Chapter 1
Top Gunning
*A/N: in this chapter, Kayla is 7, TC is 17, and Thad is 19*
Kayla rubbed her eyes as she tried to focus on her math homework. It was adding two-digit numbers and she was frustrated, unable to grasp the concept while music and sound effects came through to the kitchen from the living room.
Thad and TC were watching her while their parents went out on their first date night in years. Thad was visiting on his break from training and would be there for another 5 weeks, something that made everybody happy.
But Kayla wasn't happy at that moment. It was a Friday night and she didn't even have to go to school the next day! But her older brothers wanted to watch their stupid movie and had told her to do her homework so that she didn't disturb them.
Kayla pouted as she heard her brothers laugh at something on screen and pushed her math worksheet away, putting her chin in her hands and pouting. Her feet didn't reach the floor and they swung back and forth, hitting the cabinets under the high top in her frustration. Math was boring! Whatever they were doing sounded so much better!
The 7-year old pushed away from the counter and hopped down from the chair, landing loudly on the floor. She padded towards the living room, bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor in the hallway.
TC and Thad were sprawled across the couch, popcorn and chips and sodas spread across the coffee table. Planes were flying by on the screen and Kayla's eyes widened as they did a spinny move and shot away. Kayla walked up behind the couch, standing behind TC.
"Cool," she whispered, staring at the screen. TC jumped, throwing popcorn across the couch, and Thad's gaze whipped to his baby sister.
"Kayla! You scared the shi-ickes out of me," TC barely caught his curse at a glare from Thad. "What are you doing in here?"
"I wanted to see what you guys were doing," Kayla explained. "It sounded wayyyy more fun than stupid math." She rolled her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Did you get your homework done?" Thad asked, jabbing the pause button on the remote before turning to look at her with raised eyebrows. Kayla looked down and shuffled her feet.
"No," she mumbled. "But it's not due until Monday. I have aaaaall weekend. And it's boring and confusing and stupid." She rolled her eyes in exasperation, putting her hands on her hips.
TC held back a chuckled at the sight of her, trying to be serious like their mom but instead looking overdramatic. Thad looked slightly overwhelmed but TC was used to this from Kayla. She hated homework of all kinds, especially when everyone else was doing stuff without her.
"Can I pleaseeeeeeee watch the movie with you? Pretty pleaseee Tad?" Kayla whined, jumping around the couch to stand in front of him and beg. Thad exchanged a glance with TC and huffed, nodding. Kayla squealed and jumped at him, giving him a big hug before plopping down in between them, crossing her legs on the couch.
"Press playyyyy," she ordered, pushing against Thad's leg. He exchanged a glance with TC over her head and could see the laughter in his eyes.
Slowly, he reached for the remote, taking his time just to annoy Kayla. She was practically bouncing up and down in her seat waiting for the movie to keep playing. Thad picked up the remote in slow motion and started bringing it up to point at the tv at a snail's pace.
"Hurry up you slow butt!" Kayla whined, pushing against his shoulder. "Why are you so slow? Bennie the turtle can press play faster than you, and he's a turtle!" TC chuckled, spreading his arms across the back of the couch behind Kayla.
Thad laughed and pressed play, causing Kayla to smile widely and settle back in between her brothers. While they were still in their thicker jeans and jackets from when they were out earlier in the day, Kayla was already in her thin pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt she had spilled paint on the previous year.
"Wow," she whispered as planes shot by again and did a whirly-woo. "That's so cool! TC, did you see that?!"
TC chuckled and exchanged another glance with Thad, who was smiling more at the antics of his sister than the movie.
"Yeah, that was pretty cool," he agreed, plopping his feet up on the coffee table and pulling a bowl of popcorn towards himself.
"Can I do that?" Kayla asked.
"Yeah, I guess, but I don't think your legs will reach the coffee table," he answered, looking at how short she was.
"Not that, T. I meant that!" She pointed at the screen, eyes widening even more—which TC didn't think was possible.
"Uh." TC looked to Thad, who looked down at his sister when she swiveled her gaze from TC to the screen to Thad then back at the screen.
"Yeah, you can do that when you're older. But only if you're a in Naval Aviation," he told her and she looked back up at him with awe in her expression.
"What's Naval Aviation?" Kayla scrunched up her face trying to say both 'Naval' and 'Aviation'.
"Well, Naval means the Navy, which is boats and stuff like that," Thad explained. "And Aviation means flying and planes and everything involved in that. The people in the movie are in the Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School. They're the elites of the Naval Aviation sector."
Kayla's eyes got even wider and she started bouncing in her seat.
"I'm gonna be like them when I'm older!" she exclaimed, shooting her eyes back to the screen to watch the movie.
"I'm sure you will, Kayla. I'm sure you will," Thad murmured, looking back at the tv. It was at the scene right after Goose's death and Maverick was considering not graduating from the school.
"That's so sad," Kayla whispered, leaning back against the couch and frowning. "He lost his best friend. I don't ever want to lose you guys." She was still staring at the movie, pouting slightly.
"What about your best friend?" TC asked, still looking at the screen.
"You and Tad are my best friends, everyone else at school thinks I'm weird," she answered, only half-into the conversation. Most of her small attention span was focused on the movie.
TC frowned as he heard her words and looked over at Thad, who had his eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at his sister. Their eyes met and an unspoken conversation passed between them as Kayla oohed and ahhed at the movie again.
The rest of the movie was spent with Kayla getting excited about every little thing, especially when a plane was in the sky. Thad finished off the chips right as Maverick was rejoining Iceman and Hollywood as they defended a communications ship. TC had finished the popcorn long before that.
As the credits rolled, Kayla clapped happily.
"That was so cool! The main dude was sooooo cool!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Thanks for letting me watch Tad, thank you thank you thank you!" She wrapped her small arms around his neck and squeezed.
"How could I say no to my favorite sibling?" He winked down at her as TC made an irritated noise in his throat. Thad looked at the digital clock and was surprised to see it was 9 and his sister was still so energetic.
"Alright, T and I gotta clean this mess up now before you gotta go to bed," Thad said, extracting himself from Kayla's hug and standing up to stretch. Kayla flopped back on the couch and watched as they picked up the popcorn bowls, empty soda cans, and smushed bags of chips to carry into the kitchen.
When they came back into the living room, Kayla was sound asleep on the couch, mouth slung open and head drooped onto her shoulder. TC chuckled and went to pick up the last couple of soda cans as Thad lifted Kayla off the couch. She shivered slightly from the cold air hitting her back and wound her arms around his neck, still dead asleep.
Thad laid her down in her small bed and tucked her stuffed animal underneath her arm before pulling up the covers. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing and leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him.
In her sleep, Kayla smiled.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I'm sorry it took me so freaking long to update this story as I explained in my previous author's note. I hope you all enjoyed this part. If you didn't make the connection, this is the scene that Kayla references in "Blood Brothers" over on the main story.
Also, this was mainly a Thad chapter just how the prologue was a TC scene. I thought it would be fitting to kind of show the start of the dynamics between Kayla and each of her brothers.
If you liked this, don't forget to favorite and follow this story! And as always: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Thanks for reading
xoxo
L