"Soul's Bonds", Chapter 13
This chapter originally had a very different ending, which I will discuss in an author's note at the end. Enjoy!
I'll post the interlude that comes between this chapter and the next sometime this evening.
Chapter 13 (Bridge)
A few weeks later, I was finally getting ready to leave the hospital, having been cleared to return to full duty at SPD. I had been allowed to work out and was feeling more fit by the day, and since all of my wounds were healed and I had no trouble getting around, there was no reason for me to stay there. I was excited to leave, because it meant I could soon resume my normal schedule and training. Lying in the hospital for more than a month had been really boring, and I knew my friends were suffering by being short a Ranger. However, I was going to be leaving and going back to Delta Base alone, as all of my friends were suddenly too busy to escort me, even Sky, who had been making every effort to be by my side. Feeling a little unwanted, I gathered up my things, put on my blue uniform, and was officially dismissed to go rather late in the afternoon. As I walked back home, I couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was watching me. But I saw nothing, even though I constantly looked every which way, listening hard for any footsteps or sign of a pursuer. My heart beat quicker as I began to walk faster, until-
"Hey, you!" shouted a voice, and a hand touched my shoulder. "We're here to take you away!"
"NO!" I yelped, and fell down to my knees, my mind filling with dread as a panic attack set in. My chest was tightening as my heart beat faster and faster, and I was gasping for breath, my mind racing and bringing up things I'd tried so hard to keep down- and suddenly, it was like I was back in the cell the alien Ka'ladra had kept me in, being tortured, beaten, fighting to stop all of my secrets tumbling out- then I was back at the hospital, floating outside myself, watching my dead body... I knelt there, feeling completely petrified, and after a few minutes that seemed to last an eternity, my brain finally slowed down and returned to reality. I became aware of my "assailants"- Jack and Piggy- who were standing before me, uttering shocked apologies. I shakily stood up as the anxiety faded and my heart slowed down. "NEVER- DO- THAT- AGAIN... you... MORONS," I snarled.
"Man, I'm sorry," said Jack, his eyes wide. "That wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had. I didn't even think that sneaking up on you like that would scare you so much." Seething, I started stomping off, and the two followed me. I very rarely got angry at anybody, but I was already feeling a little sore because my friends couldn't make time for me, and this just topped it.
"Get... away... from me."
"Bridge, we're really sorry... don't walk away, buddy. We really do want you to come along with us... come on, don't be angry, you're never mad at anyone!" I ignored him and quickened my pace, wanting to shout at them, only not doing so because it would hurt my throat too badly. "Bridge. Wait up," said Jack, stepping in front of me and halting me.
"What?" I snapped at him.
"Listen," he sighed. "You're not supposed to know this, but Sky's got some big romantic surprise waiting for you. That's why we snuck up on you, because the plan was we were supposed to pretend to kidnap you and divert you towards him, so he could finish getting his surprise ready and you'd be there to see it... get it now? That's why nobody was here to escort you home." I gawped at him, then slapped my forehead.
"Sky... aww, man. Something... I wouldn't... expect from him."
"Exactly," said Jack. "But we couldn't think of any better way to guide you toward him without spoiling the surprise."
"We didn't think enough, apparently," Piggy piped up "We're awfully sorry... I guess this ruins the whole day for you two..."
"...Not yet," I said. "OK... why not... take me still? Surprise is gone... but... can still have... a fun time, no? Let's go." The two happily agreed, all three of us brightening a little as we boarded a bus, headed out to the suburbs of Newtech City. It took about half an hour to reach our destination, a small and beautiful park at the end of a busy street.
"Sky should be here," said Jack, scratching his head as we got off and looked around. "I hope we didn't get here too far ahead of him- but he said he was on his way when we left, and that was over 45 minutes ago. Where could he be?" His cell phone then rang, and he answered it with a groan. "Yeah, we're here. Scared the crap out of him without meaning to when we tried our little kidnap stunt, but he's here. Where are you?" Pause. "Yeah, we're here at the park on... well, I thought so... ...oh, man, you've gotta be KIDDING ME." Pause. "I didn't know there were two parks named that in Newtech! So sue me, it's an honest mistake! I grew up in the city here, not the suburbs, you should have been more specific about it. Damnit. OK, we'll be there ASAP."
"Let me guess... we're at the wrong place," said Piggy, his face in his hands.
"Ohhh, yeah," said Jack, hanging up. "Sky's pissed, needless to say. God, I'm sorry, Bridge," he said to me, and he looked it. I shrugged, trying to act cheerful and nonchalant about it, but I was starting to feel gloomy. So far they'd unintentionally given me a panic attack, which led to my surprise being spoiled, and now we were at the wrong park. I was almost afraid to ask what else was going to go wrong, because there were still so many things that could. Another bus ride later, and we arrived at another tiny park, this time sure we were at the right one because Sky was waiting at the entrance to a path into some woods, wearing his dress uniform and snorting like an angry bull. "Don't even start," Jack told him as I got off. "We got him here, didn't we? We're just a little bit late."
"An hour is not 'a little bit late', Jack, AND you've ruined my surprise in the process," Sky spat. "Because of this, I am now in an extraordinarily bad mood, making it that much harder to enjoy our evening. Jack, Piggy... just go, get out of here. Bridge, come on." The bus drove off with a dejected Jack and Piggy riding in it, and I stood a bit apart from Sky, wary. "Come on," he encouraged, still looking angry as he started down the path.
"Don' wanna... if you're gonna... be mad," I said firmly. "Everyone makes... mistakes. You had... a nice idea. Didn' know... it was gonna... go wrong."
"Fine. FINE. Why don't you just get on the bus and go home, then? 'Cause everybody seems determined to make this a shitty day in every way possible!" he exploded. "I didn't even want anybody else to know we were together yet, but you had to go and spill the beans to Jack, so then I felt obligated to go ahead and tell everyone! I don't know why I bothered trying to do something nice for you after that, but-" He stopped as he noticed me staring hopelessly at him. "I know, I know..." he sighed. "I'm being a first-class jerk. It's not your fault that it's all going wrong. I just wanted everything to be perfect, and already we're an hour late, and damnit, it's starting to cloud up, too." I went over to him and kissed him on the cheek.
"It's OK," I said, though feeling very hurt by his outburst and not at all enthused about his plan anymore. "Let's just go. Enjoy... what's left... of our evening." I followed him down the path, diverging from it after about 5 minutes, and he led me into a large clearing. He'd set up a table in the center of it, with two burnt-out candles and a delicious-looking meal sitting on top. My mouth fell open. "Oh, Sky..."
"I wasn't sure you'd like it," he muttered, and I could tell he was terribly embarrassed and very nervous. "Since today's such a special day, I wanted it to be our first date, but had no clue what to do, so I had to turn to the girls for ideas. This is what they came up with, Tessie even cooked everything herself, so you can blame them if you want. I wanted it to be just the two of us together- nobody else, none of the distractions of the city- and this seemed like the perfect place and time."
"I love it," I said, touched by his gesture, however awkward it was. I knew it was a big step for him. For both of us. "I'm glad... we're here. That's... all I want."
"Me, too," Sky whispered. Then, all of a sudden, a drop of rain hit me on the nose... then another... then another... Within moments, it was pouring down rain on top of us. "Oh, MAN," he moaned, then began to laugh bitterly as he took off his coat and held it over us. "How pathetically cliché is this? I guess this just completes our day." I looked up at the clouds, grimacing and cursing to myself for wondering what else could have gone wrong, because I felt like I'd jinxed it. "Nothing left to do but pack up and go home now," Sky said sadly. I shook my head.
"Let's... stay here... a while," I said, kissing him, and much to my pleasure, he eagerly reciprocated. I felt very comfortable, alive, loved, as he wrapped his coat around me and took me into his arms. We kissed again and again, oblivious to the rain soaking us to the bone.
"I... I l-love you," he stuttered, and I smiled up at him, tears of happiness mixing with the rain on my face before I lay my head on his shoulder.
I'd planned on saying it first, but found I didn't mind him doing it instead. Not at all.
* * *
"Next time, I'll know to keep an eye on the weather forecast," grumbled Sky as we walked back into the Delta Base, both of us dripping wet and carrying the remnants of our evening. "Well, should we call that our first official date?"
"Sure... if you can even... call a... disaster like that... a 'date'," I said, then we looked at each other and burst out laughing. "We're... a wreck... aren't we?"
"Yup, we are," said Sky, shaking off like a wet dog as running footsteps alerted us to the arrival of Tessie, Z, Syd, Jack, Boom, and R.I.C. (who had long since been repaired by Kat and Boom). Boom handed us towels, and we began gratefully drying ourselves off, R.I.C. helpfully extending a hair dryer to aid us.
"Welcome back. Well, uh, how did it go?" Boom asked. "Oh, stupid question, of course it went badly. You know what I mean- did you at least have SOME fun before it started raining?"
"Yes, we did. And I dunno, it could have been worse," Sky chuckled, leaning down to pet R.I.C. "I mean, he COULD be dead and buried, and we wouldn't even be having this conversation, right? All things considered, it was a pretty good night."
"What're you guys going to do now?" Tessie asked.
"Well, all of us have the night off, don't we? Since our date got rained out, let's have a little party here," said Sky. "We can go to Bridge's and my room, be loud and obnoxious, and celebrate our asses off." The others and I looked at each other, surprised, as he was acting very uncharacteristically cheerful.
"Who are you and what have you done with Sky?" Syd asked.
"Check his head for bumps, Bridge," said Jack. "Or ask him a question only he would know. Maybe he got replaced with an impostor."
"Good grief, aren't you guys exaggerating a little?" Sky asked, raising an eyebrow. "I like to have fun once in a while, too, you know. But if you'd rather not, we can just go to bed..."
"Come on, lighten up, Sky," Z said, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "We're only teasing you. It's really nice to see you having fun for once, and we do have a good reason to celebrate today, so let's do it! Are you going to join us, Boom?"
"No thanks," said Boom, gathering up what Sky and I had brought. "I've got work to do, and besides, I don't want to get in trouble in case things get out of hand. I'm really glad that you're back, though, Bridge, I missed you. Come on, R.I.C., it's time for your oil change, boy." R.I.C. gave a happy bark and nuzzled my leg before trotting off after Boom.
"Don't know what he thinks we're gonna be doin'," said Tessie, shaking her head. "It's not like we're gonna be gettin' drunk or something. Come on, y'all!" 10 minutes later, all of us were holed up in Sky's and my room, having a welcome-back party with cake and ice cream fresh from the synthesizer. I didn't say or do much, just ate my ice cream and watched my friends as they talked and laughed, feeling fortunate to be alive and share a simple, happy moment like this with them. It was quite late when the others said good night and left, so Sky and I got ready for bed in sleepy silence. I kept glancing hopefully at him, thinking that now that I was out of the hospital and the others had shown they didn't mind our relationship at all, he would at least want to cuddle, but he said nothing as he lay down. Unable to suppress a longing sigh, I was about to climb into my own bed when Sky cleared his throat and said,
"Hey, uh, Bridge?"
"Yeah?"
"Uhm. You know, now that you're back home, and I've been getting used to us being a couple, and I've been feeling more and more lonely every time I've had to leave you and... God, I'm babbling. I'm starting to sound like you used to... ...would you lay with me?"
"You sure?" I asked. "I don't... want you to... if you're not... comfortable with it."
"I'm sure," he replied. "It's going to happen sooner or later, right? I mean, we've had our first date now, complete with kisses in the rain, so this is kinda the next step. All this is still so new to me, but I'm really curious. I want to do these kinds of things with you. I know it may seem weird to you that I'm so unsure of myself, but..." He laughed nervously as I got into bed with him, pulling the green and blue blanket Tessie had made for me over us. We stared at each other wordlessly for a while before he kissed me with some evident passion. I returned it, and before either of us knew what was happening we were making out furiously right there on his bed. I discovered while doing this that he trembled with excitement when I kissed his neck, filing this away in my mind for future reference. When we were done (Sky looking almost shocked when we came up for air), we moved closer and closer together before starting to fall asleep, snuggled up together, holding hands. I wished he wanted to do more, but for now, I was content, and I knew it would be wrong to pressure him into doing things he wasn't ready for.
He loves me, though, I thought. He's been so shy about it, but he loves me. He said it earlier, I've felt it coming on strong with my powers, but this has made it seem so real. He's finally letting down his walls and not hiding his feelings, all for me. He loves me. He really loves me...
I went to sleep with a smile on my face. All was right with the world...
Notes: The original version of this chapter and the start of Chapter 14, which survived loads of story revisions, actually included B-Squad getting drunk- Sky had bought wine and Kahlua for the date, and rather than let it go to waste, the others enjoyed it (a little too much). It was actually a rather funny and cute scene, including a visibly-drunk Sky trying to convince Bridge to make out with him in front of the others. The chapter ended with Bridge deciding to play a prank on the passed-out Sky, stripping him naked and getting into bed with him (also naked). Sky woke up the next morning with a killer hangover, with Bridge refusing to tell him what they'd done to end up naked in bed together (nothing, of course, but Bridge wasn't going to say that). Cruger then knocked on their door, seemingly beside himself with rage at having heard they got drunk, then laughed and told them he wasn't mad, pointedly ignoring that they'd broken the rules, welcoming Bridge back, and telling Sky that the infirmary had a very effective hangover cure in case he needed it, wink wink, nudge nudge.
I ultimately decided to axe it, though, after remembering that Syd, Z, Jack and Tessie are all underage (Bridge and Sky are both 21 by this point, but Tessie is 20, Syd and Jack are 19, and Z's 17). Even allowing for a possible lowering of the drinking age to 18, Z would still be underage, and... I really couldn't see Sky being persuaded to break both Academy regulations and the law he's supposed to be upholding as a police officer. I may post it later for reader interest, because I REALLY liked this scene.
I'll post the interlude that comes between this chapter and the next sometime this evening.
Chapter 13 (Bridge)
A few weeks later, I was finally getting ready to leave the hospital, having been cleared to return to full duty at SPD. I had been allowed to work out and was feeling more fit by the day, and since all of my wounds were healed and I had no trouble getting around, there was no reason for me to stay there. I was excited to leave, because it meant I could soon resume my normal schedule and training. Lying in the hospital for more than a month had been really boring, and I knew my friends were suffering by being short a Ranger. However, I was going to be leaving and going back to Delta Base alone, as all of my friends were suddenly too busy to escort me, even Sky, who had been making every effort to be by my side. Feeling a little unwanted, I gathered up my things, put on my blue uniform, and was officially dismissed to go rather late in the afternoon. As I walked back home, I couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was watching me. But I saw nothing, even though I constantly looked every which way, listening hard for any footsteps or sign of a pursuer. My heart beat quicker as I began to walk faster, until-
"Hey, you!" shouted a voice, and a hand touched my shoulder. "We're here to take you away!"
"NO!" I yelped, and fell down to my knees, my mind filling with dread as a panic attack set in. My chest was tightening as my heart beat faster and faster, and I was gasping for breath, my mind racing and bringing up things I'd tried so hard to keep down- and suddenly, it was like I was back in the cell the alien Ka'ladra had kept me in, being tortured, beaten, fighting to stop all of my secrets tumbling out- then I was back at the hospital, floating outside myself, watching my dead body... I knelt there, feeling completely petrified, and after a few minutes that seemed to last an eternity, my brain finally slowed down and returned to reality. I became aware of my "assailants"- Jack and Piggy- who were standing before me, uttering shocked apologies. I shakily stood up as the anxiety faded and my heart slowed down. "NEVER- DO- THAT- AGAIN... you... MORONS," I snarled.
"Man, I'm sorry," said Jack, his eyes wide. "That wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had. I didn't even think that sneaking up on you like that would scare you so much." Seething, I started stomping off, and the two followed me. I very rarely got angry at anybody, but I was already feeling a little sore because my friends couldn't make time for me, and this just topped it.
"Get... away... from me."
"Bridge, we're really sorry... don't walk away, buddy. We really do want you to come along with us... come on, don't be angry, you're never mad at anyone!" I ignored him and quickened my pace, wanting to shout at them, only not doing so because it would hurt my throat too badly. "Bridge. Wait up," said Jack, stepping in front of me and halting me.
"What?" I snapped at him.
"Listen," he sighed. "You're not supposed to know this, but Sky's got some big romantic surprise waiting for you. That's why we snuck up on you, because the plan was we were supposed to pretend to kidnap you and divert you towards him, so he could finish getting his surprise ready and you'd be there to see it... get it now? That's why nobody was here to escort you home." I gawped at him, then slapped my forehead.
"Sky... aww, man. Something... I wouldn't... expect from him."
"Exactly," said Jack. "But we couldn't think of any better way to guide you toward him without spoiling the surprise."
"We didn't think enough, apparently," Piggy piped up "We're awfully sorry... I guess this ruins the whole day for you two..."
"...Not yet," I said. "OK... why not... take me still? Surprise is gone... but... can still have... a fun time, no? Let's go." The two happily agreed, all three of us brightening a little as we boarded a bus, headed out to the suburbs of Newtech City. It took about half an hour to reach our destination, a small and beautiful park at the end of a busy street.
"Sky should be here," said Jack, scratching his head as we got off and looked around. "I hope we didn't get here too far ahead of him- but he said he was on his way when we left, and that was over 45 minutes ago. Where could he be?" His cell phone then rang, and he answered it with a groan. "Yeah, we're here. Scared the crap out of him without meaning to when we tried our little kidnap stunt, but he's here. Where are you?" Pause. "Yeah, we're here at the park on... well, I thought so... ...oh, man, you've gotta be KIDDING ME." Pause. "I didn't know there were two parks named that in Newtech! So sue me, it's an honest mistake! I grew up in the city here, not the suburbs, you should have been more specific about it. Damnit. OK, we'll be there ASAP."
"Let me guess... we're at the wrong place," said Piggy, his face in his hands.
"Ohhh, yeah," said Jack, hanging up. "Sky's pissed, needless to say. God, I'm sorry, Bridge," he said to me, and he looked it. I shrugged, trying to act cheerful and nonchalant about it, but I was starting to feel gloomy. So far they'd unintentionally given me a panic attack, which led to my surprise being spoiled, and now we were at the wrong park. I was almost afraid to ask what else was going to go wrong, because there were still so many things that could. Another bus ride later, and we arrived at another tiny park, this time sure we were at the right one because Sky was waiting at the entrance to a path into some woods, wearing his dress uniform and snorting like an angry bull. "Don't even start," Jack told him as I got off. "We got him here, didn't we? We're just a little bit late."
"An hour is not 'a little bit late', Jack, AND you've ruined my surprise in the process," Sky spat. "Because of this, I am now in an extraordinarily bad mood, making it that much harder to enjoy our evening. Jack, Piggy... just go, get out of here. Bridge, come on." The bus drove off with a dejected Jack and Piggy riding in it, and I stood a bit apart from Sky, wary. "Come on," he encouraged, still looking angry as he started down the path.
"Don' wanna... if you're gonna... be mad," I said firmly. "Everyone makes... mistakes. You had... a nice idea. Didn' know... it was gonna... go wrong."
"Fine. FINE. Why don't you just get on the bus and go home, then? 'Cause everybody seems determined to make this a shitty day in every way possible!" he exploded. "I didn't even want anybody else to know we were together yet, but you had to go and spill the beans to Jack, so then I felt obligated to go ahead and tell everyone! I don't know why I bothered trying to do something nice for you after that, but-" He stopped as he noticed me staring hopelessly at him. "I know, I know..." he sighed. "I'm being a first-class jerk. It's not your fault that it's all going wrong. I just wanted everything to be perfect, and already we're an hour late, and damnit, it's starting to cloud up, too." I went over to him and kissed him on the cheek.
"It's OK," I said, though feeling very hurt by his outburst and not at all enthused about his plan anymore. "Let's just go. Enjoy... what's left... of our evening." I followed him down the path, diverging from it after about 5 minutes, and he led me into a large clearing. He'd set up a table in the center of it, with two burnt-out candles and a delicious-looking meal sitting on top. My mouth fell open. "Oh, Sky..."
"I wasn't sure you'd like it," he muttered, and I could tell he was terribly embarrassed and very nervous. "Since today's such a special day, I wanted it to be our first date, but had no clue what to do, so I had to turn to the girls for ideas. This is what they came up with, Tessie even cooked everything herself, so you can blame them if you want. I wanted it to be just the two of us together- nobody else, none of the distractions of the city- and this seemed like the perfect place and time."
"I love it," I said, touched by his gesture, however awkward it was. I knew it was a big step for him. For both of us. "I'm glad... we're here. That's... all I want."
"Me, too," Sky whispered. Then, all of a sudden, a drop of rain hit me on the nose... then another... then another... Within moments, it was pouring down rain on top of us. "Oh, MAN," he moaned, then began to laugh bitterly as he took off his coat and held it over us. "How pathetically cliché is this? I guess this just completes our day." I looked up at the clouds, grimacing and cursing to myself for wondering what else could have gone wrong, because I felt like I'd jinxed it. "Nothing left to do but pack up and go home now," Sky said sadly. I shook my head.
"Let's... stay here... a while," I said, kissing him, and much to my pleasure, he eagerly reciprocated. I felt very comfortable, alive, loved, as he wrapped his coat around me and took me into his arms. We kissed again and again, oblivious to the rain soaking us to the bone.
"I... I l-love you," he stuttered, and I smiled up at him, tears of happiness mixing with the rain on my face before I lay my head on his shoulder.
I'd planned on saying it first, but found I didn't mind him doing it instead. Not at all.
* * *
"Next time, I'll know to keep an eye on the weather forecast," grumbled Sky as we walked back into the Delta Base, both of us dripping wet and carrying the remnants of our evening. "Well, should we call that our first official date?"
"Sure... if you can even... call a... disaster like that... a 'date'," I said, then we looked at each other and burst out laughing. "We're... a wreck... aren't we?"
"Yup, we are," said Sky, shaking off like a wet dog as running footsteps alerted us to the arrival of Tessie, Z, Syd, Jack, Boom, and R.I.C. (who had long since been repaired by Kat and Boom). Boom handed us towels, and we began gratefully drying ourselves off, R.I.C. helpfully extending a hair dryer to aid us.
"Welcome back. Well, uh, how did it go?" Boom asked. "Oh, stupid question, of course it went badly. You know what I mean- did you at least have SOME fun before it started raining?"
"Yes, we did. And I dunno, it could have been worse," Sky chuckled, leaning down to pet R.I.C. "I mean, he COULD be dead and buried, and we wouldn't even be having this conversation, right? All things considered, it was a pretty good night."
"What're you guys going to do now?" Tessie asked.
"Well, all of us have the night off, don't we? Since our date got rained out, let's have a little party here," said Sky. "We can go to Bridge's and my room, be loud and obnoxious, and celebrate our asses off." The others and I looked at each other, surprised, as he was acting very uncharacteristically cheerful.
"Who are you and what have you done with Sky?" Syd asked.
"Check his head for bumps, Bridge," said Jack. "Or ask him a question only he would know. Maybe he got replaced with an impostor."
"Good grief, aren't you guys exaggerating a little?" Sky asked, raising an eyebrow. "I like to have fun once in a while, too, you know. But if you'd rather not, we can just go to bed..."
"Come on, lighten up, Sky," Z said, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "We're only teasing you. It's really nice to see you having fun for once, and we do have a good reason to celebrate today, so let's do it! Are you going to join us, Boom?"
"No thanks," said Boom, gathering up what Sky and I had brought. "I've got work to do, and besides, I don't want to get in trouble in case things get out of hand. I'm really glad that you're back, though, Bridge, I missed you. Come on, R.I.C., it's time for your oil change, boy." R.I.C. gave a happy bark and nuzzled my leg before trotting off after Boom.
"Don't know what he thinks we're gonna be doin'," said Tessie, shaking her head. "It's not like we're gonna be gettin' drunk or something. Come on, y'all!" 10 minutes later, all of us were holed up in Sky's and my room, having a welcome-back party with cake and ice cream fresh from the synthesizer. I didn't say or do much, just ate my ice cream and watched my friends as they talked and laughed, feeling fortunate to be alive and share a simple, happy moment like this with them. It was quite late when the others said good night and left, so Sky and I got ready for bed in sleepy silence. I kept glancing hopefully at him, thinking that now that I was out of the hospital and the others had shown they didn't mind our relationship at all, he would at least want to cuddle, but he said nothing as he lay down. Unable to suppress a longing sigh, I was about to climb into my own bed when Sky cleared his throat and said,
"Hey, uh, Bridge?"
"Yeah?"
"Uhm. You know, now that you're back home, and I've been getting used to us being a couple, and I've been feeling more and more lonely every time I've had to leave you and... God, I'm babbling. I'm starting to sound like you used to... ...would you lay with me?"
"You sure?" I asked. "I don't... want you to... if you're not... comfortable with it."
"I'm sure," he replied. "It's going to happen sooner or later, right? I mean, we've had our first date now, complete with kisses in the rain, so this is kinda the next step. All this is still so new to me, but I'm really curious. I want to do these kinds of things with you. I know it may seem weird to you that I'm so unsure of myself, but..." He laughed nervously as I got into bed with him, pulling the green and blue blanket Tessie had made for me over us. We stared at each other wordlessly for a while before he kissed me with some evident passion. I returned it, and before either of us knew what was happening we were making out furiously right there on his bed. I discovered while doing this that he trembled with excitement when I kissed his neck, filing this away in my mind for future reference. When we were done (Sky looking almost shocked when we came up for air), we moved closer and closer together before starting to fall asleep, snuggled up together, holding hands. I wished he wanted to do more, but for now, I was content, and I knew it would be wrong to pressure him into doing things he wasn't ready for.
He loves me, though, I thought. He's been so shy about it, but he loves me. He said it earlier, I've felt it coming on strong with my powers, but this has made it seem so real. He's finally letting down his walls and not hiding his feelings, all for me. He loves me. He really loves me...
I went to sleep with a smile on my face. All was right with the world...
Notes: The original version of this chapter and the start of Chapter 14, which survived loads of story revisions, actually included B-Squad getting drunk- Sky had bought wine and Kahlua for the date, and rather than let it go to waste, the others enjoyed it (a little too much). It was actually a rather funny and cute scene, including a visibly-drunk Sky trying to convince Bridge to make out with him in front of the others. The chapter ended with Bridge deciding to play a prank on the passed-out Sky, stripping him naked and getting into bed with him (also naked). Sky woke up the next morning with a killer hangover, with Bridge refusing to tell him what they'd done to end up naked in bed together (nothing, of course, but Bridge wasn't going to say that). Cruger then knocked on their door, seemingly beside himself with rage at having heard they got drunk, then laughed and told them he wasn't mad, pointedly ignoring that they'd broken the rules, welcoming Bridge back, and telling Sky that the infirmary had a very effective hangover cure in case he needed it, wink wink, nudge nudge.
I ultimately decided to axe it, though, after remembering that Syd, Z, Jack and Tessie are all underage (Bridge and Sky are both 21 by this point, but Tessie is 20, Syd and Jack are 19, and Z's 17). Even allowing for a possible lowering of the drinking age to 18, Z would still be underage, and... I really couldn't see Sky being persuaded to break both Academy regulations and the law he's supposed to be upholding as a police officer. I may post it later for reader interest, because I REALLY liked this scene.