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Nine weeks after their heroic return from the adventure that nearly cost them both their lives, Maverick was asked on a mission. A somber, secret thing that Rooster was so sure Mav would turn down – but the man said yes.
Overnight, he disappeared from Rooster's life, not even explaining himself or waving a goodbye. He didn’t have to, of course, but Rooster had felt something form between the two of them – may it be a bond or a cliff, he didn’t even seem able to identify what it was, but he wanted to know - and so, if Maverick was breathing on the other side of the continent, how was Rooster going to resolve anything?
Once Rooster dropped Maverick off at the military station, his hands sweating and gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned whiter than the headlights of his car, Mav opened his mouth to say something - Rooster waited, he waited for any type of word to come out, for Mav's lips to do something other than an awkward smile. But Rooster only ever got some kind of a sigh and a nod before the man got out of the truck.
No- No, that won't do.
"Mav- Mav, wait-"
"Watch over my bike and my plane while I'm gone, would you?" Maverick said, leaning a bit. His eyes wouldn't meet Roster's though. "Cherish them," he added then, achingly softly, like some kind of an afterthought. As if their mechanics were an extension of his own heart, as if he needed them to function here in order to function well himself in return, somewhere else. And he was placing the fate of it all in Rooster’s hands, just like that. What the-
And with that, Mav smiled and closed the door, the brutal sound ringing against Rooster's ear-drums like the gong of death. The man was already out of his sight before Rooster had the time to answer anything. Feeling too stunned and his hands shaking with the realization that the older man was leaving, Rooster couldn't seem to articulate a single word; not before he got a glimpse at Mav climbing the final steps that were leading him aboard a military plane. A gnawing feeling – sudden, terrible dread – punched Rooster so violently, right in the guts, that he messily got out of the car almost tripping on his own feet and ran to finally shout:
“Maverick!”
Come back! Come back to me. Don't leave at all. The older man turned around almost a little too fast to Rooster’s taste: did he actually, really want to go? What if he wanted Rooster to stop him? What if Rooster could keep Pete Mitchell right here with a single word? Stay. Rooster's bones were ready to scream if it was necessary, but... No, those were Rooster’s fantasies. Though, it didn’t change what happened: two soldiers were clearly telling him to hurry up, but Maverick simply stood there, patiently waiting for Rooster to say something else.
I'll wait for you, you stupid man. We'll talk about this.
“I'll cherish every part of them!” Rooster’s voice cracked as loudly as thunder. Everyone must have heard that. He should have felt ashamed, he knew that; he should have blushed, or cleared his throat to shout it more firmly, like a strong detached man who's part of the navy. Like a lieutenant to his captain.
But he couldn’t care less – Maverick, Mav, Mav, Mav, was leaving.
After that, a fleeting thing passed through Mav's eyes – it shone and it died. Next thing Rooster saw was Mav's blinding smile in the sunset, disappearing in the dark mouth of the plane's door. Rooster will wait, yes. He'll wait for that very same door to spit Maverick back at him.
Rooster tried to control his breathing. He needed more, he needed-
Maverick couldn't possibly take all of the air of California with him, right? So why was it suddenly lacking? Rooster's hands moved without his approval, reaching in the direction of the other man but only catching void, so he forced them behind his head, his fingers tightening on his hair. What the fuck are you thinking, you idiot? You absolute, fucking idiot!
-----
That had been seven months ago.
As Rooster sped up the engine towards the airport, the rhythm of his heartbeat matching the accelerations of the Kawasaki, he caught sight of the heavy clouds slowly rolling in from the ocean – but immediately forgot about them, the weather in his chest unchanging and made only of a heat even purer than that of the sun.
Had anyone ever heard of a stronger, hotter star? Rooster knew it now; after months of contemplation, he only swore by the Maverick Sun. And it had been more than half a year since he'd been forced to live in the dark.
He felt like he was going to get his sight back - the colors, and the lights all together were going to kiss his eyes again.
Maverick was coming home.
Shaking with an euphoria that made him want to explode, Rooster exceeded all speed limits and alternated between laughing and screaming into the wind like a madman, the sun getting hotter and hotter as he was getting closer to Maverick - he could feel it, his heart warming and his lungs finally getting fully filled.
Rooster, of all things, felt like he was coming home, too.
The two men had shared a few letters during the first couple of months following Mav's departure, but without any reason, Maverick had stopped writing. It didn't discourage Rooster, who kept blackening paper, again and again, about anything, stupid things, sentences that Maverick probably wasn't reading anymore. It had angered Rooster to the point that he punched Mav's plane one night, again and again, his knuckles painting the metal red.
He'd spent the rest of the night cleaning it oh so very softly, hopeless and miserable. The metal was as smooth as before, if not shinier - Rooster, on the other hand, was not.
He almost wrote something he would have regretted, something he was dying to say - anger and loneliness wouldn't leave him alone, but his aching heart was even more painful. And he felt like a coward. So, he didn't write what he felt.
When someone called him two days ago to tell him that Maverick was going home and had commanded that Rooster was to be the one to know, all the pain, suddenly, had vanished. The waves had taken it all back, only to leave Rooster's heart scarred, and pink, and fragile, but beating with a thrill and happiness.
Once he arrived at the airport, eyes wide and unfocused, he ran and looked everywhere - but Mav wasn't here yet. Yet. He looked at the giant clock in the hall. Mav would be here soon, yes. Soon.
Rooster tried to sit and wait but he literally couldn't stay still - what if Maverick wasn't coming home? What if by that phone call he didn't mean "Hey, Rooster, come pick me up"? What if he just wanted for Rooster to leave Mav's place? What if Rooster had dreamed all that shit? That'd be a fun ride, huh? No, he was sane enough to know that today was real.
Well. Reality is a strange game, right? Because about half an hour later, as a man wearing shiny sunglasses and a dark brown leather jacket covered with patches came to stand in front of him, a few feet away, Rooster seriously questioned the reality of it all.
The man smiled brightly, one hand gripping the bag on his shoulder, the other taking his glasses off.
"Mav-" Rooster whispered, his arms falling dumbly at his sides.
He vehemently, internally pushed down the urge to take the other man in his arms, as much as the need to feel his body's strength and warmth. His presence.
"Hello, Bradley," Mav said kindly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I didn't- I wasn't sure you'd be here."
"Oh, well, hum-" Rooster cleared his throat, forcing himself to look away an instant. "I didn't have anything else to do."
Mav's smile faded a little - here, see? First crack in the picture, fucking Bradshaw - and he nodded. "Uh, yeah, of course. Thanks."
The tactlessness of his words got to Rooster's brain a little late.
"Shit, no! I mean- I mean of course I'm here, Mav," he quickly said, taking a step closer. "Of course I'm here."
Mav nodded again, smiled again, but his eyes weren't as bright as a moment ago. Rooster quietly cursed at himself. What a moron.
"Uh," Rooster waved vaguely at Mav's bag. "You ready to go? Got your favorite two-wheeled vehicle parked somewhere."
"Uh, yeah. Yes, sure, let's go," the man said breathily, looking everywhere but at Rooster's face.
Okay, now, Rooster wanted to punch himself. He just- He didn't know what to say, or what to do. It was all so. Confusing. And it shouldn't be. And now, because of him, two of the best pilots on earth were clumsy and awkward like teenagers with a crush. Or, no crush, in fact. So. Teens with unrequited feelings.
Way to go, man.
Lost in his thoughts, Rooster made a bee line to get out of the airport and walk to the Kawasaki. So engrossed in hating himself for ruining such a moment, which was supposed to be like fireworks on the 4th of July, he didn't realize that Mav was a little far behind, nor that the man was giving him a puzzled look as Rooster got on the motorcycle as if it belonged to him.
The younger man glanced at Maverick then.
"What?"
"No- Nothing. It's just. You're driving my motorbike," Mav pointed out, as if he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
Rooster frowned, looked down, then it dawned on him.
"Oh. Oh! You wanna drive? I'm sorry, man, I was just-"
"No, no! Stay where you are, you... You look good on it."
At that, Rooster's neck moved so fast that he winced as it shot a solid blast of electricity along his muscles.
"Wha-?" he gasped so quietly that he was sure Mav didn't hear him.
"I'll just- get behind then."
Before Rooster could say anything, Mav secured his bag over his other shoulder and sat behind Rooster. Bradley realized- It was definitely, possibly the first time that Maverick took a seat behind on his own Kawasaki, or on any type of motorcycle. But Rooster couldn't dare to insist on switching positions: Mav was extremely close, so beautifully close. Rooster stopped breathing for a specific moment - one that never came.
He swallowed hard, eyes fluttering.
"You- You gotta hold on to me, Mav."
The older man didn't seem to move for another few seconds.
"Mav?"
"Y-yeah. Yeah."
Ever so slowly, Maverick's arms came to circle Rooster's waist. The younger man tried to keep his nerves in check as Maverick pressed himself against his back - not quite enough, Rooster's wild heart sang. Shit. It was going to be alright, just a ride home. It would be quick, nice, peaceful.
He started the engine, focusing on his own hands - but as soon as they hit the road, Mav tightened his embrace around him, his hands laying flat and strong over Rooster's abdomen. The heat radiating from them pierced through Rooster's stupidly thin shirt and soon, a fire awakened underneath his skin.
Fuck, no. That was going to be hell.
During Maverick's absence, Rooster had slowly neglected his car to drive Mav's motorbike. He took care of it, just like he promised, and surprisingly, driving this little thing gave him the illusion of flying - every single time. Sitting on it, placing his hands where the other man's hands were so often, he felt close to Maverick, in a very different way that piloting military equipment allowed him to.
This felt intimate.
But now that Mav was holding him, Rooster didn't feel like he was flying - he felt anchored, grounded. He'd always ran away from it, this sensation of being trapped on earth; but being trapped here, in Maverick's arms, it tasted exactly like he thought ecstasy did.
"Rooster?," Mav's voice literally touched Rooster's neck. "Can you stop at the beach?"
"The beach?"
"Yeah," he heard Mav laughing.
And he felt Mav's hands moving, one of them even touched his skin as the wind lifted the hem of Rooster's shirt.
"Okay, captain," he said with a rasp. "The beach, it is."
Ten minutes later, they were quietly walking to the ocean. Mav had said he wanted to feel the sand under his feet, so he abandoned his shoes, pulled up his pant legs and Rooster had no choice but to do the same and follow him. He would follow him anywhere, in fact. That's what he'd understood while the older man was gone.
And he had to tell him. But Maverick had to explain himself first for leaving so fast, for never answering, for never saying anything-
"Are you alright, sir?" Rooster inquired instead, a little worried about Maverick's behavior.
The man stopped walking right there, his back to Rooster. He glanced at the sky, then at the waves that were slowly coming to lick at his ankles. Silence stretched a bit more-
"Sir?" Maverick repeated with somewhat of a strained voice, almost pensive.
Rooster frowned.
"Who am I to you, Bradley?"
Rooster's heart sped up. He licked his lips, feeling unworthy of looking at the man as he clearly thought of who Maverick was to him.
"You're, uh. My father's friend, I guess."
Maverick lowered his head. Wrong answer, Rooster thought.
"Am I only that?"
"Maverick, I'm not sure I-"
The man finally turned to face him, and conflict was like a raging war all over his face. Rooster's words died under his tongue.
"Sir, you say," Maverick repeated, visibly trying to keep his voice calm. "Captain, you say. Maverick. Mav. Now, your father's friend. I just. I don't quite understand who I am to you, Bradley. Do you- want me to be your teacher? Your superior? Do you want me to be some kind of a father, or just. A friend? Are we even friends, Bradley?"
Rooster sensed that there was something insanely precise in the answer Maverick expected from him, and he felt trapped. His anger all of sudden rose up and flared at the back of his throat.
"Oh, so that's what we're doing right now?" he barked, clenching teeth and fists.
"What are we doing, Bradley?"
"I am asking you, old man!" His voice was now close to hysterical. "And what kind of stupid question is that! You're the one who called me kid then dropped it before I could get used to it! The one they all told me to call sir and captain. You're the man who knew my father when I didn't, and you're the one who doesn't know what to call me! Bradley, Rooster, Bradley, Rooster- You're like a fucking messed up compass! And you're the one who made me understand that I was your friend's son, quite very early on with the bullshit you pulled on me."
At that, Maverick winced and took a step back, eyes fixed on the golden dust as his feet. But Rooster went on.
"You're the one who teaches me everything he's learned during his life, you're the one who invites me for a drink and a ride and wants me to help you work on your engines! You're the one who smiles at me and put his hand in the low of my back. The one who smiles and leaves for seven months."
Maverick kept trying to widen the space between them but Rooster wasn't allowing it.
"You're the one who writes, and the one who stops," he confessed out of breath, tears burning in his eyes. "The one who takes everything away from me in the blink of an eye, and the one who gives everything back and more when he's home."
Rooster thought he heard thunder, somewhere beyond the horizon.
Maverick stopped again, out of breath himself, and Rooster closed in on him. The older man looked up at him, eyes wide, lips parted. Would you look at that?, Rooster thought. The Maverick Sun looking up at a miserable, lonely, unimportant asteroid.
"Bradley-"
"Mav."
The older man's eyelids fluttered. Rooster could have kissed him right here, he could have had it. But he needed to know everything that was not the taste of Maverick's tongue in his mouth.
But as Maverick was bout to finally say something, rain started to fall - heavy, warm and loud on and around them.
They stared at each other for a moment, their sunglasses perched up on their head, their clothes starting to stick to their bodies. And at the same time, all forms of tension that had built up in their muscles seemed to be washed away immediately. Maverick, the fucker, smiled, drops running across his face.
"Well, shit," Rooster said scrunching his nose up at the ugly clouds.
Maverick laughed then, taking off his leather jacket and putting it up above their heads in a quite fruitless attempt at keeping their hair dry.
"Come on! Time to abandon ship!" he said as they started running in a random direction, hoping to find a roof.
Rooster laughed, holding a side of the jacket and trying to avoid landing his feet on hard rocks viciously hidden in the sand. He lost his balance a few times, falling against Mav's solid body, who didn't even tripped once. They soon reached beach cabins and found shelter in one of them, which had a broken door. Soaked to the bones, they engulfed themselves in the tiny space, their laugh slowly dying on their lips, their chests rising hard and fast.
Hair wet and messy, pearls of water clinging to his eyelashes, white shirt now allowing no place for imagination, Maverick looked young. And Rooster, well. Rooster felt brave.
His hand reached up, slowly, gripping Mav's shirt and breathing heavily. The back of Mav's head fell against the wood behind him.
"Talk to me, Mav. Tell me something," he whispered, desperate.
"Tell you what?" the other whispered back, a hint a defeat coloring his voice.
"Anything."
"Do you want to tell me something?"
"Well. I won't tell you I missed you," Rooster admitted almost shyly. "You don't deserve it."
Maverick closed his eyes, a sigh ghosting over Rooster's face.
"You're mad at me for not writing back?"
Rooster's fingers were going up, trying to picture the sensation of Mav's skin at their tips rather than the fabric of his shirt.
"Of course, I'm mad, Mav. Have you even read what I sent you?"
The older man sighed once again, and before Rooster's hand was able to touch the man's throat, Mav pushed himself off the wooden wall and went back under the rain, leaving his leather at Rooster's feet.
"Mav? Come on," Rooster called after him, tired and picking up the jacket.
"I read everything."
"What?"
Rooster blanched a bit at that, for he was absolutely certain than he had been sending letters right into the trash. Suddenly, he remembered the last one:
"I wish I had so many words to write. Words that could make you smile, or come back quicker. I wish for so many things, Maverick. But top on that list? I wish you were here with me. I miss you. I miss you so much."
"I read everything, Bradley. Of course I've read everything. I learned almost every word by heart to remember them during the day."
Wha-
That didn't make any sense.
"Then, why did you stop writing?"
"Because I left precisely for not having to answer you, or have anything to do with you."
And that was not what Rooster was expecting to hear. Something cracked inside of him. It felt like the water pouring from the sky could never fill it, ever. This time, anger didn't show up, but utter pain violently crept in.
"What-," he almost whined. "What have I ever done to you-"
But Maverick cut him off and kept talking, facing the ocean. Rooster, at first, didn't understand the waver in his voice.
"I left for that mission," Maverick said firmly yet shakily, "because I couldn’t stand being near you. I just. It was driving me insane, you were… and I am… I couldn’t. That’s the reason why I left for that mission. I couldn’t stand being near you, and keep wanting what I wanted. But I have to tell you, Bradley. You want me to tell you. Being near you was nothing compared to the complete agony of being so damn far away from you."
Agony. Once again, Rooster was too stunned to react spontaneously. Being away from him? Agony-
Was Maverick hearing himself? Was he aware of what he was saying? Was he-
No, he couldn't possibly be meaning that.
"Mav..."
"I'm sorry, Bradley. I'm so sorry."
Rooster stopped listening for a few seconds, looking down at the jacket in his hands. He'd dreamed so many times to steal it and wear it. Claim it his own. The ghost of a smile stirred on his lip, and then, he quietly put it on. It was a bit too small for him, it was drenched in rain-
But he loved it.
"Mav," he said again, "what did you think I meant in my last card?"
"I thought. I thought you asked me to come back, I thought you meant-"
"I wanted you to come back, Mav," Rooster promised quietly. "In fact, I've never wanted for you to leave."
"Yeah," Maverick sobbed around a breathy laugh, not even facing him once, water splashing and running all over him. "But I think we're- I don't think we're agreeing on the why, Bradley."
The complete agony of being so damn far away from you-
Stupid, stupid man-
Feeling lighter than he'd ever felt, Rooster stepped under the rain, water hitting the leather and his sunglasses. His toes were sticky with wet sand, his jeans so very heavy, but he felt so light. He smiled at the clouds and walked to press himself behind Maverick. The older man gasped loudly, and Rooster rejoiced in the sound, slowly wrapping his arms around him. One of his hands sneaked under the man's shirt and stayed there, flat and strong over his abdomen.
He felt Mav's muscles bend and stiffen under his skin, and he mouthed at the skin right behind Mav's ear.
"Bradley, what-"
"You shut up and listen, you stupid little man," Rooster breathed around a smile. "It's my turn."
Maverick swallowed, pressing imperceptibly against Rooster but not enough to suggest that he had understood what Rooster was getting at.
"I slept in your bed while you were gone."
"What?" The man's hand came to rest on top of Rooster's.
Rooster smiled, his lips hovering over the man's ear.
"I kept it warm," Rooster purred. "Sometimes I cried between the sheets, praying for you to come back. Sometimes I moaned, begging for you to be here."
And oh my, was the Maverick Sun whimpering?
"So, now. You gorgeous, but very stupid little man. What do you think I meant by I wish you were here with me?"
A complete picture of awe on his face, Maverick turned around in Rooster's arms, his green eyes wider than they'd ever been.
"You-"
Without losing another second, Mav gripped the lapels of his own jacket and crashed his lips on Rooster's like a famished man.
Rooster kissed back immediately - of course he did. Mav's lips moved easily, relentlessly, and as much as Rooster loved the enthusiasm, he tried to slow it down. He licked at Mav's upper lip, bit softy the lower one. Mav bit back, playful. Yeah. Rooster had always known the calmer version of Maverick - but now, he could feel the mask falling. Mav was full of life and Rooster wanted to taste it, bathe in it.
Rooster had slipped a hand in the man's hair, tugging at it lightly and it owed him a moan. After a while, Mav's stopped to breathe raggedly against his lips.
"You can have it all,' he whispered then, a mad joy waltzing in his blown pupils.
"All what?" Rooster rasped, his hand now on the man's jaw. He left a trail of wet kisses along Mav's throat, felt the man's wild pulse under his teeth as he bit the sensitive skin.
"The Kawasaki," Mav breathed, "the jacket, the bed. Me. You can have everything, I give you everything-"
"Fuck-"
Rooster pushed Maverick until his back hit the cabin and took off the man's shirt. Smooth, tanned skin laid there, exposed for his own pleasure-
In the curve of Mav's neck - that's where Rooster wanted to hide forever. And now, now, it was a very possible thing.
He kissed Mav's shoulder, his collarbone, letting his hands play with the waistband of the man's jeans. Mav locked his arms around Rooster's neck and smiled against his temple. The rain wouldn't stop falling.
"Moaning, you say," Mav noted, nibbling at Rooster's lobe. "Did you sleep naked in my bed for seven months?"
Rooster smiled back, leaning his forehead against Maverick's. Their eyes met, pools of anticipation getting darker, and their happiness matching.
"What about it?"
"Do you… intend to stop, now that I’m back?"
"Do you want me to stop?" Rooster asked, wetting his lips.
Mav kissed him softly, licking at the water dripping over his mouth.
"I want you to show me."