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happypopcornprincess · 2 years

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The Hating Game

Pictures 1, 3, and 4 are from interest, and picture 2 is from @parkjammys

Pairings - Joaquín Torres x Aviator!Reader (Enemies To Lovers)

Premise – The infamous rivalry between you and Joaquin Torres is well known on the base. He hates you and you hate him. After unlikely circumstances, you realize hating someone is disturbingly similar to falling in love with them

Warnings: Major Spoilers for The Hating Game Novel. (btw read the book it is too good <3) Strong language, suggestive language.

Note: I wrote this fic a long time before watching Top Gun: Maverick and I tried my best to make it as accurate as possible but I still apologize for any mistakes :) Torres's personality in this fic will be a mix of his series one and Joshua Templeman's from The Hating Game book.

Credits to Sally Throne for the original story of The Hating Game that inspired this fic. Some scenes will be exclusively from the novel, others I will spin my way. I do not own anything, this is my interpretation of the novel with MCU characters.

PS. it was requested anonymously a long time ago sorry it took so long for me to post this :')

Series Masterlist || My Main Masterlist || Send your requests here!

You tear the page and crumple it, throwing it on the floor in frustration.

This was not what you were expecting when you took the very debated decision to get a degree in Biology while on active duty. You had a time schedule for everything. But biology in high school was very different from advanced biology. There were topics you were unaware of that you had to study in a short period of time. You were now in a pothole of mounting deadlines and on-field duties as a lieutenant at the base. It was torture.

And your sworn enemy was not making it any easier.

Lt. Joaquin Torres was the highlight of the base. His practice rounds were impressive, his scores were excellent, and the people under his command were excellent. Oh, and he was also an Avenger. He was enrolled in the same course as you. They would all brag about how he completed all the assignments while performing all his duties.

When you first arrived on base, you were friendly with everyone, especially with officers under your rank. Your first encounter with him was when you were off duty, so you smiled and even offered a handshake, since you were both of the same rank. But he just stared at you and walked away.

This was in stark contrast to him, who was feared by everyone under him. Nothing escaped his notice; he was like a hawk. Including you.

The two of you were the most notorious rivals on the base. You don’t remember how it started. Maybe it was because he didn’t return your smile, or chose to ignore your existence even though your desks were beside each other. As if it were second nature, a subconscious comparison. There was competition in everything you did. Be it your duties as lieutenants, or sports, or academic valedictions, you were on each other’s throats. If someone saw you two together, they would run, not wanting to be caught in crossfire.

You got an earful from Captain Bexley from time to time. However, given the fact you two were top officers at the base, he couldn’t do anything more than scream at the two of you and give you extra hours. How either one of you was not deployed to a different base was beyond your understanding.

“Sup Y/N!” he rolls to your work desk on a rolling chair. You resist your urge to roll your eyes at him, to not stroke his ego for successfully disturbing you.

Your offices were in the same room, two desks alongside each other.

“I am studying. Unlike you, Torres” you say without looking at him. You continued to work as he glanced around your desk. It was a well-organized space, but far from his. His desk looked the same as it did a year ago, with no personal photos, or colorful things. Just a mosaic of very official, dark pastels.

You hear the crinkling sound of paper and a long sigh coming from him. “Haemodialysis. Interesting.” Your eyes grow wide as you look at him. “Stop digging through my stuff smartass.” You try to pry the piece of paper from him but he just rolls away.

“You know it’s not that complicated. I thought you were good at this, given the fact you’re a major nerd.”

“Well, I am trying my best.”

He gives you a smirk. “Yeah, okay” and gets back to work.

Asshole

“Can you be considerate for once in your entire life?” you ask him.

“No” he deadpanned.

He starts clicking his pen. You might be hallucinating it was Morse code, but this was Joaquin. He has taken lengths to make your life miserable, and right now, he was spelling "hot damn" in morse code. With his click pen.

“Stop it”

“What?”

“Stop… spelling stuff in morse code with your pen”

“I’m just clicking my pen” he looks at you with his adorable puppy eyes. It would work on any other woman, not you.

“Someday I’m actually going to haul something at you.”

“And that day would be the happiest day of my life because you’ll be suspended” he gives you a tight-lipped smile.

You return the same and try to go back to your work.

----/----/----

“Hello, my munchkin! How are you?" your mother’s cheery voice could be heard all over your empty apartment. Even after two years, the place is just as empty as when you first arrived. A bed, a sofa, some chairs, and a shit ton of books scattered all around the studio apartment. You plop down on the sofa holding your take-out dinner and balance your phone on the armrest.

“I am doing very well, how’s pop?” You ask stuffing food inside your mouth. Unlike others, you never grew out of calling your parents mummy and pops.

“Pops just came back from the farm. Harvest is looking good this year, we got forty new people to visit. After your placard idea, there have been a lot of visitors here.” Her knowing smile graced your screen.

You grew up in a small town, on an orange farm. It was your life. When you left for the Air Force, you requested everyone in your small town to take care of your parents, and their farm. They saw you grow into a capable young woman, and after you left, you sent many placard ideas requesting the local shops to have on display. And every time a passing visitor stopped there, they were convinced the orange farm was worth a visit. And it was. A stroll through your orange grove under blue skies, with the smell of ripe oranges aglow in the air, could soothe any troubled mind.

“I miss you.” You say as you remember yourself running through them as a child, hiding from your parents and playing hide and seek.

“Aww baby,” your mother’s eyes glossed over, “I miss you too. Everyone in town does.” You felt like crying. Nostalgia got the upper hand over you today. Your pops appeared on the screen before you both started crying.

“Y/N!!!” he shouted through. His shirt still had dirt on it but he had a wide grin on his face. "How is my favorite lieutenant?”

“Pops!” you screamed with the same excitement, “I’m doing just fine, how are you?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I heard your mummy making you cry and I came to the rescue.” You laughed as your mother poked him with her finger and he kissed her forehead. 25 years and they were still in love as they were in their teens.

“So, is that Torres guy still bothering you? Do I have to roll up to your base with my tractor to intimidate him?”

You rolled your eyes at his mention. You’ve told your parents about him, how every day is a death match between you both for survival.

“Nah, it’s nothing I can’t handle.” You shrugged.

“What did he do today?”

“Tried to teach me how to study, I shut him up.” You said, not mentioning the fact you were, indeed, in dire need of help. And too proud to admit.

“That’s my girl!” Pops shouted through the phone. Your mummy flinched and looked at him, “You don’t have to shout every time, she can hear you perfectly.” Your pop gave her a look, but she continued unbothered.

“You know from the way I see it; He might be into you.” Your mom smirked. You almost choked on your food as you heard it.

“Torres? Joaquin Torres? Never in a million years.”

“What? He could.”

“The only thing Joaquin feels for me is pure hatred and repulsion. So do I”

“Do you?” You were surely taken aback by the question. Why was your mother asking you this?

“What?” you sit straighter on the couch.

"Of all your colleagues, you talk about him the most. Even though I have never met him, I feel like I know him."

“Wha…” you were at a loss of words as to what to say.

“Okay baby, I have to go now. Had to make dinner. Goodnight love!” she blows kisses at you and you catch it. After you repeat the same, she ends the call.

That night, lying awake, you think about what your mother told you. Do you like him?

You never got to figure out why he is constantly enraged by your presence, trying to sabotage you at any given moment. Sometimes you wanted to physically fight him to wipe that smug smile off his really handsome face. He has a cute face, you know that. You have seen the way the girls throw themselves at him. He can be quite charming when he wants, not with you though. Never with you.

----/----/----

You stare at your screen in disbelief.

B- In advanced human anatomy. The main fucking subject of your entire course. Your scores in other subjects were fine, but this was bad. You studied so hard for the online mid-terms. You did everything you could and this was the result? Could you even get a degree in Biology? You've always dreamed of studying biology. Although you would receive a handsome pension for your service in the air force, you still needed to find a job.

It was too late to realize you were crying while looking at your screen as your office door opened. You glance towards it to see Joaquin standing in the doorway, looking at you. You quickly wipe your tears. If your low scores weren’t enough, you had to face Mr. flawless in the face as everyone cheered for his obviously high scores.

“Y/N, I-“

“Don’t” you reply. You look at him to see a frown forming on his face like he was thinking of the best comeback.

“I know you got better grades than me Torres, and as much as I would love to spar with you. I’m not in the mood.”

“No, I just-“

But you don’t give him a chance to talk, as you were already on your way out of the office. “I know what you’re about to say. You’re better than me, smarter than me. I get it. Don’t rub it in my face.” Your voice breaks unintentionally, “Not today, Please.”

You storm out of your shared office.

---/---/---

The Next Day

You were halfway through your fourth lap on the field, or was it your fifth? You didn’t know as you were busy listening to AC/DC blasting in your ears. You were out of breath at this point but you didn’t want to stop. After crying yourself to sleep and running through all the scenarios of how your parents are going to react to your career choices in five years’ time, you needed a good run to clear your mind.

You hear a faint voice above the loud music in your ears, like someone was calling you. You take off your iPods and turn to see a figure running toward you.

“Lieutenant Y/L/N!” you hear the familiar voice coming nearer.

You groan audibly when you see him. Standing in front of you, Joaquin leans down and puts his hands on his knees.

“What are you- are you a superhero?” he asked in between breaths, “You just ran 800-meters in 2 minutes- oh god!” he huffs out.

“For Christ’s sake Joaquin it’s five in the morning. Can I have some peace and quiet?" You turn to continue your lap but he steps in front of you.

“Lieutenant Y/L/N will you listen-“

“Oh, cut the crap what do you want?” you shout in frustration.

He stops and raises his eyebrows. You realize how rude you sound. You were angry and frustrated with everyone and everything. You, the person who wrote your bio textbook, and mostly, Joaquin. But in a second, all that anger was about to turn into confusion.

“I need your help.”

You subconsciously tilt your head. Were you dreaming?

“What?” you blurt out.

He rolls his eyes and grimaces, “Y/N, I need your help.” He repeats.

Lt. Joaquin Torres, the golden boy of the base, your nemesis… was standing in front of you in sports shots and a t-shirt, asking for your help. You stare at him for a whole minute. You can’t wrap your mind around this. And you reach an obvious conclusion

“Is this a joke?” you finally ask.

He looks at the sky as if begging for patience to bear you.

What. A. Dick.

“Yeah Y/N. This is a joke. I woke up at 4 in the morning, ran through the living quarters and the airstrip to find you on the field running laps like a bloody Olympian. For a joke.” He rests his hands on his hips.

“Well, you did scramble up my flashcards minutes before my welcome speech to-“

“Who makes flashcards for a rookie’s speech?” he cries out.

“Oh, so you’re telling me you didn’t practice the Top Gun quote in front of your mirror?” you deadpan.

He opens his mouth and then closes it. You caught him red-handed.

"Yeah." You give him a tight-lipped smile as you prepare to run again, but he steps in front of you. Yet again.

“Y/N, would you please listen to me for a minute?” he says, raising his eyebrows and looking at you with his imposing, beautiful brown eyes.

“This isn’t a Disney movie Torres don’t give me that look I’ll punch you.”

“Wow, you would kick it with Sargent Barnes” he mutters under his breath. Before you could react, he continued, “okay, so you know how we have the training evaluation coming up in three weeks?”

“Yeah.”

“And you know how the rookies are scared shitless of me?”

“Oh, they hate you.”

“Yeah, I just, I think there is no way we can have both our teams ready by three weeks, like, they don’t know shit and it just makes me sad. Your team is very competent in fieldwork and air drills but I believe they need a bit of work there-”

“Hey!”

“-and mine is great in air drills but lazy during fieldwork. So…”

“So?”

“So, I suggest a truce between us. We forget our differences for three weeks, work together and train them so that we don’t get an earful from Captain Bexley when they die halfway through the evaluation.”

As much as you wanted to scream no on his face and walk away to boss music playing in the background, he was right. You knew Captain Bexley. You don’t make a mistake in front of him, because that man just needs one convincing reason to scream at you.

You had twenty-four airmen fresh out of the academy assigned in teams of twelve to both of you. They were ardent but inexperienced. His team was lacking behind in fieldwork. Yours were better than his, but they were behind on air drills. Just like you were, in academics.

An idea forms in your head.

“Okay,” you reply.

“Really?” he asked you, puzzled.

“Yeah, but I want something in return.”

“Something in return? I’m not negotiating here Y/N. Captain Bexley will chew us out when those idiots won’t be able to-”

“I want you to tutor me. In biology” You cut him off.

“Oh,” he replies. You see his features soften.

The rest of the day you sat in silence after returning to your cabin after crying in the bathroom. For the first time in a long time, Joaquin didn’t say anything to you for eight whole hours.

“Look, I can’t believe I’m saying this, you are an expert in biology. You have tremendous knowledge in that field and I really need help. I somehow convinced myself last night I would unenroll from the course but we both know that’s a terrible idea. We have three semesters left and I have to get my grades up. So, I want- I need you to get me through biology.” You plead.

He stands in his place for a while, looking at you with his big brown eyes, in curiosity or confusion. You couldn’t tell “Okay. Sure. "Why not," he responds with a smile.

“Good”

“Great!” he raises his eyebrows, “let’s start today, partner” and he runs backward, facing you.

“I’m not your partner!” you shout but he just gives his iconic smirk and runs away.

---/---/---

Four weeks later

“Haemodialysis vs Peritoneal Dialysis” he looks at you above the flashcards he held in his hands. You were sitting across from him.

“In hemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine, and returned to your body by tubes that connect you to the machine. In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter.” You reply in one breath.

He switches the cards,"lactic acid”

“Lactic acid is mainly produced in muscle cells and red blood cells. It forms when the body breaks down carbohydrates to use for energy when oxygen levels are low. Happens mostly during intense exercise.”

He tries to keep a poker face, but you catch a glimpse of a smirk from behind the flashcards.

Since your truce in the field, you both have successfully completed one month in two years without getting into a flying match. This was the first highlight of the base.

The second is both your teams absolutely nailed it in the evaluation. Every single one of them passed with flying colors. The idea of merging your teams and training them together has given you excellent results. Apart from you two guiding them, and helping them as much as you can, the team members have been helping each other out too.

The third highlight was a secret between the two of you.

You got a shocking A+ in Human Anatomy and Ecology Mock Test after Joaquin started tutoring you. You would sit together in the common room after duty hours and ‘study the shit out of those damn textbooks’ (he actually said that on the first day). Despite your beliefs, he didn't shame you for your low grades. He helped you to understand the topics better, and even though you some tricks to make exam notes so that you can fit a whole topic on one page, without missing out all the important stuff for revision. You couldn’t thank him enough. This was a huge step up from what you were doing mere weeks ago.

You earned some suspicious glances from your colleagues but everyone was too exhausted to be caught up in your drama that they just avoided you altogether.

You have gotten quite close in just a few days. Turns out he is not a ruthless vampire who loves to suck the life out of everyone. He was quite tolerable when you get to know him. And he loved Power Rangers.

Instead of fighting each other, you fought over defending your favorite Power Rangers. You couldn’t stop laughing when he made a whole PowerPoint presentation on why Power Rangers SPD is the best one out of them all.

“They did the whole true-leader-vs-chosen-leader-of-the-rangers-plot thing way better than Samurai.”

“Okay but you have to admit the best plot twist had to be Tenaya 7 being Dillon’s sister in RPM.”

“I saw that coming from a mile away”

“No! you didn’t!”

For those who didn’t know, people would think you were friends if they saw you together.

“That… Was amazing. 29/30 Y/N” he says handing you the flashcards.

"Gracias" you take them.

“Oh, someone’s been learning Spanish.” He cocked his eyebrows.

And you felt it again. Your heart beating faster. The sudden heat on your face, like your blood, was ready to burst out of your system.

This happened a lot since you started to study together. He actually changed his schedule for you. The schedule that had been on his desk in a laminated sheet for 2 years, pristine and untouched, now had a mark between 6-8 PM marked 'Study'. He also had a strange annotation system in his diary that you still had to decode.

“Yeah- I... um, I knew Spanish, it was actually, my High School elective." You smiled nervously.

Why the fuck were you stammering!!!

“Nerd,” he says under his breath.

“Oh, what did you do in high school?” you narrowed your eyes.

“I played basketball and slept through history, like a normal person.”

“Jock,” you say under your breath.

And he laughed.

If someone asked you to swear in your life that you never saw him laugh, you would do it. Because he never laughed. You either earned an irritating smirk from him when he got you in trouble or a tight-lipped sarcastic smile.

Despite that, the sound of his laugh had you speechless. It was charming to describe, but it was also stunningly beautiful. His eyes crinkled as he threw his head back, and his voice was... sweet?

“Okay, enough of this, let’s wrap up and continue on Sunday.” He says as he stands up from his chair.

“Wait. Sunday? Why? We have like six more topics to cover and the mock test is on Friday. We have to- “

“Oh my god Y/N, take a breather! It’s Saturday.” He taps your head with a pencil.

“And I’m heading to an arcade bar downtown. You know, to live the glory days of my youth so I don’t turn into Captain Bexley?” Saying so he starts closing the textbooks.

“Oh. Okay,” you say as you start packing your stuff. You see him pause for a second from the corner of your eyes like he was thinking something, and he says, “You should come.” You jerk up your head at his invitation.

“Me?” you ask him with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I mean, why not. You need a break from all this. It might help you get your mind off of the Mock Test. And we still haven’t celebrated the victory of our collaboration”

Since when has Joaquin Torres of all people started to invite you out to have drinks with him?

“And I promise we will be back to our apartments by 11 so you can go back to your mundane life on Sunday.” He says as he slides his bag onto his shoulder. “You in?”

You get up and grab your things. You can’t remember the last time you went out by yourself. This might take your mind off of things.

"Okay, let's do this." You say.

“Cool” he walks away to the exit door, but as he’s about to leave, he turns and smiles at you.

“See you tomorrow,” he says and he walks away.

Now that you have seen his smile twice in one day, you cannot get over it. He looked so, so soft. He looked like a character from a romance novel with the crinkles around his eyes and the way his hair fell over his forehead. How would it feel if you run your fingers through them? As he holds you closer by your waist kissing your-

Wait.

Was Joaquin Torres… Handsome?

---/---/---

Part Two || Series Masterlist

A/N Hope you all like it I kind of went all in with this request I had no idea how this would turn out. Do reblog, like, and comment how you like this fic. Feel free to suggest and request your ideas right here-

Requests are open! Feel free to request anything.

---/---/---

Tag List:

@tuiccim @parkjammys @akinrawsx @asteph22 @iamthebeth @thefandomqueenuno @onlyhereforthefics @yikesdameron @savedfanfics1992 @amigaytho @samwilson-mylove @xbuchananbarnes-deactivated @jenniweaslee @anna-phora

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happypopcornprincess · 2 years

Text

The Hating Game Part 3 + Epilogue

Pictures 1, 3, and 4 are from interest, and picture 2 is from @parkjammys

Pairings -Joaquín Torres x Aviator!Reader (Enemies To Lovers)

Warnings: Major Spoilers for The Hating Game Novel. (btw read the book it is too good <3) Strong language, suggestive language.

A/N - Guess who went to campus for the first time after two years of university!?!?!!?? God, I am so excited about what is going to happen! I met all my online friends today at campus and everyone was so happy and excited! I am literally uploading this pic directly copy pasting the word doc without editing from my dorm room I AM SO SORRY FOR ANY GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES I will be editing them tomorrow and will surely update it. Thank you to everyone for sticking till the end I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Note - Credits to Sally Throne for the original story of The Hating Game that inspired this fic. Some scenes will be exclusively from the novel, others I will spin my way. I do not own anything, this is my interpretation of the novel with MCU characters.

My Main Masterlist || Send your requests here!

Series Masterlist || Part 1 || Part 2

Next Day

The morning light kisses your skin as you slowly open your eyes. An irritatingly loud sound rang in the background. You turn and switch off your alarm and stretch on the bed, thinking about last night.

He kissed you.

With tongue and everything.

You had a full-blown make-out session with Joaquin Torres.

On your bed.

It was not a dream.

And you liked it.

“ughhhh” you smash your head in the pillows thinking there was more to this. There has to be! A man like him does not switch from loathing you since day one to kissing you out of nowhere. You are going to confront him. You will go up to him and talk about what happened.

God, this is going to be so awkward!

---/---/---

You arrive at the base, looking through your e-mails and calendar to see if you have anything significant coming up.

You felt better, and you ate the leftover soup that still tasted as delicious as it was last night after heating it in the microwave. You remind yourself to bully Joaquin into making you the soup again.

“Morning Y/L/N.” one of your colleagues says as she passes you in the hallway.

"Good morning!" you call out, she waves and you smile.

You stop walking, standing still for just a second.

And when you turn, you see him coming from the other end of the hallway. He was in his regular green Camouflage Pattern uniform, and his buzzcut hair was intact. And this was the first time you realized how good he looked! From your perspective, everything was happening in slow motion.

“Hey…” you raise your hand but he glances at you as he nears, giving you a tight-lipped smile, looks ahead and continues on his way.

You continue to walk then, ignoring the memories of your past flashing in front of your eyes.

“Hi!” you smile at him. The guy in front of you in brown khakis, your new colleague turned to you, holding a mug of beer. He had a handsome face.

You extend your hand and say, “I’m Y/N. New to the base." He looks at you, and then at your hand, and then back at you with a normal expression.

“Uh, excuse me.” He says and walks away.

This continued during the field practice, and in your shared office. He just ignored you out of the blue. No sliding to your desk, no snarky comments, not even a stupid morse code message. He stayed quiet for the whole day, working on his paperwork and looking at his computer screen.

You met him as you walked towards the common room for your study sessions. He stops in front of you, about 5 feet away from you. You look at him, waiting for what he has to say and he says, “I think we should stop the study sessions for a while. I have some work to do with Sam and Bucky. I won’t be able to make it for some days.”

And despite your heart calling out to him, screaming at you to reason with him, you say, “Okay. It’s fine” you try to smile, and leave.

Having just listened to his brain, his gaze now wanders to your disappearing silhouette in the hallway, wondering if what he just did was the right thing to do?

---/---/---

Four days later

“Good luck.”

His voice pierces through the deafening silence of the common room and you raise your head from the textbook and look at him. Joaquin was standing in front of you clutching a clipboard.

You were sitting in the common room looking through the notes you and Joaquin made in the last month. It was a mock test that would predict your marks for the finals. You and everyone enrolled in your course had the option to take the test from the base because it lasted 3 hours and was online.

You try your best not to fiddle with your hands as you look at him, but you were sure he had caught it by now. The ache in your chest grows as you realize his feet were inching towards the exit.

---/---/---

“Thanks. You too.” You nod.

“Okay.” He says and immediately turns towards the exit.

Joaquin! You jump from your seat, unable to keep it in any longer. He stops in his tracks. “Will you please talk to me? How long are we going to pretend that-“

“You should focus on the test right now,” he cuts off your sentence, without turning back, “we will talk later.” He walks away without a glance towards you, or he would have seen the tears threatening to break out from your eyes, the ache in your chest just growing in size.

One Month Later

After being ignored and treated as if you don't exist by someone who wouldn't let go of a single chance to banter with you and increase your vocabulary of creative words you knew your mother would faint at, you would think you finally got peace. These are the kinds of days you would pray for.

But it was the exact opposite, and you had enough.

You storm out of your office. Anyone who sees you from a distance moves out of the way because they know someone is getting the worst of you.

The entire base would be foolish to not know who it was.

Joaquin had an obscene hanger for himself at the edge of the base. God knows how many times he had to kiss Captain Bexley's arse to get him to give him that space, he now uses as a personal space for "Avengers stuff" he had once told you, "That you should stay 400 meters away from"

The large doors were wide open. There was an old WW2 jet half-covered with a tarp sitting in the middle of the large space. And in a corner, Joaquin was at his workstation wearing headphones.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!!" You yell behind him, throwing a bundle of papers at him that you picked up from his table.

He turns away from his workstation which was a mess of monitors hanging on the wall running different algorithms. He looks at you with an unamused expression, as if he didn’t want you to be here. He takes off his headphones and steps towards you. "I was in the middle of an important discussion with Sam. How about a little respect?"

He takes the paper from you and reads it and smirks, "This might be the noblest thing the man has ever done."

You puff out in anger, stepping to him and shoving the paper in your hand on his face, "You're leaving the Air Force to be a full-time avenger?"

"Yes," he deadpans.

"I found out by this stupid invitation planned by Captain Bexley on my desk, about your farewell party."

He takes a deep breath and turns to leave. “It’s not as easy as you think it is. Go away.” You didn’t back down, raising your voice instead, "Why did you help me, Torres?"

"You kissed me." You cut him off, and his face falls. He looks you right in the eyes and says, "No Y/N, you kissed me."

"And you kissed me back"

"It was in the heat of the moment," he says.

"Fuck off Joaquin! Seriously! How long will you gaslight yourself into believing that???" you throw up your hands.

"I don't believe anything. I'm just stating facts."

"Why did you help me?"

"Because you looked 2 seconds away from throwing up your insides from a stomach bug." He states, now taking a step toward you.

You could feel your heartbeat rising, your breath falling short. And he didn’t look any better. You could see Joaquin’s chest rising and falling as his breathing increased. Anyways, you continued, you were done brainstorming what he meant and needed to get to the bottom of this situation.

He rubs his face, “I can’t do this right now!”

"You agreed to study with me!"

"I wanted your help, okay? I agreed to do that because I didn’t want to be in your debt, the rookies were nightmares you knew that too"

"Why did you kiss me?” you ask again

“You kissed me!”

“Yes! And you did the second time!”

“Why did you kiss me and ignore me like hell for a whole week? Why did you do it if you had to go out afterward with some random girl called Stacy, Suzie whatever her name is?" your voice breaks. “You... you called me short! I tried so hard to be your friend but you made me hate you! You straight up ignored me when I first met you!"

You didn’t even care at this point that you were screaming at him. “You act as if you hate me. Then you ask for my help after two years of insufferable behavior. You came to me!”

And he screamed back.

“Because I’m in love with you! Because I fell for you harder than the Gs’ on my plane Y/N! I forgot to breathe as soon as I saw you for the first time!"

"I had a plan, okay? Three rules I was supposed to follow no matter what. Join the air force, focus on my career, and not fall in love. Because I have seen what love can do to those who love unconditionally.” He huffs out, eyes brimming with tears, “I saw my ma lose herself when my dad passed away, she... she became someone I couldn't recognize anymore. She loved him so much, she still wears her wedding ring after 12 years."

It feels like you can't breathe, you can't think, and your heart just beats fast.

Joaquin gulps, looking you in the eyes, his expression softening. You try to breathe and instead, a sob escapes your lips.

"And then I saw you." He smiles, a stray tear falling from his eyes.

"You were everything I had sworn not to encounter. And if I ever did come across, I would run away. But your comebacks, your eyes, your laugh, you, you’re just..." he huffs out a laugh. "I tried so hard to hate you. You challenged me like no one ever did! You didn't think twice before flying your plane through a bombarded airstrip just to save 4 strangers you never met! Against Captain Bexley! You could have been stripped off of everything you’ve achieved in your life and gotten kicked out of the Air Force, but you still did it."

Your vision blurred as you blinked, trying to look at him through your tears.

“You were the dare people wish they never got into a game, which turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to them. And that scared me. I was terrified of what you would think of me if you find out. So, I never told you. It was my desire to let you know sooner, but I saw that you took an instant dislike to me after we first met, and I tried telling you to ask you out after, but I understood you wouldn't want that kind of relationship with me. I learned how to love you silently, for I know you will never love me back after how I have been with you. So, I never did.”

He takes a deep breath after saying that. And you could feel by the words that you just heard that he has been wanting to say that for a long time. You sniffled as he took a step towards you, gently wiping away your tears with his thumb.

For someone screaming out everything in her heart at him, you had no words coming out of your mouth at this moment. You wanted to let him know he was a good person, and somewhere behind this tough persona, he had a soft side that you were kind of falling for. And that you don't hate him, not anymore.

But you couldn’t say that.

"I'm sorry. I really am." He says and walks away, leaving you alone in the hanger.

---/---/—

Epilogue: The farewell party

Evening on the beaches surrounding the small naval town was a sight. The ocean turned a lovely shade of red and orange, reflecting the sky above, the horizon looking like it would never end. The sound of waves hitting the sand, soft and calm like a lullaby. A yacht or two in the distance, and children playing nearby, unaware of the scary reality waiting for them as they grow older. For them, the present was everything.

Such was the sight that you were witnessing as you stood on the wooden deck of the bar. Holding a bottle of beer, resting it on the railing, and marveling at the beauty of the natural world.

You had the perfect excuse not to attend, hell you earned some wide eyes and double takes as you entered the bar. You could not withstand Captain Bexley's fake smiles the whole evening at the farewell party for Joaquin. Everyone knew that, but they wanted to have a good time with their colleague before he set out to save the world. You bailed out, almost.

But then you saw him.

He was wearing the same outfit he did on your night out, and he looked happy, smiling and taking pictures with everyone. He even invited the junior airmen from the team you both trained together, those who were still stationed nearby. You glanced behind you and looked through the glass doors to see him standing with Captain Bexley. He slapped his hand on Joaquin’s shoulder with pride. Maybe for a second, this bastard managed to melt the old man’s heart.

You turn back to the sunset sky, now showing some soft signs of blue in between the reds.

“Thought I’d find you here.” His voice traveled through the sound of the ocean. He stands next to you, resting his hands on the smooth wooden railing. Instead of looking at him, you ask him, "What's up with you and your obsession with green? There are so many other colors to choose from.”

You laugh for a second, remembering a similar conversation you had with your father while watching old re-runs of Power Rangers.

He laughed in response, “It reminds me of Tommy Oliver.” (Tommy Oliver is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television franchise Power Rangers. He is best known for being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and nearly defeated the original Power Rangers. Played by Jason David Frank)

“Is he your man crush or something?”

“Oh, yes. He is everybody’s man crush.”

You take a deep breath, realizing what you were about to tell him was something you never told anyone else, a past you ran from as soon as you turned 20, “Well, I was kind of a nerd growing up and ended up not having a prom date in senior year. Who would hang out with the class topper with grandma glasses, right? So, he dressed up in his wedding tux and escorted me to the party.” You take a deep breath recalling the memory. “I got made fun of for a while but, that was the sweetest thing someone ever did for me. He had a blast and by the end of the night he was the star of the show dancing to Whitney Houston.” You laughed.

“Pops, I mean, my dad said the same thing once.”

“Pops?” he laughed.

“Yes, Torres I still call my dad pops because he is adorable.”

“Really? How?”

“My dad was a marine. He once returned after a year from Afghanistan. I was ten, maybe eleven. He had missed my basketball games and my birthday, and I was pissed. I didn’t talk to him for the whole day when he came back. So, the next day he took me to the arcade and we spent the whole day together. He won so much stuff and we only came home when he ran out of coins. That's one of my favorite memories.” He clears his throat and looks at his hands. “He passed away in the line of duty a month later.”

“That’s pretty sweet." He laughed with you.

"Hmm" you look down at your drink, thinking about how he won’t be here after today, who would you talk with, banter even? And then he starts talking.

You turn to him, standing straight as he hunched over the railing. You could see how difficult it was for him to say this.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have-” you begin to apologize but he cuts you off, “No, no it's fine. I miss him a lot but, yeah, it’s fine.”

You feel something shift between you. He turns his whole body towards you. He rubs the back of his neck, but straightens up, looks you in the eyes, and begins, “I have been playing a one-sided game with you for a long time. The Hating Game. I would wake up every day and reach the base, trying to find one reason to hate you.”

Your eyebrows shot up immediately, and you were ready to banter with him, but he kept talking, "I would think that today is the day I will stop thinking about you, but for some absurd reason, I did that for two years even though I lost every day. I could not bring myself to hate you. One look from you would make my day. I would snark a comment and you would reply back with a better statement. It drove me crazy.”

He takes a small step towards you, “After we kissed, I thought that maybe, finally, I could ask you out. Take you to dinner, open the doors to you, kiss your hand”, he smiles, “and call you shortcake because I could watch you all day pretending you don’t like it. And also because it would be a dead giveaway that I was hopelessly in love with you.”

You take a deep breath and take a step towards him, your hands itching to caress his face.

“Will you play a different game with me? The Starting Over game. Start over from whatever has happened so far and get to know each other better. And if you like me, well, let's just say I have made some plans about that.”

You laughed with joy flowing through your veins. You really thought you were going to lose him and he comes up with this crazy idea, which can actually work.

“Hi, Joaquin. I’m Y/N Y/L/N. Nice to meet you too.” and instead of listening to the voice in your head teasing you about leaving him stranded like he did last time, you shake his hand.

“You are heading to New York, how-”

"How will we do this? I don’t know. But I want to give this a chance. I would like to take this risk. I don’t know what the future holds but I want this. With you.”

“Okay.” you smile.

“Okay? Okay.” He clears his throat and straightens his jacket.

“Hi. I’m Joaquin Torres. Nice to meet you.” He extends his hand toward you with a warm smile.

---/---/---

A/N - Thank you everyone for sticking with me till the end of this fic! if you liked it please let me know through the asks and the comments. Any and all requests, headcanons, and drabble requests about this AU is mostly welcome. Love y'all, Take Care!

Sequel Headcannon || Series Masterlist

Requests are open! Feel free to request anything.

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