As Bradley pulled away from Nova's lips, he worried that it was the wrong time to kiss her. It wasn't just a kiss after all, it was their first kiss. If you asked Nova, she'd say that Bradley kissed her to make her stop stressing about everything, and really just to shut her up.
That's not why he did it, though. In Bradley's mind, Nova looked beautiful right then. She looked beautiful in the classroom when she smirked at him, and in the hallway when she laughed. She looked beautiful when she was crying in his lap two days ago, when she was sprinting full speed on the treadmill, and the very first time he saw her when she was struggling to get the gas pump out of her car. Right now, in her car in the dark parking lot when she was rambling on and on about everything going on in her head, she looked fucking beautiful.
Bradley kissed her because he couldn't help it. Because he was filled with so much adoration for her that he couldn't contain himself, he couldn't keep it in.
Nova froze in place for a moment, she didn't say anything to him. The only sound in the vehicle was the unsteady breath she let out. He started to get scared that she didn't like the fact that he just kissed her, and that he made things weird between them.
"I'm s-" Bradley begins to apologize, but his words are cut short by Nova placing her lips back on his.
Nova couldn't help it either. The feeling of his lips on hers was something she had been anticipating, thinking about constantly. Once they finally kissed, she only wanted more. Bradley kisses her back with an equal amount of passion, moving his mouth with hers in a way that felt perfect to both of them. It felt right.
Now that Bradley knew what it was like to kiss Nova, he never wanted to stop. They way the two of them melted into each other was like they had connected on a whole other level.
Bradley's hands travel down the length of Nova's body, sliding down her waste and landing on her ass. She then deepened the kiss, leaning as close as she can to him over the console and tangling her fingers in his short hair. His hands continued to aimlessly wander her body, as if he was trying to prove to himself that she was real, that she was really there and that it was really her kissing him.
"Brad." She murmured between kisses.
"Hmm?" He pulls away from her mouth and opens his eyes.
"What time is it?" She anxiously grabs her phone to see that it's 10:56 Pm.
"Ten fifty six." He tells her, looking at the screen on her center console. "Shit, the gates close at 11."
They go back to talking like they normally do, not saying anything about the kiss they just shared. It's not awkward, though. The air between them isn't too thick, it feels just fine actually. It feels natural.
"We better go before we're locked in." She says, putting her car in drive and starting towards the exit. "Shit sucks." She mumbles.
"We've got an early morning." Bradley brings up as they drive through the night.
"Sure do. All my stuffs already on base though, so I can roll out pretty quick."
"Same. Everything is all packed in my locker, it's weird." Bradley tells her.
"Weird?" Nova questions.
"It just feels so soon. I dunno, I feel like training went by really fast. I don't know if I'm ready."
"I know you're ready." Nova reassures him, grabbing his hand in hers. "I'm taking you to your place, right?"
"Oh yeah, I guess so." He nods.
They pull up to the rental house and see no light whatsoever. Everyone's cars are parked in their usual spots, but no windows are lit up. It's the same for all of the houses on this street assigned to this mission.
"How are they all asleep?" Bradley murmurs, looking at the house in front of him.
"Do you wanna stay with me?" Nova offers, running he thumb over his hand.
"Yeah, if you're cool with that." He agrees without a second thought, not wanting to wake anyone up, or spend the night alone.
"I don't really want to be alone tonight." She tells him, and he feels the same way.
"Neither do I." He admits.
The drive to Nova's house was short and close to silent. She was a little nervous bringing Bradley into her home, because she hadn't ever brought a guy over. Not a guy like Bradley Bradshaw, anyway. Neither of them really knew what to expect, or what the other person would expect.
"Alright." She gives his hand a squeeze, pulling into her driveway.
I front of them is a small white house with a light blue door and matching light blue shutters on each window. They both got out of the car and Nova led Bradley to the front door. He glanced around as they passed a small patch of her yard covered in yellow flowers, and made their way up the short steps. It was awfully dark inside when Nova twisted her key in the door and opened it, but she quickly flipped the lights on, not liking the fact that she couldn't see.
Her house was just what Bradley could've imagined. There were plants and picture frames scattered around her kitchen and living room. Everything was blue, white, or made of wood. In his subtle scan around the house, he saw a picture of Nova with Maverick, one of her with Iceman, and another one of her with Penny and Amelia. She had a record player in her living room next to a shelf of vinyls that reached the ceiling. Her couch was a dark blue and had a shit ton of pillows. It looked like a home. Bradley liked that.
He was so used to living in Navy provided houses and apartments that he'd forgotten what it felt like to be in a real home. Sure, he had a house back in Virginia, but it felt empty there. It didn't feel empty at all here, but it didn't feel like too much either. It felt nice, refreshing even.
Now that Bradley was here, Nova noticed the blanket she left draped over her couch, and the half full coffee mug on her kitchen counter. She looked around and noticed the record she left on the turntable, and it's jacket and sleeves messily set down on a table. She noticed her white converse that she lazily kicked off on the floor and the stacks of graph paper on her coffee table.
"Sorry, I know it's pretty messy right now-"
"I love it." Bradley grins at her from across the room.
Nova lightly laughs at his words, not really sure why he's saying them. She worked hard on her home, yes, but she was used to it. She'd been living here for three years, and has constantly been changing little things about the house.
"I decorated it myself." She smiles cheesily, walking over to him.
She looked as if she was walking on air the way she strutted across the dark oak floor and into Bradley's arms.
"You did a good job. It looks like a home, y'know? A real one." He wraps his arms around her torso from behind her, and she grips his arms with her hands.
"Well, it is a real one." She giggles.
"It's nice to see a house that's actually furnished, I mean. My place feels so empty when I'm there." He tells her.
"Give me a call when you move to Fightertown and I can furnish you up." She says.
"Furnish me up?" He laughs.
"Yeah, in another life I am an interior designer, Bradley Bradshaw."
"I believe it. You've got a good vibe going on in here."
There's a faint scratching at the back door, the glass making a rubbery sound when Nova's dog, Bowie paws at the door. Nova doesn't notice until she hears him barking. She was so nervous about bringing Bradley here that she completely forgot to introduce them.
"Bowie!" She runs out of Bradley's arms and to the entrance to her backyard. She opens the sliding door wide and a black Labrador retriever runs in, practically tackling the small girl to the ground.
She squats down and pets her dog, who has missed her all day long. When Bowie sees Bradley, he shifts into work mode and starts barking at him. Nova didn't have men come over ever, and the dog was not used to seeing them in the house.
"Bowie, he's nice!" Nova tells the dog, who looks at her and immediately stops barking.
That's when Bowie greets this stranger with full enthusiasm, glad to be getting pet by someone new. His entire demeanor shifts in a second, and if this guy is Nova's friend, he is Bowies friend too. He was too sweet to be an army dog, and Nova knew that.
"You really did win that relationship. I was staring to wonder if it was all a lie." Bradley jokes, playing with her dog.
"I'm not a liar, just a winner." She says proudly.
Nova offers up her shower to Bradley, and shows him around her room. He uses her shower for the night, washing off the long day he had. Nova takes this time to feed Bowie and clean up around her house. As she's pouring food into the dog bowl, she realizes that she hasn't eaten since breakfast. Stovetop mac and cheese would have to do for tonight, it was late anyway.
Bradley emerges from her room in the Top Gun tshirt she gave him that she happened to get in a 3xl for her to sleep in. She knew it could come in clutch one day.
"Do I look good or what?" He asks, stretching his arms out.
"See, I knew stealing that shirt from the bookstore was a good idea!" Nova smiles at him from the kitchen as he walks in.
"Maybe next time you can steal some pants too." He looks down at his bare legs, only in his underwear. It's not like it mattered though, the shirt was long even on his body.
"No, no, I think this might just be your new look." She laughs, visibly checking him out with no shame.
"Nova Mitchell!" He mumbles, sarcastically taken aback.
He pulls her in for a kiss, and she goes right with him. It felt so natural to both of them the way their lips molded together perfectly.
"Alright, I gotta shower real quick." Nova pulls away. "I made mac and cheese. It tastes like shit, but you're gonna eat it, okay?"
"Yes ma'am." He nods.
"Make yourself at home, please. Just don't be too loud cause Bowie's sleeping now and he gets cranky when you wake him up." She starts toward her room.
"Sounds good." Bradley agrees.
"See you in a minute, just come on in whenever." She says, receiving a thumbs up from Bradley before going to take a shower.
Bradley takes this time to look around her house. She has a few paintings with flowers and stuff, and some potted plants that he couldn't tell were fake or not. There were lots of pictures scattered around the entire house, so he decided to look around while eating a bowl of mac and cheese. It wasn't even that shitty, too. Nova had a lot of pictures with Mav and Ice, and some with her mom. Bradley's mom was even in one of them, which was odd for him to see. She had pictures of her with the Kazansky's kids and a few with Penny and Amelia when Amelia was little. There were also some of Bowie, of course, and some of Nova with her friends and coworkers.
When Bradley finished his makeshift dinner and his walk around the living room, he headed back to Nova's room at the same time she emerged from her bathroom. They climbed into her bed together and automatically gravitated towards one another. When Bradley shut her bedroom door, Nova's room got dark quick. It was close to pitch black, the only light coming from the moon that peaked through the cracks in the blinds. Nova's body shifted over Bradley's, resting her head on his chest and a leg across his body. He held her close, a hand slowly running through her soft dark curls as he hoped she wouldn't notice how fast his heart was beating. She didn't worry about that though, she had her own heartbeat to worry about. The soothing motion of his fingers threading through each lock of hair made Nova practically melt into him.
"This is our last night before the mission. Our last night on land, I mean." Nova murmurs, her face pressed against Bradley's hard chest.
"Yeah. Better not waste it."
"What do you mean by that?" She lifts her head, propping herself up on his chest with her arms folded beneath her body.
"Nothing. I just mean we should enjoy this moment before everything gets all...Top Gun."
"Oh. Yeah, you're right."
"What did you think I meant?" He asks curiously, breathing out with the slightest bit of laughter.
"Nothing, nothing." She dodges the question, leaving Bradley only to assume.
"Nova Mitchell..." He rests his hands on the small of her back.
"Bradley Bradshaw?"
"Tell me what you were thinking." He laughs.
"Nothing! I wasn't thinking anything, not anything important at least. I was just confused, that's all." She defends.
"Sure, sure." He smirks.
"Wait a minute..." Her eyebrows furrow at him, but he can't see her expression in the dark.
"Yes?"
"What were you thinking I was thinking?" She flips the question around at him.
Bradley opens his mouth to speak, but shortly closes it when he realizes he has nothing to say. He can't win with Nova, but he didn't mind. Not at all.
"Speechless?" Nova says after his stutter and inability to form a sentence.
"Haha-shut up!" He laughs, running his hand along her spine.
The motions of his rough fingertips running along her spine made Nova's heart skip a beat, and she only wanted more of that feeling. The feeling of Bradley's hands on her body, that is.
"Make me." She snaps back automatically, her words being shortened by his lips smashing against hers.
Nova's hands go straight to Bradley's hair the second she feels his lips on hers, kissing him back not just with passion, but also with a need for him this time. She kissed him like her life was on the line, and tomorrow his would be. His lips, just as needy, molded with hers for the third time that night. This time was different, though. They didn't just want each other this time, they needed each other.
Bradley deepened the kiss, delving his tongue into her mouth and making her grip his shoulders. Nova felt the urge to get close to him. She was already halfway on top of Bradley, but she moved to straddle him as his hands continued to wander her body. It was like she couldn't control herself the way she climbed on top of him, and he didn't mind, not at all.
All she wanted that night was him, and all he wanted was her. The two of them wanted, needed, to be as close to each other as physically possible, because they were afraid. They were so afraid of what tomorrow brought that all they wanted to do tonight was be together in every way. And they were together, and that was all that mattered that night. What would matter the next morning, they had only the slightest clue.