The weekend had soon rolled around, bringing an end to another week.
Tom had still yet to inform Kara of their date, and Kara had preferred that they rather hadn't gone through with it, but as the pilot had told her, 'A bet's a bet.'
She wasn't one to back down from a bet, and she couldn't help but be curious and see where this date could lead her with the handsome, ice-cold pilot.
She was currently seated at a table with Terence, Nick, and Pete as they waited for Carole, Bradley, and Pep to land.
"I told her how tough it is here." Nick said, referring to his wife. "You know, my ass dragging like an old, tired dog."
"No kidding." Terence scoffed lightly with a nod. "I told Pep the exact same thing."
"I told her that you didn't even have a woman here." Nick added, making Pete smile in amusement; the pilot probably already guessing what his RIO's wife had to say to that. "Or that Kara hadn't found herself a 'man'."
"Oh really?" Pete quizzed as his thoughts ran towards a certain blonde instructor.
"And why am I popping up in your conversation with Carole?" Kara questioned as a light blush dusted across her cheeks before her eyes fell towards the United States Navy plane out on the tarmac, where passengers had begun disembarking.
Nick chuckled at his sister. "You know what she said, Mav?" He asked his best friend as he took hold of the rose he had bought for his wife and a toy jet for his son. "She said,'Oh, he probably doesn't have one. He's got eight.'"
The table erupted into a round of laughs before Nick and Terence got out of their seats to go and greet their wives.
The two RIOs raced outside, with Carole screaming in happiness at the sight of her husband before she was pulled into a passionate kiss as he embraced her while Pep let out a a giggle as Terence spun her around and showered her face with kisses.
Kara stood beside Pete, the two pilots watching the scene with fond smiles on their faces.
"That'll be you soon enough." Kara said, nudging her friend softly. "Running up to Charlie, pulling her into your embrace."
Pete laughed softly. "Oh, whatever." He brushed the blonde off with a smile. "And what about you? I'm surprised you haven't gotten yourself a guy yet."
"All in due time, Peter." The female pilot stated with a smirk, patting his shoulder before she made her way over to her brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. "In due time.
Eventually, the gang had left the airport with Kara, Carole, and Pep, having their small reunion before grabbing their luggage from baggage claim.
"So, Maverick," Carole began, her arm wrapped around her husband as she settled her gaze on the dark-haired pilot, as he assisted his RIO and Terence with the luggage while Kara held Bradley. "Goose tells me you're in love with one of your instructors."
Pete paused in his steps and shifted his gaze from Carole towards his best friend. "Is that right?" He questioned.
"I.." Nick stammered as he watched his best friend continue his walk. "I-I didn't tell her that."
"Yes, you did." Carole said with a smile, completely revealing her husband's blatant lie.
Kara smirked up at her older brother before she shifted her hazel gaze towards Bradley, who was in his own world playing with the toy jet that Nick had gotten him. "Daddy's busted." She teased.
"Daddy busted!" Bradley repeated with a laugh, eliciting a laugh from his Aunt.
"That's right, buddy." Kara said with a giggle.
Nick glared playfully at his younger sister before he looked back over at Pete briefly and turned towards his wife. "I-I.."
"Yes, you did." The blonde woman repeated.
"I can't believe you said that." The eldest Bradshaw stated, glaring at her playfully with a smile as he leaned in towards her. "That was a secret."
As the parents shared a kiss, Kara simply covered her nephew's eyes - even though he wasn't paying any attention. "There are children present, you two." She teased.
"And don't think you're getting off scot-free." Pep added, which grabbed Carole's attention. "Terence told me all about the tension between you and a certain pilot."
Kara turned towards her RIO with a deadpanned expression with Terence only stammering in response with widened blue eyes.
"What's that, Mav? Sure, I'll help you!" Terence exclaimed, calling out towards the dark-haired pilot, who hadn't asked a thing, all while avoiding his pilot's gaze. "I'm just gonna go and help Mav with.. Uh.. With that thing."
"Mmhmm." Kara hummed as Pep simply smirked at her husband.
"I'm gonna go." The RIO said, almost nervously, and all but sprinted towards Pete; Pep, Nick, and Carole laughing at the man's antics while Kara shook her head with a fond smile.
The weekend seemed to have flown by quickly, much to Kara's dismay, which meant that it was back to lessons for the aviators.
"The bogey has good position right here. Alright, freeze frame." Viper explained from the front of the room as the class of young pilots sat in their seats, watching the scenario shown on screen. "Moment of choice. The F-14 is defensive. He has a chance to bug out right here."
Kara and Terence were seated in the front row beside Nick and Pete, while Tom was seated right behind her. He was leaning forward in his chair, his chin resting atop his arms that he had resting on the bars in front of him while Kara had done the opposite. She had leaned back in her seat, with her head barely touching his arm.
She couldn't help but blush slightly at the memory of her head brushing against his arm when she had first leaned back in her chair. She kind of despised this effect that the pilot had on her.
"Better to retire and save your aircraft than push a bad position." Viper continued and briefly glanced to the side. "Charlie, jump in here anytime. Now, you stay put in that diamond another three seconds, the bogey's gonna blow you out of the sky. You take a hard right, select zone five, and you can extend an escape. You made a bad choice."
The screen changed once again after the Commander had finished his explanation with Charlie now taking over.
"Aircraft one performs a split S? That's the last thing you should do. The MiG's right on your tail." She said and stood up, moving towards Pete as the screen had changed again. "The MiG has you in his gunsight. What were you thinking at this point?"
"You don't have time to think up there." Pete explained. "If you think you're dead."
"Well, that's a big gamble with a $30 million dollar plane, Lieutenant." Charlie responded with Pete staring at her in silence as a response. "Unfortunately, the gamble worked. The MiG never got a clear shot."
Kara glanced towards her friend, and instead of his normal, cocky self, she was met with a neutral expression. He clenched his jaw slightly, appearing embarrassed.
"Maverick makes an aggressive vertical move here, comes over the top, and he defeats the bandit with a missile shot." The blonde instructor continued. "The encounter was a victory, but I think we've shown it as an example of what not to do."
As Charlie had continued her explanation of the maneuvers that the pilots had done, Kara had exchanged a silent look with Terence before she felt a presence lean forward between them.
"Gutsiest move I ever saw, Mav." Rick whispered quietly before leaning back in his seat, to which Kara had seen a ghost of a smile tug at the corner of her friend's mouth.
Once the class had been dismissed for the day, Kara made her way down the hallway and immediately pulled her hair loose from the military style bun.
She ran her hand through her blonde locks with a soft sigh, not expecting someone to slip their arm around her waist. Although, seeing that it was none other than Tom Kazansky, the blonde figured it would've happened soon enough considering their agreement of the bet.
"So, Kara." The pilot began, only to earn a hum from the blonde in response. "Any plans for tonight?"
Kara glanced up at him, meeting his icy blue eyes that gazed into her hazel. She couldn't help but sense a hit of nervousness radiating off of him, which she had found surprising since he had always carried himself with pride.
"Not that I know of." She responded. "Why?"
"Perfect." He said, pausing as he began to gather his words. He had never gotten nervous around a girl before, but then again, none of them were Kara Bradshaw. "Would you like to go out for dinner with me? It's nothing fancy, really.."
The blonde tilted her head slightly as she stared up at the ice-cold pilot. Would this outing count as a date?
Her thoughts had began to run wild with possible scenarios of how the night would go but then she thought back to what Carole and Pep had told her over the weekend, 'You won't know if you don't take the chance.'
A small, sweet smile graced her lips as she nodded her head. "Sure." She responded.
"Great." A charming smile formed across Tom's lips, the hint of nervousness slowly fading but still there. "I'll pick you up at 7?"
"7 sounds good." Kara nodded with a smile.
"I'll see you then." He stated with a wink and slipped his arm from around her waist before he made his way over to Ron, who stood a couple of meters away, waiting for his pilot.
With a smile still glittered across her lips, the blonde glanced down at her watch, only for her smile to disappear.
She had two hours to get herself ready.