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waterpuddle10 · 2 years

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a phoenix person.

word count: 2.7k

a/n: this is my debut fic!! enjoy🙏

pairing: phoenix x fem!reader (technically gender neutral but written originally for fem!reader…because this was very self-indulgent), friends to lovers ! ft. the whole main cast of recruits being silly little fellas

summary: what was supposed to be a chill movie night with the people you care about becomes more when one specific person makes the first move.

warnings: mentions of alcohol, cursing, painful pining, slight moment of angst, FLUFF

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

After wrapping up a surprisingly early night at the Hard Deck, a mildly buzzed Coyote and Payback convinced you to join them and a couple others for a movie night back at…someone’s apartment. The plans were so haphazardly formed that details were barely solidified, especially one very important detail of a certain someone’s attendance that you really wished you would’ve known before you so recklessly agreed.

It wasn’t that you and Phoenix weren’t close, but even the help of a drink couldn’t ease away the odd tensions between the two of you recently. You would’ve just brushed it off, if only she wasn’t on your mind so damn much.

There were actually a number of instances in the past couple of days where eye contact lingered, or she seemed to say your name more often in conversations. You felt stupid for overthinking your every miniscule interaction, but you didn’t want to let go either.

“Let’s watch Cars…can we watch Cars?” shouted Coyote as he and Rooster clambered into the living room. Reaching past them to hold the door open for everyone else, you tried not to lose it a little as Phoenix brushed close past you with a brisk, “Thanks B.”

B was a nickname Phoenix coined for your callsign, which was Breeze. When everyone took notice of how disturbingly quick your normal walking speed was paired with the gentle breeze you left in your wake whenever you sped past someone, your odd habit ended up quickly inspiring the title.

“Yes, thank you B for the door, can we get a round of applause everyone.” said Hangman as he and two others passed by you. “Chivalry is not dead.” He shot you one of his signature grins, to which you fondly flipped him off as everyone laughed. You couldn’t help but let a smile grace your features either.

You glanced around the dimly lit room to see Bob sitting on the floor, scrolling through Netflix on the television. The other guys eventually piled around him, and a comfortable silence fell about the room with the occasional “Ew, no we’re not watching that.”

Not wanting to be a part of the now cuddle session taking place on the floor, you and Phoenix sat on opposite ends of the worn down side couch. Feeling the side effects of scream singing at the bar just earlier, you tried to get comfortable, stretching out your legs but being careful not to kick them out too far onto Phoenix’s side. Upon your movement, she did the same, and even with your sock-clad feet not touching, just the warmth emanating from her made your heart rate increase. Going into brain autopilot, you caught yourself imagining a scenario in which it was just you two, her arm around you and heads leaned onto each other. Existing together.

The clamoring of voices snapped you back into reality.

“We were doing nose-goes man…just GO you LOST!” yelled Rooster as an indignant Hangman stood up in whiny protest. Payback, Coyote, and Fanboy snickered to themselves, and even Bob had his lips pressed into a thin line, trying not to crack.

“I just sat down. I JUST,” Hangman took a dramatic deep breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll go get your dumb snacks but you’re all not allowed to start the movie or play anything until I get back,” he said as he headed for the door. Groans of exaggerated exasperation erupted from the mass of dudes on the floor, but they let the pact slide.

You took a cautious glance over at Phoenix to see her already returning the eye contact. The glint in her eyes shimmered like sunbeams on the sea. She smiled, rolling her eyes at the antics, and you sniffed out a small laugh.

“Just take a nap or something,” Hangman called over his shoulder as the door closed.

They did indeed take a nap.

Strange conversation about whether a hot dog was a sandwich eventually became droning silence as one by one, each person in the heap fell into slumber. You resisted the urge to turn and look at her, as if you didn’t already do that enough during classes.

As much as you wanted to attempt to talk to Phoenix, the quiet became too overbearing, and you ultimately decided to just enjoy the rare moment of peace. Your train of thought, however, was halted as a horrific snore echoed throughout the room. Phoenix’s head popped up to look at you with an expression clearly reading: The fuck was that?!

You looked over at the floor, exhaling hard through your nose in a shocked laugh, and motioned for her to come closer. Phoenix scooted to toss herself next to you, body lightly bumping into yours, and peered down to see your flushed teammates all asleep, heads resting on Bob’s shoulders and lap as if he was a dad.

“How cute,” Phoenix jokingly murmured, and all of a sudden you became acutely aware of how close she was to you. Your shoulders pressed together as she craned to see the unexpectedly angelic sleeping faces of your friends, a strand of her dark hair slipping out from her loosely tied bun. She let out another snicker before turning to look at you. The beers you had both downed earlier set a gentle rosiness in her cheeks, and her eyes twinkled in amusement.

You tore your eyes away from hers, letting out the breath you had been holding to laugh quietly.

The blob shifted for a moment, and after about a half-second of silence, Payback unleashed the most comical snore you had ever heard. It was as if the ground literally rumbled from its power.

Both you and Phoenix exploded in laughter, and you clapped a hand over your mouth to try to stifle the cackles. Phoenix started hitting the side of your arm as you both tried to control your volume, and just the sight of her smile made your heart entirely skip a beat.

After you both had calmed down, you swept a hand through your hair and exhaled heavily, stomach hurting from the restrained laughter. “They look like puppies or something,” you whispered. A grin crept up on Phoenix’s face. “Good thing I’m a cat person.”

With a hum, you nodded, staring straight ahead of you. “I could see that. You seem like a cat person.”

Phoenix scoffed in pretend hurt, giving your shoulder a shove. “What is THAT supposed to mean?!”

You broke out in giggles.

Why am I giggling.

“I- I don’t know? You’re just, like…you don’t like people touching you randomly, you’re independent and…” you met her eyes for a second before instantly looking away. “...You’re strong, and…majestic?”

“Why are you describing me as if I’m a landmark?”

You start to laugh again, and you catch her heartstopping smile before looking away, blurting out a flurry of giggled apologies.

Phoenix reaches over to good-naturedly shove you again. “Am I just a landmark to you?!” she whisper-screamed.

“You’re NOT!” you burst out in a matched whisper-scream reply.

Nervousness rose in your chest as you felt her eyes on you while you tried to laugh off the indescribable amount of panic you felt with her being. Right. There.

Phoenix softly grabbed your wrist, pulling you to look at her despite your effort to shift away.

The guys were still snoring.

“Then what am I?”

You just stared.

“What am I to you?” Phoenix finished.

You drew back, the shock of what she had just said absorbing. Her expression faltered, and you felt your heart start to sink (despite it racing against all odds) as the twinkle in her eyes faded. Her eyebrows furrowed in regret.

“Sorry. Sorry, I uh-” she started.

“No, no, it’s okay I was just…” you tried to explain. But how could you?

The only thing you could do was clear your throat.

She pulled away, and both of you sat side by side, the silence making its return.

Say something. Literally anything. Just say it. Oh my god just say it you idiot.

Right as you opened your mouth, the door burst open. Hangman re-entered, bearing multiple plastic grocery bags. “I got the snack- What in the hell.” You turned and traced his stare to the pile of sleeping men on the floor.

Phoenix turned to him with a quick laugh. “You said take a nap. We didn’t wanna wake ‘em up.”

There were still traces of some unidentifiable emotion muddled within her expression. She definitely seemed more tense than before.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

Hangman snorted. “Well someone’s gotta. WAKE UP MANBABIES,” he shouted, reaching into the bag and pelting the cuddle buddies with a can of Pringles. As the blob began to emit grunts of consciousness, you found interest in staring at the beige carpet as you tried to gather your thoughts. You sensed the couch raise, and you glanced up to see Phoenix walk away. Her figure slowly disappeared as she presumably crouched to sit on the kitchen floor, head vanishing behind the island.

A different hand placed itself to rest on your left shoulder, and you acknowledged Bob with a quiet “hey” as he took a seat next to you, rubbing his eyes through his grandpa glasses. Or at least that’s what you and Phoenix liked to call them, anyway.

“Are you okay? Sorry we all passed out. You look like you’re in a daze.”

You gave the concerned man an appreciative smile. “I look dazed? You literally just woke up from a snuggle nap…and a pretty long one at that.”

He dropped his head with a kind laugh before turning to seriously look at you. “Okay, answer the question.”

Your eyes settled back on the ground, but a soft poke on the arm convinced you to look back at him. “I don’t know what’s going on but you’re probably one of the few people who still won’t get this through your head. Took me a while too, but don’t think, just do. Remember? That whole mission-” Bob began.

You let out a puff of air in a half-cringing, half-grateful laugh. “Okay, Maverick. I’m going. I am doing. Watch.” Bob gave you a proud singular pat on the back.

As you got up to head towards the kitchen, Rooster suddenly rounded the corner, making you jump a little.

“Hey. You goin’ somewhere?” he asked.

“Are you?”

“I was going pee.”

Oh right, this was his house.

You paused in your step. “I was just going to...get…beer?”

Your eyes flickering off to the side to glance at Phoenix must’ve given you away. Rooster quirked an eyebrow, and turned as subtly (and yet still very unsubtly) as he could. His brown eyes shimmered with understanding, silently mouthing, “ohhh.”

He somehow always got it with you, and although you disliked how easily he could read you sometimes, you appreciated him being there. He offered you a fist and a quiet “You get those beers,” to which you scoffed and moved past him, returning the fist bump with a hint of a smile.

Somehow, the comforts your friends gave you made facing the situation at hand feel much more difficult, now that you were here.

You stiffly approached Phoenix’s right. She held an empty can, toying with the tab. To your surprise, she silently moved to the left as you crouched down to sit next to her, both of you now snugly hidden behind the kitchen island. The playful bickering coming from the other room started sounding muted as your world seemed to shrink.

You took a deep breath, but Phoenix beat you to the first move.

“You’re fine.”

Your eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Phoenix tossed the can away with a clatter, now staring at her hands.

“I know you think that was your fault or something, but it’s not. I was…I just lost my filter.”

She looked up, eyes intense but mesmerizing all the same. It seemed she underestimated the proximity between you as her gazed flitted downward to your lips for a split second. She swallowed.

“I was being weird. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

She started to get up, but the nervousness subsided enough for you to grab her hand.

It was warm. She didn’t pull away, even as you stood to match her.

“No, I’m sorry,” you said, fighting for your life to keep your voice steady. You paused to look over your shoulder at the rest of your friends.

Still holding onto her hand, you dragged Phoenix along to the short hallway that led to the bathroom. It was dark, but the warm orange light from around the edge of the wall cast a sunset-like glow on her features. Her dark eyes searched yours, and you felt like you were going to freeze up again just from the way she looked at you.

“Okay. It’s just. Hm. I should’ve planned this. Uh…” you said, voice growing smaller by the second. Phoenix’s grip on your hand tightened slightly, the action barely noticeable had your senses not gone into overdrive with her presence.

“...I just wasn’t sure? Well, I’m definitely sure that I feel, that I have a crush, of sorts, on you. But. The thing I wasn’t sure about was you.”

Her gaze was unwavering.

“From the first time we all met,” you continued, “You were so clear about your personal boundaries and rules, and I really respected and admired you, first of all because you’re an amazingly talented pilot, but over time…I realized it was because of something else.”

You decided you would let your words take their own course.

“Recently…it’s felt different, I guess. Not that I don’t still respect you, because of course I do, but it’s just the way you look at me, and I don’t even think you’re meaning to, but it just makes me feel like I am going to genuinely shrivel up. And I just keep…wanting you to. To look at me. You’re always on my mind, and frankly it’s becoming a problem.”

You exhaled.

“And to answer your question from before, you’re definitely..way. way more than a landmark to me.”

You couldn’t read her expression, and couldn’t tell if it was because your brain had gone completely foggy or because…no that was probably it.

Phoenix finally spoke.

“So you aren’t dense.”

“Huh?”

She broke out laughing, head tipping down and hitting your chest gently before lifting her eyes. Phoenix was taller than you just by a little, but her slight downward gaze and the way your breath caught in your throat sent a wave of tingling warmth across your face.

“And here I was, thinking you didn’t get any of it,” Phoenix breathed out.

You didn’t even notice that you too, had been holding your breath again until a laugh burst out of you. Your eyes lingered on your still-linked hands. “I’m still kinda not believing it, to be completely honest.”

She blinked in slow disbelief at you, rolling her eyes and letting go of your hand to softly hold the sides of your face, leaning in to close the distance between you. Heart beating out of your chest, you let your eyes start to shut.

“Is this okay?” Phoenix whispered.

You nodded, and her lips met yours. Your hands reached to grasp the hem of her shirt, and it felt as if a million multicolored butterflies were just released from your chest. You stepped forward slightly, Phoenix’s back faintly hitting the wall. You felt her start smiling as she pulled back to teasingly whisper “..You believin’ it now?” before you leaned back in again, shaking your head with a smile of your own.

When you both finally let go, every fiber of your being felt as if the most golden, warm, beach sunlight had been shining on it.

Phoenix’s hands slid down from your face and onto your arms, thumbs softly caressing them in a way you never thought you would enjoy from anyone ever.

“For the record, I do like people touching me.” she deadpanned.

You somehow mustered the balls to hold eye contact with her, but tilted your head in a moment of bewilderment.

“...People being you only.”

With an incredulous scoff, you shoved her away, both of you quietly bursting into laughter once again. “You are so corny,” you whisper to her, poking her shoulder.

“Yeah and you have a crush on me, so,” Phoenix retorted, a smile growing on her face.

“Stop, that is so embarrassing to say. Get away from me.” you said, laughing into the end of the sentence.

Even as you both emerged from the hallway with badly hidden grins and sat back on the couch, the chaos of what you quickly identified as Wii Sports managed to keep everyone’s eyes away from you. Watching Payback, Rooster, Hangman, Fanboy, and Coyote erupt in whoops and cheers as Bob hit a strike in the animated bowling alley, you couldn’t keep holding back your smile. Nothing felt better than right now.

“Hey,” Phoenix said, leaning in so you could hear her over the absolute racket.

“Yeah?”

Phoenix’s face was less than a couple inches away. “If I’m a cat person, then what are you?”

You bit your lip and looked up at the ceiling, in a mock state of deep thought.

“Hm. I guess I would consider myself a Phoenix person.”

#top gun x reader #top gun phoenix x reader #phoenix x reader #natasha trace #natasha phoenix trace #phoenix trace #phoenix brainrot tbh #wlw #wlw x reader

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