Skylar's Wish • Rooster

Chapter 10: Bye Pops

"Mav," I whisper, not sure if my voice could go any louder. His head snaps in my direction. His face softens, "Sky? What's wrong?" Tears start falling from my eyes, I make no move to wipe them away. "Savannah?" Maverick says the worry in his voice starts to show. He walks towards me and gently places his hands on my shoulder. "Dad's gone, Mav." I started bawling, saying it out loud made it feel real, like it wasn't just a bad dream. It was real. He was gone. Maverick brings me in closer and holds me. I keep whispering over and over again that he's gone, Maverick holds me, not saying anything.

Eventually, I stop crying- I'm left feeling numb. Maverick moves his hands to my face, "You need a ride home?" He asks, looking at me. I nod my head, "I need to shower," I whisper. "Here or at home?" He doesn't ask why or just says I should just shower at home, he lets me choose. "Here," I mumble. Maverick turns to his left and says, "I need to get my bike and her a new pair of clothes. Watch her." The other person doesn't say anything. Maverick looks down at me, "Are you going to be okay with Rooster?" I forgot that Rooster was here, I want to say no, my mind is telling my body to say no, but I find myself nodding yes. Maverick signals for Rooster to come and grab me, both of us are having the same thought, if he lets go my legs are going to give out. Rooster grabs my arms and holds me against his warm body. I take a deep breath in, he smells like plane fuel, some kind of citrus fruit and the ocean. I relax, taking in his scent breath by breath. I feel Rooster kiss the top of my head and as whispers, "I'm so sorry Savannah," I feel him resting his chin on top of my head. We stand like that for a few minutes, forgetting that we even fought early that week, earlier that night. I felt safe.

After a while, Rooster tells me that I should go shower before Maverick gets back. We walk slowly towards the shower, Rooster holding my hand the entire way, if I haven't just lost my father. I would be jumping up and down in pure joy. We get to the door of the women's locker room, he stops outside the door. I tug his hand, telling him to follow. He unsurely follows me. I lead him to a bench where I sit down, he leaves me to turn on, the hottest shower of my life. I strip from my flight suit into a black t-shirt and black shorts. Rooster turns around while I strip from the rest of it.

I get into the shower and let the hot water hit my face and slide down my chest and legs. I stand there for a while before grabbing my shampoo, but my finger can't seem to open the lid. "Bradley?" I hear a hmm in response. "Can you open this?" I ask, sticking the shampoo bottle out of the shower curtain. I feel the weight of the  bottle being taken from my hand and hear the click of the top opening. I expected him to place the bottle back into my hand, but instead he grabs my hand and squirts the perfect amount of shampoo.

After shampooing my hair, I hand him the conditioner bottle, he does the same thing along with the body wash bottle. After finishing my shower, I turn off the water and Rooster hands me my towel. I wrap it around my body and walk over to the bench, waiting for Maverick to bring me my clean clothes. "Thank you," I tell Rooster while landing my wet head on his shoulder. "You would have done the same for me," he says. We sat there in a comfortable silence for the first time in a long time. There's a knock on the locker room door, Rooster stands up and unlocks the door. Maverick walks in with a pair of gray sweatpants and a black Navy T-shirt, one of Dad's old shirts. I walk behind a row of lockers to change. Whispering comes for the other side of the row of lockers. Listening in, I hear Rooster whisper something similar to I'll be back.

I walk out from behind the lockers, Maverick looks at me and smiles, a very small sad smile. Suddenly, his smile got a little bigger, "Did he make a move?" Maverick asks, referring to Rooster. A small smile appears on my face and a breathy laugh escapes my lips, as I shake my head. "Mav, he just saw me bawling my eyes out." He shrugs before telling me his bike is parked outside. We walked out of the locker room. I was about to ask Maverick where Rooster went, but the man himself appeared. "Here," he hands me a dark blue hoodie. I give a quick smile before hugging him. Putting on the sweatshirt, pleased to notice that it's not terribly big for me.