A/N: I have about 1/3 of this story finished, and it might be one of my favorites I've written. Just got some inspiration to post!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
AU: Harm Rabb and his best friends Luke Pendry and Jack Keeter are all in Pensacola for Pilot Training where they frequent a pub whose wait staff they make bets to date. Anne Lynd (Pendry) is a waitress/hostest at a pub near the Naval Base. It's her night job while she goes to school at a local college (Senior, one year younger than Harm, Luke, and Jack). Sarah Mackenzie is the new hire at the pub.
Harmon Rabb loved the feeling of flying, but he did not so much like the challenge of pilot training where he felt that everything he seemed to do was incorrect.
At fifteen and a half, Harm obtained his pilot license, before he was legally able to drive by himself. He has dreamed of the fast jets since his father sat him down in the Tyco. It was why after the week that he had with his pilot training class, they needed to decompress. And there was no other place than the dive bar, that tries to pass up as a restaurant that their O-1 salaries can afford both drinks AND some food.
"Harm, Luke, Jack!" the blonde at the hostess stand exclaimed with a smile. Her blue eyes sparkled with glee.
Anne "Annie" Lynd. A blonde co-ed whose father worked as a contractor, and former Chief, on base. She stayed local and was currently a senior in the local community college, hoping to get her finance degree.
Harm liked her.
He liked her a lot. But what was not to like? She had curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. The fact that she said his name first was something he was going to think about for the rest of the night.
"Hey Annie!" Luke greeted her first, with a huge smile on his face.
Harm, not usually shy with the women, flashed her a smile.
"Ya'll want your normal booth?" she grinned at them. She usually served them at the corner booth where they had clear view of the double doors that lead to the restaurant and bar so they could people watch. It was usually her table assignment, but on days when she had to man the hostess stand, she made sure that she waited until after the usual 1930L that her favorite set of future Naval Aviators could would usually arrive. After a long day in pilot training, sometimes when they had something to celebrate, sometimes when they wanted to drown their sorrows.
Ollie, the bartender, knew she had a crush on all three men, and as her designated match maker, made sure to always charge half for the aviators.
"You know it," Jack threw her a wink. The only one of the three who was unphased by the blonde. In his mind, he was way too damn focused on flying to think about settling down – and that was the type that Anne was. A woman to settle down with. He had a vision of a girl at every port, swooning the women until he was seventy with his dress whites and gold wings.
She grinned at them, taking three menus and silverware and leading them to their designated booth.
"Now, my girl who got assigned this area just started yesterday. So you make sure to be patient."
"Was that for me?" Jack smiled at her. "I am patient!"
"Ok buddy," Luke patted Jack on his back.
"Speaking of," Annie said seeing the new girl walk towards them. She was still a bit hesitant. Definitely someone that her Type-A, extraverted self wanted to figure out. The girl did not seem to have the personality to be in the service industry. But in the past two days, the girl impressed her enough that she wanted to see how she'd do on the busiest section of the pub. "Hey Sarah!"
The brunette, taller than Anne, girl turned around. Her brown hair was tied up in a pony tail, whipping behind her as she turned quickly. Her big brown eyes turned efficiently to meet Annie's blue ones.
"Yes?"
"C'mere. I wanted you to meet some of my friends."
The brunette, Sarah, walked to them with purposeful strides. She wore the same black t-shirt with the pub logo and had an apron tied around her waist.
"Hello," she greeted hesitantly.
"This is their regular booth," Anne said, ignoring the younger woman's display of discomfort. "Just let Ollie know it's for the trio, and he'll make the orders real quick."
Harm raised an eyebrow at that. Trio. He wanted to really stand out from this group, especially to Anne.
"Uh, ok," Sarah hesitated then nodded.
"You take good care of 'em, ya hear?" Anne said walking towards the hostess area.
Sarah turned to the three men who stood looking at her. She rolled her eyes internally. She hated getting those looks from young men. Whether it was in her high school, or now college. She could not stand it.
"Can I get you started on anything?" she asked the three of them.
The blond snapped out of whatever he was on first and started to slide into the booth. "Well, I guess Ollie knows what our regular is."
"And that would be?" Sarah asked, her small notepad and pen in hand, ready to take the order.
"What do you do?" the blond one in the booth asked her.
She rolled her eyes. If she had a dollar for every time someone asked her that question…
The tallest of the three slid into the booth and shook his head. His green/blue eyes meeting her brown ones. "We'll all have a Jack and Coke. And some nachos to start."
"Ok," she scribbled her short hand. "You want me to put that in first or … order something else to eat?"
"Nah," the shorter of the blond men replied.
"I'm Harm," the tallest one introduced himself. "This is Jack, and Luke."
Sarah nodded, then motioned her chin to her name tag. "Sarah."
"We're here pretty often, we're friends of Annie's," Harm said trying to make nice with her. She could read right through it.
"Let me guess," Sarah said tired of the pretense, and generally tired of the day. "You and… Luke, are into Annie and drag your buddy Jack around to see her."
Harm opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Jack grinned.
"I wasn't born yesterday," the brunette responded. "Let me know if you need anything else."
She walked towards the bar to place their orders while the three men sat at the booth. Jack grinned at his two friends.
"She got you both pegged."
"What? We... I…"
"I like her," Jack grinned at them.
At that, Harm rolled his eyes. "You like all females over 18 that look like she does."
"What? She's a babe. A spitfire."
"You can't handle her," Luke dared him, watching the brunette with curiosity. Annie must have liked her to give her this section of the pub. They knew Annie only gave her tips up for someone who deserved it, and was good. She told them so during a bonfire.
"You wanna put money on that?" Jack asked Luke with a dare on his face.
Luke shook his head. "Man, if we had any."
"A dollar says she won't go for any of us," Harm stated, his eyes never leaving the brunette as she walked and talked with a couple of other patrons while she waited for Ollie to make their drinks.
"Dollar says she won't go for either of you," Jack countered. "You both have tried, and fucking failed, with Annie."
"How about this," Luke said with an eyebrow raised, a sparkle in his eye as he looked at his two roommates. "Whoever scores a date with Sarah OR Annie first, gets to swap rides for a Santa Clause IP." (Instructor Pilot).
"What?" Harm asked, a bit surprised. Those were huge stakes. The instructor pilot can determine whether to pass or fail a student on any given ride, on any given day.
"You're on," Jack said extending his hand for Luke to shake to formalize the bet.
"You in, Rabb?" Luke asked him with a grin.
He shook his head. "Yeah."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed!