Back to You // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rooster's POV

    Rooster had parted ways with Haley to go run his errand. It wasn't quite an errand, but paying someone a visit. He was glad she was staying with him. It would give her some space that she needed. He knew Haley wasn't answering texts from her brother and Sabrina right now, but he did text Sabrina himself to let her know Haley was okay. Sabrina appreciated it. That was all he did though, anything else felt like he was betraying Haley. He did think Sabrina deserved to know she was at least okay physically.

    Rooster pulled open the doors to the Hard Deck. He spotted the person he was looking for sitting at the bar alone. It had taken a little tracking down, but he'd finally found Hangman. It wasn't as if there were too many places he could be. This was the first time he had seen them since the blow-up Friday night.

    Rooster sat down on the stool next to him. Hangman looked over and then rolled his eyes when he saw Rooster sitting there. He wasn't expecting him or pleased to see him. "And what do I owe this pleasure? Did my sister send you instead of coming herself?" He asked.

    Rooster shook his head. "Haley doesn't know I'm here." Penny walked up to ask Rooster what he wanted, but he declined getting a drink. He didn't think he'd be there that long.

    "Then what do you want, Bradshaw?" Hangman inquired as he sat his beer down.

    "Give Haley some space. She now understands why things played out the way they did, but she still needs some time to calm down." Rooster told him. "It was a lot to take in. For all of us. And obviously not the ideal way any of us wanted any of that information to come out."

    Hangman seemed to be mulling over what Rooster told him. Rooster hoped he would do the right thing and back off on contacting Haley. She seemed to be one thing that he did care about. "Okay." Hangman finally said. "I'll tell Sabrina to back off too." He added and Rooster nodded.

    Rooster moved to get up, not wanting to spend any more time than he had to there. But he stopped as Hangman spoke again. "Sit back down. I have things to say, too."

    Rooster internally rolled his eyes but he did sit back down. "Okay." He said, waving his hand toward Hangman to continue. He wondered what this would be about. He suspected it was about him and Haley, but he figured he should at least see what it was regardless.

    "How long?" Hangman inquired. Rooster knew he meant how long had he and Haley been seeing each other.

    Rooster felt slightly uncomfortable sharing some of this information with his girlfriend's brother. Especially considering they weren't close to begin with. "Do you want the whole truth?" He asked. Hangman nodded and shot Rooster a look that read 'obviously'.

    "We started hooking up in our 4th year at the academy." Rooster began and he saw Hangman wince. Good. You're uncomfortable too. "Nothing serious. Just....it was what it was. I wanted more than that and was fairly certain she did too, but she got scared. We didn't talk for a year and then met up back together here. We started officially dating at the beginning of September." There really wasn't anything else to it. That was the chain of events. Hangman wanted the truth so he didn't bother censoring it.

    "She didn't want to tell you because she knows you hate me. And wasn't ready to deal with that." Rooster added, leaving off Haley's other reason. He figured that was her place to tell if she wanted to.

    "I don't hate you." Hangman interjected. "As a person, you're fine. Decent. I just don't like you as a pilot. Though you've stepped up some lately."

    Rooster couldn't hide the surprise on his face and Hangman rolled his eyes.

    "Don't look so shocked, Bradshaw. I fuck with you because you're an easy target. Also because you're about the only one who can spar with me almost equally." Hangman told him. "For the record, I wouldn't have been pissed at either of you about this. If she'd told me. I'd have given you shit for sure, but I wouldn't have been angry like she expected." He added.

    That information wasn't obvious to anyone but Hangman. Rooster didn't comment on that though. He supposed it was good knowing Hangman didn't loathe him entirely. Not that Rooster really cared, but he knew Haley did. "Anything else?" Rooster asked.

    "What are your intentions with my sister?"

    Rooster laughed in disbelief. He saw the look on Hangman's face and realized he wasn't joking.

    "You're serious?" Rooster questioned.

    "No shit. I kid around a lot but not when it comes to Haley." Hangman responded. He didn't seem too impressed with Rooster making a joke out of it.

    Rooster sighed. Despite the impression Hangman was getting, Rooster was more serious about Haley than anything else. He knew if Hangman was going to give his 'blessing' or whatever this conversation was leading to, he knew he had to make that absolutely clear. He decided just to be completely honest, and that included admitting things he had never said out loud to anyone.

    "I love Haley. And I have for what feels like a very long time now. I did back at the academy and even more so now." Rooster began with a serious tone. A part of him couldn't fucking believe he was having the talk with Hangman. "She is the best thing to come into my life, and I'd rather die than screw that up. I fully intend to marry her one day and spend my life with her. Hell, I'd do it tomorrow if she'd have me. I would never do anything to hurt her." He paused. "Does that answer your question?"

    Now Hangman was the one who looked stunned. Rooster wasn't sure what Hangman expected him to say. Maybe he thought they were just having sex, and that it wasn't anything else. That was about the only information he'd had since Friday night, so it wouldn't have been out of line to assume.

    "You're serious?" Hangman stated, parroting what Rooster had just asked him.

    "I've never been more serious in my life." Rooster responded.

    The two of them looked at one another for a moment. This was easily the most serious conversation they had ever had. They got a few jabs in, but it was in its own way nice to have a civil conversation. Hangman finally reached out his hand to Rooster. "I'm offering a truce. For Haley. However, I can't guarantee that I won't ring your ass up in the air." He said.

    "I wouldn't want you to." Rooster said and shook Hangman's hand. The two nodded, seeming to be at an understanding. It did feel like a huge relief to have talked to Hangman. He knew for things to work with Haley, they'd have to be okay with one another. Rooster also felt like it wasn't fair for Hangman and Sabrina to be the ones iced out after what happened. Haley knew that too and was working on moving forward.

"You're way out of your league with her, by the way." Hangman noted.

"Believe me, I know." Rooster stood up from his stool to leave. He paused and turned back to Hangman. "Shave the chia pet off your face by the way. You look like shit." He was referring to the fact it was clear Hangman hadn't shaved in two days. He also looked like he hadn't been sleeping. To Rooster's surprise, Hangman actually laughed and nodded in agreement.