Character Pairing: Jake Seresin, Y/N.
summary; Jake finally confesses his feelings for Y/N.
The break room was almost empty by the time you had finally finished your paperwork. Everyone else had filtered out one by one, leaving only the quiet hum of the air conditioner and the occasional scratch of your pen.
You stretched, rolling your shoulders. You look across the room to see Jake still sitting there reading the same mission report he had been on for the last 40 minutes. "You're still here, Hangman" Jake looked up from across the room, where he had been pretending to read the mission report. "Yeah."
"You Okay?" you asked. He nodded a little too quickly. "Fine."
You smiled. "Good." Then you gathered your things and headed for the door.
"Y/N?" You turned to face him. Jake was still sitting there, elbows on his knees, hand clasped together. For once, he didn't have that trademark cocky grin. Instead he looked nervous. "Can we...talk?"
Ten minutes later, the two of you were sitting on the beach outside the hard deck, the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in streaks of pink and gold. Neither of you spoke. Usually everyone had a hard time getting Jake to shut up, but he sat there on the beach quiet. You bumped his shoulder gently. "This is unlike you." He huffed out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I guess so."
"What's going on Jake?" He stared out at the waves for a long moment, then he let out a long sigh. "I don't know how to do this."
"Be honest." You gave him a confused look. "you've always been honest." He looked over at you. "No." His smile was small. "I've been hiding something."
"Are you leaving the squadron?"
"What?, No I'm not leaving."
"Then what is it?" He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck nervously. " I've been trying not to fall for you."
You stared at him in shock, wanting to speak but no words came out. The waves continued to crash gently against the shore. Finally you managed to get a word out.... "what?" His cheeks actually turned pink.
"I've been in love with you for almost a year." Your mouth opened, but once again you couldn't find any words. Jake gave a nervous chuckle. "yeah...that's about the reaction I expected."
"I do." He looked down at his hands. "I didn't mean to." He paused. "It just...happened." You couldn't stop staring at him in disbelief. Hangman, confident, cocky, always had the perfect comeback. But the man sitting beside you now looked terrified. "I thought..." he admitted quietly, "If I kept it to myself, eventually it would go away."
"It didn't? He laughed softly. "Not even a little."
Pieces suddenly started clicking into place. The way he'd always volunteered to be your wingman during training exercises. The way he always remembered your coffee order. The way he'd check on you after every difficult mission or training session. How he'd quietly replaced the broken strap on your flight bag without telling you, and the way he's always looked relived when you landed safely.
Jake smiled sadly. "You really had no idea?" You shook your head.
"I thoughtā¦āyou laughed weakly. "I thought you were just being Jake."
"I was." He smiled. "I just happened to be hopelessly in love while doing it." You smiled softy at him. "Why are you telling me now?" Jake looked out at the waves again. " Because today... during training when your jet had that engine warning...it scared me." He let out a slow breath.
"All I could think was that if something happened to you.. his voice cracked just slightly. " you'd never know." You had never seen him look so vulnerable. "I figured I'd rather be rejected than spend the rest of my life wondering if maybe you felt the same."
You reached over and rested your hand on his. He froze. "You idiot."
Jake blinked."Excuse me?"
You smiled through the tears gathering in your eyes. "You should have told me months ago, I would have saved you a lot of worrying."
You laughed softly. "I've liked you for months." Jake stared at you in shock."You what?"
"I guess we are both pretty oblivious." I laughed. For a second neither of you spoke. Then Jake laughed, a real laugh. The kind that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. "I cannot believe I spent the last year convincing myself you didn't feel the same way."
"We both really are oblivious fools." You both burst out laughing.
The two of you sat on the sand laughing until the sun dipped below the horizon. Eventually Jake looked at you again. "So... can I finally take you on a date?" You tilted your head towards him and smiled softly.
"I would love that." Jake smiled back. Above them, a pair of fighter jets roared across the evening sky, disappearing into the fading light. Jake sat there on the beach grateful that the person he'd been quietly falling in love with all this time was finally sitting beside him, her hand intertwined with his, smiling like she's been waiting for him to find the courage all along.
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