10. Confession

Well his friends' words had inspired him to make a move - of sorts. He would ask Finley if she wanted to get together and seek her reaction from there.

Goose was right when he said that Pete fell hard and fast, but also strong - just because he fell deeply and quickly didn't mean that his feelings were any less genuine. Okay, so none of his previous relationships had ended all that well - Charlie, Penny, and many, many others - but he had made peace with all his exes, and so he felt better going forward with Finley, and wherever that might lead to.

Pete: Hey, so I actually went grocery shopping - can I actually cook you dinner?

No, that sounded too much like he was asking her out, and he didn't want to call it a date until he was sure she was on board with that - if she was on board with it.

Pete: Hey, so I actually went grocery shopping ;)

Maybe not a winky face, not just yet.

Pete: Hey, so I actually went grocery shopping :P

There, better. So he sent the text like that and waited for her response. He was glad when it came buzzing in a few minutes later.

Finley: Oh really? XD I'm shocked!

Pete: Yeah, haha. I was going to cook

Well, that was kind of obvious, wasn't it?

Pete: Yeah, haha! Want to join me for a home-cooked dinner and a movie?

There, that sounded fine, wasn't implying anything, just something fun that he would rather do with someone than by himself, rather do with her.

Finley: That sounds super nice! :)

Pete gave a silent cheer.

Finley: And I have leftover brownies too ;)

Pete: Oh yes please!

Okay, that warranted a winky face.

Okay, he'd done the hard part, he'd asked her. He could take it from here.

After setting a day and time for the dinner and movie night, Finley drove out to Pete's hangar home.

She parked her bike out front, knocked on the door, then rang the bell - nothing, no response.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

At first she thought it was a bug, but no, that was the sound of a motor, and it was close. She looked up, having to hold up her hand to try and shield her eyes from the sun.

A propellor plane was gliding around above - and moving in closer. That was Pete's plane, she realized - and it was coming in for landing.

She was up against the hangar, so clear of the runway. She'd never seen a plane land so close before.

Once landed he turned around and taxied back towards the hangar. Then it stopped and the canopy popped open and out he stepped.

"Hey!" he jogged over. "Sorry, kinda lost track of time."

"No worries, I'm a bit early. Wasn't sure what traffic would be like at this time of day." She nodded. "Taking your sweetheart out for a spin?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. I needed to clear my head, and my head feels clearest up there. I'll just get her back in the hangar and then I'll wash up and get cooking."

She watched him guide the plane back into its place in the hangar and park it, all done with precision and confidence. He was in control of the situation and he knew it. She didn't always feel that way with her job. Most of the time, yes, but sometimes, when a group of students was being particularly rowdy and/or disruptive, she felt so out of control it was frightening.

"Come on in." He waved her towards the back of the hangar, entering the home part. She noticed his red Jeep parked in the back, his motorcycle closest to the doors, and the plane front and centre.

He hung his leather jacket with the patches by the door and then went to the sink to wash his hands. "Okay, how does steak and potatoes sound?"

"Fancy! It sounds great - I love food and will eat anything," she told him.

"Sounds good. Can I get you a glass of wine?"

"Thank you. Can I help at all?"

"No no, you have a seat."

Eventually she did persuade him to let her peel and cut the potatoes - she couldn't just sit there and let him do all the work, especially since he was hosting. The kitchen was tiny, but they moved around each other fluidly, never in each other's way and always working together.

They ate at the small table, and it was the first dinner with someone at a table Finley had had in a long time, not counting the one at Penny's of course. And even if she did use the table at home, she would often have her marking with her while she ate.

It looked like Pete had been trying to clean up since last time, and the effort showed in some places, but not others. She found it sweet and could just picture him running around throwing things all over the place.

After dinner, they washed the dishes together while decaf coffee was being brewed, perfect for the leftover brownies and movie.

They decided on A New Hope. About halfway, Pete decided to get more coffee. While they paused the movie and made the coffee, he was telling her about how he got to Top Gun again, the Darkstar project, Admiral Cain, and the so-called 'future'.

"Why did he want to cut the program?" she asked.

"So he could use the budget for his unmanned planes. 'The future', as he calls it. But we'd come this far, and I couldn't let all those people lose their jobs."

"So you risked your own job instead?"

"Yeah." He gave a little shrug. "Now the program will keep running for a few months at least. They'd all worked so hard, I couldn't just let them be cut."

Now her million-dollar question was bursting from her, she unable to hold it back any longer. "What happened between you and Brad? I mean I know you pulled his papers which prevented him from moving forward as a pilot. You don't have to tell me, I'm just curious - curious why he has such strong feelings against an overall great guy."

He deflated a little. "I don't know how much you know, but I was flying with Goose when he died, and I think Bradley doesn't think I'm totally innocent in what happened. But honestly, I wouldn't either, if I was in his position. So there's that, and the fact that I pulled his papers, cutting valuable time off his career. I kinda felt this responsibility to be the father he lost, but I'm not. Then his mom made me promise her before she died that I wouldn't let him fly, not after what happened to Goose."

This hit her. "Does he know that?"

Again a little shrug. "He will always resent me for what I did - why should he resent her too?"

Wow, that hit hard, harder than she was expecting... She didn't know what to think. All she knew that she had been very wrong about him, right from the start.

"That's a really tough choice. You're a great guy, Pete, and I'm sorry for ever believing otherwise." She reached out and squeezed his forearm for emphasis.

He gave a small smile. "Thanks Finley."

They got more coffee and sat down again, resuming the movie, and their discussion ended. Finley was much too distracted to pay attention to the movie, however, and she kept casting glances over at Pete, his words circling around and around in her head.

He'd risked his last job in order to save the project and the jobs of others, and saved Brad's relationship with his mom, meanwhile letting himself suffer. This rush of new information sent her head spinning and her heart swelling with love.

Love for him.

Maybe not the confession you were expecting? I was very excited for this chapter ;)

And after seeing the movie again it seems unlikely that you could get from Top Gun to Pete's place in such a short distance, but hey, the joys of fanfiction, right? ;) You get to make things up!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)