----------Title: Ready to Go
Fandom: Poseidon’s Academy Fandom
Rating: Teen
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Post War, PET, Military, Canon Compliant, Light Angst
Main Characters: Hailey Woods, Aaron Wynton
Relationships: Aaron Wynton/Hailey Woods
Warning: Mentions of War
Word Count: 1233
Summary: After the war and school, Hailey joins PET with Aaron.
Author Note: Written for Tainted Fantasy’s fest for Fanfic Fluffy Challenge where my first prompt was in your arms. It didn't turn out as fluffy as I hoped.
The sun was shining down as Hailey Woods and her boyfriend Aaron Wynton just finished another lap around the track of the base in Birmingham, England. While she was in shape, she was not in the shape Aaron was in since she knew he would insist on another lap, if not more. He was basically born to be in the Military Poseidon Elite Taskforce, also known as PET. It was in his blood. For him, joining the Military was automatic; it was what his father, Jake, groomed him to be since he was a young child. To be the perfect soldier, the perfect warrior. However, for her, it was different; she had no real inclination to join PET at all until she met Aaron or until the battle against the gods. It was a slower realization for her that she missed the action and didn't want to be apart from her other half.
"Ready to go again?" he asked, already to speed off but standing at perfect attention.
"You don't even need to ask," she replied because she knew she would follow him anywhere, as he would her.
They took a quick moment to stretch before taking off again, but there was nothing like him being by her side, partners on and off duty. She didn't realize it at first, but it was always that way from the moment she met him at Poseidon's Academy. Fate had been pushing them together, and she almost missed the signals; if she was honest with herself, she wasn't sure if she would have picked up on their connection or bond if Brennan hadn't said anything when she rejected him. It is funny thinking about it now since she was not that awkward teen where everything felt wrong, especially since the war against the gods made everything she had been feeling more heightened. However, she was thankful daily that everything worked out the way it did.
"Did you get a message from Demi?" Aaron asked.
Demi Evan has been Hailey's best friend since childhood, and without her, she might never have met Aaron.
"She did, why?" She answered.
"Because Jayden also messaged me asking me to be one of his groomsmen," he replied.
"Well, I'm officially Demi's chief bridesmaid," she turned to him, slightly out of breath, and smiled.
"I can't believe they are already getting married," he remarked.
"Demi has been picking out dresses since before they got engaged, and I am pretty sure that she has everything already planned out since primary school," she told him.
"I kind of feel bad for Jayden," he joked.
"Don't he knows what he was getting into with her," she laughed.
He lightly chuckled with her as they finished their lap around the base. It brought her back to the fact that Jake Wynton thought the world of her now, a world of difference between how he felt about her during Aaron and her second year at Poseidon's Academy. However, things change, and he respects her after the battle with Zeus. Then, his love and respect for his son grew as well, which was better late than never, but Aaron was certainly happy about it. Since that was all he ever wanted from his father. This was all especially helpful for getting the both of them at the posting that they wanted to be, and in the same regiment during basic training. So, it worked out for the two of them.
"Are we doing this again," she asked as they made it back to the start and made a circling motion with her index finger.
"Of course," Aaron grinned. "We need to beat yesterday's record."
"Of course," Hailey lightly mocked. "I don't want to be too tired for later, though."
"Never," he leaned in.
She pulled him down and closer, closing the room between them. When their lips met, her stomach flipped-flopped, but even now, his touch always did things to her. Though the kiss wasn't entirely romantic, with the sun beaming down on them and the sweat rolling from the running that they had been doing, none of that mattered because even if they were both covered with mud, she would want him.
"Quit distracting me," he joked as they pulled apart.
"I could say the same to you," she joked back.
"Ready," he said.
"Ready," she responded as the two started on that last lap around the base.
Interestingly enough, she didn't think when she was 15 that her feelings could be even stronger for her boyfriend than they were at that moment, but that wasn't true because they had only grown since then, and they only continued to grow. They grew together, and being 22 was much different than being 15. They dealt with the chaos and uncertainty in the only way they knew how, during their time at Poseidon's Academy, the war, basic training, and now at their first posting, and it only made them stronger. When it would have torn most apart, but they weren't most people. They were warriors; Aaron a unique, and her a Zeus, they already had to be stronger than most.
"Is your father coming to supper at my mum's?" She asked, out of breath from more than just the run.
"I'll have to get back to you on that. Well, that is if he gets back to me. He's not great with plans that don't revolve around PET," he frowned.
"Would it help if I talked to him?" Hailey asked.
"Probably not. I don't think the person or delivery matters much to him, even if that person is me," his face still shows his displeasure about his father.
Jake and Aaron were much closer, but unfortunately, Aaron's father was still himself.
"Well, supper at my mum's will be great either way," she said with certainty.
"Evonee does love me," he smiled. "Though I do wish she quit trying to shrink to our age."
"You and me both," she agreed.
"Well, if my father doesn't show up, I think at least your mum would be happy since she isn't his biggest fan," Aaron remarked.
"I just wish that he would show up more for you; you deserve that," Hailey said, biting her lip.
"I know," he smiled sadly as he turned to look at her.
"I know you do."
The two of them finished their lap around the base before slowing down. The sun was still as hot as when they began.
"I am ready for a hot shower. This sweat is no joke," she laughed at her own joke.
"I am right there with you," his pace slowing down.
They headed to the barrack, and luckily, because of who his father was, Jake was able to pull some strings and get them both rooms without roommates.
"Are we going to your barracks room or mine?" Hailey asked Aaron while looking up at him.
"Which one are we closer to?" He asked back.
They raced back to her barracks room, calling it their last race of the day. Aaron had kept some clothes and toiletries in her room while she did the same in his. After they both showered and dressed, they lay in her bed, and he held her in his arms. Her heart still fluttered at his touch. He kept her going when things were hard. He was her rock and her safe place, and she was his.
