#also I live for Amelia and roosters sibling relationship

[thelunarbar]

I Wanna Know What It’s Like(On The Inside Of Love)

In which: they somehow happen to all be back in Miramar at the same time. And they’re not about to let the opportunity pass them by.

Word count: 2603

Playlist!

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“I know it’s been less than a year, but it feels like it’s been so much longer than that.” Phoenix states, leaning back, hands in the sand. Murmurs of agreement mingle in the air. Beer bottles and soda cans are scattered around their little party, as well as the remains of the fixings for hotdogs and s’mores. The sun is starting to set, melting into the ocean and washing the sky in a brilliant blush. The fire is cracking and popping happily.

“Every time I have shore leave I kinda don’t wanna go back.” Payback says, slouching down more in his folding lawn chair. “But at the same time I need to be back in the air.”

“It’s an addiction.” Maverick replies. He watches the fire intently, a can of ginger ale held loosely in his hand. It had taken a lot of convincing to get him to join them. He’d protested, making comments about how they wouldn’t want an old man bringing them down, and how he had to get up early. All bullshit. And when he’d been called on it, he really couldn’t come up with anymore arguments. So there he sits, in front of Rooster’s folding lawn chair, pant legs rolled up, bare feet buried in the sand. “Once you get a taste you can’t go back.”

“It’s a never ending internal battle.” Halo pipes up. “When you’re up there,” she gazes up at the sky. Stars are starting to become visible and the moon is almost full. “You’re always thinking about the things you’re missing down below. But when you’re down here all you can think about is getting back in a plane.” She sighs contentedly, still gazing upward. From his chair behind her, Omaha rests a hand on top of her head. She turns to look at him and smiles.

“Being free.” Omaha adds.

“Y’all are getting a bit too sentimental for my tastes.” Hangman stands and dusts the sand off his pants.

“So you’re leaving?” Rooster asks, “very mature response.”

“Actually,” Hangman drawls, leaning down so he’s nose to nose with Rooster and practically on top of Mav. “I’m going to grab something from my car.” And then he walks off.

“Hand me another beer?” Harvard asks, tipping his chair to side in an effort to reach the cooler sitting between Rooster and Bob’s chairs.

“Why didn’t we bring any water?” Bob asks as he hands Harvard another bottle. Harvard reaches a little too far and topples over onto Fanboy, kicking Yale in the process.

“Y’know I don’t think you really need another one.” Yale snarks while rubbing the spot Harvard had kicked. Harvard rights his chair and drops back into before sticking his tongue out at Yale.

“Alright.” Hangman drops back onto the sand beside Mav and in front of Coyote, a guitar held in his hands. A few cheers and whistles greet him. He plucks the strings, adjusts the tuning pegs and plucks again. He repeats this process several times before he’s satisfied. “What am I playing first?” He glances at Rooster, who shoots him a grin. “I already told you no.” Rooster just keeps grinning, undeterred by Hangman’s response. “Fine. But you owe me.” Rooster laughs and pushes his aviators up. Hangman plucks a couple strings and looks at Rooster. “One, two, three.” And he begins to play. Mav can’t help the snort when he realizes why Hangman said no to begin with. Rooster begins to sing.

“On a warm summers evening. On a train bound for nowhere.”

Rooster certainly has the voice for it though. Rich and resonant. Hangman grins despite himself. The songs ends and everyone cheers.

“Bradshaw, we should do Long Time Gone.” Phoenix says, sitting up straighter.

“I don’t think I know that one.” Hangman tells her while plucking idly at the strings.

“I do.” Rooster holds his hand out expectantly. Hangman squints at him for moment before handing the guitar over, nearly whacking Mav in the head. Rooster adjust the guitar in his lap and starts to play. He and Phoenix start to sing, voices overlapping perfectly. When the first verse ends Rooster let’s Phoenix go on alone for the next one. Joining her again when the chorus hits.

“I’ll be a long time gone.”

It’s a nice song, even if somewhat sad. Mav smiles as he listens, catches Phoenix grinning as she reaches up and lets Bob take her hand.

“Yes, when I leave. I’ll be a long time gone.”

They finish and cheers rise up around them. Bob kisses the back of Phoenix’s hand and Mav almost certain she blushes.

“Hey!” Amelia bounces over and drops down beside Maverick. “That sounded amazing, guys.”

“Thanks, kiddo.” Rooster ruffles her hair and she scowls up at him. He just grins and pushes his aviators up.

“Wearing sunglasses at night isn’t cool.” Amelia informs him. “You just look stupid.” Rooster sticks his tongue out and pushes against Amelia’s head in a playful manner, but does remove his aviators.

“Ooh. Yes!” Hangman chuckles, “fuck Rooster! I love it.” He puts his fist out and Amelia bumps hers against it. Hangman takes the guitar back and plucks a tune. He struggles through the first few lines of the song before it starts to come naturally.

“Wherever we are is where I wanna be, and honey for once in our life let’s take our chances and roll the dice.”

Rooster sincerely hopes no one can tell he’s blushing. Hangman shoots him a smile and winks. Rooster smiles, downing the last of his beer. There’s a warm feeling in his chest and he can’t determine if it’s from the alcohol or Hangman practically serenading him.

Halo joins Hangman towards the end. While their voices don’t meld the way Phoenix and Rooster’s did they still sound nice. More applause when the song ends.

Bob offers Amelia a can of root beer, which she accepts and pops open, taking a drink. Then she looks over at Hangman.

“Play a song for me?” She asks in her sweetest voice.

“Depends on what you request?”

“Can you play something by Taylor Swift?” Her request is met by a couple of groans. Hangman smiles in a way reserved only for little sisters who make requests you don’t like, but that you’ll follow through anyway. Even though Amelia isn’t his sister she may as well have been. Hangman hums to himself and plucks at the strings trying to figure out the song. Amelia gasps, excitement evident in on her face.

“I love this song.” She starts to sing. She’s got a beautiful voice and Mav can’t help but smile as he watches her sway gently while she sings, eyes closed and smiling the whole time. God, he loves that kid like she’s his own.

By the time the chorus comes around both Halo and Fanboy are singing with her.

“On a Wednesday in cafe I watched it begin again.”

Towards the middle of the song Payback and Harvard pull their phones out and turn the flashlights so they can wave them in the air while Amelia, Halo and Fanboy keep singing.

The song ends and everyone cheers. Amelia goes pink in the face and smiles shyly. Mav pulls her into a one armed hug and presses a kiss to her temple.

“That was beautiful, kiddo.” She grins at him.

“Thanks.” She says softly. Mav doesn’t let her go, she doesn’t try to get away.

After that the guitar gets passed around to anyone who can and wants to play. There’s interesting assortment of songs played due to the diverse musical likes of their group.

Yale plays a couple songs Mav doesn’t recognize. He’s a surprisingly smooth tenor that’s very pleasant listen to. After that Payback requests a Willie Nelson song followed by Harvard requesting Patience by Guns ‘n’ Roses. Rooster plays a couple Tom Petty songs before playing Country Roads by John Denver at the request of Omaha. Everyone sings that one and Landslide when Fritz plays it a bit shakily. Coyote plays a somewhat sad song about loving someone much you’ll follow them even to death. Hangman takes it back and plays some older classics that Mava actually knows and he finds himself humming along.

“Hey!” Amelia says when Jake finishes I’ll Follow The Sun. “Mav hasn’t picked a song yet.” Mav groans internally as all eyes turn to him.

“She’s right. Make a request Mav.” Hangman says. “I’m sure someone here can play something for you.” Mav wants to protest, but Amelia gives him her best puppy dog eyes and Rooster nudges him with his toe and Mav can’t say no to his kids.

“D’you know Wild Horses by the Stones?” He asks. Hangman grins.

“You got it, Pops.” He begins to pluck at the strings. Mav takes a deep breath and hopes his face isn’t as red as it feels before he starts to sing. He’s never been the best singer, but if he knows the song well he’ll give it his all. All eyes are on him and he doesn’t know where to look. He settles his gaze on the fire, gaining more confidence in his voice when he reaches the chorus. He squeezes Amelia a little tighter and hopes she understands. Hopes Rooster knows.

The song ends and cheers erupt around him. If he wasn’t blushing before he definitely is now. Rooster gives his shoulder a squeeze and when Mav looks up he says, “that was great.” And Mav can tell by the look in his eyes that he knows. Knows everything Mav can never find the words to say.

The guitar gets passed around again. They all sing a laughter filled version of Sweet Caroline followed by a couple Elton John songs and more John Denver. They’re all at least suitably tipsy, with a select few having stayed sober enough to drive others home, and the fire is starting to die out, but no one wants to leave yet. Eventually the guitar ends up back in Rooster’s lap and he begins to play a country song Mav doesn’t recognize. When the chorus hits Phoenix joins him and Mav is in awe again at how beautiful the two sound together.

“You don’t wanna fall in love.”

Mav looks up to watch Rooster and doesn’t miss the longing look he’s giving Hangman. Hopefully one of them will stop being stupid and they’ll deal with whatever’s going on between them. And if they don’t do it soon Mav may have to bang their heads together and tell them to get their shit together. He doesn’t want it to come to that.

The last notes of the song get tugged away by the breeze and Mav becomes aware of how cool it’s gotten. Everyone cheers again, but in a somewhat more subdued manner now that they’re starting to get tired. They sit in comfortable silence, but with their eyes turned skyward. The stars are beautiful and the moon is full.

“It’s time like this I wish didn’t live in the city.” Phoenix says. “I forget how beautiful the stars are.”

“Makes me miss home.” Hangman admits. “Used to lay out on the trampoline with my sisters.” There’s longing laced through his words. “Slept out there a lot.” He’s smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Rooster reaches over and squeezes his shoulder. Hangman rests his hand on top of Roosters, but doesn’t take his eyes off the stars.

“The moon is so pretty when it’s full.” Amelia says after a beat of silence.

“I always wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid.” Fritz tells them.

“There’s still time.” Halo tells him. He smiles and nods.

“Stargazing always reminds me of going with Goose when he’d go back to Texas.” Mav says, voice cracking when he says Goose’s name. “The guest room at their house had a window that opened onto the roof and I’d climb out and lay there to look at the stars. Goose-Goose joined me a lot. Talk a lot about the future, being neighbors, sitting by a campfire in the evenings and watching the stars come out. Sitting somewhere more comfortable than the roof.” Mav chuckles a little at the memory and starts to get teary so focuses on the dying embers in front of him. Amelia squeezes him tight and he rests his head against hers. He wishes Goose was there. Could live that future they always talked about. Could see the incredible young man Bradley has become. Could get to know Penny and be Amelia’s weird Uncle Goose. He swallows the lump in his throat and blinks back his tears.

Over thirty five years later and he stills misses Goose. He thinks he always will. It hurts a little less as the years go by, but the pain of losing a brother stays with you forever.

They start picking up trash and leftovers. Chairs get folded up, sand is kicked over the remains of the fire and they all trek back to the parking lot. Mav’s watch tells him it’s almost midnight. Amelia is leaning heavily against them as they walk, but he doesn’t mind.

At the cars goodbyes are shared and confirmations of dinner at Mav and Penny’s the following night are given. Hugs are exchanged. Mostly given to Mav, who’s not expecting it and gets a bit emotional. Both Phoenix and Halo press a kiss to his cheek. He doesn’t cry, thank you very much, but maybe a gets little misty eyed. He watches his kids pair off and head toward different vehicles, laughing and talking and wonders how he lived so long without this. This wonderful familial kind of love. Rooster hugs him last and longest.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He tells Mav, searching his face for something, but Mav doesn’t know what. Mav smiles and nods. Rooster pulls him back into a hug. It took several hard conversations to get to this point, but Mav is so glad to have Rooster back in his life.

“Tomorrow, kid.” Rooster huffs a laugh against Mav’s neck and let’s him go, turning to pull Amelia into a hug.

“G’night, kiddo.” He mumbles and presses a kiss to the top of her head. Mav was admittedly very surprised by how quickly Rooster and Amelia grew attached to each other, but he’s glad they’re getting along. Whenever he asks what they got up to the day he took Penny up in his Mustang he only receives laughter in response so he’s given up asking. But something happened to have them form a bond like they now share.

Once he’s sure they’ll all be ok he and Amelia head back over to the Hard Deck. Penny is just finishing up her closing chores when they stumble in, laughing. Penny smiles. She loves watching the two of them. Amelia had been very dubious when she and Mav had first gotten back together, but Mav had been sincere when he said he wasn’t leaving again and Amelia let him in. And Mav clearly loves Amelia like she’s his own and while that still scares Penny a little she loves him and she’s so happy to him back in her life she’s willing to work past her lingering fears.

Amelia joins Penny behind the bar, offering to help finish up. Mav watches them and realizes not for the first time just how lucky he is. He realizes too that he’s been wondering for years what it really means to have a family and kids. And if this is what it’s like on the inside of love, well, it’s not a bad place to be.

#top gun maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell #jake hangman seresin #illusions to hangster #the potential is there #penny benjamin x pete mitchell #mavdad #Mav loves his kids #and his kids love him #also I live for Amelia and roosters sibling relationship #nick goose bradshaw(mentioned)