#I'll Be Waiting Story

[novastories]

I Tried

Title and story inspired the song “I Tried” by Daniel Seavey.

Summary: Bradley starts to look back on his life before being called back to Top Gun.

Warnings: Fluff

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: A Bradley POV?! Yes, yes it is! 😍 Sorry, it’s a short chapter.

Thank you all who have given support to this story! We are now starting to approach the uranium mission! Lots of things will change movie wise, since we have a lot of characters to add in, as well as keeping some of the old characters. Iceman won’t die, BUT I do have plans! The story has been outlined and ready to start writing! So to treat you all who have stuck by me throughout the story waiting for Bradley, here he is!

Big love always to my beta reader and editor @reginleight. Thank you for still sticking with me! 💛

As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭

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When Bradley was eight years old, he met Aurora and Peyton Benjamin-Mitchell. He didn’t know it at the time but deep down he knew he would have those two in his life forever. Aurora, Bradley, and Peyton became the best trio of friends and had many memories together.

As years went by, Bradley started to grow feelings for Aurora. They first drifted apart when he got his first girlfriend, he tried to push Aurora out of his mind. He thought at the time he only loved her like a friend, and could never love her more than that.

The first time they kissed that Christmas night, he knew that he would never feel the same way towards another girl as he did for his Aurora, his princess. He started to fall in love with her, little by little. Recognizing the little things, her favorite flowers, her ticks, he knew her better than he knew himself sometimes. And that scared him. 

His mother then got cancer, and that was a scary time for him. He had almost lost his dad, and he didn’t want to lose his mom. Even after his mom was clear from cancer, he was still prepared to go into the Naval Academy. Then Maverick pulled his papers. To this day, he had still never gotten over it and how angry he had been.

Regardless, he still remained civil with him because of his dad, Aurora and Peyton. They never really brought it up to him, as Bradley still ended up going to the Naval Academy after going to college for four years. Even though it had set him back for those four years, he was determined to make it. To prove that he was able to become a naval aviator in honor of his dad. 

During this time, he slowly became more aware of his feelings towards Aurora, but never said anything because of the distance and timing. So when Aurora had announced that she was going to start her career at NCIS as an agent, Bradley knew the timing still wasn’t right.

He knew if he had told her about his feelings, she would give up everything to be with him, so he didn’t say anything. Instead, he loved her from afar and a few months after that, he was invited to Top Gun. He was proud to show his dad that he had become a Top Gun graduate like he was, and went on to become a great naval aviator to this day.

But even after achieving his hopes and dreams, he longed for what his dad and mom had. The connection of his best friend and soulmate all in one. He missed Aurora deeply. He promised himself that he would always come back for her, that he would find his way back to her. Even now, his thoughts just couldn’t help but wander back to her… 

“Earth to Bradley.” A voice draws him out from his thoughts, snapping Bradley back to reality and his current surroundings. 

He turned his head to Peyton, who had joined him outside and sat across from him. He could feel Peyton’s boot knocking against his own occasionally from where they sat together. 

Currently both were sitting on the porch railing, looking out towards the ocean from the backyard porch of Bradley’s parents house. Goose and Carole were currently vacationing in Europe, so they let Bradley and Peyton stay at their place during their assignment. 

“I’ve been calling you for like a whole solid 5 minutes.”

“Sorry, I’ve been deep in thought.”

“I’ll say. I can’t believe we’re back here,” Peyton says, leaning his head on a support beam.

“Yeah, neither can I,” Bradley mumbles as he turns back to the view. 

“What do you think this mission is?” Peyton speaks up after a moment of silence between the two.

“Who knows. Can’t be anything good if they pulled us from our current deployment.” Bradley replies. 

“Well, a mission is a mission.”

“God, you’re starting to sound like Hangman.” 

 Peyton kicks Bradley in retort, almost making him fall off the railing.

“Do you think he’s here for the mission as well?”

“Probably. If scuttlebutt says that the higher ups are calling in the best of the best, it makes sense that he would be here too. Probably Phoenix as well.”

“Why were you called back then?” Peyton smirks.

Bradley kicks Peyton back for that remark, rolling his eyes.

“Everyone is probably going to meet up at the Hard Deck,” Bradley says to which Peyton hums in reply, fiddling his fingers.

Bradley looks at him, knowing that Peyton only plays with his fingers when he’s hiding something.

Then it dawned on him.

“You didn’t tell your mom you were stateside, did you?”

“I, I haven’t had the chance-” 

Bradley’s groans interrupted him.“Pey, you know she’s going to kill you for not telling her earlier, right?”

“Well, that’s future Peyton’s problem to deal with.”

Bradley faceplam’s his own face, knowing he would not want to face the wrath of Mama Penny, especially since Peyton hadn’t seen her since he was deployed almost a year ago.

“Wait, hold on. What about Rory? When was the last time you talked to her?”

“When was the last time we sent a postcard?”

“In Japan a few months ago”

“A few months ago.” Peyton answers Bradley’s previous question of their last communication.

“Holy shit, she’s gonna kill you!”

“No, no. She’s going to kill both of us,” Peyton states matter of factly.

“I’m not going to be a part of this.”

“Well, you kind of are, since you didn’t reply back to her letter she sent back to us either.”

“We’ve been a bit busy,” Bradley admits reluctantly. Both Peyton and Bradley had been busy on deployment, Bradley always doing runs while Peyton was working on the planes. 

“Oh yeah, okay,” Peyton answers sarcastically. “Let’s see if she’ll accept that answer.”

Bradley groans, knowing Aurora would be furious that neither of them told her that they were both stateside.

Aurora was so busy at her NCIS job, yet she still had time to write them both a letter, and send them care packages. These last few months had just been really busy for him. 

“Look, we’ll call her after our first day back at Top Gun tomorrow. She’ll be so happy to hear from us, she won’t even remember being mad at us forgetting to tell her about being stateside,” Peyton reasons with Bradley, trying to get him to calm down a bit.

Bradley sighs. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right.” Peyton smirks at him as he hops down from the railing. “Now c’mon. Let’s head to the Hard Deck, see Mama Penny and the rest of the aviators who were called back.”

“You just want to see if Hangman’s here so you can suck his-”

“Shut up!” Peyton interrupts him, heading back into the house holding up his middle finger for Bradley to see.

Bradley chuckles, as he looks back towards the ocean. After this mission, he was going to fly to Virginia to see Aurora.

He was going to keep the promise he made to himself. He was going to tell her how he felt and would make everything work between the two of them. He just needed to get through this mission. 

Little did he know that the girl he dreamed about night and day was already on her way back to him sooner than they both had thought.

- - -

If you would like to be on the taglist or removed, please let me know! 

Taglist:  @callsignmeiga

@sqrlgrl22

@luckyladycreator2 

@purplevortexx

@my-obsession-spn

@oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo

@shanimallina87

@hisredheadedgoddess28

—

Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bonus 8: How met your mother (CSSR design by @qourmet!)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[asbestos-11]

life is dark and miserable but tiny aventurine makes it all disappear

would be so sexy and cool if y'all could reblog my art^^

[egophiliac]

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE" As someone who's been playing TWST since march and stopped going out of my way to be spoilerfree after I got stuck at Overblott!Jamil? That's honestly been one of my favorite things about it - seeing something in fanart or a comment you think is just fans joking, only for it to be canon. "The economy!", "May I also throw a tantrum?", Malleus' gargoyle thing, and... everything about Rook being my top examples.

there's a whole bit in Trey's platinum birthday card where he goes on about how he became increasingly obsessed with mustard for like a week straight until the other students held an intervention. how are you supposed to talk about this. how can you bring up something like Trey's descent into mustard obsession to the point that the other characters are worried for him without it sounding like the most obvious lolrandom "he mentioned it once and now fandom acts like he puts mustard in everything" joke. also, how can I slip this into every Twst post from now on, because I need everyone in the world to know that this is a real canon fact about Trey "I'm just an average normal guy (who sticks my hands into people's mouths and owns 20 toothbrushes and used to eat flowers off the side of the road)" Clover.

for bonus points, 1) the punchline is that he still doesn't even like mustard that much, 2) he's saying all of this to Leona, and 3) Leona is actually kind of invested in Trey's mustard story for some reason, which is the most unbelievable part of all of this to be honest. (then Trey gets distracted by a painting of the Cheshire Cat and Leona takes the opportunity to powerwalk away to freedom before they can start talking about dijon versus spicy brown or whatever and extend this bit even longer)

[dollya-robinprotector]

Once upon a time...

Ref: Fern fanart (Sousou no Fieren)

Inspiration and song: Star Sky (Two Steps from Hell)

Happy New Year 2024 DoL folks.

The clock just strived a new day of the new year in my country. A new beginning is upon us and I wish for this year to be gentle to all of my loved ones, including you. Thank you for staying, and please continue to kindly look after me, too.

Sincere. Your Dollya.

[whalefill]

my story about a marine biologist who dies in the 70s .. some au stuff included in there too

[tennessoui]

wait lol au where post-war, the jedi order does a date auction a la every cliche ever where they auction off a date night with one of their jedi generals. it's supposed to raise credits for various post-war charities as well as stoke good feelings about the order (the smear campaign was pretty effective, even if sidious died before the genocide bit)

obviously both the hero with no fear and the negotiator are put on the metaphorical chopping block. anakin is a Good Husband™️ so he clears this with Padmé first, and she laughs and agrees and wishes him luck in surviving the hoards of fans that desire him carnally. she says as a senator, she will be expected to attend and maybe even bid. they both agree that it would be way too obvious for their super secret marriage if she bids on anakin, and anakin asks her to bid on obi-wan in a spur of the moment thing.

it's just. obi-wan was really hurt aboard the invisible hand and then he was hurt again when fighting with grievous. and is anyone vetting these random people who will get to go on a date with the jedi? anyone could win!! a disgruntled separatist could win obi-wan's attention for a night and then take him on a date and then kill him!!!! under anakin's very nose!!!

anakin actually gets like. super concerned about this possibility. like super concerned. he gets padmé to promise that she will bid however much it takes to win obi-wan's hand (she is after all generationally wealthy) and she agrees because she loves him and then also follows through because she's a woman of her word.

anakin gets bid on by several people, one woman wins, it's whatever, anakin doesn't care. what anakin cares about is making sure he and this person can go to the same restaurant as obi-wan and padmé. just like. to make sure obi-wan is alright. he was looking quite flushed during the bidding? anakin is Concerned.

and anakin's poor date, who paid millions of credits for his attention, has to deal with an anakin who is obsessed with what's happening a table over and why are they laughing and are their knees touching beneath the table and maybe anakin should go over and like? break it up? his master is obviously a bit uncomfortable in all this candlelight. he looks beautiful, obviously, but he's clearly uncomfortable and he would feel better if anakin were there. obviously.

and anakin's poor date ALSO has to deal with meeting obi-wan kenobi after/during dinner because anakin can't keep in his lane, and general kenobi is downright hostile and cold to her because he's feeling incredibly overprotective at the thought of anakin having to spend time with some woman who bought him. as if he were a slave again.

[royalarchivist]

Mariana and Slime's dynamic is so wacky and unique, but this dramatic exit will forever make me associate them with Team Rocket now. They're ridiculous and I love them.

[novastories]

8 Letters

Title and story inspired the song “8 Letters” by Why Don’t We.

Summary: Aurora and Bradley have known each other for so long, so why is it so hard to say those little 8 letters?

Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!

Warnings: None, all fluff! 

Word Count: 1k

A/N: A 2nd chapter in one week?? 😳

This was written for @roosterforme's #Love Is In The Air TGM Challenge! This chapter can be read on its own, but it's better to read the story in order! I’ve had this song already waiting to be used, and I found a perfect moment to use this for Aurora and Bradley! Thank you Em for letting me participate in this challenge! And thank you @reginleight my beta reader and editor for editing this!

So please enjoy, I hope you like it! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! ❤️

As always, comments, reblogs, and feedback are appreciated! 🤭

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“Care to dance?” Aurora was in the middle of a conversation between her mother and Aunt Carole when that familiar voice came beside her. They’d been discussing her upcoming job at NCIS for a while now, so when Bradley approached with his hand out to her and an offer to dance, Aurora was glad to take him up on it.

With a smile she took his hand, a spark running through her veins as it always did whenever she and Bradley would touch.

“What took you so long, Rooster?” she answers, teasing him. He rolls his eyes as he leads her to the makeshift dance floor in the Bradshaw’s backyard that was made for Aurora’s and Peyton’s graduation celebration. It was already late in the night, so there weren’t as many people as there were earlier, but still quite a bit.

Peyton and Lucille were at a table arguing over something, while her Uncle Ice, Uncle Goose, Slider, and her dad Maverick were drinking at another nearby table, talking about the “good old days.” Her mom Penny, Aunt Carole, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Slider’s wife were all in a huddle talking about who knows what. More guests were mingling with others, and some were out on the dance floor as well.  

Aurora chuckles at the sight while Bradley swings her around. She places one hand on his shoulder, and one hand in his own hand, just like they used to do during their summer nights dancing in the Bradshaw’s living room. The DJ then starts a new slow song, one that Aurora recognizes immediately.

You know me the best.

You know my worst, see me hurt, but you don't judge.

That right there is the scariest feeling.

She looks up at Bradley who had a smirk on his face.

“What? You think I don’t know my best friend’s favorite song?” He teases seeing her shocked face.

“I just didn’t think you remembered,” she blushes. Not only was it her favorite song, but it was also one she had related to way too much.

“Darling, when it came out, you’d scream it every opportunity you got, and even made me put it on my playlist for car rides.”

She groans and buries her face in his chest as he laughs. He knew her like the back of his hand, and sometimes he used that to his advantage. But really, it only ever added to the growing fondness she held for him.

They continue to sway to the music as Aurora leans her head against Bradley’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, while Bradley rests his chin on top of her head. 

If all it is is eight letters

Why is it so hard to say?

If all it is is eight letters

Why am I in my own way?

Aurora thinks of the words to the songs. Oh how she wants to tell Bradley how she feels. How she was so enamored by him the first time they met when they were little, from that first kiss on the hand from him. How every summer they spent together, she fell in love with every little thing about him. How she was always jealous of the girls he dated, but didn’t say anything because she wanted to protect their friendship. But she couldn’t say it. 

Isn't it amazing how almost every line on our hands align?

When your hand's in mine

It's like I'm whole again, isn't that a sign?

I should speak my mind

Little did she know, Bradley was thinking the same thing. He wanted to tell her how much he adored her, how all he thought about was their kiss on Christmas that one night, how all he wanted in his life was to follow her through the ends of the earth.

But he couldn’t say it either. 

I've said those words before, but it was a lie

And you deserve to hear them a thousand times

They didn’t want to hold each other back. Bradley’s naval aviator career was just taking off, and hopefully would soon be going to Top Gun in a few months. Aurora was about to become an NCIS agent to make a name for herself. If they said it now, what would happen? 

When I close my eyes

It's you there in my mind

When I close my eyes

They knew that if they had both spoken those words, those 8 letters, it would make everything messy. They didn’t want to risk their friendship, not now. Not when they’ll be miles apart. 

“You’ll be safe, right?” Bradley asks Aurora who was peacefully still resting her head on his chest. She looks up at his eyes that were filled with concern. 

“I already said I would, B.” She says softly.

If all it is is eight letters

Why is it so hard to say?

If all it is is eight letters

Why am I in my own way?

Why do I pull you close?

And then ask you for space

If all it is is eight letters

Why is it so hard to say?

“I know, I just…I worry about you, and being a federal agent is a dangerous job.”

“Okay, Mr. Naval Aviator. Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?” she sasses at him.

“Yeah, but I just want you to be safe.”

“For you B, anything. As long as you stay safe too.”

“Always for you princess,” he whispers as he kisses her forehead, when all he really wanted to do was kiss her lips. She hums in reply as they finish dancing to the song. 

They didn’t say anything else. It’s not like they were nervous to say those 8 letters, they just weren’t ready yet. So instead they kept their feelings to themselves as they danced with the stars watching over them as always, because that moment was all they had for now. But for the two of them, that would be enough until they saw each other again. When they were ready, they would say those 8 letters to each other. “I love you.”

When I close my eyes

It's you there in my mind

When I close my eyes

If all it is is eight letters

—

If you would like to be on the taglist or removed, please let me know! 

Taglist: @call-sign-jinx @sqrlgrl22 @luckyladycreator2 @purplevortexx

[silusvesuius]

steer clear of ....the illigitimate child of... nvm

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Asher: Is that everything? Atlas: Yeah, I think so.

Alexander: Lex, it’s good to see you. Lex: Hey pops, how are you? Alexander: I’m good, good. How are you? Lex: Oh, I’m fantastic. Where’s your son at? I need to— Aha, there he is!  

Lex: ASH!!! Asher: Holy shit, look at you!! Lex: Me? Look at you!! Asher: Ahh

Julian: Hey kid, I’m told we’re supposed to start heading outside. Phoenix: Okay, we’re just about ready. Thank you so much for doing this for us. Julian: Oh, I’m honored. I’m so happy for you two.  

Iris: Dawn? Just wanted to let you know, the guests have all arrived and are taking their seats outside. We’ll be ready to start soon. Dawn: Oh goodness. Okay, thank you. Megan: I better head down. Unless you want me to stay. Dawn: No, no, I’m good. Will you tell Atlas to wait for me? Megan: Of course.

[moongothic]

WAIT WAIT WAIT HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE

So normally we only get fullblown, extended and dedicated flashbacks for heroic characters in One Piece, the characters who we're meant to root for. The literal only TRUE exception we've had to this rule was Big Mom's flashback. Even fucking Doflamingo's flashback was tied to Law and Rosinante's

So the fact that we haven't gotten a single fucking GLIMPSE at Crocodile's backstory is?!?

Like sure, we haven't gotten like a Moria flashback, but you know, he literally told us all we needed to know himself, AND we got to see glimpses of him in the Wano flashbacks. Arlong didn't get a flashback of his own, but he did get to cameo in Fisher Tiger's flashback. And Rob Fucking Lucci got a flashback that was 6 whooping panels long

BUT CROCODILE?? Not only do we know almost Fuck All about his story, but also have never gotten as much as a glimpse at it? But his backstory has been HINTED and TEASED at multiple times??

GUYS. FELLAS

Like. I am SURE the "Full Backstories for Heroes Only" rule is going to get broken again, but with Imu and Blackbeard already there just BEGGING to have their beans spilled, can we even be sure Sir Fucking Crocodile is somehow going to become A Villain So Dangerous To The Narrative that he ALSO should also recieve a Full Fucking Backstory?? For his Nefarious Schemes?? AT THIS POINT??

Y'all

I think it's more likely Oda's been saving up Croc's backstory because it might just completely recontextualize his entire character

[melveres]

so was anyone gonna tell me Dyvims canonically bi or was I just supposed to find that out from a comment on a twitter post and be sent on a quest to hunt down the stream and timestamp where it got mentioned

EDIT: I gave up on recording the clip bc the audio kept getting messed up so here's the link to the stream! [timestamp 56:34]

Dyvim Whitehart bi king!!

[epicfirestormer]

How are we feeling Final Space fans

[salarymanwaka]