Please fasten your seatbelts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions, and prepare for landing.”

“Jake…” you said, looking over at him in disbelief.

“Hey sunshine,” he replied. “I’ll see you back on deck.” he said before flying ahead of you and you couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled past your lips as the adrenaline worked its way through your system.

“Maverick is downwind. No front landing gear. No tail hook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade,” Maverick communicated as you buzzed the tower and you giggled.

“Cyclone hated that,” you muttered and Maverick chuckled as you circled around and felt a jolt. “For the love of god, please don’t tell me we just lost an engine,” you sighed.

“Alright, I won’t tell you that,” he replied. You grunted as you hit the deck and flew forward in your seat at the impact before coming to a screeching halt. You were both silent for a moment, in disbelief that you actually made it back. “You good?” he finally asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you answered as the canopy raised and you were met with the cheers of all of the crewmen and your teammates. As your feet hit the ground it actually crossed your mind to drop to your knees and kiss the disgusting tarmac you were so grateful for but you had someone to find. Phoenix threw her arms around you and you reciprocated the hug but you were searching the crowd over her shoulder, muttering half-hearted thanks to the people congratulating you and you pushed everyone away as you started walking.

“Sunshine!” you heard and you turned around and finally saw him. You exhaled sharply as you ran towards him but he held out a hand that stopped you in your tracks. “What the hell were you thinking? I thought you were dead,” he shouted over the commotion and you knew you probably should have been apologizing, or explaining yourself but instead you just smiled as you looked up at him. You could see about a dozen emotions on his face, but the one you were focusing on was the one that had been there all along… you’d just been too slow to realize it. “Why are you smiling? This isn’t funny, you really scared the shit out of me. That was reckless, and it- I… Fuck sunshine, I love you so much, I can’t ever go through thinking you’re dead again. Are you even- shit, are you okay? Let me look-” you knew he wasn’t going to stop on his own so you reached out and grabbed onto his flight suit with a smirk, pulling him into you and pressing your lips to his. He reciprocated immediately and you smiled into the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. He lifted you off the ground as the cheers magnified around you.

“About damn time,” Rooster muttered from beside you but you didn’t care.

“I love you too, idiot,” you said when you pulled away and he set you back down but kept his arms firmly around your waist. “Chalked yourself another kill, looks like I’m going to have to even the score.”

“Always so competitive,” he said with a shake of his head before kissing you again and you pulled away when you felt a hand on your shoulder to see Maverick. He was looking at you with so much pride and gratitude that was only mirrored on your own face.

“Thank you for saving my life,” he said and you felt tears prick at your eyes.

“Thank you for saving mine, sir,” you replied and held out your hand for him to shake, but when he took it he only pulled you in for a hug. You watched him start to disappear into the crowd and quickly turned to grab Rooster by the collar and you gave him a look that had his eyes widening in fear. “I didn’t do that for Mav, I did that for you. Go,” you said firmly, shoving him in the direction Maverick had gone.

“You know, you could have just told me. You didn’t have to be an ass about it,” you said, looking up at Jake who rolled his eyes playfully.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked as you hit his arm. “I didn’t know… not until I thought it was too late,” he said, voice lowering as he stepped closer and placed a hand on your cheek, brushing his thumb against your cheekbone to wipe away a falling tear.

“I thought I’d realized too late,” you whispered as he pressed his lips to your forehead. 

“Now we have all the time in the world… after we get our asses handed to us for deliberately disobeying orders,” he said, pulling away when he noticed Cyclone approaching and you chuckled as you looked over your shoulder.

“Hey, if we get dishonorably discharged at least we’re alive and have each other, right?” 

“That’s all we need.”

ONE YEAR LATER

“Cheers to the one year anniversary of Dagger Squad,” Phoenix said as all of your glasses clinked together and you couldn’t wipe the smile from your face as you looked around the room at your team.

“And begrudgingly, cheers to Cyclone who, in his own words, completely disagreed with our tactics and lack of respect for authority, but couldn’t deny the overall effectiveness of our squad,” you added as everyone laughed and you leaned into Jake beside you. “Happy Dagger-versary everyone.”

“Cheers!” everyone shouted as you sank back into your previous conversations and you looked up at Jake as you took a sip of your beer.

“It’s our one year too,” you pointed out and he smirked down at you.

“Don’t you worry, sunshine, I’ve got a whole thing planned,” he said and you smiled as

you rested your head against his chest. “How lucky am I to have had you following me around for the majority of my life?”

You pulled away and playfully hit his arm, “when you say it like that it makes me sound so juvenile!” you protested and he just laughed.

“Hey, those are your words. Besides, you’re the one who followed me into the Navy…”

“And hid from you for eight years!” you said, pretending to be mad but your laughter gave you away.

“It’s okay, you just wanted to follow in the footsteps of the greatest pilot in the world. No one could ever blame you for that.” he teased.

“Are you conveniently forgetting you admitted I was the better pilot?”

“Yeah, but then I saved your life, so…” you narrowed your eyes before leaning up to peck his lips.

“Thanks for that, by the way.” 

“Anytime, sunshine… anytime.”

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#jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin fanfiction #jake hangman seresin fan fiction #jake hangman seresin fluff #jake seresin #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x you #jake seresin fanfiction #jake seresin fan fiction #jake seresin fluff #hangman #hangman x reader #hangman x you #hangman fanfiction #hangman fan fiction #hangman fluff #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun maverick fanfiction #top gun maverick fan fiction #top gun fanfiction #top gun fan fiction

[az-cain]

Hey, Cowboy (Part Two)

jake seresin x reader ≈ 1900 words

smutty smut smut, but it’s tender and sweet

TW FOR: PiV sex, vaginal fingering, in a car, but the sex is in a bed, oral sex m!receiving, poor communication for .5 seconds

As he clasped your hand in his, he slapped a 10 on the bar to pay for the drink that you had in your system. The tug he gave your hand while he looked at you expectantly shook the hat on your head slightly. A smile cracked across your face once reality had set in. He did want you, and Trace wasn’t lying. In fact, Trace was smirking right at you from over Seresin’s shoulder. As you met her eyes, Jake’s followed and saw the brunette’s expression, whipping his head around and narrowing his eyes in an accusatory expression towards you.

“No way.”

You grimaced slightly, shrugging. “Thought you hated me. It took Phee talking to me to realize maybe I should give it a go.”

He tightened his grip on your hand with a soft smile and pulled you into him, wrapping his arm around your shoulders when you knocked into his chest. “Bullshit.”

Leading you out the door, he motioned towards his little red sports car with the hand that rested on your shoulder, humming when you said his name.

You swallowed harshly, bracing yourself for his answer by staring at the concrete sidewalk as the two of you stopped walking. “Is this just gonna be— um— just the rule?” You sighed, meeting his eyes reluctantly as your fingers messed with your skirt.

He pulled back, placing both hands on your shoulders and shaking you lightly. ��No! What the fuck?” He laughed loudly. “I’ve been trying to date you for months. All of the ‘you’re so interested in my personal life, I figured you’d have tried to figure it out firsthand’ meant what to you?”

You laughed incredulously, clapping your hands on his shoulders and shaking him right back. “I thought you were calling me a stalker.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. You are a terrible communicator.”

He huffed slightly and shrugged in acknowledgement as he wrapped an arm around you and started walking again. “Maybe so. But now I’m your terrible communicator, if you’ll have me.”

You looked up at him with a hum, watching as his pretty green eyes flicked down to you. “Well that depends on tonight, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, darlin’, that’s gonna be a yes.” His words shot heat through your lower belly, making you sigh heavily through your nose.

As you slipped into his coupe, he smacked your ass lightly, your breathing speeding up as you yelped. A few seconds later, he was sliding into the driver’s seat and shifting into drive. “My house alright?”

“Yeah,” you whispered, thighs grinding together subconsciously as you crossed them in the narrow passenger seat. Ever observant, Jake’s gaze flicked over to where they clenched before moving up to where his hat sat on your head.

His right hand dropped from the wheel to your upper leg, where his thumb picked up a languorous pace tracing circles. You whimpered quietly, wishing his hand would move up just a bit more. “Please, Jake.”

A smile crossed his lips, his hand moving up to the place your thighs met as he stopped for a light. “Since you asked so nicely,” he rubbed lightly along the seam of your pussy with one finger, the wetness seeping through your thin underwear slightly. You whined loudly, hips canting up towards his hand. “You’re so vocal, so good for me. That feel good?”

You nodded feverishly, and panted as you pleaded silently for more.

“You want something else, pretty girl?” His eyes returned to the road as the light flipped to green, that finger still painstakingly tracing you.

“Please, your fingers.”

He groaned, “Oh, good girl, of course.” Pulling your panties to the side, he slipped two fingers into you and you cried out, pushing against them. His knuckles were just barely brushing your clit, but it was so sensitive that it felt like heaven. Still, it wasn’t enough.

Just as you moaned loudly, about to ask for him to move, he took a sharp turn into a small gravel road that you soon recognized to be a driveway and pulled his fingers out of you, much to your dismay. Meeting your eyes as he stopped the car, he popped the fingers soaked in you into his mouth and moaned, making a show of licking them clean. You were, however, fairly confident that his hips lifting up off the seat was no act, because when he removed his now spit-covered fingers from his mouth, he was panting like a dog.

You reached for your door, eager to reach the bedroom and about to make a mad dash for the house, but he yelped your name and scrambled out of his own door, regardless of the uncomfortable bulge in his pants. When he circled the front to pull open your door and offer you a hand, you felt your heart twist. Hopping out of the car, you grabbed him by the jaw and kissed him, twisting your hands into his hair and moaning when he did. Your lips pressed tightly against his, tongues slipping against one another as you ground your torso against the hardness you felt on him.

As he broke away, you followed him, but he only allowed you two more kisses before whining, “We have to go inside, there are kids in the neighborhood.” With a nod, you let him tug you up the short set of stairs to his doorway, watched him fumble with his keys in his urgency, and finally unlock his knob and deadbolt, before he shoved the door open and let you go in first. As soon as you were in, he threw his lips against yours again, lips open and sloppy. Your upper lip pressed against his teeth as you lightly nibbled on his lower lip. He moaned against you, louder than ever, and you took note. Dropping your lips to his throat, you bit lightly on his Adam’s apple, feeling his chest heave under your palms, before yanking his shirt off to gain access to his chest.

His chest was broad and tan, and you hummed quietly as you set your lips back to his pecs, sucking a mark into the left one to hear him whimper before moving to the right, savoring his noises. After a few more marks, he pulled you up to his lips and walked you backwards towards what you knew to be his bedroom. When you reached it, he pulled off your shirt and you kicked off your shoes and unzipped your skirt to shimmy out of it before raising your arms for him. Left in your bra and panties, you gestured for him to take off his boots before unzipping his pants, stroking lightly across the outline of him before pulling his pants the whole way down.

When you’d landed on your knees in front of him, you looked up at his red face with a smile, knowing your next move. You pulled down his boxers with a moan, struck by the sight and sound of his cock slapping against his stomach: long, thick, and red, with the veins popping out and probably aching. He hissed, hand landing in your hair.

“You don’t have to...” he began, before you laid your hand on him and your lips on his head. His abdomen clenched up like he’d been gut-punched and he whined desperately, “Oh, holy fuck.”

You suckled at the red tip, hand stroking over the entire length as you started to take more of him into your mouth. His hand clenched tighter, pulling at the roots of your hair. You moaned, hand drawing up to touch his balls, running your fingers across them harder when he made a loud punched-out noise above you.

Pulling you off and up by your hair, he murmured praises: “You’re so good at that," and “Almost had me done for in under a minute, dammit.”

Swallowing down some air, you turned him so his back was facing the bed and shoved his chest lightly. “I believe I still owe you a ride?”

Nodding eagerly, he dropped onto the bed and gestured to the wall, where a mirror hung facing the bed. “Gonna sit up though, I wanna see you get split open.”

To that, you straddled his lap with a low groan and met his eyes while you positioned him at your entrance. “Ready?”

“God, yes.”

Smiling, you moved down slowly, but were quickly met with a soft tinge of pain. You groaned, burying your face in his shoulder as he pet your hair and tried to control his breathing. The pain quickly turned into a pleasurable throb and you clenched down around him, making him moan loudly. Finally, you began to bounce. His hands grasped your asscheeks and spread them, massaging lightly and rubbing his finger against where the two of you met while he groaned your name.

“God, Raptor. Callsign shoulda been fuckin’ Bunny. Look so good hopping up and down.”

Giggling, you bounced faster, wailing when he reached a hand around to rub at your clit. You felt yourself clench around him, spurring his hips to kick up into you and hit your g-spot. Ripping your face from his shoulder and burying your hands in his hair, you demanded, “Do it again.” Smirking, he placed a hand behind him on the bed, the other rubbing harder against your clit, and started to thrust up into you consistently. He kept hitting your spot, loud cries leaving your mouth in time with his grunts and groans, until finally, the dam burst. His finger pushed against you perfectly just as he thrust in and you collapsed on top of him, arms crossed on his chest as you convulsed, walls clamping down on him as he continued to push into you.

You distantly felt him slip out of you, moving above you, your arms now resting on the bed. As he slipped back in, your walls continued to flutter, one orgasm starting into the next. “Oh, fuck, Jake!” You cried, his hand slipping into your hair and tugging you up against his chest.

“Again, baby. Gimme one more,” he panted, driving into you and pulling you back, his other hand rubbing at your sore clit again.

You felt the tightness ratchet up, up, up, before it hit you again, quicker than it ever had before. “Oh, shit!” Your body fell forward again as his hips stuttered, your pulsing walls making him let go. He pushed into you one final time with a loud whine, cum leaking out around his cock, and rubbed along your clit until every last pulse was finished.

He collapsed behind you and stayed like that for a while, asking if you needed to get up and pee after about five minutes, to which you groaned sadly and hummed a yes. Once you’d returned, washcloth in hand, he was nearly asleep.

While you cleaned him, he whined quietly and almost got hard again, but you ended in time and tossed the washcloth down, sliding under the covers and making grabby hands to make him join you. Tired, content, and happy, he wrapped himself around you and the two of you drifted off to sleep.

taglist: @imsolatetothegame @kyuupidwrites @forever-sleepy-sloth

#jake seresin #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin/reader #jake seresin x you #jake seresin/you #jake seresin smut #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin x f!reader #jake hangman seresin fluff #hangman x reader #az writes

[honeypiehotchner]

We Used To Be In Love (Hangman x Fem!Reader) — part four

This took me WAY longer than I wanted but I weirdly couldn’t figure out how to get here. SO this isn’t my best but I do weirdly love it. Sorry I’m so busy 24/7 :( I miss y’all sm

Warnings: nothing really, just some angst!! (this one is basically all fluff :))

WC: 2.5k

You’ve created a monster, you texted Jake. The shower head he installed lights up. I hope you plan to chip in on the water bill.

He said he will, and for the first time, you think you actually believe him.

The girls are in heaven with the damn shower and you wouldn’t be surprised if Amelia asks Maverick to put one in at her house. If they can get it past Penny.

Ever since that day, Hangman and Rooster have been hanging out here a little more often. Rooster still gives you that same weird look, and you still choose to ignore him.

You tell yourself it’s different this time because it isn’t just Jake at your house. Rooster is always here too. You’re not hanging out with just Jake alone. You’re also hanging out with Rooster. And Amelia and Belle.

Game nights are frequent, movies sometimes follow after the girls have gone to bed, and you’ll indulge in a glass of wine.

None of that negates the fact that Jake comes a little earlier and always stays a little later than Rooster, though.

Like right now, when Jake is ringing your doorbell, arriving an entire two hours early from what the three of you agreed on in the group chat with Rooster.

Amelia and Belle are at a friend’s house to work on a school project and spend the night, so tonight is supposed to be the first adults only hangout night.

“You’re early,” you comment, pushing the screen door open for Jake.

“Early is on time,” he replies like usual, and he’s hiding something behind his back. He uses his free hand to take his Stetson off his head when he crosses your doorway. “Hi,” he smiles.

“Hi…” you raise your eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” he says, immediately defensive, albeit playfully.

“You have that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Jake,” you scold him gently. “What’s behind your back?”

“Oh, these?” He pulls a bouquet of flowers out, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I just found these at the store and figured I’d bring them over, you know, in case there was an empty vase lying around.”

You sigh, shaking your head at him as a smile crawls its way up your neck. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Thank you,” he says. “So… Do you happen to have an empty vase?”

You give him another look and walk off toward the kitchen. He follows you quietly, leaving his hat on the back of the couch. It’s not like Texas, where every house has hooks for hats by the front door.

In the kitchen, you bend down and grab an empty vase from underneath the sink. When you pop back up, he’s standing right behind you, his face much softer now.

“Seriously,” he says, being serious for once. “I got these for you.”

“Why?” You can’t help but be suspicious, even though you appreciate the gesture.

He shrugs. “For putting up with me.”

You scoff, setting the vase on the counter, crossing your arms over your chest. “Really?” That’s a cop out of an answer if you’ve ever heard one.

“I’m sorry,” he says, backtracking slightly. The two of you have talked about this, about how you want him to stop making a joke out of everything. “Truth is, I know they’re your favorite, and I wanted to get them for you. Because I just wanted to. And because I love you.”

“Jake…”

It’s the second time now that he’s said that— That he still loves you. You haven’t said it back, even though it’s true. You do.

There’s just that thing about first loves: you’ll always feel some level of love for them. Especially if you share a kid with them. And if you’ve never loved anyone else.

“I know,” he says, still holding the bouquet tight in his hand.

With his hat hair and his sad eyes, you’re almost transported back to high school. The day after your first big argument, when he showed up on your front porch looking a mess, with flowers in hand and apologies overflowing.

“I know,” he says again, quieter. He doesn’t know what else to say.

The two of you stare at one another for a second. You search his face, his eyes, looking for any ounce of insincerity, but you find none. You find genuine sorrow. Genuine regret. And somehow, that’s harder to deal with.

“What are you really doing?” you whisper, finally taking the flowers from him and putting them in the vase. You turn your back to him to run water into the vase.

He takes a moment. “I’m asking for a second chance.”

You sigh, almost shake your head as you turn back around. “I…”

“I know,” he says again. “And if you say no, I understand. I don’t deserve one. I know that. But I also know I love you and I never stopped and… I just want one more chance. To make it right this time. I can’t expect forgiveness for leaving you like that and making you raise Belle all on your own and I can’t understand how hard that was, but I know it was hard, and I want to make it up to you. Or at least try to, if you’ll let me. Please let me.”

“Jake…”

He takes a step back from you, expecting the worst, but he continues. “I just want you to know that the time I’ve spent here with you and Belle has been amazing, and if anything, I’m grateful that you opened that up to me and let me spend time with the both of you. Because Lord knows I don’t deserve it.”

You watch him for another moment, chewing on the inside of your cheeks. You’ve longed for this moment for years, and now that it’s here, you’re scared.

You’re scared, but you love him more than that. And you’ve seen the smiles he’s put on Belle’s face — and Amelia’s too. He’s good. He feels too good to be true, but you can’t let that fear stop you.

“You get one chance,” you say, and he lifts his head. “One, Jake. That’s it. That’s all I have left to give.”

He rushes forward, smiling like an idiot, bliss written all over his face. “That’s all I need. You don’t need to give anything else. Nothing else. You’ve given enough.”

“And I can’t do any back and forth. For my sake and for Belle’s. You’re either in right now or not at all.”

“None of that. I’m staying. I know what I’m getting into.”

“And I’m still waiting to tell Belle about you. That’s still my decision.”

He nods. “Yes ma’am, it is.”

You narrow your eyes. You don’t know what to do when he dodges all of your defenses like this.

“Okay,” you finally say. “One chance. That’s all you’re getting.”

“Thank you,” he breathes, and he sounds genuinely relieved, like he did that day in high school when you forgave him for the argument. “Thank you, honey.”

“Mm, be careful,” you warn, but jokingly now. “You still need to take me on a date first.”

“Of course,” he replies. “How ‘bout right now?”

“Isn’t Rooster coming over?”

“Well…”

“Jake.”

“I may have told him what I was up to.” And as if on cue, Jake’s phone buzzes with a text from Rooster. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and reads aloud, “Hope you two have fun. Hope you didn’t get punched in the dick. Wow.”

You laugh loudly, and Jake looks up and grins. He’s missed that laugh.

“Where do you wanna go?” he asks. “Your pick. What’s your favorite place around here?”

“We don’t go out to eat that much,” you chuckle.

“What about a place you’ve always wanted to try?”

That still brings no ideas. “How about,” you start, “you find the place while I go get changed.”

“Deal,” he nods, grinning like he’s won the lottery.

+++

What Jake ends up picking to eat is a small, hole-in-the-wall, family owned restaurant that mainly sells burgers and hotdogs. The tables and chairs are old, the tile flooring looks straight out of the seventies, and it’s perfect.

As with everything else that has been happening, it brings back memories of high school, when you and Jake first started dating. One of your first dates was exactly like this, except both yours and his parents were sitting in a booth together just across the room. Everybody knew everybody back home, so that wasn’t the first time the four of them had met. But it was the first time they all talked as future in-laws.

Or, at least, that was the idea. It’s just how things were. A lot of relationships that began in high school ended in marriage -- or, at the very least, engagement -- right after graduation. It wasn’t a surprise to either of your parents to hear you and Jake talking about marriage after being together for just a year.

The real surprise was when Jake ended things. And, of course, your subsequent pregnancy, but that wasn’t much of a shock, either. Lots of girls were pregnant by graduation, some showing more than others.

And pregnancy was seen as beautiful. A gift. You agree. Belle is and always will be a gift. But you and Jake had talked about this. You both wanted to wait. You’re glad he remembers those conversations enough to apologize about it today.

Now, the days you used to long for are here, but they look different. Now you’re sitting here with Jake, on a second “first date,” laughing like you used to and remembering what it felt like to be in love with him, wondering if it always felt this good.

He reaches across the table to hold your hand, and you feel butterflies for the first time in thirteen years.

“I love you,” he says, and he means it, and you believe him, even if you can’t say it back just yet.

The two of you don’t talk about anything serious at dinner. You let dinner be dinner, carefree and like a real first date.

He tells you about the planes he flies and who he flies with, outside of Rooster. He tells the funny story of the night he met Maverick and threw him out of Penny’s bar. He does most of the talking because you’ve missed him and because everything you have to tell involves Belle, and you don’t want to risk any unfounded arguments.

The anger inside of you has dimmed a great deal compared to the first day you saw him again. But it hasn’t fully gone, and you don’t know if it will, not until Belle meets him -- as her father. Until then, the protective mother inside of you will always harbor some anger. Toward him, but also, toward yourself.

When Jake walks you to your front door, you want briefly to let him inside, but you know better. Instead, you kiss him on the cheek, and you let him go.

“Thank you for tonight,” you say as he steps back.

“Thank you,” he says, smiling gently with his hat over his heart. “I appreciate the opportunity, darlin’.”

He makes it so hard to keep a level head.

You pull him back in for another kiss on the cheek, only this time, with your faces so close, you can’t help yourself.

You press your lips to his, taking a step further into his arms. You hear his hat hit the floor before both hands circle your waist, tugging you closer. You cup his jaw, holding his face the way you used to all the time. He feels and smells and tastes exactly the same, but grown up. He’s still yours, despite the time and circumstances that separated you.

When he pulls away to breathe, he squeezes your waist, as if to make sure you’re real.

“I’ve missed you,” he says.

And you nod. “I’ve missed you too.”

+++

For the next few days, Jake is over as often as before, but for a different reason, and it has been too easy to get used to.

When Penny and Maverick return from their honeymoon, the first thing you do is highjack Penny for some advice.

“Am I a horrible mother? I feel like a horrible mother.”

Penny drops the clothes she was holding and stares at you. “What?”

You’re supposed to be helping her unpack, which has really turned into her listening to you talk about everything that has happened while she sorts through her clothes.

“For keeping Jake from Belle,” you cry. “For telling her nothing about him.”

“Okay, listen to me, you are not a bad mother,” Penny says seriously. She pauses unpacking and sits down on her bed, facing you. “You did the right thing. You needed to protect her -- and yourself -- and that doesn’t make you a bad mother. Sure, things are more complicated now than they maybe needed to be, but that’s not your fault.”

You nod, listening to her words and taking them in. You know she’s right. “I really never thought he’d be back like this.”

“Believe me, I know that one,” Penny exhales, standing up to resume her task. “It’s confusing.”

“That puts it lightly.”

“Yeah,” she chuckles. “But it’s worth it, and I think this is too.”

“I just have to figure out how to tell Belle,” you murmur, taking one of Penny’s shirts out of her suitcase, just to do something with your hands. “I don’t know what to tell her.”

“She’s old enough to know the truth,” Penny shrugs. “Tell her that. It might help if you’re both part of that conversation.”

You hadn’t really thought about including Jake when you tell Belle the truth, even though it makes perfect sense to do so. “What if she hates me?”

“She’s not going to hate you.”

“What if she does?”

Penny stops again, and waits for you to look at her. “She won’t. And if she does, it won’t be for long. The two of you are close. She’ll talk to you.”

“Okay.”

“Have you talked to Jake about this?”

“Not yet,” you sigh. “But I will.”

“You should,” Penny says. “Talking helps.”

You snort. “You sound like his mother.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It is,” you smile. “But that’s enough of me. How was the honeymoon? Tell me everything -- almost everything. Don’t tell me about the sex.”

“Why not?” she teases. “It was good.”

“Don’t!”

+++

Because Amelia and Belle somehow didn’t get enough of one another after their long sleepover, Belle is spending the night at Penny’s.

Which means you and Jake have the house to yourselves, and like the grownups you are, you spend the night in pajamas, watching movies on the couch with an obnoxious amount of snacks. He puts an arm around your shoulders and pulls you closer, and you steal most of the blanket.

You say you won’t let him stay overnight, but then it’s 1am and he’s carrying you to bed, crawling under the covers next to you and holding you close. You let him stay, tucking your head into his chest, where you sleep soundly through the night.

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