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Jake pulls up in his parking space, unbuckles his seat belt and grabs his bag from the passenger seat. It's been a long and exhausting day on base. Nothing compared to the physical exertion of deployment but still, paperwork can be strenuous, too. He steps out of his car and, swinging his bag over his shoulder, locks the car before leaving for the entrance of the condo building they've been living in for almost two years now.
Once inside, he checks their mailbox as a matter of routine although he doesn't expect anything to be in there. Bradley texted him two hours ago that he's on his way home and the Bronco was hard to miss in the parking lot. But Jake is wrong. The mail box is still packed. Shaking his head at his fiance’s forgetfulness, he takes the stack of paper out and flips through the mail while climbing up the stairs to their condo.
There are a couple of bills in there, among others power and water need to be paid. Then a bit of junk mail, the local used-cars salesman trying to make money but no thanks, he's happy with his Chevy and he doubts that Bradley would trade in his Bronco for anything in the world. The last piece of mail and the only thing that actually catches his attention for more than a second is a postcard showing a collection of sights in Paris. Eiffel Tower, Musée du Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe and a couple of other places he can't name. He turns the postcard around and just like he already expected it, it's sent by Bradley's dads. They are currently on a month-long tour through Europe catching up on the honeymoon trip they never did and celebrating their retirements.
Jake smiles to himself and starts reading Ice's neat handwriting. What it says is not surprising at all. Ice raves of Paris, the food, the culture, but lovingly complains about Mav griping that the people are stuck-up and unfriendly. Both of them can't wait for their next stop, however, which is Alicante where they’re going to have a proper beach vacation for a couple of days.
Jake can picture all of that too well in his mind, Ice exploring the French capital, dragging his whiny husband along, but neither of them seriously annoyed by the other. Jake smiles to himself again and wishes that he and Bradley will be just as happy in forty years time as his future in-laws are now.
Walking up the last flight of stairs, Jake's stomach grumbles and he desperately hopes that Bradley has already started to make dinner.
Back when they first got together, Bradley couldn't cook at all and always excused his missing skills by the fact that first his mom and then his dads were all exceptionally good at cooking. Then there were canteens and mess halls and so Bradley had never felt the need to become good at cooking himself. As for Bradley's dads, Jake can only agree to that assessment. It's always a pleasure to be invited by them for dinner. For Jake, however, that never justified Bradley's lacking capabilities and so he had made it his business to teach him although their time together was scarce back then.
They became a couple during their first time at Top Gun. After spending literally 24/7 with each other for weeks during the training, they were sent back to their squadrons immediately after the graduation ceremony. It didn't really take them by surprise that it would be difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship but it nevertheless was harder than either of them had expected beforehand. In the almost one year they were an item back then, they only had about two weeks together in one place, not counting their time at Top Gun.
Over time, long distance and different time zones pretty much killed their relationship. What had started with tons of messages and daily calls subsided into a few messages a day and a weekly call. Seven months after their first kiss, they were lucky to receive maybe a message a week and get a call once a month. Almost a year after their graduation from Top Gun, they completely stopped talking to each other. They never officially broke up but weren't a couple anymore either. Later, Jake took the date of their last time talking as their break-up date just to have a bit more clarity for himself and something to say if anybody asked. That, however, didn't change the fact that from then on, they were stuck in this weird floating state of abeyance - at least that was what it felt like for Jake and Bradley told him later that it had been similar for him.
When they were called to Top Gun for the second time, they hadn't talked to each other for almost five years and yet nothing had changed about the uncertainty of what they were to each other. This resulted in these weird interactions between them with neither of them knowing how to properly act around the other.
But then Jake saved both Bradley's and Mav's lives and that effectively changed everything. Later, after getting back together, Bradley admitted this to be the moment which showed him how much Jake still cared about him because Jake has never been a person to break rules and yet he had done it to save them. Suddenly and for the first time since they got to know each other there was something like friendship between them.
Not much after the suicide mission, Jake received a letter offering him a permanent position in a newly instated special forces unit at North Island. Along with it came the promotion to Lieutenant Commander. Now that he and Bradley were something like friends, he was quick to find out that also Bradley, as well as Phoenix and Bob, had all pretty much gotten the same letter. The rest of the dagger squad had also gotten letters offering them spots in the new unit, just without the promotion.
They all moved to North Island within the following months. This put Bradley and Jake into the position of seeing each other everyday at work. With the reason for their not-break-up out of the way, they both quickly realized that they weren't meant to be just friends.
It was a Saturday night a bit over three years ago when they came back together. Phoenix and Bob had invited all of the squad to their place for a housewarming party and to celebrate their engagement. Jake had offered to take Bradley with him because they were living in the same area of town anyway. They had a nice evening, neither Jake nor Bradley leaving the other man’s side for more than a few minutes during the whole party. It was pretty obvious, even to themselves, that there was still more than friendship bubbling under the surface. When Jake pulled up in front of Bradley's flat again to drop him off after the party, Bradley hesitated to leave the car for a moment and in a whiff of boldness Jake dared to ask what they were to each other. Accompanied by storms of tears and apologies they admitted their feelings for each other. That was the night they came back together.
In the following weeks, Jake found out that Bradley had become quite a good cook and Jake couldn't hold back tears when Bradley told him that he had actually never given up on learning how to cook just because of him, building on what Jake had taught him during the few weeks of their first relationship.
Still stirred by the emotions of all these past memories, Jake reaches the door of their condo. Already now, he can hear music playing from the inside. A good sign in his hopes that Bradley has already started to prepare dinner. There's basically always music playing when Bradley is at home, that is unless they're watching TV or Bradley is playing piano himself, of course.
What is surprising, not to say utterly confusing, is that the sound Jake hears coming through the still closed door is undeniably country music. If there's one genre of music that Bradley isn't shy to denounce it's country music. He has told Jake probably a zillion times since they've known each other that there's nothing he hates more than this type of music. He's exaggerating, of course, and they both know that there definitely are things he hates more than country music, olives and deviousness for example, but that doesn't change the fact that Bradley doesn't like country music at all - or at least that's what Jake has thought until now.
With a smile on his face and curious as to why for Heaven's sake Bradley is listening to country music all of a sudden, Jake carefully opens the door and silently steps into the hallway of their flat. He is greeted by the smell of garlic and the sound of Shania Twain singing one of her hits from the 90s.
Jake grins to himself at how lucky he is that his fiance is cooking for him and has apparently discarded his hatred for country music. Of course it could also be that somebody has kidnapped Bradley and is forcing him to cook and listen to his least favorite music but Jake deems that as rather unlikely and so he sticks to grinning like a child on Christmas morning.
He quietly closes the front door of their condo behind him. He carefully puts down his bag next to and the mail on top of the shoe cabinet opposite the door. Then he quickly unties his shoes and stores them inside the cabinet. He still wonders why Bradley even wanted to have this piece of furniture if the only one who actually uses it is Jake while Bradley’s shoes are usually scattered around the entire hallway anyway.
Two years ago, when they moved in here together, it took Jake some time to get used to Bradley's chronic incapacity to keep anything tidy for more than a day. Now, he still doesn't understand how Bradley can go through his life like this but Jake has learned to live with it, his love for his fiance being endlessly bigger than his own need for cleanliness.
Only on socks now, Jake pads to the kitchen where the music and the smell of food is coming from.
He stops in the door frame and sees Bradley being busy in the kitchen. He's facing away from him, turned towards the countertop instead. Stirring something in a bowl, he still hasn't noticed Jake's presence which gives Jake the opportunity to take in the sight in front of him for a couple more seconds. There's a deep skillet pan on the stove and breaded steaks prepared for frying on the countertop next to it. Jake knows exactly what Bradley is making them for dinner and he loves him for it.
Jake leans against the door frame now, arms crossed in front of his chest. With a smile, he continues to look around. The kitchen largely looks like a mess. Ingredients spread and spilled on every surface, splotches and blobs of liquids painting the countertop as well as the floor. It always looks like this when Bradley is cooking. Just like with his general untidiness, Jake has stopped complaining about that long ago.
In between this chaos, one of Bradley's Hawaiian shirts is thrown carelessly over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. With his shirt on the chair, Bradley is only wearing one of his white undershirts and one of Jake's burnt orange Texas Longhorns shorts. The undershirt is fitting not too tightly but the movement of his traps still comes through nicely despite the fabric. Bradley is still stirring ingredients in the bowl and so his biceps are also moving in a mesmerizing way. Jake bites his lip. Bradley is swaying his hips with the beat of the song playing right now, obviously enjoying himself, and Jake's eyes are glued to Bradley's backside. He’s always had a weakness for the way Bradley moves to music and yes, right now he's drooling over his fiance’s body but what can he do? He's just a man and his husband-to-be is cooking and dancing to country music. There's not much more he could wish for right now.
Bradley still hasn't noticed Jake’s presence and takes a step to the side. He leans down - elbows propped up on the countertop, head in his hands - to read something in the recipe book spread out there.
The recipe book is Jake's. His mom gave it to him when he moved out for college. He's always had an interest in cooking and he was more than excited when his mom gave him this hand-written book with all his favorite dishes from his childhood. At the back of it, there are blank pages to write down more recipes. Jake has added a couple over time and there are some of Bradley's in there, too.
The first time Jake asked him to add one of his recipes in there, Bradley was completely taken aback. It was only a couple of months after they got back together and Bradley insisted that he shouldn't write in there because it's a family thing and that his handwriting is ugly anyway. Jake didn't disagree with either the family thing nor that Bradley's handwriting is ugly but stood his ground and told him again to add his recipe of pierogi which was handed down to him by Ice who had gotten it from his babcia.
Both Jake and Bradley knew how meaningful it was that Jake let Bradley write something from his family in this book which so undeniably connected Jake with his own family. He didn't spell it out loud but the gesture was clear: Jake wanted Bradley to be part of his family.
After more convincing from Jake's side and with watery eyes, Bradley finally complied and added the recipe in his most legible handwriting. When he was done, he chuckled that Ice still scolds him for his handwriting everytime he sees it but he surely would be proud of the effort he made here. Then Bradley wiped away his tears, one of the drops effectively landing right on the page but luckily not messing up the writing. To this day, the stain is still visible and both of them get a bit emotional whenever they decide to have pierogi.
After Bradley is done checking the next step in the recipe book, he straightens his back again. Since Jake already knows what Bradley is making he's pretty sure he needs milk from the fridge.
Bradley turns around and then he sees Jake.
Bradley freezes, his eyes grow wide. “What the- Jake, are trying to kill me?!” He exclaims, his chest heaving intensely.
Jake quickly closes the distance between them, pulls him into a hug and kisses his cheek. “I'm sorry, darlin’, I didn't mean to startle you.”
Bradley hugs him back and Jake can feel his fiance's heart pounding heavily against his own chest.
When Bradley's breathing and heart have calmed down again, they let go of each other and Bradley asks, “How long have you been standing there?”
“Couple of minutes,” Jake replies, smiling softly. “Didn’t want to interrupt. You seemed to enjoy yourself.”
There appears a beautiful flush of pink on Bradley's cheeks and he's smiling sheepishly.
Jake's belly drops. He cradles Bradley's hips, draws him in and kisses him softly, Bradley’s mustache tickling him in the best way possible.
He loves Bradley's mustache, has loved it from the moment he first laid his eyes on Bradley. About a year ago, however, he saw him without it for the first time - and hopefully for the last time. Bradley had lost a bet against Phoenix resulting in him having to shave it off. It is safe to say that Jake hated her for that, maybe even more than Bradley regretted agreeing to the bet. In the following weeks, both of them couldn't wait for the mustache to grow back. Bradley didn't like the way he looked like this and neither did Jake but there were also reasons beyond Bradley's look that made Jake desperate for his man’s mustache to be back. In the end, Jake even made Bradley promise to never shave it off again. Luckily, Bradley agreed without any hesitation.
“Didn't expect you home for another thirty minutes,” Bradley admits, his arms wrapped loosely around Jake's waist.
“So you thought you could safely indulge in your guilty pleasure without me finding out?” Jake smirks against Bradley's lips and kisses him before he can answer.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Bradley replies, feigning innocence.
“You don't?” Jake raises his eyebrows at him and starts swinging his hips to the music playing. With Jake's hands still on Bradley's hips and Bradley's arms around Jake's waist, it’s practically dancing.
“Oh, that you mean,” Bradley replies, pretending he only understood now. He smirks but his cheeks are still heated up.
Jake cups his left cheek with his hand and brushes his thumb softly across Bradley's old scars. Then he leans in to kiss him again.
Jake only learned recently where he got those scars from. He had always thought that Bradley sustained them on deployment years ago because Bradley had never said anything about them. A few weeks ago, however, Mav told him the actual story. They were sitting in Mav’s and Ice's garden, roasting marshmallows at their fireplace, together with Sarah, Ice's sister, and her two granddaughters. Leah, the younger of the two, had gotten her first bike for her fifth birthday two weeks prior and was eager to ask all of them about their experiences with bikes. Jake was happy to tell her that he had loved riding a bike as a kid. Having grown up in a small town without much public transport, it had been his preferred means of transportation until he turned sixteen and could drive his older sister's car.
When he was done telling the story of how he learned to ride a bike at three years old already because he learned it together with his sister, who was five at that time, Leah went over to interrogate Bradley - but he just hemmed and hawed. It was then that Mav told them with a chuckle how Bradley got his scars. Long story short, it was a petty accident the first time he tried riding his bike without training wheels when he was four years old. This earned Bradley a very serious ‘Don’t worry. I know how hard it is to ride a bike.’ from Leah and chuckles from everyone else while his face flushed just as beautifully as it does now.
“You know, I don't complain. I'm just… surprised. S’all,” Jake explains, still so close that their lips are almost touching.
“Hm, you might have influenced me,” Bradley admits, moving his body in time to the music.
Jake chuckles and joins in on the dancing. “Have I?”
Bradley hums his agreement against Jake's lips and they kiss again.
“What are you making us for dinner?” Jake asks then, turning Bradley's attention back to the dinner he's preparing.
Bradley lets go of Jake begrudgingly and heads for the fridge to get milk, just like Jake had guessed a couple of minutes ago.
“As if you don't know that already,” Bradley says as he continues cooking.
Bradley is right, of course. Jake knows exactly what he's making. The hints are pretty obvious, the frying pan on the stove, the breaded steaks next to it and the ingredients he's stirring together make it an easy guess. They’ll have Jake's mom's chicken fried steaks. It's one of their favorites and it was the dinner Jake's mom made the first time Jake brought Bradley with him to meet his family.
“You might have a point there,” Jake chuckles, standing in the middle of the kitchen, indecisively.
“Why don't you go take your back-at-home shower, get yourself into comfy clothes and when you're done with that, we'll have dinner,” Bradley suggests, looking over his shoulder because he's turned to the countertop again.
“You don't want my company?” Jake clutches his chest in mock offense.
“Jake, honey,” Bradley chuckles, still looking at him. “As much as I love you but no, I don't want your company right now. You know you're unbearable if you're not doing the cooking yourself.” He turns back around and applies himself back to the task at hand.
Yes, Bradley is right. He's a know-it-all when it comes to cooking and the two of them preparing dinner together only works if Jake is in charge and Bradley is just helping him. In other areas of their lives Jake is more than happy with Bradley gaining the upper hand, but the kitchen definitely isn't one of those. It ends up in fighting and a blown up kitchen. They've been there and Jake has no ambition to repeat that.
With a kiss on Bradley's cheek, Jake leaves for the bathroom. Taking his shower, he feels so incredibly lucky and grateful for the life Bradley and him are building together. It’s all he ever wanted and more than he's dared to wish for.
When he's done showering, he puts on Bradley's LA Angels shorts which are draped over the edge of the bathtub. He's not a particular fan of baseball himself but the shorts are available right now, unlike his own Longhorn shorts. He walks into their bedroom to grab a fresh T-shirt and opts for one of his burnt orange ones. It results in a rather ugly clash of colors with Bradley's shorts being bright red. Jake wouldn't want to be seen like this in public but he's home now. It doesn't really matter.
Jake comes back into the kitchen and is greeted by the smell of a dinner almost ready to be consumed. Bradley seems to be almost done with the gravy while the steaks are already in the oven to be kept warm until the rest is done, too.
Jake hugs Bradley from behind, arms draped around his waist. He nuzzles his nose into the nape of Bradley's neck and places a kiss to the sweet spot of which he knows that it makes his fiance shiver.
As expected, Bradley hums deeply and leans back against Jake while stirring the white gravy that is simmering in the pot in front of him.
They are swaying to the music like this for a moment, Jake letting Bradley do the cooking peacefully for once. At this point, it's only waiting for the most part anyway so Jake can handle not being in charge.
“Just a couple minutes more,” Bradley announces. Then he turns down the heat of the stove and spins around in Jake's arms as a new song starts playing.
He gently places his hands on Jake's hips and starts moving to the music with him.
“Roo, what are you doing?” Jake asks, not being able to hide his surprise.
… In your arms… I can still feel the way you want me when you hold me…
“Dancing with you,” Bradley replies with a soft smile as if that wasn't obvious already.
… I can still hear the words you whispered when you told me…
“But dinner?” Jake protests. Nonetheless he cradles Bradley's neck with his hands.
… I can stay right here forever in your arms…
“Can wait for a couple of minutes,” Bradley whispers and Jake's belly swoops as they start dancing properly.
…And there ain't no way…
“You sure?” Jake can't help but ask.
… I'm letting you go now… And there ain't no way…
Bradley chuckles. “Yes, Jake.”
… And there ain't no how… I'll never see that day…
Bradley draws their lips together, kissing him softly before resting his chin on Jake's shoulder and enveloping Jake’s waist in his strong arms, dancing.
“ 'Cause I'm keeping you forever and for always ,” Bradley gently sings right into Jake's ear, his voice deep and low and beautiful. A warm wave of love goes through Jake’s entire body, leaving his skin prickling pleasantly and the hair in his neck standing on end.
“ We will be together all of our days .” Bradley pecks Jake’s cheek lovingly.
Then he lifts his head from Jake’s shoulder and sings, “ Wanna wake up every morning to your sweet face .” Locking eyes with him, Bradley cups Jake’s face with one of his hands. “ Always. ”
Jake feels his eyes welling up. He swallows and tries to blink away the surging tears, but to no avail. He smiles back at his stunning fiance while small drops of saltwater are tickling down his cheeks one by one. He’s been emotional from the moment he left his car in the parking lot and now, Bradley being so sweet, cooking for them, dancing with him, in their kitchen, in their home , it’s just too perfect. He sniffs happily.
“Jakey… hey…,” Bradley shushes him softly, wiping away some of the tears with his thumb.
… In your heart… I can still hear a beat for every time you kiss me…
Jake can't talk right now but he can kiss his breathtaking fiance and so he does that, deeply and with all his love for him.
… And when we're apart, I know how much you miss me…
Thank God, the times of their long-distance relationship are long gone. Jake is sure they would survive it this time but that doesn't mean he wants to try it.
“ I can feel your love for me in your heart ,” Bradley sings again and Jake rests his head against Bradley's shoulder, cuddling and letting his tears run freely.
Bradley holds him even closer while still dancing with him. He kisses Jake's temple and continues to sing quietly for a bit.
After some time, still snuggled up against Bradley's chest but hoping to be able to speak again, Jake mumbles,“I’m sorry for getting so emotional.”
“Don't apologize,” Bradley whispers against Jake's head, placing a kiss there and gently caressing Jake's back. “I've actually hoped for that kind of reaction.”
… In your eyes…
Jake lifts his head from Bradley's chest to look at him with a frown.
…I can still see the look of the one who really loves me…
“We still need a song for our first dance, don't we?” Bradley smiles at him softly, his eyes sparkling with joy and tears.
… The one who wouldn't put anything else in the world above me…
Jake's eyes are tearing up again but he doesn't even try to hold it back this time. Instead, he smiles back at his fiance, nodding enthusiastically.
… I can still see love for me in your eyes…
“You like that idea?” Bradley asks with a soft smile. He sniffs and blinks and then there's a tear trickling down his cheek, too.
Jake wipes it away with a smile. “It's perfect,” he whispers, still not trusting his voice to be stable enough to speak at a normal volume.
For the rest of the song they just kiss and dance and cuddle and kiss again. Jake can't remember if he's ever been happier than at this moment, maybe when Bradley asked to marry him but that’s a whole other story.
When the song comes to an end, Jake's stomach grumbles unmistakably.
“Dinner?” Bradley chuckles, still embracing his future husband lovingly.
“Yeah.” Jake nods.
They let go of each other begrudgingly. Bradley gives their dinner his finishing touches and while Jake sets the dinner table in their living room, all he thinks about is their wedding in two months time. He honestly can't wait to start his forever and for always with the love of his life.