IT WAS A FEW DAYS LATER BEFORE ROOSTER FINALLY CONFRONTED MAVERICK. he had been over at his house, staying there with the sole purpose of getting to see skye and watch the new episode of the bachelorette with her and her father. he had ended up following maverick into his office of sorts.

the room was covered with memorabilia from his days in the navy, as well as mementos and photos of his current job as a test pilot. rooster eyed the helmets and plaques on the wall before his gaze fell to maverick, who had just noticed him. "hey, kid, what's up?"

rooster cleared his throat, turning away from the photo of goose and maverick that sat next to a photo of maverick and ice. "um, i actually wanted to talk to you about something." 

maverick tilted his head, a confused smile spreading onto his face. "sure, what's on your mind?" he asked, sitting down.

"well, if i'm being honest with you, skye wanted me to talk to you." 

he then sat up slightly straighter. "she actually wanted me to talk to you, too." he chuckled. "i'm assuming it's about the same thing, then?"

rooster shook his head. "i know she wanted me to talk to you about you pulling my papers.. and honestly, it doesn't really matter." he said, looking over at him. "if you hadn't pulled my papers, i guess.. i wouldn't be getting to fly with her now. so it's.. it can be water under the bridge, i guess."

"so what did you want to talk about, then?" maverick asked.

"um.." rooster looked anywhere but at him. "i really like your daughter, mav. i really like her. i mean, she's my best friend and i care about her more than anything in the world. i genuinely.. i genuinely think i'm falling in love with her." 

her father's face was expressionless. "so what does she think about this?"

he shrugged. "i don't know. i think she feels something similar. i mean, she acts like she does. and it just.. it's killing me that i can't tell her how i feel. but it's because i know she wants us to be on good terms. and i also knew that i had to talk to you first. i mean.. you're not my dad. but you're her dad. and i wanted to get your approval before i asked her out."

"so are you asking for my blessing?"

"uh.. yeah." rooster smiled. "yeah, i guess i am. can i date your daughter?" 

he watched as maverick's lazy smile slowly turned into a frown. "bradley, i.. you're a great kid. a great man." he corrected. "i just.. i don't think it's a good idea."

his brows furrowed. "what do you mean?" 

"i just.. i don't know. i think she's a bit young still, and you're both still working, and i don't think it's a good idea to be in a relationship with your line of work." he explained.

rooster shook his head. "just because your relationships haven't worked doesn't mean that skye and i wouldn't work."

"bradley, i just don't think-"

"if you're about to tell me that you don't think i'm ready, you can stop right there." he interrupted. "because that's the same thing you said about the naval academy, right?" rooster scoffed. "and don't say this is about her age. she's a grown woman, she can make her own decisions." he ran his hands through his hair. "i don't even know if she feels the same way, mav. this is all assuming she even likes me like that."

maverick sighed. "i appreciate you asking for my blessing on this. but i don't grant it. i don't think it's a good idea. and i can't stand to see her get hurt."

"and i can't stand to lose her again." rooster said. "i spent all four years of the naval academy being mad at you and taking it out on her, and i lost four years that i could've been close to her. and i just got her back, mav. you can't ask me to lose her again."

"if dating her is the only thing that would keep her from leaving you, then that's a further testament to my point." he pointed out. 

"you know i didn't mean it like that." rooster replied, his brows becoming furrowed with anger. he then rolled his eyes. "you know, i respected you so much. you were my role model, mav. and i.." he turned, his hands in his hair. "i thought if anyone would understand what it's like to love skye more than anything, it would be you." 

he shook his head. "more than anything? are you sure you're not rushing into things here?"

rooster turned back to look at him. "we've been with top gun for seven months. for seven months, i've been trying to do anything but tell her how much i want to be with her. when she went down in that plane, i realized it. it all came rushing to me. how much i loved her. nearly losing her was the worst thing i have ever experienced in my life. so don't you dare sit there and try to tell me i'm misinterpreting my own feelings."

"thank you for taking care of my daughter and for being a friend to her. but i don't want you to date her, bradley. i'm sorry." 

when the words left maverick's mouth, rooster was already seething slightly, turning around to leave the room. "i'm sorry too, mav." he said through his teeth before closing the door behind him and leaving. 

skye was sitting in the kitchen when he stormed out, and she furrowed her brows. "roost?" she asked, watching as he grabbed his keys from the counter. "are you heading out?" 

he looked over at her for a second, then nearly flinched before nodding. "yeah. i'm going to go back to ice's. thanks for the food." 

without saying anything else, he left the house. skye listened as his truck started up and then moved out of the driveway, and she let her head fall into her hands. clearly the conversation with her dad hadn't gone well. 

"hey, kid." maverick said as he walked into the kitchen, putting a hand on her back.

"what did you say to him?" she asked, turning to look at her father.

maverick seemed to be processing this for a moment before he shook his head. "he was asking about something else. the naval academy barely came up."

"then would you care to tell me why he just stormed out?" she replied. he opened his mouth, but seemed to be struggling for words. skye shook her head and wordlessly grabbed her jacket. "i'm going to go check on him." she said, grabbing the keys to the new motorcycle and heading out the door. 

her father then cursed to himself. he wondered if he'd made the wrong decision when talking to him. but his daughter was already starting up her motorcycle and heading down the street. 

she arrived at the kazansky household and knocked on the door, relieved as katia opened it almost immediately. "is he here?"

"i was going to call you if you didn't come over." the blonde said, opening the door further to let her in. she leaned over to skye, almost as if she was about to tell her a secret. "he's been crying. won't tell anyone what happened, he just walked in and went to his room." 

skye felt her heart shatter. "he's been crying?" 

"do you know what happened?"

"he was talking to my dad," she shook her head, "then he just left."

"shit." katia mumbled, looking over at rooster's closed door. "maybe you'll be able to get it out of him. he doesn't want to talk to anyone else." 

skye nodded, patting katia's shoulder before walking over and knocking the door. she could hear him sniffling from the other side as he moved to open it. "i already told you, i don't want to talk about it-" he trailed off as he looked down and saw her. "what are you doing here?"

"you seemed upset, i wanted to make sure you were okay."

he shook his head. "why do you care so much?" 

she was taken aback by this for a moment. "excuse me? because you're one of my closest friends, bradley, and i care about you, and i don't want you to be upset, especially not because of something my dad said to you."

"but we're just friends, right?" he asked, and she couldn't quite interpret the look in his eys.

"what are you talking about? yeah." 

he shook his head, a small smile on his face as he sat down on the bed. "of course we are."

"what is this about?" she asked, moving closer to him. "what did he say?"

rooster looked up at her. "he thinks i'm bad for you. he doesn't want me to be close to you." 

skye gave him a look. "fuck that. okay? fuck that! i don't care what he wants or what he thinks. i want you in my life, i thought that was clear." 

"i'm not going to go behind his back, skye."

"we're already friends, roost. there's nothing he can do about that." 

he nodded. "yeah. i guess he can't really separate two platonic friends, can he?"

his words cut skye in her heart. he didn't want to be in a relationship with her, she concluded. she tried to keep her face from looking too hurt, moving so that she was sitting next to him on the bed. "you said.. you said that nothing was going to get you to leave me again." she reminded him. "that's what you said. nothing. maverick isn't going to stop you from keeping to your word, is he?"

rooster smiled sadly, looking down at her. "he's your dad, skye."

she shook her head. "i don't care. you're my favorite person." 

if she couldn't have him romantically, she knew she had to hold onto him as a friend. no one understood her like he did, or made her feel like he did. she'd lost him once, she couldn't do it again. 

when skye looked away from his eyes, she noticed the rooster stuffed animal she'd given him, which he'd evidently been curled up with before she'd arrived. she wondered if he'd been crying into it, and then focused her attention back on him. 

"i meant it when i said you were my favorite person." he said, his eyes shifting from hers to her lips.

she smiled. "i meant it, too."

they were both silent for a moment before his arms were around her waist, his face pressed against her shoulder. she wordlessly wrapped her arms around him, placing one on his back and the other in his hair. 

she didn't know what to say, what to do to convey how she felt about him. she still felt so hurt about him not feeling the same as she did, but it didn't matter. it didn't matter because she loved him too much. too much to leave even if he didn't feel the same way she did. she was going to stay with him as long as she could, she thought. she was going to sit there as his best friend as long as it took. as long as it took for him to realize how she felt and then shoo her away. she would stay as long as he'd let her. 

and so she sat there with him, her fingers playing with his hair as he silently cried into her shoulder. she could feel him gripping to the back of her t-shirt almost for life, clinging to her as if she was the only thing keeping him sane. 

skye hated silence. she was always listening to music, and the moment felt like it needed phoebe bridgers or something. something other than the complete silence that surrounded them. it was so eerily silent as she rubbed his back, her face pressed to the top of his head. 

rooster hated it. he hated it so much. he hated maverick for keeping him from the one true thing he wanted. he hated himself for being unable to go behind maverick's back, for being unable to go against his word. and he almost hated skye for being so perfect. 

he hated how she was sitting there with him, running her fingers through his hair as if he hadn't just threatened to stop being her friend. he hated how she was so oblivious to his feelings for her. how all she would've had to do was say the word and he'd quit the navy. he'd do anything. 

if she told him she loved him, rooster swore he would instantly tell maverick he was sorry, but that he had to follow his heart. but deep down, he wondered if her father was right. if she was better off without him influencing her life like that. 

he wanted to tell her so badly how much he loved her. he wanted to scream it. to take her face in his hands and say 'i love you. i love you more than anything in this world and i can't wait another second to tell you'. 

but all he did was sit there and lamely cry into her shoulder, worried to death about the idea of losing her. "i'm sorry." was all he could manage to say.

skye pulled away, moving his head so that she could look at his face. she put her hands on either side of his face, and he could feel her eyes scanning his. "what on earth do you have to be sorry for?" 

god she was perfect. he didn't know what to say. "i'm sorry that i stormed out of your house. and i'm sorry that.. that i'm not good enough for your dad. and i'm sorry-"

"you're good enough for me." she cut him off. 

"i'm so thankful for you." he said, a small smile coming to his lips. 

she didn't say anything, though, and only pulled him back into her arms.