A weeping Dakota laid in Phoenix's arms, minds foggy from alcohol the two of them had drank.

The second Bradley had left her house, she was a mess. Feeling like her heart was ripped out from her chest and her brain was just stomped on. She felt like a total idiot for allowing herself to slowly fall for the man. She had convicted herself that he somehow felt the same way towards her.

She had called Phoenix, barely being audible for her to understand her, but somehow she did and said she'd be there as soon as she could.

So now, here they were. Dakota's head laying in Natasha's lap as she ran her fingers through her curls, just listening to a drunken Dakota babble on and on about what ever thought came to her mind. She herself was no of the legal limit, convincing her mind that she was 'being a good friend' as she tossed back shots of vodka with her friend.

She couldn't remember exactly how it happened, but Dakota found herself straddling Phoenix, her senses being intoxicated yet again with her sweet scent, soft touch, and lips ghosting over hers. "Is this okay?" Dakota mumbled, their breath intermingling.

Phoenix's fingers tightened their grip on her hipbones, her thumbs pressing deeply into the spot above them, making her gasp, arching her back into her. "More than." She said breathlessly, wanting nothing more in her clouded state than to miss the woman that was straddling her.

Going against her sober thoughts that were drowning in her mind, she leaned forward, crashing her lips into Phoenix's. Her hands cradled her face ever so delicately, like she was an ancient artifact, scared it would break if she squeezed too tightly.

Their mouth's melted against one another's, tongues brushing, hands roaming, body's desperate for some sort of relief from her previous sadness that one Bradley Bradshaw caused just hours ago. Phoenix wanted nothing more than to take the pain away from her best friend, to kill the man that broke her. But she knew that solution wasn't at all legal, so she settled for a night of alcohol, the bottle splitting between the two girls as they downed shot after shot after shot.

"Can I make you feel good Dakota?" Phoenix asked breathlessly, as her lips trailed down her jaw, peppering it with small kisses, before finally stopping at the spot behind her ear, causing her breath to get caught in her throat.

Dakota pulled away, leaning her forehead on hers, smiling softly. "Yes," she nodded, teeth glinting in the soft moonlight that poured through the sheerness of her white curtains. "Please."

With both of their minds clouded in intoxication, both of alcohol and each other, they knew they wouldn't necessarily regret it in the morning, given the fact that all throughout their time at the Naval Academy, they had been quite open with each other. So the morning just had a quite awkward beginning, a small headache pounding all through their brains as the harsh light awakened them.

But over time, the drunken night had become one that the two just looked back at and laughed, knowing that the other just wanted to take their pain away the only way their drunken selves knew how.

-

She remembered how groggily to two had woken up just fifteen minutes prior to where they were at now. She felt her thighs sticking slightly to the booth beneath her, the cool breeze of the air conditioning flowing right to her, the vent having been placed right above where she was sitting. The blue hues that radiates from every surface of the pre-dawn horizon.

The waves crashing the sand violently, the early risers buzzing past the window that was next to their booth where they were sat. A couple of joggers in sight, none of them talking to one another, to absorbed into their own speck of the universe.

When they had first walked through the glass doors of the diner, it was still dark outside. Now, she knew well enough the Bradley would never purposely wake up before the sun peaked over the earth's curvature, so she assumed that they had early morning training session that day; Dakota hadn't heard when Cyclone announced the training time after Phoenix's and Bob's near death experience, given then fact that she had stormed out of the base as quickly as she was allotted.

She was becoming more solid; small, barely noticeable tears falling down her face becoming lost in the last (that was less than ten hours ago). Her hand would come up to her nose, the back of her hand wiping it.

As the two of them sat across from each other, her phone vibrating with texts from Phoenix, saying she couldn't sleep and how she was more than okay; just bored and uncomfortable laying in the hospital bed. It made her smile, knowing that even after the traumatic event she had just endured, she was still her Natasha.

It had been silent between the two of them when they arrived at the diner. Bradley too scared to talk, telling himself she needed space. And Dakota too scared to talk, telling herself he's just here out of pity. Her self wallowing had worn off after he fell asleep on her chest, leaving her with just the feeling of him washing over her. The doubts though; the doubts came back the second her vulnerability had left her mind. The doubt that he wasn't here to comfort her, that he was just doing this in order to fuck her.

"Y'all ready to order?" The waitress asked as she approached the end of their table, notepad and pen in hand. Dakota smiled politely at her; feeling somewhat sympathetic at how early it was. "Yes, well I am at least," she glanced over at Rooster, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the menu. "Roost," she softly said as his head tilted up to look at her, "You ready to order?" She couldn't help but think he looked like a little kid in this moment, his eyes big and wide, a loopy smile on his face as he sent a curt nod towards the waitress. How adorable.

"Hey! Yeah I am sorry," he let out an airy chuckle, closing his menu and handing it to the waitress, "Can I have the pancakes please?" A tight lipped smile on his face. She turned to Dakota, "Then can I just get the ham and cheese omelette please?" The waitress whose name tag Dakota read as 'Chloe' nodded as she finished writing down their orders on her notepad, "I'll have that right out for you guys."

Silence fell between the two of them, the soft humming of the jukebox play an old rock song, sounding throughout the small diner.

Bradley crossed his arms, leaning them on the table in front of him as his eyes fell upon the woman in front of her, a small smile on her lips as she texted away in her phone. "You okay?" He questioned softly, as her head tilted up towards him, her teeth glinting in the fluorescent lights as she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling, "Yeah yeah 'm good," she put her phone down next to her thigh on the booth, "Phoenix's just textin' me."

Now it was his turn for a grin to tug at his lips, his hands gripping his biceps as he watched her. "Oh yeah? What's she saying?" He motioned his head towards her phone.

She thought he looked so, handsome right now, even with the doubting thoughts in the back of her mind. His honey hair was messy perfectly, a large curl dipping down and laying on his forehead. His t-shit hugged his arms perfectly, (his hoodie was now drooping around her shoulders, claiming that she was cold the second they stepped in the quaint diner), the neck of it hanging down low enough to show the dog tags that were around his neck. His eyes were tired, yet she still found her heart beating faster every time he looked at her. He looked perfect.

"She's just sayin' how bored she is. Bob has visited her a couple times when he goes on walks around the floor." She took a sip of her water, feeling the cold liquid run down her throat and his her suddenly empty feeling stomach. He chuckled quietly under his breath, "Yeah that sounds like Phoenix."

She shifted from her seated position, peeling her bare thighs from the booth and leaning her back against the window, pulling her knees up to her chest, playing with the paper that came from her straw. Dakota knew she looked like shit; frame engulfed in his sweatshirt, hair pulled back in a messy bun, little tendrils falling around her face, dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"You are so beautiful Dakota."

She froze, the paper wrapped around one of her fingers as her heartbeat increased, scared that if someone looked too closely they'll be able to see the beat from her chest. She felt blood rush to her cheeks, painting them in a ferocious shade of red.

"Mhm. Okay sure, Bradley." She tried to cover up her flushed state with  a small chuckle, bringing her glass of water up to her lips and taking a long sip.

Her mind wandered over to the last time he had told her that: when she finally accepted her feelings towards the man. After years of knowing him, and weeks of fucking him, and everything that came in between. It was hard for her, the process was. The line that he was walking between just a casual fuck and lovers was paper thin in her eyes. Her mom always helped her out during these situations, having ways of describing situations so that they made sense to her; Dakota viewed it as magic.

"Shut up Bradshaw."

She mumbled, fighting the bashful smile that tugged on her lips, not fully trusting herself to allow her eyes to meet his. "No no I'm serious." A small blush rising to the apples of his cheeks. "You are quite possibly the most beautiful being I have ever laid my eyes on, Dakota Jones." His voice spoke ever so smoothly, sending a small shiver down her spine.

"Yeah okay," she said, finally pulling her gaze to meet his. "Keep telling yourself that Bradley."

He cleared his throat, "I also wanted to apologize for uh," she watched has he shifted in the booth, hands still firmly placed on his biceps, arms crossed. She could tell he was slightly uncomfortable. "For how I've been towards you." She wasn't gonna lie to herself this time, she was quite frankly shocked that Bradley Bradshaw was apologizing to her. When just over a week ago she was on top of him, punching his face after he called her a shit pilot.

"I guess part of me held a grudge, the fact that you left the day after graduation-" "Yeah why were you so upset at me Bradshaw?" She quirked her head, raising an eyebrow to the man in front of her. She watched as he inhaled deeply, his body shaking due to the fact that his leg bounced underneath the table.

But, before words could leave his lips, the waitress walked up to them, their food in hand, "Alright I got a stack of pancakes," she leaned down, placing Rooster's plate in front of him. "And a ham and cheese omelet." Dakota smiled, feeling her mouth full with saliva at the sight and smell. "Everything look okay?" The two of them nodded, sending her their sweetest smiles that they could muster before she walked away.

"Save it for later," she said, as she stabbed her omelet with her fork. Her eyes met his, a soft smile on her lips, "'kay?" He nodded his head, matching her smile, before the two of them were to busied by the food in front of them.

PAIGE SPEAKS

y'all finally got dakota x phoenix 🤫

double update bc i love y'all🙈🙈

also DOES ANYONE SFILL READ THIS BOOK?? hey if you do🤭🤭🤭

nearing the end... kinda sad but excited to finally devote my time to fire for you FULLY. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹