Back to You // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter Eleven

    Haley looked around as she entered Rooster's house. Unlike her, he did not have a roommate. She appreciated that he was clean and organized. Not many guys were, but she supposed being in the Navy that came with it. She spotted a photo of him and Maverick over on a shelf. She had seen it before, but it always made her want to smile. She was glad they had made up last year. Rooster had held a lot of resentment toward Maverick, understandably, but it had been eating at Rooster. She was sure his dad would have wanted them to remain close.

    She turned around as Rooster handed her a beer from the kitchen. She took a sip, he had opened them already. "Can I ask you something?" Haley said as they sat down on the couch.

    "Sure," Rooster answered, looking over at her. She was sitting close enough for him to put his arm around her.

    Haley wondered if she had enough courage to ask what she wanted to ask. She had been wondering for a while about this but had not been sure how to inquire. "When we decided to....be fuck buddies-" She paused as Rooster snorted at her wording. At this point she figured call it what it was. "Did you want more than that?" She knew her answer, but she had never been sure about him. Toward the end, she had suspected he had gotten to that place. That was when she got scared and ran.

    Rooster looked surprised at her question. "Yes." He said, "Which was probably selfish of me to even agree to that, knowing how I felt. And had for a while."

    Haley was the one looking surprised now and her face felt flushed. "How long was a while?"

    "Two years." Rooster answered honestly. That meant three out of their four years at the Naval Academy he'd had feelings for her. Almost the entire time they had known each other.

    "Why didn't you say anything?" Haley asked, curious.

    "I could never tell where your head was. And, admittedly, I worried if I said something and you didn't feel the same, I'd blow the friendship. I'd rather have had you in my life as a friend than not at all." Rooster replied, "Now that I've had confessional, what about you?" It was only fair that she reply too.

    "To my first question, yes. I did want more. How long....probably a year, year and a half. Through now." Haley answered. She had gotten out of a relationship before entering the Naval Academy, and her mind hadn't been on anything in the world of dating. There also really wasn't time. "I regretted not letting you talk at the end of whatever it was we had. I got scared and ended it before you had the chance to say anything. I think coming face to face with it was scary." Haley added.

    "Haley Seresin, scared of something?" Rooster teased, giving her a nudge.

    Haley smiled a little. It was ironic. She flew her jet like a death trap sometimes, but had been scared of a relationship with him. An actual one. "I hadn't felt like that about anyone before and it was scary. So yes, something scared Haley Seresin." She looked up at him. She wondered where they'd be had one of them spoken up. She supposed it didn't matter if they were trying now, but it felt like lost time after talking about it. The reason they had made their arrangement before was to have the benefits without a relationship, something that they both had found to be complicated being in the Naval Academy.

"Your brother also warned people off you." Rooster admitted and Haley shot up straight on the couch.

"He what?!" Haley demanded. That was the first she was hearing of such a thing.

"Threats to stay away from you in the academy. Not that I give a shit what he says, but it would have complicated things at the time." Rooster replied, shrugging.

"I cannot believe that." Haley crossed her arms. It wasn't as if she'd been looking to date, but the fact he had sent out a message like that. She supposed she could understand why it had been a factor in Rooster not speaking up. It was another thing that might have screwed their friendship up. She knew if things continued well, Jake would eventually have to know. She felt childish in a way, hiding her relationship. But she wanted Jake to be accepting of it too.

"Selfishly, I was glad it did keep guys away though...." Rooster added, casually.

Haley turned toward him. She shifted so she was sitting in his lap now, facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Is that so?" She asked.

"Yes," Rooster answered, putting his hands on her hips. "But I wanted you happy too, and if that had been with someone else....then I'd have accepted that." Haley could tell he meant that, even if it would have been hard on his end. She felt the same way, but had always felt jealous when she saw other girls looking at him back then.

"I am happy. Here, now, with you. I would have been then too had we acknowledged it." Haley said, "But it's the past. We can't change it. We know how we felt, and how we feel now. Thank you for your honesty." She paused for a moment then leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the mouth. "Now take me to bed or regret it for the rest of your life."

Rooster grinned and stood up, carrying her.

"I'll show you the way."