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Let it never be said that Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was not a romantic. He had learnt all about wooing his dates from the very best, the cringiest of people, because his Pops would never let his dad live down his previous attempts at getting a date. So when he decided that he had met the person he wanted to spend his entire life with, he knew that he had to pull out all of the stops.
His dad might be one of the cringiest people to ever flirt, but he also knew that the advice he had given him was correct. Make a big gesture. Make sure it’s full of love. Whatever you do, do it with your heart. And that was exactly what he was going to do.
He had stayed at Top Gun, teaching after the mission. It had been too close, watching Bradshaw and Maverick nearly burn in. The circumstances of his second air to air kill being too similar to his first. But while he had stayed, his boyfriend had not had that option and after a month of leave had been deployed. They had made the most of what little phone time they could get, and now he was coming home. In just a few short hours they would be together and he had plans.
There wouldn’t be a restaurant. There wasn’t going to be an audience. It was just going to be them, his pick up truck, and a lookout that was always quiet. He already had the picnic blankets in the back of the pick up, the food was nearly ready, and he just had to find the… the ring. He could not forget that or it would be a disaster.
He never thought that he would be one of those guys. The type to wait at a dock, waiting for the ship to come in, waiting for the person he loved. But yet, there he was. Blue jeans, a flannel shirt and a cowboy hat to complement the cowboy boots was the outfit that he wore, the complete opposite of what he normally wore to the docks. Every single other time he had been here since the age of eighteen he had worn his uniform, but he wanted not to draw attention to him and Bob.
He knew that Bob hated attention. He was the type of guy who would sit in the corner and happily watch everyone else. He was Jake’s complete opposite, but that was what made them work so well. Bob calmed Jake down; he would make Jake see common sense. Jake managed to get Bob to let loose and have fun. His boy could hussle pool better than Jake could, but his quiet nature meant that a lot of the time he was overlooked, but Jake loved to stand back, a beer in hand, and watch him.
Now all he could do was stand back from the crowd and wait until Bob finally disembarked and managed to make his way over to him. He watched as sailor after sailor started walking off the ship and making their way over to their loved ones. It took a while for him to finally set his eyes on Bob, but that didn’t surprise him, he knew that it would take him a while to disembark, wanting to avoid the crowd.
As soon as Bob set his eyes on him, he picked up his pace and Jake couldn’t stop himself from rushing forwards to meet him. It had been too long; seven months away longer than either of them wanted to experience ever again but knew that they would have to. There was no kiss of greeting, just a hug, one that could easily be explained as a hug between friends.
“Hey darlin’,” Jake drawled as he released Bob. He wanted to stay there forever, to just hold Bob in his arms and let it be them, but he knew that if they spent too long like that people would have questions. “Are you up for a little drive?” He asked as he picked up the WSO’s seabag in his right hand and let his left hand interlink with Bob’s. He had his plan, he wanted to do it tonight, but he wasn’t going to force Bob to go on a drive with him if he was too tired.
“Yeah, that would be nice actually,” Bob answered as they walked towards the pick up. Despite the many families that were around them, it felt as if it was just them, there was a feeling of peace that neither Jake nor Bob had really experienced before, but it was enough to confirm to Jake that he was making the right decision. He wanted this forever.
“Good, I’ve got food and that in the truck,” Jake added, a hint of nervousness that was never really displaced with his normal cocksure attitude, but it once again just confirmed to him that Bob was the person who complimented him, that let him be himself.
It was quiet, or well they were quiet, as Bob’s seabag was throwing into the back of the pick up, as Jake unlocked the doors and they both climbed in. Both of them closed the doors behind them and ultimately shut out the world. All they really needed was each other.
Once they made it out to the open roads; nothing but the road in front of them, Jake reached his hand over to interlace his fingers with Bob’s. There was music playing gently from the radio but it was just background noise, neither of them needed or wanted to break the silence. It was nice to just finally be together again.
“I know you’re probably tired, you can take a nap if you want, we’ve still got a bit to go,” Jake finally broke the silence as he noticed Bob try to stifle a yawn again. There was a part of him that wanted to turn the pick up around and just head home, to let Bob rest and try this some other time. But life had shown them that tomorrow was never promised and he wanted Bob to know exactly how serious he was about this.
He had planned it all out. He knew from a quiet comment made by Bob when they were still on the ship following the suicide mission that Bob loved to watch the stars, that it reminded him of being back home when he was a kid and times were still good. So that was what they were going to do, drive out to the lookout, do some star gazing, and then he was going to ask the biggest question of his life.
“Are you sure? I know it’s no fun to drive alone,” Bob queried, as always considering those around him before he considered himself.
Jake couldn’t fight the bright smile as he caught Bob rolling his head on the headrest to look at him. This was peace. This was heaven. This was happiness.
“I’m sure, darlin’. I’ll wake you when we get there,” Jake promised as he pulled their interlocked hands up so he could kiss the back of Bob’s. It was an action that would have surprised him even a year ago, but he had grown in the time since he had met Bob.
He could still be a cocksure idiot. He could still piss everyone off. He would still argue that he is the best and Bradshaw needs to get off his perch. But he could also take the quiet moments, do simple actions he would have previously scoffed at, simply because they would make Bob smile.
Jake was as quiet as possible as he parked up and got out in order to set up the blankets in the bed of his pick up. Some people thought that he had a pick up just to be that stereotypical texan, and in a way he would admit that it was true, but the truth was, his favourite memories from when he had been a kid, were going out with his dad or Pops in either their pickup or the broncho and watching the stars. So when he was old enough to drive and his dad asked him if there was a specific type of car he was looking for, he said he wanted a pick up like his Pops had had.
He loved the fact that all he needed was a tank of fuel, some snacks, a bottle or two of water, and a blanket so that he could leave and go and watch the stars. When he was stationed far away from home or one of his Dads were deployed, he loved the fact that he could go for a drive, lie back and remember that they were under the same stars. He had done it a lot when Bob had left on his last deployment.
So it was with practised ease that Jake pulled the blankets out of the backseat, dropped the tailgate and started to spread out the blanket. In the most uncharacteristic way possible, there was a slight shake to his hands, but he ignored it as he shook out the blankets, making sure that there was plenty there to make the pick up bed comfy and warm. This was it, nothing else to do but wake Bob, lie back and wait for the right moment.
He took a moment to steady his hands. He had been doing that a lot recently. The only time they didn’t seem to shake was when he and Bob were touching each other in some way. The nervousness wasn’t just because of how he was going to change his life; he knew that it came from the way the suicide mission had gone done, that it was psychological and that was why he was instructing.
Once he was sure that he was steady enough that Bob wouldn’t worry, he patted his right front pocket. The ring was there. It was just a plain band, the word forever engraved on the inside. It was there, and all he had to do was wake up Bob. And as such, with one last deep breath, he walked around to the passenger side of the pick up and gently opened the door, it startled Bob but not enough to wake him.
The sense of peace that settled over him as he looked at Bob relaxed in the passenger seat was enough to bring back his grin from earlier. He waited just a moment before he reached out, gently caressing Bob’s cheek.
“Hey darlin’, we’re here, time to wake up,” Jake drawled gently. He kept up the caress even as Bob woke up and blinked at him to rid himself of the sleepiness that was still clinging to him. “Come on, I’ve set up the blankets and everything. All you gotta do is climb in and then we relax,” he added as he took the hand that wasn’t caressing Bob’s cheek and held it out for him to take. The gentle smile he was given in return was what told him that he had made the right choice in coming out here.
“Okay, lead the way,” Bob chuckled before he leaned forward for a gentle kiss. The first proper kiss they had had in seven long months. There was nothing startling about the kiss, it was just a gentle press of lips, not too much pressure, just fleeting, but it felt like home.
Jake watched backwards with both of his hands clutching Bob’s and the cocky grin that had become commonplace on Jake’s face ever since he had enrolled in the academy. To most it was just him bragging and pretending to be the best, but the truth was the grin was just how he expressed his overwhelming joy at something. Sure, a lot of the time it was overwhelming joy at being the best, but sometimes, it was the quiet moments that he got with Bob. Like the quiet moment of a kiss that won’t go any further.
As they got to the tailgate, he finally let go of Bob’s hands. He took a step back to give Bob the space that he needed to push himself up to sit on the tailgate. He waited and let Bob settle comfortably on the blanket, and it was then, as he watched the way the moon gently backlit the WSO, that he realised this was the moment.
The events weren’t quite in the order that he had planned them. But he was going to ask the question first and then he would lie back with Bob and watch the stars, because regardless of the answer, he wasn’t going to let go. He knew the chance of him getting a yes was fifty fifty, but he had to take the risk, it had been a short relationship. The few times they had hooked up in Lemoore didn’t really count when neither of them had stayed the night.
His hand slips into his pocket, grabbing a hold of the ring as he rocked back on his heels. He met Bob’s eyes as the younger man tilted his head in confusion at the fact that Jake was still standing there.
“I want to ask you something; but please know, that this doesn’t change anything, not unless you want it to,” Jake started as he reached out and interlinked their fingers together. He waited a moment until Bob nodded his consent for him to ask the question. “I need to tell you a few things first. When I met you in Lemoore, I know I was a complete asshole, but I need you to know that I didn’t know how to deal with everything. I was struggling but, every time I got to spend time with you, everything settled. And then the next thing I know we’re both on the same detachment and it goes from the odd hook up to us spending as many nights as possible together. When everything went wrong, you were my shining light. It seems a lot to put on one person, but you are my safe harbour. So Bob, I know it’s not been that long in the grand scheme of things, but how do you feel about forever? What do you say to marrying me, darlin’?” Jake wasn’t sure where the words had come from. He had tried to come up with the words he wanted to say, but as he started to speak, they just flowed.
“Yes, of course,” Bob’s answer was quiet, but the words didn’t matter. Not when his grin was splitting his face and he was leaning forward for yet another kiss.
“Wait just a moment, don’t you want your ring?” Jake laughed as he pulled back before Bob could kiss him. He was already half convinced that the kiss wouldn’t stay innocent, not that he was complaining, but he had picked the ring for Bob, and he wanted to make sure that he had it. Before Bob could answer, he took his fiance’s hand and slid the ring on. “There, perfect.”
“Perfect, now, kiss me, bagman.”
Yeah, this was what he wanted forever. Peace, Quiet. Love. Joy. Bob.
This was his forever. As he kissed Bob, one hand coming up to rest on Bob’s cheek, the other reaching around his back as the WSO sat on the tailgate and he stood in front of him, he didn’t even notice that the shaking that had been going through his hands all day had died down. It wasn’t completely gone, there was still too much anxiety and dark thoughts floating through his head, but it had calmed.
The proposal had not gone the way that he expected, he had planned it to be as romantic as possible. But making out under the stars, yeah, that was romantic.