[ a note on ages : I started this before Tyler's age was confirmed 28. Glen Powell cannot pass for a twenty-eight year old, coming from someone in their twenties. so, I'm keeping him in his thirties in this fic bc I am a slut for an age gap ]

[ COMING SOON ]

Everyone had always said Dakota Abernathy was too big for the small town in Alabama that she grew up in. They said she was meant for something greater. She was too smart and too wild, everyone said. And a little too fascinated with the physics of weather for a child. And given that she'd grown up in the so-called 'Dixie Alley' — just on the outskirts of the Tornado Alley — she saw a lot of storms.

She'd learned from her father — well, not actually learned. Dusty Abernathy hadn't even finished high school, opting instead to own a horse ranch. But every time a storm came around, he wouldn't hide in the basement with his wife and daughter. No, he'd be out on the front porch, a beer in his hand, watching the chaotic world pass by with his sunglasses on.

So it was no surprise when he was swept away by one.

Dakota was the one to watch from the porch after that.

She wasn't scared of storms. No, they gave her a rush like no other. The worst a storm could do was kill her, and some days, that didn't seem so bad. Maybe then she'd see her father again. Maybe she'd see her childhood dog, Colorado, who was killed by a lightning strike. Or she'd see the boy from Kindergarten who ran out of the storm shelter when a teacher wasn't watching.

Dakota Abernathy wasn't scared of much, knowing that everything, even death was a part of the way of life. The physics of the world wouldn't work without the destruction brought on by storms.

When Dakota started the first grade, it was evident she was different. Her eidetic memory made her special, and her thirst for knowledge of how things worked — what made them tick and turn — meant she excelled in her science classes. Soon, she was skipping grades, ending with her graduating at the age of fifteen.

By eighteen, she was getting ready to graduate with her bachelors degree in physics and a minor in engineering and was looking into experimental physics graduate programs all over the world. But what she really needed to get accepted was something impressive on her resume.

That's where Kate Carter came in.

Kate and Dakota were in the same Ecology class, and the older girl was fascinated by the then sixteen-year-old who was so awkward that it hurt — being so gifted had stunted her socialization development a bit. But it wasn't long before she'd introduced Dakotah to her boyfriend, Jeb, and her best friend, Javi, who taught her how to loosen up.

Dakota was soon sucked into Kate's world of storm chasing. And by the time she was eighteen, she was convinced that they'd be able to tame storms like Kate had always dreamed of doing.

When it came time to form a team to test Kate's theories, the board at the college suggested she choose grad students. And she did, for the most part. In fact, everyone but Dakota was in grad school. But Kate was convinced there was no experimental physicist better than Dakota despite her not actually being a physicist yet. They were best friends, and she was the only one Kate trusted with a project that was so precious to her.

Dakota was in charge of everything. Designing the equipment, creating the model they used for virtual tests, approving Javi's sensors — she even so-called 'tornado proofed' the cars, as she loved getting behind the engine of a vehicle. Kate didn't do anything without Dakota's scientific approval. Kate was the storm-whisperer, and Dakota was the machine-whisperer.

And though Dakota knew she was smart, something in her had always craved validation from Kate, who was more like an older sister than just a friend now that she was eighteen and had been with her for years. She needed to prove that she could work alongside grad students, that she could make it in tough programs despite her age, that schools should be clamoring to recruit the physicists that designed the plans that tamed a tornado.

But that wasn't going according to plan, at least not now.

Dakota was living on the farm with Kate and her mother, since she couldn't exactly commute from Alabama every day. And now, she was looking down at her mail, tears blurring her eyes.

The official Harvard Letterhead was staring back at her, and the words made her sick.

Dear Miss Abernathy,

We here at Harvard University appreciate your interest in our graduate level program, however, at this time—

She didn't need to read the rest. But she did. The reasoning was because of her blank resume. She'd been so busy focusing on her studies that she didn't have anything to show for it. No summer programs or fellowships. All she'd been doing for three years was helping Kate, who didn't even have a grant invested in her project. No one knew about it, and so no one knew what Dakota had been doing.

If she wanted to get into a good program, they had to tame a tornado and fast — like, yesterday, if it were possible.

Dakota took in a deep breath through her nose and crumbled up the rejection letter, throwing it at her trash can and missing it. She didn't bother to pick it up as she faced her laptop, looking over the new numbers she'd derived just that morning.

And the longer she looked, the more she began to doubt that it was right. Everything with storms was just so unpredictable, and deep down, she knew there was no way to be certain about how much of their absorbent polymer they needed to send up even in a baby EF 1 tornado. But Kate, Jeb, Javi, Addy, and Praveen were all raring to go, finally having everything they needed to try the experiment.

They just needed her go-ahead.

Dakota's overthinking was interrupted by a rhythmic knock on her open door. She blinked heavily and turned to look at Kate and Addy in the doorway.

"How the numbers looking?" Kate asked with a hopeful smile. "You think this is it? The season is almost over, so we'll have to wait another year if not."

"Yeah, and Kate might implode if so," Addy said with a smile, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"But," Praveen intervened, poking his head over Addy's shoulder, "safety is much more important. Not doing this unless Kota says it's safe."

"You're only saying that because you got struck last time she wasn't involved," Kate said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Not my fault for having the flu," Dakota said, putting her hands up innocently.

"So," Kate said eagerly, grinning brightly. "We heading out tonight?"

Dakota held her breath and looked back at her computer, not knowing if she wanted to voice her doubts that would put a screeching halt in their progress. Then her eyes traveled to the right, landing on the crumbled piece of paper on the floor. Her gaze hardened, knowing she didn't have time to wait a year. She could risk it just so she wouldn't risk waiting.

"Tell Javi to bring the beer. We're heading out."