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Bradley fell in love the first time in third grade.
Marcy Stevens had pretty blonde hair that curled at the edges, sharp blue eyes and never stopped running her mouth. Bradley would just sit quietly and watch her as she blinked her long lashes and said the most outrageous things to their teachers.
She never got in trouble. Bradley tried it once and got sent to detention and had to slowly drag himself out to the sleek black tahoe waiting for him after school. Ice never said anything and somehow that was worse than the lecture his mom gave him when he got home. Mav called him that night from his deployment and Bradley Bradshaw never ran his mouth again. ‘
He got his first tattoo when he was eighteen.
It was a drunken dare from his friend and he got a paper plane tattooed onto his wrist.
Ice called him the next morning and said many words to him about responsibility and making smart choices. Mav called him and said nothing which was somehow worse. Carol said even less when Mav handed her the phone and she just whispered that she loved Bradley from her hospital bed.
Bradley’s second tattoo happened after his papers were pulled from the academy. He knew that there was more to the story. One that Mav never told him. Ice said even less which made Bradley hang up on the Admiral. He stopped taking their calls. He sat in the parlor with his arm out and the only thing he could think of telling the artist was two doves hugging.
They looked peaceful on his forearm. The black lines intertwined against his tan skin and all he could do was send a pic to Ice.
Ice said nothing. Bradley knew what that meant. He said nothing too knowing Ice would understand. Mav called him later that night and Bradley let it go to voicemail. Mav said nothing other than he liked the tat and thought his mom would too. Bradley let his anger fester and he drank a quarter of a bottle of tequila and ended up dming Marcy Stevens and let her talk at him for the rest of the night.
Bradley fell in love a second time when he was twenty five. It was a quiet back seater to his roommate. He had green eyes and black hair and didn’t say much but he blushed so prettily when Bradley smirked at him for the first time at a party.
Ethan Houser never talked back but he was sweet and caring. He listened to Bradley talk for the first time in years. He learned about Nick and Carol, Mav and Ice. He listened to Bradley’s patch work family and how Bradley was alone. He kissed Bradley soft and sweet and Bradley thought that if he could tattoo this feeling onto his heart he would.
But Ethan fell in love with a pretty redhead at the bar one night. His green eyes never leave the small curves of the girl in the white dress and Bradley let him go.
Bradley got his third tattoo that night. Nothing fancy, just two bands linked together. He put this on his fourth rib on his left side because that one is the one that protects the heart. It’s the closest thing that Bradley can do to tattoo the feeling where it belongs.
Bradley found the first person he hated the next day.
He walked into the mess hall, his eyes still tired from the late night. Tattoos drain him making him lazy the next day. Someone slams into his left side right where he got his new ink. Bradley groans in pain and a mocking laugh cuts through the air.
“You like it rough, Bradshaw? Didn’t know you knew anything other than riding slow?” Bradley turns and finds a blonde man with ice blue eyes smirking at him. A toothpick is caught between his teeth as he stares at Bradley with a challenge.
“Fuck you.” Bradley replies and the man’s grin widens.
“That an offer?”
Bradley sneers and walks away. His ribs throb and he glances over at Ethan smiling and talking to his front seater. His phone is out and Bradley catches a glimpse of red hair on the screen.
He flies better than he ever has before that day and when he lands the blonde man is waiting for him.
“Still on the perch Rooster.” He says with a smirk and Bradley doesn’t say anything as he walks past.
Bradley doesn’t get a tattoo when he makes it through Top Gun. He promised himself he’d get something else when he won first place but that honor went to Jake Seresin. Jake who mouths off at every given turn. Jake who smirks his way through classes, his eyes dark and hungry tracking every pilot in the room. Javy sits next to him. His dark brown eyes never leave Bradley’s and Bradley flips him off. Javy raises a brow and says something to Jake. Jake turns and winks. Bradley doesn’t say anything.
Until Bradley does.
They all graduated. The best of what the US Navy has to offer the aviator world. Jake at number one, Bradley at number two and then Javy at number three. They stay later than they should, drinking beer and laughing.
Bradley almost wrist deep down a brunette’s shirt. Her tits fit into his hand like they were made for him and Bradley can’t stop swallowing the soft noises she makes. It’s almost as good as flying or being in love but Bradley isn’t picky. He’d take just this night.
Until a glass of cold beer ends up in his lap.
He hisses at the painful jolt right over his growing erection. Bradley pulls back as the girl makes a disgusted noise because she also got beer on her. He turns to find Jake’s dangerous blue eyes staring at him. Something dark and dangerous is in them as he holds an empty beer glass still wet from the cold beer.
“What the fuck man?” Bradley bites out and Jake shrugs.
“Looked like you needed to cool off.”
Bradley ignores how Jake’s voice is harder, tinted with something. He swears softly and presses off the bar heading towards the bathroom. He ignores the footsteps that follow him.
“Look-”
“Fuck you man.” Bradley spits out as he slams open the bathroom door. “The fuck is your problem, you don’t see me dumping shit on you when you got skirts pulled up past the waist.”
He turns on the water and pulls out a few paper towels getting them wet. He doesn’t look at Jake in the mirror. Bradley is too busy trying to clean beer off his khaki shorts.
“Didn’t have her skirt up.” Jake mumbles and Bradley looks up to glare at him through the mirror.
Jake looks put out. His hair is floppy and soft. He’s in something that isn’t his normal military pressed uniform. His blue eyes shine and Bradley shakes his head.
“Well now I can’t, thanks to you.” Bradley bites out and Jake doesn’t look the least bit sorry.
“Thought you didn’t like chicks anyways.” Jake says after a beat and Bradley freezes. “Like Ethan used to run his mouth all over base how fucking hung you are and how you fuck like an animal.”
Bradley's face heats up and he slams off the water. The rings on his ribs burn a little even though the initial pain of getting them have long since faded. It makes his heart clench in Bradley’s chest at the green eyes that would sparkle with every laugh.
“The fuck it matters who I fuck.” Bradley says quickly and Jake makes a low noise. “I would never fuck you.”
Jake freezes against the wall, his eyes getting wide and Bradley reaches over to throw away the paper towels.
“I don’t fuck pricks.”
Bradley leaves Jake in the dinghy bar bathroom with his mouth surprisingly closed for once.
The next time they see each other, Jake is insufferable.
The time after that, Bradley punches him in the face after one too many beers and one comment too many about Bradley being named Rooster for obvious reasons.
Bradley doesn’t stop talking after that.
Every time he sees Jake they can’t stop fighting. Words and insults fly back and forth so quickly Natasha says she gets whiplash. They fight all the time. Jake can’t stop pointing out when Bradley moves too slow, Bradley loves to use the coms to remind Jake that he killed just one more person. It gets so bad that even the CO’s start placing a person in the same room as them because Jake Seresin and Bradley Bradshaw cannot be alone together.
It comes to a head when Ethan enters a room on a carrier. Jake, Bradley, Natasha and Javy all are sitting in uncomfortable silence. Phoenix’s eyes glance over Bradley’s shoulder and she freezes. Bradley turns and his heart stops. The rings burn again, this time the green eyes find him and Bradley can’t handle it.
He walks away.
Presses up and walks away without saying a word to anyone.
Of course Jake is the one that follows him. Down the hall to the training room where Bradley starts to unrack the weights. He needs something to burn off the tension and heart break that’s pounding through his veins.
“That bad of a lay?” Jake asks as he settles behind Bradley and Bradley grunts.
“What kind of douche talks about his sex life to a fucking base?” Bradley grits out through his teeth as he presses up. He meets Jake’s eyes in the mirror and Jake shrugs.
“I do.”
Bradley shakes his head.
“That’s my point.”
Jake’s throat bobs. A small red flush covers the tan skin and he meets Bradley’s eyes through the mirror.
“What does ink mean?” Jake asks instead and Bradley presses through his reps.
“Dumb drunk decisions.” The rings somehow sit heavier on Bradley’s skin. “Don’t mean anything.”
Jake’s hand grabs Bradley’s wrist stilling his motion. The weights are pulled from his hand before Jake’s finger slowly starts tracing the twin doves on his forearm. Jake’s touch burns and Bradley can’t stop staring at the finger moving on his sweaty skin through the mirror.
“Ethan says they have stories that weren’t his to tell.” Jake says softly and Bradley’s heart lurches in his chest.
“But he can talk about my dick.”
Jake’s eyes flick up to meet Bradley and the same dangerous Jake Seresin glint is back.
“We all knew you packed, Bradshaw. We’ve seen it in the showers.” Jake says in a low voice. “We just didn’t know how it was operated. Ethan just filled in the gaps.”
“What gaps?”
Bradley looks over and Ethan is standing in the weight room. His eyes dart between Jake and Bradley. Jake’s hand still wrapped around Bradley’s wrist, weights forgotten on the floor.
“Apparently my dick made the newsletter.” Bradley spits out harsher then he intends and Ethan is decent enough to look away.
“You fuck like a god Bradshaw.” Ethan says after a beat. “Hard not to worship at the altar.”
Then it hits Bradley in the middle of a weight room. Ethan never loved him back. Ethan never knew to love Bradley back. Bradley never said he loved Ethan, not in the words that Ethan needed. Just like Bradley never told Marcy Stevens that he loved her. He just talked her through at least a dozen orgasms and slowly let her fade.
Bradley never told Mav or Ice he loved them and they never said it to him. But they all knew that they loved each other. Something in the silence they understood. Just like Bradley knew how to fly on instinct, the people in his life just knew by instinct he loved them.
Jake’s fingers tighten on Bradley’s wrist before turning to look at Ethan.
“You would look good on your knees, Houser.” Jake says too casually. “Pretty mouth finally being useful.”
Ethan flushes. He’s gone quicker than he entered and Bradley just stares at Jake. Jake looks at Bradley. Like really looks at him not using the mirror as a medium.
“I don’t have tats.” Jake says after a beat and Bradley raises a brow.
“Don’t put bumper stickers on a porsche?” Bradley asks and Jake scoffs.
“Don’t objectify me, Bradshaw.” Jake quips as he picks up the weights and hands them back to Bradley. Bradley smirks and faces the mirror and Jake settles in behind. “I just never had anything I wanted on my skin forever.”
And Bradley Bradshaw doesn’t say anything. But Jake understands and smiles a little wider.
Three weeks later Bradley walks up to Natasha. She just landed from her patrol route and she looks at him and raises a brow.
“You flew tight.” Bradley says instead and lets the silence linger. Natasha smiles, her eyes crinkling as she gives him a nod.
She knows.
Then they all got recalled back to Top Gun.
It is suicide. Bradley knows this because everyone coming back via the grapevine of gossip is the best. Which means they’re going to die.
Bradley walks in late with his shirt hanging open and his jeans too tight. If he’s going to die, he’s at least going to die with one more good night under his belt. Natasha slams him with the pool stick and Bradley smiles through the pain.
He loves her too.
The slow beat of a guitar plays through the Hard Deck and Bradley turns.
“Bradshaw as I live and breathe.” Jake says with a smirk rounding the corner. There’s something there in the silence and Bradley smirks. He lets his eyes trail down before meeting Jake’s gaze.
“Hangman, you look-” Bradley can’t find the words. “Good.”
It’s the truth. Jake does look good. His hair slicked back, he’s in his annoying pressed khakis. His skin is tan which makes his blue eyes pop. Bradley thinks Jake’s always looked good but he’s never said it before.
Jake smiles as he takes the pool stick from Bob. His eyes dance with the same dangerous light and Bradley thinks that they just might be friends. Because Jake knows what the silence means.
They are not friends.
Bradley is reminded every single day why he hates Jake Seresin so much. Every loud obnoxious comment. Every time Jake leaves someone in the sky to make it to the mark. Bradley can’t stand him. Bradley hates him. Bradley despises Jake Seresin with every word from his stupid beautiful mouth that is always wrapping out something. Toothpicks, pens, even Javy’s finger in the mess. Bradley dropped his tray as he watched Jake wrap his mouth around Javy’s finger to lick applesauce off the pad.
Jake looks up and the fucker winks as he sinks a little lower. His pretty red lips sucking tighter. Javy slaps the back of Jake’s head and pulls his finger out with a disgusted look until he looks over at what Jake is looking at. Then he scooped up a large portion with two fingers and promptly shoves them deep into Jake’s mouth.
Bradley says so much to Jake later. His words spitting out of his mouth with red hot anger and Jake responding in kind. What they didn’t see is Phoenix and Javy quietly watching them until Jake pushes Bradley. Then the next thing Bradley knows is he has Jake pressed against the wall by his shirt collar. Blue eyes blazing mad staring up at him and Bradley realizes there are flecks of green in the ice blue. His lashes are darker than his hair and they blink stupidly like Marcy Stevens.
His perfect mouth opens. “Take the shot or move Bradshaw.”
Bradley shoves him hard against the wall and walks away shouldering past Javy. Natasha follows quietly and Bradley knows she knows something.
“I hate him.” Bradley says over his shoulder and she raises a brow. “Honest to god, I hate him. He’s a fucker and an asshole.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you really think, Bradshaw.” Jake yells from behind him and Bradley turns around slamming into Natasha who puts her hands on his chest.
“You’re a selfish fucker who doesn’t see anyone else but the glory in front of you.” Bradley shouts and Javy moves in front of Jake. “You’re arrogant, mean and are a menace to this whole fucking base.”
“And you’re an entitled prick that is going to fucking fly this mission because Captain fucking Mitchell can’t take his eyes off you long enough to see any worth in the rest of us.” Jake yells back and Bradley flips him off.
“Fly better asshole.”
“I wouldn’t have to if you would just fucking learn how to fly and not put this mission in danger.”
“Can’t fly better than perfect, Bagman.”
“Well at least I know how and when I’ve got tone lock, Roo baby. Can you even pull a trigger that your fucking daddy of Captain doesn’t pull for you? Or would your real old man have to teach you that if he made it through Top Gun?”
“Hey, man.” Javy presses Jake back a few steps and Natasha leans all her weight into Bradley’s chest. “Not cool.”
“I’m cool.” Jake says quietly, staring at Bradley from down the hall and Bradley’s lip curls up.
“I’m good.” He replies and Jake flips him off. Bradley blows him a kiss.
They don’t talk again until the night before Bradley flies.
Bradley is sitting in his bunk in gray sweatpants with his dog tags hanging loosely around his chest as he looks down at the worn picture of his parents holding him in front of a house in San Diego. Mav told him that’s where Charlie lived, someone he dated before he finally made the move on Ice.
His thumb brushes over his dad’s face. He has his dad’s eyes and face but his mom’s smile. They hold Bradley between them and Bradley touches the doves on his arm.
“I love you both.” He whispers.
A knock on his door makes Bradley swallow hard and wipe away the one stray tear. He tosses the picture on the lone desk in his room and walks over his door. Jake Seresin is standing on the other side. His blue eyes are still sharp but there is something in the silence. Something that Bradley knows.
Jake tastes like mint mouthwash. Bradley pulls him into his room and shuts the door behind them, locking it. It doesn’t take long to have Jake stripped and on his bed. His perfect mouth open and whimpering out words that Bradley will never forget. It’s slower than Bradley anticipated, not like he lets himself think about it often.
Jake is soft and tight and warm and clings to Bradley as Bradley opens him up slowly. His fingers brushing Jake’s inner walls, curling up to hit the bundle of nerves that makes Jake’s toes curl and fingers dig into his back.
Bradley doesn’t say anything but he speaks. He maps out the lines of Jake’s body with his mouth. He presses kisses to every piece of sweaty tan skin he can reach. His fingers trace out soft patterns against Jake’s firm body as his fingers try to press in as deep as they can get into Jake’s body.
He takes Jake slowly facing him. Faces pressed against each other, fingers interlocked above Jake’s head. A lazy leg wrapped around Bradley’s waist as Bradley rocks rhythmically into Jake pulling out quiet noises. It isn’t harsh or heated, nothing like their words. This is slow and meaningful, meant to last and meant to be cherished. Like they meant something more than just a final night as a desperate reach for something words can never say.
Bradley kisses Jake slow and deep. Their tongues and lips moving in sync without so much a harsh bite. This isn’t fucking, Bradley realizes as he pulls back to look into Jake’s eyes that are wide with arousal. Sweat is dripping down Jake’s face, down his neck. Their dog tags make metallic sounds as they rub together and Bradley never wants this night to end.
Jake traces the doves as they lay quietly holding each other under Bradley’s blanket when they are done. Bradley reaches for the picture on his table and Jake sits up enough to see it. His fingers move over the doves and Bradley knows Jake knows.
Jake’s fingers slowly drop down to Bradley’s ribs and trace the rings. Bradley sucks in a sharp breath and Jake meets his eyes. Something flickers across Jake’s face. Confusion then understanding and then annoyance. There’s a darkness there right before Jake surges up and kisses a hard kiss to Bradley’s lips. His fingers cup Bradley’s jaw and holds him still as Jake licks into Bradley’s mouth. His other hand ties into Bradley’s hair and pulls hard and mean and Bradley lets his head move back.
He knows Jake knows about the rings too.
Bradley Bradshaw fell in love for the third time right before his death sentence.
Jake left early in the morning long after their bodies stopped talking. Each time getting more frantic then the last as time moved slower towards dawn. Bradley wakes up with Jake laying on his chest. There is a soft sleepy look still in his blurry blue green eyes. His hair flops into his face and Bradley has to resist the urge to not push it back.
He says the first thing that comes to mind.
“Good morning.”
Jake panics. His eyes widen and he pulls from Bradley’s arms like he is burned. He throws off the blankets and turns quickly, pulling on his clothes. He leaves without saying a word and Bradley knows he missed something. He knew he didn’t hear what he was supposed to.
Time truly is Bradley’s enemy as he walks across the tarmac. Jake is waiting for him. A grim look is set on his face and Bradley doesn’t say anything.
“Give them hell.” Jake yells over the wind and the waves and the engines and Bradley Bradshaw’s heart stops. He knows what Jake means but he doesn’t know how to say it back.
He almost dies. Getting shot down is surreal. His parachute unfolds and Bradley lands in the snow. What’s left of his smoking plane is on the ground and he takes a deep breath. He’s alive. His mind spins with adrenaline and just holyshiti’malive . He needs to find Mav and get out of here.
Mav comes running.
“Are you ok?”
Bradley nods. “Yeah you?”
The punch lands harder because Bradley wasn’t expecting it. He lands in the snow and hops right up.
“What the hell?”
“What were you thinking?” Mav looks crazy. Bradley hasn’t seen Mav look this crazy since Bradley stole his bike to take a girl out on a date when he was sixteen. Mav didn’t stop yelling for an hour, Ice had said nothing. “I saved your life for you to get back home, not to get shot down.”
“You told me not to think.” Bradley yells back and Mav freezes. Bradley throws up his hands and Mav nods slowly.
“Thank you.” He says softly and Bradley knows what he means.
“It’s what my dad would have done.” Bradley says in a rough voice and Mav knows what he means.
They’re flying across the ocean. This rust bucket piece of shit that belongs in a museum not only flies but it can fight. She’s on her last leg and Bradley can feel how she groans under the stress. He watches Mav’s hand brush across her and Bradley knows Mav’s not with him in the plane anymore.
The last fifth generation is in front of them staring them down. There’s no more bullets or flares or missiles. Just two old fossils that have lived past their prime. Mav is one hell of a pilot and he lasts for as long as he can. Bradley can’t eject. He squeezes his eyes shut and he feels the ghost of a touch on his doves. The rings on his ribs don’t burn into his skin. It’s a soft warm feeling of a tan finger tracing out the dark lines that protect Bradley’s heart.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your savior speaking.”
Bradley’s never been in love like this before. He opens his eyes and stares at the lone plane flying through the smoke. Jake is smiling. His eyes are wild, the blue green brighter than anything Bradley’s ever seen before.
“Please return your trays to their upright positions and prepare for landing.”
“He is something else.” Mav says with a small amount of pride and Bradley smiles. Mav gives Jake a thumbs up and Jake’s smile somehow gets wider.
“You look good, Hangman.” Bradley says into the coms and Jake smirks. It’s in his eyes but Bradley’s heart breaks a little that Jake doesn’t know what Bradley means.
“I am good, Rooster.” Jake says back with a smirk and there’s a dangerous glint in his eyes. “I’m very good.”
Bradley gets his first non picture tattoo three weeks after the suicide mission.
He’s sitting in the chair, his eyes locked on the football game that’s playing in the background. The needle stings as it digs into the inside of his bicep. It feels good but Bradley’s heart is slamming in his chest. He can’t watch like he watched with the others. This one is getting carved into his left arm above the twin doves and the paper airplane.
It takes forty-five minutes tops to get it drawn, traced and cleaned. It cost a hundred dollars plus tip and Bradley leaves without a word.
He meets them all at the Hard Deck three days later when it is healed and the disinfectant wrap is removed. It looks sharp. Nice hard lines with good spacing. The words clear as day against his skin. Bradley leaves off the Hawaiian shirt, settling for just the tank and his jeans.
When he crawls out of his bronco he smirks. His glasses sit precariously on the edge of his nose, his jeans are on the right side of tight. If he lived through a mission he was destined to die on, he is going to make it one hell of a night.
The Hard Deck is busy and Bradley smiles as he sees the group in their corner surrounding the pool table. Jake is standing next to Javy playing darts and Bradley lets his gaze drag down the blonde’s body. He’s also in a pair of jeans that look unfairly good. He’s in a loose white button shirt that leaves not enough to the imagination and Bradley lets out a breath.
Phoenix is looking at him with a knowing smirk. Her dark eyes glow with happiness and Bradley smiles. She hands him a beer bottle and Bradley reaches out and takes it.
“No Hawaiian shirt?” She asks and Bradley shrugs.
“Too hot.”
Natasha makes a low noise as her eyes dart over to the dart board.
“And has nothing to do with how it will now take less time to get ready for bed.” She says quietly so only Bradley can hear. His face flushes and Bradley raises his bottle to his lips because he doesn’t know what to say. “New ink, Roo?”
Bradley pulls the bottle from his lips and looks down at his arm. He shrugs and turns to lean against the table facing the dart game. Jake is smiling and happy. He throws the dart with precision and Javy shakes his head laughing. He glances over his shoulder and catches Bradley’s eye. He looks away to nudge Jake and whispers something in his ear.
Jake turns and there’s already a pretty flush on his cheeks. Bradley wants to see how far down he can get it to go. But he settles for drinking from his bottle. His right hand drums nervously against the table and Phoenix raises a brow. Bradley looks back at Jake.
Jake’s eyes are wide and staring at the new ink on Bradley’s arm. Bradley pulls his bottom lip between his teeth.
Tone locked.
Jake turns a deeper shade of red and runs a hand nervously through his hair. Phoenix shifts beside Bradley but Bradley can’t look away from Jake.
“Is it a sex thing?” Phoenix says after a minute and Bradley lifts his bottle to his lips.
“Not even close.” He says back and Phoenix snorts.
“Then I owe Javy $20 and a round.” She says as she pushes off the table and walks towards the bar.
Javy is talking to Jake quietly. The blue green eyes never leave Bradley’s face as he whispers back to Javy. Bradley lounges back against the table and tilts his chin up at Jake.
Jake lets out a breath and slowly walks towards him. Bradley can feel his heart slam harder in his chest. His blood is rushing so loudly through his veins that he barely hears Jake walk up.
“Rooster.” Jake’s voice shakes and Bradley nods his head.
“You look good, Hangman.” Bradley says back. His voice even and low and Jake’s flush slowly creeps down his neck. “But I didn’t expect anything less from someone who’s always good.”
Jake’s mouth closes and his eyes drop down to Bradley’s arm.
“Mav said that there’s a fine line between love and hate.” Bradley says breaking the silence and Jake looks up at him. “He said he hated Ice for a long time before he realized he just didn’t know what to say.”
Jake’s eyes flick down to Bradley’s mouth and Bradley smirks.
“Tone locked, Bagman.” Bradley lets the roughness of his voice come through. “Fire or move.”
—---------
Bradley’s back hits his mattress and Jake crawls on top of him. It’s messy with no finesse. Like they picked up where they left off three weeks ago on the carrier. All tongue and teeth, fingers touching and holding whatever piece of skin they can touch. They haven’t undressed. The only thing that is on the floor of Bradley’s bedroom is their shoes.
Jake’s fingers dig into Bradley’s bicep and Bradley hisses in pain.
“Sorry.” Jake gasps out and Bradley surges forward to messily slip his tongue into Jake’s mouth.
“It’s fine.” Bradley replies as he nips at the hinge of Jake’s jaw. “Feels good.”
“Yeah?” Jake’s voice is breathless and Bradley has never heard something so pretty.
Fingers ghost over the letters and Bradley moans out against Jake’s throats where he’s sucking a bruise. All the nerves in his body are on fire, sending so many signals to Bradley’s brain that accumulate into a single thought of mine .
“Gave them hell.” Jake breathes out in awe and Bradley smiles. Bradley doesn’t say anything but Jake knows. Jake knows this time.
Jake’s hand finds Bradley’s chest and he gently pushes Bradley back until he’s laying against his pillows. Jake is looking down at him, half in awe and half wild. Bradley is sucking in air trying to calm down his rapid breathing.
Jake slowly reaches down for the hem of his shirt and slowly starts to pull it up. Bradley lets out a low rumble at the sight of gorgeous tan skin getting revealed. Jake doesn’t mean to be a tease. He isn’t moving slowly because he wants to watch Bradley suffer, he’s moving slowly like he’s scared.
He tosses his shirt aside and stares down at Bradley’s face with a strange vulnerable expression. Like all his cards are on the table and there’s no going back.
Bradley sees it and his heart stops.
Across the left side of Jake’s chest in clear writing is the words Good Morning .
Jake lets out a small breath. Bradley sits up enough to lean forward and press a kiss over the words. He can feel Jake’s heart beating under his lips and he looks up at him through his lashes.
“I-”
Jake pulls him up and presses their lips together and Bradley rolls them over.
Later that night Bradley holds Jake tightly to his chest as Jake traces the rings on his ribs. Bradley had whispered those three words so many times that night that he is afraid that they will lose their meaning tomorrow. Jake’s touch becomes softer and breathes deeper and Bradley doesn’t move, holding Jake while he sleeps.
They’ll talk about this tomorrow in their own way. Jake will make coffee, Bradley will make eggs. Jake will wear one of Bradley’s shirts from basic and Bradley will wear the white shirt from last night.
Bradley may not talk much but Jake understands every word, even the silence.