THE NEXT DAY, EVERYTHING WENT BACK TO NORMAL. OR AT LEAST, THAT WAS THE PLAN. skye once again had no idea what conversation had taken place between rooster and her father, and she was oblivious to any kind of change as she got ready. 

she put her hair into a military style bun, she brushed her teeth, she put her flight suit on. everything was going completely normal, and skye was truthfully still thinking about her date with rooster the day previous.

or, at least, she assumed it was a date. she was friends with fanboy, she was friends with payback, she was even now friends with bob. but she didn't go out for lunch with them, and rooster didn't go out for lunch with katia or phoenix. therefore, skye assumed it was completely understandable to take it as a date.

if nothing else, it gave her some peace of mind. 

skye didn't know how to feel, truthfully. she knew that she liked rooster as much more than a friend. she'd known that to be true for the past three years. it had been true since she'd first talked to him at the hard deck, since they'd first sat next to each other at that piano bench. 

but as she thought about it more and more, it became even more true. she'd fallen in love with him at some point along the line. she wished she knew the exact moment it had happened, that she could pinpoint the exact second that she had fully grown to love bradley bradshaw. 

regardless of when it had happened, it had. skye had fallen for him, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

she had a feeling that it had to be mutual. there was no way that rooster, who left his jacket at her house, who remembered every detail about her, who listened to the playlist she made, who took her on dates didn't feel something for her. 

and yet, it was still so daunting to even think about admitting any of her feelings to him. he still had the upper hand, she thought. every woman wanted him. anyone who saw him was bound to fall for him just as quickly. if he could have anyone, she didn't see why he would want her. why he'd want the girl that he'd grown up with, who he had seen as a sister. maybe he still did.

but skye, who was rarely ever an optimist, had been trying to not worry about it. she'd convinced herself that the right time would come. that, if they were meant to be together, they'd find a way to be together. and she'd kept that mindset throughout the entire morning.

in fact, skye had been in an amazing mood as she and katia parked their motorcycles by each other. she'd even been in a good mood as she nodded to cyclone in passing, and as she sat in her seat awaiting her father's instruction.

then rooster walked in.

"hey, bradshaw. what made you late?" she asked, a playful smile on her face. he didn't reply, though, only looking at her for a moment before sitting down behind her. skye turned to look at katia, who seemed equally as confused. 

"today," maverick said, bringing skye's attention back, "you're going to be reattempting the flight course. your time limit and hard ceiling will remain the same for today."

skye stood after getting dismissed, immediately turning to rooster. he was already walking away, and she scoffed. "what the hell is that?"

katia shook her head. "i have no idea."

the two women geared up before heading to a separate room, where maverick assigned them their teams. hangman with bob and phoenix, coyote with harvard and yale, omaha with fanboy and payback, rooster with skye and katia. just their luck. 

"do you think he's gonna be pissed off the whole time?" skye asked as she adjusted the straps on her vest. 

"probably." 

luckily for them, they were going last, which hopefully would allow rooster enough time to cool down whatever steam had brewed inside of him. by the time skye was climbing into the jet, she had nearly forgotten all about the cold shoulder he'd given her beforehand.

when they got into the air, her hopes were still high. that was, at least, until rooster had slowed down significantly. "hey, roost, can we pick the pace up a bit?"

"negative. we're doing good on time still." 

her brows furrowed. "isn't that what you said last time?"

"and which one of us ended up making it to the target?"

skye was about to scoff, or get offended. instead, she only shook her head. "okay. well, you heard mav. he wants us going faster and on schedule. three minutes to target means no time to waste." 

"i don't care what mav said." rooster retorted. "we're doing good on time still."

"you're not listening to me." she argued. "we have to pick up the pace. if this were the mission-"

"this isn't the mission." he interrupted.

skye finally scoffed. "if this were the mission, rooster, we'd be giving the enemy enough time to track us down and find us. if they're in those fifth gen fighters, we wouldn't even have time to get to the target." 

"which one of us is giving orders right now?" 

"we have a minute and a half left." katia reminded them both. "someone needs to just make a decision."

rooster nodded. "we're good on time."

when their timers went off, the two jets were still about a minute away from the target. skye clenched her jaw in frustration. she'd lost the exercise not once but twice, and one of them had been with rooster. rooster who normally was so on the same page with her. 

she took the velcro off of her vest before moving over to rooster as he climbed out of his jet. "what was going on up there? you've been off all day, bradley. i didn't want to say anything, or pry, or whatever, but.. you're worrying me."

"i'm worrying you?" he repeated, letting out a scoff. "which one of us can't just listen to orders? i'm team leader up there."

skye's brows furrowed. "okay, but you were doing the same exact thing you were doing before. the same exact thing that would've gotten you killed. and this time, it would've gotten me and kat killed, too."

"it's just a goddman exercise, skye!" he practically shouted. "you get so in over your head about this shit. it's just an exercise. it isn't the real mission, or the real battle. you're fine. you're okay." 

she stumbled back slightly in shock. "what the fuck?"

"you heard me. you're fucking fine, skye. you're acting like i killed you or something."

"what is wrong with you?" 

rooster chuckled dryly. "what's wrong with me? what's that supposed to mean, huh?"

"you're being a fucking asshole." she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "everything was fine yesterday. then today you come in with this shit.. you won't even talk to me, and then we lose the exercise-"

"just because you graduated top of our class doesn't mean you know better than everyone else how to fly, skye." rooster said. 

skye shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek. "okay."

"where are you going?" he asked as she walked away. "skye, wait." 

she didn't look over her shoulder. if she had, she would've seen all of the regret and guilt in rooster's face. but skye didn't want to look at him, not then. she hopped on her motorcycle and drove off without a word to anyone, barely stopping to clock out. 

when skye got back to her house, she parked her motorcycle and hung her helmet up on its spot in the small garage. she opened the door, almost relishing in the silence of the home.

things were fine for another moment before she started crying.

she was so confused. how could things have been so fine only to have gone so wrong so soon after? why was he so upset with her, and why had he acted like that? 

rooster hadn't ever raised his voice at her like that before. even in any other disagreement they'd had, he'd never actually shouted at her once. that had been different. it was like he was a completely different person, like it hadn't even been him.

skye cried for some time like that, just wrapped up in a pile of feeling sorry for herself. after a while, she finally heard it. she'd cracked the side window open to let some of the breeze in, hopeful that it would make her feel better. from the window, she could hear the faint music playing outside.

there was no fucking way.

she stood up hesitantly, walking over to the window. she had been correct. rooster stood outside with a boombox over his head. of course he was standing outside with a boombox over his head. "you never close your eyes anymore when i kiss your lips." he mouthed along, smiling as he saw her. "there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips." 

skye rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless at the sight of him smiling. the sight of him going out of his way to show that he cared. the sight of him apologizing the same way she'd apologized to him. something about it was oddly perfect.

"you're trying hard not to show it. but baby, baby i know it." rooster sang. "you've lost that loving feeling. woah, that loving feeling. you've lost that loving feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone, woah."

she crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "are you gonna come inside or what?"

rooster grinned as he moved inside, bringing the boombox with him. "i'm so sorry." he said as soon as he was in the house. "i shouldn't have yelled at you like that. it was so fucked up. and i shouldn't have invalidated you. you work harder than anyone. and you're the smartest person i know, and you have every right to act like the best pilot because you are. you're the best pilot i've ever met. and you want to make sure everyone around you is giving their best, because you're always giving the very best. and i was being such an asshole."

skye chuckled. "yeah, you were." 

"you were completely right. if that was the mission, i would've gotten us both killed. when i did baseball, they used to tell all of us to practice how we play. and i.. i wasn't practicing like i play, if that makes sense. i was being dramatic, and i was being difficult. you're always saying i'm too dramatic, and you're right."

"i'm always right."

this made him laugh. "yeah, you are. i just.. i was in a bad mood today, and instead of talking to you about it, i tried to push you away. and when that didn't work, i.. i took it out on you. and that isn't fair, because you didn't do anything wrong."

she smiled. "rooster-"

"no, i need to apologize." he insisted. "it was messed up. and you didn't deserve that. and i'm so sorry." 

skye wrapped her arms around him. they both immediately melted into each other's touch, holding each other as close as they possibly could. rooster had begun to sway them lightly to the music, and skye could hear him start humming along to the song. 

she could feel the soft rumble of his chest underneath her ear as he began to softly sing. "baby, baby. i'd get down on my knees for you. if you'd only love me like you used to do. we had a love, a love you don't find everyday. so don't, don't let it slip away."

they kept swaying for the rest of the song, rooster's head lowering onto the top of hers. skye relished the silence for a moment before lifting her head from his chest, moving back slightly to look into his eyes. "i want you to feel like you can talk to me when something is bothering you."

"i know." he replied.

"you know you can talk to me, or you know i want you to?"

"both."

she chuckled softly, resting her head back on his chest as he started to sway again. "whatever it is, i'm here for you throughout all of it."

rooster then smiled. "i know."