Jake Seresin X You - Tumblr Posts
Valentines with Jake Seresin 💞💞
Everybody say thank you Glen 🤭
Request- I HAVE A REQUESTTT, you don’t have to write it if you don’t want to: (grumpy x sunshine with Jake); reader leaves little notes around the house as a reminder for Jake to be nice or to be careful or something like that, he never responds but one time she cooked one of his favourite dishes when he had a bad day before going to bed and she leaves a note and he responds before leaving the next day? Thank you so much💕💕💕
jake seresin x reader ≈ 1000 words masterlist
I LOVED THIS REQUEST TYSM FOR THIS
TW FOR: G-LOC, gravity-induced loss of consciousness, fear of loss, poor communication of sorts
The little habit began with a New Year’s Resolution to be more appreciative of those you love. It was a cheap purchase, that pad of Post-Its, but the notes you gave him every morning were the highlight of his day. He left too early for you to wake for more than a simple peck on the lips and an “I love you.”
Once, it was a quick sentence about how you wished he’d have a good day and you’d be waiting to see him when he got home. All day, he was so excited to see you that he forgot to be an asshole. Phoenix and Bob separately texted you their thanks.
The next, it was a smiley face and an “I love you so much,” written in all capitals and followed by too many exclamation points. The dopey smile stayed on his face for several hours, his words less aggressive and his voice softened. Again, Phoenix and Bob texted you their thanks, this time followed by Rooster.
The little tradition continued on for weeks, everyone eventually ceasing to thank you because they realized that Hangman was slowly becoming just Jake, calming down a bit, and it was getting tedious to text every day.
About six weeks later, Jake walked solemnly through the door two hours before he usually did, eyes cast down to your floorboards, and sighed heavily as he kicked off his boots. Emerging from the kitchen, you saw the way his shoulders sagged and immediately started towards him. “Jake?” You whispered, reaching a hand out to pull his chin up, the skin oddly dewey. You gasped when you saw tears streaking down his cheeks. “Oh, baby, what’s wrong?” You wrapped your arms around him.
He sobbed quietly into your shoulder, his own arms hanging limp at his sides as he bent down to reach your level.
Off-put by his lack of response, you began to pull away, but his arms shot up to hold you and he yelped a “No!” as though you’d stabbed him.
“Okay, okay, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.” You soothed, petting his hair as his tears wet your shoulder. You pressed the bottom of your wedding ring against his neck, the familiar metal soothing him as his heaving chest turned to hiccups.
It was a few more minutes before he spoke. “I went into G-LOC today.”
You felt your body lock up and you began to shake, arms clenching tighter around him. “You made it,” you murmured, reassuring both of you.
“I did. You know G-LOC dreams— vivid. Mine was you.” He sighed, burrowing down against you, “As my plane went down and I woke up, I kept thinking I wouldn’t get to see you again.”
“I’m here. You’re here. God, I love you, Jake.”
He nodded, whispering the words back as though you’d scare away, before he pulled back and wiped his eyes. “Sorry your shirt’s all wet now.”
“Jake, you just went through G-LOC. I am more than happy to deal with a few tears on my shirt.” Taking the aforementioned shirt off and walking to toss it in the laundry room, you shouted, “Go hop in the shower, baby. I’m making fried chicken.”
He groaned his thanks loudly before lumbering up the stairs to reach your bedroom, where you assume he gathered his clothes before you heard the shower turn on.
When he emerged, hair wet and face clean of tears, you were scooping the last of the chicken onto a paper-towel covered plate wearing one of his clean shirts. You smiled at him before bending down to pull the fried potatoes out of the oven where they’d been staying warm. “You ready to eat?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around you when you set the baking tray down on the stove.
“Why did they not call me?” You asked tentatively, meeting his eyes.
“I wanted to tell you myself. The squad have known for years not to contact you unless I’m seriously hurt.”
You nodded, smiling gently. “Alright.” A few minutes passed of the two of you just holding one another in a loose hug. “Read the apron,” you giggled, knowing he knew full well what it said. With a hum and a raise of his brows, he pulled back slightly to glance down. Meeting your eyes again, he smirked and placed his lips gently against yours.
“Thank you for dinner, darlin’.” You both pulled apart, you grabbing plates from the dishwasher while he picked up napkins from the counter. As you dished up your food, you always touched somehow. Your sides, your feet, you just wanted contact. The two of you parked it on the couch, facing one another, and ate quietly, just happy to be in each others’ presence.
The night came to an early close, the stress of the day making you both want to sleep at around eight.
As per usual, when you woke around midnight to use the restroom, you left him a note.
In the morning, he woke to find a full sheet of paper.
My love,
You are the light of my life. My one and only. Today, you’ll be very safe as you recover from yesterday’s events, or I’ll make sure our good Admiral Bobby puts you on desk duty. Yes, that’s a threat. You’ll also instruct your squad to let me know as soon as something goes wrong, or I’ll do it myself. I’m making navy bean soup tonight. I love you, Jake. <3
His eyes filled with tears as he scrambled for a pencil, a smile splitting his face. When he found one, he scribbled:
I love you so much. I can’t go another day without you having proof of that every single day. I don’t think that made sense but you know me, what I’m trying to say. And yes ma’am, they’ll know as soon as I reach base. Looking forward to that soup tonight <3 <3 <3
masterlist
MITCHELL | Jake Seresin
❝𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭❞
━In which Top Gun best aviators are reunited for a mission, unexpected encounter of the man who always leaves his wingman alone and a dangerous woman aviator who happens to be Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's daughter.
INTRODUCTION
Y/N "Ciel" MITCHELL
JAKE "Hangman" SERESIN
Additionally...
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Tom "Iceman" Kazansky
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw
Natasha "Phoenix" Trace
Robert "Bob" Floyd
Rueben "Payback" Fitch
Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia
Javy "Coyote" Machado
╭──────────────
╰─➤ DISCLAIMER
I don't own Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick. Credits to the artist, director, etc.
╭──────────────
╰─➤ EPIGRAPH
❝Call sign? Oh you're a pilot❞
❝That's right, a naval aviator.❞
❝I've gotta be at work very early in the morning.❞
❝Then what are you doing here?❞
❝Lieutenant Mitchell you're late.❞
❝Apologies sir.❞
MITCHELL | Jake Seresin
Chapter two; Ciel
"Attention on deck!" A loud voice boomed in the area. Everyone stand up from their chair as Admiral Bates made his way to the podium.
"Good morning. Welcome to your special training detachment, sit down." They all sat down. "I am Admiral Bates, call sign Warlock. You are all Top Gun graduates; the best of the best but that was yesterday. The enemy's new fifth-generation fighter jet levels the playing field. We no longer possess the technological advantage. Success depends on the man or woman in the box."
Hangman put his gaze on Phoenix who noticed and silently pull out her middle finger towards him.
"Half of you will make the cut and only one of you will be named mission leader, The rest will attend to any reserve roles necessary."
"Your instructor is one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. His exploits are legendary. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death," Warlock remarked as they heard echoing footsteps walking up the aisle.
All the pilots turned their heads to the newcomer, Hangman, Coyote, and Payback looks away out of fear and embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Bradley sunk in his chair a little.
"I give you Captain Pete Mitchell, call sign Maverick."
Warlock stepped away from the podium letting Maverick take over. "Good morning," he held up the manual book for F-18. "The F.A.T.-18 NATOPS, This book contains everything they expected you to know about your aircraft. I assume you all know it well."
"Damn right."
"Damn straight."
"No shit."
Maverick tossed the book to the trash beside him, "And we're off." Hondo mumbled.
"So does your enemy, but what the enemy doesn't know is your limits. I intend to find those limits and push beyond them, so today we will start with what you think you know, you show me what you made of." He continues.
A door clicks open and is soon followed by echoing footsteps, all pilots automatically turn their heads, and once again Jake Seresin looks away.
Admiral Bates lifts his head, "Lieutenant Mitchell you're late." He said.
"Apologies sir." She nods her head, walks to the front, takes something out from her pocket, and gave it to the captain, "My father has lost his glasses."
Cue for Jake Seresin to winched at the news, last night he was hitting on the Captain's (that he had thrown out from the bar) daughter.
"Thank you, have seat." Maverick sends a smile at his daughter, Y/n winks at him with a smile, she takes a scan between the naval aviators searching for her new assigned backseater. Her eyes have a small amused glint when her eyes stop at the man that was hitting on her last night who offered her a smile, the smile gave her a slight warmness in her stomach.
She look away and stop a man who was adjusting his seat, she walked toward him and gave him a nod "You're Mickey Garcia?"
"Yes, ma'am. Call sign Fanboy." He answered.
"Hm, Nice to meet you I'm Y/n Mitchell, call sign Ciel."
Maverick dismissed the group to grab their gear and head to their respective planes.
As she talks to her new back seater a hand grabs her wrist making her turn around to see her brother's figure, his jaw was clenched showing that he is pissed. "Did you know?"
"I just know this morning. I tried to tell you but I didn't have any time, sorry B." She gives him a sympathetic smile.
"Well, at least you tried to tell me," Bradley sighs, "heard you shot down five from your last mission."
"I'm not very proud of it, it made me lose my backseater. They tried to shoot me down first so I had to do it. My backseater's wife didn't like how I handle it and said I was too dangerous. So he quit."
"She's not wrong." He commented.
Fanboy somehow looks terrified yet excited at their comments. As they walk to their assigned plane.
"Rooster, Bradley." Someone called, and the said man did not turn back or stop in his tracks just continued walking to his plane ignoring the call.
"Lieutenant Bradshaw," Maverick stated.
"Yeah, can't ignore that one can't you, see you later." Y/n pat his shoulder nodding at Fanboy to give the two some time.
As she and her WSO walk to their plane she feels a pair of eyes staring at the back of her head. She turn around to see Jake Seresin staring at her with the corner of his lips tugging upwards, she sent him a wink and unconsciously smile at him with a toothy grin making him look away.
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Maverick made everyone do a warm-up before splitting everyone into pairs, those who were not called up yet returns to the hangar and listened in from the radio.
"Good morning aviators, this is your captain speaking," Maverick said. "Welcome to basic fighting maneuvers. As you were briefed, today's exercise is dog fighting. No missiles. Guns only and no going below the hard deck of five thousand feet. Work as a team to shoot me down or else."
"Or else what sir?" Y/n asked into the comms.
"Or else I shoot back."
"How about we put skin in the game, to make it fun you know," Y/n suggested, wanting to add some more fun in the air.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Whoever gets shot down first has to do two hundred pushups." Y/n inquired.
"Gosh, that's a lot of push-ups."
"They don't call it an exercise for nothing, sir." Fanboy comments.
"You just got yourself a deal Fellas, let's turn and burn," Maverick says, Maverick's jet soared between the jets of Y/n, Fanboy, and Bradley. Catching them off guard.
"Holy shit!" Fanboy scream.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
Maverick makes Y/n and Fanboy his first target to shoot down first, "Ciel Where's your wingman?" He asks preparing to press the trigger on them.
"IS THIS A PAYBACK FOR WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?" Y/n yelled to the coms, "Rooster where are you? Get him off me!"
"I got you, I'm coming. Hang in there hang in there." Rooster says flying in front of Maverick.
"Ciel break right!"
"Breaking right!" Y/n and Fanboy were saved but now Maverick has a new target in front of him.
"Rooster just saved your life but it's going to cost him."
"Not this time old man!" Bradley glares at Maverick.
"Don't let him get to you Maverick," he says to himself.
"Rooster you're too low. Pull up, you're hitting the deck!"
"Oh shit."
Rooster pulls up only to get locked by Maverick. "That's a kill," Maverick says as he sighs but the alarm went off.
"And that's also a kill," Y/n said from behind, snickering at her dad. "That's how you bury a fossil everyone."
They all watch as Bradley does his two hundred push ups outside, Y/n shakes her head at the cruel sight if her friend doing the push-ups. She was way too cocky to suggest that game.
"Should be us down there." Fanboy says as he watches Bradley with his pilot through the window.
"But it's not." They look beside them to see Phoenix, "Now you know a little something about Rooster."
The next team was no good than the first, only Y/n managed to get a single lock on his aircraft.
"That's a kill," Maverick said.
"Damn!"
"Smoked."
"Shit."
Then Maverick decided to get Ciel and Fanboy as his partner for the game. To bring in more heat.
"Hey, Phoenix, how about we tell everybody that Bob stands for something, other than just Robert," Hangman says through his comms, looking at Phoenix's aircraft.
"Don't take the bait, Bob. Wanna know why we call him Hangman?" Phoenix questions.
"Wait, I got it. Baby On Board." Hangman jokes. As he laughs Maverick and Y/n passed in between the two.
"Oh shit!" Hangman shouts.
"Greeting Aviators fights on."
"Breaking right," Bob watches Hangman leave, "Where's he going?" Bob asks.
"That's why we call him Hangman, he'll always hang you out to dry."
"I'll take care of him," Y/n said to the comms. Pulling up to chase Hangman.
"Copy that." He watches Hangman being chased with Y/n's aircraft. "Leaving your wingman, there's a strategy I haven't seen in a while." Maverick comments.
"He called you a man Phoenix, you gonna take that?"
"As long as he doesn't call you a man."
"Talk to me Bob, Where's Maverick?" Phoenix asked. "Get him off me, Hangman!"
"For all you folks at home, this is how you bury a fossil," Hangman said as he pulled up behind Maverick preparing a lock on him.
"Might want to watch your back Hangman." Fanboy said as Y/n sped up to Hangman.
"Alright Hangman time to teach you a lesson, you're out Phoenix" Maverick said as he put the lock on Phoenix and Bob.
"Son of a bitch!" Phoenix cussed.
"You're going to take care of that sweetheart?" Maverick said to his daughter.
"I can handle him, thanks. You should do your push-ups " Y/n said, giggling. Hangman suddenly pulled up and start to chase her, she immediately pull the defensive maneuver.
"Alright Ciel, let's see what you got."
"Is he still with us?" Y/n asks Fanboy.
"Yeah! He's just behind us." Fanboy responds, Y/n looks behind her to see him still chasing her.
"Looking for me, Ciel?" Hangman asked with a cocky tone. She can imagine him saying that with a smirk on his face.
"Alright let's end this game," Y/n said pulling up to the sun with Hangman close behind her. Pulling the trick her dad once showed her.
"Shit," Hangman said as he squint his eyes to spot Y/n aircraft in the sun. "Phoenix I can't see her, how close am I?" He asks Phoenix not aware that she's already after being in a missiles lock by Maverick.
"I'm dead dickhead." Phoenix says in the comms.
"See you in the afterlife bagman," Bob added.
Hangman starts to look around and finally, he noticed that there's no aircraft in front of him. His search was cut with the alarm blaring, telling him that he was in a missile lock.
He looks behind him to see them, "That's a kill." Y/n stated with Fanboy cheering behind her.
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They repeated the practice with Maverick killing them easily without breaking a sweat but it's a challenge when it comes to the young Mitchell. Maverick was genuinely happy and impressed by her skills and he believed that his talent was passed down to her.
Bradley, however, takes it a bit personally, he and Maverick were sent into a downward spiral that immediately broke the hard deck rule with their ego way too big but Maverick managed to put a shot on Bradley and he sent Bradley back to the base for his pushups.
Hondo took pity on Bradshaw, "Okay that's enough Rooster." But he was arrogant he kept doing his pushups, pushing his body for more pushups with his body which was at the edge of exhaustion. "Come on man that's enough." But he did not stop so Hondo just leave him be.
"Damn BradBrad I thought I was the only one who always had the hard deck rule. Are you trying to copy me?" Y/n smirks, kneeling beside him while chewing a piece of gum.
She didn't get any reply or anything she took that signal that he wants to be alone, "Alright talk to me whenever you're ready Brad Brat."
A gasp left Bradley's mouth, "You did not just pull that nickname" He said stopping his pushups and starting to sit after all the push-ups he had done.
"What do you mean? You mean Brad Brat?" Y/N said innocently, with a mischievous smile.
"You did not just pull that name on me seal" Bradley smirks as Y/n gasps at that nickname.
"How dare you" They start to bicker back and forth, from the distance Maverick shakes his head at the two remembering the old times when they were little and they would start to bicker like they were siblings by blood.
"You know I'm done talking with the chicken," Y/n huffed walking away from the man.
"ITS ROOSTER!"
"Bye chicken!" She waved, leaving the area.
After taking a shower and changing her clothes, she leaves the place to buy herself a meal. The gum is only to trick her stomach that she's eating. A hand shot up and circle her wrist and push her to a wall.
"Oof!" She looks up to see the Ken doll himself, Jake Seresin aka Hangman. She gave him a side smile "What can I help you Kenny doll," She teased him.
Her tease made its way to his mind making the corner of his lips tug upwards, "I didn't know the Navy hired a model this day."
"Yeah, they decided it's time to have a queen walking around in this place." She crosses her arms. "I also didn't know they start to hire a Ken doll."
"You also forget to tell me that you're the Captain's daughter." He added.
"Yeah, It's always fun you know seeing someone's reaction when it's revealed that I'm the Captain's daughter, I mean come on your face before that was hilarious" Y/n laughs before patting his cheek, "Anyway see you tomorrow, bagman."
She slips from under his arm and walks out of the area with his eyes watching her walking away figure. Something is blooming and it's definitely not a flower.
🗒 ❛ note༉‧₊˚✧
Hello! I'm so so sorry for the long wait for the update, I did have much ideas for the past couple of months and I decided to ask my friend what to do to bring more tension between the two.
I hope you enjoy it, see you soon!
━━━━━━━━━━𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋━━━
↷ ⋯ ♡ᵎ pairing: Jake Seresin X Reader
↷ ⋯ ♡ᵎ genre: romance, action, adventure, Drama, Fight.
↷ ⋯ ♡ᵎ warnings: violence, course language.
In which Top Gun best aviators are reunited for a mission, unexpected encounter of the man who always leaves his wingman alone and a dangerous woman aviator who happens to be Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's daughter.
ㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ; ♡⋆.ೃ࿔*
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀
ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ｡↷ ✧*̥₊˚‧☆ﾐ table of contents!¡ •ଓ.°
┊Introduction
┊prologue
┊i. one
┊ii. two
┊iii. three
┊iv. etc
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ︶︶︶︶︶︶︶˗ˋ .*ೃ✧₊˚.❁ ↷
Almost like me but I cried till I fell asleep
Hi love ur writing so much ❤️❤️❤️
I was wondering if you could do ❛ hold still. this might sting a little. ❜ with Mr Jake Seresin and the kiddos?
Anywho, you deserve all those followers
Ur writing is amazing ⭐️
Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Shy!Wifey and Alex Seresin warnings: blood, tears, Jake can't handle his kids getting hurt. Opposites Attract Masterlist | Hagman Masterlist Main Masterlist 3 fucking K celebration
It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun wasn't up high in the sky yet, making it bearable to be outside. Alex and Ella had woken their parents up early, even before their baby brother Eli could cry to be picked up from his nursery. Jake had pushed the older kids quickly so they didn't wake up Y/N or Eli. He took them downstairs and started on breakfast. Saturday Mornings equaled blueberry pancakes in the Seresin house.
Jake had also determined that today was the day that he took the training wheels off of Alex's bike. He was about Alex's age when he learned how to ride a bike, and could remember his father teaching him in the driveway over their house.
A frown graced Jake's lips as he wished that he could've grown up in a neighborhood like he lived in now. The were the only house for miles on their land in Texas, and the childhood years were lonely. Jake never wanted to grow up like that. He loved the cul-de-sac they were living in now. Alex and Ella had friends on all sides of them, and kids were constantly running around. It made Jake smile.
Currently, Y/N was sitting on a blanket in the front yard, covered in the morning shade of their house. Eli was laying on his tummy in front of her, while Ella was playing with her dolls. Jake was taking the training wheels off of Alex's bike, while the little boy put his helmet on.
"You ready?" Jake asked, as the took the last wheel off, "A big kid bike now!"
"I think so daddy," Alex nodded. Jake set the bike on the ground and looked at Alex, making sure his helmet is tight.
"Alright, let's go to the sidewalk since the driveway is at a bit of a slope," Jake said, and Alex grabbed his handle bars, walking the bike down to the sidewalk.
"Mommy, when can my training wheels come off?" Ella asked.
"Anytime you want them too," Y/N said, "Do you want them off?"
"Maybe," Ella said, looking at her brother. Even though they were roughly three years a part, Ella and Alex were competitive. The little girl tried her hardest to keep up with her older brother. Y/N smiled as Ella set her barbies down and intently watched as Alex got on his bike, and Jake steadied him.
"Okay buddy," Jake said, "Put your feet on the pedals, and one at a time, push them down."
"Okay," Alex let out a shaky breath as he slowly pushed down on the pedal, making the wheels spin. Jake easily pushed him, keeping one hand on the handlebars and the other on the back of the bike to keep him steady.
"Keep pedaling buddy," Jake said, walking a bit faster.
"Okay daddy," Alex nodded.
"A bit faster, you got it," Jake looked at his son getting the hang of the skill, "There ya go, buddy."
"Don't let go, daddy! Don't let go!" Alex said.
"I'm not," Jake said, even though he started lifting his hands off the bike. Y/N smiled as she sat up on her knees, watching as Alex and Jake went down the sidewalk. Ella's eyes grew wide as she saw her dad take his hands completely off of Alex's bike.
"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Alex said over and over as he pedaled his bike.
"You got it buddy! You're doing it!" Jake said as he stood behind his son, watching him ride his bike, "Good job!"
Alex went to look over his shoulder at his dad, but clearly wasn't ready for that skill. Jake could see the accident happening before it even did, as Alex became wobbly on his bike and fell over.
"Fuck!" Jake cursed and ran down the sidewalk towards the little boy. Y/N gasped as she heard the loud cry fill the air. She picked up Eli in her arms, moving towards the sidewalk to see Jake lifting his oldest boy into his arms.
If there was one thing Jake hated more in life than his leftovers being eaten, it's seeing his babies get hurt. He tried to fight back tears as he felt Alex's tears soak his shirt. He looked down at Alex's knee and could see that the skin was red and scrapped up. Ella wrapped her arms around Y/N's middle, not liking to see her big brother cry either.
"He's okay, baby," Y/N said, rubbing her daughter's back. Jake didn't even bother to pick up the bike as he walked back down to the house with Alex in his arms.
"Come on, Elles," Y/N took her daughter's hand and went inside going to her and Jake's room.
Jake had Alex sitting on the bathroom counter in-between the two sinks. Tears were still falling down his face as Y/N walked in. She put Eli in his playpen and Ella was in the playroom with him. Alex immediately reached out for his mom. Y/N embraced her son, pulling him into her chest as she climbed up on the bathroom counter to sit next to him.
"I told him not to let go," Alex mumbled against his mother's dress, "I told you not to let go, daddy!" He said to Jake.
"I know baby," Jake said, grabbing the first aid kit, "I'm sorry. I thought you had it."
"I don't want to learn to ride a bike," Alex pouted and Y/N rubbed his back.
"Okay, you don't have to," Jake said. Y/N could see the look in her husband's eye, and knew how much he hated blood. He was trying to put on a brave face but was feeling queasy by the sight of blood running down Alex's leg.
"Jake, how about I clean it?" Y/N asked and Jake nodded quickly. She tried to stifle her laugh as they switched spots and Y/N grabbed some gauze and anti-biotic cleanser.
"Hold still," Jake said, wrapping his arm around Alex's small body, "This might sting a little." Y/N knelt down in front of her son, and gently cleaned up the blood that was down his leg up to the scrape. Alex sucked in a breath as the peroxide settled into his skin. The second that Y/N pressed a cotton ball to his knee he jumped.
"It's okay," Y/N cooed, "I know it hurts but I gotta get in clean, okay."
"C-can I have a superman band aid?" Alex asked and Y/N nodded. Y/N looked up at her husband who was looking away from the sight of blood and trying not to cry seeing his little boy in pain. Y/N shook her head and finished cleaning up the wound and putting a superman band aid on it.
"All better," Y/N said and placed a kiss on the band aid. She stood up and helped Alex off the counter, "How about you go down stairs and I'll get you a snack?" Alex nodded and took off running downstairs.
"I feel like that's worse for me than it is him," Jake sighed out.
"It'll always be like that," Y/N said and stepped in between Jake's thighs. Jake rested his hands on her hips, "We're parents. We never want to see our kids in pain. It'll never get easier to see them in pain."
"Well it's a good thing they have you," Jake said, "Cause I was starting to get a bit woozy."
"Oh I know," Y/N laughed, "You're good with the vomit and the snot. We balance each other out."
"What would I do without you?" Jake asked and pecked his wife's lips.
"Be on the ground passed out," Y/N smiled and kissed her husband again.
through the storm (jake "hangman" seresin x reader
word count: ~0.7k
synposis: hangman's partner has gone mia, and he's prepared to tally whatever's weighing them down.
warnings: vague allusions to depression?
a/n: this is very barely proofread or edited. i haven't had any writing inspo and lost the singular request i got months ago, but i've also been going THROUGH IT. so this is yet another result of my self-indulgence (where hangman is taking the reins!) enjoy :D
Grey skies weren't common in California. The bright sunlight always broke between the clouds cresting overhead. Today, though, the thicket of white above turned the world monochromatic. Jake sighed as he drove, knowing it would only hinder his efforts.
He pulled into the quaint cul-de-sac and parked. One hand swept up the few bags cluttering the passenger seat floor while the other fumbled for his keys and phone. A last ditch effort was made to check his notifications, another soft sigh leaving him as only your picture filled the screen.
Jake swiftly exited his truck. His feet felt light as air trailing the way to your front door. The key you'd given him lifted to unlock it, and was promptly tossed onto the small console table.
"Babe?" he tried calling. The warm timbre of his voice rumbled down the hallway. It muffled against your shut bedroom door, not creaked open as it normally was.
The aviator stopped off in the kitchen to settle the bags and refrigerate the few items that needed it. His heavy footsteps groaned into the hardwood floors, continuing to alert you of his presence. You did nothing to warn him of your own. Jake's frown grew in further realization.
He lifted a wavering hand to the doorknob. Privacy was a value of yours, he knew; part of the reason you had insisted to keep your own place until your rental agreement was to expire. But he also knew when that same valued privacy was a cover for your hyper-independence.
Jake settled on one last warning call, a soft rapping of his knuckles against the wood. "Babe, I'm coming in now."
A thought froze him: he had no idea what he was walking into. He had seen his partner in all kinds of vocal states, overexcitement and fury and even deep despair. The sudden quiet terrified him. How could he soothe a numbness, a void?
He would have to learn on the fly, as it was. No way in hell was he going to let you down now.
Another breath and Jake crossed the threshold of your room. Fern eyes flitted over the dark space to observe its state. The curtains were drawn closed, blocking out the little amount of light the clouds permitted. Everything was in its right place and tidied away, as if you'd spent hours decluttering to try and do the same with your mind.
The only thing in disarray was your queen bed, where you laid in a comforter strewn lump in the center of the mattress. Your breaths were silent, yet rose the bedding up enough to settle the worst of Jake's fears. He shut the door behind him as to not shock you any more than he intended to. Every step he took toward you was careful, still uncertain whether you were aware of him.
Sinking down onto the bed was a gamble Jake took hesitantly. Your face was still hidden beneath the blue fabric, your hair fanning out in messy strands. "Darlin'?" His voice was barely above a hum, but it was enough. You slowly peeked your eyes above the comforter to meet his. Jake greeted you with an award-winning smile, one that always turned your insides to putty. "I've been looking all over for you, darlin'. Really know how to run your cowboy ragged."
Tears lined your eyes at his words, guilt flooding you. "I'm sorry," you croaked. Jake's face immediately fell.
He leaned down to lay at your side, facing you and reaching up to cup your cheeks. "No, no, baby; don't you apologize, okay?" It ached his heart to see you feeling so small. Your vibrancy changed the colors of his life for the better. At present, they were all muddled and shirked away from your own view. Even if Jake couldn't bring those hues back to you himself, he would do everything he could for you while you awaited their return.
Jake thumbed away the few tears that started to roll down your cheeks. "C'mere," he cooed with an arm outstretched. You shuffled towards him in your mess of blankets for him to slide beneath. One arm snaked around your torso, drowning in one of his old tees, while the other cradled your head to his chest.
"There we are," he hummed as your bodies settled into one another. Jake pressed a kiss to your forehead as he felt the damp spots soak into his shirt. "I've got ya now, darlin'. I'll always hold you through the storms." After all, they were much easier to weather together than alone.
🏷️: @avengersfan25, @roosterforme
🥹 i wanted to keep it as vague as i could so that everyone, no matter what they’re going through, could relate and feel comforted
through the storm (jake "hangman" seresin x reader
word count: ~0.7k
synposis: hangman's partner has gone mia, and he's prepared to tally whatever's weighing them down.
warnings: vague allusions to depression?
a/n: this is very barely proofread or edited. i haven't had any writing inspo and lost the singular request i got months ago, but i've also been going THROUGH IT. so this is yet another result of my self-indulgence (where hangman is taking the reins!) enjoy :D
Grey skies weren't common in California. The bright sunlight always broke between the clouds cresting overhead. Today, though, the thicket of white above turned the world monochromatic. Jake sighed as he drove, knowing it would only hinder his efforts.
He pulled into the quaint cul-de-sac and parked. One hand swept up the few bags cluttering the passenger seat floor while the other fumbled for his keys and phone. A last ditch effort was made to check his notifications, another soft sigh leaving him as only your picture filled the screen.
Jake swiftly exited his truck. His feet felt light as air trailing the way to your front door. The key you'd given him lifted to unlock it, and was promptly tossed onto the small console table.
"Babe?" he tried calling. The warm timbre of his voice rumbled down the hallway. It muffled against your shut bedroom door, not creaked open as it normally was.
The aviator stopped off in the kitchen to settle the bags and refrigerate the few items that needed it. His heavy footsteps groaned into the hardwood floors, continuing to alert you of his presence. You did nothing to warn him of your own. Jake's frown grew in further realization.
He lifted a wavering hand to the doorknob. Privacy was a value of yours, he knew; part of the reason you had insisted to keep your own place until your rental agreement was to expire. But he also knew when that same valued privacy was a cover for your hyper-independence.
Jake settled on one last warning call, a soft rapping of his knuckles against the wood. "Babe, I'm coming in now."
A thought froze him: he had no idea what he was walking into. He had seen his partner in all kinds of vocal states, overexcitement and fury and even deep despair. The sudden quiet terrified him. How could he soothe a numbness, a void?
He would have to learn on the fly, as it was. No way in hell was he going to let you down now.
Another breath and Jake crossed the threshold of your room. Fern eyes flitted over the dark space to observe its state. The curtains were drawn closed, blocking out the little amount of light the clouds permitted. Everything was in its right place and tidied away, as if you'd spent hours decluttering to try and do the same with your mind.
The only thing in disarray was your queen bed, where you laid in a comforter strewn lump in the center of the mattress. Your breaths were silent, yet rose the bedding up enough to settle the worst of Jake's fears. He shut the door behind him as to not shock you any more than he intended to. Every step he took toward you was careful, still uncertain whether you were aware of him.
Sinking down onto the bed was a gamble Jake took hesitantly. Your face was still hidden beneath the blue fabric, your hair fanning out in messy strands. "Darlin'?" His voice was barely above a hum, but it was enough. You slowly peeked your eyes above the comforter to meet his. Jake greeted you with an award-winning smile, one that always turned your insides to putty. "I've been looking all over for you, darlin'. Really know how to run your cowboy ragged."
Tears lined your eyes at his words, guilt flooding you. "I'm sorry," you croaked. Jake's face immediately fell.
He leaned down to lay at your side, facing you and reaching up to cup your cheeks. "No, no, baby; don't you apologize, okay?" It ached his heart to see you feeling so small. Your vibrancy changed the colors of his life for the better. At present, they were all muddled and shirked away from your own view. Even if Jake couldn't bring those hues back to you himself, he would do everything he could for you while you awaited their return.
Jake thumbed away the few tears that started to roll down your cheeks. "C'mere," he cooed with an arm outstretched. You shuffled towards him in your mess of blankets for him to slide beneath. One arm snaked around your torso, drowning in one of his old tees, while the other cradled your head to his chest.
"There we are," he hummed as your bodies settled into one another. Jake pressed a kiss to your forehead as he felt the damp spots soak into his shirt. "I've got ya now, darlin'. I'll always hold you through the storms." After all, they were much easier to weather together than alone.
🏷️: @avengersfan25, @roosterforme
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD STORY!!!
Ch. 2: Two weeks and Counting Down
Warning: Mention of miscarriage. Some chapters have sex.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.
The story and situation I am creating are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.
I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, but I do hope it gives you happy thoughts.
These stories are my own, so please do not take them and use them for yourself without my permission. If you see them somewhere else, please let me know. :)
You steered the Expedition off the main road, guiding it onto the lengthy driveway leading to your home.
Jake looked around, his curiosity piqued. "Where is this?"
"We're on the driveway to our house," you explained.
As you continued, trees bordered both sides of the driveway, creating a secluded path. Gradually, the tree line began to thin, revealing fencing on the left side as the landscape opened up to your property.
Jake's eyes widened in amazement as the log cabin emerged into view. You directed the vehicle toward the garage, which automatically opened, allowing you to smoothly park inside. As you switched off the engine, the garage door began to lower behind you. Opening the truck's door, you were greeted by the sight of Chuck standing in the doorway to the mudroom.
Turning to Jake, you offered a gentle, "Welcome home." Then, you stepped out of the truck, and Jake, taking in his surroundings, opened his door to follow suit.
In his early to late fifties, standing about 5'8" tall and dressed in Wrangler jeans paired with a flannel shirt, Chuck approached the Expedition. His white hair was just visible beneath a well-worn baseball hat. As he neared, he announced, "Dinner's ready, Y/N."
"Thanks, Chuck," you responded with warmth in your voice. Turning to facilitate the introduction, you said, "Chuck, meet my husband, Lieutenant Jake Seresin. Jake, this is Chuck." You made the introductions as Jake walked over to join you.
Chuck extended his hand, offering a respectful greeting, "It's nice to finally meet you, Sir."
Jake accepted the handshake. "Likewise," he said, his gaze briefly wandering around the garage.
"Chuck, there are 4 bags in the truck. Could you grab them and bring them to," you started, glancing at Jake for a moment. He met your gaze.
"The master bedroom," Jake concluded.
"The master bedroom," you repeated, directing your attention back to Chuck. "I'd like to give my husband a quick tour of our house."
"Of course, Doc," Chuck replied, ready to assist.
As Chuck busied himself with retrieving the bags from the back of the truck, you focused on Jake, seizing the opportunity to share more about the home he was returning to.
"The place is heated," you mentioned casually, then gestured towards a section enclosed by a barn-style door. "Over there's the workshop. Chuck's pretty handy with repairs, too."
Jake followed your gaze to the workshop area, his interest piqued. "That's good to know. I might have a thing or two that needs fixing," he said, a hint of curiosity in his tone.
You smiled, walking closer to the barn-style door to give him a better view. "We've got a decent setup. Anything from vehicle repairs to some basic carpentry. Chuck has been invaluable around here."
As you slid the door open, revealing the organized chaos typical of a well-used workshop, Jake stepped in closer, inspecting the array of tools and machinery. "Looks like you've got everything you need."
"Yeah, Chuck likes to keep things organized. Says it makes the work go smoother," you explained, watching Jake as he ran his hand over a workbench, inspecting the tools laid out.
He turned to you, a thoughtful look on his face. "I used to help my uncle in his workshop back when I was a kid. Taught me a lot about fixing things, making do with what you have."
"It's a valuable skill to have," you agreed, closing the distance between you two. "Especially out here. It's not like we can just run to the store for every little thing."
Jake nodded, his gaze lingering on a half-assembled engine on one of the benches. "Maybe I can help out around here, too. It's been a while, but I'm sure it'll come back to me."
"I'm sure he'd be into that," you said, catching the direction of his gaze which had settled on a partially assembled engine. "I believe that's from the tractor."
"Come on. There's so much more to see, and tonight you'll only get a glimpse of it." You began to lead the way towards the door that opened into the mudroom.
Jake followed you, his steps mirroring your own anticipation. As you reached the door to the mudroom, you paused, hand on the knob, and glanced back at him. "Ready?"
He nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Lead the way."
Opening the door, you stepped into the mudroom, a well-organized space that immediately spoke of a home lived in and loved. The aroma of the outdoors mixed with the scent of clean laundry filled the air. You pointed out the various features, "Here's where the magic happens after a long day's work. Laundry, pet wash station, and plenty of storage. That bathroom is attached to the guest bedroom."
Jake's gaze wandered over the room, taking in the practical yet cozy setup. "I like it. It's... homey."
"That door over there takes you down the back porch steps and out towards the stables," you explained, moving towards the sliding barn door that would lead into the kitchen and living area.
The kitchen, living room, and dining room flowed together in an open concept layout, imbuing the space with a rustic charm.
Jake surveyed the surroundings, visibly mesmerized. "You built and planned all of this?"
"Yup," you confirmed with a sense of pride. "It was a lot of work, but worth every moment," you continued, watching as Jake absorbed the details of the space. "I wanted a home that felt welcoming, where every corner had a story or a purpose."
Jake walked over to the dining area, running his hand along the back of one of the chairs before turning to face you. "It's incredible. It has warmth, character… It's a reflection of us."
You couldn't help but blush at the compliment. "Thank you. I hoped to create a place that felt like a sanctuary, somewhere we could find peace and comfort."
He nodded, understandingly. "You've succeeded. It's more than just a house; it's a home."
Chuck descended the stairs, interrupting the moment with a practical inquiry, "Are you ready for dinner?"
You glanced at Jake, giving him the opportunity to respond.
"Yeah, I'm actually pretty hungry," he admitted, his attention shifting from the house's interior to the matter of dinner.
"Great," Chuck responded, his tone amiable. "I thought, considering the nights have been getting chillier, we'd have chili tonight." His suggestion seemed to perfectly suit the cozy, rustic atmosphere of the house.
"That sounds perfect," you agreed, pleased with the idea. "Chili is always a great choice for a chilly evening." You smiled at the unintended pun.
Jake chuckled. "Sounds good to me. I can't remember the last time I had homemade chili."
Chuck nodded towards you, "The dining room is all set for you."
"Thank you, Chuck," you replied, appreciating his attention to detail.
He then shifted his attention to Jake, "Is there anything in particular you'd like to drink?"
Jake gave a casual shrug. "A beer is fine," he responded, settling into the homely atmosphere.
"Coming up," Chuck acknowledged, before disappearing down a staircase to fetch the drink.
"Come on. This way to the dining room," you beckoned Jake, leading him to another area nearby.
As the two of you entered the dining room, the ambiance immediately struck you. Candles flickered softly, casting a warm glow in the dimly lit space, creating an intimate and welcoming atmosphere.
The centerpiece of the dining room was a large pine table, accompanied by matching chairs, all contributing to the room's rustic appeal. The wood's natural texture and the room's subtle, earthy tones created a sense of warmth and coziness, enhancing the intimate atmosphere set by the candlelight.
"You can sit wherever you like," you offered, gesturing to the table.
Jake looked around, then asked, "Where do you normally sit?"
You pointed to a specific chair. "When family is here, I sit at the head of the table."
"Then I'll sit next to you," he decided.
As you moved to navigate around Jake, he unexpectedly stepped in front of you, prompting you to stop and look up at him.
"Y/N…" Jake began, but his words were interrupted as Chuck re-entered the room, prompting you both to step apart.
"Here's your beer, Sir," Chuck said, extending the beverage to Jake.
Jake took the beer with a nod of gratitude. "Thank you."
"Dinner will be served shortly," Chuck announced, ready to bring in the meal.
"Great, thanks, Chuck," you replied, appreciating Chuck's help and timing as you sat down in the chair.
The interruption had momentarily paused your conversation with Jake, but as Chuck went back to the kitchen, there was a brief moment of silence between you two.
You looked at Jake, sensing there was something he wanted to say. "You were about to say something?" you prompted gently, encouraging him to continue.
Jake took a sip of his beer, gathering his thoughts. "I was just going to say… it's really nice here. You've done an amazing job with this place. It feels like a real home," he responded as he sat down in the chair to the left of you.
You smiled, touched by his words. "Thanks, Jake. That means a lot. I wanted to create a place that felt welcoming and comfortable."
The conversation was interrupted again as Chuck returned, this time with bowls of chili. The savory aroma filled the room.
"I'll leave you two to catch up," Chuck said and left.
Jake's gaze lingered on his wife, a mix of emotions swirling within him. Guilt crept in as he remembered how upset he had been when she chose not to quit school after their loss. It was a difficult time, and the distance that had grown between them in the past four years felt more profound in this moment of reflection.
He sighed, his eyes wandering over the dining room. Despite everything, he couldn't help but feel impressed by what you had accomplished in their time apart. The home you had built was a testament to you resilience and dedication. It was clear you had considered both their tastes and needs in its design, creating a space that was both a reflection of your strength and a potential haven for your shared future.
Jake's internal struggle was evident as he continued to observe his surroundings. The home spoke volumes about the person you had become in his absence. It was warm, welcoming, and meticulously crafted—a stark contrast to the empty spaces he had grown accustomed to in his military life.
Realizing the gravity of his past decisions and the impact they had on your relationship, Jake turned to you with a newfound sense of understanding and humility. "Y/N," he began, his voice carrying a hint of vulnerability. "I've been thinking about everything...about us. I know I haven't been there for you like I should have, especially after...after our loss."
You looked at him, your eyes reflecting a mix of surprise and cautious hope. You could sense the sincerity in his voice, something you hadn't felt from him in a long time.
Jake continued, "I was wrong to expect you to put your life on hold. What you've done here, it's incredible. You've built a life, a home, and I... I want to be a part of it, if you'll have me."
There was a long pause as you processed his words. The pain and misunderstandings of the past few years hung heavily between them, but so did the love and shared history they couldn't deny.
Finally, you spoke, your voice soft but steady. "Jake, I've missed you. I've missed us. But we can't just go back to how things were. We need to rebuild, to learn about each other again."
Jake nodded, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I agree. I want to do that. I want to understand you, to support you. I want us to be a team again."
You took a moment, collecting you thoughts before asking, "When do you have to go back?"
Jake answered, "I have two weeks until I have to go back."
Hearing this, you met his gaze with a determined look. "Then we'll make it the best two weeks we've got." Your voice carried a mix of resolve and hope, signaling a willingness to make the most of the limited time you had together.
Tags:
@buckysteveloki-me
@bellyliveslife
@tgmreader
@callsign-barbell
@86laura11
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I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!
Bad Reputation Part 1 | Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Taylor Swift inspired!OC
Request: Requested by @akornsworld
Word Count: 3457 words
Summary: There's that saying for some people, “You can't go home again.” When you grow up and leave, that's it, you don't go back home. Presley Joann Benjamin (stage name Presley Jo) believed that was the case for her. Never did she think she would be right back where she started. But her Aunt insisted it was the best for her. She thought for sure her life and career were over until she meets a certain cocky aviator.
Warnings: Alcohol use, angst if you squint, maybe some cursing, fluff, some depression if you squint
A/N: This will be a multipart imagine. Not sure how many chapters there will be yet.
She made it. She was one of the biggest singer/songwriters this generation has ever known. She was a hit pop sensation. She went on tour, her more recent ones going international. She won many awards: Grammy's, Billboard, MTV Awards, VMA's. She had many other accomplishments she was proud of and didn't think she would even come close to experiencing what she had. Things were going great… until they weren't.
Things started to go downhill, and they went downhill fast. Her reputation was ruined. All because she refused to be used and abused in Hollywood. Everything started to fall apart. The cancel culture started to come for her. She was completely lost on what to do. Which is why she disappeared from the public eye.
She didn't answer her phone for days. Her aunt began to lose her mind and flew from San Diego to New York to see if she was even alive. What she didn't expect was to walk into her niece's loft to find her lying in her bed in the dark. Tissues and multiple bottles of alcohol littering the bed and floor. Her aunt knew then and there she couldn't survive this dark period by herself. She forced her up out of bed, demanded she take a shower, and forced her to pack her bags to come home.
Home, the place she hasn't been in about 10 years. When she was still a bright-eyed 20-year-old dreamer. The place where she got her start while working part-time at her aunt's bar as a server. Where her now ex-asshole manager discovered her. Playing and singing her heart out on that old piano in the middle of the bar, entertaining the aviators currently stationed in the area, who she was sure said they “knew her when” when she finally started becoming known.
She can't stop staring at that old piano through her sunglasses from her bar stool.
“Why don't you go play something? The only person who ever touches it anymore is Bradley,” Penny said to her niece, cleaning out a beer glass before placing it with the others.
“No thank you,” Presley said quietly, adjusting her baseball cap on her head.
“Well, can you at least take the hat and glasses off? And look at me when I'm talking to you,” Penny requested, laying her rag on the counter.
Presley huffed and turned around on her bar stool. “I'll take my glasses off and look at you but I'm keeping the hat on.”
“Presley, nobody is here right now,” Penny argued, gesturing around the empty and currently closed bar.
“Exactly, right now. But you know as well as I do that this place will be packed in less than an hour and I really don’t feel like being mobbed considering the current state of my life,” I argued back with her.
“The current state of your life that you are going to get through and fix. You're a Benjamin, nothing can stop us,” She reassured me.
I sighed in response to her words and attempted to slam my forehead down onto the bartop. However, I let out a groan in pain when I just ended up hitting the bill of my ballcap off of it instead. I heard Penny sigh and heard the telltale sound of her walking around the bar and moving to sit on the barstool next to me. She began to run her hand through the ponytail sticking out of the back of my ballcap before speaking.
“Presley, I know what you are going through right now is hard and you may feel like your life is over. But that is so far from the truth. I brought you back here not just because you needed the support, but because you needed to get back in touch with your roots. You may not believe this, but sometimes going back to where it all started helps to see where it all went wrong,” She whispered to me.
I scoffed in reply and lifted my head up. “I know where it all went wrong.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But until then, I want you to at least try to live your life. Stop focusing on what happened and focus on what could be. Don’t worry about writing your next hit or whether you will be invited to the next award show. Focus on spending time with me and Amelia and being normal.”
I stared at her for a moment before nodding with a sigh. “Alright, fine. Where do you want me to start?”
She nodded at me gratefully before standing from the bar stool. “You can start by helping me open the bar. I know you know how to. Go to the stock room and grab what we need and then help me finish the glasses.”
I groaned in annoyance before standing from my chair and moving to do as she asked.
---------
The moment the first person walked into the bar I rushed to push my sunglasses back on my face and kept my head down and I have continued to do so since the bar opened about 30 minutes ago. The place has had people nonstop coming in and out. Aviators, soldiers, and civilians taking up the space around me. The once-quiet bar was slowly becoming louder as more people filtered in and the evening rush slowly began to take hold.
A glass being placed in front of me caused me to look up briefly at the bartender standing there with a smile.
“Thanks, Jimmy,” I smiled back at him.
“This stays between you and me. Your aunt told me not to serve you but I figured one drink wouldn’t hurt,” Jimmy told me, pointing his finger at me as if he was scolding me.
“Don’t worry. She won’t hear it from me,” I reassured him, reaching forward for the drink in front of me.
Jimmy gave me a thankful nod before moving to serve another person. I sighed and took a sip of my drink when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see another news article about me. I sighed and clicked on it, frowning at the words glaring back at me.
“Presley Jo: Where is the Princess? Has she run away to hide in her castle?”
“I’m not a princess,” I grumbled to myself, glaring at my phone as someone appeared next to me at the bar.
“Jimmy, I’ll have 6 more, and whatever the “not princess” is having,” a voice with a distinct southern accent spoke up from next to me.
I slightly raised my head and pocketed my phone, looking over at the person standing next to me through my sunglasses before looking over at Jimmy.
“Uh, that won’t be necessary, Jimmy,” I told the old man who nodded at me.
“Aw, c’mon darling. Let a nice man buy a beautiful woman a drink,” He argued with me in his accent, leaning on the bar sideways so he could look at me.
I let out a small giggle and shook my head, looking over at him and looking him over from top to bottom. Sandy blonde hair styled to perfection, bright green eyes shining in the lights of the bar, thin lips pressed into a smirk, and a khaki uniform that causes me to roll my eyes from behind my glasses and look forward. A gorgeous human being ruined by what he does for a living.
“Well howdy, John Wayne. I appreciate the offer but no thank you,” I told him, grabbing the still half-full glass to take a sip.
“John Wayne,” The stranger questioned me in shock, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, I’m sorry, do you prefer Eastwood,” I retorted, placing my glass back on the bar top.
I heard the aviator let out a noise that was a mixture of a scoff and a chuckle before he spoke up again.
“Well, that just hurts my feelings, sweetheart. It’s not every day I get made fun of for my accent,” He said in amusement.
“Well, I’m glad I could bring some excitement to your day,” I smiled at him sarcastically.
I heard a huff of amusement. “You know what would make it even more exciting.”
“No, but I feel like you’re going to tell me anyways, cowboy,” I said with disinterest.
“Your number.”
I scoffed in disbelief and began shaking my head with a grin. “Trust me, my number is the last thing you want buddy.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that,” He asked me curiously, leaning in closer to me.
“Because my reputation isn’t exactly the best right now… If you knew who I was you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me, I promise you that. So do yourself a favor and find someone else to court like the small-town country boy you are,” I informed him, pushing my sunglasses farther up my nose.
“Well, maybe you can give me a chance and I can prove you wrong,” He argued with me.
“Doubtful,” I muttered, taking a large gulp of my drink.
“Why don’t we start with a name? If you're so famous like you're making yourself out to be. Then I can tell you if I’ve heard anything and if I believe what I’ve heard,” He offered up.
“I am most definitely not giving you my name,” I denied immediately, shaking my head.
“Well, then how about you take off the sunglasses and the hat Hollywood? Then I can tell you if you look familiar,” He tried again.
“I am not doing that either,” I said with another shake of the head.
“You enjoy playing hard to get don’t you,” He asked me with a smirk.
“It’s not playing hard to get if there’s nothing to win,” I told him.
He stared at me in silence, causing me to look over at him. I could see a few different emotions swirling in his eyes. Admiration, desire, amusement, and what looked like affection.
“I’m Jake,” He said simply.
I stared at him for a second and nodded in response. “Cool.”
This Jake person opened his mouth to speak again before being cut off.
“Is Hangman bothering you, PJ,” Jimmy asked me sweetly, looking between the two of us.
“No, Jimmy. It’s fine,” I reassured the old man.
“Are you sure? Because I have no problem ringing the bell on him,” Jimmy told me, gesturing over his shoulder to my aunt's bell.
“As funny as that would be and as much as I would enjoy that, it’s not necessary,” I reassured him once again, picking my drink up and finishing it off.
Jimmy nodded at me and grabbed my now empty glass before walking away, but not without throwing a warning glare over his shoulder at this so-called “hangman.”
“So, now you know my name and my callsign. Are you still not willing to give yours up miss “PJ,” Jake questioned me.
“No, Hangman, I’m not,” I shrugged at him, beginning to stand from my barstool. “Hey Jimmy, Let Penny know I’m headed home,” I asked the old man, watching him nod at me before going about his work again.
“So you know Penny,” He asked me.
“Wow, nice deduction there Mr. Eastwood. That navy training is really doing you some good,” I said sarcastically, turning to head out the door.
“I’ll get your name eventually,” He called after me.
“Don’t bet on it, Lieutenant.”
---------
I groaned in pain at the sudden weight being thrown on top of me, a bright giggle slipping out of the person’s lips. I wrestled my hands out from underneath them and lifted them to grab the comforter covering my head. I pulled it down to see Amelia lying across me with her dog Theo running into the room and joining us in the bed.
“Amelia, why,” I groaned.
“Because mom told me to wake you up. She needs you to do something for her,” Amelia told me before hopping off the bed to leave the room, Theo following closely behind her.
I groaned tiredly before throwing my blanket off of me. I leaned over the side of the bed and gripped my sleep shorts that I had taken off before bed. I pulled them on before doing my morning routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face. I then ran a brush through my hair and pulled it up into a bun before making my way downstairs. I followed the noises I heard into the kitchen to see Aunt Penny running around trying to make breakfast for Amelia as my little cousin tried to finish up her homework at the last minute. I walked over to Amelia kissed her head and gave Theo a pat on the head, before taking a seat on the other barstool at the island.
“Morning,” I sighed out to Aunt Penny.
“Good morning. I have a few errands I need to do this morning. Is there any chance you can take Amelia to school and then go to the Hard Deck to get some of the opening duties done for me,” Aunt Penny asked me quickly, placing Amelia’s breakfast on top of her homework and causing the young girl to let out a groan of annoyance.
“Yeah, sure,” I nodded at her.
“Thank you. I shouldn’t be long and should be there at around 10. And Amelia knows the drop-off procedures,” She reassured me.
“Penny, it’s fine. I know what to do and I will get Amelia to school on time,” I reassured her.
“Thank you,” she told me once again before gathering her things.
She walked around the island to place a kiss on Amelia’s head and one on my cheek before moving towards the door.
“I love you girls,” She called over her shoulder.
“Love you too,” We both called out to her.
---------
After an anxiety-ridden school drop-off and halfway through getting the bar ready for opening, Penny showed up with a thankful smile.
“Thank you,” She told me, pulling me into a hug.
“You’re welcome. I mopped, did stock, and washed the glasses. They just need to be dried and all of your paperwork needs to be done,” I explained to her, gesturing to all of the glasses sitting in drying racks.
“You are a lifesaver. How was drop off,” She asked me.
“Well, um, I have been through quite a few anxiety-inducing events in my life, but I think drop-off was the worst one to date,” I informed her with a grimace.
Penny winced at my words and nodded in agreement. “It can be bad.”
I nodded at her in agreement before moving to sit on the piano bench, my back facing the instrument to curb the need to play it. Penny looked between me and the instrument before speaking.
“Why don’t you play something while I finish up? I could use the entertainment,” She offered up, grabbing a rag to begin drying the glasses.
“No thank you,” I sighed, running my hands over my thighs to rid them of some of the sweat they built up.
“Presley, you can’t just give up music. I haven’t heard you so much as hum a note since you came home. And you've been here about two weeks now,” Penny scolded, placing her hands on her hips. “I used to have to pry you away from that piano. You couldn't stop writing and playing. You constantly had something new-”
“I’m not giving up music… and did it ever occur to you that maybe I'm just uninspired,” I interrupted her, looking at her sadly.
Penny frowned before placing her rag on the counter and leaning forward. “You're uninspired right now, but not forever. Something will bring your light back, I know it. For right now, how about you play some of your old stuff?”
I stared at her for a moment before sighing and nodding. “Fine. But I'm not singing. I'm just playing the piano.”
“That's fine with me,” She reassured me as I turned around and placed my hands on the black and white keys.
I began playing one of my songs gently and let myself get lost in the music. Meanwhile, Penny continued working behind me to prepare the bar for opening in a couple of hours. My one song turned into two, which turned into three. However, my playing stopped when I heard the front door open. I tensed up in my seat and looked over at Penny out of the corner of my eye. Penny dropped everything she was doing and immediately turned towards the person who entered the bar.
“Hangman, we don’t open for another few hours,” Penny called out to the person who walked further into the bar.
“It’s Friday, Penny. Dogfight football day. Just stopped in to get some beers for everybody before heading down to the beach,” Jake argued with her, walking over to the bar.
I could feel his eyes on me as he conversed with my aunt, causing me to turn my head slightly so he couldn’t see my face.
“Well, why don’t you head outside and I can bring them out to you,” Penny offered up.
“Nah, Pen, it’s fine. I don’t want to take up any more of your time than I need to,” Jake denied her. I listen to Penny let out a sigh before moving around the bar and gathering what he asked for. “I know that song you were playing, darling. I believe it’s called Enchanted by-,” He cut himself off when I finally looked over at him.
“Presley Jo, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Eastwood,” I stated, holding my hand out to him with a blank expression on my face.
“PJ,” He hummed, gripping my hand in his own with obvious shock on his face.
“Hm, I normally just go by Presley,” I hummed out with a shrug, staring up at him.
“Mhm, Penny my dear, do you understand who is sitting in your bar right now,” Jake said in disbelief.
“Of course I do. I raised her,” Penny shrugged at him simply.
Jake turned around and looked at her in shock. “You raised one of the biggest pop stars on the face of the earth and didn’t tell anyone?”
“It’s not exactly something I go telling everybody, Hangman, no matter how proud I am of my beautiful niece. Besides, Bradshaw and Maverick know.”
“Rooster knows? Maverick I understand, but Rooster,” He asked in disbelief.
“Bradley and I grew up together. Who do you think taught me piano,” I interrupted, drawing his eyes back towards me. Jake continued to stare at me in shock and awe, causing me to slightly squirm under his gaze. “So, you going to go tell everybody I’m here? Sell a story to the media?”
Jake shook his head at me before releasing a scoff. “Why would I do that?”
“Because it’s what everyone else does,” I shrugged, fiddling with the hem of my shirt.
“Well, Darling, I guess I’m not everyone else then,” He shrugged at me.
I looked at him in shock before speaking again. “You still want my number?”
“Hm… that, and I’d still like to buy you that drink,” He shrugged at me.
I looked at him in shock and disbelief before shaking my head at him. “You still want something to do with me after finding out who I am? Even with everything being said about me and me being canceled?”
Jake shrugged at me before stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Not all your fans believe what’s being said about you.”
My gaze softened and I couldn’t stop myself from staring into his bright green eyes. He held my gaze for a few moments before Penny cleared her throat.
“Hangman, your beers,” She said, pushing them all towards the aviator.
He removed his gaze from me to turn towards my aunt and gave her a thankful smile. He told her to keep a tab open before turning back towards me. He gave me a wink before moving towards the back door of the bar to go to the beach. I watched him walk away and out the door before removing my gaze from him and looking back at my aunt. She raised her eyebrows at me in amusement before crossing her arms over her chest.
“You gonna tell me what the hell that was?”
THIS IS SOOO ADDICTING I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!
Secret Sacrifices // Jake Seresin
Chapter One: [Mermaids Don’t Exist]
Summary: Jake continues to plays your knight in shining armour when tensions rise between you and an overly intoxicated patron. Bob brings up a mutual memory.
Warnings: Jake Seresin x F!reader. Witness Protection F!reader. Sexually degrading comments made towards reader. Sexual tension, trauma. Mentions of death & violence.
Word Count: 3.5k
Author Note: Still not writing as much as I once was but I’m getting back into the swing of things. Any comments, thoughts or concepts are welcome!
Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist
Dreams mainly occur when the body falls into a stage of sleep referred to as R.E.M. Rapid eye movement occurs when the brain and body are finally able to completely rest. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that when your body is able to rest, it allows you to do so.
“We’ll find you, Y/n!”
Nightmares are typically thought to be an evolutionary conserved trait. Some researchers believe that nightmares provide a rehearsal for life-or-death situations. Before you lived one? You would have said something along the lines of ‘that checks out.’
“No no no no please, Patrick, stay with me—“
Some researchers believe nightmares to be a practical experience for many people as it allows the brain to run through multiple different algorithms to find the most desirable strategies, and solutions to often critical and complex situations.
From a procedural standpoint, simply imagining doing an action can improve your performance.
“I love you—take Charlie.”
This applies when we simply imagine doing an action such as playing the piano or running for your life after being run off the road, it activates something called a mirror neuron.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with here, girly.”
In theory, the more nightmares you have, the more of those algorithms your brain is able to run, and the more prepared you’re likely to be for the daily struggle of survival.
But evolution herself is seen by the scientific community more so as a tinkerer than as an inventor.
“Oh god—please, not my baby, please! Someone! Help us!”
So, that’s probably why you have the same nightmare over and over and over again every single night.
Every morning you wake in the same way, with your face pressed into your pillow and your chest sinking into your mattress. Secretly, every morning you wished that your pillow would have suffocated you in your sleep so that today would forever be unobtainable. But you couldn’t do that, no. Not when the only way to bring a sense of worth to your life was to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
With a groan and a look that spoke volumes to your lack of self-esteem, you rolled onto your back and let out a heavy sigh. Your hands were quick to shield your eyes from the mid-afternoon rays beaming into your bedroom via the slightly cracked windows.
“Your name is Y/n Y/l/n, you are doing the right thing.”
Guilt and grief aren’t linear emotions. They don’t have a perception of how much time has passed. Realistically it had been three years, six months, and two days since your entire world had been flipped upside down. But every morning, after seeing your husband bleeding to death as he sat pressed against the steering wheel, and having held your five-year-old son in your arms while he took his last breath, the wound was reopened.
And the clock always resets.
“Ah, there she is.” You couldn’t help but hang your head in shame almost. Penny’s glare from behind the bar was as piercing and sharp as it was endearing and playful. Like a woman who took no shit from no one. “You know, you’d think management would be here on time more frequently than whatever the hell this is.” All you could do was take the semi-serious scattering from the owner of the bar you’d been lucky enough to be set up with a pretty good gig at. “Get over here and give me a hand will ya?”
“Sorry, Penny—” There wasn’t much more you could say to justify yourself. You woke up late, got ready slowly, and got lost in the steam of your mid-afternoon shower as you fought off the existential dread that was your current situation. “Flat tyre,” You shrugged like it wasn’t that big of a deal that you were currently twenty-three minutes late for your shift, “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Yeah well, you can start by clearing off the table by the piano,” Penny smiled as she nudged her head in the direction of the unruly table of patrons that had surely had far too much to drink. “Think Rick’s had a little more than his liver would care to admit.”
“Yeah righto,” you sighed as you came behind the bar, doing up your apron as you looked around at the utter mess that had become the place. “I’ll sort him out.”
North Island wasn’t somewhere you ever saw yourself living, but that was the real kicker in all of this. You didn’t mind the picturesque town with clear blue skies and water that mirrored it. But being the outsider, being the new resident, being the Hard Deck’s newest manager was all some of these people saw you as. Six months in a small Naval town was barely a dint in the years some of these families had been living here.
“Aw hello, Brewer!” Rick Spencer, the resident rioter, cooed as he beamed your way. For someone in their mid-sixties, he surely went alright. “What brings you in on this fine Saturday afternoon?”
Typical - If you could have, you would have rolled your eyes so far into the back of your head you would have fallen over. Instead, you chose to smile and settle into the nightlife festivities with a can-do attitude and a rather cheeky smile.
“Came to check on you, Spence? How’s everything over here boys?” It wasn’t uncommon for you to entertain the banter most of the patrons would give you. Most of the locals had caught on quickly that you enjoyed a good laugh every now and again but also knew how to handle your own.
But there's always one in every group, isn’t there?
“Would be a hell of a lot better if the barmaid was a little more topless! Right boys!?” A man you hadn’t seen before interrupted before a roar of ‘yeahs’ and agreements were made. Fists and beer bottles along with spirits alike slammed against the tabletop. “Come on girly—” The man continued as you stood there holding the empty bar tray, ready and waiting to collect the empties that littered the table. “Get your kit off.”
“I don’t think so, boys,” You politely declined the offer of public indecency. “Perhaps in another lifetime.”
“Sorry about him, Brewer,” Rick explained as he shook his head and stood from his seat at the booth. “My nephew’s here for a few days.”
“Yeah well, so long as he remembers I run the joint and can have him tossed any time,” You replied sternly. “Keep him in line, Rick.”
“Oh come on now, sweetheart, I was only joking!” The man you only knew as the nephew chuckled as he overheard your comment. “It’s slim pickings around here anyway, you just look like the best of a bad bunch is all.”
“Hey!” That voice, that far too familiar voice echoed through the crowd. “You speak to her, or any woman for that matter, like that again? So help me god I’ll punch your teeth right through the back of your skull.” Jake snarled as he came to stand in front of you with his back nearly pressed right into your chest. “Got it!?” The close proximity, the overwhelming aroma of the familiar cologne, and the notes of burnt orange and bourbon made your heart warm. It all had your heart beating against your chest with a force so intense you thought it might break through.
“Yeah right,” the man only known as the nephew agreed. “Sorry, sweetheart, I’ll get on the waters for a while.”
“That and a pretty big tip should call us even,” you added with envy conviction laced in your voice that you even had yourself fooled that everything was alright. “Let me just grab these empties for you fellas.”
You didn’t mess around with it, you simply let the group fall back into their regular chatter as you filled your tray.
Jake stood with crossed arms a little off to the side, eyeing off all the men who sat idly. Fucking pricks.
“Been here all of five fucking minutes—” Jake could sense your frustration as you turned into him. At first, he didn’t move, he simply stood there drinking you in as you held the now full tray of dirty glassware.
“You didn’t have to do that for me,” was all you said.
With wandering eyes, Jake didn’t miss a single inch of you.
“I know,” Jake smiled softly as he reached around to lead you back to the bar for a moment to decompress. His hand gently fell to the small of your back as you walked side by side, “I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself, but just because you’re capable? Doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.”
Alone, that’s all you’d ever been for the last three years.
“Yeah, yeah I guess you’re right,” the sigh that left your body allowed your shoulders to relax as you placed the tray onto the bar and slid it over for Penny to take. “Thanks, Jake, I owe you one.”
Jake Seresin had never been the kind of guy who saw himself settling down. But when he first saw you, that thought hadn’t left his mind.
“Name a time and place,” Jake teased as he sent you a wink. It didn’t take Jake long to find himself at home up by the bar, perched on one of the bar stools as he entertained his favourite bartender. “I’ve always wondered what our first date would be like.”
“Do I look like I came down in the last shower, Seresin?” You knew Jake had a thing for you, it wasn’t all that hard to put together. But it could never work, not in a million years. Not when you were playing pretend on a professional basis.
“What’s that even mean?” Jake asked as he leaned his elbows on top of the bar, grinning ear to ear as he pressed your buttons more.
“It means—“ You cooed as you leaned into his space, making it known that the flirting was welcome, but the end goal wasn’t in sight. “I know you’re just trying to get in my pants.”
“Pretty good-looking set of pants if I do say so myself,” Jake teased as his eyes trailed down the expanse of your body, then back up. Those emerald cities of his were full of complex wonder and undoubtable loyalty. Something you could never give back. “But despite the fact I think you’re pants would look a hell of a lot better in a pile on my bedroom floor, I’m not just doing any of this for a chance to, well, you know what I mean.”
You did know what Jake meant, and for all intents and purposes you could admit to yourself that it sounded very tempting. But you knew what the repercussions would be.
“Jake, that’s all very sweet of you,” you felt as if you had this very conversation every week. The gentle let down. The kind-ish conversation where you reminded the overly-confident and somewhat self-assured Aviator that you weren’t looking for love or lust, or anything. Besides, there were already too many people looking for you. “But you know, as much as I think you’re a good guy and friend, I’m not interested.”
Jake stood silently before you, drinking in all that was you. From the lines etched into your forehead to the small scar that ran through your left eyebrow. He wasn’t listening, there was just something about you. Something so intriguing that he couldn’t stop trying to win you over. He couldn’t stop trying to get you to give him just one chance. One chance was all Jake wanted to convince you he wasn’t everything he knew people had told you he was.
“What would you say if I asked you to–” Before Jake had a chance to finish his question, the echoing sound of a glass shattering into smitherings against the wooden flooring, interrupted his train of thought.
“OOOIII– TAXI!” It was almost as if all the patrons, besides Jake that was, had all congealed into one as they yelled shouted and cheered towards the man who had dropped his glass. With a heavy sigh and a quick roll of the eyes, you knew you would be the one who ultimately had to clear the mess.
“I should probably get back to work.” The silence that came from Jake was deafening as you pulled away from where you had been standing far too close to a man you thought you didn’t want. A man you couldn’t have even if deep down you really wanted. Life was unfair like that. You couldn’t have anything you wanted, anything you loved. Anything that made you happy in the smallest of ways.
“There’s really no chance of getting you to agree to just one date, is there Brewer?” Jake watched as you made your over to where you kept the cleaning supplies in a small section behind the bar.
“If you already know that then why do you constantly make such an effort?” It was the look on your face that told Jake everything he needed to know. There was no chance in hell he was ever getting that date.
But Jake Seresin never gave up without a fight, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to now.
“Because you gentled me, Brewer,” Jake Seresin had never been the type of person who wanted to settle down. He was always so content with the relations he chose to have and the way he chose to have them. Short simple quick flings. Girlfriends who lasted no longer than a year and one-night stands he’d promise to call but never got their numbers. But then there was you. “No one’s ever done that before.”
“Please don’t put that on my shoulders, Jake,” You weren't sure how to respond to that, how to process that kind of admission. “Just lay off the heroics for a while alright? I don’t want people getting the wrong impression.”
“That impression would be?” Jake questioned like you’d just insulted his very being. That it would be a crime to love him.
“Jake, I have a job to do alright,” It wasn’t that you were angry or upset that Jake cared for and about you. It was more frustration on your part for not being able to act on your own feelings towards him. It had been three years since your husband died. Three years since you felt the loving embrace of another human being. That alone was enough to frustrate anyone. “Please, just–just, I need to get back to work.”
The thing about nightmares is that they often don’t stick to their own parameters. Sometimes, you end up living a nightmare more often than you dream one. Right now? As Jake looked at you like you’d just shot him through the heart, you knew you were wide awake. Living a nightmare that continued to punish only the good.
“You’re untouchable,” Jake sighed to himself softly as he shook his head in defeat. “The untouchable woman who won’t let anyone in, you’re too proud or something aren’t you?”
“It’s just–” All you wanted to do was explain yourself, pull Jake aside and let him in on why you couldn’t allow him to love you the way you wanted him to. But no words came out as you stood there holding the old dustpan by your side.
With every blink, you saw flashes of Patrick. The love you lost too soon, too suddenly. He made sure to haunt your dreams to keep you safe. For a brief second of all-consuming anguish, you saw him too. Standing right behind Jake, warning you not to. “I need to get back to work, I’m sorry.”
“Right,” Jake clenched his jaw when he felt the word vomit about to spew from his lips. He wasn’t mad, rejection just wasn’t something he was familiar with. “When you get a chance, put a Budweiser on Bradshaw’s tab.” Jake pressed his lips together into a fine line of regret, instantly kicking himself for pushing. He knew he shouldn’t have, but the chase was as addicting as it was thrilling. With a simple knock of his knuckles on the bar before, he turned on his heels. Leaving you to stand there in your own self-loathing.
Your heart sank as you watched Jake shove his hands into the pockets of his jeans with a head that hung so low you almost wondered if his neck would be sore. Guilt, shame, it all felt the same. But you couldn’t let Jake in, you couldn’t allow him into your life more than what you’d given him over the last six months.
You’d tangled yourself in barbed wire so you couldn’t be reached by anyone. Unknowingly bleeding when as it digs into you more and more. You would think the touch of skin on yours wouldn’t be so terrifying, but you’d been bruised before. You couldn’t allow Jake to fall into your web of lies that kept you safe from harm’s way. If hurting him was the only way to keep him safe, you’d hurt him twice over every single day.
Perhaps it would be safer to stay the untouchable woman.
***~***~***~***~***~****
As a child, there was magic in the mundane. You often found yourself missing the mermaids among the koi in the pond, their glittering scales reminiscent of a childhood fairytale. Summer mornings you’d make bouquets out of the same flowers adults would now mow away while wrinkling their noses at the weeds.
You often wondered to yourself when the awe of the day-to-day faded away and when you stopped believing in your ability to see mermaids in the momentous world around you.
“Another round fellas?” You tried not to think too much about the way Jake’s eyes burned into you like a fiery sunbeam as you stood behind Rooster. “Same old same old? The usual orders of Bradshaw’s table?” The squad, affectionately known as the Daggers erupted into laughter all the while Rooster remained silent and brooding.
“You are all bleeding my dry,” Bradley sighed as you made the rounds and collected all the empties onto your bar tray. “Seriously, I know you aren’t all working for free, cough up.”
“You could– just apologise for being a Neanderthal and I’ll close it out?” Your statement left a bad taste in Rooster’s mouth, he wasn’t one for apologising for things he didn’t think he’d done wrong.
“I could,” the brooding moustache-having man replied. “But it’d be an empty lie.” There was something about Bradley Bradshaw that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. He wasn’t necessarily a bad person, he was–an only child. He probably never imagined mermaids among the koi.
“Appreciate the honesty there, Bradshaw,” you chuckled deeply as you finished you collecting all the empty glasses and beer bottles. “Guess the next rounds on you.”
“Here here,” Coyote chimed in with a Cheshire Cat grin. “All in a hard day’s work there Rooster, you always know how to piss off the barkeep.”
“Works out in our favour,” Bob smiled as he passed you two empty glasses. “I don’t think I’ve paid for a drink of my own in a few weeks now.”
“No, you just keep trying to convince everyone Brewer here was your first kiss,” Phoenix smirked as she finished off her beer.
All the air inside your lungs felt like they had been sucked right out. The chills that ran down the expanse of your spine made your blood run cold. You stood tall with your now full tray of old beer bottles and empty glasses and sent a polite smile Bob’s way.
“You still riding that wave?”
“You just really look like Y/n from Nurellun Public,” Bob countered with an almost pleading tone. “She was my first kiss by the sandpit and I remember she had a little yellow dot in her right eye.”
“Brewer has a yellow dot in her right eye,” Jake decided to enter the conversation from his place in the corner of the booth. “Tell you what Floyd, you must have been one shocking kisser if you got Brewer here to change her damn name.” The table erupted into a loud boisterous laugh as the Weapons System Officer sunk a little lower into his seat.
You felt for Bob, being the butt of the joke was never a good feeling. But when your case officer relocated you to North Island, he didn’t bank on one of its locals being your first snog. You hated gaslighting the guy, but you had no other choice. Bob Floyd had to stay in the era of Meridamis and weed bouquets.
“Like I told you last time Bob, you’ve got the wrong girl,” It was as nonchalant as it was dismissive. “My first kiss was with Johnny Bennett out at some random guys shed.” You had gotten used to lying about your life and who you were. At the very beginning it was almost impossible, but three years on? You’d gotten pretty good at playing pretend.
Only you wished it could be with the mermaids in their fairytales. But much like all those mermaids and all those fairytale stories……you didn’t exist. Much like Johnny Bennett. 
***~***~***~***~***~
Tags: 🏷️ @a-reader-and-a-writer @xoxabs88xox @hiireadstuff @buckysteveloki-me @athenabarnes @els-marvelvsp @blindedbythelightt @tayl0rhuynh @na-ta-sh-aa @kmc1989 @sunlightmurdock @mamachasesmayhem @jaxfart @lauenderhaze @sugarcoated-lame @maisie-rebloging-blog @captainmoonknight @seitmai @shanimallina87 @kajjaka @imnotcreativeenoughforthisblog @imladrisofabookdragon @buckysteveloki-me @mrsevans90 @allepaula @els-marvelvsp @djs8891 @paperbag33
This is BRILLIANT! @hiding-in-my-blanket-fort THANK YOU for doing this. It’s so nice to see a different take on such an alpha character. It’s so refreshing. I identify as demi and while I adore fanfic it gets tiresome to read fic after fic where Jake and Rooster are hooking up with everyone or the heroine jumps into bed with them after just locking eyes across a crowded room. I would *love* to see this as a series, but even having this as a headcanon makes me *so* happy!
Demisexual!Jake Seresin x Reader headcanons
Saw this post where people were being little piss babies that Jake Seresin can't possibly be aspec. So *cracks knuckles* since people can't seem to stay in their own fucking lane, I'm gonna be That Bitch and write some aggressively positive demisexual headcanons for our favorite flyboy.
(Tagging my aspec!Jake partner in crime: @gonnabreakhisheart)
Jake is an outrageous flirt. But he doesn't mean 99% of the things that come out of his mouth. He's just blowing smoke and hot air, talking smack.
When someone flirts back, he cranks it up to 110%. But when it comes time to follow through, oh hell no, Jake aborts so fast and hightails it out of there.
Despite what other people accuse him of, Jake has had only two one night stands, and no one ever believes him when he says that so he stopped trying to convince them.
The first time, he was young and reckless, running on the adrenaline high of getting into flight school. His classmates pressured him into it, too, insisting that he was a man now and he needed to prove himself.
It was not a good night and the girl left him in the morning without saying anything, which made him feel like shit.
The second time, Jake had watched one of his pilot buddies die in flight training and it messed him up really bad. He had no one to lean on because he'd learned not to show emotion in the military.
So he ended up at a bar, trying to drown his feelings, and somehow found himself deep in conversation with this woman. She'd lost her boyfriend in a car accident a year ago so she understood what it was like to deal with grief.
They spent most of the night talking and finding comfort in each other.
But they both agreed to part ways in the morning. They still text occasionally and check in on each other now and then.
Jake's reputation as a playboy is purely hearsay and mostly fueled by the jealousy and insecurity of other men. But he gave up trying to deny the rumors a long time ago. His protests seemed to only dig his grave deeper.
So in true Hangman fashion, Jake uses his reputation as a shield. Only the people who will truly stick around for the long haul get a glimpse underneath his armor.
Jake actually takes FOREVER before he decides that he likes you. Being a pilot demands a lot of his time which he knows can be very taxing on a relationship and he's upfront about that right from the start.
He's had a lot of people come and go in his life, and he's careful about getting emotionally invested too early.
You and Jake were friends for years, and he was fiercely protective of you.
Trying to get a guy's number at a bar? GOOD LUCK Jake is gonna be hovering at your shoulder, poking his nose into your business and making sure your potential date knew that you had a curfew, home by 10pm. Or else.
You relentlessly dropped hints that HE could ask you out, which you'd been hoping might happen for...an embarrassingly long time. But he never got the hint.
So YOU finally ask him out, which he tries to laugh off with a joke because you can't possibly be serious. Until he realizes you're not kidding and he finds that it's surprisingly easy to say yes to you.
At the beginning of the relationship, Jake doesn't know what to do with himself. He's on the verge of bolting because this is too good to be true.
About the six month mark, Jake settles down and he starts looking at you in a new light. You fell asleep on his couch, comfortable and safe in his presence while watching television and something in his heart tugs.
In the morning, when he sees you in the kitchen with your messy bedhead as you poured yourself some cereal, wearing the oversized pajamas you'd borrowed from him last night...oh my god, that's the hot button. That's when Jake realizes he found something truly special and he's going to fight for it.
He gets a dog tag engraved with your name and wears it all the time alongside his military dog tags.
He has a picture of you in the cockpit of his airplane. Before every flight, he kisses his fingertips and touches the picture as a good luck charm so he makes sure that he comes home to you.
Honestly, instead of sex, Jake prefers weird 3am chats with you where he can make you laugh until you're gasping for breath.
Jake loves taking a bath with you, especially when you slip into the tub behind him and wash his hair. The first time you did it, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. No one had ever done that for him before.
He has zero ability to stay mad with you after a fight. He leaves to cool off and then comes back with this kicked puppy-dog look on his face. He takes your hand, kisses your knuckles.
"I hate fighting with you, baby," he whispers.
"Well, if you would just admit I'm right, we wouldn't have to fight."
He can tell you're teasing and you end up hugging each other really hard for several long minutes because you both know just how lucky you are and you don't want a stupid fight to come between you.
Sexy headcanons below the cut (18+ only)
Jake actually doesn't like quickies. They're never satisfying and they're always over too fast.
Cuddlefucking drives him batshit crazy. There's something about how time seems to slow down with the lazy touches, sleep-warm skin, the kisses that feel more like a dream than a reality.
He's actually very worried about hurting you. He's heard some terrible stories from guys in the military who clearly don't like their girlfriends, and he would never dream of treating you like that.
So if you want something more intense, Jake will require an in-depth conversation with clear guidelines and a lot of reassurance that this is what you want.
For that reason, Jake is very uncomfortable with hate sex. It doesn't make any sense to him. He doesn't hate you and he doesn't want to bring that vibe into your relationship.
Jake really looks forward to aftercare. He takes note of everything you liked for future reference.
He loves to absolutely worship your body. Massaging that kink out of your shoulder. Stroking the washcloth over your chest and back in the shower. Propping your leg in his lap as he rubs lotion into your skin.
Jake doesn't care how much shit people give him for saying it but he LOVES missionary. He wants to look you in the eyes. He wants to guide your leg around his hips. It's a classic for a reason.
One time, the two of you decided to get adventurous and try a new position. It was complicated as hell and you fumbled around so much that you ended up collapsed together, Jake's face beet red from laughing so hard.
You didn't actually have sex that night. But you fell asleep in each other's arms without a stitch of clothing between you, and then you had leftover pizza for breakfast, which felt just as good.
Jake is a MONSTER when it comes to non-sexual intimacy. He soaks up every drop like a dying man in the desert.
Sitting on the couch watching tv? He's going to tuck his head into your lap and coax your fingers into his hair.
Brushing your teeth? He'll slide his arms around you from behind and nuzzle into your neck.
Out to dinner with his buddies? He has a hand resting on your thigh.
When you're walking side by side, if you don't hold his hand, Jake will take your hand and tuck it into the crook of his elbow. Every single time. And he gives you this look like, this is your spot, don't you know that by now???
When it's cold, he wraps his hand around yours and tucks it into his coat pocket to keep you both warm.
Masterlist
Muse Food
Pretty sure I may have found Jake "Hangman" Seresin’s long lost brother/twin 😂 Hopefully folks find their muses well fed 😁
Meet actor Tom Hopper!
When we were young
Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x original female character (Carey Davis is you)
Summary: Jake and you had been friends since you can remember but as time goes on you can’t help yourself for falling for Jake. Because of fate and some other reasons Jake ends up marrying Melissa, your best friend, and your friendship with Jake falls apart. Years later, you and Jake find each other again and things haven’t changed as much as you thought, for better or for worse.
Childhood friends to almost lovers to strangers to lovers
Tw: Curse, drinking, smoking, shitty dad, mentions of divorce, bad writing and mistakes since English's not my first language.
Italics: Flashbacks
Part 2
1. When we were young
“My God, this reminds me, of when we were young”
You hear someone call your name, but the loud music and the noise of your friends laughing and talking doesn't help you to find whoever's calling your name. You frown lightly as you look around and when you can't find the person who's yelling your name you return your attention to the conversation your friends are having.
You take your glass of beer to your lips and you give it a drink. When someone taps your shoulder you can't help to jump slightly and you notice your friends’ eyes on the person behind you.
You rub your hand on your lips wiping away the trickle of beer that fell from your lips as you jumped. You turn around, only to find “BRADSHAW!” standing there wearing a hawaiian shirt and with a beer on his hand.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He yells at you since the music’s loud and with a huge smile on his face that he manages to infect you “I’m living here actually” you yell back and he leans his head closer to you so he's able to hear you right “Guys!” you yell at your group of friends and you grab Bradley by the arm “This one here’s Bradley, Brad, those are Penelope, Chris and Jackie” you say pointing at each one while you introduce them to Bradley, they nod at him as a greeting and Bradley raises his beer.
Bradshaw leans down a little again to whisper on your ear “Wanna get out of here?” You nod at him immediatly and respond with an almost unhearable yup. “Be right back” you yell at your friends, they nod at you and Chris blows you a kiss that you return to him.
You follow Brad as you both make your way through the crowd, you get to the stairs of the house and when you go down you start to hear the music further away. As soon as you step on the huge garden of the house you sigh and you put out the cigarrette against the wall and throw it in the trash can next to the door.
“How long have you been living here?” Brad asks you making you return your eyes to him “Six months, six months and a half maybe” You shrug and after taking a sip of his beer Bradley offers it to you which you gladly accept “You were definetly the last person I expected to find here” you take your hand to touch your chest and you fake being hurt “Ouch” He laughs and shakes his head “No, I mean like... the last time I saw you, you seemed so settled on Texas, wait! Are you still with Gareth?” You nod at him “I’m still settled, just not in Texas, and yeah, he’s actually here... somewhere” You point at the house when you explain that to him and he nods before making a gesture telling you to follow him.
"There’s some people I want you to meet," he says and you walk beside him. You basically go around the whole house to get to the other side of the patio where there is a group of guys sitting at a table drinking and laughing out loud. You approach them and the first to notice you is a tall guy with a mustache "Rooster, you've got my beer, right?"
Brad tenses a little bit and before he says anything the guy speaks up again “No worries, Bradshaw, who’s your friend though?” He points at you and you crack a smile “Carey, Payback, Payback, Carey” You're extend your hand and he shakes it nodding at you respectfully before turning his head to look at the crew "Anybody want a beer?"
The only woman on the table raises her hand and holds up two fingers on the air and Payback nods at her before making himself towards the entrance of the house. Bradshaw and you get closer to table and as if you were someone extremely important Bradley makes an anouncement to introduce yourself to the group.
"Guys, this is Carey. Carey, those are Phoenix, Bob, Fanboy, Fritz, Coyote and-" he stops pointing at them and clears his throat, trying to call the attention of the guy turning his back to you while he's talking to a woman, the guy doens't seem to care so Bradley points at him and calls his name, well, his callsign "And that's Hangman"
The blonde tall guy finally turns to pay attention to Bradley and when he looks at you, you notice his lips parting and you cross your arms raising an eyebrow.
"Melissa, you need to calm down" you were telling your friend Melissa while you were walking next to each other towards the football training yard "How am I supposed to be calmed? What if he doesn't like me?" You rolled your eyes at her "It's possible" Melissa stopped walking at turn to you bringing her hand to her chest, you giggled at her action "I'm kidding, Mel, I mean, Jake's an idiot but never a bad person" Melissa seemed to relax after you told her that and sighed "Don't joke about that, Carey"
You giggled again and started walking again with her following you. You got to the football yard and make your way through the already seated people on the bleachers. You ended up sitting on the third row covering your faces with your hands since the sun was exactly on you.
There were eight minutes left of the match and while you waited for it to end anxiously sitting and moving your foot, Melissa spent those eight minutes cheering the "team" when in reality she was cheering Jake, and Jake only.
The bell rings and that's when you know that the game's over. You noticed Jake jogging towards your direction and you waved at him, when he approached you he went for the hug but you stopped him quickly "Not sweating like that, Seresin" He rolled his eyes and without a warning attracted your body to his hugging you. You pressed your hands against his abdomen pushing him away and after a couple seconds he finally let you go "Jake! You're disgusting!" He giggled and then winked at you "You adore me"
You rolled your eyes at him giggling too "What the hell are you doing here, DVD? This isn't your natural habit" You rolled your eyes at the stupid nickname he used on you and then you pointed at Melissa "Jake, this is Melissa, she's my best friend... Melissa, this is Jake, but you already know that" You said the last part in a whisper, making Melissa laugh awkwardly and she waved at Jake, who gave her a smile and returned to look at you
"I thought I was your best friend" You touched his left shoulder and looked at him directly in the eye "You're not special, babe... Ew! I forgot your sweaty!" You quickly took your hand away from his body and he laughed at you making you laugh too "Anyways, I just wanted you to know each other"
Melissa was standing awkwardly beside you and for someone who usually speaks A LOT she was extremely quiet, Jake on the other hand was starting at you while he cleaned the sweat off his face with a little towel "You should come home for dinner tonight, you haven't visited us in three days, the family's started to worry" You rolled your eyes jokingly at him and nodded "Yup, I'm in"
Jake gave you a genuine smile and you smiled back "Okay, you better go... To clean yourself and we-" you grabbed Melissa by the arm "Should get going to class"
"Yes ma'am" He nodded at you and then stepped closer with his open arms to hug you making you stepped back raising you arm in front of you, making a stop sign "JAKE! STOP!" He only laughed and then said "Fine, I'll hug you tonight"
You giggled before turning around and started walking away with Melissa on your side, you didn't know exactly what it was but something made you turn your head to look at Jake once again, who was still staring at you as you were leaving.
///
You weren't exactly sure why you did it, it probably was the fact that she begged you the whole day, but there you were walking towards the Seresin's house with Melissa on your side
When you stepped on the porch of the huge house you noticed Melissa fixing her dress and you whispered to her "I told you to wear jeans" she shook her head in denial "How am I supposed to make a good impression on my future in laws wearing jeans, Carey?" You rolled your eyes jokingly as you scoffed and then you rang the doorbell.
Jake's youngest sister Leslie opened the door and as soon as she saw you she threw herself over you "CAREY!" You giggled while you hugged her and when you separated she turned to look at Melissa and you began to explain "She's Melissa, my best friend" Leslie hugged her too and then looked at me again, frowning "I thought my brother was your best friend"
"He is also my best friend, Les" She nodded at you, understanding, and then moved from the door so you could get in. It didn't matter how many times you've been here, it didn't ceased to surprised you how huge and gorgeous their house was. It was a huge rustic wooden house with some modern touches to it.
You went straight to the kitchen, knowing exactly who you'll find there: Jake's middle sister, Lauren, and their mom, Maria, hurriedly cooking dinner "Can I help you with something?" Both of them turned to look at you with a huge smile on their faces "DVD!" Lauren said excitedly making mama Seresin hit her lightly on the arm and you moved your lips telling her "It's fine", Lauren giggled and mama Seresin started speaking "You forgot about us, Carey"
You shook your head in denial still smiling at them "I didn't, Jake stopped inviting me" Mama Seresin moved to the sink to wash her hands "You know he doesn't have to, you're always welcomed" You smiled at her widely and she smiled back before moving closer to Melissa and she extended her hand to greet her, Melissa shook it smiling nervously at her "Ma, she's Melissa, Melissa, that's the one and only Mama Maria Seresin" Mel smiled at her and Ma said"It's a pleasure to meet you, Melissa"
"The pleasure's mine" She responded. You noticed Lauren struggling with a cooking pot so you spoke up "Let us help you, ma" You were sure Ma was going to answer with a "nothing" like always, but this time she put two cutting boards, two knives and a bunch of veggies on the bar of the kitchen "Can you help me cutting these?" You and Melissa nodded at her and sat on the bar chairs to start cutting the veggies.
It surprised you when Melissa finally said something "Why did you call her DVD?" Lauren laughed at her question "Y'know how her name's Carey Davis? Well, her initials are CD and where do you play those?" Melissa seemed to got it pretty fast and answered "DVD" Lauren nodded at her still giggling and even though the whole nickname was pretty stupid, you all laughed at it.
You heard the back door opening and you didn't need to look to know that Jake's home. He was wearing shorts, a black T and a cap, that he took off when he entered the house "Carey! Oh... Hi Melissa" He awkwardly waved at Melissa and she didn't hesitate for a second before waving at him back. Jake was confused, you could tell and you gave him a smile, almost like saying sorry for brought her over, considering that everytime after dinner you had a night talk before you went back home.
Jake cracked a smile that you read as it's fine and pointed at you "You owe me a hug" You turned in the chair and he made his way towards you and hugged you as soon as he was close enough to you, you graped you arms around his body and he leaned down his head a little bit and whispered on your ear "She's so in love with me, Carey" you put your mouth against his shoulder to avoid laughing out loud "I know, so don't be a prick with her" You didn't see your face nut you were sure that he rolled his eyes and then you broke the hug.
"What are we eating, Ma?" Jake asked her mom approaching her to give her a kiss on the forehead and then he messed up Lauren's hair, making her punch him on the shoulder "Chili, with veggies, that I hope are cut by now" You sat down on the bar quickly to finish cutting the vegetables and you noticed that Melissa finished cutting them already and was staring at Jake and she was not being subtle about it, making you giggle.
///
You brought the last pot to the table and sat down on the dining table at the same time as everyone else. You sat between Lauren and Leslie and Melissa was sitting next to Jake and in front of you. Mama Seresin was between Melissa and Lauren and John Seresin between Jake and Les. You noticed Jake tensing when his dad sat next to him and he looked for your eyes, you gave him a reassuring smile and Ma broke the ice "Well everyone, go ahead"
The rest of the dinner went pretty well, Jake's sisters were asking Melissa a lot about her and she was gladly answering them and somehow John Seresin wasn't throwing his classic hateful comments.
We were eating dessert when Melissa turned to look at Jake and then looked at me "How did you two become friends?". Jake looked at you and seemed to be waiting for you to respond first but you were waiting for him to respond, so when you responded, you did it at the same time
"When he hit me with a ball!"
"When we were in elementary!"
You both looked at each other and started laughing at the same time, he told you with his eyes to go on and you did "When we were on elementary I went to the restroom one day, and in our school to be able to get to the restroom, you needed to cross the sports patio, so yeah, I was walking towards the bathroom and I saw a group of kids playing basketball and for obvious reasons I moved to the other side of the patio to avoid being hit by them, but it didn't work anyway because when I was about to get into the bathroom I didn't saw a ball coming my way so it hit me exactly on the face-" you stopped for a second and you laughed at your own anecdote
"And well, it hit me, hard. My nose started to bleed and one of the kids ran on my direction and asked me if I was fine, I said yes although my nose was bleeding big time, he told me that I didn't look fine and after insisting a lot he took my to the nursing. He was so worried that he waited for me to came out even after the nurse told him it wasn't anything serious, he took me to my classroom after that and at the end of the day he waited for me on the entrance of the school, he apologized again although by that point I told him that I was fine for the eleventh time and he still didn't seem to accept it so I told him that if he was really sorry he will walk me home, he accepted and little did we know that we lived on the same street"
"That kid was Jake, obviously, and after that day he started waiting for me so we would walk to school together and we've been inseparable since"
Jake looked at you with an expression you never saw in his eyes before, it was almost as if he was admiring you and when he noticed you staring at him, he shook his head and rasped his throat "She just can't get away from me" You rolled your eyes at him making him laugh
"Also, Carey is his only friend since my son is incapable of having male friends, he's like having another daughter" John Seresin spoke up for the first time on the whole evening and you noticed how Jake's jaw clenched and looked down at his hands under the table, you moved your left foot to touch his leg and he looked up at you forcing himself to smile.
Lauren broke the uncomfortable silence by saying "Let's pick up the table", you nodded at her and stood up taking one of the pots with you as Lauren was picking up the plates and cutlery, Ma was about to stand up too but Lauren stopped her and she mouthed a thank you at you, then Jake stood up too and took the other pot from the table, ignoring the fact that his dad was looking at him with a quizzical expression.
When you got to the kitchen you found Jake leaning against the bar with a glass of water on his hand "Jake-" he cut you off, not in a rude way though "It's fine, Carey, it's not like I care anyway" he was looking down at the glass of water but still you tried to catch his eyes "But you do care, Jake" he didn't say anything else and you didn't either, you just walk towards him and hugged him.
It took him a second to adjust and accept the hug but once he did he graped his arms around your waist and placed his head on your shoulder. You weren't sure how long you stayed like that but you separated abruptly when Lauren got in the kitchen, she looked at you and laughed "Geez, calm down" You were scratching the back of your neck and Jake took the glass of water on his hands again. Lauren walked out of the kitchen and you followed her, not without giving Jake one last look before going back to the dinner room.
“Jake Seresin” you say as he stares at you, completely surprised at your presence “From beyond the grave” He scoffs and walks towards you, he gets close to you, but not too close “Hi” he says and you give him a clearly fake smile. He opens his mouth to say something else but he’s interrupted by Bradley, who's seems to be confused at your interaction “You know each other?” You look at Bradley again and he's frowning. You both respond him at the same time.
“We were in school together”
“We were best friends”
Jake and you look at each other and if you knew him still, you would say that he was hurt by the way you described your relationship with him, but you don’t know him anymore so you can’t really tell.
Bradley’s looking at you both intrigued and with a playful smile on his face “You should rehearse that” he says playfully and leaves you to joins the rest of the guys on the table. Jake takes the beer on his hand to his lips and he frowns when he realizes that it’s empty “Want a drink?” He asks you and you nod at him as a response.
He starts walking to the house and you follow him, noticing how he’s turning his head to look at you until you get to the kitchen. Once you’re in it, you notice how the music is quiter than before and how the kitchen is not as crowded. You take a sit on the coffe table on the corner of the room. Jake opens the refrigerator and takes out two beers and opens them with the bottle opener embebbed on the wall, he extends his hand towards you and you grab the bottle, not without thanking him first.
He leans on the wall with his shoulder against the wall and you take a drink “So, how do you know Rooster?” You swallow the beer before responding him “He’s a friend of a friend, we were introduced a few years ago and we’ve been friends since then” Jake nods and takes a sip of beer “I assume you fly with him?” Jake nods again “Yeah, I do, but we’re not really friends” You’re the one nodding now and you’re unsure about what to say about that, but you don't have to think much because Jake speaks up first "How do you know I fly though?" He asks you and you scoff "Jake, I might not be your friend anymore but that doesn't mean I'm not close to your family anymore"
He raises and eyebrow "You're still close to my family?" You nod "Pretty close actually" He has that surprised expression on his face again and you begin to explain before he asks "I asked them not to tell you, if that's what you're wondering" he shakes his head slowly, like processing what I'm telling him and then he speaks again "So you live in Texas again?"
"I lived there for a while after college, but a few months ago I moved here with my boyfriend" He nods again and his expression is an unreadable one "And where is he?" He asks me and you make a hand gesture "He's in this party, somewhere" You take a drink of your beer again and you notice Jake's evading looking at you "What about you, Jake? Where's Melissa?" He turns to look at you abruptly when he hears that name.
"How would I know?" He says that with a cutting voice and it surprises you making you frown, he continues speaking "For you being pretty close to my family, it surprises me that you have no idea" You still have confused written all over your face so he finishes his explanation "We're getting divorced, Carey"
Your lips parted lightly and you feel your eyes opening in shock "I'm sorry, Jake" He scoffs "Are you really?" You roll your eyes at him and stand up ready to leave when he shakes his head and grabs you lightly by the arm "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that" You place your hand in top of his to take it away from your arm "Whatever, Jake, you clearly haven't changed" He shakes his head again and you speak again "I'm going to go find my-" You're cut off by an arm graping around your shoulders and a kiss on your forehead, Jake stops grabbing your arm and you realize who it is
"I was looking for you" you say making your clearly drunk boyfriend blush "And I was looking for you" he says and tips your nose with his index finger, he leans down to kiss your cheek and whispers on your ear "Are we leaving?" You nod at him and turn to look at Jake again "Jake, this is my boyfriend Gareth, Gareth, that's Jake Seresin"
Gareth opens his mouth exaggerated and points at him looking at you "He's Maria's son?" You nod and Gareth extends his hand to shake Jake's, which Jake shakes reluctantly as he asks "You know my mom?" Gareth nods "All your family, actually, I met Carey through Lauren" he slurs his words and you put your arm around his body to give him equilibrium. Jake looks at you, more confused than before and you just shrug.
"Anyway, I'll-” You correct yourself "We'll see you around I guess" Jake only nods and you turn around and start walking away almost dragging Gareth with you
You hear Jake's voice calling your name as you're stepping outside of the kitchen but you pretend to not hear him and you keep walking away.
When we were young
Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x original female character
Summary: Jake and you had been friends since you can remember but as time goes on you can’t help yourself from falling for Jake. Because of fate and some other reasons Jake ends up marrying Melissa, your best friend, and your friendship with Jake falls apart. Years later, you and Jake find each other again and things haven’t changed as much as you thought, for better or for worse.
Childhood friends to almost lovers to strangers to lovers
Tw: Curse, drinking, smoking, mentions of divorce, hangman is secretly a softie but he’s also a jerk, mentions of protected sex in like one line lol, bad writing and mistakes since english’s not my first language.
Italics: Flashback
Part 1
2. Somebody else
“I don’t want your body but I hate to think about you with somebody else”
As soon as Jake opens his eyes he has to close them shut immediatly again since the way his head is hurting is insufferable. He grunts and curses under his breath as he squeezes his head with both of his hands. He rolls on the bed turning his back to his room’s wondow only to find a blonde woman, completely naked, sleeping next to him.
he lets out a heavy sigh and turns around again, half opening his eyes because of the light that’s entering his room. He sits on the edge of his bed for a while he tries to remember how he ended up on his partment with a girl but the only thing he seems to remember’s that he saw you again and then you left with your boyfriend and that’s about it.
He slides up his boxers and starts walking towards the kitchen.
Jake doesn’t waste any time and as soon as he gets to the kitchen he turns on the cooffe machine and leans on the kitchen island, dialing his mother’s number. It only rings once before he hears her mother’s characteristhic “JAKE!” and he can’t help himself to crack a little smile “Hey Ma!”
“How you doin’, baby?” Ma asks him as she cleans her kitchen and Jake yawns covering his mouth before answering “I’m fine, how’s everyone there?”
“We’re all good, hun, we’re having a barbecue today” God, he misses that “God! I miss that” His mom smiles through the phone “And I miss you, Jake, we all do” Those words make him feel like he’s being hug by her and it feels great, especially because he really needed to hear that.
“Ma, can I ask you something?” Ma scoffs shaking her head “I knew you called me for something” Jake shakes his head too and lets out a quiet laugh “No, I mean, I did call you for something, I called you because I love you and I love talking to you” His mom rolls her eyes and articulates a simple “mmhm” waiting for her son to continue. “Why didn’t you tell me you were still in touch with Carey?” He doesn’t say it as a reproach but it still causes his Ma to tense after hearing the question “How do you know?”
“She told me” He responds and Ma can’t avoid cracking a smile “So you did find each other” Jake frowns at that, confused about what she said and what she means by that “What?”
“Well, I know she’s been living in San Diego and when you told me you’ll be stationing there I started to hope that you’ll find each other again, I just didn′t expect it to happen so fast though... How is she?”
Jake sighs “She’s got a boyfriend and she hates me, I think she’s fine”. Ma sighs too and even thought Jake can’t see her, she was giving him a pitiful smile “Rightfully so, Jake... and yeah, Gareth, he’s a good guy, did you meet him too?” Jake responds with a simple “mmhm” and Ma continues “If it makes you feel better hun, she always felt happy for your success, no matter how hurt she was with you, the least you can do is be happy for her”
He nods slowly, understanding but still processing the fact that he’s just finding out that you never stopped cheering his success even after what he did to you. His mother’s voice takes him out of his thoughts “Did you tell her about Melissa?” she asks and he puts the phone on speaker as he pours the hot coffee on his cup “I did... and I fucked it up after that”
“Of course you did, hun, you always do” Jake chuckles and gives his coffee a drink as his mom speaks up again “Are you going to see her again?” He shakes his head in denial and feels an undescribable pain on his chest that he tries to ignore by clearing his throath “Nope, I doubt we’ll bump into each other again”
“Hun...” She starts saying but Jake cuts her off “Nah, it’s fine, I mean, don’t I deserve that?” Ma frown slightly, not sure about what he meant exactly “What do you mean?”
Jake sighs again “I broke not only her heart but all of her like it was nothing, maybe the least I deserve is her hating me forever” Ma stares at the phone unable and unsure about what to say so the only thing that comes out of her mouth is “She doesn’t hate you, Jake”
Jake rubs his face with his hands before speaking up again “Anyways, Ma, I need to get ready and send Melissa the papers, can I call you later?” Ma nods slowly “You know you always can, hun, I love you”
Jake smiles while he says “I love you too, Ma”
He cuts the call and as he does he notices a text message from phoenix
Phoenix: Dinner tonight with the team, you in?
“It took you like two hours, Jake!” You said as Jake returned to the table with a tray full of ribs and mac and cheese “Well, it took you two hours to get ready to come here,so I guess we’re even”. You rolled your eyes at him and you were about to answer when your stomach roared, loud, making Jake and Melissa, who was sitting next to you, laugh “Geez! Someone’s hungry”
You kept your straight face for a second, pretending to be mad but it didn’t last long because you lost it and laughed along them “Can we eat now, pleaaaaase?” you asked and Jake nodded as he slipped into the sofa, sitting in front of you and Melissa.
He served you some food on a plate and put it in front of you, staring at you as you were concentrated and ready to start eating. You grabbed a rib and took it to your mouth.It was amazing, so amazing that you rolled your eyes as you were eating it and the only thing you were allowed to say was a “mmmmmm”
Melissa turned to look at Jake and he looked at her quickly before returning his eyes to you and you just shrugged. When you finished eating it you cleaned your mouth and spoke up “This is fucking good”. Jake nodded “Told you this ribs are the best” well, he certainly wasn’t lying, you thought
Melissa finished chewing and spoke up, for the first time in the whole afternoon “I have to admit that this is my first time eating this”. Jake, who had his attention on the rib on his plate, turned to look at her abruptly with his eyes wide open
“Are you serious right now?!” Jake asked, looking directly at her and she nodded nervously “Yeah... my mom’s not really a fan of meat” she said and shrugged as Jake was nodding slowly, like processing what she just said. “I just can’t believe you never tried ribs before, are you even a texan?” Jake asked her, with a serious face and you couldn’t help but giggled about it.
“Actually no, I’m from San Diego”, Jake looked at you and then at her again with a raised eyebrow and he seemed fascinated and curious about that fact “Why did you move here?” he asked her and you turned to look at your friend, who was failing to hide her exciment about being noticed and questioned about her by Jake “A few years ago my dad was stationed here while my mom and I were still living in California and my dad kinda fell in love with this city and asked my mom to move here, so we did”
“Wait, wait! Stationing? Your dad’s a pilot?” Melissa chuckled and nodded and you noticed how Jake’s eyes lightned up, then Melissa spoke up again “Yeah, how do you know?”
“I want to be a pilot too” he said causing you to opened your eyes abruptly and you frowned your eyebrows, it was surprising to you, but it wasn’t that he wanted to be a pilot that surprised you, it was the fact that he never told you that, and you knew that he didn’t have to tell you everything that he does but you couldn’t help to feel hurt about it “Do you” You asked and he guided his eyes to look at you
He shrugged “I mean, I’ve been contemplating the option for a while, but I’m still not sure” he said and you just nodded watching him returned his attention to Melissa and you weren’t exactly sure why but all of a sudden you were mad with Melissa althought you weren’t sure why
“My dad could help you with it if you want, I mean, he could clear some of your doubts and things like that” Melissa said and Jake nodded with a huge grin on his face “Yeah, that-that would be really cool actually”
Jake turned to look at you and and gave you a smile and you returned it, then he spoke up “Carey could give me your number so I text you about it”. He was staring at you and you forced a smile and nodded but you were feeling irritated about this whole thing but again, it was your idea to introduced them and you knew that Melissa was head over heels for Jake, so why were you feeling mad about it?
You didn’t know and you also didn’t know why you stopped listening to them as you watched them talked like they’ve been friends since forever and decided and put all your atenttion on the food you had in front of you
Were you jealous? No, you couldn't be, Jake was your friend, your best friend and you were his, you couldn't be jealous, also, you loved Melissa and you wanted to see her happy, right?
You shook your head and slipped out of the coach as you said “I’m going to the restroom” but none of them seemed to heard it.
///
After dropping Melissa off her house Jake turned to look at you as you had your atenttion on the road “She’s cool” he said taking you out of your thoughts and making you frown “What?” you said as you turned your head to faced him and he was the one that had his eyes on the road now
“Melissa, she’s cool” he said rolling his eyes and you simply nodded and looked at the road too, he didn’t say anything else and you didn’t say anything either. You both spent like ten minutes in silence until you noticed Jake slowing down and parking the car on the side of the street, you looked at him only to find him staring at you “Are you okay?” Your frowned, completly confused as why he parked the car and why he was asking you “mmh, yeah, I’m fine, Jake, why did you stop?”
He shook his head, causing his hair to messed up a little bit “No, you’re not, what is it?” he asked and you frowned even more “I have no idea what you’re talking about” he cracked a playful smile and you rolled you eyes “C’mmon, tell me”
“There’s nothing to tell you” You said and you were starting to feel annoyed at this whole thing, he must’ve not noticed it because he kept going “Wait! I know what it is, you’re jealous”
“I’m not jealous”
“You are jealous, Carey’s jealo-”
“I’M NOT FUCKING JEALOUS!” you cut him off, louder than you expected and he stared at you with opened eyes and then he shooked his head again “I-I’m sorry, I was just teasing” He said it with a sadness on his voice and you felt guilty “No, I’m-I’m sorry Jake” You rushed to say and he nodded without saying anything so you kept going “I’m not jealous, it’s jut that- why didn’t you tell me you want to be a pilot?”
He returned his attention to you and you gave him a little smile that he returned before speaking up “I was going to, you were going to be the first person I’ll tell once I was sure”
You turned to look down at your hands as you were playing with them and you quietly, almost unhearbly said “But now I won’t be the first” Jake frowned and he wasn’t sure if he heard you correctly “What?” You shook your head and faced him again “Nothin’, nevermind”
“No, what did you say?” You rolled your eyes again “Nothing, Jake, it doesn’t matter, can we go now?” He shook his head in denial and took the keys out of the steering wheel “It does matter to me, Carey!”
“You know what, I’m gonna walk” you said as you grab your bag and opened the door, heading out, and Jake followed you “Are you serious right now?” he yelled as you were walking away and you didn’t stop nor turned to look at him, but you felt him walking behind you “Carey! C’mmon! I dont’t even know why you’re acting like this”
“THAT’S THE PROBLEM!” You yelled at him without stopping your walk and you weren’t exactly sure when or why there were tears forming on your eyes
You step out of the car and fix the jumpsuit you’re using before starting walking into the restaurant. The girl on the entrance approaches you and asks you if you have a reservation, you shake your head in denial and tell her that you’re coming with Bradley Bradshaw. She nods at you and grabs her notebook, when she seems to find him on the list she says something like “Yeah, he’s on table 4, it’s outside on the terrace” and she points at the huge glass door that leads to the terrace.
You thank her and star walking towards it, you’re like an hour and a half later so everyone must be here right now, even Gareth. As you approach the table you noticed every single one of the guys, and girl, that Brad told you would come, except that there’s someone he certainly didn’t mention
JAKE SERESIN, again.
He probably wasn’t expecting you either because when he notices you his lips part a little bit. You’re not sure how long you stare at him but it’s like you get caught in the moment, and that moment is stopped by Bradley’s arm wrapping around your shoulders.
You notice that Jake’s also taken out of his thoughts by the shaven-head guy sitting next to him when he hits his ribs with his elbow causing Jake to throw his elbow away and giving a drink to the glass he has on one of his hands.
“You made it!” Brad says and you look at him smiling, kinda faking that smile “Yeah, I almost- Oh sorry guys, hello, hello!” You say as you wave at everyone on the table and they all return the waved and some of them say things like “Hi” and “How you doin’?”. You move your eyes seeing all of the people there and when your eyes get to Jake he nods at you as a greet and you do the same. You return your eyes to Brad “Where’s Gareth?” you ask him
“He left because he thought you weren’t coming” he answers you with a serious face and you’re not sure if he’s joking or not “Really?” you ask with your eyebrows frowning causing Rooster to laugh at you “Nah, he’s in the bathroom”
You roll your eyes while you giggle too and he guides you to your chair, luckily for you, you were sitting between Phoenix and Gareth and Jake was sitting on the other half of the table, at least it’s not going to be that awkward you thought.
Like five minutes later Gareth returns to the table and gives you a kiss on the cheek before sitting next to you, you turn to look at him and he gets closer to your ear “When did you get here?” You move your head so your mouth’s on his ear now “Like five minutes ago” you whisper and then you both return your atenttion to the anecdote one of the pilots is telling.
You’re unsure about how long it’s been in between laughs and anecdotes told but you notice that the sky’s dark now, and because of all the drinking and eating you excuse yourself to go to the restroom.
When you get out of it, you don’t return to the table right away, instead you walk towards the exit of the restaurant and you turned around the corner of it, leaning your back on the wall and lighting up a cigarrette that you had in your bag. You exhale the smoke as you shigh throwing your head back
“Since when do you smoke?” he asks you and you don’t need to look at him to know who it is “Since when do you care?” shit you think after those words come out of your mouth, curtly and more agresive than you intened “I’m so sorry, that was-”
He cuts you off while he shakes his head and stands next to you with his back leaning on the wall too “Nah, it’s fine, I deserve that I guess” You don’t know exactly what to say and you also don’t know exactly why your heart’s beating faster than before, so you just put the cigarette in front of his face as a question which he responds to shaking his head lightly and moving your hand and the cigarrette away from his face “I don’t smoke”
You shrug and give it a smoke again, returning your atenttion to the sea, even though it was pretty dark outside and you can’t barely see it. You feel Jake’s stare on you but you try to ignore it, he returns his stare at the sea and like three minutes later he moves his head to stare at you again, this time you turn to face him “Jesus Jake, just say it!”
He scoffs and takes a second before speaking up “I didn’t know you’ll come, I promise” he says pretty fast and throwing his hands on the air, making you scoff quietly and nodding at him “Yeah, I figured”. He doesn’t say anything else so you turn to see at the sea again. It feels funny how you’re just as awkward as you were back then and how even though you both are silent it doesn’t really feel uncomfortable.
Jake takes his eyes to you again and just stares at you, without saying anything for a couple of minutes “I missed you” he finally says and it’s not the fact that he said that what surprises you, it’s the way your heart jumped as you heard that what surprises you and it takes you a microsecond to adjust at the way your heart’s beating at this point, you try to shake that feeling and act as if you feel nothing about it and sarcastically say “Yeah, right”
You look at him and his expression is serious and he doesn’t have that cocky smile on his lips “I mean it, Carey”
“Well, it sure didn’t seem like it, Jake” You say, letting all those feeling you thought you got over overcome you and your voice and throws his head back, frustraded and sad maybe? “But I missed you too, Jake” You don’t know what posseses you to say that but you do clearly shocking Jake or at least that’s what his face says. He clears his throat before speaking up again “I’m sorry”
Your frowned, confused about what he’s apologizing for “Huh?”
“I’m sorry... for everything, I-” He stops himself “I shouldn't have been scared and I shouldn't have done what I did to you, you-you didn’t deserve that”
You shake your head trying to stop the tears that are forming on your eyes and you feel your chest being punch and hurt by all the memories that are coming back to you as he says that. You stare at the floor, knowing damn well that if you look at him you’ll cry
“I know you want nothing to do with me, I get that and I promise you that after tonight I’ll stop bumping into you but I really need you to know that I’m sorry for everything and if I could I would totally go back and make things right, but I know I can’t and again, I’m sorry”
He says that pretty fast, almost as if he was on a rush and you feel a lump creating on your throat and you notice a tear falling on the floor. Those were the words you wanted to hear from him since you were younger and now that you heard them you’re not exaclty sure how to feel about it. At this point the tears are coming out of your eyes non-stop and you star blinking fast to avoid them.
Jake’s never really been good with emotions so he spins on his heels nervously, wondering what he should do. He steps closer to you and places a hand on your shoulder, rubbing it slowly “I’m going back inside so they don’t suspect anything weird, is that okay?” He asks you with a soft voice that you haven’t heard in a while and you only nod, still looking down at the floor.
When he takes his hand away from your skin you feel your shoulder cold and empty, he’s about to return to the restaurant when he stops after hearing you calling his name “Yeah?” He asks and you finally stare directly at him and you find funny how the way the light from the restaurant’s lighting him makes him look like a god, even though he’s more like a devil “Thank you... for saying that, it means a lot”
He nods and cracks a little smile that you try to return, then he turns around and returns to the restaurant.
You weren't sure for how long you’ve been rolling back and forth on your bed so you grabbed your phone to check the hour: 2:44 am
You grunted annoyed about the fact that you couldn't sleep and you had classes tomorrow. You rolled again to put your phone on the night stand again when it started ringing
Jakey
You didn’t even hesitated before picking it up “Jake?” You asked whispering and he answered you with his raspy voice “Were you up?” You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you and you answered him with a simple “mmmhm”
“Fine” he started saying in a whisper too “Do you want to talk?” you made another “mmhm” sound and moved on your bed to sit with your back against the backrest “I’m sorry for today, well, yesterday, I don’t know what happened”
You couldn’t see him but you were sure he was nodding before speaking up “Yeah, it was a strange day... but I really liked it” you didn’t know why you smiled at the but you did “Did you like it? Did you like seeing me losing my shit?”
“I like seeing you doing anything to be honest, even losing your shit” Your heart stopped for a whole minute and it wasn’t until you heard Jake’s voice again that you realized that you were still alive “I’m sorry, what did you say?” you asked him since you weren’t sure you really paid atenttion to what he said before “I said that you don’t have to feel jelaous about Melissa”
“Oh my god, are we going there again?” You heard Jake giggling through the phone and you smiled to yourself “Okay, let’s pretend you weren’t jealous today, yesterday I mean, but what I’m trying to say is that you should never feel jealous about anyone because you’ll always be my best friend and no one’s gonna change that, okay?”
“Geez Jake, you’re so corny” You heard him laughing laughter then and you laughed too covering your mouth with your hand “I’ll never tell you anything nice again, dvd”
“Noooo, I’m kidding Jake, I adore you too” you said in between laughs causing Jake to laugh along you
“Fuck!” Gareth grunts as he comes and gets outside of you, taking off the condom and throwing it in the trash can next to the bed, he gives you a kiss on the lips before grabbing his phone, you sit on the edge of the bed and you put on your panties and Gareth's shirt.
You stand up as you grab your phone from the little table next to the bed “I’m going to the kitchen, you want anything?” you say and Gareth shakes his head in denial still looking at his phone “No baby, I’m good”
You serve yourself some water as you get to the kitchen and lean on the island of the kitchen with your phone on the other hand, should you? shouldn’t you? You keep staring at the number, unsure wheter it’s a good idea to call him or not. FUCK IT you think and click on the green button. You’re shaking your feet anxiously as it rings for the third time and you start to regret calling before you hear a grunt on the other side of the call and a raspy voice saying “Hello?”
You feel nervous? for some reason and your mind goes blank so the only thing you’are able to say is “Jake?”
He wakes up completly after hearing your sweet voice and you feel your heart racing as you wait for him to respond “Yeah, it’s me, is everything okay?” He asks with an extremly quiet and soft voice but you catch a glimp of worriedness on his voice “Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just that... I really like seeing you today”
He stays silent for a moment and then he says “Well, technically it was yesterday but-” you cut him off by giggling and you hear him chuckling harder on the other side of the line “Shut up, Jake!”
“Okay, okay, sorry, go on” You shigh and keep going “It’s just that I was thinking about... yesterday and it remind me of how much I miss having you in my life and-” you stop yourself and scratch the back of your neck nervous, you’re not sure wheter you should say it or not and Jake’s not sure where you’re going with this but he can’t stop smiling at the fact that he’s hearing your voice “Would it be too crazy to ask you if you want to be in my life again?”
Jake’s smile got wider, he actually had not smile like this in years and you could feel him smiling when he finally speaks up “Nothin’ would make me happier, Carey”
Tag list: @kkrenae @malindacath @seresinhangmanjake @notanordinaryprincess95 @fangirling-4-ever @shanimallina87 @deeahhmaa @anya7802
I’m in love w this omggg
MY DARLIN’
Summary: when the daggers are spontaneously relocated in Texas in for a mission and have no where to stay, Jake lets them stay at his place and discover Jake has been keeping a secret from them for a very long time
Paring: Jake Seresin x wife!reader
Word count: 2.09k
“There’s no way Hangman lives here” Bradley scoffed in the passenger seat of the rental car that was trailing behind Jake’s truck.
The daggers had been relocated to Texas for a mission that they all knew very little about. Which would have been all fine and dandy but the order came out of the blue leaving them no time to get their things in order.
Luckily for them Hangman offered his place to let them stay until they got their temporary living situation figured out. Everyone was a little hesitant to agree since it is Hangman we’re talking about but with not much options, they agreed.
What they didn’t expect to see as Bob drove the car into the long drive way was how nice of a house Jake had. Nat thought Bradley thought for sure that he lived in a shack or something.
How wrong he was.
As it turns out in the many years they’ve all known Jake he’s lived on a small ranch isolated by tall trees, not far from the town they just drove through not long ago. The house on the property was a two story home with a wrap around porch and a porch swing near the front door, a garden of flowers all around.
As soon as they all got out of the cars, the first thing Nat ask, just to make sure, “this is your place, bagman?”
“Sure is.”
Without another word Jake strutted his was to the front door, leaving his belongings in the truck with the dagger following after him. He unlocked and busted through the door as quickly as possible, god knows why to the group behind him.
other than Javy who knew exactly why his friend was in such a rush.
“Darlin’, I’m home!” Jake called out into what the others thought was an empty home.
”Who is he talking to?” Bob asked loud enough for the people around him to hear but not for the man of the hour who stood a step into the doorway. Jake crouched to the ground when a golden fluff ball ran into his arm, nearly tackling him to the ground.
Reuben shrugged, ”His dog.”
”Did any of you know he had a dog?” Mickey questioned.
Nat spoke up for everyone, ”Not a clue.”
”I never took him for a dog person,” Javy nearly laughed as he played along.
The group agreed with his statement, all agreeing Jake would be better as a cat person since they all assumed he’d be alone forever after scaring all the women off.
A least that was what they thought until another voice called out from inside the house, ”Jake?”
”Its me. I brought company.”
”I don’t think he was talking to the dog.”
Reuben cursed out his WSO, “no shit, Fanboy.”
”You’re home!”
It was safe to say all the daggers were shocked, jaw dropping shocked when someone joined Jake in the doorway nearly pushing him to the ground with how much force they greeted him. A female someone. A female someone who was now hugging Jake with her face buried in his neck and who happened to be you.
“I'm home,” Jake confirmed, kissing your hairline.
”Definitely not talking to the dog.”
“You’re actually here.” Jake swore he was gonna pass out due to the lack of air with your arms around his shoulders and how tight you were squeezing him but he didn’t mind one bit. Instead he squeezed you back just as tight with his arms wrapped around your middle.
“I’m here.” He spoke against your hair, “gosh, I’ve missed you darlin’.”
“Me too.” You wiggled yourself against him trying to get closer to him than humanly possible to make up for the time you’ve been apart. You only pulled slightly away to place a kiss on his stubbled cheek then his lips and mumbled into them, “I love you Jake.”
“And I love you more,” He of course kissed you back. “Where is she?”
”Napping upstairs.”
You were so caught up in the moment with your husband that you didn’t even notice the crowd behind him until you looked past his shoulder.
“Oh,” you tried to up away from Jake to wave to the group just for him to pull you right back into his arms showering your whole face in kisses. Only when he took a chance to breathe could you get a word out, “Hi.”
The blonde with glasses was the first to wave, “Hi.”
”I didn’t see you guys there,” Jake joked, finally turning his undying attention away from you. Some attention, not all. He turned you around to press your back against his front keeping his arms tightly wrapped around you so you were both facing them.
This man was not going to let you go for the rest of the night, with or without the other Daggers under his roof.
“Everyone, this is my darlin’, my wife.” Jake introduced you to the group you knew so much about and they knew absolutely nothing about you. Everyone seemed to have very different reactions to the news.
”Wife!” You thought Bradley was going to pass out after shrieking so high.
Nat scoffed, ”How did Hangman get married before me.”
But one had a serious lack of reaction to the news. Phoenix asked the man next to her, “How are you not surprised?”
”I’ve known Mrs. Seresin here since Jake and I first got deployed together,” Javy explains.
“And you never told us!”
”Wait! Wait a minute,” Nat stopped the boys from turning against Javy with a moment of realization. “What about all the women you flirt with at Hard Deck?”
Jake seemed to be right for a comment like that because he smiled almost smirked, “you mean the women who flirt with me and in response I tell them all about my gorgeous wife, never leaving the bar with them.”
”actually?”
You almost laughed at the sour look Phoenix made. “Once he showed one of them my picture and called me to talk to her because she wanted to know where I got my hair done.”
Well that was the only time Jake called you as someone was trying to get his number. He’d always call or text after depending on the time at night when they finally left him alone.
Suddenly it dawned on you that you had unexpected company on your front porch in the middle of the day who had been driving and flying all day. “Oh gosh you must all be so exhausted. Come in,” You waved them all in pushing your husband backwards out of the way with your body.
“I'll make you all something to eat.”
Jake took you pushing him as an invitation to struggle you closer, ”No, you don’t have to do that.”
You cracked your neck to look back at him, ”You just drove here from the airport and haven’t eaten in god knows how long. You’re hungry.”
”I'm not hungry,” Jake lied. He couldn’t care less about starving if it meant holding you close.
”Fine. You might not be hungry.” You turned to everyone else who was now in your house taking in their surroundings, “Do y’all want something to eat?”
”God yes,” Bradley praised not caring the murdersom look Jake was giving him behind your back, nothing he wasn’t used to.
”For your cooking I can make myself hungry.”
”Thank you, Javy.”
Jake scoffed at his friend. “You don’t have to slave yourself to make those idiots a feast. They can starve with me.”
“I won't be slaving myself,” you brushed off Jake’s concerns, squeezing out of his hold to lead him to the kitchen for proof. “I already made an apple pie before you showed up. I just have to put it in the oven.”
Lucky the unbaked pie and flower all over the counter was enough to convince him. As you placed the pie in the preheated oven and set the timer, you called out to the group, “can I get you all anything to drink in the meantime?”
After Jake almost had cow over how much you were trying to make your house guest comfortable,everyone gathered in the living room having a civil conversation. One that focused on your relationship with Jake.
You sat next to the blonde man you married years ago, snuggled into his side with your legs in his lap. His one arm was wrapped around your shoulder and his other hand rested on your calf moving up and down as you both got asked another question.
Bob asked, “How did you two meet?”
“My Darlin’ here and I are high school sweethearts.”
Bradley scoffed, “Theres no fucking way you were able to keep a girl that long.”
“Best believe it,” he smirked before warning the man across from him, “Tiny ears, Bradshaw.”
“The dog doesn’t care.”
But Jake wasn’t talking about the dog.
You went on to explain how the two of you met, “I was on the school paper and I had to write a big piece about our football team. With Jake being the captain, we spent a lot of time together and as he says he charmed me.”
“What charm? Bagman is an ass,” Nat jokes.
You laughed, “an ass? He wouldn’t hurt a soul, his mama taught him better than that.” You knew your husband could be an ass when he wanted to but you thought you’d have your fun.
”I did love having my favorite news reporter following me around back then,” Jake peaked the top of your head teasingly.
”You're a news reporter?” Reuben asked.
”was. Now I'm a weather reporter.” You smiled, “living near tornado alley we have lots of shifts in the weather, keeps the job interesting.”
Everyone was far too indulged in the conversation to hear a set of tiny footsteps make their way down the stairs. “Daddy?”
You could have sworn that all the Dagger, minus Jake gave themselves whiplash with how fast they cranked their necks to get a look at the tiny girl peaking from around the corner.
“Hey, munchkin.”
“Daddy!” Your not so baby girl, shrieked still dressed in her teddybear pjs and slipers. You were lucky you moved your legs out of Jake's lap before your daughter bolted into his arms. If it weren’t for Jake protecting himself he would’ve gotten kneed in the groin.
”No way,” Nat gasped.
”I missed you so much, Lottie,” Jake told her as she curled into his chest.
”I missed you too, daddy. Sooo much.”
”Gosh, how long has it been since I’ve been with all my girls?” He thought out loud, placing one of your legs back over his knee.
Charlotte gave Jake a toothy smile, missing the front two. “Three months.
”That’s right and that is far too long.”
”Far too long,” you and your mini you echoed.
“Daddy, who are these people?” Charlotte whispered to Jake. Sadly for her, Charlotte hasn’t yet mastered the skill of whispering and the whole room heard her.
”Everyone, this is Charlotte. Lottie, this is Phoenix, Rooster—“
”Like the bird?”
Bradley finally picked his jaw off the floor, chuckling, “Yes like the bird.”
”Fanboy, Payback, Baby on Board—“
“Bob is fine.”
“Baby on Board and you know Javy.”
“Uncle Javy!” Charlotte lunged out of her fathers arms and into Javys having just noticed then man she’s known her whole life. She was save to avoid moose who was now laying at his parents feet.
”About time my Goddaughter noticed me!” Javy laughed, picking her up “What have you been up to mini Seresin?”
”I drew a picture of me, mommy and daddy and moose in front of the house.”
”You did, I’ve gotta see it.”
”Can I show him, mommy?”
Now that Jake's lap was empty he put your legs back where they were before. ”Of course you can.”
Before Charlotte leaves the room running, she makes her way back to you, peaking at your stomach. “Bye Bean,”
”Why did she kiss your stomach and call it Bean?” Jake asked once she was gone with a raised brow.
“No reason.”
”Really?”
”Nope.” You shook your head.
”Darlin’” The look was giving you felt like he was looking into your soul and you caved. ”I’m pregnant.”
”You’re pregnant?”
”I’m pregnant.” You confirm.
As Jake picked you up off the couch to twirl you around cheering, over it you could still hear ”Are you fucking kidding me.”
Jake reminds Bradley for like the thousandth time that night, ”Tiny ears!”
I love the secret family trope!! With a little twist at the end
jake taglist: @scarletmeii @Itisdediree86 @rebekahjonesx @larema121 @abaker74 @CuriosityTerminated @alexxavicry
Hangman’s First Rodeo
MASTERLIST PINNED
Warnings: NONE
WC: 2.1k
.
.
I put my car in park and let out a long sigh. After a quick check in the rear view mirror, I wonder if I made the right decision wearing no makeup and letting my hair be wild and free. Bradley heard from someone in administration that I got asked to arrive earlier than expected to the North Shore, so he extended an invite to the Hard Deck. When he texted me, I immediately felt bad seeing how often he had reached out just to be left on read. It was nothing personal, he has been one of my closest friends for a decade, I just needed space. I finally decided it was time to stop stewing in my thoughts and take the key out of the ignition.
.
.
The bar is crowded with patrons in khakis. Loud music and chatter fill the room. I scan the room and find Bradley, he motions me over to the back of the bar where there are pool tables and dart boards. He immediately wraps me in a hug, “Rodeo! It’s been too damn long.” I smile up at him, “I know Rooster, I know.” He starts pointing out people in the group and listing names, “This is Bob, that’s Phoenix, Coyote is over there, there’s Yale, and where is .. oh there.. that’s Bagman.” The blonde turns around with a smirk, “It’s Hangman, Bradshaw. And who is this?” Bradley stiffens, “This is Rodeo.” The blonde looks me up and down with the same little smirk, then turns back to his game of darts. I stand near the pool table and watch as Bradley starts a game with Phoenix. Since I regularly work with aviators, making small talk was easy. Once the blonde wins the game of darts, he walks over and stands beside me. He smells like jet fuel and sandalwood. I look at his arms, toned and tan. I tell myself to calm down. I am here for work, nothing else. “Bradshaw here didn’t get you a drink?” I turn to him, “I am fine, but thanks.” His eyes narrow slightly and he smiles, “I am not hitting on you, darling. But I am about to go get another beer from Miss Penny up there.” I chuckle and stare right back into his bright green eyes, “Well I am happy we cleared that up, darling. You aren’t my type and I don’t drink.” I do a very large and obviously fake smile. Hangman furrows his brow and walks away, looking flustered. Bradley walks over and is giggling uncontrollably, “What did you do to Bagman?” I shrug, “I just told him he wasn’t my type and that I don’t drink.” Bradley put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, “Man, I missed you. He annoys the shit out of all of us and somehow you put him in his place within 30 minutes of meeting him.” The rest of the group laughs and chimes in, agreeing with Bradley.
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The night continues on with countless games of pool and darts. We all end up outside, some sitting in the sand and some with their feet in the water. Bradley plops down next to me and bumps me with his shoulder, “Dude, I missed you. You gonna tell me why they moved you here?” I stare at the waves crashing on the sand, “You too, Roo. I am not even completely sure. Thought you had something to do with it because it was Mav who called me.” Rooster raised his brows, “He didn’t say anything to me.” I shrug again, staring at the group of aviators standing by the ocean. Bradley can see the concern on my face and pats my back, “Hey, don’t worry. They’re good. Well, except Bagman.” He chuckles and I hear a familiar voice shout, “Senior Chief Rodeo? Now why is Rooster keeping you all to himself?” I turn and see Maverick walking down from the Hard Deck, smiling big as can be. “Mav!” I run and give him a big squeeze. What I didn’t notice was the group walking back from the water, or that they heard him yell to me. As they reach Bradley, Pheonix asks, “Senior Chief Petty Officer? How the hell old is she?” Rooster faces her, “She is not old. She just works her ass off.” I walk back to the group with Mav, wondering why they are all looking at me. Hangman breaks the silence, “So Senior Chief Rodeo, can you clue me in on your skincare routine? I coulda sworn you were the same age as all of us.” I roll my eyes, “Y’all’s age? No way. I’m 28, what are you .. 40?” I take a moment to watch their eyes bug out, and then start walking back inside with Mav and Bradley. Bradley slaps my back, “You haven’t changed a bit. Still an absolute asshole. Love it.” We pay our tabs and head back to get some sleep. I lay in bed, staring at the blank walls of my little bungalow, wondering what the morning will bring.
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Once I jumped out of my truck on base, I could feel eyes on me. The group from last night were all chatting by the hangar, in their flight suits and aviators. I was in civies and a Longhorn baseball cap. Bradley parked beside me and jumps out, “You are so damn lucky. I swear y’all are never in uniform.” I chuckle, “I know, but hey y’all don’t look too bad in your onesies.” He sighs and throws his bag over his shoulder, “10 bucks they shit themselves when Mav tells them your job.” I put my hand out to shake on it, “Deal. It’s nothing special. I am pretty curious to know why I am here anyways.”
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The aviators are all seated when Mav and I walk into the hangar. Mav claps his hands, “Okay ladies and gents, I’d like to introduce you to my friend. This is Senior Chief Petty Officer y/l/n, callsign Rodeo.” There’s a few “Good morning”s and “Hello”s in response. I wave. Mav continues, “As you know, we have had quite a few missions recently with the SEAL teams. As you also know, we have some areas where we need to green up when it comes to working with the SEALs. So, Coronado was nice enough to lend us Rodeo for a bit. As we go through this training session, she will be your point of reference.” I scan the room and shake my head at the shocked look on everyone’s face. Hangman clears his throat and smirks, “So .. she is some kind of liaison? Works with the SEAL teams?” Mav narrows his eyes, “No, she IS a SEAL and she will be helping us learn how to work better with them.” I meet Bradley’s eyes and pull out a $10 bill. Walking over to his seat, I set it on the table in front of him. I turn back around, “C’mon y’all. I am just a female SEAL, I don’t have three heads or snakes for hair.” There is scattered laughter and Mav clears his throat, “Okay people, get to work. Rodeo will be in the hangar or my office if you need her.” The pilots disperse and I follow Mav to start looking over training procedures and past mission optics.
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The first couple of weeks were exhausting. Work was extremely busy and when I was home, I was unpacking. The bungalow was coming together nicely. It is right by the beach, so I can take daily strolls down by the water. I open up another box and my phone dings.
Bradley: Y/N! No excuses. Bonfire. My house.
Less than ten seconds later it dings again.
Bradley: I am serious. You can literally walk here. No excuses.
I sigh and write back.
Y/N: Okay, but only for a bit. I still have a lot of shit to build.
I walk into my bedroom and do a once over in the mirror. Jean shorts, white tank top, and a baseball cap. I grab a hoodie just in case and head down the street.
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I hear music playing and smell smoke as I get close to Bradley’s house. I open up the back gate to the whole squad in the backyard. Hangman smirks, “Well howdy Rodeo. Fancy seeing you here.” Bradley runs up and wraps you in a hug, “You actually came! What do you need help building?” The squad all starts chiming in before you can respond. “Oh I can help!” “Where do you live?” “Did you walk here?” I wait for the chatter to die down, “I’m right up the street. Only have a few of the bigger things left. Bookcase, bed frame, that kinda stuff.” Bradley throws his arm around your shoulders, “I’ll come over tomorrow and get it all built.” I look up at him, “No! It’s the weekend! You should relax. I’ll get it all done eventually.” The rest of them start offering to come help and before you know it, everyone is planning on coming to your house. The house that is littered with boxes. I cringe and think about all of the tidying I need to do before they arrive. I head inside and grab a coke from Bradley’s fridge. The floor creaks and I whip around to see Hangman. “Sorry darling, didn’t mean to scare ya.” “What do you want, Hangman?” “Well I was just thinking that maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Thought maybe we could start over.” You laughed, “And what had you thinking that?” He shrugged, “I was a total jerk. You can ask around, I am THE unit asshole. But I honestly didn’t mean to be disrespectful. Wasn’t raised that way.” You look up at him, “How were you raised?” He smiles real wide, “In Texas. Yes sir and yes ma’am. Two sisters that dragged me around and told me what to do. You from Texas? Or just a Longhorn fan?” He asks while motioning towards your baseball cap. “From Texas. No college for me, though. Enlisted, boot camp, prep, BUDs. Nothing too exciting.” Hangman chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah, totally, nothing too exciting at all. How long have you been in?” “10 years. How about you?” “Got in right after college, 16 years ago. Remember? I am old.” He winks and I feel heat in my cheeks. He steps a little bit closer, “So are you and Bradshaw.. you know?” I laugh so hard that I snort. The back door opens up and Bradley looks between us, raising his brow. I finally stop laughing, “No. We met at my first duty station. He is the annoying older brother I never asked for.” Bradley rolls his eyes, “Hangman, leave Rodeo alone.” I walk towards Bradley and playfully nudge him with my elbow, “It’s fine. We are just getting to know each other.” Bradley shakes his head, “I know. That’s exactly what I am worried about.” I laugh and follow Bradley back to the bonfire. Hangman comes out a few minutes later and I say my goodbyes to the group. I am met with groans and “No please stay”s. Hangman clears his throat, “Let me walk you back, it’s getting pretty late.” Pheonix whispers something to Bob and they both crack up. Bradley turns, “Bagman, I think she will be just fine.” I nod my head, “Yeah I think I can handle myself, but thank you.” Hangman shakes his head and stands up, “Darling we already talked about this, I am a southern man. Can’t let you walk back all by yourself. Even though you are a big, bad SEAL.” He smiles and opens the gate, motioning for me to walk ahead. Bradley is noticeably angry and I smile at him, “It’s okay, I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
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Hangman follows me until we reach the front porch. He scans the little bungalow, “Cute place. I’ll see you tomorrow .. wait I just realized I only know your callsign.” I chuckle, “Same. Unless your mother named you Hangman.” He laughs and puts out his hand, “Jake Seresin.” I shake his hand, “Y/n Y/l/n.” I grab my keys and unlock the front door, “Well, thank you for walking me back Jake. See you tomorrow?” He smiles so wide you can see every one of his perfectly straight teeth, “Yes ma’am. You sure will.” He turns and starts back up the street. I walk inside and shut the door, leaning my head against it for a second. I shake my head in attempts to get rid of the thoughts of him. His smell. His annoyingly perfect smile. I text Bradley to let him know I got back safe and head to bed.
Hangman’s First Rodeo part 2
MASTERLIST PINNED
Warnings: Fluff; angst
WC: 2.3k
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After a night of tossing and turning, I roll out of bed at 05:00. I throw on some running shorts and a sports bra. The rhythm of my feet hitting the sand calms me down. After a few miles I am completely drenched, so I decide to jump in the water. I swim against the current, focusing on my breath. “Y/N! Fancy seeing you here!” I swim back to shore to see none other than Jake Seresin standing there. As I walk up, I notice him looking me up and down. Suddenly, I feel self conscious and wish I had picked a matching outfit. “Howdy Hangman, out for a run?” He raises his eyebrow, “Yes, and my friends call me Jake.” I smirk, “Oh so we are friends now?” He nods, “I’d very much like us to be.” “Well Jake, I am usually not friends with dinosaurs but for you I will make an exception.” He laughs, “So you SEALs really do love the water, huh?” I shrug, “It’s quiet in there. Helps me turn off my brain.” I check my watch and gasp, “Oh I need to get back. Y’all are heading over soon and I need to try to make the house look presentable.” He chuckles, “Don’t worry about that darling. We aren’t gonna judge ya.” I wave and start running back to the bungalow, “See ya soon Jake!” He yells back, “See ya, darling!” My cheeks are red and it’s not from the workout.
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There’s a knock on the door right as I finish wiping down the kitchen counter. In a half hour I had showered, picked up some, and turned on the radio. I open the door up to the whole squad, “Come on in y’all. Want some coffee?” There’s a chorus of “Yes”s and I turn on the pot. Everyone splits up and starts working. Pheonix and Bob are in the living room tackling the bookshelf. Payback and Yale head out back and start putting together the patio furniture. Bradley and Jake are in my room and reading the instructions for the bed frame. I pour everyone coffee and head into my room. Bradley motions to the mattress on the floor, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were sleeping on the floor. Would’ve come over and done this weeks ago.” I shrug, “I’ve slept on much worse.” They both laugh. Phoenix yells from the living room, “We gotta get something on these walls. Your house is worse than Rooster’s.” I chuckle, “Not really the decor type, but thank you.” Looking around my room, I see what she means. Blank walls. Basic furniture. Plain comforter on the bed. No decorative pillows. No cute blankets. Bradley drops some screws and opens up the closet door to find the ones that bounced under. Gear starts spilling out, “Shit, I’m sorry!” I run over and start shoving it back in. He finds the screws and throws them to Jake. Just like that, the bed frame is finished. They put the mattress on top as I push my body weight against the door, finally getting it to shut. Bradley and Jake head to start building the next thing, while I go out back to add a screen to my back door. Figured it would be nice to let the ocean breeze in.
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I walk into the kitchen to see most of the squad chatting and drinking more coffee. The furniture is all built and I turn to them, “Thank y’all. Seriously. This would’ve taken me forever.” Bob pats my shoulder, “Hey, we are a team Rodeo. Always here to help.” I smile and notice that Jake is missing from the group. Walking down the hallway, I notice the office door is open. I walk in to see Jake rummaging through the only open box. “Hangman. What the hell are you doing?” He looks up with wide eyes, “I came in here to see if there was anything else to put together. This box was open. I didn’t mean to-“ I feel anger bubbling up inside of me, “You didn’t mean to what? Completely invade my privacy?” He shakes his head, “No, I really didn’t mean to. Y/n, this is so many awards. And medals. Why would they send you here?” The anger spills over, “It is one of your damn business, Hangman. Get out! Now!” He looks up at you like a wounded puppy, “Y/n, I-“ “I don’t want to hear it. Get out!” He walks away sheepishly and I hear whispers in the kitchen. I walk out once I hear the front door shut. The rest of the team is standing there, looking confused and concerned. Bradley walks up and pulls my head into his chest, “You okay?” I take a deep breath, “Yeah. He was going through my teams stuff. I should’ve never even opened that damn box.” Phoenix clears her throat, “I am sorry, Rodeo. He is an asshole. We will leave you be, but please let us know if you need anything else.” She smiles and the team hums in agreement. I smile back, “Thank y’all. See y’all later.” Bradley stays beside you while they file out. Once we are alone he asks, “Are you wanting to talk about it? I understand if you don’t.” I shake my head, “I really am fine, Bradley. I think they just sent me here for a moment to breathe. They couldn’t force me to take leave, but they could force me to come up here for a detachment.” He sighs and rubs his face, “I get it, okay? More than most people. But y/n, you have to have a life outside of the job. You will burn yourself out.” I shrug, “I’ll be okay, Roo. I promise.” He looks unsure but pulls me in for a hug, “I’ll get out of your hair, but come to the bar tonight. Live a little.” I smile, “We’ll see. Have a good day, Roo.” And just like that, the bungalow is empty and quiet.
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The sun is setting so I shut all the blinds and turn on a few lamps. Bradley has been texting me for the last two hours, asking when I am getting to the Hard Deck. I switch my phone to airplane mode and head into my office. Grabbing a deployment journal from the box, I sit down and start flicking through the pages. A knock on the door startles me. I jump up and check the clock, 22:00, I must have fallen asleep reading. I crack open the door to see Hangman standing there, looking down at his feet. “What do you want, Hangman?” He looks up, “Well for starters, I’d like you to call me Jake again.” I sigh and open up the door, motioning for him to come in. Grabbing the teapot, I start boiling some water. “Tea?” He sits down on the couch, “Sure, thanks.” An awkward silence fills the room. Once the tea is done, I hand him a mug. He smiles up at me and I join him on the couch. “Y/n, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have gone in there. I shouldn’t have looked through your stuff. I wish I could take it back.” I take a deep breath, “I am sorry, too. Shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s just.. I don’t talk to anyone about that stuff.” He furrows his brow, “Never?” You shake your head, “Never.” He runs his hands through his hair, “I knew I shouldn’t have looked. Then you didn’t come out tonight and I felt horrible. Bradshaw was yelling at me, telling me how much I upset you.” I roll my eyes, “Roo is just protective of me. I was upset, but it is okay. Come here.” I grab his hand and walk back towards the office. He looks confused and I try to ignore what felt like electricity when we touched. I start pulling things out of the box and placing them around the room. Jake stands there like he is frozen, “You don’t have to do this. Not for me.” I shrug, “I want to.”
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Jake watches intently as I point out what the different piles are, “These are my journals, kept one for every deployment. Those are medals and awards. Right there are all the group photos. And those, those are my mementos. First shell casing, first pair of flippers, that kind of stuff.” He looks around as if he is in a museum. “Y/n, how the hell have you done this much in 10 years?” I shrug, “No family. Never really take leave. The job has always been it for me.” He looks at me with sad eyes, “Your parents?” “Long gone. Had me when they were older. Left me the ranch, but I only go a couple weeks out of the year. The ranch hand takes care of everything for me.” He shakes his head and sighs, “I am sorry, that must be lonely.” “It’s not bad. Honestly, I am used to it. The teams are my family. They’re all I need.” He raises his brow, “You sure about that? No boyfriends in the picture?” I chuckle and pick up one of the photos, “Only one. Years ago, right after I joined. He was with another team. Thought it would be great because he would understand the lifestyle. He left me for a fitness model. Said he needed someone who was around more.” I shrug and laugh, but Jake just looks sad. He sighs, “I am sorry. Same kinda thing happens to me. Pretty much every woman has told me they can’t handle the stress of my job. But you deserve so much better. He didn’t deserve you.” He leans in, just a touch but I notice it. I am hoping he doesn’t notice the heat that I feel rising in cheeks, or the way my heart is racing. His eyes flicker down to my lips and he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. *BANG BANG BANG* “Y/N! Please? Your phone is going straight to voicemail! Are you okay?” I curse Bradley and walk to the front door.
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“What, Bradley?” He stumbles forward and I catch him, walking him over to the couch. He is drunk and rambling, “You weren’t answering. It went straight to voicemail. And you are always so alone. And you scared me and I-“ His eyes got wide and his face got red, “BAGMAN?!?!” I turn to see Jake standing at the entrance of the hallway. Bradley tries to stand up but is too drunk, “What the hell are you doing here? Y/n why is he here?” I fold my arms over my chest, “Jake came to apologize, Roo. We were having some tea and chatting.” Bradley’s eyes narrow, “So it’s Jake now, huh?” Jake walks towards the couch, “Oh c’mon Bradshaw. Grow the hell up.” Bradley glares at Jake, “No Bagman, actually how about you stay the hell away from Y/n! She is my friend! Leave her alone!” I clear my throat, “Shut up! Both of you, stop! Bradley, I am an adult and can choose my own friends. Jake, you don’t need to fight my battles for me. Now both of you, listen up. Bradley, your ass is staying on that couch. Go to sleep. I will take you to get your Bronco in the morning. Jake, you are sleeping in the guest room-“ They both try to cut me off and I put my hands up, “You will stay here because you are drunk and you will stay here I do not want to deal with this lightweight. End of discussion.” Bradley looks defeated and Jake smirks at me. Feeling flustered, yet again, I head back to my room and get ready for bed.
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I wake up hyperventilating and covered in a cold sweat. The clock on my phone says it is only 02:00. Sighing, I get up to grab some water. In the hallway, I run right into a shirtless Hangman. “Oh my gosh sorry!” I cringe looking down at myself, only in a large t-shirt and underwear. He follows me to the kitchen, “You okay? I heard you in there.” I shrug, “Sorry, nightmares.” He puts his hand on top of mine, “I get that. Want to talk about it?” I shake your head, “I am okay, but thank you. I am used to them.” I peek into the living room and see Bradley fast asleep. Jake throws his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. The heat radiating off of him feels amazing. The scent of sandalwood fills my noise. I lean into him, not listening to the voice in my head telling me this is a horrible idea. I look up at him and he furrows his brow, “What’s wrong?” I nuzzle back into him, “Nothing. That’s the problem.” He pulls my face up to look at him, “What do you mean?” “I mean, I barely know you. Then, all of the sudden, I want to show you these things I have always kept hidden. I see you after a nightmare and you calm me down. I just don’t understand it.” His green eyes stay glued to mine and he does one of his big grins, “Maybe that’s the point darling. Some things just happen. It’s not for us to understand why or how.” He pulls me close to his chest and kisses the top of my head before heading back into the guest room. I stand there for a moment, completely frozen in what just happened. Leaving a glass of water beside Bradley, I head back into my room and try to go back to sleep. My nightmare is no longer what’s keeping me awake. All I can think about is how badly I want him to hold me in his arms again.