𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐖'𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄. | top gun

six - the "cheesy couple" thing.

after iceman's funeral, leah truly found herself at a point of indecision.

once the service was over, leah drove away without a word to anyone else, not even maverick. her thoughts full of her mom, full of her family, iceman, even though she met him once. she found herself in her dad's driveway in tears, not knowing how to handle it anymore. she stayed like that for a moment, not caring about who saw her, before she heard a very familiar motorcycle engine pull up into the yard. leah tried to hide it for a moment, as though if she stayed in her car and cried in peace, noone would see her. but, that thought proved untrue when maverick simply got in the passengers seat.

"you know, if it's not my dad somehow shadowing me everywhere, it's you." leah jokes, trying to sniff back her tears now that maverick was there. the remark makes maverick smile, but it doesn't deter him from what he wanted to talk about.

"i know it's kind of a dumb question to ask but, you okay?" while the question was simple, and somewhat stupid and monotonous, it left leah speechless. truly, not knowing what to say or feel.

"he knew about my mom.." leah trails, though not angry over it. while the burden she had over her mother was one thing, the loss also happened while her dad was still an instructor. and she couldn't imagine everything he hid from her when it came to how he felt if it meant leah was happy during that time.

"your dad was affected by it pretty heavily. there was a lot of things he brought up about the loss to people like me and iceman to keep his sanity about stuff. of course, it happened at the same time, i pulled bradshaw..." maverick couldn't even finish the statement he had, a small sense of guilt coming over him.

"is he still upset with me for siding with you?" leah asks, to which maverick gives a simple shoulder shrug.

"i do know one thing though.." maverick starts, causing leah to look at him.

"life goes on, and we all eventually have to come back from a loss in some sort of way." while the comment maverick made was more than true, leah couldn't help but notice that signature "maverick" stare going on, indicating he was up to something.

and boy, was she right.

what maverick failed to tell her during their conversation, was that he ended up pissing off another admiral, resorting in a temporary dismissal. what he also, failed to explain, was that he stole a military aircraft in order to prove that the mission could be done in a certain amount of time.

leah had finally showed back up to the program, still sitting next to hangman no matter how much she wanted to throttle him. this, was the absolute last thing, she was expecting. and for a moment, as she watched maverick completely dumbfounded, she missed bradshaw staring at her, not the spectacle going on.

if leah was being honest with herself, the "second" to last thing she had been expecting now was for bradshaw to actually talk to her.

it was after maverick's "grand return" and him being dragged into another room for a discussion. which, leah knew meant that he was in a heaping load of trouble. her and hangman were sitting in some old office chairs, playing a game of paper football, that hangman was very obviously losing.

"ha! eight for me, you lose yet again." leah jokes, grabbing the paper football from the floor as hangman roles his eyes.

"yeah yeah yeah, least i'd be better than you at actual football." as the two go back and forth with one another, rooster suddenly appears from around the corner. he watches for a moment, holding back a laugh as leah intentionally flicks hangman in the head with the paper football. their small moment of banter is then broken whenever hangman finally notices rooster. the sudden pause of silence causing leah to turn around, as her heart nearly drops into her stomach.

"um, i think i hear phoenix calling me so i'm just gonna, go..." hangman comments, awkwardness in his tone as he then rushes out of the room.

"leave it to hangman, always leave someone hanging." leah jokes, finally making eye contact with rooster as the two exchange a laugh.

"yeah...uh, can, i talk to you about something?" rooster asks, leah's expression hardening slightly. while she was honestly scared to address the whole, "leah and bradley" situation oh so suddenly, the piece of advice iceman gave her kept her from running away from the situation.

"sure." leah's simple response finally prompts rooster to walk in to the room. taking a seat in the chair hangman originally sat in right across from leah. for a moment, he didn't know what to say. the same feeling of fear beginning to rise in him. nonetheless, he choked it back to address the situation.

"i'm sorry, leah. not only was i a dick over something that's in the past. but i was a dick over pushing you away at the hard deck that night." leah felt her heart both warm, but at the same time shatter into a million pieces over rooster's apology. he knew about the feelings leah had for him, and their night at the hard deck saw leah get outcasted by him over said feelings. topped off by the rotten cherry that was leah causally, and honestly explaining that during academy days, she supported maverick pulling rooster even though they didn't know each other. but, it was because she knew how loss felt with her mom, and didn't wanna see someone else go through it. not entirely knowing how much not having goose impacted the young bradshaw boy.

"i forgive you, and i'm sorry i poured beer all over you that night." leah responds, picking at the paper football that sat in her palms.

"i guess i deserved it, if you think about it." the comment from rooster causes an awkward laugh from him, as silence then engulfs the room once more.

"uh, leah, i've been doing a lot of thinking. especially about you telling me how you feel about me..do you think, maybe, we could, start over? and give it a proper try?" the suggestion finally causes leah to lock eyes with rooster, and for a moment, renders her speechless. rooster seems to notice it, as he clarifies the last part of his statement.

"i've liked you for a while, and i guess on top of the whole maverick thing, i was so confused about how i felt i didn't know what to do. if you forgive me, and wanna give this whole, cheesy couple thing a try. i don't mind one bit." the clarification from rooster causes a small smile to form in leah's expression. taking a second before giving an actual response.

"only you would call it a cheesy couple thing." leah starts, the two sharing a laugh for a moment. this time, the laugh being out of genuine happiness.

"but, of course, boyfriend." leah finishes, getting up from her seat as she lightly punches rooster on the arm. leaving him in the room by himself a red, but happy mess.