actually, tbh, eddie making a point of insisting on buck's chosen name is the real thing there. 'i didn't kill him'? normal thing to insist on when your friend is missing and this fucking sheriff won't do anything about it because for some reason he thinks you did it. 'we call him buck'? why does he need to know that. why is that relevant, except that this is who he is and it's important to you that he be known.
and particularly in an episode where buck's identity is being forcibly erased and overwritten, eddie not just insisting that buck be found but insisting that buck is buck feels like a lot.
anyway, to be loved is to be known or something like that.
yeah I’ll get the uhhh “katsuki confesses he’s had feelings for izuku since UA” burger, with a side of “izuku suddenly realizing he’s had feelings for katsuki his whole life but didn’t know what to call it” fries, and a “sloppy makeout sesh that they heatedly pull away from before going right back in” shake…
Just saw these two buffoons racing wheelchairs down the hallway, giggling up a storm and then absolutely fumbling their way back the opposite direction followed by a nurse who looked Very Done
Anyway hangster in the base hospital after the mission, Bradley stuck cause hes got a concussion and jake "stuck" cause he absolutely hit his head too, yup. 🫡
Definitely written before but post mission time-off sereshaw where it’s just them both having panic attacks and calling each other or showing up at the others place multiple times a week, an then escalating to basically just living together.
(This is gonna be a bit long, and gets a little nsfw near the end my bad 🫣
—
Jake does it first. Dreams of Bradley getting shot down on his way to the target, or his parachute getting stuck in a trees and getting shot before he can drop to the ground or, most often, Jake not being fast enough to save him and Maverick.
The last one always got him particularly bad. He’d end up not being able to breathe, hands bunching up his sheets while he’s asleep, and shooting awake covered in sweat and tears. It was ugly. He’s left alone in the dark not knowing what to do, only thing he can think of to comfort himself is hearing Bradley’s voice again. Knowing he’s still there. So he calls him.
It’s always during the dead of night, the town silent, only light source outside from the street lamps. Bradley should be sleeping. But he never seems to be whenever Jake calls. Must be pure luck or something, Jake figures.
They talk, Bradley comforts Jake, Jake rushes out apologies for calling at such an inconvenient time, Bradley assures him he’d much rather Jake be comforted now than uncomfortable and worried all night. It’s an intimate and tender moment for both of them every single time it happens.
—
Truthfully, Bradley is no better than Jake when it comes to panicking. He’s actually probably worse.
Given Jake’s past with flying – Bradley knew something had happened with a past aviator and it ended with him dying, but Coyote was the only dagger that knew all of the details – and his constant need to be faster, or better, or more dangerous never brought any sort of comfort to Bradley’s worries. Jake knew it worried him, but he also knew it got results from the Navy, and that was all that he was taught to care about.
So Bradley called when he was panicked too. In the mornings he called Jake when he knew was on his way to the gym to meet Javy, midday naps turned into Bradley having a nightmare and sending a string of panicked texts and then apologies and ended with Jake calling Bradley to tell him everything was fine. Most often was the nights at Bradley’s house off base, his bedroom having with him tossing and turning and crying out pained sounds that vaguely resembled Jake’s name. Bradley spent his nights crying to an empty house and praying the silence would comfort him back.
He’d never woken out of his nightmares, suffered through them all night, and then called in the mornings.
So all in all they’re both pretty screwed up about each other.
—
When phone calls stop being enough of a reminder of life for them, the showing up to houses begins.
Jake shows up one morning with two coffees – Bradley’s obnoxious order somehow remembered perfectly – and immediately apologizes for not asking first, and just needing to see Bradley. Bradley shows up unannounced at Jake’s the next day right before lunch time, and Jake somehow seamlessly shifts to making lunch for a second person like it was what he was meant to do be doing all along. There’s even times they’ll meet at the beach they’ve decided is the ‘middle ground’ between their off base houses, and they’ll sit in the sand talking for hours and hours.
Jake’s the first one to extend the unannounced visits to nighttime. He shows up at nearly 4 in the morning and practically breaks down Bradley’s door trying to get him to answer it. Bradley, slightly panicked thinks it’s Maverick and he’s on the run or something, or maybe Phoenix is forcing him to go on an insanely early run with her, Fanboy, and Bob.
But alas, when Bradley is done scrambling half asleep over his slippery hardwood floors, and actually gets the door open, he’s immediately crowded by Jake, completely encapsulated in his arms.
Bradley’s brain decides to play catch-up after a few seconds of an awkward one sided hug, and he hugs him back. No words said yet, no words really needing to be said. They both know there’s only one reason Jake would show up at such a time in such a state of distress.
His brain was convinced Bradley was dead, and until he could feel the faint heartbeat from Bradley’s neck where his face was currently shoved, he never would’ve fallen back asleep.
—
After that night it sort of became routine for them. Jake and Bradley both slept on the couch that night, then Jake snuck out silently before Bradley woke up and went home. Bradley showing up to Jake’s house at lunch time “just to make sure he was doing better” and then he would sleep on Jake’s couch.
And then even just a few rooms away felt like light years. The what-if nightmares still stuck by them, the constant worrying about being left alone clawed at their brains, and the aches in their chests remained until the very moments they could see each other. Until they could feel each other.
So Jake eventually found his way out of his room and to his couch in the middle of the night, sat on the ground in front of the couch, holding Bradley’s hand that was hanging off the side. And they’d slept like that.
Of course it left such a tweak in Jake’s neck that Bradley told him to “just sleep on the couch with me next time”.
So he did. Sharing worries turned into sharing the couch, which turned into cuddling on said couch, which turned into just sharing their actual beds with each other.
When Javy and Nat caught wind of the bed-sharing they had almost identical reactions.
“So your quite literally sleeping with the guy, but your still just… friends?” Was all Jake and Bradley really remember from their respective conversations.
The denial of any sort of feelings being thrown around, the reasonings of just being scared and finding a comfort in each other that nobody could bring, and every other way they could possibly think to write everyone else off.
—
Jake and Bradley would do everything together for weeks. Hard decks on Fridays with the daggers, all still on time off after the mission, they’d go to the gym together on Tuesdays, Jake going with just Javy was a Sunday and Thursday thing, they’d cook dinner together, Bradley mostly just admiring Jake’s ability to do everything in the kitchen while he tended to burn things he tried to cook, and they’d drive to and from base together whenever they needed to do anything, even if just one of them was needed both would show up in Bradley’s bronco.
Everything came to a halt on a particularly bad night for Bradley.
His brain deciding to give him a new scenario of “what if Jake was team leader instead of Maverick?”. His dream consisted of Jake flying too fast, hitting the target, and then getting shot down in a dogfight before Rooster, flying too slow behind him, could show up to assist him.
He’d watch Jake die, because of his own flying. He’d been too far behind him.
Bradley shot up with a yell, his arm that was previously wrapped around Jake getting pulled out with the movement. Bradley was sitting up, hyperventilating, sweating profusely and staring out into the darkness of his bedroom.
Jake was mostly awake from the movement, but once he realized the state Bradley was in his brain shot into hyperdrive. Moving to softly rub Bradley’s arms, whispering about how everything was okay, and everyone was alive, and nothing bad was gonna happen.
Bradley leaned into the touches, his breathing slowly, his blurred vision clearing up, focusing in on Jake who had essentially gotten up onto Bradley’s lap and was loosely wrapped around him.
When the heavy breathing slowed, and Bradley loosened his grip on Jake’s middle, he’d looked up to look Jake in the eyes. And then a few quick glances to his lips.
“Are you okay?” Jake was looking at Bradley so intently, and worried, and lovingly.
Truly what else was Bradley supposed to do but kiss him? He couldn’t be blamed. He had a hot, attentive, and caring pilot just sitting on his lap.
Bradley reached a hand up to cup Jake’s jaw, staring as he immediately leaned closer to the touch. Jake slipping into such a state of complete content when Bradley rubs his thumb the slightest bit.
Bradley half reaches up to pull Jake in, and half pushes himself farther off the bed to lean in. Connecting their lips feeling like the easiest decision Bradley’s ever made.
Their slow emotional kissing quickly tuns passionate, Jake taking the charge. Jakes slow grinds down onto Bradley's lap making the kisses seem more like deeply breathing into each others open mouths. Jake pushing Bradley down so his back is flat against the bed, head laying perfectly on his pillows. Bradley a picture of complete comfort and ease.
Jake staying straddling him, leaning down to kiss him again. Jake putting in all of the work, letting Bradley lay still, taking complete care of him. Riding Bradley till they both get off, encaptured in each other in a way they never thought they'd actually get to be, laying together connected in a way nobody else would ever get to see them, perfectly entwined and in an understanding they both loved each other.
They both knew each other on a level nobody had ever achieved, cared about each other so much they have an ache in their bodies when they're apart.
All they really knew when woke up in the morning is they now had someone to be by their side till the day one of them really died. And until that day came, both would stay breathing, and they would always do anything to ensure they both made it home at the end of the day.
Do you guys realize how easy it would have been for Buck to just say, "Oh no, its just my friend and his son." But nooooo, he had to say, "Thank you ☺️" like that. Bro really? Who the fuck are they all kidding???
Buck's always known and know Eddie does too. Let it happen TIM 😠
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