𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 | A Top Gun Fanfiction

Chapter 31: 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴! 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴! 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴!

I'm starting to feel old. Not so old that I stink of mothballs, sit around gossiping all day, and ridicule younger generations, lamenting 'how it was.' No, not that old. I mean, I feel...great. But I feel old in my relationship with Maverick, and that's a good thing. The two of us are still head over heels in love. We still giggle when we kiss, blush when the other flirts, and in general behave like a pair of bracey teenagers on their first date. Yet for all our idiocy, we've settled into a comfortable rhythm where we challenge each other, trust each other, and kind of just...coexist. Again, not a bad thing...it's just...different from what I'm watching Iceman and Ghost go through. It's almost freaky how much they remind me of Maverick and I, just a couple of months ago, setting out on this roller coaster ride.

They're giggly; they're bashful; they're awkward.

Not to mention impossible to separate.

The first month was almost too much to bear, but I guess over those three weeks I built up a tolerance and by Christmas time, seeing Iceman pull Ghost under the mistletoe multiple times wasn't so sickening. On the contrary...it's kinda cute. While Maverick and I got out a bowl of Charlie's spiked eggnog, I made the mistake of letting my change of mind slip. He pretty much glared daggers through my skull and labeled me a traitor. He and Goose are still hung up on their rivalry with Iceman, but for due reason. Just because Iceman is finally dating Ghost doesn't mean he's suddenly so innocent. He still antagonizes them, especially when us girls aren't around, cause he knows I'll chew him out and Ghost will gently correct him, though Ghost's approach more effectively humbles. I've gotta say, aside from a couple of squabbles between the guys, and my mother-henning Ghost, we've all gotten along pretty well these last few months.

Christmas was really nice. Since Maverick doesn't have any family to visit, he decided to stay with Goose. Ghost found herself in a similar pickle. She couldn't afford a trip to Ireland and neither of her brother's would be there anyways, just her mom, so she chose to stay in Miramar with Charlie...

And Iceman.

Whereas I have a whole family who, all November long, took turns breathing down my neck, urging me to get my ass back to the ranch for the holidays. It was a hard choice. I forced Ghost to sit down on my bed and listen to me feverishly debate the pros and cons of each situation. Staying here meant being with my friends for our first Christmas together and my first Christmas with Maverick, a monumental milestone. On the other hand, it might be my last Christmas ever because my Mama would kill me if I didn't fly back to Alabama to be with the family. I felt like I owed it to her, since I completely shut them out after the accident. They haven't gotten to see me post-crash. That's gotta be weird for them...and maybe even weirder for me. I've changed so much, I almost feel like a different person. A less reckless, less hot-headed, but more confident and more fulfilled person. In some ways, it took the torturous process of overcoming the repercussions of the crash to truly grow up. I joined the Navy as a kid on the verge of adulthood, and I guess it trapped me in an imaginary time capsule.

I've broken out of it; I've matured. I've changed, but nothing back home has.

"Is it weird that that scares me?"

"Nope," Ghost flashes an encouraging smile. "But you shouldn't let the change keep you from going home. They need to see you as you are, and you need to see your family and the farm, as it's always been."

I froze mid pace and blew out the air stuffing my cheeks.

"Grab your floaties, y'all, this is getting deep."

She laughed at that joke. Ghost laughs at all of my jokes. I wound up missing her laughter while I was in Alabama, but 'absence makes the heart grow fonder...'