𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐖'𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄. | top gun

three - flirt over a couple of beers.

that night, leah found herself unable to sleep. she tossed and turned, her thoughts never being able to leave how she began to feel about bradshaw. leah had no words as to how she should describe said feelings, other than on one hand, she wanted to finally talk to him. on the other, there was something telling her not to go and get involved with someone from the past of such a good friend of hers. she saw maverick as a second father, and respected him greatly. knowing how he felt about rooster and every little feeling that he went through, she always tried to respect. but there was an invisible magnet it seemed like, etching leah closer and closer to the bradshaw boy.

after a while, leah wasn't able to take it anymore. she sat up straight, her blue covers falling off in front of her. for a moment, she found herself in a peaceful reality whenever she turned on her lamp. the room in her dad's house that she had since she was a kid had changed and grew along with leah, but she loved it all the same. she found herself staring at a photo of her and her father that she had hanging on her wall, from whenever leah had graduated top gun at the top of her class. after simply relishing in that peace for a moment, leah decided to finally get up out of bed. changing from her pajamas into her navy t-shirt and jeans, putting her hair into a bun as she didn't want to run a brush through it. at the moment, she didn't have a clue as to where she would go this late at night, but as long as it got her out of her thoughts, she didn't care.

as leah finally stepped out of her room and ventured down the stairs, she heard the noises of the andy griffith show on the living room television. she figured that her dad must have had trouble sleeping earlier as well, since the only time she would hear andy griffith on the television was if he needed something to fall asleep to.

and sure enough, whenever she stepped out in the living room, her father was asleep in his chair. internally, she was envious that he was able to get the sleep that leah so badly desired. but, nonetheless, she still grabbed one of the spare blankets and quietly draped it over her father. before eventually grabbing her set of keys from where they were hanging, and walking out the door.

the particular night had been breezy compared to the previous ones before it, making leah mentally curse for not grabbing a coat before leaving. but, at the same time, she wasn't about to venture all the way back upstairs with the risk of waking up her father. so, she made the decision to tough it out. giving a huge sigh whenever she eventually got in her car and turned the heat on.

there was something about fightertown at night that leah had always found a hidden sense of serenity in. the lights glowing everywhere, and the sound of nothing but the environment finally put her in a position where for a moment, she forgot about rooster and the feelings that were plaguing her. if it were up to leah, she would have stayed within that mode the whole night. but, unfortunately, she knew that if she didn't get her head out of her butt and eventually find a way to address her feelings, it would come back and hit her like a freight train when she wouldn't expect it. so, although highly reluctant, leah made the decision to snap out of it, and, of all places, head to the hard deck. figuring that she could at least drown out her thoughts over a cold beer.

but, whenever she got there and was handed a beer on the house from penny, her thoughts did anything but drown. over at a far table, rooster was sat with payback and fanboy, discussing who knows what over a few drinks. like before, leah found herself staring hard at the bradshaw boy.

"you are so out of his league!"

the slightly loud, slightly annoying voice of hangman echoed right behind leah, causing her to jump as she held back a scream.

"and you're nowhere near mine if you've come over here just to flirt with me over a couple beers." leah responds, gently punching hangman on the arm as he sits down next to her.

"not that, just to point out the fact that you like bradshaw." hangman teased, and while leah could simply lie and deny it entirely, she couldn't deny the slight truth in the statement. if that's what her feelings were, the curiosity she had over the man was drawing her closer and closer to the point she was developing feelings for him. but, was she about to tell someone like hangman such a huge piece of information like that? absolutely not.

"i do not!" leah lies, hoping and praying that rooster didn't suddenly decide to tune into their conversation.

"oh come on spider girl! don't think we haven't been noticing how hard you stare at him recently. and how you two can never sit by each other normally anymore, one of you is always super tense." no matter how hard leah wanted to smack hangman upside the skull, sadly, she couldn't deny that he was telling the truth. she just didn't like the fact that she had to hear it from hangman, of all people.

"why do you care so much anyway? i thought your ego was so huge it made you hate every walk of life before you." leah asks, genuinely curious as to why he was suddenly so invested in her business.

"we all noticed it, especially after drills this morning, i'm just the one with the guts to say something. plus, maybe if he got a girlfriend it would loosen him up a bit on the field." hangman responds, both of them taking a second to sip their beers, leah hoping the alcohol would drown hangman's voice out eventually.

"okay, so you know, but, you're gonna be the one who gets hit with a chair if you say anything." leah finally gives in, knowing that if she kept on lying to hangman about it, he'd become annoyingly persistent enough to where she'd scream it at the top of her lungs.

"i knew it! bob owes me 20 bucks. my lips are sealed spider girl, my lips are sealed." instead of questioning as to why in the world hangman and bob bet on leah's feelings for rooster, or giving a smart-mouthed response to hangman in return, she suddenly tenses up when she sees rooster get up from his seat. and with hangman still next to her, she knew that something was bound to go wrong.

"since when did you hang out with this asshole leah?"

the noise of rooster's voice suddenly right in front of her caused leah to nearly jump out of her seat. going slightly red as hangman tapped her jokingly. while she couldn't stand hangman's ego as a pilot, she found him to be, an annoying brother more than anything else. but, again, was she gonna let information like that slip? absolutely not.

"oh him? he was actually just leaving." leah deadpans, praying hangman wouldn't be stupid and get the hint. he stays there for a moment, before he gets forced to move whenever leah pushes him off of the barstool. while rooster was entirely confused over the whole scene, he did find joy in watching hangman get thrown like a football. his gaze going back to leah who gave him a nervous smile.

"um, care to join me? i'm not doing anything interesting but-"

"relax leah, i'd love to join you." rooster cuts in, saving leah the embarrassing situation she found herself in being caught within a five foot radius of hangman. being entirely truthful over the fact that he genuinely wanted to sit next to the girl. he didn't want anyone to know, but that sense of curiosity bad begun to draw him closer as well, to the point where those feelings sat in him like butterflies.

and, that night, the two were finally able to talk to one another. and, of course, flirt over a couple of beers.