a year, three months, seven days, and fifteen hours.
summary: angst. straight angst. i wanted jakey broken and yelling and reader.
aviators pepper the hard deck clad in their service khakis. you and penny keep trying to listen in to decipher what’s going on, but like the two of you, they seem to be in the dark as to why they’ve been assigned back to top gun.
that’s the one discernible piece of information. everyone here is a graduate of the prestigious weapons school. and it sounds like they all were top of the class.
no. there was no use psyching yourself up over him. he’s probably busy over seas, anyway.
it’s not like you’d know.
“hey, that spot looks pretty clean,” penny tells you. her voice startles you out of rubbing a hole into the counter. her eyes dart over to the recruits at the pool table, no doubt knowing exactly where your head is.
“i haven’t seen him,” she adds softly. the tension in your shoulders release immediately. “how long has it been?”
“a year,” you reply. and 3 months, seven days, and 15 hours.
pity stretches across her face, and you know she used all her willpower before allowing that feeling to show.
“penny, my dear, two more on the old timer, please.”
that voice. that perfect voice. the one that used to tell you how much he loved you. the one that used to tease you relentlessly about how obsessed you were with him.
you can’t help yourself, spinning on your heels to the owner of the voice. his green eyes knock the breath out of you.
“i thought that was you,” the words tumble from his lips on a whisper, like he wanted to keep them in but the moment betrayed him.
words won’t form in your mouth no matter how badly you want them to. jake seresin has stolen them, just like he’s always done.
you can’t even smile. you’re frozen, your body in complete shock that this handsome, sexy, blonde aviator is back in front of you after the explosion that was the break up.
penny cuts the mood by handing jake his beers. this jolts him back to the present and he gives her one of his southern nods. “thank you,” he says, shaking the moment off and plastering a cocky smile back on his face.
“i—uh—i need a minute,” you say to penny, shoving your towel into her hand before beelining toward the door. saltwater brushes your flip-flopped feet before you realize how far you’ve gone. you face the water with your eyes closed, your chest heaving as you try to regulate your breathing.
“absolutely not!” jake’s voice calls out to you over the beach. completely cutting the sound of the waves. “you do not get to storm out.”
you whip around toward him and he stalks towards you, kicking up sand. those beautiful green eyes have never looked angrier.
he stops a breath away. “no. no,” he shakes his head vehemently. “you’ve lost your mind.”
the next moments are spent staring the other down. both of your breathing erratic.
“i should be the one storming off,” he says finally, his voice low. rough. "me.”
animosity flashes in his eyes and you know exactly where his mind has gone.
him calling out your name over and over like that is what would make you stay.
it’s the same place your mind has been for a year.
and 3 months, seven days, and 15 hours.
"you did it, remember,” he murmurs. "you ended things and you stormed off." you nod. no words will undo the hurt you put him through. "and i stood there,” a breath that sounds like a laugh leaves his mouth. “like a fucking idiot."
you nod again, your throat on fire and tears falling down your cheeks. you don’t deserve to wipe them from your face. not after seeing how gutted jake is.
jake runs his hands through his hair, which is past regulation. "god damn it!" he shouts, turning away from you.
"jake," you whisper, reaching out for him. you stop right before laying your hand against his face. reveling in the almost. in the way you know exactly what it would feel like beneath your touch.
“don’t.” the command, or is it a warning, sends you stepping back. it’s hard to tell if he’s talking to you, or himself. "if i let you touch me, i won't be able to ever let you stop," his voice thin. "i have thought about you for every second of this past year.”
and 3 months, seven days, and 15 hours.
"i never figured out what i did," jake says. he turns back to you, looking as broken as you feel. "and the second i lay eyes on you, you leave. again."
his hand curl into fists at his sides. his shoulders taught, begging for you to run your hands across them, soothing the stress like you used to do. his hair is dying for your fingers to run through them.
"why?" he asks. your name slips from his mouth on a prayer. "god. help me here." his reservations crack and he reaches for you. before his hand curls around your waist, he stops.
you step into him. his hands hover above your waist, as if touching you will make you disappear. you lay your head against his chest and a sob escapes your mouth.
he finally lets his hands fall into place and he pulls you into him. and suddenly, a year, three months, seven days, and fifteen hours doesn’t feel that long at all.
his grip tightens like he’s afraid you’ll slip through his fingers again. “i needed you to stay.”