(Take My Breath Away is casually playing in the background as this is happening btw)
As the sun began setting over the horizon, the world fell silent. The only noise echoing through the California landscape was the revving of a motorcycle. That was the motorcycle belonging to none other than Maverick Mitchell (or Pete Mitchell, to be more specific). He was on his way to Madison's beach house, where he was going to have dinner. He was fine with his friend inviting him over for dinner, yet he also wondered if she invited him for dinner because of something she wanted to say.
A few minutes after leaving, Maverick arrived at Madison's house. He turned off the motor on his motorcycle, and he hopped off and started towards the porch. He ran to the front door and rang the doorbell, hearing its dong echo inside the house. He hoped Madison would answer the door.
Maverick was panting. He left a little later than he expected, and he had a feeling he didn't arrive exactly at 5:30. He quickly checked his watch on his arm to scrutinize the time, and he realized the time wasn't 5:30. It was 5:31.
"Sh-t!" Maverick cussed. He was only a minute late. It reminded him of what happened when he had his first date with Charlie. He was late, and Charlotte was direct. For just a split second. But this girl he was visiting seemed a little nicer... is Madison going to be upset that he was late?
But he didn't worry as much. He just stood on the front porch and waited patiently for me to answer.
—————————
The moment I heard the doorbell ring, I knew he was finally here. I just put the pork chops on the grill on the back patio, and I was wondering if Maverick was going to arrive. But the very moment I heard the doorbell ring, my heart stopped. It was time for Maverick and I to finally learn to (secretly) like each other.
I ran over to the door and I opened it to reveal the handsome yet panty figure of Maverick. He wasn't even smiling. He seemed kinda worried about something.
Well, at least he read my note. That's all that matters right now.
"Hey, Mav!" I said. "Thanks for—"
"I'm sorry I'm late," he interrupted. "I left later that I thought I would."
I realized Maverick was right. I said to arrive at 5:30 sharp, and instead he arrived at 5:31. It was only one minute off. What bad can that do?
"Oh no, it's fine," I said, trying not to blush at how handsome Maverick's appearance is. "I wasn't expecting you to arrive at exactly 5:30, anyway..."
"Oh, alright," Maverick yawned. He made his way inside my house and inhaled the sweet smell of the house. I shut the door behind him. Maverick took his jacket off and hung it on an empty coat hanger. He took off his black boots and placed them on a shoe rack. I ran back over to the stove, where I was cooking angel hair pasta. My timer was going off, which meant it was done. So I carefully removed the pot from the stove and turned the stove off.
"You still cooking dinner?" Maverick asked. He was suddenly right next to me. I jumped a little.
"Um, yeah..." I replied slowly. "The pasta's done, but the pork chops aren't. I've already made peas. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."
Maverick nodded. "By the way, may I take a shower?" He asked.
"A shower? At my place?"
"Yes, I've been flying all day today and I've been sweating an awful lot. I smell, so can I?"
Maverick? Taking a shower in my house? Well, I figured he would take it now. He probably didn't want to smell bad on a date. And he is my crush, so why not?
"That's fine," I answered. "Just make it quick. Dinner will be ready soon."
Maverick nodded, and ran to the nearest bathroom. Luckily, every bathroom in the beach house has a bathroom with a bathtub in it, so Maverick didn't waste any time trying to find a shower. He closed the bathroom door (the bathroom that Slider fell asleep in, to be exact), and I went back to minding my own business with dinner.
The very moment I removed the pork chops from the grill was when Maverick finished his shower. Now, he didn't smell, and he looked cleaner. And even more handsome. He was now ready for the date.
I set the table outside, using the porch table. I placed a vase of flowers in the center, and placed the food, silverware, and wine across the table. Once the table was set and ready, I called Maverick over for dinner.
I had some relaxing love music playing in the background. Maverick found where we were having dinner and sat himself down on a chair. I sat across from him. Maverick stared down at the pork chops and smiled.
"Wow! These look delicious!" He exclaimed, grabbing a chop from the plate. I said "Thanks!" as I grabbed mine. I scooped some pasta and peas and dumped them on my plate, and so did Maverick. He then reached for the spaghetti sauce and poured a meager amount on his pasta. I, however, devoured my pasta in spaghetti sauce.
"Oh my!" Maverick was shocked at how my plate of food was made. "You must really like sauce!"
"I do..." I blushed.
(Alrighty guys. I'm going to watch the dinner scene in Top Gun so I can get the gist of what's going to happen in this chapter. This means that I'm going to see Maverick hitting on Charlotte for probably the millionth time in my life. Like I probably told some of y'all, Maverick and Charlotte's love story makes me sick, so if I don't come back... oof :( )
(Result: I'm fine, somehow. But I freaking hate you Charlie (kinda))
We were eating in silence for a bit until Maverick spoke up.
"So... is this a going-away dinner? Why did you invite me over?" He asked.
Great. We have to start our conversation like this....
"Umm... that and some other reason," I replied. "So, uh, can I—can I tell you something?"
I suddenly thought of what Goose told me to do: tell Maverick the truth on what happened with Charlie. I guess I should try, but I was nervous. However, I couldn't live with a secret like this any longer. I HAVE to tell the truth.
"You can. What is it you wanna tell me?"
"Well, I was talking with Goose a few nights ago, and I had to tell him what actually happened with Charlotte and her car breaking down. I, um... I did it."
I hoped and prayed that Maverick wasn't going to get angry at me. But no. I soon saw Maverick's happy expression fade to an angry, infuriated expression. He looked like he was going to riot.
"Maddie? Did I just hear you right? You... did THAT?!?! You broke the tires off my fiancé's car and nearly killed her and caused her to go to the hospital and—"
"MAVERICK! ICEMAN made me! Please, it wasn't my fault!" I tried my best not to start crying.
Maverick tried to calm down a little, but he still looked irritated. "You sure about that?" He asked, scooping some noodles into his mouth.
"Maverick! I'm sure!" I felt the sorrow fill up in myself, but I still tried my best not to cry. "Iceman told me if I wanted you to fall in love with me, I had to make Charlotte die so you wouldn't have another choice but to take me! I fell for it because I was afraid of saying no. It's my pet peeve. I can never say no to anyone..."
Maverick finally understood, and calmed down. He leaned over a little and placed his hand lightly on my cheek.
"I understand, Madison," he said. "Iceman is a very pushy, no-good pilot. I knew he would do something like that. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Ice."
"We all should be."
"Yes," Maverick sat back down on his chair. "Also, these pork chops are great!" He said. "Best I've ever had!"
I laughed. "Thanks," I said. "They're my dad's recipe!" I then continued my story.
"Okay, so to continue on, Goose and I came up with the idea of this dinner so I can at least see you one last time before I leave. So when I saw you and Charlie this morning, I thought to myself, 'ya know, Madison? He's a very smart and sweet guy. Why don't you just ask him now instead of calling him later?' So I did it."
"Well, good thinking!" Maverick replied, stuffing another piece of pork in his mouth. "Also, why is no one else here? Ya know, you could've invited Slider or Goose or Charlotte or someone else!"
"Well, I just wanted to make this a date. Ya know, that date we were hoping to have where we can get along and probably love each other."
"Oh, really?" Maverick raised his eyebrow. "Okay, I get that."
"Yeah... just, I had a feeling there was something missing in our relationship. I then remembered that I forgot to invite you to dinner so... here we are! And everything's going good so far!"
"Yes, but you also forgot something else."
"Oh? What's that?"
Maverick grabbed his wine glass and gestured it towards me. "You forgot the wine..." he said.
(Lol. Did anyone think they were going to kiss here? Not yet! Hehe)
"Oh! Sorry!" I laughed, and poured some wine in his glass. Maverick thanked me and took a sip. He then pressed his lips against the glass and stared at me. He gestured his glass towards me again.
"Cheers? For a nice dinner and date?" He requested.
"Cheers."
So Maverick and I took our wine glasses and clinked them together, basically making a cheers. We then sipped our wine. I stared at Maverick, and he flashed me a wink. I did so in return. Our date is going well.
For now.
—————————
Probably twenty minutes later, we were hanging out on the back porch, listening to the music playing. Maverick and I were talking for a while and we eventually took a break from talking to listen to the music. The music we were listening to was very old and good; the songs made today are absolute crap, and we didn't want to listen to them.
(Honestly, does anyone agree with me??)
The song that was playing at the moment was Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding (yes, another TOP GUN song, but great song btw), and Maverick seemed a little calm about it.
"This song..." he whispered. I was relaxing on the porch couch, and I stretched my legs and yawned. I then turned to Maverick.
"What about this song?" I asked quietly.
"My folks loved this song. Especially my mother. She used to dance to this song all the time. She would probably dance to this song for years. She would play it over and over again, and I would get so sick of it. But, well... both of my parents are dead. My father died after his jet got into someone's jet wash and crashed, and my mother died shortly after him. I've been making a lot of mistakes while flying ever since I first joined the Navy, and that was because I wanted to be like my father so much. Eventually, my commanding officer, Viper, taught me how to fly correctly, even though I felt like I was flying against a ghost. Now, I'm the best pilot in the Navy all thanks to him!"
"Interesting!" I said. "Reminds me of my dad. He's a pilot, as you might know, and he's afraid of heights. But after going through training and stuff like that, he realized his fear doesn't make him afraid of flying planes!"
"Wow! Your dad's brave!"
Maverick and I were starting to get along pretty well. But, all of a sudden, I completely lost my feelings. After a pause in our conversation, I was going to do it: I was going to tell Maverick my feelings. But something happened that caused me to stop.
The next song that came on was a song that I completely remember. It was Baby I Love Your Way by (I literally have no idea some people are saying Bob Marley but others are saying others so idk ;/). That song... that song was a song that Johnny and I really liked when we were together. I suddenly felt the temptation to stop the music.
"Ah! I love this song!" Maverick exclaimed. But I didn't care.
"Maverick! Turn the music off!" I exclaimed, covering my ears.
"Why?"
"JUST TURN IT OFF!!!"
"Fine, I'll change it to the next song," Maverick leaned over to my phone and tapped it to change the song. Now, a song that I've never heard was playing. I moaned, and buried my head in a pillow.
"What was that all about?!" Maverick exclaimed.
"I-I'm sorry..." I mumbled. "It's just... that was a song that my ex and I loved a lot when we were together."
Maverick stopped sipping his wine. "That song?" He said. "You and whoever the f—k you used to date used to like that song?"
"Yes," I said quietly. "Those were beautiful days. We would go out to a beach somewhere and we would stay there until everyone leaves. Then, when the beach is empty and the sun starts to set, I would play that song on my phone. Then, we would join hands and dance on the beach for hours, maybe, and I got sick of how many times we would listen to that song. Of course, with us not together anymore, I never listen to that song anymore."
Maverick was silent for a minute. "Geez, I'm sorry," he said. "That does sound like beautiful days."
"Yeah, Johnny and I were madly in love back then..." I buried my head in a pillow again.
"So how did you guys break up?"
Oh crap. I dreaded someone asking me that question. But I had to answer. So I answered in the best way possible, just so I wouldn't start crying in front of my crush.
"Well, to make a long story short, I didn't go out with him to dinner because I thought he was cheating on me. I went home and started watching a twenty-four-hour marathon of Top Gun on TV, and he got infuriated. He called me a bunch of names and it made me upset. But I shouldn't care! He was an enormous jerk, anyway..."
Maverick sighed and nodded. "Sounds upsetting," he said.
"He thought I was worthless..."
Maverick gasped and sat straight up in his chair. "Really?" He exclaimed. "Oh my God! Who would ever treat a girl like you like that?"
I groaned. "Someone in a gang, of course..." I mumbled.
"A boy in a gang? Hell, girl! You shouldn't be ashamed that you guys aren't together anymore! Boys in gangs are lawbreakers! He probably wanted to kill you! I'm sorry, but why did you even fall for him in the first place?!"
I groaned again. "He was the only kid in the gang that wasn't as violent as the others. But I'm still wrong. He smoked. And he killed someone once, but it was for self defense. But I don't care. HE KILLED SOMEONE!"
"Oh geez, what kind of boys are you into? Why did that boy even get into you?"
It was the stupidest reason ever, but why would I lie to Maverick?
"He was cute... and he thought I was cute..."
Maverick scoffed, and sounded extremely confused. "Wha—really?!" He said unenthusiastically. "THAT'S the whole reason? He was CUTE?! Madison, that's not a reason to love a man. You know that, right?!"
"Yeah," I mumbled again. "Back then, I didn't know what type of people to fall in love with. Until I met you..."
Maverick blinked a couple times. He then leaned over to me, seeming a little concerned, and whispered to me.
"Telling you what, I'm better than that gang guy you were with. By miles," he said. He then leaned away from me.
I looked back at Maverick, smiled, and nodded. "You are definitely better than Johnny," I said. "By a long shot."
Maverick stood up from his chair and smiled. He seemed to laugh a little as well. He still had that charming smile on his face. He probably enjoyed it when I told him he is better than Johnny.
(That's true tho. Jillian, if you are reading this, please remember this ;-;)
Before I knew it, the song that was playing at the current time ended, and it proceeded to another song. I completely remembered the next song that played. It was Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's (another great song btw). Something about that song seemed to calm me down. But in a depressing way.
"My turn. This song..." I said to Maverick as the slow and quiet song began playing. "This song relaxes me, but in a special and kinda sad way."
"Oh! How's that?" Maverick got intrigued about my story.
"Well, this song just reminds me of something from my childhood. When I was a very young girl, I used to live about twenty minutes away from a shopping district city. I grew up in Ohio, so that city was the only fun city close to me. That city, however, was where a special store was located. Have you ever heard of Toys R Us?"
(Nostalgia, anyone?)
Toys R Us. Maverick was thinking about the name of the store for a while. He then lit up. "Hey! I swear to God I heard about that store! It has some locations in Texas and Canada, does it?"
"No. That's a whole other Toys R Us," I said. "Now, this one I'm talking about is better than the one today. This one was a huge chunk of my childhood. When I was a little girl, I loved that store with all of my heart. That was the only store that was really a true toy store. Kids were everywhere and they would always come there to find their favorite things. They would be running down every aisle, saying things like 'Mommy! I want that toy!' and laughing for no reason or having fun with pretty much everything. Clearly, that store took toy stores to a whole other level. And I loved that store when I was little."
Maverick rested his head on his fist. "What ever happened with that store?" He asked patiently.
"Well, in 2018, it filed for bankruptcy, and it closed its stores. Everywhere. Except for Canada. So now I would have to go to Target or Walmart to get toys, but since then I lost interest in toys, and I mostly got Harry Potter merchandise or electronics instead. But Toys R Us will always have a special place in my heart. And the new store today is garbage. I want Geoffrey the Giraffe, not a gay rainbow."
"Wait, why did it file for bankruptcy?" Maverick interrupted. "And why does this song make you think of it?"
"It was because people were starting to no longer come to that store. They would get toys off of Amazon instead. And this song makes me think of Toys R Us because I heard this song there, the very last time I came to that store."
(Actually, I'm not really sure if I have heard that song the very last time I was there. Otherwise I KNOW I've heard that song there before.)
Maverick was sad about the story I told. He seemed upset over me experiencing the closure of my favorite store when I was young. It can be hard facing through the death of something when you're young, but I learned my lesson over it closing: you just have to let it go.
"I'm sorry about that," he whispered. "That's extremely sad. That place does sound fun..."
"It was a little kid's paradise. I can't believe it had to close. Also, I wished one day I could take my children to that store, but now I can't."
Maverick got up and sat next to me on the couch. I continued to relax to the song and feel depressed. Maverick combed his fingers through my hair and wrapped his arm around me. He tried to cheer me up.
"I kinda think it was too early for you to have kids, anyway," he said.
"What do you mean?!" I shook a bit.
Maverick smiled. "I never wanted to have it with you that night," he said. "You're still a you-know-what and you're only in your twenties. I never wanted to do it that night at the party. I just wanted some alone time with you..."
I blushed as Maverick kept smiling. I started to think: did he actually love me? If not, was he starting to love me? Was it finally happening after all this time?
(Harry Potter fans (and me): A L W A Y S)
"Ya know, we can just go inside the house and we can go to my room and go for it," I laughed.
Maverick got confused. "What?" He said.
"I'm just joking," I said. "We can go inside and watch some TV, if you want to. We have plenty of time here."
"Okay, I'm cool with that," said Maverick. So we got up, turned off the music, and we headed back inside.
"Also, I'm in my late twenties, Maverick!" I corrected as Maverick and I walked inside the house. Maverick just laughed.
"How was I supposed to know?" He said.
We then ran upstairs to my room and tried to turn the TV on. But then I remembered: the cable box on my TV isn't working. We couldn't watch TV in my room....
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Maverick," I said as I sat on my bed. "The cable box in my bedroom won't work. We have to watch TV downstairs."
"Hold on, lemme check it," Maverick gravitated towards the TV in my room and he stared at all of the cords behind the TV. Eventually, after rummaging around with the cords, Maverick somehow solved our problem.
"Oh, that's why! Why is the cable box unplugged?"
The cable box was unplugged? And Maverick had to fix it? Weird. The person who stayed here at this beach house before must've been messing around with the cords of the cable box for some reason. Who knows?
So Maverick plugged in the cable box and got it fixed. I cuddled myself underneath the sheets as Maverick approached me. Maverick did the same thing I did, only he was holding onto the remote. He turned the cable on and changed it to some random channel playing Tosh.O (an inappropriate but funny show btw).
"Hey! I love this show!" I exclaimed, gripping onto the sheets. Maverick sat next to me and leaned against me. And then we began watching TV.
We were probably watching TV for an hour. The episode we were watching was so funny that I cried of laughter, and Maverick started coughing. I always thought Tosh.O was stupid yet hilarious. Maverick really enjoyed it as well. Needless to say, everything went as expected.
That's pretty good. It felt great knowing that my date with Maverick was successful.
"Dammit! I have to go!" Maverick said through laughter as we were watching the show. It was already 8:15, and it was getting dark outside. I wiped tears of laughter off my face.
"Okay, enough laughing. Let's go downstairs."
So we went downstairs and stood by the front door. Maverick slipped on his pilot jacket, and I watched him. I suddenly remembered: my feelings. I forgot to tell Maverick my feelings, just like Goose told me to do! So, right after Maverick slipped his boots on, I spoke up.
"Hey, uh, Maverick?"
"What?" He turned to me.
I got nervous once I saw Maverick's beautiful green eyes meet mine, but I had the courage to speak the truth.
"Umm, you might be surprised by this, but thanks for coming tonight. I had lots of fun! Also, I—err..."
"You can say it."
But I didn't. I was so nervous that I ended up lying.
Well, I didn't really lie, I just said the complete opposite of what I wanted.
"You might've heard that I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm going to miss you. But don't worry, I don't need a ride to the airport. I'll call you when I get home, though! See you in two weeks!"
Maverick smiled yet again. "I'll miss you too," he said. "It was nice meeting you. Thanks for dinner, I enjoyed being here."
"Thanks," I blushed. But the very moment Maverick opened the door to leave, I couldn't take it anymore. I loved Maverick so much that I finally told him the truth.
Actually, I didn't.
(Haha... got you?)
I ran to Maverick and hugged him as he stepped out of the house. Shockingly, he hugged me back! He looked a little pained that I was leaving, but he still didn't seem that sad.
"I love you," I whispered.
Maverick sighed, and patted my back. He probably didn't want to hear those words come out of my mouth.
"I know... I know..." he whispered back.
(Also that's supposed to be a Star Wars reference but idk)
I sighed. This probably meant that I have been rejected. Again.
(Take My Breath Away starts playing yet again)
We let go of each other, and Maverick and I said one last goodbye before he left. I stood at the doorstep and watched as Maverick got on his fancy red motorcycle. I watched as he started it up and drove it away in the sunset. Just hearing the sound of the engine roaring made butterflies flutter in my stomach. Once he was gone, I ran back in my house and shut the door. Everything was quiet again.
I laid down on the couch, hugged a pillow, and stared dreamily at the ceiling. All I could think of was of how well the dinner went. We didn't get in a fight (thank goodness) and, well... did Maverick reject me again?
It's my last day here. And I have to wake up at five in the morning to leave tomorrow. And all of this time passed by, and I haven't even heard Maverick tell me he loved me. Something about that didn't sound right. I can't just leave tomorrow and realize that I squandered all of my time traveling for nothing!
I turned to the ottoman, where my phone was laying. I then had an idea.
Why not stay for another week?