#jake seresin imagines

[sappy-seresin]

Little Insomniac (J. Seresin)

Pairing: Jake Seresin x roommate!reader

Summary: You're dealing with an ongoing struggle to sleep, and Jake wants to help. Volume Two

Warnings: nothing really, just fluff.

Word Count: 3k

MY WORK IS ORIGNIAL AND IS NOT TO BE COPIED OR REPOSTED ELSEWHERE. Be kind and don't steal other people's writing, thank you.

Gif creds: @jakeseresins

Jake stirs awake before his alarm has the chance to go off. Yawning, he wipes the sleep from his eyes before groggily reaching for his phone to check the time. 5:45, it reads, though he has to squint to make sure because his eyes are still bleary from just waking up. He lets himself yawn one more time before moving to sit at the edge of his bed, a gentle grunt falls from his lips as he enjoys his first big stretch of the day, preparing his muscles for his usual morning run.

Knowing that he’ll have plenty of time to get ready once he’s back, he swaps his sweatpants out for a pair of running shorts and slips on a coordinating shirt. He turns toward his bedside table to grab his headphones, immediately sticking them into his ears and scrolling through his phone to find his playlist, “Run Like Hell.” His head gently bobs to the best of the music once he’d hit shuffle as he finishes getting ready by sliding his running shoes on.

He makes sure to walk quietly as he passes your room. You won’t be waking up for another hour, at least, and he’s not keen on giving you a wake up call sooner than you have planned. He accidentally woke you up one morning shortly after the two of you signed this lease and it resulted in a rather heated reprimand from a rather hungover, half asleep, version of you that came stumbling out of your room with a baseball bat thinking someone broke in. Since then, he’s intentionally light on his feet, careful not to cause another scene.

Jake smiles at the memory of your disheveled state. You were slightly tipsy from the night before with pillow lines on your face and an unruly bun knotted on top of your head as you incoherently scolded him for nearly giving you a heart attack. In that moment, all he could do was blink at you like a deer in the headlights, trying not to focus too much on the fact that all you were wearing was an oversized shirt that covered everything above your mid thighs, leaving your toned legs on full display.

His trip to memory lane is clouded with confusion when he notices light radiating through the hallway from the living room. He got home after you did last night and swore he shut the lamp off before retreating to his bedroom. His feet carry him toward the light, stopping in the tracks when he notices your form on the couch. You’re seated comfortably with your feet splayed on the coffee table balancing your laptop on your knees, wearing that same damn t-shirt.

“What’re you doing up? You never beat me,” he questions, pulling one earphone out and adjusting the volume on his phone so he can hear you. His presence had gone unnoticed by you, so the sudden question made you jump in, your head snapping toward him in shock.

“Jesus Jake,” your hand flies to your heart in an attempt to ease its rapid beating, a quiet “whew” falling from your lips as you compose yourself, tilting the screen of your laptop down so you can see him better. “Why do move so quiet? You scared me half to death!”

“Sorry darlin’, I didn’t mean to scare you. Just surprised to see you awake so early. Like I said, you never beat me,” there’s an apologetic smile etched onto Jake’s soft features. He scratches the back of his head sheepishly, his eyes never leaving you when he moves into the kitchen to grab a water bottle, promptly opening it and taking a swig. He stalks back to the living room, wordlessly offering you the water, which you gladly accept.

“Can you actually categorize it as beating you if I haven’t slept?” you ask after gulping the cool liquid down. You hand the bottle back to him, nuzzling deeper into your position on the couch when he moves to sit next to you, pulling his other earbud out so that you know you have his full attention.

He stares at you in confusion after processing what you said. Sure, your sleeping patterns have always been odd to him, but a night of not seeming at all raises several questions, “You didn’t sleep?”

“No,” you sigh, completely closing your computer and discarding it onto the coffee table in front of you.

“Why not? I thought you said that you're ahead at work and don't have to stress about extra planning?" He slings his arm over the back of the couch, his fingers barely brushing across the fabric of your t-shirt. He ignores the temptation to drop his hand from the coach so that it rests fully on your shoulder, knowing it's not the time to tease the butterflies awakening in his stomach at the faint smell of your perfume.

"I am," you affirm looking over at him, his close proximity has you feeling at ease with a hint of bashfulness. "It's not work. It's nothing like that really. I just-I don't know, I can spend the entire day exhausted but I'm wide awake as soon as my head hits a pillow."

Jake nods, pulling his attention away from you to ponder if there's anything he can do. After a few seconds of comfortable silence, he returns his gaze to you, taking notice of the prominent bags under your eyes. Your exhaustion coats your features, coating you with a dreamlike state while you zone out on nothing. He bumps your shoulder gently, stealing your attention back. "Is there something bothering you?"

Your head shakes in response, an involuntary yawn falling from your parted lips. You pull your legs up to your chest, hooking your arms around them to hold them in place, and it takes everything in Jake's power to not focus on the fact that the movement made your oversized t-shirt rise up. He clears his throat, returning his thoughts back to the conversation rather than continuing to mentally admire your effortless beauty.

"Okay," he hums, "Well, can you at least take the day off to let yourself rest? I'm sure you'd crash if you got in bed now."

"I can't," you groan, running a hand over your face in frustration. "We have a major meeting today, and I'm running it because ninety-five percent of the team can't manage to do their jobs." There's a sympathetic look sent your way which only adds to the helplessness embedding itself in your entire being. All your impending schedule brings you is an unshakable dread due to how desperately sleep deprived you already feel.

"Okay," he repeats, standing from the couch. "Well, since you can't get out of it today, what do you say we go grab breakfast at that coffee shop you like downtown? My treat. It's not sleep, but it's the best I can do unless you're willing to let me call your boss and telling him to postpone the meeting."

You blink at him, a lazy smile twitching at the edge of your lips. "You know you don't have to do that right? I'm a big girl and can caffeinate myself."

"I know, but I want to. Besides, there's no way in hell I'm letting your sleep deprived ass drive yourself around town today. The last thing this town needs is a delirious Y/n Y/l/n operating a vehicle. Now, how about you go put some pants on so you don't catch a public indecency charge?" He's shooting you his signature 'Seresin smirk' now, which you can't refuse, so you take his outstretched hand and let him help you up.

******************

A few days later, you're parked in that same position on the couch with your legs strewn over Jake's lap as the two of you watch the latest episode of 'The Rookie." There's been a comfortable silence in the room for awhile now, both of you fully engrossed in what's playing on the screen. Jake's fingers periodically draw circles against your clothed shins, a mindless habit of his that you've grown to love, while he makes a few side comments about Tim and Lucy's relationship Which you, being a lover of the slow burning couple, always agree with.

The episode comes to a close, leaving you both with anticipation for the shows continuation next week. Watching the Rookie became a weekly tradition when you became roommates after Jake came home from the bar one night, interrupting your peaceful binge watching. He made fun of the show at first, but forced you to restart it completely because he wanted to be completely caught up on everything it had to offer before deciphering whether or not he liked it. It took measly three episodes and he was hooked, which he denied by telling you he only watches it to bond with you. The way he lost himself in the screen, laughing and cracking jokes, was a tell-tale sign that he was hooked.

“It's late, I’m gonna head to bed,” Jake tells you after several unspoken moments, standing from his comfortable position and carefully repositioning your legs on the cushions. He stretches with a hefty yawn, running a hand over his face. You wordlessly watch him, enjoying the extra gravel to his voice that always comes when he's tired. “Want me to turn the lights off?”

“I'll get them. I think I’m going to be up awhile," you decline, straightening up to reach for the journal you left on the table before he came home.

“Still not sleeping?” He yawns again, watching as you get situated in a manner that tells him you are gearing for a long night.

You scoff, shaking your head in response to his question. One glance his way fills you in on the fact that he wants more of an explanation than that. "I've averaged maybe eight hours total this week, if you can count the baby naps my assistant lets me take during breaks. I swear I could run a marathon and still not be exhausted enough to encourage my body to rest."

“What about this? How about you let me take you to bed and we’ll try something new to help you sleep," he offers. Hope fills his green eyes momentarily before draining when you snort comically.

"Hangman, are you using my sleep deprivation as an excuse to get in my pants? I know I'm undeniably attractive, but that's a new level of low, even for Jake 'the heartbreaker' Seresin," you hadn't meant for the words to spill from your lips and regret them almost immediately. Yet, your raised eyebrows challenge him rather than showing any sign of lighthearted remorse.

“I’m going to blame your hostility on sleep deprivation instead of taking what you just said personally,” there’s a playful grin curved onto his cheeks as he peers down at the disdained expression you’re directing at him. “Now, come on grumpy, let’s get you some sleep,” You groan when he grabs your hands, shifting his weight so he can pull you off the couch. You fight against him, not wanting to let go of the comfortable position you’d fallen into. “Jesus, would you stop being a brat.” He can’t help but laugh as you continue making yourself dead weight to lessen his chances of dragging you off the couch. “Fine, two can play at this game.”

“What-JAKE,” an involuntarily squeal of surprise bubbles from your chest when he bends down, both his hands on your hips, and slings you over his shoulder effortlessly. He laughs as you smack against his back while he flicks the lights off, guiding the two of you toward your room.

“Put me down peasant,” you chant through your own fit of giggles. He simply shakes his head at your antics, carefully weaving through your bedroom before dropping you on top of your bed in a heap. Your giggles die down the longer you admire his lighthearted expression. You cough to try to keep yourself from ogling him like an idiot. It’s hard not to when he’s staring at you like you’re the creator of the jet planes he loves so much. “Couldn’t have given me a gentler landing?”

Jake rolls his eyes, feigning a scoff. “You asked me to put you down, and I put you down. Don’t go giving me a bad yelp review because you weren’t more specific, princess.” There’s a slight twinkle in his eye as the nickname flows off his tongue, smooth as silk. You mentally curse the involuntary heat rushing to your cheeks at the pet name, unable to suppress a bashful smile.

“Fair point,” you reply simply, fighting to keep yourself from spiraling at the sight of your roommate still towering over your splayed figure. He’d showered about an hour ago so his normally styled hair is laying against his forehead comfortably, the scent of his body wash ghosts your nostrils as he scratches the back of his neck, making it even harder not to swoon because he smells so good. “Are you going to tell me what your master plan to help me sleep is, or should I go ahead and preorder extra shots of espresso to keep me functioning tomorrow?”

Jake straightens up at the realization that he’d gotten sidetracked from his initial plan, a dubious grin plasters itself on his face as he moves to turn my bedroom light off, carefully making his way back to my bed in the dark.

“Jake, I hate to break it to you but simply putting me into bed isn’t going to help me sleep, if that’s all it took-what’re you doing?” Your question is left unanswered as he pulls the covers back on the side of the bed you’re not laying on, pausing to stare at you through the dark.

“I’m climbing in bed,” he states like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, fully situating himself under the covers. You stare at him like he’s got two heads, not understanding how his master plan to get you to sleep involves him fully being in bed with you. You’ve had daydreams about curling up in bed with him, falling asleep to the even rhythm of his heart beat, but those were simply fantasies about the man you have a complicated crush on because, well, he’s your roommate. Of course, the two of you are close enough that you’ve fallen asleep on his shoulder on more than one occasion but it’s never been intention and those moments definitely haven’t occurred in a bed.

“You’re in my bed,” you observe, still frozen in place on top of the covers.

“Yes, Y/n, I’m in your bed. Now, would you stop being difficult? Get your ass up here and let me do my job,” his voice is gentle but holds a certain demand that has you obliging immediately. Climbing up next to him, you allow him to lift the covers so that you can slide under them. You leave a comfortable amount of space between the two of you, though it feels awkward with the heat radiating from his body. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What? You told me to climb in with you, so I climbed in with you?” An exasperated groan sounds from his side of the bed, earning an embarrassed blush from you, completely at a loss as to what you did wrong. “It’s not my fault that you’ve managed to leave out legitimately every detail of your master plan.”

In response, Jake’s arms wrap around your waist, immediately tugging you closer to him until you’re practically laying on top of him. “Get comfortable, sweetheart,” he murmurs simply, as if him holding you in your bed is a normal occurrence that shouldn’t have a fit of butterflies going rampant in your stomach. “Stop overthinking it and get situated.” His request comes after a few beats of you remaining frozen in the awkward position he pulled you into. You lift your head to meet his eyes, looking for affirmation that you’re hearing him right. When his hand trails over your face to brush your hair from your eyes, you suck in an audible breath, the gentle touch sending shivers down your spine as he leans his head close enough to yours that his breath fans against your face. “Let me hold you tonight."

"Okay," you breathe, carefully rolling onto your stomach. You shift yourself just enough to comfortably rest your head against his chest, fully allowing yourself relax into him as the faint sound of his heartbeat greets your ears. Jake's arms find a home around your waist again, a content sigh falling from his lips at the fact that you're fully nuzzled into him.

"Comfy?" His question is hopeful as he mindlessly draws comforting circles on your back, the simple movement paired with the comfort of his arms already causing your eyes to grow heavy.

"So comfy," you yawn, melting into him further. One of your hands fist his t-shirt while his find a spot in your hair, gently massaging your scalp.

"Good," he kisses the crown of your head, secretly feeling pleased by the way you're already fighting to keep your eyes open after seeming confident that he couldn't do anything to cure your insomnia. "Get some rest, sweetheart." You don't need his permission to sleep, but his words are the final thing you remember before slipping into a sweet slumber.

Jake knows you're out by the way your body grows a little heavier. Light snores fall from your lips every so often, warming his chest at the fact that you feel safe enough to let him assist you. While tiredness scratches the back of his eyes, he can't keep himself from observing your sleeping figure, a soft smile curves onto his lips at the adorable sight. As your roommate, he doesn't want to admit it, but he's dreamed of a moment like this from the second the two of you signed the lease for this place. Neither of you had been each others first choice in the roommate department, but after so long of roommates falling through, he proposed the idea and you accepted. You were friends back then, but weren't close enough for sharing an apartment to feel normal. Yet, when the time came to move in, your lives melted together seamlessly.

Jake's hand continues weaving through your hair, the act making him feel soft while you sleep soundly on his chest. He can't help but admire your peaceful features now that all signs of stress and exhaustion are erased from your face. You've always been attractive to Jake but right now, while you're snoring softly on his chest, he swears you're the most beautiful sight he's ever laid eyes on.

It's harder for him to continue fighting his own sleep the longer the peace of the night weighs on his eyelids so he carefully shifts the two of you into a more comfortable position. He holds his breath when you stir, but releases it when your head lulls back to place on his chest.

"Sweet dreams, pretty girl," he finds himself whispering, giving you one last glance before letting his eyes flutter shut. They snap back open when you mumble incoherently in your sleep, a sigh rolling from your parted lips.

"I love you Jake," the words are slightly slurred when they roll from your tongue, but Jake hears them clear as day. His eyes widen in surprise, never having heard you utter those words. He feels humbled by the unconscious confession, his heart swelling at the thought of the words holding an unshakeable truth.

******************

A/n: Another Jake fic while I continue working on Fawn Volume 2! I'm hoping to have the second part of Fawn posted before the week ends, I'm just finding that I'm pressuring myself with it a little because I love the storyline in my head so much that I'm scared to mess it up :')

Part Two

[bloatedandalone04]

Purple All Over

➪the one where you can’t resist jake, and he can’t say no to you.

Warnings: smut, unprotected sex, soft dom jake, swearing, oral (f receiving), face riding HEHA, overstimulation, that might be it...?

Word Count: 3k

Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡

“You’re such a bad influence on me, huh, baby?” Jake mumbles as he sucks another mark onto the skin of your neck. You huff out an embarrassed laugh as your nails softly dig into the skin of his biceps. “We’re supposed to be at the Hard Deck right now, supposed to be hanging out with my friends right now, but here we are.”

He was being such a tease and a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as he was just as bad as you are at controlling himself around you. 

Could you really be blamed, though? Jake had walked out of the bathroom wearing tight fitting jeans and a white tee with his hair still wet from the shower, how were you supposed to resist that?

“I can’t help it,” you say under your breath, your hands gently tugging on his damp hair. His shirt had been on for about five minutes before you were taking it off of him, and his jeans were already unzipped as he rocked his hips against yours. “You looked so hot, Jake. It’s not fair.”

He laughed, pulling away from your neck with a smirk. “I got ready to go out with you so I could show you off,” he murmured, nudging your nose with his. “What’s not fair about that?”

You stare up at him with lust filled eyes, your head pressed against his pillow that smelled like his musky cologne you drool over every time he wears it. “Because that means other girls get to see how good you look without even trying,” you respond, tugging at the belt that was tucked securely around his jeans. “I’m just me.”

Jake laughed again, but not in a mocking way. His hands wrap around your wrists and he lifts them up and pins them against the bed on either side of the pillow, his smirk growing at your whine of protest. “Just you? Baby, you’re everything to me,” he promised, kissing you again and running the tip of his tongue along your bottom lip. “You’re my whole world.”

You groan, pushing against his hands but getting nowhere as he was a hell of a lot stronger than you without even putting an ounce of effort in. That thought alone had another wave of need rushing through your body, and if he wasn’t settled in between your thighs right now, you’d be squeezing them shut. “Keep talking to me like that and we’ll never make it to the Hard Deck,”

Jake shook his head at you, brushing his lips against yours as he muttered, “You’re tough,”

“You’re a tease,” you say back and watch as his eyes squint in another laugh, his head dipping down and resting on your chest. You fight against his hold again but he is persistent, and you whine as you wrap your legs around his waist. “Don’t tease me, Jake, please.”

He lifts his head and looks at your cute pout, his gaze softening and his smirk turning into a small grin. “‘M not teasin’, sweet girl,” he said and kissed the corner of your mouth. “Come on, put that pretty pout away, baby.”

Your pout softens as you gaze up at him, your eyes pleading with his to let you touch him. “I want you, Jake,” you all but begged, your core aching for him. “I need you.”

Jake groans quietly, finally releasing your wrists in order for him to hold himself above you by placing his forearms on either side of your head. “That’s good to know,” he rasped, his voice deep in the way it always got when he was horny for you. “‘Cause I kinda need you, too.” 

You pull him closer to you by his shoulders. “Prove it,” you challenge in a sultry voice. Your hands slide down his bare chest and tug at the waistline of his jeans, pulling his front against yours. “Take these off, Jake. Show me how much you need me.”

He lifts himself off of you and stands at the foot of the bed, his lust filled eyes staring back down at you. “We’re gonna be late, baby,” he points out as he pulls off his belt. “But you’re lucky I don’t give a fuck. Take your dress off, sweet girl.”

You sit up and pull your dress off, tossing it aside and whimpering as his dark eyes rake up and down your body. “Jake,” you trail off, writhing under his intense gaze. 

The corners of his mouth turn upwards as he adjusts himself in his jeans but still leaves them on. He kneels on the bed, his hands reaching out and spreading your thighs as he leans down and presses kiss after kiss to the skin of your abdomen. “You’re a bad influence,” he says again, taking the lace of your panties between his teeth and tugging at it. He lets the lace snap back into place before placing a final kiss to your hip, his fingers sliding up your thighs and pulling it down your legs. You squirm a bit, goosebumps forming on your skin as you lay half exposed under him. “You’re so sensitive.” 

You smile shyly at him, a teasing look in your eyes that has him groaning. “It’s you, Jake,” you say with a blush covering your face. “Your hands are so big, they feel so good without you even trying.”

He hums as he kisses along your inner thighs. “It’s my job to make you feel good,” he reminded you as he stared up at you with dark eyes. “You gonna let me have a taste?”

You blush even more as you prop yourself up on your elbows. “When have I ever denied you that?”

Jake kissed the skin above your core. “You know I’ll always ask, pretty girl,” he reminded you. “Always.”

“I know,” you agreed, meeting his piercing green stare with hooded eyes. “It’s one of the many, many things I love about you.”

He grinned, “And this,” he trails off as he licks a stripe up your folds. “Is one of the many things I love about you.”

You bite down harshly on your lip as he begins to slowly circle your clit with the tip of his tongue, making your core clench with the need for more. “Jake,” you whisper, running one hand through his hair and making it messy. “Please, don’t tease me. I can’t do it tonight.”

“I’m not teasing,” he innocently replied, then looked up at you. His gaze softened as he met your needy glare, and he pulled away from your core. “Okay, baby. Come here.”

You furrow your brows and watch as he moves to lay next to you, a smug smirk plastered on his face as you ask, “What? You want me to….do you want me to..?” 

“Ride my face,” he answered, his smirk growing at the wide-eyed look you give him. “Yeah.”

“Seriously?” You ask but he had already gone ahead and grabbed hold of your thighs, pulling you so your body was resting on his chest. “Jake-”

“Please, baby?” He asked, giving you his signature puppy dog eyes that never failed to have you melting. “Don’t make me beg, I just want to get you off.”

You give him a wary look. “What if I’m too heavy? Or I hurt you?”

He shakes his head, wrapping his arms around the undersides of your thighs. “You won’t hurt me,” he assured you, pulling your body closer to his head. “And don’t ever think you’re too heavy, that’s my girl you’re talking about.” 

You were about to protest some more, but then Jake was guiding you forward and running his tongue along your folds again as you settled against his face. “Oh, God,” you gasp quietly as he tugs you closer, his mouth beginning to devour you as if he were a starved man. “Jake, baby.”

You knew he loved when you called him that as it didn’t make him feel like he was too old for you. He wasn’t, anyway, with him being thirty three and you being twenty six, but he still felt ancient at times, especially when his fellow aviators told him how lucky he is to have found a ‘hot, younger girl who actually wants to settle down with him’.

Jake hummed as he pulled away, his lips and chin wet with your arousal. “How we feeling, sweet girl?” He asked as he looked up at your fucked out expression. 

“Good,” you barely manage to answer. “So good, Jake. So…different.”

He hummed again in agreement, teasing your clit again with a barely-there pressure. “It is, but I love the view I get from down here,” he smoothly replied, making you look down at him. “And I love that I still get to taste you like this, you know, with you on top.”

“God, you’re filthy,” you mutter, clenching around nothing when you see the smirk that took over his lips. “You’re too much, Jake, but I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he promised, pressing a kiss to your inner thigh. “So much.” His voice deepened as he dove back in and ran his tongue up your slit with more pressure than before. 

“You’re so good at this,” you praise, bucking up against his mouth without meaning to. Really, you had no control over your body whenever Jake went down on you or fucked you. 

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” he mumbled and you blush as you think back to all the times he’s gone down on you in the years you’ve been together. Before you, Jake had no desire for oral, instead he settled on rough fucking. Then he met you and did a complete one eighty as he loved tasting you and had shamelessly begged you more than once to let him get you off with his tongue. 

Your lips part as soft moans escape you beyond your control, and you reach down to grip his blond hair. 

He must’ve been able to tell that you were holding back, as he pulled away again to say, “I really don’t want to beg right now, sweet girl. Ride me, will you?”

Your brows press nearly all the way together as you shake your head. “But what-”

Jake hushed you with a kiss to your clit. “I said you won’t hurt me. I’m a big guy, I can handle it,” 

He kept his head still and gently urged your hips to move, and when you rolled them once and felt the friction from before intensify, your body shook with desire and excitement. “Fuck,” you gasp quietly and he pulled you forward again. 

“There you go, baby, don’t hold back,”

And you didn’t. 

With a firm hold on his hair, you let your hips move freely against his head as your dripping core ground onto his awaiting mouth. It was so different, you didn’t even know if you were doing it right, but it didn’t matter as Jake sucked and licked at you with every grind of your hips. 

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he’s enjoying this equally as much as you are. It didn’t surprise you when Jake started to moan as you rode his face, and the deep grunts he let out had you moving your body quicker as you felt your stomach tighten. 

“Oh, my God, Jake,” you moaned as he licked up and down your sopping folds. “You’re gonna make me come.”

Jake grunted and reached up to tightly grip your hips, helping you fuck yourself onto him. “That’s the whole point, baby,” came his muffled response, and you would’ve rolled your eyes at the cockiness laced in his voice, but you were too far gone. 

Your whole body tensed up as your release took over, and you squeezed your eyes shut. Jake was relentless as he lapped up everything you gave him and took control of your movements when you went limp above him. He fucked you with his tongue until you were crying out at the overstimulation and scrambling to get off him, uneven breaths leaving both you and Jake as you fall next to him. 

“Jesus, Jake,” you huffed as you lay against his pillow. “You are concerningly good at that.”

Jake laughed as he shamelessly began palming himself through his jeans. “I got to make sure my girl feels good,” was all he said as you tried to catch your breath. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t think you need to worry about that,” you tell him as you force yourself to sit back up and replace his hand with your own. 

Jake groans as you push down his jeans and slide your hand in his tight boxer briefs, wrapping your fingers around him with a gentle pressure. “You don’t have to, baby,” but, God, did he want you to.

And you did, too. “How do you want me Jake?” You asked in a lust-filled tone that had Jake holding back a deep grunt as you stroked him gently. 

“You want me to fuck you, sweet girl?” He asked and your mouth parted as you nodded slowly and withdrew your hand, licking at the precum on your thumb. Jake growled slightly as he sat up. “On your hands and knees, baby.” He ordered and you obliged instantly.

Crawling further up the bed, you glance over your shoulder at him and bite your lip softly as he runs his hand down the smooth skin of your back. “Fuck me, Jake,” you whined and he pulled himself free from his boxers.

“You sure you’re ready for that?” He mocked as he ran his tip down your folds. You jolted a bit at the feeling but leaned back when he pulled away, moaning needily afterwards. “You’re still shaking, sweet girl.”

“It’s alright. I’m alright, Jake,” you promised. “Please, I need you.”

“Okay,” he cooed as he coated himself in your wetness before burying himself deep in you with one swift movement. Your loud moan mixes with his deep grunt as he bottoms out completely, pulling your body back against his as you felt your legs nearly give out. “You okay, honey?” 

You moan at the teasing tone he had and bury your face in his pillow. “Yes,” you whisper, taking it upon yourself to slide your body back and forth as he remains still. You felt a bit weak as you fucked yourself back against him, and you knew he was waiting for you to say the words. He was waiting for you to give in and let him completely ravish you as he wouldn’t do anything without your verbal consent. “Fuck me, Jake, I’m dying here.”

His deep laugh makes a blush form on your face as he slowly thrusts into you. “You and me both, baby,” he rasped before he grabbed your hips in his big hands and began roughly fucking into you. 

Your arms give out pretty quickly and you fall against the pillow again as pornographic moans leave your mouth like a mantra. “Fuck,” you gasp as his tip effortlessly sought out your sweetspot. “Fucking hell, Jake.”

Jake laughed again, but it quickly turned into a strangled groan as he felt you clench tightly around him. “I know,” he muttered as he gripped your hips hard enough to leave fingerprints. “I’m struggling back here, too.”

You let out a tired laugh as he thrusts slowly but roughly into your aching and wet core. “Feels so good, Jake,” you whimper as you bunch up the sheets in your fingers. “So big.”

Jake groans loudly, leaning over your body as he picks up the pace once again. One of his hands covers yours on the bed, and you lace your fingers together and give them a squeeze as you feel another knot already beginning to form deep within you. Despite his the harsh fucks of his hips, his mouth presses soft and loving kisses to your shoulders and the back of your neck as you moan sweetly for him. “You’re perfect, baby,” 

Your eyes roll back at his praise and you press your knees together as best as you can with his own in the way. “Oh, God,” you moaned. “I’m gonna come again.”

Jake pressed more kisses to your skin as your body moved with every thrust. Your hold on his hand tightened as you guided his other one to your front and pushed it towards your pulsing clit. “Are you sure, sweet girl?” He asked as his fingers hovered over the throbbing bundle of nerves, knowing how overstimulated you must be right now. 

You nodded desperately, pushing on his hand until his fingers brushed against your clit. “Yes, fuck yes,” you gasped at the stimulation that shot through your body. You clench impossibly tight around him as he rubs random shapes against your clit, and before long you were burying your face in his pillow and crying out as you came for a second time. “So good…so good.”

Jake curses under his breath as you shake and writhe under him. “Jesus, baby,” he says breathlessly as your warmth surrounds him and sucks him in deeper. “I’m close, honey, do you need me to-”

“Keep going,” you answered his unasked question as you brace your head against his forearm. “Fill me up, Jake.”

He was sure you were near your limit right now, but the way you slowly met his thrusts told him that you would keep going until he came, too. “Fuck, baby, you’re too good to me,” he praised as he fucked you softer than before until he felt his own release begin to wash over him. “I’m coming, fuck.”

You moan quietly and hold onto his hand with the last remaining energy you had left in you. Jake pushed his come deeper in you with every slow thrust until he was forced to stop and fall onto the bed next to you. 

Keeping your fingers laced together, you rolled over and wrapped his arm around your shoulders as you snuggled up against his heated body. “Fuck, I’m tired,” you confessed as he tried to catch his breath. 

He laughed in agreement and kissed the top of your head. “Yeah, I don’t think we’re making it to the Hard Deck tonight,”

[crazyk-imagine]

The Rules of Friends with Benefits

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Pilot!reader (Sparrow) Characters: Pilot!reader (Sparrow), Jake “Hangman” Seresin, Javy “Coyote” Malachi, Robert “Bob” Floyd, Penny Benjamin, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (breifly mentioned) Warnings: Fluff, angst, happy ending, mentions of smut, illusions to sex, not as graphic as it could be, the rules are like a voice over to the scenes, no one knew what was going on, everyone made a bet when they noticed a change, Bob was the only one to say reader and jake got together, penny making a joke about the dagger squad being his children, reader and cyclone don’t see eye to eye (implied), never bet with the dagger squad

Word Count: 4,321

A/N: A little background on Jake talking to Bob about being his back seater. The reader was originally Jake’s after she finished her practice round (as punishment, for both of them). Then Cyclone called in the only one he felt would be the man for the job, Bob. 

- Reader’s unmentioned call sign in Sparrow hence Jake’s Wings nickname

- Javy jokingly told Jake to ask reader about a fwb situation but never thought he’d actually do it

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You never thought you'd ever be asked something as insane as he just did. "I'm sorry, what?" 

He throws his head back and takes another shot. "You're acting like no one's asked you this before, Wings." 

You clench your jaw, annoyance filling you once more. "I'm not doing this with you." You scoot your chair back. 

"I'm sorry." 

You pause, "you're sorry?" 

"I," he sighs. "I told Coyote this was a stupid idea." 

"What was that?" You ask, curious as to what he mumbled. 

"Would it be so bad to sleep with me?" 

"Yeah. I don't want to catch anything," you say with a snarky smile. 

He doesn't find it as funny. "You know that's not true." 

"Is it though?" 

"Just because I may sleep with a few different women when we're off, doesn't mean I'm not careful." 

"Yeah," you reach for his drink, taking it for yourself. "I'll believe it when I see it." "Do you want to do this or not?" 

"Why me?" 

"What?" 

"Why did Coyote suggest you ask me? No, better question, why did you agree to ask me?" 

He's quiet. 

"I mean, did you think I'd be easy or something?" 

He realizes just how badly this has already begun and he needs to stop it before it gets worse. "I've got to stop you right there because that's not- that isn't,” he sighs. 

“How about we start with, why you want to “fraternize” with coworkers?” 

He shrugs. 

You raise a brow before the corner of your lips twitch upwards. “Do you like me, Hangman? You wanna see me in a whole new light, perhaps.” 

He shakes his head, letting out a huffing chuckle. “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying this.” 

“Oh, I am. I see it now. You want to sleep with me because... you’re desperate, none of your usual hookers are available and you’re stressed.” 

"Okay, they're not hookers. They were... nice women who-" 

"In other words, they were horny." 

He huffs, "you gonna let me talk or not?" 

You raise your hands and scoot back into your seat. 

"I think it'd be beneficial for us to do this kind of thing. Like you said, I'm stressed, and I know you are too. This line of work isn't the easiest." 

You gasp, "you're joking. I thought it was so easy." 

"See, that- that attitude right there I would love to-" 

You pause, licking your teeth. "You've thought about this before. You're a dirty, dirty man." 

"Hey now-" 

You shrug, "I don't blame you. I've overheard girls talking about you. Really makes a girl think." 

"So?" 

"If we're going to do this, we're going to need to establish some boundaries... or rules, I should say." 

"So- so we're doing this?" He was not expecting it to be this easy. 

You nod, "you make a valid point and I need something to help me take care of my stress." 

"I think I'm going to need another shot." 

"Go order us another round while I think of some rules." 

He doesn't need to be told twice as he walks towards the bar, easily calling Penny over. 

You shake your head before grabbing a napkin and jotting a couple of things down. 

Jake doesn't pay attention to any of the few women practically throwing these onto him. 

It surprises Pete and Penny when they see him, shrug these ladies off and away from him... until he walks back towards you with a smile on his face. 

-

Penny glances over at her boyfriend with a raised brow. "That's not going to end well." 

"Maybe." 

"You're really trying to argue with me." 

"No." 

"You are." 

"I- no." 

"Go take these to your kids." 

"They're not mine." 

"They might as well be." 

-

“What are you writing there, Wings?” 

You glance up at him, moving your arm to hide what you’ve written. “Not much, just... jotting down a couple of things.” 

He sets your usual order to the side, (unknowingly, he subconsciously) wants all your attention he can get. 

“A few rules, mainly. We can add more once we, you know, start this.” 

“You sound so excited.” 

You roll your eyes. “Don’t give me attitude. You know we should have some rules, even if one of us doesn’t always want to follow them.” 

“Oh, now you want to bring up our past. Well, what about the time when-” 

You push yourself off the stool and cover his mouth. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. God you’re a child, licking my hand, really?” 

He shrugs. 

“I’m going to remove my hand. I want to hear nothing from you, you jerk.” 

He nods. 

“These are a few basic things I felt were necessary to get out there.” 

“Makes sense to me.”

Rule #1: No discussing the deal with those who aren’t either of the pertaining parties

“So, you’re looking exceptionally glowy this morning.” 

You shake your head, not giving into what your most trusted pilot friend (only female friend) and ally’s comment. “Glowy?” You ask, sitting on the bench as you tie your shoes. 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about and don’t even pretend like you don’t. You’re not a very good liar.” 

You snort. ‘If only you knew, Nat.’ 

“Okay.” You grab your bag and head out for the day. 

“Is it that guy you told me about the other day?” 

“Which one? I’ve been a little... out there lately.” 

She doesn’t raise a brow, knowing you’re testing the waters, trying to find someone who’s benefits worthy before trying to settle down. 

“What guy?” You sigh and turn around to find the devil. 

“Bagman,” Natasha groans before yanking you with her. “We’re leaving. Go bother someone else. I want to enjoy the rest of my Thursday.” 

“Too bad. I hear gossip and what is a guy supposed to do, other than listen and enjoy of course.” 

Javy walks up behind the blond. “Have you seen him since?” 

You turn to narrow your eyes at the two of them, praying to all and any god listening, to make sure neither of them talk about this. 

Jake’s smirk only widens. 

You regret starting this with him. 

“Was he any good?” 

That question gets her to stop. “What?”

She grimaces, “why would you want to know that Bagman? You not getting enough of your own, you need to ask others for their night out, so you have something to get off too?” 

He’s quick to react, “what no! What’s wrong with you?!” 

“Me?! You’re the one asking if the guy she slept with was any good and you’re getting pissed as me?” 

He struggles to give a well-timed response and the two of you walk away. 

-

Once you’re in her car and buckled in, you text the idiot. 

SparrowBird 

“If you plan on breaking rule 1, let me know so I can figure out where to bury my embarrassed body” 3:22p Sent Read 

“Idiot” 3:24pm Sent Read 

WannabeCowboy 

“It wasn’t my fault, Wings” 3:26pm Sent Read 

SparrowBird 

“Sure, it wasn’t” 3:26pm Sent Read 

WannabeCowboy 

“I swear it wasn’t” 3:28pm Sent Read 

SparrowBird 

“We’re not in a relationship” 3:30pm Sent Read 

You feel bad about texting him about your non-existent relationship for some reason? Maybe you don’t want to make him sad thinking about it. 

WannabeCowboy 

“I know” 3:34pm Sent Read 

SparrowBird 

“They can’t know” 3:39pm Sent Read 

“I don’t want anyone to ask questions. You know how nosey everyone can get” 3:39pm Sent Read 

It’s true, everyone from your group is too damn nosey but it’s not why you told him they can’t know. 

WannabeCowboy typing…

Rule #2: No sleeping with other people (that includes dating)

“Sorry, darlin’ but I’m afraid I can’t tonight.” He easily turns her down, something he hasn’t done... ever. 

“What? Why not?” She leans in closer as if that would persuade him into changing his mind. “Am I not pretty enough?” 

“Oh no, you are. I just- uh- I’m too busy.” 

“I saw the girl you came in with. She’s the one you always talk about, right?” 

He says nothing. 

“She’s the one you always come to me about. She’s the reason you’re always so stressed, remember?” She tugs at the collar of his shirt. 

He reaches up and gingerly removes her hand from him. 

She pouts. “Is she finally giving you some attention or something?” 

He nods, “or something. So, even though you were, I say again, great. I can’t. I have to get back before she comes over, searching for me. I think I’ve let her drink melt enough tonight.” 

She rolls her eyes, “whatever.” 

He smirks as he turns around, walking away. He’s never felt this much satisfaction rejecting a girl before. ‘Is this why you did?’ He reaches beside you to give you your drink. 

“Here you go, Wings.” 

“Must you continue with that god awful nickname?” You ask, silently hoping he doesn’t stop. It’s special. 

“It’s my humanly duty.” 

You click your tongue against the roof of your mouth, “see I don’t think it is, in your mind maybe.” 

He takes a sip of his drink. “Who was that guy that swooped in, not even a minute after I left to go to the bar?” 

“No one important.” 

“You sure? It looked like he was trying to do more than talk to you.” 

“He was, which is why I turned him down.” You avoid eye contact and take big gulps of your drink, staring out the window watching the sunset and the ocean waves crashing. 

Jake takes this opportunity to stare at you, wondering how someone like yourself would ever want to be in a “friend” with benefits situation with him. 

He can’t lie and say he’s not happy that you agreed to it, because he is. Oh, he is. 

But there’s another thought that comes to mind. 

You could easily find someone else to relieve your stress, he knows you can so why change that now? 

You look down at your phone when it vibrates against the table. You open it and find a text from that one guy you went to the bar with months ago. 

BarGuy 

“Hey. You in town?” 7:33pm Sent Read 

You glance up, checking to see where Jake’s attention is. 

He’s chatting with Javy, who must’ve come when you were too into your thoughts. 

SparrowBird 

“Nope. I don’t think I’ll be back in town for a while. Sorry” 7:45pm Sent Read 

After that you decide to turn off your phone, making a mental note to delete his number. 

He was a genuinely nice guy but the more you... hangout with Jake, the more you get to know him. 

“You two down for a round of pool?” 

You chuckle, “if you mean, are you two ready to get your asses handed to you by a woman. Let’s play, Coyote.” 

Javy eyes follow you as you walk towards the pool tables. “That’s the girl you want?” 

Jake’s offended. “What does that mean?” 

“She’s scary.” 

A hearty chuckle escapes him. “What?” 

“She’s got that crazy look in her eye. I think she plans on killing me.” 

“Now, who’s dramatic?” 

He pats his buddy’s shoulder before walking away. “Still you, man.”

Rule #3: No having sex without protection

One minute you’re in the air, the next you’re being berated for not doing what you felt was unnecessary and going against orders. 

You were so annoyed and then as soon as you stepped through the locker room door, you knew what was going to happen tonight. “What are you doing here?” 

He shrugs, “I thought you might want a little… company tonight. I know, it was intense today.” 

You roll your eyes and walk down the hallway, Jake on your tail. “I’m not talking about this with you.” 

“You don’t have to talk, Wings. I mean, you’re already going to be a mess underneath me for the first part-” 

You grab the collar of his flight suit and slam his back into the nearest wall. 

He barely flinches. 

You lean in, “could you have said that any louder?” 

There’s that stupid smirk again. 

“I can scream it if you want me to?” 

You let him go and stomp down the hallway, heading back to your place. 

-

Bob swerves around the corner, catching your body exiting the door before it closes. He glances between the door and an unkempt Jake. 

The smirk falls from his face when he notices Bob. “What are you looking at Baby on Board?” 

He shakes his head, “nothing. You ready to go in the air?” 

“As if you need to ask.” 

He regretted it as soon as the question was asked. 

Jake wraps his arm around the other man’s shoulders. “Let me give you a few pointers on being my back seater.” 

“I’d rather not.” 

“Too bad.” 

-

He called you as soon as he left, teasing you… in a non-Jake way. “I got your favorite.” 

You furrow your brows and not because the characters on the tv show you’re watching are doing some interesting things for a comedy show. “My favorites?” 

“Yep. Favorite dinner, drink, and desert plus some whip cream which could be used later.” 

“You’re just trying to persuade your way into my pants.” 

“I’ve already been there but I’d like to visit again.” 

“God, you’re annoying.” 

“Which makes the sex better.” 

You roll your eyes. “Are you almost here?” 

“Just pulled in, sweetheart.” 

‘That’s a new one,’ you think. 

After dinner you two sit down and finish the season of your most recent binge. 

You don’t remember who started it, but you wound up in your bedroom and you pulled away from him. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, this- this is good, but it’d be even better if I knew you had protection.” 

“Protection?” 

You blink once. “Don’t tell me you’re seriously this dumb.” 

He looks offended but you don’t focus on that and continue talking. 

“I’m not talking about protection to save us from a bear attack, Seresin. I’m talking about the more important protection, you know, like a condom. We’ve been over this before.” 

The corner of his mouth curls. “What’s got you in such a mood?” 

“As if you don’t know?” You’re tired of the games he’s been playing with you since earlier this morning, at work no less. 

Your annoyance rises as you think about how easily he teases you in front of everyone, almost like he wants them to find out. But this is the only thing you’ve been looking forward to since your “talk” with Vice Admiral Cyclone. 

You get tired of trying to unbutton his shirt and rip it off. 

“You got something or not?” 

He glances between you and his, now destroyed, shirt. “I do.” 

“Good, I have some of my own so we’re both fine.” He pulls off the rest of his shirt before reaching down for your own, pulling it up to your chest. He leans down, kissing along your neck before moving down to, as you say (the next morning), attack you. 

“I don’t need you to take your time.” You grab him by his neck, holding so you’re a mere few inches apart, “it’s sweet but I need you and I need you now.” 

“I like what you’re telling me to sweetheart.” 

There it is again.  

Rule #4 No kissing

You close your eyes, head tilting back. 

As much as you hate to admit it, it feels so good… and you don’t want him to know. Jake has a big enough ego; he doesn’t need anything else to expand that. 

He knows it’s good, that he’s good; he’s holding back so he doesn’t let go too early. He wants to make this last, unlike the other times you’ve been together or any other woman he’s been with. 

Your grip tightens on the sheets, trying your best to not lift your hands and scratch him. 

God knows there doesn’t need to be anymore “talk” in the locker rooms. No marks, no more talks; it’s as simple as that. 

He doesn’t try to slow down or stop (when does he). His pace is relentless. 

You shiver when his lips move up against your neck, you don’t mind it though even if both of you agreed to this being a rule. 

Maybe you’re getting soft or maybe you’re giving in to the feelings you’ve been denying for so long. You can’t think too much into it as your body is moved closer to him, your hands slip onto his biceps. 

He lifts your lower half higher so you’re resting on his lap and begins nipping at your jawline. 

Your nails slowly dig into the skin of his biceps, he doesn’t mind. 

He pecks your check and then corner of your mouth. 

You let out a shuddered breath, stomach twitching at the sensation in your lower body and his intimate gesture. 

He lifts his head off you, studying your expression, wanting to see how close you are. He can’t help it and leans down, capturing your lips with his. 

You’re quick to fall into a rhythm with him. 

You know there’s no turning back, you’ve gone too far, you’re in too deep. 

No matter how many rules you two made, it was doomed from the start. 

There was always something between the two of you no matter how much you tried to deny it.

Rule #5 No falling for each other

“Would it kill you stop looking at your phone like that?” 

Jake’s head snaps up. “What?” 

His friend clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “You’ve been staring at your phone over the last few minutes.” 

“And?” 

“You look like a sad puppy whenever you check the notifications and find that she hasn’t responded.” 

“No, I don’t.” 

“You do. Next time you do, I’ll take a photo.” 

“Coyote-” 

The man shakes his head. “Nope, don’t even try. You won’t win.” 

He rolls his eyes. “I hate you sometimes.” 

“No, you don’t.” 

This gets the blonds mind thinking. 

Could he really be becoming a different person because he has actual feeling you? Is that why he gets, well like this, now? 

He shakes his head, he couldn’t have feelings for you, right? 

Javy turns around to find his friend gone, he purses his lips because he knows the main reason why Jake left but did, he really have to leave him on his own? 

They drove to the bar together and he needs a wingman tonight. 

-

You open the door, “hi.” 

“Hey.” 

“What made you come over? I thought you had plans with your boyfriend tonight?” 

He doesn’t join in on the chuckling. 

“Okay, you usually laugh when I joke about Coyote, what happened? Are you okay?” 

He nods. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just-” Missed you is what he truly wants to say. “I was a little stressed after this afternoon.” 

You nod your head, “I kind of figured you would be. It wasn’t easy today.” 

And then you two wound up in your bedroom. 

He stares at you, like he did earlier when you walked through the door at base this morning but… something’s changed since then. 

Have you always looked this serene even while his hips snap against yours over and over again? 

How did he not realize that you're the one he wants to go out with and take on the most magical and memorable dates? 

Is this what Javy has been implying this whole time? 

He begs you to open your eyes, but you don't hear him. "Sweetheart," he takes a deep breath, not wanting to let you know how good he's feeling (now that he knows what he feels for you) because if he does, he'll moan. 

"Open your eyes. I need to see you... fall apart for me,” he adds in normal Jake fashion. “Do it for me,” and then he says something he’s never done before and calls you by your first name. 

You struggle to open your eyes and bite your bottom lip, close to sucking it in so a witty comeback doesn’t escape you and ruin the mood. 

"There she is," he smiles, leaning in. His eyes trail over your face, memorizing every blemish spot, acne scarring, and anything else you may see as an imperfection that he's going to forever classify as absolutely beautiful. 

The look in his eyes is much different than previous times. It's like, he's seeing you for the first time. 

You can feel the change coursing through your body (and not just because he's slowing his pace, wanting to draw this out). 

He hovers over you for a minute and then leans in closer to your face, his eyes travel over every part of it he can. He's trying to see if it's okay for him to do this and finds no objections, dare he say, you're even leaning up and meeting him halfway. 

Neither of you can think about how you're breaking rule number four and five, as you kiss him until you can't anymore. 

You two barely part, breathing the other in as you catch your breath. 

It just became more than a friend with benefits situation, and it’s become more complicated than it should have, which led to your blowup.

You lay side by side, staring at the ceiling trying to comprehend what happened and what this means. 

He turns to his side, watching you, something he’s never done before. “You, okay?” 

“Yep.” 

“Doesn’t sound like it. Usually there’s a little more heat to you.” 

“Maybe I don’t have any more heat.” 

“Like I’d believe that.” 

“Why don’t you just go home?” 

His brows knit together in confusion. “Woah. What just happened?” 

“What do you mean? I’m just helping you get out of here faster. I mean, you’re already out the door by now. Why take your time tonight?” 

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me, and I don’t care how long that takes.” 

“Well, I do.” You push yourself out of your bed and throw on the top you were grabbing your underwear and bottoms. “You need to get out.” You turn around and find him sitting up, watching you. 

“Okay, I hear, and I will, but can I just ask one thing?” 

“What?” You snap at him. 

“Why are you trying to throw me out of here so bad?” 

“What?” 

“I don’t have any other plans tonight; in fact, I ditched Javy so I could come see you.” 

“Am I supposed to be grateful?” 

“I’m not saying that.” 

“Sounds like it.” 

“Would you stop trying to push me away?” 

“I’m not trying to push anyone away. I think,” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “I think this was a mistake.” 

“What? Our deal?” 

You run a hand through your hair, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, I do.” 

He gets out of bed, grabbing his boxers. “I don’t believe you.” 

“Yeah, and I don’t care whether you do or not.” 

“You care more than you want to admit.” 

“Why do you keep saying that? As if- as if there’s more to us than there really is,” you say, voice cracking with emotion. 

“Because I know something’s changed. For you and for me.” 

You shake your head. 

“It’s true,” he reaches for you, hands on either. “I’ll be the first out of the two of us to admit that I broke one of our rules.” 

You don't even know how to respond. 

"I broke the one rule we created because we already knew we were doomed." 

"Which one?" 

"One of the important ones, especially with what we do. You remember the conference we had not too long ago about how being in a relationship with your coworker isn't a good idea because of all the drama that can come with it." 

It takes you a minute to realize what he's talking about and once you do, you let out a quiet, "oh." 

"Yeah, that one. I can't stop thinking about you, you know?" 

"Really?" 

"Always, never stopped. Even when we supposedly hated each other. You were still there, lingering and that's why I knew it should be you I ask." 

"Is that what made you come up with this idea?" 

"Not at first. It was kind of Coyote’s idea.” 

“He knows?!” 

“No,” he shakes his head. “No, no one does... but he and Bob might suspect something’s up.” 

“What?!” 

“Hey, hey,” he pulls you close. “They’re not going to say anything unless we tell them to. You know Bob and I vouch for Coyote. And they know better than to mess with my girl.” 

You pull back, “your girl?” 

“I thought we went through this already?” 

You pretend to think about it before shaking your head, “nope, pretty sure we didn’t.” 

“Alright, fine. Would you do me the honor of being the one I get to call mine?” 

You shrug, “I guess.” 

“Oh, that’s how we’re going to play this.” 

“Yeah, whatch’ you going to do about it, stud?” 

“Throw you back into that bed and show you.” You smile before launching yourself at him. “Take me away... or go home.” 

He moves his hands from your thighs and slides them closer to your behind. “I’m starting to think you like my punishments.” 

“Me? Never, what makes you say that?” 

He smiles, shaking his head and gently sets you down letting you crawl wherever you think you can. 

-

Natasha turns her head, curious as to what she saw from the corner of her eye. “Did you get attacked by a suckerfish?” She asks, with a smirk.

You shake your head, “if only you knew.” 

-

“Damn, Hangman. You wind up in bed with a werewolf?” Reuben asks. 

“It was brat night.” 

A few of the others start snickering. 

-

You two see each other from afar, he winks, and you smile. 

Bradley, Mickey, Reuben, and Natasha are losing their minds. 

No one sees but Javy slides a twenty over to Bob. “It’s always the quiet ones.” 

Bob smirks and slips it into his pocket.

[disturbedbeautywrites]

Let’s give him hell - Bradley Rooster Bradshaw x Seresin! Reader

Warnings: Mentions of domestic abuse, cursing, fighting. Protective older brother Jake and bestie Bradley

Part 2 is posted here

“Please don’t be awake.” You repeated the words to yourself as you walked up the steps to your house, praying to a higher power that Jake wasn’t still awake. He had been home for leave and was staying in your guest room along with a couple of his navy buddies. You knew he didn’t want to stay with your parents because he wasn’t your dads biggest fan, so you said he could stay with you. But now, as you realized the situation you were in, you were regretting it. You really didn’t want your older brother to see the poorly covered bruises because you knew he would lose his shit. You were the youngest of the Seresin siblings and the one who was the closest to the only boy of the bunch, him being a couple years your senior.

The bruises that were slowly starting to turn purple now were the doing of the man who was supposed to always protect you. Jason, your boyfriend had gotten a little over zealous tonight and had put his hands on you. You tried to cover it with makeup and a baseball cap, but you knew you weren’t fooling anyone.

You kept your head down as you slid in the front door, trying to shut the door quietly. You heard your brothers voice and the voice of others; telling you that there was more than one naval aviator you had to avoid. You listened to the voices; recognizing Rooster and Jake laughing about who knows what. You slowly pushed the door shut and swore under your breath as the door squeaked loud enough for the conversation to stop.

“You’re home late.” You heard Jake call out, his head peaking out from behind the door frame in the kitchen. You nodded and lowered your head even more, clicking your tongue as you sat your keys down and sighed. You felt like you were a teenager again, getting caught by him when you were out past curfew. “Yeah, I fell asleep at Jason’s.” The words were a bold faced lie as you scouted out your escape up the stairs and to your room “I hope you haven’t tried to burn my house down yet.” You tried to keep a conversation flowing as you put away your shoes and your coat, hearing Rooster laugh at your comment.

Your heart swelled in your chest at the sound of your best friends laughter, wishing you could go say hi. But knowing better than that. “What do you think?” Jake’s voice made you roll your eyes as you affirmed his smart ass words, hearing a chair scrape along the kitchen floor. “Wow, she hasn’t even come to say hi to me. We both come into town for the first time in a year and she’s avoiding us..” You heard Rooster’s teasing voice and you feel your heart start to race.

“I’m going to bed! I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Night!” And with that you took off sprinting up the stairs, slamming your door behind you. You turned the lock on the door, or so you thought as you walk into your room and sink down into your bed. You slid the hat off your head and let yourself take in the sight of yourself, a few tears slipping down your cheeks as you shake your head; recalling the argument in your head.

You had called him out on not being faithful to you, having found evidence of him cheating in the form of a girl texting him while you were over. It had made you extremely upset, telling him you were done. At the words, he lost his temper. He took his anger out on you and you were now wearing the consequences.

“Hey, Jake asked me to come check-“ You heard a knock on your door as Bradley pushed it open, showing a perfect example of the literal open policy the two of you had in your friendship. He stopped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of you in the mirror, his eyes widening. “He didn’t.” His tone turned harsh as he walked in and sat in front of you, carefully taking your face in his hand. “Are you okay?” His voice softened as he carefully ran his fingers down your skin, his hazel eyes meeting yours.

You gave him the best fake smile you could muster, nodding as you put your hand over his. “I’m okay, Roo. I promise.” You wiped away a couple of tears as you looked up at him and swallowed thickly. “Please don’t tell Jake..” You knew exactly what your brother was capable of and you were terrified for it to be unleashed. Growing up, he was the kind to square up against your dad and he did it with a cocky smile on his lips.

Your dad laid his hands on your mom one time and never made the mistake again after Jake punched him for it. Sure, the blonde aviator got a nasty shiner and a bloody lip, but he looked your dad dead in the eye as he threatened with the cops. “Call them. I’ll tell them to read me my rights. You don’t fucking touch my mother like that.” His words were dripping with venom as he spit his blood into the grass, clenching his fists. “As far as I’m concerned, the law was mine to break tonight and I would gladly fucking do it again.” The fight was over then and there and never happened again.

“You know I have to tell him. He fucking hurt you.” Bradley was trying to keep his cool for your sake but you just looked up at him, shaking your head. “Then I guess I should just give you more ammo if we’re going to rile my brother up.” You pushed yourself up off the bed and out of Roosters grip, walking over to your dresser. You slid out of the shirt you were wearing, slipping on one of Roosters old shirts that he gave you. “He cheated on me too.” You met his eyes through your mirror, feeling a small sense of fear creep into your spine as you saw anger flash through his eyes.

Rooster shook his head as he watched you crawl into bed, biting the inside of his lip. He walked over and sat on the edge of your bed, feeling like you could use the sense of safety. He stayed there until he heard your soft snores, quietly letting himself out of your room.

He walked downstairs to meet the curious eyes of the other aviators, Jake opening his mouth to spout off a smart aleck remark. However, Bradley raised his hand to stop him, a dead serious look on his face. “We have an ass to go kick. He laid his hands on her.” The words were enough for Jake to stand straight up, immediately going to grab his truck keys. “Do you know where he lives?” One of the other boys spoke up, setting his beer down on the table as they all stood up from their chairs. “Unfortunately for him, I do. He’s going to pay.” Jake’s words were cold enough to chill someone to the bone as he motioned for everyone to follow him, ready to go take matters into his own hands.

Taglist: @atarmychick007 @ginger-gabsq @fandomxpreferences

[callsign-dexter]

Together Against the World

Request: ok love bare with me on this plz lol 😂

so I was wondering if you could write a hangman x sister reader?

like maybe the little sister is significantly younger than hangman but after some incident he got full custody of her (you can choose what happened) and maybe the dagger team don’t know until they see him playing with her on the beach so they go over and question him about it and he explains but they are all in shock (because who could not be after seeing someone like Jake with a kid) at first they think the reader is his kid but Jake explains that even though legally you are we are only his sister. Maybe even the reader falls and gets hurt and Jake goes into full on loving parent mode.

maybe the reader is like 5

anyways sorry for the word dump and this is 100% your choice sorry for my bad punctua

Pairings: Jake Seresin x Sister!Reader

Warnings: fluff, angst, car crash

Masterlist

Nobody ever thinks that a tragedy could happen to them until it does, they always think “That’ll never happen to me.” but the funny thing about tragedy is that it doesn’t care who you are. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin thought the same way until he got the news that his parents and his 1-year-old sister, you, were in an accident and it had instantly killed his parents and that he needed to come pick his sister up from the hospital in Texas. You had some broken bones and some cuts and bruises but you were ok. Jake had to go to court and fill out paperwork and go before a judge for him to get full custody of you considering that your sister had been in the picture for a while. Besides Jake wouldn’t let anyone else have you after all he was your favorite.

4 years later you were now 5 years old and living your best life with your brother and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure, you moved a lot but as long as you had Jake nothing mattered. Jake loves having you around and wouldn’t change a thing and it changed his life for the better. He hadn’t been picking up random chicks from the bar and his drinking was cut down considerably. Not many people knew about you and Jake liked to keep it that way, it was a way to protect you, the only people that knew about you were the ones that needed to know like the higher-ups in the Navy. Jake hated pulling you out of schools and shoving you into new ones but all that would change after this special detachment you had brought it up one night during dinner before the move. Jake had noticed you were quiet and that concerned him since you were a mini version of him.

“Jakey?” You asked as you pushed food around on your plate.

“Yes, Peach?” He asked you, Peach, a nickname that came from you eating and loving peaches.

“Are we ever gonna stay in one place?” You asked him, looking at him with green doe eyes. Jake stopped eating and looked at you.

“I promise after this special detachment I’m putting in a request for a permanent station.” He said and you nodded “Finish your supper and get ready for bed I’ll be up to read to you after I clean up.” He said and you nodded. You both finished and you were off to get ready for bed. As you were getting ready for bed and Jake was cleaning up, he began thinking to himself about how your whole life was uprooted. He hated that you couldn’t grow attached to babysitters or make friends because you ended up moving in a month after getting to the new station. He promised to himself that he would put in a request to stay at Top Gun just so you didn’t have to keep moving around. As he finished up putting food away and cleaning the kitchen, he headed upstairs in your rental base house and to your room. As he was walking, he was looking at all the boxes packed and ready to go and when he reached your room and saw all of the boxes that had yet to be unpacked, he felt sad and frowned but that didn’t last long because he looked at you smiling at him. He read to you until you were asleep and then he turned the light out and cracked the door. Jake didn’t go to bed right away, instead he sat on the couch and grabbed his computer and started to look at a house in lovely Miramar. He figured he would move a week before that way he could get you settled and buy some furniture. After an hour of searching, he found the perfect one close to the beach, base, and schools and they had good ratings. He smiled and requested an appointment to look at it when you both arrived there in the morning. Jake closed his laptop and got ready for bed himself.

The next morning, he was up bright and early moving boxes into his truck and the mini trailer had hitched to the back. When he got to your room, he was sure to be quiet and got all of the boxes and then he decided to wake you up. “Hey, Y/N/N. Time to wake up. You can sleep in the truck.” He said and he heard you groan but you woke up and rubbed your eyes and nodded he raised your hands up and he chuckled. He stood up and picked you up and carried you out to the truck. He gently carried you down the stairs and you clung to him like your life depended on it and true to your fashion you fell asleep on him. He swore you could fall asleep anywhere and he was envious of it. When he got you situated in the truck he went back and did a once through making sure both of you had gotten everything as well as grabbing your sheets and comforter. When he got back to the truck you were still sleeping like a rock and he chuckled and shook his head, he tossed the sheets and comforter into the trailer in a box and then he got into the truck and started the 5 hr. drive from Lemoore to Miramar.

2 hrs. into the drive you had woken up and he kept you entertained with anything he could and you both stopped and got food at an IHop and then were back on the road. The rest of the ride was filled with off key singing and games. Your big brother was your world and everything you wanted in a male figure. “Are we there yet?” You asked, looking up at him and Jake chuckled.

“15 more minutes.” He said

“Fine.” You huffed but rolled your eyes and sighed and he chuckled. “But 15 minutes is too long.” You whined.

“Play on your tablet and it’ll go by faster.” He said and you grabbed it and your attention was focused on that. Music was playing softly in the background for Jake’s entertainment. True to his word 15 minutes did go by fast and you were pulling into a neighborhood and you looked up and forward your brow.

“Jakey?” You asked and he looked up.

“What’s up, Peach?” He asked

“What are we doing?” You asked

“Looking at a house.” He said and you nodded. He parked in the driveway and got out and then got you out and sat you down and then he saw the relator walk up to him.

“Good afternoon! I’m Alicia London. You must be Jake Seresin. I must say you have a beautiful daughter.” She said and Jake shook his head and smiled. He got that all the time.

“Yes, I’m Jake but this is my sister.” He said as you hid further into his leg.

“My apologies!” She said, embarrassed.

“No worries, ma’am.” He said

“Shall we have a look at the house?” She asked and he nodded. As you both were getting a tour, he was loving it especially the backyard. As they finished, he was smiling. “So, what do you think?” She asked.

“It’s perfect. I wanna go ahead and buy it. It’s in my price range and it’s a good distance from the base and school.” He said and she seemed shocked.

“Of course, Mr. Seresin. I’ll get the paperwork started and you can move in today.” She said and he nodded.

“That would be great. Also please call me Jake. Mr. Seresin has since passed.” Jake said and she nodded and walked out of the room he turned to look at you.

“What do you think?” He asked and you seemed to look around for a minute.

“I like it!” You shouted and he smiled. Alicia walked back in.

“Good news! You got the house since no others were interested in it and here is the key.” She said and handed it to him. “All I need you to do is sign the papers and then the rest can be handled at a later time.” She said and he smiled. “I’ll get out of your hair and let you settle in and I’ll be in contact.” She said and he nodded and left. Jake started to move everything in with your help and once everything was set up you both went shopping. First you went to furniture stores and found everything you both liked and then the grocery store. The furniture was delivered the same day and in about an hour everything was put together and ready to go.

When Jake dropped you off at your new school the next morning he had stopped by the bank and got everything sorted and now it was time for him to figure things out like finding a babysitter for you. He met with a lot of people but he settled for an 18-year-old that was going to school and needed a part time job named Bailey. When he went to pick you up from school you were in much better spirits and loving Miramar.

===============================

A week passed quickly and now it was time for him to go and meet his squad while you stayed home with your new babysitter. When she got there, he introduced you two and both of you hit it off. As he was preparing to leave, he got down on your level “You be good for Bailey and do what she says. Understand?” He asked in a parental tone and you nodded.

“You got it, Jakey!” You said and hugged him he hugged you back and turned to Bailey.

“If you have any problems or questions don’t hesitate to call. I should be back by 10:30.” He said and she nodded.

“You got it, Jake.” She said and he bid you both a goodbye and then left. When Jake got to the Hard Deck nobody else was there but he didn’t have to last long because Javy was calling out his name and they greeted each other.

“Long time no see man!” Javy said and they both smiled.

“You got that right!” Jake said as they grabbed drinks from Penny and they thanked her and walked over to the pool table and dart board.

“How’s Y/N doing?” Javy asked, taking a sip from his drink.

“Settling in better than i expected. She loves her new school and her babysitter.” Jake said, throwing a dart and then taking a drink of his beer. They continued to talk until the other showed up and after having a little argument with Bradley and throwing someone overboard along with Rooster playing the piano, it was 10 PM. “Well, I better get going.” Jake said and that shocked everyone.

“Leaving so soon, Hangman?” Bradley said and Jake just scoffed.

“Like you would want to know.” He said and walked off and out of the bar confusing his teammates.

“What do you think he is hiding? A secret family, girlfriend, or kid?” Natasha said and everybody shrugged and chipped in their answers but Javy, he knew the truth.

===============================

Jake got home right at 10:30 and parked in the driveway and headed inside. Everything was probably neater than he left it and smiled. He walked into the living room to see his baby sister and Bailey curled up on the couch and he smiled. Bailey noticed him and smiled “She wasn't too much trouble, was she?” He asked as he walked over and stroked his sister’s hair. Bailey shook her head.

“Not in the least bit. She is the sweetest little girl ever. She didn’t put up a fight when I told her to brush her teeth or get changed for bed. She wanted to stay up but as soon as we put on the second movie she was out like a light.” Bailey said standing up making sure the girl didn’t fall off the couch and Jake smiled.

“Good, she seemed to really take to you. It’s not often that happens.” Jake said as he pulled out his wallet and gave her the money.

“I really like her too. If you need me anytime, let me know.” She said and Jake nodded and walked her to the door and made sure she got her car safely and then locked the door. He walked over to Y/N and picked her up and she clung to him like her life depended on it. He walked up the stairs and to her room and gently put her into bed.

“Good night, Peach. I love you.” He said and kissed her forehead and got ready for bed himself.

===============================

Every time after training instead of going out to The Hard Deck or hanging out with the squad he would rush out of the locker room that way he could go and pick up his sister from school and hang out with her. “Hangman, you coming to The Hard Deck?” Nat asked as he collected her things.

“Nope. I got some stuff to do and someone that I need to take care of.” Jake said and headed out without a word again confusing the group.

“He’s hiding something. I wanna know what it is.” Bradley said and again they all nodded and carried on with their day and night. Javy hadn’t said a word wanting to keep Jake’s promise that he wanted to keep her a secret until they knew everything was going to be ok.

===============================

The day of the dogfight football came and they, besides Javy, were determined to get an answer out of Jake as they started playing, they didn’t bring it up. They agreed to bring it up when it was well into the game that way, he would be too focused on the game to think about anything else. “So, Hangman. Have you got anyone back home?” Bradley asked as they set up for another hike. Jake smirked.

“That is none of your business, Rooster.” Jake said as they continued to play the game. It was well into the day and the game when they decided for a break. Jake went and got his drink and checked his phone and about dropped it when he saw that he had several missed calls from Bailey and he instantly called back making sure that nobody was around him.

“Bailey. What’s wrong?” Jake asked as soon as she answered the phone.

“Jake, I’m sorry I called you so many times. Y/N’s school called and said that she had an accident at school and they rushed her to the ER. We’re still here.” Bailey said and he could hear in her voice that she was panicked.

“No, I’m sorry that I didn’t have my phone on me. I was busy with work. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Did they say what happened to her?” Jake said, already throwing on a t-shirt and grabbing his stuff.

“No, they didn’t or at least not to me. We’ll see you when you get here.” Bailey said and they hung up.

Jake walked over to Maverick, and he smiled at the young aviator but frowned when he saw his face “Everything ok?” Maverick asked and Jake shook his head.

“My sister is in the hospital. I need to go.” Jake said and Maverick nodded, he knew all about Y/N then again it was in Jake’s record.

“You go to her and take Javy with you. Tell Y/N I said hi.” Maverick said and Jake nodded and rushed off, Maverick knew those two were best friends, but not before Javy caught him.

“Everything ok with Y/N/N?” Javy asked and Jake shook his head “I’m coming with you.” He said and Jake nodded and they headed off. This didn’t go unnoticed by the rest and they instantly went to Maverick.

“Where are they off to?” Bob asked out of curiosity.

“Jake had an emergency he needed to tend to and Javy went with him.” Maverick said not wanting to spill his secret. Nobody said anything too worried about their team members.

===============================

Jake and Javy made it to the hospital in record time and went to the front desk and they led her to her room. “Jakey! Javy!” you said excitedly.

“Hey, Peach and Bailey.” Jake said and hugged you carefully.

“Hey there, Sweetie.” Javy said and then the doctor walked in.

“You must be Jake. I’m Dr. Zeke.” Dr. Zeke said and shook his hand.

“Yea that’s me. I’m her brother. What happened?” Jake asked as Bailey and Javy stepped out of the room to give them some time to talk.

“It seemed like she took a fall on the playground and was unconscious for a minute and when she woke up was a little disoriented so she was brought her. Over the few hours we have been keeping an eye on her and she seems to be improving. She’s actually ready to go home.” Dr. Zeke said and Jake nodded and they talked more and then he was signing discharge papers and they were heading home. The rest of the day and night was spent cuddling and watching movies. Javy and Bailey had left the hospital.

===============================

The mission came and went and was successful. Everyone was spending the much-needed time off the second day off they had gotten the announcement that they were officially a squadron. It was spent mostly at The Hard Deck, the beach, or with each other, surprisingly. Everyone but Jake, that is, he was spending it with you. “Jakey?” You asked as you were eating lunch and he looked up at you.

“Yes, Peach?” He asked back.

“Can we go to the beach?” You asked excitedly and he smiled.

“Of course! Do you wanna go after lunch?” He asked and you nodded enthusiastically. He chuckled “Ok, finish up and then go and get ready.” He said and he watched you quickly eat and then scamper off. He then got himself ready and a bag ready and when you padded downstairs he smiled and you two headed off to the beach. The truck ride was filled with music and singing and occasionally laughing. Jake found a spot and parked and now you two had sat off towards the beach and the water.

===============================

The Daggers, as they were officially called now, were at the beach hanging out and playing some dogfight football. As they were sitting on the beach talking and laughing along with sharing stories. A shriek caught Bradley’s attention and looked up "Is that Jake... with a child?" Rooster asked, squinting against the sun, looking at what may be his wingman. This caught everyone’s attention and looked in his direction. What they saw was Jake and a little girl in the water and Jake holding her up as a wave came up.

“I believe it is.” Nat said as they watched the both of you come out of the water/

“Should we go say hi?” Bob asked and everyone nodded so they got up and headed over. Jake saw them coming when he turned his head and he sighed, they were going to find out sooner or later. “Hey, Jake.” Bob said when they reached him.

“Hey guys.” Jake greeted and then he felt a tug on his arm and he looked down to see you looking up at him.

“Jakey?” You asked and hid further behind him while looking at the group of strangers.

“Y/N/N I want you to meet Natasha, Bradley, Bob, Ruben, and Mickey.” Jake said pointing at each and every one of them. Everyone greeted everyone and then you saw Javy.

“Javy!” You yelled out and ran to him and hugged him and he quickly picked you up and hugged you.

“We didn’t know you had a kid.” Bradley said and Jake shook his head.

“Not my kid. My sister.” Jake said as Javy put you down and you ran off to start building a sand castle as everyone went and sat down. “I got custody after our parents got into an accident when she was 1 and nobody was willing to take her.” Jake said a little mad at his siblings but he would never give you up for anything.

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Bob said as you came up to them and pulled Bob up and to your sand castle so he could help and Bob couldn’t say no and he already loved you.

“She’s a good kid and once she warms up to you, she’ll be your friend for life.” Jake said and smirked pointing to Bob and you as an example. It wasn’t 10 minutes later you both came back to the group and you went to Bradley and stared at him, more specifically his mustache “Yea, Peach I had the same reaction.” He said and everyone chuckled while Bradley rolled his eyes but smiled. You touched it and then giggled and then went to your brother’s lap and sat down and then snuggled into him and was out like a light.

“Peach?” Mickey asked and Jake chuckled.

“Yea, she absolutely loves peaches.” He said and they chuckled.

“Jake, I’m glad you told us about her. She is so adorable.” Ruben said and everyone agreed.

“My old squad never cared and I didn’t trust them. The only people that know about her are the higher-ups, Maverick, Cyclone, Warlock, and Javy. But that is because she is on my record and Javy was there when I got the call and when I went to pick her up.” Jake said and Javy nodded conforming to it.

“If you need anything, I mean anything. We are here for you no matter what.” Natasha said and Jake smiled while everyone agreed.

“Thanks guys, that means so much to me.” Jake said as you moved slightly. He was very glad that he told them about you. Now he didn’t have to hide you and he had more help than ever especially when Bailey couldn’t make it. Your family just expanded to many cool aunts and uncles. You were going to be so protected.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@grandstrangerphantom

[magnolia-among-the-stars]

soothing migraines [jake seresin]

A/N: I started writing this last night due to my awful migraine and struggling to imagine a soft!Jake taking care of you. Couldn't finish until this evening due to that damn migraine. This goes out to all my gals with chronic head problems :D

PLOT: You and Hangman have a no feelings attached friends with benefits situation but when he comes over while you are dealing with a terrible migraine, a situation unfolds.

It goes without saying but I do not give permission for anyone to use my work or copy it somewhere else.

You never felt it necessary to inform Hangman of your impending migraines. It typically never mattered; the topic of discussion filled up “things that friends with benefits don’t discuss.” And that was all you were, two people who used each other’s bodies to fulfill longing, to fulfill a void only for a little while. So, when the raging thump came knocking on your skull like a judge’s final decision in a courtroom, you typically just drew the curtains shut and popped a pill in hopes that once you awoke from a catnap – the wavering tides would’ve past.

In the times where a ringing behind your eyes turned up to an 11 after a heavy rutting session with the Naval Aviator, your eyes would flutter shut. Counting to ten as you waited for his heavy footsteps and soft goodbyes to echo through the dimness of your bedroom before your toes would meet the cold hardwood flooring to carry you to the bathroom to find some heavy-duty Tylenol.

It was rare that Jake came unannounced but on early days returned home from sea, the man often surprised you in a rapture of clashing teeth and shaking hands as you wound tightly together under the crisp orange sheets of your mattress. Tonight, turned out to be one of those nights where you felt a heavy crown of dull discomfort dressing your head and the base of your neck was taut with tension. So, when a hefty knock interrupted the miserable moments in the dark on your couch, you nearly let the door go unanswered. That would, if the relentless man on the other side could catch a hint.

You huffed finally as the knocking persisted, his voice traveling through the oak wood as he called your name. “I saw your car in the driveway, let me in,” Jake’s almost southern drawl dragged you from your crouched position curled up into ball. Your plan was to tell him to fuck off, that you were in no mood to get railed but his bright eyes and charming smile practically numbed the pain for a few moments long enough for you to invite him in.

Jake snaked his arms tightly around your figure, clawing into the soft flesh of your hipbones before he breathed you in and smacked his lips against yours fervently. You hated to admit his touch felt like that of an angel, delicate but firm. Secure and wanting as he turned the two of you to close the door with your intertwined bodies. His lips, smooth and carved from stone devoured yours as he cradled your head in his large fingertips and braced the thump from the door.

You felt like you were falling, lost in his touch and feeling like you were at heaven’s gates until Satan came knocking and the pounding returned in a rampant rate. You cried slightly on his jawline and slipped from his grasp for a moment, making distant to clear your aching head. “Jake, think you should go,” you grumbled before disappearing into the kitchen to collect your next dose of medication.

Jake stared at your retreating figure with a raised eyebrow and a tight feeling in his chest. Had he misread your body language, he questioned. Could he have missed something? You typically called things off immediately if he were to show up on your doorstep in the evening time. And it wasn’t even 8 o’clock in the evening so he knew that it wasn’t too late. Jake Seresin was nothing if not punctual.

His eyes finally had adjusted enough to notice the darkness in the room, the blazing candles and dimmed lamps illuminating the soft cream-colored blanket on the couch. Why did it feel so romantic? Jake couldn’t explain the overwhelming feelings bubbling up in his stomach, too many to decipher. Were you waiting up for someone else?

“The hell is going on here?” he finally called out, bewilderment and rage winning as his sock clad feet clamored after you into the kitchen to see you with your head on the granite countertop.

“Please go Jake,” you whispered out as you tried to take deep breathes. Your ears were beginning to ring, and you were worried you would pass out from the excruciating sting to your temples. The feeling of being inside a bell tower the only focus of your mushy mind. Jake wasn’t having it.

“Is there someone else I should know about?” he edged on; strong hands placed sternly on his hips as he interrogated the space around the two of you.

“Please stop yelling,” you crocked as you took a deep breath. You could barely focus on his words as wave after wave of thunder collided through your skull and rang through your brain.

“Answer me,” he said, tone more restrained as he tried his best to comply with your request. “Because I know that we said no feelings, but I thought we were kind of finding a rhythm together and exclusively figuring what we were out because I can’t stop thinking about you and if I find out that you are with someone else, I’ll-,”

“Jakob Thomas Seresin,” you finally interrupted his words and finding the strength to lift your head to stare at him. It was then that he noticed your dazed eyes, sullen and droopy. You looked exhausted; teeth clenched as you inhaled slowly. You stepped toward him slightly but staggered on your feet with a hand to your forehead.

He stepped forward in moments, hands firmly holding you steady as he pulled your frame to his chest in concern. The back of his hand came up to touch your forehead, his palm sweetly finding your cheeks after. You were burning up. “What’s happening?” he asked, concern now etched into the lines of his forehead, carved into the lines where his smile previously sat only ten minutes prior.

“I’m having a really bad migraine episode,” you crocked, staring absentmindedly up at his beautiful face and admiring his scruffy jaw. “Nothing has helped all day and I ran out of my medication. ‘m waiting for the doctor on call to get back to me with a time I can pick up the prescription tomorrow.”

Guilt rose from his gut through his shoulder blades, rogue absorbing through his chest and neck. He never said he wasn’t an idiot. “C’mon, lemme help,” he said, turning to wrap your legs around his slender waist and nuzzle into the comfort of his neck as he carried you through the small house to your bedroom.

The action something Jake had down dozens of times, but this time felt different for all the right reasons. He spent a few minutes fluffing your pillows before he peeled your sheets back and rested you gently on top of the mattress. “Get comfy,” he murmured with a kiss to the crown of your head.

Jake left the room for moments, collecting a few items from around your house in the process as you heard the gentle slam of the microwave and then the pop of the freezer door opening before he returned with an arm full.

You watched as he strategically placed your previous display of candles around your bedroom and taking his time to relit them, allowing a tender glow to illuminate the room. “I think we should get you into a fresh pair of clothes, that always feels good,” Jake mumbled as he pulled your drawers open, finding one of his big baggy Navy shirts that had been left behind during a chaotic night after going bar hopping. He smiled gently before stepping to your side and waiting patiently as you lifted your arms.

He tugged your shirt from your frame with ease, his soothing and cool fingertips brushing your ribcage as he went before tugging the new shirt as softly as he could before he grabbed something from the foot of your bed.

Your rice sock that had been displaced on the counter in hand as he tucked it at the base of your neck before he added an ice pack wrapped in a dish rag onto your forehead. “This always did the trick with my baby sister growing up.” Jake placed your heavy-duty Tylenol bottle on your nightstand along with a fresh water bottle before he plugged in your iPhone.

“Does music ever help?” You nodded lightly, grabbing your phone to turn back on your migraine playlist filled with piano melodies and soft strings.

Jake took his time discarding his jeans and stripping his shirt off, sliding in between the sheets next to you so that he could tug you to rest comfortably on him. You took a few deep breaths and inhaled. He smelt like chamomile and honey combined with pine. Humming in delight, you sunk deeper into his embrace which brought a smile to the man’s face, the soft melody in the background peaceful.

Moments turned into minutes as you laid in his embrace, allowing his soft breathing to relax you into a light nap for the first time all day. His skilled fingers rubbed at your scalp, playing with your hair as you snoozed away the most painful parts of your headache until it was a dull roar in your brain. You awoke nearly two hours later when the moon was high in the sky and the world had said goodnight, but Jake was still there in the same position scratching your scalp lightly with his nails.

His inviting smile greeted you when your eyes fluttered open, his perfect pink lips staring at you as you adjusted in his arms to get a better look at him. He was perfect in every way, and he was here with you. How could you have ever really thought you could do an emotion free benefits situation with this man?

“Hi,” you whispered, throat a bit dry from sleep. You cleared your throat and tugged the icepack away to discard it on the floor.

“Hi,” his voice rumbling from deep in his chest. “You passed right out when we got in here,” his smile still so gentle.  

“You’re a great pillow,” you replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed for the state of your health in front of him. You felt vulnerable, chin tucked into your chest as you took a shaky breath.

“Are you feeling better?” Jake nudged your cheek with his nose playfully, ensuring you wouldn’t hide from him. Not now.

“Mmm,” you hummed distractedly before glancing back up into those bright eyes. “Yeah, I,” you stopped yourself, collecting your running thoughts before they got too far. “Thank you for your…everything,” you landed on. Jake stared at you hard for a moment, a stern look glazing over him.

“Why didn’t you call me when you started not feeling good this morning? I could’ve stopped at the store and picked up your prescription?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were thinking about us beyond hooking up?” you threw back without malice, his rambling from earlier not lost on your resting mind. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out at first.

“I didn’t think we were there yet…but when I thought you were getting ready for a romantic evening with someone else,” his voice tensed as your hand ran along with chest to sooth his mind, just as he’d done for you.

“Neither did I,” you admitted, “that’s why I didn’t call you…I didn’t know I could.” Silence fell over the two of you again before Jake leaned down and pressed a kiss to your nose, then your lips.

“Sounds like we need to communicate more,” he chuckled slightly, pulling you so that your back was flush to his chest, remote in hand for the TV on your dresser. “How do we feel about a movie in bed for our first date?”

You shook your head, leaning up to press a kiss or two to the underside of his jaw with a smile. “As long as you stay after to be my pillow.”

[ruewrote]

𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙.

PAIRING: jake seresin x fem!reader WARNINGS: strong language GENRE: fluff SONG INSPIRATION: nonsense by sabrina carpenter WORD COUNT: 912

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this was now the fifth or sixth time that jake had tried to flirt with you, the previous attempts failing since you had shot him down.

you knew of his reputation and you weren't going to be another notch under his belt.

he probably thought you were just playing hard to get, but he got a little more frustrated every single time he got turned down, but was never forceful, he just didn't think he could like someone this much.

you didn't know what he was trying to prove or who he was trying to prove it to.

you already had enough on your plate, making drinks, wiping tables down. it was far from the first time an aviator tried flirting with you either for free drinks or for your number, of course you never gave it out because they all gave up quite easily or never put enough effort in.

not him though.

man was he persistent, it was nice just knowing that someone was thinking of you. yes he might think there's a possibility that he might be able to get into your pants, but a little flirting never hurt anybody, right?

fluttered eyelashes and small gestures like opening the door for you, him letting you walk in first not before sending you a winning smile.

tonight was no different then the others - well that was until a drunken dickhead decided to think it was a good idea to grab your ass.

as soon as it happened you turned around, fist meeting his nose knocking him onto his butt. shaking your hand a little whilst you kept staring at the creep on the floor.

grabbing his nose, he stood as the blood gushed out of his nose. his face full of rage, you soon regretted your punch when he towered over you, backing away he soon stopped when hangman slid in between the two of you, shielding you away from the guy.

"im gonna have to ask you to leave dude, you've crossed the line, the lady was lucky that she let you get away with just a bloody nose. i would've beaten you black and blue for that."

this just made the guy square up to jake, he stood a couple of inches shorted than the aviator, all jake did was firmly planted his feet where he stood, chest puffed out.

the coward ran out of the bar, seresin stood his ground making sure the guy was gone for good before turning to make sure that you were alright.

the whole bar went back to doing what they were doing previous to when the incident started, you didn't even realise that most people had stopped to watch what was happening - some of them ready to intervene if it had come down to it.

once he had scanned your body for any injuries his eyes landed on your hand, the one that had taken a blow not too long ago.

he lightly ran his thumb over your bruised knuckles as he held your hand, you slightly flinched trying to downplay the pain that you feel.

that led him guiding you to the backroom, penny smirking whilst giving you a nod which made you roll your eyes.

once you got there, he sat you down on a unopened keg, opening the freezer door finding an icepack.

you admired him as long as you could before he turned to make his way back over to you, gently placing the ice on your knuckles cradling your hand.

a sharp hiss left your mouth, which made him apologise profusely.

"ive never had anyone defend my honour before, honestly thought he was gonna lay me out flat after he stood up." that just made him shake his head with a small smile, keeping his eyes on your hand in his.

"you know i would never let anything happen as long as i was there."

you had never been this close to him before, so close that you could see the flecks of brown in his green eyes. feel his breath fanning your face, his eyes flickering down to your lips waiting for a response.

"i know. i believe that..." you both leant closer to each other, you were sure he could hear how fast and strong your heart was beating as your lips met his.

it was everything you dreamt of and more.

it felt right. you felt safe with him.

you pulled away with a wide grin on your face, a nervous giggle falling out of your mouth.

"worth the wait, now you stubborn woman will you please let me take you out on a goddamn date?" he playfully slumped himself against you, head on your shoulder.

of course your answer was yes, how could you say no to him?

after you walked out of the break room it must of been obvious that something happened from the hand holding, payback and fanboy started making kissing noises and rubbing there arms up and down their sides pretending to make out with someone.

everyone else in the bar started cheering which made you rest your head on jake's shoulder as a deep blush spread across your cheeks, all he did was shake his head and snaked his arm around your waist pulling you closer to him kissing your cheek.

"it's about damn time." looking over to see it was penny and pete smirking at you both.

the teasing was never ending of course.

© ruewrote.

[hanluex]

♡ NANNA — JAKE ‘HANGMAN’ SERESIN

hangman seresin x fem!reader | wc : 0.4k words | content : possible grammar and spelling mistakes, lowercase intended, domestic fluff, established relationship

“babes, my nanna wants to see you.”

your eyes widened at your boyfriend’s words, unable to register what was happening.

“wait, what?” you paused, freezing in your place. “dude!”

jake chuckled at your words, offering an encouraging smile. “i didn’t want to push this on you either, but my dad told nanna about you. and she said she wants to see you,” he explained.

“i’m still anxious, but i’m slightly more flattered.”

“of course you are.”

you laughed, playfully slapping your boyfriend’s arm. “are we meeting her or is it a video-call?” you asked, thinking of the perfect outfit to wear in your head.

the male shrugged, holding up his phone. “a video-call. just a quick hi. nothing much,” he assured, seeing the way your eyes widened.

“jake, stop! no, i need to prepare! you can’t just—oh my.” you held back a squeal as you jumped behind the sofa, hiding from the video-call your boyfriend’s grandmother had answered.

oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes, nanna sweetly greeted her grandson, grinning from ear-to-ear as she spoke.

“now, your father told me something about your girlfriend being as pretty as a peach,” she commented. “how come you’ve never told me about her or even showed a picture?!”

“i wanted to bring her over for christmas, but dad ruined the surprise,” jake replied, laughing as he shook his head. “i don’t know about peaches, but she looks like a tomato right now,” he added, smiling even more when you hit his arm again.

before you could object, jake raised his arm, clearly showing his grandmother the view of you hiding behind the sofa.

“hello, mrs seresin,” you greeted, offering a small smile. “it’s a pleasure to see you!”

you shot a quick glare at jake before sitting down next to him, making sure his nanna could see the both of you. your boyfriend held your hand for assurance, placing a small kiss on it.

just as jake was about to speak, his grandmother spoke. “jacob seresin, i didn’t know you were dating an angel,” she uttered. “how do you even look away from her?” you shook your head, waving your hands as you laughed.

“oh, no, mrs seresin–”

“please, drop the formalities. call me nanna!”

you smiled, relieved your boyfriend’s grandmother liked you. “well, nanna, you are too kind. i don’t know what to say.” your cheeks were burning, flustered by her compliment.

jake stared in adoration as you made small talk with his grandmother, absolutely smitten by you. but in pure seresin fashion, he teased you about it as a way of telling you how much he loved you.

“wait, nanna, this isn’t fair! how come y/n blushes so much at your compliments and not mine?!”

TAGLIST: SEND AN ASK OR DM TO BE ADDED!

[noctumbra]

          𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞/𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 

summary ─ eavesdropping can cause damage, apparently. 

pairing ─ jake “hangman” seresin x reader

warnings ─ kissing, jake is an asshole lol, teasing, pet names, hickeys

a/n ─ this is my first time writing jake seresin, pls be kind thank u 

You knew he was staring. You could feel his sharp, green eyes on you, watching that part of your neck like a hawk. You felt like you should be uncomfortable, but you weren’t. You could imagine what he must have been thinking about the hickey on your neck, and you knew that he wasn’t right about whatever he was thinking.

You didn’t care, though. It served his cocky ass right.

“So, you ever gonna tell him to piss off at any time or…?” Coyote murmured, leaning on the bar counter where you have been running your cleaning wipes all over for the past twenty minutes. You shrugged. Balling up the wipe, you threw it in the trash.

“Nope,” you told him. Coyote chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t care, honestly,” you added and moved onto the people who were waiting for to order. As you prepared their drinks, you caught his eyes. You nodded at him once, smiled at the second and rolled your eyes at the third. After the third time, you started to ignore him for real, knowing that it was going to make him cave and come around to talk to you.

“Glowin’ and proud, huh?”

You grinned at the glass you were filling with beer when you heard Jake’s voice behind you. Finishing up the filling, you put a cool, no-expression face on and turned around. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you said. Jake let out a chuckle, but it sounded fake and forced. You tried to hide your grin. You placed the glass in front of the customer.

“Of course, you do, c’mon,” he mumbled. His toothpick was back in its old place, Jake’s tongue twirling it around whenever he got worked up, angry or feeling extra cocky. “That thin’ is winkin’ at me from miles away.”

You faux-frowned. “What thing?” You asked him because if he could be an asshole, then so could you. Jake took a deep breath.

“That hickey,” he ground his teeth, chin pointing at where your hickey was situated. “Someone outside the bar can easily see it.” You moved your fingertips to where he was looking at on your neck.

“Why do you care?” You asked. You wiped the excessive water on the counter and some alcohol that got spilt as you sneaked glances. “I got myself a good time last night, so what?” Jake’s eyes narrowed. His beautiful green eyes darkened just a little bit, and you tried your best not to scream ‘ha!’ to his face.

Jake Seresin was a jealous.

Ha!

“I don’t,” he said. “Just─ Everyone can see it.” You raised a brow.

“So?” Jake huffed angrily at your response.

“Who was it? Coyote?”

“What? No!” You rolled your eyes. “If you wanna know that bad, his name is Max.” Jake frowned as he tried to remember if he knew any Max. So far, the name didn’t ring any bells. “You don’t know him.” Jake nodded.

“At least tell me he’s takin’ you out on a date or somethin’, sweetheart.” You sighed. His cocky self was back in a blink with a little sarcasm sprinkled on top.

“Go away, Seresin,” you said and turned your back on him to deal with customers from the other side of the counter. As you prepared the orders, you friend and co-worker Julie came to help you. Both of you mumbled a ‘hello’ to each other and went through the customer crowd much faster than you could have done all alone.

“Why is Hangman looking like he could actually hang someone?” She asked you, and you chuckled.

“I may have been fucking with him,” you told her. “He annoys me.” Julie looked at you with an expression that said ‘right’ in a most sarcastic way possible before rolling her eyes. “What?”

“You annoy him right back, and it kinda makes me wanna knock your heads together and yell at you to have some sex─” Her words cut off when her eyes land on the hickey on your neck. “What!” You hushed her.

“It’s not what you think, my God,” you grumbled. “I burnt myself with my curling iron last night.” Julie blinked and looked at the mark on your neck for a little longer. “I swear there is no one else. If there was, you would know.” Julie hummed.

“Yeah, I guess,” she murmured and placed the order on the counter. “Wait. Does he know that that mark is from a curling iron?” You grinned widely at her as you shook your head. Julie laughed. “Oh man, this is good.”

You hummed. “I told him it’s from a guy called Max,” you said. Julie laughed harder because she knew your curling iron’s brand was Max. “He doesn’t know that it’s a brand’s name, though.”

“Now I do,” Jake’s voice rang behind you. You froze momentarily and swore at yourself silently. “You were fuckin with me huh?” You turned around to face him and shrugged. Jake chuckled as he shook his head. His blonde hair was glinting prettily under the lights, green eyes were sparkling with mischief and lips stretched with a wide grin. He nodded a couple times before he walked right behind the counter.

“If you excuse her for a moment, Julie-sweetie, I’ll be bringing her back in a minute,” he told your friend and grabbed your arm. You tried to resist, to stop him, but he was much stronger than you were, so it was useless. You slowed him down, though.

“Jake,” you told him, a warning in your voice. “What are you doing?” He didn’t say anything. He flipped the bird to Coyote who was whistling at you both from his place by the pool table. You hit his arm to get his attention on you, but he didn’t budge. “Jake! What are you─” He suddenly stopped and grabbed you, throwing you over his shoulder. You gasped. “Put me down!”

“No,” he said calmly and walked towards the doors where it led to a quieter place. You wiggled, scrambled and tried to get away, or to get him to put you down, but all of them useless.

When he finally put you down, it was on another pool table, but you were in the empty part of the bar. There was no one around, no place where someone might be walking in or watch you from somewhere.

You were alone. With Jake.

Shit.

“You lied,” he said. He was standing between your spread legs, face so close that you could feel the tip of his nose brushing against yours. His eyes were looking down at you. The colors in them were nowhere to be seen, the darkness swallowed them whole. “You lied to me about having a good time last night.”

You tilted your chin up but realized it was a mistake when your lips brushed against his. “W-what if I d-did?” You stuttered. Jake didn’t say anything at first, and he lifted a hand to cradle your face. You didn’t dare to close your eyes although his hand felt really nice on your face.

“Darlin’,” he whispered. He brushed his nose to yours, nuzzling softly. “You don’t need to lie if all you want is my attention on you.” You frowned and tried to pull back, but Jake didn’t let you. He rested his forehead against yours, closed his eyes and leaned in a bit more. You felt his lips moving on yours as he talked. “Especially when I wanna give all’a my attention to you.”

You gasped at his words, but it was swallowed right up by his lips onto yours.

Jake’s lips were soft, and his kiss was bordering on demanding a little bit. Both of his hands were holding your face, thumbs brushing your cheekbones as he kissed the living daylight out of you. His tongue licked your bottom lip, teeth nipped and lips sucked yours; you were hyperventilating by the time he pulled back for a breath, but never took his lips off of you. Instead, he made his way down to your neck, peppering kisses and nipping the skin lightly, you shivered in his arms. His hands on your face made you tilt your head to your side before his lips caught yours again.

This time, the kiss was straight up demanding, controlling and passionate. He was leaning into you, one hand on your nape, fingers digging into the hair there, as he pushed his tongue into your mouth. You moaned when he did that. Your hands scrambled to hold onto him, and they found purchase on his waist. Your legs tightened around his hips, and you returned his kiss as passionate as he was.

It was way too easy to lose yourself in his kiss, not caring about the job you had to go back, or the incoming teasing from your friend and his… You forgot all about them. Jake and his kiss were what was important, nothing else.

You heard him moan into your mouth and felt all the hair on your body rise at that sexy sound. Pulling back with a gasp, you looked at him briefly before he ducked his head down to kiss your neck. His hand on your face moved to your jaw, it tilted your face to give him more space on your neck.

Jake bit down on the skin on the right side of your neck, he sucked and kissed thoroughly and didn’t let go. You gasped, moaned and shivered way before you realized what he was doing.

You pushed him away.

Jake was grinning, all too pleased with himself and amused. “Now you have a matching one on the other side of your neck. Call it Jake, will you? I’m sure him and Max will become friends in no time.” Winking at your shocked face, he gave you a salute and another grin, and then he walked out.

You jumped off the pool table and found something you could use as a mirror to check out the damage.

It was huge. Way bigger than the one you already had. You growled angrily. Walking out, you made your way to the bar and pushed the swinging doors open. Your eyes were quick to find him by the pool table, right next to Coyote and Fanboy.

“You motherfucker─”

Jake smirked at you. “Nice hickey, sweetheart,” he said to you, giving you a thumbs-up. Coyote, Fanboy and Rooster snorted into their hands while Phoenix and Bob rolled their eyes at his antics. You heard Julie gasp from the counter.

“Which octopus attacked you?” She shrieked.

“The one called Jake Seresin,” you seethed. Julie blinked, her face going from shocked to amused.

“I’ll pick you up at 8, a’right?” You heard him say. “Gotta teach these kiddos how to fly first.” You growled again and picked up an empty bottle and threw it at him. Coyote, Fanboy and Rooster laughed loudly as he ducked to save his head from getting smashed. Phoenix was giggling while Bob was smiling.

“Damn, hell of a throwin’ arm you have on you,” Jake said. “Almost got me.” You made a move to grab another bottle but Julie stopped you.

“He’s not worth it,” she murmured. Jake fixed his uniform.

“Tonight at 8, darlin’, don’t you forget it.” He winked at you again and walked out with the others on his tow. You looked at Julie. She was trying not to laugh but failing so hard.

“I’m sorry,” she said when she started cackling. “It’s just… Man, you have to wear a turtleneck in this weather to hide that shit.” You rolled your eyes.

It was all motherfucking Jake Seresin’s fault.

It took you three years to admit that you liked it.

[ragingbookdragon]

Forever Wingman

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader One-shot

Word Count: 1.4K Warnings: Explicit Language, Angst

Author's Note: I LIVEEEEEEE! work takes a lot out of me but here I still exist <3 Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

If you’d asked her to tell you how the conversation had turned to relationships and marriages from flying jets and taking shots, she couldn’t, but she sure could tell you how hers and Hangman’s relationship had suddenly been blown wide open—not that anyone had any suspicion that the two of them were together.

“—So what you’re saying is that you wouldn’t marry me?” Hangman asked, almost offended, through the haze of beer he’d been consuming. “I thought you loved me?”

“Love’s a strong word,” she retorted, leaning back on one of the chairs. “Besides, I wouldn’t marry you even if you got down on one knee right here and popped the question.”

Laughter peeled from the group of pilots around them, along with a few “Ooo’s”, and Hangman’s gaze suddenly cleared as if no alcohol had been in his system, left hand dipping into his jean pocket as he clasped his fingers around the small black box.

***

He’d been to this house before. Once, four years after he graduated flight school and decided to meet the famous Ice-Man for the first time. He still remembered making an ass of himself in front of her parents. He was a kid. Stupid. Young. But that one incident had put him on a rollercoaster of emotion when she drove him back to the barracks room and immediately dumped him. It’d also put the two of them on a crash course for being each other’s best-worst fling.

He inhaled deeply and pressed the doorbell, waiting until an older woman opened the door and smiled. “Good afternoon, can I help you?”

He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t remember him. “Missus Kazansky, it’s good to see you again.”

Tipping her head to the side, she took a moment to gaze at him with confused eyes until, “Jake!”

“Yes ma’am,” he said with a smile.

“It’s been…quite a while,” she responded. “Is there something we can do for you?”

Hangman cleared his throat. “I was wondering if I could speak to Admiral Kazansky.”

She frowned and glanced back to the stairs. “Now’s…not really a good time, Jake.”

“I understand,” he sympathized. “But it’s important. It’s…about your daughter.”

“Is she alright,” she fretted. “Pete said she’s been doing well, but of course we’ve been worried about her going on this mission and we—”

“She’s fine,” he interjected with a calming tone. “I’m here to talk to Admiral Kazansky about her and I.”

At that, she cocked a brow. “From what she’s mentioned when she comes home on leave, there is no you and her.”

Hangman shrugged. “She and I are never really done.” He gave her a nod. “I’m serious this time though. Ten minutes is all I need. Please, Missus Kazansky.”

She took another glance of the stairs then sighed and opened the door. “Ten minutes. He hasn’t been feeling well in the last few days.”

“Thank you,” he acknowledged seriously. “I appreciate this chance.”

Nodding, she pointed towards the stairs. “Up those and the last door on the left.”

“Yes ma’am.” He climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway, coming to the door that was slightly ajar. He raised his fist when a sickening cough came from the room and he paused, waiting for it to be over before he knocked.

“Come in,” the response came roughly, and Hangman opened the door and stepped inside, immediately coming to a salute.

“Admiral Kazansky, sir.”

Tom looked the man over with a calm gaze. “At ease, Lieutenant,” he gruffly said; Hangman came to a parade rest as the Admiral tipped his head to the side. “Sit.”

He took the seat around the desk and watched as the senior typed his words on the monitor and turned it around.

What can I do for you, Lieutenant Seresin?

“I want to talk about your daughter.” He internally cringed at the cocked brow Tom gave him. “Sir.”

What about her?

“First, I want to apologize for being an asshat a few years ago. I embarrassed her when she brought me to meet you and your family.” Hangman frowned. “She, nor your family deserved that.”

Young sailors will be dumbasses. You, from what she has said over the years, have certainly lost the dumb, but not the “ass”.

Hangman snorted and nodded his head; he wasn’t even going to deny it. “Someone has to keep up the reputation of pilots being assholes.”

Tom smiled at that and went back to typing.

Why now, Lieutenant? Why after all this time?

His gaze turned solemn. “You don’t have long, sir. She’s made that clear. I…I want to make it right this time.”

And that means?

Hangman took a deep breath and sat up straight. “I want your blessing to marry her someday.” For a moment, the Admiral was at a loss of words. “Believe me, if I were in your shoes I would say no, but I care about your daughter, Admiral Kazansky.”

And how can you be sure you won’t string her along with empty promises.

“Because I love her,” he admitted. “Every fling I’ve ever had never comes close to how your daughter makes me feel. There is no woman for me other than her. And if it takes twenty years to convince her of that, I will. But I won’t settle for anyone other than her. She’s…she’s my girl.”

Tom gazed at him.

She’s going to need you when my time is up.

“I know,” he said quietly.

She’ll need you to keep her together and flying even when she doesn’t feel like going on.

“Yes sir.”

I love all my children equally, but she’s my baby, you understand how much she means to me.

“I do.”

I need to trust that you’ll take care of her in my stead.

Hangman swallowed thickly, feeling his eyes sting and for the oddest reason, he couldn’t understand why. “I will, sir. You have my word.”

Tom reached into the side drawer of his desk and pulled something out, placing it in front of him. A small black box.

Open it.

He did as Tom said and looked over the small silver band, inlaid with mother of pearl, a small sapphire in the center.

Her grandmother’s wedding ring. I always promised I’d leave it to her.

“Isn’t she going to ask about it?”

Not immediately.

He looked at Tom. “I love her.”

I know you do. I know you did all those years ago when you made an ass of yourself.

He laughed as he wiped his eyes and pocketed the box. “I’ll prove to her that I’m ready.”

As he stood, so did Tom and he walked around the desk and held out his hand for Hangman to take; he shook his hand heartily and roughly assured, “You have my blessing, Jake. Take care of my baby girl.”

“I will, sir.” Hangman pulled his hand away and immediately cocked his arm up in a salute. “Admiral Kazansky, sir.”

Tom gave him a salute back. “Lieutenant Seresin.”

***

Hangman pulled the box out, keeping his eyes locked on hers as he shifted back and dropped to one knee. He almost laughed as he eyes went wide, silence coming over the bar in a ripple effect around them.

He cracked open the box. “Marry me,” was all he said.

Her eyes dropped to the ring, a new wave of emotion coming across her face as she recognized it. “That’s her ring—my dad he—he had that—”

“I asked for his blessing.” Hangman gazed at her. “Marry me.”

“Jake,” she started, tears already starting to drip down her cheeks. “Holy shit, Jake, seriously?”

“As a heart attack,” he said. “Now I’ve asked you twice. This is the last time I’m gonna ask. Be my wingman.”

“You’re such an ass,” she griped and gave him her left hand. “But yeah, I’ll be your wingman.”

He slipped the ring on her finger and stood, a smile coming over his face as he took hers in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Cheers erupted from their friends, and he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping the tears away as he continued to kiss her.

She pulled back and pressed her forehead into his shoulder, sniffing harshly as he fingers curled in the back of his shirt. “You’re such an ass. Always having to one-up me in front of everyone.”

Hangman grinned and kissed her temple, hugging her tightly. “And now I get to one up the Missus Seresin forever.”

“I am not changing my name.”

“Let’s save that conversation for the papers, yeah?” she sniffled again, and he chuckled, glancing at the others. “Alright, I’m gonna take my crying fiancée outside so she can get herself together.”

He started directing her out the doors. “You called me your fiancée,” she blubbered, and he started laughing.

“Oh my God, you’re such a baby!”

[hiding-in-my-blanket-fort]

A few fluffy headcanons, sprinkled with some mild hurt/comfort for Jake “Hangman” Seresin x GF!Reader with social anxiety:

Jake doesn’t get it at first. He’s used to having a lot of attention when he walks into a room and he uses it to his full advantage.

You try not to let it show because you don’t want to slow him down. And you definitely don’t want him to be disappointed in you.

So when you’re out with Jake and his buddies at a very crowded Hard Deck, and it feels like you can’t breathe, or the headache starts coming on, you disappear.

You think you can regroup before Jake notices you’re gone.

But that doesn’t happen. No matter how much Jake runs his mouth and puffs and preens, he still has one eye on you the whole time.

So he notices as soon as you slip out the door without saying anything to him.

He follows you out to the beach where you’re sitting, huddled up against the chilly breeze with your shoes off and your bare toes in the sand.

“Am I interrupting a romantic rendezvous with your secret lover?” he calls as he approaches with this smile on his face that melts you on the spot.

Because it just hits you that Jake is completely and totally out of your league and what the hell is he doing with you?

When you don’t reply, his smile falters a little. “This is the part where you say that I’m your secret lover and we can get the party started now that I’m here.”

You manage a very tired smile. “If it’s a party you’re looking for, you left it back there in the bar.”

Jake sits beside you on the sand, brushing his hand down the back of your head.

“What’s wrong, baby?” he asks softly.

For a few seconds, you don’t say anything, trying to convince yourself that you’re fine. But it all comes bubbling out that it’s so…much. All of it happening at once.

“I never know what to say. And I’m worried I’ll say something stupid and embarrass you. So I just sit there like a dumbass and I feel so fucking lost and out of place. But you…everyone’s eyes are on you but I feel like this stupid little wallflower. And I don’t want people looking at me but I’m not…I mean…I’m sure your friends think you’re way too good for me and they’re totally right. It’s just - “

Jake cuts you off by cupping your face in his hands. As soon as his broad palms, firm and warm, are pressed to your cheeks, you give a little sigh of frustration because sweet jesus, you love him so much but you’re afraid to lose him.

“Babe. Babe, slow down. Take a breath.”

You bite the inside of your cheek to compose yourself, shift your gaze to the sky, and begrudgingly inhale and huff an exhale.

“That’s better,” he says gently. “Now. Did someone tell you that? Did someone say I was too good for you?”

You shake your head and very quietly say, “No.”

“Then where on earth did you get that idea, sweetheart? You’re my girl. Mine. I don’t give a fuck what anyone else says or thinks. You don’t have to do a damn thing. You’ve already got me, hook, line, and sinker. Okay?”

As his words sink in, the exhaustion takes over and you melt against Jake. Your eyes droop closed and you sag into his hands.

“I didn’t want to let you down,” you whisper.

Jake looks at you with this completely baffled expression because he believes that’s literally impossible. You could never ever let him down. So he folds you into his arms, rubbing your back and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

You stay like that for at least thirty minutes, more insecurities and anxieties bubbling up. Jake neatly and logically bats each one down in a way that encourages you to replace the thought with a better one of your own making.

After that, when you hang out in a social setting, Jake makes sure to hold your hand with a firm grip to keep you grounded and comforted.

The two of you also developed a series of hand signals that you used on everything from, “I’m tired and ready to leave,” to “Extra anxious today. Could you order for me at the restaurant?”

Jake often offers for the two of you to stay in on date night, instead of going out with friends. As much as you enjoy those days staying in together, you also make sure that you challenge yourself to hang out with his friends because it’s important to him.

You found out by accident that when you’re really overstimulated and shaky, you can nestle right into Jake’s arms, with your back to his chest and his chin resting on your shoulder. His body heat and his weight pressed against you feels like a weighted blanket (except it’s a 1000x better) which calms you down.

Jake is ALWAYS eagerly offering to be your human weighted blanket. “Happy to be of service, darlin’,” with that trademark smoldering smirk that makes you want to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.

Jake also understands when you prefer to remain in your corner solo. Since his presence draws attention, sometimes he’ll purposefully make a scene AWAY from you so that you can have some breathing room during social events.

After a social event, he knows the social hangover can be extra hard on you so he makes sure you both have down time. He sleeps in with you, holds you, naps with you, and makes sure to be extra gentle with you until you’re 100% again.

Masterlist

[sappy-seresin]

I was Born to Love You (J. Seresin)

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Reader

Summary: You're the one Jake was born to love, and he creates gentle moments to remind you. Based on Ray LaMontagne's "I was Born to Love You."

Warnings: None, honestly just toe curling fluff.

Word Count: 2k

A/n: MY WORK IS ORIGINAL AND IS NOT TO BE COPIED OR REPOSTED. Be kind and don't steal other people's writing, thank you.

Gif creds: @unicornships

You’re in the kitchen of your and Jake’s shared home, knee deep in making dinner while Jake clinks around in the living room, having said something about music making the already soft atmosphere better. You smile to yourself as he clicks through several songs, imagining his tongue slightly jutted out of his mouth in concentration as he searches for the perfect melody to set the tone.

“There it is,” you hear him mutter after a lull of silence. Being focused on the task at hand, you miss the sound of Jake’s feet padding closer to you.

"Our song?" You point out, a fond smile tickling the corner of your lips as you glance at Jake over your shoulder. Butterflies dance in your stomach at the effortless elegance surrounding him. He's wearing a content grin, a hum of affirmation rumbles from his chest as he melodically approaches you with an outstretched hand.

"Dance with me," though it's a request, it comes out as more of a statement and you know 'no' won't be an acceptable answer.

"I'm making dinner," you remind him, a slight whine lacing your voice. You love treating him to home cooked meals when you have a night in, and he loves it when you do so, but sometimes, he just wants to dance with his favorite girl on his arm.

"Dance with me, Darlin'," he murmurs in your ear, catching you in his arms with his chest flush against his back. His lips graze your ear as he speaks and he promptly presses a chaste kiss on the skin just behind it, knowing you're always putty in his hands when he does that. "Dinner can wait." You sigh, melting into his chest, letting him know that he's won. His gently spins you around in his arms, wordlessly guiding you to the middle of the dimly lit living room. Unbeknownst to you, he lit several candles and turned down the lights while you were distracted in the kitchen. The simplistic romantic setting has you swooning further as Jake guides your hands to rest around his neck, promptly sliding his to rest just above your spine while he smiles down at you, humming with the beginning lyrics of Ray LaMontagne's, "I was Born to Love you" playing through your vintage record player.

You give me a sign, you give me a lift Take me home when I've done my shift. You give me a loan when I'm stone cold broke Get me high, when I need a toke.

"You're quite the charmer, Lieutenant," you smile, tracing circles across the exposed skin on the nape of his neck as you sway to the music, following his lead. A blush tints his cheeks, partnered with the bashful smile you love to be the reason behind.

"Only for my favorite girl," he admits, his voice is husky as his breath ghosts your face. The glimmer in his eyes makes your knees feel weak, just like it does every time you catch it being directed at you.

"I was born to love. I was born to love, I was born to love. I was born to-" plays through the speakers, adding to the warm hue covering the room as the two of you lose yourselves in each others eyes and rhythmic movements. You're both engrossed in each others company now, lost in each others eyes as you whimsically move through the candlelit room, enjoying the way the lighting lights up each others features in the simplest, most beautiful way.

Your breath gets caught in your throat at the look in his eyes. You've been together for years, and aren't new to the awe that twinkles in his green orbs as they drink you in, but that doesn't mean the gesture doesn't have you feeling like a puddle of goop beneath his feet every time you witness it.

"Times were tough, we made it through. We tasted the rough, so let's save the spoon," Jake sings along with the song, effortlessly twirling you before bringing you safely against his chest again. "All the time I was hurting you, got to believe that I was hurting, too." You're convinced that your own lovesick smile can't get any wider as you drink him in.

This song immediately carried significance in your relationship the first time the two of you heard it while slow dancing at a mutual friends wedding shortly after you started dating. The two of you knew that you loved each other, to a certain degree, before you heard it, but the lyrics immediately affirmed how you'd both been feeling after months of tiptoeing around it.

"Y/n Y/l/n, I think you're my person," he'd confidently, yet bashfully, uttered halfway through the second verse. His cheeks were tinted with nerves and whiskey as his eyes blearily captured your content exterior. Your eyes were doe-like as you blinked up at him in adoring surprise upon hearing his confession, but they quickly filled with tears of astonishment when he finished his next though. "I think I was born to love you." His expression was hopeful once he'd gotten the words out, dread dancing through his chest at the chance that you didn't feel the same way. Feeling vulnerable and out in the open wasn't something that Jake Seresin was used to, but he brought his heart out on full display in the moment, leaving himself exposed while awaiting your response. Taking a few seconds to process what he said, your hands cupped his cheeks to pull his attention away from the self doubt you could feel wafting off of him.

"Jake Seresin, I think I was made to love you too," you promised him with a tearful smile, losing your breath when he kissed you so passionately that your head spun.

"Sing with me baby," Jake requests, pulling your attention from the flashback. You easily tune back into the song, leaning your head against his toned chest as the two of you softly sing along with the chorus, the lyrics pouring from the two of you so easily that an outsider looking in may believe that you'd written them yourselves.

"I was born to love. I was born to, born to love, I was born to-." The two of you sing in whispered voices, further soaking each other in as you melt into him again.

"You're the only one I can talk to The only one I can really read I know you give because you want to Don't you think it's time you learn to let yourself receive?" You press a chaste kiss to his neck after the verse finishes, letting your lips ghost against his skin as you continue murmuring the lyrics to him, enjoying the way they sound through his Texan accent. His chins rests itself on top of your head as he recounts the way those words always make his heart clench due to their unwavering truth.

This specific verse is one that Jake has always connected with on a deeper level. You've been his safe place ever since he met you, and are the only person he's let see even the most broken parts of him. He's the same for you, and has been reading you like you're his favorite book that he can quote without skipping a beat.

Knowing that intimacy wasn't one of Jake's strong suits, you willingly jumped in and began showing him that he didn't have to carry the pressure of being the strong one all the time. You catered to every need that he'd allow you to without even blinking, because if you knew anyone that needed unconditional love, it was Jake Seresin. He quickly carried an immeasurable amount of gratitude for that, and swore to himself that he'd return the favor as soon as you'd let him and willingly receive love yourself.

"Can make you smile, can make you sing Just wanna give back a little bit of what you give me. I could sing you a song, play you a tune I know it's just a little thing, but it's something I can do."

Having been friends for a season prior to diving into each other, Jake had witnessed a small portion of your previous relationship, which tainted your own ability to accept love, though you never faltered in gifting it to others. You've always seen the value in caring deeply for other people's hearts and exemplifying that fact through your actions, but situations and relationships in your own life made it nearly impossible for you to return that favor to yourself. Jake made it his sole purpose to help you realize that you were just as deserving of love as the people you care about, if not even more. He wanted to give back all the love that you'd given him and, more importantly, he wanted you to be able to give that same kind of love to yourself. He did everything in his power to see it through.

"I was born to love, I was born to I was born to love, I was born to"

As soon as your friendship shifted into a hint of more, it was impossible for other people not to see that you were meant for each other. The way that you complemented each other so effortlessly never went unnoticed.

You know that couple that captivates everyone's attention due to their aura every time they walk into a room? That's you and Jake. Hell, that's been you and Jake before you and Jake fully existed. The eye-catching chemistry between the two of you has always melted the hearts of bystanders graced by your presence. The two of you carry the type of love that most people only dream of experiencing as you waltz through this life together.

I was born to love you I was born to love you.

The song finishes, but the two of you continue swaying in each others arms, not quite ready to let the fleeting moment pass just yet. Jake's hand cups the back of your head as he pulls away far enough that he can see your face in its entirety. Feeling shy under his attention, you glue your eyes to the floor, your entire head moving in an attempt to hide the emotions swirling in your chest.

Jake tuts his tongue, hooking his forefinger underneath your chin and dragging it upward so that your eyes lock on his again. He pauses, admiring the gentleness of your face, allowing his eyes to speak for him.

"I was born to love you, Y/n Seresin," he gushes, voice sultry and true, as he captivates you with his endearing expression. His thumb slides across the soft expanse of your cheek, resting at the space between your jaw and your neck.

"I was born to love you, Jake Seresin. And I'll gladly spend every day proving it," you promise, grinning at him now. He sucks in a sharp breath, overwhelmed by the love practically oozing from both of your pores. It takes a lot to render Jake speechless, yet you manage to do it every time you remind him just how loved he is by you.

Another beat of silent pining takes place before Jake's pulling you in for a brain scrambling kiss. His lips are soft against yours, molding together so easily that you can't help but believe they were sculpted just for you. You melt into him, each of you losing yourselves in each others kisses. You fall limp against his brute chest, merely putty in his mans hands as he lock his words in with his mouth, letting it do all the talking now. A new song queues itself up, but it's unnoticed by the two of you, the songs long forgotten as the dinner you were working on grows cold on the stove. Minutes feel like hours as you drink each others existence in, letting everything else fade away as though nothing else matters.

Nothing else matters to you as long as you can feel Jake's heartbeat thumping to the same rhythm as your own, your mind jumbled by even the simplest of kisses from him, and vice versa.

When you've found the person you were born to love, everything else in the world changes. Colors appear brighter. Aromas feel stronger. Darkness goes unnoticed. Somehow, love has the power to both amplify and extinguish everything around those lucky enough to experience it. You and Jake wouldn't have it another way as you bask in each others company, swaying gently to a never-ending stream of melodies as the world around you fades away.

--------------------

A/n: One of MANY Valentine's/fluffy fics in my drafts. I had this whole plan to spend the day making mood boards and posting fics, but got sidetracked by inspiration for a personal photoshoot. I will be posting more Valentine's Day inspired fics over the course of the next few days, this is just the one that I finished last night and wanted to post before the day was over. I hope you enjoyed it!!

Tags/moots: @atarmychick007 @b-radbradshaw @teacupsandtopgun @fanboygarcia @bradleybeachbabe @rosiahills22

My taglist is still a work in progress, lmk if you want off of it, and I'll make sure not to tag you anymore!

[halfway-happyyy]

california king bed (jake seresin)

AN: the one where jake seresin realizes his selfish tendencies could cost him everything. inspired by this ask. fluff and a dash of smut exist below the cut ♡

warnings include: consensual penetrative vaginal sex, some oddly specific details in here friends, so sorry it's part of my process sometimes, minors DNI.

characters: jake 'hangman' seresin x female reader

Jake Seresin is falling in love with the woman sleeping soundly beside him.

It’s much too early to be contemplating such things, yet despite that, a morning sun bathes her in a pale glow, highlighting the parts of her that no one else gets to see as up-close as he does. A front-row show to the world’s most wondrous woman.

He knows it’s love because everything else he’s ever experienced has paled in comparison to what he feels when he’s with her. Where he had never before bothered to know a woman as intimately as he knows her, he can tell anyone who'll listen what her favourite films are. He can name- with infuriating confidence- the types of flowers she wants to make up her future wedding bouquet, the titles of the tattered paperback westerns her beloved grandfather used to collect, that her socks stay in the laundry basket a full week before she finally summons the strength to put them away. He knows he’s in especially deep because the precarious stack of unread novels next to her side of the bed never ceases to make him smile anytime he catches sight of it.

She shifts then, rousing him from his reverie. Her body is entirely nude save for the white cotton sheet draped over her front. He counts the freckles that scatter her back like constellations, and the urge to reach out and trace them is almost entirely overpowering. He refrains from touching her though, because as much as he wants to wake her, he also wants this moment to himself. In the silence, he can admit that he is on thin ice with her. He knows that the fight they had last night could very well have been one of their last, and he realizes without a shadow of a doubt, that he wants a lifetime more of heated arguments with her. He wants the fights and the makeups; the fucking and the loving, and the life- the good bits and the gory bits. He wants all of it with her.

But she is fine sand and he is the hourglass that encases her and sometimes- like last night, he feels powerless to stop her inevitable departure.

“I worry sometimes that I’m not cut out for relationships.” The alcohol in his veins made his tongue loose- made being honest with her as effortless as breathing.

She laughed, but any humor behind it was frozen inside a block of ice the size of Texas. “So what? The last seven months were a trial run? ‘Let’s see if Jake Seresin can do this… and if he can’t oh, well. Onto the next one’.”

“It’s not like that…”

She folded her arms across her chest in defiance. “Then tell me what it’s like because I care, Jake. I care so much. But if you can’t let me in…” Her expression hardened, as if a shadow passed over it. “If you won’t let me in, I don’t think I can keep doing this.”

He watches the steady rise and fall of her chest in the glowing morning light; watches her eyes dance beneath veined lids, wonders briefly what kind of dream she’s having and if it’s as lovely as she looks right now. He gazes at her a little while longer; wants to memorize every miniscule detail of her face lest she opens her eyes and decides she’s finished with it all. But her eyes do slide open a little while later, her pupils constricting to pinpricks at the sudden onslaught of sunlight. She doesn’t smile at him like she normally does when she greets him in the morning and that rattles him a little if he’s honest.

“I’m sorry for last night.” He offers finally, his voice gruff and heavy from recent sleep.

She watches him, her expression unreadable. “You were just being honest.”

He closes his eyes, wants desperately to get what he’s about to say, right. “I do well on my own. I always have. It's why I choose not to share the sky with anyone, it's certainly why I choose not to involve myself with anyone.” He clears his throat. “I have spent so much of my life thinking I was above loving and being loved back, and for some reason that all went out the damn door with you.”

I have spent so much of my life thinking I was above everything, period.

“Women like me come along once in a lifetime, Jake.” She inches closer to him, her fingertips find the jut of his chin, forcing him to gaze at her. “You know that don’t you?”

He nods his head furtively.

“I realize how close I came to blowing this all up last night. It’s the last thing I want to do.”

The weight of the vulnerability that comes along with that confession feels like it may just crush him if he’s not careful.

Her face hovers mere inches above his; her warm breath as it ghosts over his lips causes him to shiver against her in unabashed anticipation. Bending forward, she captures his lips in a kiss that while languid, is also painted with a dash of scarlet passion. This was what they needed after a night of stifling silence. Knotted bedsheets always offered them a solace not found anywhere else on earth; their bed had a habit of bringing them back together when they strayed too far from one another.

He's already entirely ready for her when she breaks their kiss to straddle his thighs. He can tell she is too by the way her arousal trails down the velvet-soft of her inner thigh, over the head of his cock, and down the underside of his shaft. The sensation of it causes his eyes to roll back in his head as he grips himself firmly in his hand and lines himself up at her entrance.

Placing both hands firmly on his shoulders, she lowers herself onto his impossibly hard cock and begins to ride him slowly, and deeply. She drops her head to the hollow crook of space between his neck and shoulder blade and peppers kisses to the warm skin there.

Jake can barely string together a coherent thought; she’s always taken him so well, but there is an intimacy to this time that causes a lump of emotion to swell inexplicably in the hollow of his throat. His large, deft hands roam the dips and valleys of her back; he feels her muscles bend and flex as she rides him like her life depends on it and being close with her like this after last night, just feels like coming home after a long, exhausting mission.

She pulls away to gaze at him, opens her mouth to say something, but a desperate whimper escapes in place of any actual words. Jake stifles a groan and cups a palm to the apple at her cheek, nodding at her.

“I know, baby. Keep going.”

And she does.

She fucks him until her hips still and Jake feels her spasm around him. His name is a breathless scream on her lips; the electric and all-encompassing heat of her orgasm drives him ever closer to the precipice of his own and Jake wonders briefly if this is what heaven is like.

“It’s too good, baby.” He gasps as she continues to pulse around him, and when she doesn’t immediately stop, his fingernails leave crescent-moon indents in the soft skin of her hips as he tosses his head back and comes into her in thick, hot waves.

She stays connected to him longer than she should, and when she lifts herself off of him, the sudden loss of intimate contact is almost painful. Pressing a kiss his sweat-damp forehead, she disappears for a little while. Her absence is felt long enough that Jake wonders momentarily if she left, but then she enters their room a couple minutes later with a bowl of strawberries which she places on counter next to his side of the bed.

“I love you.”

It has nothing to do with how good she just fucked him, or that she brings him freshly washed strawberries in the mornings, or even that she waits for him while he spends most of his waking moments in the clouds.

He loves her because where everything else in his life is difficult or heavy, loving her is the easiest decision he’s ever made.

“I love you too, you cocky bastard.” Her words are warbled around the strawberry in her mouth, and as she tosses a wink his way, Jake can’t help the hearty guffaw that tumbles from his mouth in happy waves.

[horseshoegirl]

Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 20 - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

📜 Everyone wants Jake's reaction to Liz's risky photo. 👀😂Well, you got it... and something else... Let me put it this way: I have to take my chance where I can....

❗+18, sexual themes, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, Mentions of an original child character, deployments, letters, verbal fights, hurricanes, near-death experiences, angst, Don't read if you have Thalassophobia/Aquaphobia cause Jake and Bradley... well, you'll find out, intense moments of peril/disaster.

#7.4k words

Part 19 | Masterlist | Part 21

Hangman could hear his breath, the mechanical exhale and hiss, through his oxygen mask as he finally set his eyes on the carrier alone out at sea.

The tension in his shoulders released, and the weight that had been pressing him down since he and Rooster launched this morning lifted slightly.

"Rooster, where are you?"

"Right behind you, Hangman," came his crackled tense reply.

The attack on the facility had been gruesome and extremely time-sensitive. They only had a few seconds to spare in reaching their destination should there have been any reason for a delay. It was one of the few things he had worried about when they were being briefed, worried if the same ghost that had haunted Rooster on the uranium mission would resurface yet again.

Thankfully, it didn't, and the pair of them managed to get to the target well on time, just to take down two enemy fighter jets before they had even managed to get above the hard deck line.

It might have helped the attack happened right around dawn when nobody was least expecting it—three weeks at sea for an hour in the sky. And the worst of what they thought would happen and what they had prepared for didn't.

You and Sadie had been with him the entire time, your polaroids pinned in his cockpit near the control panel. They were the same ones he had before, the one Sadie took of you and the other of Sadie standing in front of the F-18. 

He was looking at them now, between you, Sadie and his navigational beacon, knowing that the second his wheels hit the upper deck, he'd be that much closer to going home.

Hangman was cleared to land, his radio buzzing with the familiar voice of the control tower as he approached the tiny runway. He adjusted the F-18's flaps, feeling the jet respond instantly beneath him, knowing it wasn't over yet, not until both he and Rooster were safely on board.

He took a steadying breath, the sound echoing in his mask as he said to himself in his head, 'Make it perfect. For them."

The back wheels touched down flawlessly, catching the arresting wire with a strong tug. Jake felt himself being pulled forward out of his seat, the straps of his harness tight on his chest. But the second his back hit the chair, he finally felt like he could breathe. The weight on his chest dissipated, and Jake couldn't help the smug grin.

He was finally in the clear.

"Nice landing," he heard the landing officer say through the radio. Jake, taxing himself to the elevator on deck, watched as the officer gave him a thumbs up from the runaway below.

"What can I say? When you're good, you're good," his cheeks hurt from the edges of his mask, grin wide as he cockily gave a two-fingered salute.

If Jake heard the following tense groan coming out of his radio, he didn't let on.

Parking the jet on the elevator strip, Jake watched as he was lowered down into the ship's hanger bay, looking for his designated mechanic as he turned off the flight system. The second he reached the ground, he guided the machine into its designated spot, turning it off completely.

He popped the canopy open before going for his helmet, unstrapping the buckles with haist. He went for one of the pockets on his harness, reaching into the tight space to grab at the zip-locked bag, placing it on top of his helmet before reaching for the polaroids of you and Sadie. Holding both between his thumb, he brought them to his lips, kissing the images simultaneously before placing them safely inside the bag where they belonged.

As Jake stepped down the ladder, a mechanic greeted him, readying a list of questions as Jake started up his post-flight checks.

"It's a good thing you guys finished when you did. Radar points to a tropical storm coming in tonight."

Jake raked his fingers through his hair, trying to combat the sweat. "So we got confirmation we are moving out?"

The mechanic nodded, not bothering to lift his head as he dug for his notepad. "The second you guys were called back. We're already on route to base."

The news only added to his high spirits. Today was a good day.

He was going home.

As Jake answered all the mechanic's questions while checking the jet, out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Bradley's jet ascended down the elevator and rolled into its resting spot. Bradley popped his canopy, climbing out, sliding down the ladder and high-fiving his mechanic, smiling.

He had no idea where the urge, or dare he say courage, came from when he finished walking over to Bradley as he was finalizing his post-flight routine.

Jake waited till Bradley said his last word before approaching him. Jake held out his hand, his voice clear over the commotion, as he said, "Good job flying out there, Bradshaw."

Bradley glanced at Jake's outstretched hand, then to his face, his expression inscrutable. There was a palpable pause, a pregnant beat of tension, before Bradley deliberately rested his hand on the side of his jet, ignoring Jake's overstretched hand completely.

"Don't think one mission changes everything," Bradley replied tersely, eyes sharp and focused.

His reply didn't deter Jake. In fact, he only smirked, lowering his hand. "Didn't think it would. I just wanted to see if you had the balls to acknowledge a job well done. By the way, I went to Liz and apologized. Something you probably never imagined I'd do."

Bradley scoffed, a short, derisive laugh escaping him. "You think an apology is your ticket to redemption? You must have been more rattled up there than I thought. She'd never forgive you after a stunt like that."

Jake bit his lip, contemplating what you or Sadie might say to Rooster at this moment.

So, in a rare second of honesty, in front of his rival, Jake answered Bradley.

"I never expected her to accept my apology, Bradshaw. But I had to try. For her. For Sadie." Jake paused, looking solemn before continuing on. "You know what it's like, leaving on a deployment, not sure when or if you're going to come back. I had to try, and believe it or not, I want to try to get along with you for both their sakes. It's what they would want."

Jake lifted his hand once again, hoping Rooster would take it. But Bradley didn't, nor did he reply. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Jake to bow his head and drop his hand once again, not knowing if he should sigh or roll his eyes. At this point, it was frugal to think Bradley would ever change his ways.

Least of all for him.

...

"Seresin! Bradshaw! You have mail!"

Jake looked up from his plate just in time to see the communications officer slam a white envelope down to the empty space in front of him. The officer continued her journey down to the other end of the table to Rooster, tossing a nearly identical envelope into his outstretched hands.

Bradley hadn't spoken a word to him since the hanger earlier, not that Jake expected him to. The mess hall wasn't necessarily the friendliest place, and while Jake couldn't have cared less about whether or not he was making friends, he and Bradley tended to stick together silently. They didn't really speak to each other, though. Even when they had to bunk together.

It's funny how deployments did that.

Jake slid his tray over to the side, reaching out to grab the thick piece of paper between his hands and inspecting the front.

White was probably the wrong word to use. The envelope looked like it had a rough time getting to him. There were dirt marks and scuffed-up edges, several post stamps thrown uncaringly on the front. Even a few water marks, which made sense, considering a gust front was currently pounding the upper deck.

What stood out to Jake, though, was your handwriting still perfectly intact. He'd recognize it anywhere.

Lt. Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Jake flipped it over, not expecting to see the words written across the back.

This is everything I didn't say

Jake pulled himself back in his seat, only to realize he had a pair of eyes on him. He looked over to Bradley, noticing how the chicken was staring at the object in Jake's hands. He had already opened his, two pieces of lined paper on the table in front of him.

"From Liz?" Jake finally asked, tilting his head towards Bradley's letter. Rooster looked back down at his, staring at the front. "Sadie, actually."

As if that didn't sting a little bit, Jake thought. Bradley looked back up, eyes fixed on the one in Jake's hands. "Liz?" he asked. It was almost sombre.

Jake tore his eyes away from Bradley to trace your cursive writing with his fingers. "Yeah."

There was something to be said about receiving letters or packages from family and loved ones while in service. Regardless of whether or not Jake and Bradley were on the outs, no one ever dared to mock this particular part of their job. Hearing word from the other side, the outside world, was something sacred, and Bradley knew better than to hold it against Jake- even if he did break your heart.

You had chosen to write him that letter. There was nothing he could really do about it - like he even had a choice. Bradley had to pick and choose his moments where he could.

Jake finally broke the seal, immediately going for the folded-up pieces of paper inside. He let the envelope drop, the sound heavy as it hit the table, and Jake knew you had probably stuffed polaroids inside.

He unfolded your pages and began to read.

Jake,

Everything became still the moment my sister passed away. I keep remembering, picturing it like hands on a clock, having counted the seconds away before finally coming to a stop. The days didn't matter. My next thought, my only thought, was Sadie. Then you came into my picture, our picture, and cheesily enough, that seconds hand on that metaphorical clock started to tick.

I can’t lie; I knew you'd break through my walls the first time I saw you. Not in the Hard Deck that day, but when you were playing football on the beach, me watching you from Penny’s chair. I knew who you were instantly.

Because you had a rep, and everyone had warned me about you - Womanizer.

But I knew the second you spoke to me, the second I had turned around after fixing that damn keg, seeing that mona lisa smile of yours (Yes - I have been calling it that and no, your ego does not need to grow two more sizes because of it), my heart was screaming, Hello, I love you.

(Those are in reference to a song; they don't count just yet).

I have a confession to make, which is partly why I wanted to write you this particular letter.

I put up a wall between you and myself then and there. I think that's the only secret I've ever kept from you. Because as much as I knew something was probably going to happen between the two of us, whatever it would have been, I knew you had the power to devastate my heart completely.

I didn’t get your name that day. Not until you showed up on my doorstep with my favourite flowers, asking me to forgive you, and you sat out in my backyard with everyone singing along to Southern Nights.

The first crack in the wall started when you followed me inside, helping me with the dishes. You were honest with me that night, not the person I thought you to be, and I realized you were putting on a show for others to see. And when I showed up in that long cool black dress at the hard deck that day, and you taught my klutzy ass how to throw a dart, the wall cracked further.

(I can hear you as I write, Jake Seresin. Saying I love your ass, don't diss my ass. Stop making everything sexual, you horny beast.)

Sadie knew it, too... that my walls were cracking. She sees everything. It's why she invited you on that damn hike. And there is also a part of me wondering if Ridley sent that damn sake from wherever she is now, hoping to get the two of us together - it would be something she'd do if she had the power…if she was able to rule the world to make it happen.

Then, all of you guys were deployed. And everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

I don't know if three little birds told me things were going to be alright back then, but I somehow knew, deep down, they would be -  even if you fly like you have nothing to lose and everything to prove. You don't, not to me. And oh, what a night it was when you came home.

I wanted you to kiss me that night. But I'm glad you didn't. Because the night I drifted away in your arms, you might as well have shot a missile from your F-18 and made my walls crumble almost completely.

Almost. Because what truly did it was when you let Sadie hang on to you during that thunderstorm. How you cared for her and told her it was going to be okay. How good you were with her and how you might be with your own. I will never stop saying how much that meant to me- what it still means to me.

Then you rammed me up against my hallway, and I had to really hang on for dear life.

(I just realized we never talked about our futures on our first date. We were too busy screaming Let's dance to figure out if Marriage/Kids, etc., were on the table - if they are something you want. Cause I'm all in Jake, whether we do or not. All I know is that I want to be with you - you and Sadie are enough.)

Then someone made himself known, and hell would have to freeze over before I mentioned his name in a letter to you - Dream on asshole. But you loved, yes loved, me through my worst moments, Sadie's worst moments. When I sang as a Blue healer for my feelings deep blue, when sons and daughters of people long gone raged, and I had to hide in my bathtub, waiting till it was all over.

When you showed me it was okay to live and experience life through the bad moments, that it was okay to remember my sister, even in the rays of a sunset from the sky. And when you made me want to scream sex on fire, cause damn Jake, we definitely weren't taking things slow.

I won't mention the 'incident' with George or how much rain I saw when Bradley drove me home. I know; I've always known how much generational trauma you've carried in your blood throughout your entire life. I will say, though, out of all the songs that had to play on the jukebox the night things for Sadie and I finally came to an end, it had to be Come a little bit closer. (That pissed me off, you have no idea, Jake.... stop laughing, you asshole).

And although it’s been weeks for me since you left me standing at the end of my driveway, after you apologized and I felt like a Sapling, searching for an Oak, watching you drive off to go our separate ways for a small length of time, being worlds apart, I’m counting down the minutes, the hours, the seconds till I can tell you what you need to hear.

Because My sister had a box. A just-in-case box. Filled with letters, objects, and memories. I finally opened it, with Sadie, of course, on an evening I will never soon forget. I don't want a repeat of that. Of me finally visiting Ridley and reading her letter, her last words to me on her grave.

I don't want that to be us.

So Jake 'Hangman' Seresin, after breaking down my walls not once but twice, I will not write those three words down in this letter. I'd rather tell you in person. So I can see your face when I do. I’m a fair lady - if you wanted me to wait to tell you until you are home, I’m waiting till you come home.

So much of our relationship started backwards. A first kiss before the first date, an extended sleepover before the first touch. We made a promise to each other, not already realizing we had already broken it.

So, sir, if you think the second I see your face, I'm not going to try to jump you, drag you home and lock Sadie out of my bedroom, you can kiss this idea of going slow out the window. Life's too short to go slow when... well, you'll find out soon enough.

And I know you think Sadie doesn’t want to see you again. That's she's still mad at you and will be forever mad for what happened. But I know for a fact the second she sees you, she will jump into your arms. You’re her uncle - you count more than you’ll ever know. 

And while sleep deprivation is my remaining side effect from dealing with the grief I’ve shouldered, I know part of it involves counting down the days for when I can fall asleep with you next to me.

And maybe even doing something else ;)

Your darlin' Elizabeth

P.S. Sadie wanted to send some Polaroids - I promise you, she doesn't hate you, but I know you're still going to think otherwise until you come home. We went on a hike, so there are probably some bug-themed ones in there... I'm sorry for what you see... so if you have anyone lurking over your shoulder, you might want to be careful. They aren't for everyone.

You were right about one thing: he was still so sure Sadie had it out for him. The day she had cornered him at the beach haunted his thoughts. The look and level of disappointment she had on her face would forever remain imprinted in his head.

Yet, he still wiped at his eyes and raked his fingers through his hair, his heart feeling like it was going to beat out of his chest. He reached into the envelope and grabbed at the small stack.

The first few were from the hike you mentioned; Sadie chose one of you, sitting on the same rock she had done last year. He still had the photo he took on his phone. There were some ones with bugs, no question about it. But they weren't random ones, either.

There was one of Sadie surrounded by what looked like to be monarchs. Jake had never seen her look so happy, her smile wide and beautiful, and he couldn't help the grin on his face looking down at the image.

But when Jake went to slide the image of Sadie behind the others, he did a double take, quickly hiding the following polaroid from view.

You wouldn't have, he thought. There was no way.

Jake glanced around the hall, turning the collection of pictures down to face the table in his hands, wondering if anyone had seen what he had seen. But next to Bradley, who was too engrossed in his own letter even to lift his head, the hall had cleared itself out, leaving the two of them practically alone.

Hesitantly lifting his hands, Jake slid Sadie's photo over, carefully peering down at the image of you.

You. On your bed. Half naked.

You seemed carefree, leaning back on your bed, damp tendrils of your hair half clinging to your face, half covering the sharp lines of your neck. Oh, how many times he had kissed that neck, and now, seeing it on display, only for him - Jake had to draw in a sharp breath.

And his dog tags hanging between your half-bare breasts, framed by the silk of your robe, glinting in the soft, warm sunlight from your bedroom window. And written along the bottom... Come home and take them back ;)

You cheeky... Jake could feel the heat rush to his face: surprise, desire, and pure pride. He was thousands of miles away, and you found yet another way to remind him of what awaited him when he got home.

The Mona Lisa smile, as you had so deemed, spread wide across his face as he whispered to himself in one ragged breath, "Damn, Liz."

He felt himself getting hard just looking at you.

He'd send you a message when they were closer to American soil, hoping you and Sadie would be there to greet him. But more importantly, if you'd make plans for Penny to take Sadie that night. Cause fuck the lock on your bedroom door. He wanted to find out all the ways he could make you scream for him, all the sounds you had yet to make for him.

Until then, Jake climbed into his bunk that night, reading your letter over and over, staring at the photo you had gifted him, wondering and coming up with all the ways the two of you would celebrate his homecoming. Because lying on that narrow bunk, he couldn't stop his rampant thoughts.

He could almost feel the silk of your robe against his fingertips, the wet strands of your hair brushing against his palms, and the warmth of your skin. And those fucking dog tags he gave you, nestled between the soft curves of your breasts - everything made a fierce heat coil in the lower half of his stomach.

Jake shifted uncomfortably, the rough sheets tangling around his legs, the damp are doing little to soothe his fevered skin. He rolled over into his pillow, trying to summon any other thought but that photo - anything to take his mind off the overwhelming feeling of pure want that consumed him.

You were there, in every corner he turned to, beckoning him with both those innocent and mischievous glint in your eyes, making him crave the day he finally came home. He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to find some semblance of calm against the lust you had ignited within him.

But falling asleep, his dreams were only filled with you. And all the ways he'd finally have you cumming on his cock.

...

Jake jolted awake to the sound of a high-pitched beeping in his ears, almost hitting the bunk above his. His stomach felt uneasy, like it had been flipped upside down, and every sense was screaming at him something was wrong. He was off balance, unable to ground himself to a solid point.

He hated not being in control.

Rooster shouted from the bunk above, and Jake pressed himself against the tiny wall as he felt himself tilted hard to the side, masked by a shutter that shook their entire room.

Bradley wasn't as lucky, rolling straight out of his bed and landing hard on the ground with a massive thunk. Jake wanted to laugh, but even he couldn't stop the grimace as he heard the sound.

Bradley groaned a long, pitful sound, lifting himself to rest on his hands. "What the hell is going on?!"

"What do you think, Bradshaw? You've never been stuck in a storm on a deployment before?"

He knew he shouldn't be so snarky with Bradley, but this morning had left him in a sour mood. Not to mention, the storm was but another obstacle in his path stopping him from getting home sooner.

It was going to be a long night.

Bradley sat up, about to reply with a remark just as snarky, when the PA system blared above their heads.

All currently available personnel report to the lower decks for assistance. I repeat all currently available personnel report to the lower decks for assistance.

Jake tore out of bed, and Bradley stood sharply, both reaching for their fight suits, putting them on in a rush. As Bradley laced his boots, Jake reached for your letter and picture on his bed, quickly shoving them inside the packet he had in his chest pocket with the other Polaroids.

He didn't know if and when he'd be back here.

As the pair emerged from their room, they had to dodge multiple people flying past in a mass panic, trying to get to their respective stations. The added struggle of not knowing what the carrier was going to throw at them next also didn't help. All Jake and Bradley knew was that, given a storm, let alone even in a hurricane, they needed to be down at the lower docks, reinforcing the restraints on the Jets.

The ship groaned, then shook, the floor vibrating beneath their feet.

"What the hell was that?" Bradley shouted, his voice strained with concern. Jake struggled to steady himself, gripping a nearby railing. His Texian accent was strong as he shouted his reply, "It doesn't matter. Let's just get to the hanger bay!"

It was pure chaos the second they arrived. Bright flashing red emergency lights, crew members scrambling in every direction. Next to the high-pitched alarm going off every other second, the ship continued to creak and groan, rocking enough that Jake and Bradley had to steady themselves.

"Get the damn secondary restraints on the F-18s!" A senior official shouted as they passed. Jake and Bradley's 'Yes, sir' only seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The pair raced towards the first jet, stopping momentarily to assist what they needed to do. Jake's voice was barely audible above the chaos. "We need to get the secondary straps down and make sure the wheel jacks are in place!"

Bradley shot him a disdainful look. "Thanks for stating the obvious. I was about to suggest a picnic."

Jake gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to snap back. "Not now, Bradshaw."

Bradley only rolled his eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

As they began to secure the planes, the ground started to tilt enough to throw them off balance if they weren't careful. Jake and Bradley tried to brace themselves as one adjusted the straps while the other secured the wheel jacks.

A cry for help managed to break through the alarms and shouts, and both turned towards the sound. Bradley was closest, shouting out, "I got it!" before running off, not bothering to hear Jake's reply.

The sound of a wire recoiling, snapping hard like a whip through the air, startled Jake, making him turn sharply. A wooden crate, the height of his chest, had broken loose from its net, sliding directly towards him.

Bracing himself, Jake charged forward, holding out his hands to stop it from crashing into the jet behind him. He grunted hard as the wood slammed into his palms. Jake used as much strength as he could gather, baring his teeth and straining his muscles, to push the crate back towards where it came from.

Jake's mechanic from before suddenly appeared next to him, helping him push the crate back into the relative safety of the net.

"What the hell is going on?!" Jake shouted over the alarm system. The mechanic continued to work as he replied, "Everything! The whole ship is going to hell! We've got engine failure. Some of the airlock doors won't seal properly on the lowest deck, and to fucking top it off, one of the ballast tanks is compromised! In a fucking hurricane!"

That would explain the rocking, Jake thought, as the ship titled back, allowing for the create to easily slide back into its original spot with no more effort. The mechanic knotted the net through a few metal loops on the ground while Jake rested his hands on his knees, bent over and panting hard.

The second he finished, the mechanic left Jake standing there as he was called off towards another task.

Jake straightened, looking around to see where he was needed next, his eyes instantly landing on Rooster, who was dealing with his own crate. He ran towards him, using his weight to help Bradley push the crate back and away into its designated spot.

The two managed to secure it, and struggling to catch his breath, Bradley glared at Jake. "Didn't need your help."

"Of course, you didn't," Jake retorted, frustration evident.

"I had it handled."

"Right," Jake panted.

"Always gotta be the hero, don't you, Hangman?" Rooster grumbled.

Whatever had encouraged him to reach an olive branch earlier was long gone. Whether it was Rooster's words or the situation, Jake simply had enough.

He hit Bradley square in his chest with both hands, sending him backwards a few steps. "Okay, what's your damn problem with me, Bradshaw?!"

"Now?!" Bradley shouted, ready to fight it out. "You want to do this now?"

"Good as time as any!" Jake remarked, throwing his hands to the side in open invitation. He was tired of Rooster's animosity, of the constant back and forth, but damn if he wasn't ready for the confrontation.

"What is it? My call-sign? What I did to earn it!?" Jake cocked his head, stepping to the side, causing the two pilots to circle each other. "Or is it what I said about your old man two years ago?! You didn't even let me finish, so I couldn't have said anything that truly pissed you off. And you know what, not that it matters, but I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings."

The floor shook beneath their feet, but neither man seemed phased. Bradley only fisted his hands tighter with each remark that passed Jake's lips.

"Or is it Liz? Sadie? The fact they welcomed me in with open arms, loved me, and there wasn't a hell of a thing you could have to stop it?"

The surrounding chaos only seemed to amplify Bradley's longstanding irritation with Jake. Bradley stalked forward, slamming his hands to Jake's chest and returning the favour.

"It's everything! Everything you stand for!" he shouted, his nostrils flaring hard. "Don't you dare say Sadie's name, not when I know you are going to leave that little girl out to dry. I won't have it, Hangman!

Recognition flashed in Jake's eyes, and he knew, he understood right then, amongst all the chaos and panic, the lengths any one of the Daggers would go to make sure their bug was loved and protected above all else.

It had never been about you. It had always, always been about Sadie.

"Sadie?!" he shouted. "That's the reason?"

Jake clenched his fists, struggling to find the words. "You think I would ever abandon Sadie? Or Liz? You've seen me, day in and day out, fighting for them, fighting fucking Tyler, fighting to get back to them. I would die before they were hurt. Before any one of you were hurt."

"But you did! The second your brother asked you to." Bradley's voice hardened. "Answer me this: in the heat of the moment, when you're faced with a choice, can you honestly tell me you'd put them first?"

Tyler and everything he had wrought flashed in Bradlely's mind, but he pressed on.

"Not your pride, not your ego, but them? Or any of us. Unasked or not on the job! Cause I know you wouldn't!"

Jake reeled back, Bradley's words hitting him hard. But Bradley didn't falter. His face was still lit up with all the pent-up anger and frustration he held for Jake since the day he got his call sign.

"I see the man behind the show, the guy who thinks he's invincible. But you're not." Bradley pointed his finger. "Until you prove otherwise, I won't trust you with them. Not with Sadie. Not with Liz. Not with any of us."

Jake opened his mouth to reply, but a shout from the officer who gave them orders before interrupted him.

"You two, Top Gun! Quit standing around and go to the communications office and see where we are at with our navigation systems!"

Bradley stomped past Jake without another word, leaving him to silently fume for a few seconds before following him out of the hanger.

In the dimly lit, claustrophobic corridors of the carrier, the metallic walls groaned, strained by the might of the storm. Water or steam, they weren't sure which, was starting to pool in patches along the floor. With each wave and rock the ship encountered, the intermittent jolts sent the two pilots grasping for whatever was nearest to stay upright as they tried to make it to the communications office.

Following Bradley, Jake felt a spike of irritation. 'Why's he got to make everything so damn personal?' Jake thought bitterly. Bradley, meanwhile, was a simmering pot of anger.

"Why do you always have to be right in the middle of everything, Hangman?" Bradley shot over his shoulder, clearly irritated. "Can't you just once follow orders without making it about you?"

Jake gritted his teeth, trying to hold back a retort. "Look, can we just get to the comms and figure this out? We can bicker like an old married couple later."

Bradley's face twisted in a smirk, his pace never faltering. "Don't flatter yourself. I have standards."

A loud klaxon sounded, the eerie wail echoing through the narrow halls of the carrier. Jake and Bradley covered their ears, falling into the walls.

The second they managed to pull themselves up onto their feet, the PA system blared out another warning.

Begin bail-out and evacuation procedures. I repeat, Begin bail-out and evacuation procedures. All personnel should be on the upper decks in five minutes.

Jake turned to Bradley, his face filled with urgency. "We need to go! Now!"

Bradley snarled. He had no idea whether it was out of frustration with the current situation or Jake barking orders at him. But Jake was having none of it, grabbing Bradley hard by the collar of his suit and tugging him hard.

Jake's eyes were hard and furious as he remarked, "I'm not dying today, and neither should you."

Something flashed in Bradley's eyes that Jake could not name. But it was enough to give Bradley pause, water droplets running down his face as the anger and tension decided to leave him from earlier.

"We need to get home! For the girls," Jake roughed out. "For Liz and Sadie! Whatever hate you have towards me, we need to get out for them. Now!"

Another name came to Bradley's mind, but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, even now. Instead, Bradley could only sallow and nod. He couldn't deny Jake was right.

It was damn near impossible to sink an aircraft carrier. Jake and Bradley knew this. The things were built to withstand the roughest seas, hurricanes included. They were the most balanced and sturdiest things that ever graced any body of water on this planet. They had to be if aviators were literally landing planes on them.

But as water continued to breach the carrier, and as the pair raced through the ship to get to a proper stairwell that would get them to the relief point on the upper decks, they both wondered about the series of unfortunate events that led them to this point. The mechanics in the hangar bay had said everything was going wrong.

Bradley was on the verge of saying sabotage, wondering if they had a spy amongst their ranks. The mission had gone so much better than they had thought. But in their line of work, if something suspicious didn't happen, then their job wasn't over.

Jake just wanted to get both of them out of there.

They finally reached one of the escape hatches, a stairwell that led directly to the upper deck. Bradley was the one to turn the wheel on the door first, Jake joining in shortly after once he realized the sheer force Rooster was putting into opening the door.

A pressure vale released, and the second the two managed to open the door, Jake surged forward, followed by Bradley, who made their way into the narrow stairwell, hoping all had not been lost.

Jake paused on the small landing, looking up at the flights guided by the emergency light. There were a few fires scattering the walls, but it was climbable, and if both of them hurried, they wouldn't have any issues.

Bradley's hand on his shoulder made him pause.

"Dude, we have to book it."

Jake turned his head, ready with a cocky reply of something resembling a 'you don't think I know that' until he took in Bradley's panicked face, staring at the stairs below. Following Bradley's eyes, Jake reeled, noticing the rising water levels.

Grabbing Rooster by the back of his suit, Jake pulled Bradley in front of him, pushing him up the stairs, urging him forward and shouting, Go!

The two tried not to look up as they climbed, picturing their destination in their minds. Ignoring the sound of the alarm and the rushing water, Jake and Bradley counted their steps as they tried to reach the top. And they were close. Even as the rest of the ship creaked and groaned, they still fought to reach the top, unaware if help was waiting for them on the other side.

Then something blew up on one of the upper levels, the sound, the vibration, causing Jake and Bradley to slam themselves into the wall, trying to make themselves as small as possible. The lights flickered once, twice, then completely out, before a rotating red emergency light dimly lit the narrow stairwell. Metal crunched above their heads, snapping like twigs, and Jake didn't dare look up for fear of what might happen to either of them.

They felt it before they saw it, thin metal snapping out from underneath their feet. Feeling himself lurching forward, Jake immediately reached out for anything to hold on to. His fingers met a railing untouched by damage, and he latched on, suddenly opening his eyes to pull himself up and towards the relative safety of the remnants of the broken landing.

Bradley hadn't been so lucky.

Because the falling debris favoured his side of the stairs, the section he'd been crouching against completely crumpled under the impact, leaving only an empty space where thick, rushing water roiled menacingly below. There was nothing Bradley could have clung to, nothing that would have saved him from falling towards those black depths or allowed him to reach the warped edges of that landing.

Till his hand slapped onto a piece of a broken railing, Bradley struggled to find a grip tight enough to counteract the sweat on his palms. A panicked noise escaped his mouth as he slid down the newly indented piece of metal, finally stopping just before the end, muscles taunt and ridged as he forced breath into his body.

Jake had managed to pull himself up onto the landing as Bradley had fallen, instantly rolling himself up onto his chest to look down for the pilot.

He was within reach, and Jake extended his hand, on the verge of falling off the flimsy piece of metal. Bradley was hanging on, barely, looking between Jake's hand and the beam, the metal becoming looser and looser by the second.

And yet, Bradley still wouldn't take his hand.

"For godsakes, Bradshaw, just take my fucking hand!"

Jake purposely tried to jolt his arm forward in emphasis, hoping Bradley would finally take the leap and let go. But Bradley bowed his head, trying to force air into his lungs through his mouth as he looked down. With each pulse of red light, the water appeared to be getting higher and higher with each second.

He let out a panicked noise, trying to adjust his slipping grip. The movement caused the metal beam to drop slightly further, accompanied by a jarring clang. Bradley cried out, trying to reach for the broken edge of the landing.

Jake could feel himself slipping, sliding forward until he caught his boot on the railing, locking his body tight as he hung over the edge. Sharp, broken pieces of metal bit into his stomach as he swayed, trying to reach once again.

"Bradley! Just take my hand!" he shouted over the alarms, not any less urgent than before. "Please!"

Jake had never begged a day in his life, let alone to someone like Rooster. But there was no way he wasn't going home without him. You would never forgive him, and Sadie would never recover. He knew that for a fact.

Metal snapped, and Bradley dropped another inch, thinking this was it. That the railing was no longer attached to whatever had been holding it in place, baring his entire weight. Bradley threw his arm up towards Jake's in a desperate move.

Jake grabbed his wrist at the last possible second, a pained shout escaping his lips as he completely absorbed his weight, metal grating bending underneath him. But the grip he had on the railing with his foot held, and Jake bowed his head in relief, taking a few seconds with Bradley hanging dangerously off his arm to ground himself, trying not to think about what might have happened had he not caught him.

Jake grunted hard as he pulled Rooster up, his other hand finding a grip on the fabric of his flight suit along his back, hoping the railing from where he grounded himself would hold long enough to support them both. Bradley did the same with Jake's, using it as leverage to hoist himself up over the edge, only to roll onto his back, breathing hard.

Jake twisted his body away from the edge, laying on his back next to Rooster, staring up at what remained of the remaining flights of stairs. With the water still rushing below them and red lights spinning above them, the two dagger pilots took a few seconds to recuperate in the middle of the danger.

"You had to wait till the last second, didn't you?" Jake roughed out, panting hard. Bradley took three deep breaths before managing to gasp out, "I had to keep it interesting, right?"

Jake slammed his eyes shut, rocking his head to the side in slight annoyance. Bringing himself to a stand, Jake held out his hand again to help Bradley up. This time, Rooster didn't refuse it, instantly throwing his arm out to grasp the back of Jake's elbow, hoisting himself up.

Jake went to let go the minute he was up, but Bradley's grip remained firm.

"This is the second time you've saved me," he said, trying to make out Jake's face in the red light and dropping water. "You could have left me this time, for everything I've done, said..."

"What would be the point?" Jake interrupted him. "If I'd left you, I'd be no better than the person you thought I was. Besides," Jake added, smirking, "who else would I have to constantly prove wrong if you weren't around?"

Bradley scoffed, a tint of a smile tugging at his lips. "Asshole."

Jake shrugged. "It's in my nature. Now, can we please get the hell out of here?"

Bradley nodded, releasing Jake's elbow. In a dramatic fashion, he gestured for Jake to lead the way, looking up towards the rest of their journey to escape. But Bradley's eyes widened in horror as he saw the chunk of ceiling, metal, and wiring breaking loose directly above Jake.

"Jake, move!" Bradley bellowed, his voice echoing with urgency as he dropped to the ground, trying to drag Jake with him.

But in the chaos of falling water, blinking lights and cacophony of alarms, Jake was a split second too late to comprehend the warning fully. Just as he turned to see the descending danger, the heavy debris crashed down, the force of the impact throwing him off balance, rocking whatever remained of the grating they were standing on.

A metallic clang resonated sharply, followed by the splash of water as Jake was sent reeling backwards. The last thing Bradley saw, huddled against the wall, was the look of shock and realization in Jake's eyes, his silhouette disappearing beneath the surging tide of murky water, quickly consuming any trace of him.

Bradley, mouth agape, crawled over to the edge, Jake's call-sign a cry masked by the high-pitched alarms.

"Hangman!"

Bradley couldn't see him anywhere. Water continued to rush into the space, and Bradley, kneeling against the metal grating, tried to spot any area where Jake could manage to resurface. But with the power out and the pulsing red emergency lights, he couldn't see beyond the water's black surface.

Last call, I repeat, last call for evacuation and bail-out procedures.

Rooster pulled himself to stand, weighing his options.

He could jump and look for Jake. Despite the precarious situation they found themselves in, the water was still slow to fill the narrow stairwell. Bradley estimated he had minutes before the water became too much for him to handle.

Or he could leave, save himself. Say he did everything he could. That Jake was lost, the situation was too dire.

That Jake died a hero, trying to save him once again.

But it wasn't even a choice; the decision had already been made. It had been made the second your face appeared in front of his, and how it changed into a faded memory of his mom, collapsing to the ground at the news of his father's death. And Bradley, watching it all from behind the corner of a wall, forever feeling small.

But then it wasn't him as a child, but Sadie, the same look on her face the day the two of you walked up the driveway of your sister's place. The same look he found on her face the day she ran into your backyard, pulling at grass.

Jake would be another person for the both of you to mourn. He couldn't let that happen.

Bradley crossed his arms over his chest and jumped, diving under the water.

All he could see was black.

I had to cliffhanger you guys one last time with this one 😂 Please forgive me....

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Part 21 - My Fair Lady Coming Soon 👀

-Wickett ;)

[disturbedbeautywrites]

Cowboy Casanova

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Reader

Warnings: suggestive language, some swearing

The air in the bar was electric and thick with smoke; the speakers blaring footloose as you watched a big majority of people go to the dance floor. You were sat at the bar with your best friend, talking and catching up. Your head was thrown back in laughter, alcohol coursing through your veins.

“I’d like to buy these two ladies two shots of what they’re already drinking. Add it to my tab.” You heard an all too familiar voice come up to the bar beside you. The shit eating grin of Jake seresin met you as you turned your head, a mumbled swear leaving your lips. “I’d also like you guys to come and hangout with my buddies and I, if you guys are interested.” Damn it, you forgot the pull he had on you.

You took a deep breath, immediately saying no as your friend said yes. You caught a look of confusion flash across Jake’s face before he regained his composure. “Well, we’re right over there whenever you two make up your minds.” He tipped his hat before he turned and walked away.

Your friend looked at you incredulously, her mouth hanging open. “What the actual hell are you thinking? He’s fine as hell!” She looked at you as if you had two heads, waiting for your answer. She had you by the arm as she pulled you away from the bar.

You just shook your head and sighed, looking back at her. “Him and I have history. It’s.. complicated.” You didn’t want to admit that you fell for your on again off again friend with benefits, but it had happened. Then, he had left with the navy for almost a year, and you hadn’t heard from him since and you were a tad bit jaded about all of it. “He’s just bad news. Trust me on this.”

She just gave you a look, debating on asking before she just shook her head and accepted the answer. “Well alright then. But, I’m telling you right now he can’t keep his eyes off of you.” Your friend was now facing the opposite direction, her gaze directly on Jake and his friends before she saw you try and slap her playfully. She just laughed, winking at you before she walked off to the dance floor.

You let out a small sigh as you decided to turn around, your gaze immediately meeting Jake’s as he motioned you towards him, mouthing “come here.” You hesitated for a second before walking towards him, leaning against the wall beside him.

His bigger frame was soon in front of you, his arm placed against the wall above your head as he leaned in towards you. It was his favorite position to have you in, especially in busy places like this. “Well, hi darlin’.” The way he called that was enough to make your knees weak, your voice catching in your throat.

“You look good. The navy is treating you well.” You decided to skip the small talk and get into a rhythm of banter that you were more familiar with. You felt his green eyes staring into yours, your bottom lip pulling between your teeth before you said your next words. “I bet you have girls throwing themselves at you in San Diego.”

He just chuckled and smirked, a cocky glint in his eye. “I mean, I do. But, there’s something about this damn girl in Austin. She’s all I can ever fucking think about. No matter how long I’m gone.” His lips were close to your ear now, closing in on the sensitive skin right under your earlobe. It caused you to gasp, balling his shirt up in your fist as you let out a small squeak of pleasure. “And tonight she’s playing hard to get.”

You swallowed thickly, practically melting into his touch as he moved his free hand down to push your shirt up a bit. He moved his fingers to the exposed skin of your hip, drawing circles with his fingertips. “Y-you’re lying.” You managed to squeak out before he chuckled again, moving his lips back up to your ear.

“Sweetheart, if you haven’t noticed what you do to me yet, you’re blind.” His voice was husky and laced with lust, his lips moving to ghost over yours once, twice, three times. “You drive me absolutely insane.”

You let out a groan of frustration, standing on your tiptoes to let your lips meet his. “I want you all to myself. Especially tonight.” The words left your lips with a hint of desperation, Jake chuckling and smirking as he pulled away from you.

He reached up and took the cowboy hat off his head, setting it down on yours. “All you had to do was ask, baby girl.” Your eyes scanned over him as you heard the words he told you the first night he met you. You wear the hat, you ride the cowboy. Not that you ever had a problem with that. In fact, everytime you saw him you managed to steal his hat for that exact reason. “Now, get your friend home safe. Then we’ll meet up tomorrow. Keep the hat until then. I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

You smiled as you readjusted the hat on your head, running your hands down his chest briefly as you decided to get him even more riled up. “I mean, I gotta abide by the hat rule now. The hat stays on during that, by the way.”

“Trust me, I 100% agree. That hat is staying on all night tomorrow.” He sent a wink your way before you felt his fingers on the waist band of your shorts, a piece of paper being slid between your underwear and your waist band. “Oh, and when you can’t stop thinking of me later, there’s my phone number.” You swore under your breath as he pressed his body against yours before he winked and backed away, leaving you sexually frustrated and aching for him.

Oh, you definitely would be using that phone number later.

[imaginedreamwrite]

Pretty Like A Devil

Part 2: The Hard Deck

San Diego, California was a far cry from the northeast corner of the United States that you had come from. You traded the Great North Woods that spanned from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont to New York in the New England area, for the infamous golden state.

The Sunshine Coast, as you’d heard Vida call it, was the place where you would find refuge and escape your broken engagement.

You were leaving behind the beauty of thick dense clusters of trees, and inescapable fall beauty for endless sandy beaches. You would be trading the kind of nature that raised you, for the oceanic siren’s call.

The Great North Woods had been part of the process, and a necessary change to help you heal. It was a transposition of scenery, a part of your past, as you shifted your focus to piecing yourself together.

There was little you knew about the golden state, apart from the things you had learned in school, and you’d never been to the West Coast. You were getting a first-hand account of San Diego, Fightertown according to some, the city that Vida had fallen in love with.

It was indescribable, the first view you’d gotten of the coastal shorelines from the plane—both sandy beaches and towering rocky cliffs.

There was an undeniable draw that you had felt to the state already, and that was before the plane had even touched down. Though you had been expecting to be swept away by the state like Vida had, you didn’t expect for it to happen so quickly. Nevertheless, even after just touching down, you felt as if you could breathe deeply and cleanly for the first time.

The deadweight of your broken relationship and your ex-fiancé had felt as it was left behind in your home state.

Even if the feeling was cliché or as overdone as it may have seemed.

“Our place is literally five minutes from the beach, you could walk there. It’s remarkable.” Vida’s own harbouring excitement had almost boiled over when she picked you up from the airport.

You had suffered from lingering anxiety you had felt at the beginning of the flight. It had come from a mild fear of everything that could go wrong would go wrong, though it seemed to be replaced with eagerness once you saw the coast.

And now that you were out of the airport and in Vida’s Jeep on the way to her house, the remaining anxiety had dissipated.

You hadn’t just left behind your ex-fiancé and the relationship that had been broken by infidelity, you had left behind your family. While your mom and your sisters had understood your need to leave, to find an escape across the country, they would miss you. And you would miss them.

The goodbye you shared with them was difficult to swallow, regardless of you having your best friend to lean on in California, it was still tearing at you.

“You said you know someone whose looking for help?” You wanted as many distractions from your thoughts as possible, and having yourself thrown headfirst into work was the start.

You wouldn’t have cared if you worked as a waitress in a cheap and greasy diner, or if you were scrubbing floors in a school. You wanted to find work, you wanted to throw yourself into a job to start earning money, to find yourself a place of your own. Even if Vida and her fiancé told you that there was no rush for you to get your place.

“It’s a bartending job, I know you said you’d never bartended before, but it’s a real relaxed place. The owner is wonderful, her name is Penny. Trust me, this will be good for you.” Vida’s bright reassurance was effective, it had given you a greater sense of reprieve to know that you wouldn’t have to search long.

“Does she know….” you hesitated to finish your question, you had rendered yourself quiet as you glanced out the window of her Jeep. The coastline was beautiful, it was something you were eager to explore.

It had been another draw, another captivating sight that had pulled you further into immediate fondness for the San Diego sights.

“We’re going to go there now, if you’re okay with that.” Vida was asking you for permission as if she weren’t the one controlling the vehicle, and you were.

“Is she that desperate for work, or is it a favour?” You had finally rehashed your question, giving it a new light.

As it was asked, you turned your head and looked at Vida, your eyes sweeping across her as she hummed under her breath. Whether she was ignoring your question or she simply hadn’t heard you, it had come to the same result: verbal silence above the muffled background of the radio.

“Vida—“

“We take care of each other, we’re family.” She had talked over you after you spoke her name, her eyes, and tone of voice casting reassurance on you. “Penny is a fantastic person, Rooster and I are really close to her and Mav.”

“Rooster?” You seemed surprised, again, by the name her fiancé went by. You had known his name, Bradley Bradshaw, but it never ceased to catch you off guard when she called him by his callsign. “Right, that’s what you call him.”

“Everyone has a callsign. Bradley’s is Rooster, Pete Mitchell’s is Maverick…” Vida seemed to grin to herself, giggling under her breath with a shake of her head. “Oh, just wait until you meet Hangman.”

“Hangman? What kind of name is Hangman?” You mumbled under your breath, your eyes drifting toward the sand parking lot Vida was pulling into.

The bar she was speaking of, The Hard Deck, was a solitary building on the smooth and warm sand with its back to the ocean.

The front of the building seemed to be made of medium-dark wood shiplap and had a small porch at the front with an overhanging cover. The HARD DECK signage was written with faded red LED lights that matched the faded white trim.

“Wait until you see inside, it’s so much better inside.” Vida had parked and turned the engine off, slipping the keys into her jean pockets.

As you got out of the vehicle and followed her, you felt like you were craning your neck to try to get a look at everything before you.

Your cheap, worn shoes had sunk lightly into the sand as you made your way to the front door, climbing the two dark stained wooden steps that led to the entrance. The main door to the Hard Deck was made of light-medium wood with heavy hinges, and you’d grabbed the brass handle and yanked the door open, allowing Vida to pass first.

Your first impressions on stepping into the bar was nothing short of amazement. There was nothing insignificant about the bar, nothing that wasn’t completely captivating. To your left, once you stepped inside, was a booth tucked into the corner of the bar, the leather U-shaped seats and small wooden table looked intimate and comfortable.

On the walls were memorabilia and artwork depicting the kind of jets and fighter pilots that manned them. There was a single light hanging above the table, a pale yellow light ensconced in a brass fixture.

Across from the front entrance was a series of smaller seating areas with matching tables and blue leather chairs. There was a series of them along the wall, leaving a space between the seating arrangements and the bar to walk, though.

Though the floor was seamlessly laid out with dark grey wood to match the aesthetic of the dark wood, there was nothing about the bar that didn’t draw you in.

The Hard Deck was beautiful, unabashedly so.

“This is incredible.” You were in complete awe of this place, and you truly didn’t know where you wanted to look first.

Maybe you were drawn toward all the artwork on the walls, or the endless white cups bearing the images of different airplanes on the side, hanging from certain areas of the bar.

“Wait until you see it when it’s officially open,” Vida nudged you with her elbow, directing you toward the main feature of the building.

The bar itself was a seamless and large oval in the centre, one which had been set up with beer on tap at a station in the middle. There was an equally respectable set of liquor bottles that had been arranged to the left of the beer.

You had taken a seat beside Vida on the side of the bar that was closest to the door. As you sat and slowly took another look around, you heard the door opening to the kitchen. Although, you had still been looking around when you heard a woman speaking to you.

“Penny Benjamin,” the woman standing on the other side of the bar extended her hand.

Her long dark brown hair was loose and free-falling over her shoulders and down her back, her blue eyes were settled on you in an interested and speculative glance. You had extended your hand for her to shake, giving her name in exchange for hers, and then you withdrew your hand and fell into silence.

It was only after a minute of the silence that she spoke with nothing less than a cordial tone and a kind smile.

“So you are my new bartender. Have you ever worked as a bartender before?” It appeared that she didn’t have any previous expectations that you had, and you were sure Vida would’ve already told her that you hadn’t—it seemed, however, that she wanted to hear it from you.

“I have more experience on the receiving end than I have making drinks.” You’d felt that unsettling bubble of minute panic rising beneath your skin. It was an after effect that had seemingly worsened since you caught your ex cheating, though it was intensified in certain situations.

“You’ll start easy on the beer, and you’ll be my runner.” Penny’s attention had been cast behind her, at the sign she had posted on the wall that was hanging beneath a large bell.

“Disrespect a lady, the Navy, or put your cellphone on my bar you buy a round…” You read the sign slowly, processing the message slowly and with interest. “That happen often?”


“More than you think.” Penny had offered you another smile and then crossed her arms over her chest, her attention briefly falling to a clock on the wall. “Come back tomorrow at 5. I’ll run you through the system, and we’ll get you thrown right into it.”

“Thank you.” You were grateful for the opportunity to have work sooner than you expected, especially in a place that seemed so relaxed and close to the beach.

It seemed like just as soon as you had gotten to The Hard Deck, you were gone again and heading to the house.

While Vida had mentioned that her and Rooster’s house was five minutes from the beach, you hadn’t expected it to look or be as cozy as it was.

Though Vida made sure to tell you that Rooster had lived on base when he was considered to be on active duty, and spent his time here when he was free. There was a certain charm and character to the house that hadn’t fit the aesthetic of the houses surrounding Vida’s, and you enjoyed it.

The house had charm, and it was clearly well-loved if the personal touches were anything to go off. On the front porch, with an overhanging roof, there was a porch swing set against the wall decorated with nautically designed pillows. There was a rumpled blanket between the armrests and the pillows, and a book resting on the material.

On the front of the door was a hanging sign. It was a standard welcome sign that had been made with thick rope against a black background.

“There are four bedrooms, and I have your guest room all set up.” Vida had stepped by you to unlock and open the door, welcoming you into the front entrance.

While the decor was simple, it was clearly embossed with personal touches from both Vida and Bradley—one of his coats was draped across the couch, and there was a stack of books Vida had clearly just bought.

“Up the stairs are two of the bedrooms—the main bedroom and the room Rooster is using for an office, of sorts.” Vida had taken off her shoes before she stepped aside, allowing you to drag in your luggage.

You set it by the front door before you took off your shoes and set them aside, taking a slow look around the room that had exuded personal charms that fit both Vida and her fiancé. There was a picture of Bradley, you assumed it was him, as a child with his mother and father.

The three of them sitting on the bottom steps of what you assumed was a boardwalk. Besides the first picture you had seen, was another picture of his father, someone who was also a pilot, standing outside the plane he likely flew.

“It’s just going to be us tonight.” Vida had broken your silence with a gentle prod, directing you to follow her to the guest room she set up for you.

The room you would have would be off the main living room and down a small hall, a private space for you. It was far enough away for you from Vida and Bradley, when he was here, wherein you wouldn’t be able to hear them.

“Thank you, Vida. For everything.” You had recalled your gratefulness and extended it again, with a tight and lingering hug.

She was your best friend since childhood, and she had helped you more than you could ever quantify. You didn’t think you could have ever thanked her enough for the way she and Bradley had given you a fresh start.

“We’re best friends, we’re practically sisters. It’s what we do for each other.” She pulled away and rested her hands on your shoulders, her eyes searching yours and yours searching hers. “I missed you, Y/N. I’m damn sorry for what happened, but I’m glad you’re here.”

********************************

The Hard Deck was a popular place, as you had come to find out when you had started your first shift as a runner and waitress.

While Penny had managed mixing drinks and taking care of the people sitting at the bar itself, you had been busy on the floor. You hadn’t known what to expect when you had started at The Hard Deck, however both Vida and Penny had told you how popular the place was—with both the navy and locals.

While you had known that before you started, and you had been told that by Vida herself, there was nothing like first-hand experience.

Your first shift and day as the new bartender and waitress had begun at 5 pm, like Penny had stated. You had been given a rundown of the tap systems, the POS system and anything you might have needed to access during your shift.

It was a quick rundown before the first few people had entered the bar and taken seats near the back.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it was popular.” You had remarked to Penny after you stepped behind the bar to start pouring beer, the glass in your hand cooled from the alcohol and the chilling station.

As you focused on pouring beer from the tap, you had raised your head as the door to the bar opened. Your eyes were fixated on the appearance of three men and a woman in khaki uniforms from the navy, bearing their ranks and last names.

Of the three men, only one seemed to carry an air of arrogance that was easily detectable even from where you were standing. You had set the filled glass down and reached for another once, watching the arrogant navy man from the corner of your eyes as he seemingly hung behind his friends.

“They’re a little wild, but they won’t give you trouble.” Penny had commented on the place your attention landed, specifically on the man who remained behind.

“Hangman,” Penny greeted him with a sly grin, her hands on her hips and her blue eyes focused on him, “you survived your last flight.”

“Penny, my dear, nothing can take me out.” His voice was teeming on the edge with a slight twang of a southern accent, Texas was your best guess. “You’re new.”

You finished pouring the third glass, setting it on your tray, before you finally looked at the cocky pilot. He was leaning against the bar, forearms resting against the edge, with a cocky grin on his face.

His dirty blonde hair was pushed back out of his face in a soft yet small coif, and his blue eyes were flitting between yourself and Penny as if waiting for an introduction. His jaw was strong and firm, almost angular, and he almost certainly was the kind of man you could have called a fuck boy.

You turned your head, glancing at him with furrowed eyebrows and your lips pursed. Penny called him Hangman, a person Vida said she couldn’t wait for you to meet, and that made you question why she wanted you to meet him.

“Wow, Sherlock, you’re something else.” You responded to his flagrant claim with a sarcastic bite, and a roll of your eyes.

Was it possible for someone you just met to already get under your skin and invigorate your irritation?

It seemed probable for the cocky pilot, the man who seemed to radiate pretentiousness and confidence to a fault.

It shouldn’t have been possible for someone you had barely spoken to, someone you had met for less than five solid minutes, to aggravate you like he had.

“Got a name, new girl?” He rebuffed the sarcastic remark with a grin, and leaned closer to you. “Or should I just call you sweetheart?”

Your pursed lips became a scowl, and your teeth had ground together. You grabbed the tray of beer and carted it off in your hands, ignoring him and his air of arrogance.

“Don’t like sweetheart? How about sugar?” He called after you, and you knew you could feel his grin as you walked away.

You wove in and out of the crowd of people to deliver the ordered beer, your irritation at the pilot only growing when you noticed him still sitting there when you got back.

“Gonna give me an answer, sugar?” He was pressing with that stupid grin still on his face, only now he had an empty shot glass in front of him.

“Hangman,” you replied to his flirtatious laced comment with his callsign, further aggravated by him, “I’ve heard of you.”

Really, all you had heard was his callsign and Vida’s eagerness that you meet each other. Though she hadn’t given you much to go on, you couldn’t posit why she was so excited for you to meet, you’d barely spoken to him and you already wanted to deck him.

“Good things, I’m assuming.” He was shameless when he ordered another drink, a beer this time, and laid a bill on the counter. “Sweetheart, a beer.”

“You know how to use your manners? Or you think you’re above saying please?” You swiped the bill from the counter and handed it off to Penny. Your eyes narrowed in contempt when his grin only seemed to widen into a full bore and bright smile, and a laugh had slipped from his lips.

“I like you,” Hangman, as you’d only known him, had stood up straight when his beer had been set on the bar top, winking at you before he stepped away. “Keep the change, sweetheart. Maybe it’ll lighten your mood.”