Fireworks, by kate jones lives.

The mosquitoes were just starting to come out from hiding. Sydney slapped one on her leg and brushed her hand on her shorts, trying not to look at her hand in the process. "Hey Sydney, come help me with these mosquito repelling lamps!" Angela called from inside the house.'Thank god,' Sydney sighed, relieved and quickly entering the ocean-side cottage. The sun was just setting outside, so lights were already turned on inside.

Angela handed her two torches. "Here, take these three and we'll light them once we get outside."

"Are you sure five is enough?" Sydney inquired. "I thought you were expecting a lot of people."

"I am. Maybe a few more." She picked up another. "We can always get more from inside later on. I just don't want to have too many when the fireworks start, because if it's too bright down here we won't see them."

"Okay," Sydney shrugged. She led the way outside and stuck the torches into the lush green grass in seven-foot intervals. Angela followed with a lighter then did the same, Sydney lighting her torches. Suddenly, some loud, pumping reggae music filled the air.

Shake that thing Miss Kana Kana

Shake that thing Miss Annabella

Shake that thing ya Donna Donna

Jodi and Rebecca

Will pulled Sydney into the propagating mass of dancers. She laughed and started to move, this way and that, shaking her arms and her hips and her whole body. Francie found them and joined in, thrashing wildly for their amusement.

Woman, get busy

Just shake that booty nonstop

When the beat drops

Just keep swinging it

With newfound energy, Sydney grabbed Will's hands and spun him around, laughing maniacally.

"Sydney, how much have you had to drink?"

"Just a wine cooler."

"Well, don't plan on having any more."

She slapped his shoulder and continued dancing.

Let's get it on 'til the early morn'

Girl it's all good just turn me on

The song ended all too quickly, but Sydney felt parched. "Let me grab something to drink," she said to Francie and Will.

"Stay away from the liquor!" Will warned Sydney, who waved the back of her hand at him.

Sydney grabbed a Mike's Hard Lemonade and shook off the droplets of water.

"Whoa, watch where you aim that thing!" exclaimed someone beside her.

"Sorry!" she shouted over the music, which had switched to hard rock. "I'm really thirsty."

"I can tell. I'm Mike." He stuck out a hand.

She shook it. "Sydney. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. How do you know Angela?"

She laughed. "How does anyone know Angela? She just infiltrates your life. But really, she's my best friend's cousin."

Mike took a swig of the beer he was holding and nodded. "She's married to one of my buddies from college."

Sydney chugged her lemonade (which, by now, was halfway finished) and spoke once more. "Wanna dance?"

Marveling at her chugging abilities and not to be undone by a women, Mike chugged his beer and nodded. "Sure." She grabbed his hand, turned momentarily at the shock she felt ("Static electricity," he said), and didn't stop until they were sucked into the middle of the throng of dancers. They started dancing then, but kept stopping out of the uncontrollable laughter their dancing abilities caused them.

"I think—" Sydney gasped between laughs "—we should—"

"—go inside?" Mike finished.

"Yeah." As they headed towards the patio door, Mike grabbed a beer and a wine cooler. Once inside, he followed Sydney to a corner of the house farthest from the outside: a bathroom. She closed the door behind him when he entered, and he handed her the wine cooler when she turned around. The music outside was faint to their ears. "So," she said, "tell me about yourself."

"I'm a lawyer," he replied, "but I'm in training for the Bureau of Justice."

"Oh, that's cool."

Mike took a sip of his beer and asked, "What do you do?"

"I go to school. It's the second year of my undergraduate studies."

"Really? I definitely had you pegged as a college student, but not that young."

Sydney closed the lid of the toilet and sat down. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult..."

"It's a complement," he added, relaxed and smiling as he leaned against the sink. She smiled back. "What are your ambitions?"

"I want to be a teacher. My mom was one, too, but she died when I was younger."

"I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, my father died when I was eight."

"I'm sorry." She stood up so she could see him at eye level. "It's weird; I usually don't tell people that when I first meet them."

"And I don't tell people my story either."

"Maybe we're meant to be."

He raised his eyebrows. "You mean in a destiny kind of way?"

"It's possible."

"I guess."

He finished his beer and placed the empty bottle in the sink sideways. She added her empty bottle to it, brushing against him as she moved. She giggled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He kissed her softly and licked his lips. "You're sweet."

She kissed him back. "It's the wine cooler."

"How many did you have? Not that it matters to me..."

"A few. Just enough." She kissed him again, this time hungrily, and he removed the last traces of the wine cooler from her lips and mouth.

--

"Francie!"

"Danny! What are you doing here?"

"I got back on leave. I'm sick." He smiled widely to prove that he was fine. He looked around a bit, unable to see past the people directly around him. "Where's Sydney?"

"You know, I haven't seen her in a while. I remember her going inside, though. You should start in there, but try to come back outside because the fireworks are going to start soon."

"Alright. I'll see you, then." He finished with another smile and headed inside.

After scouring almost the entire house, Danny was becoming a bit upset that he couldn't find his girlfriend. He decided to start knocking on closed doors. He started at the front of the house. The first door he reached had a sign on it that looked very much like something one would see in a restaurant. It had stick figures of a man and a woman and said Restroom on it. He held his fist over the door for a second before hitting it with his knuckles. "Hello? Sydney?" He tried the doorknob, and it was unlocked. He turned it, pushed the door open, and stopped in his tracks. "Oh, God!"

Sydney and Mike broke apart, Mike's shirt on the ground and Sydney's tank in the process of being removed. Mike turned off the cold shower and shook his wet head, spraying them both with droplets. They stepped out of the bathtub. Sydney gave him his shirt and put her hand to his chest as he started to wring it out in the sink.

"Mike, I am so sorry."

"Who was that?"

"My boyfriend. But please, don't be mad at me! I really, really like you. I mean, if I wasn't in this relationship, I would definitely go out with you. I'm serious."

"It's okay. I probably should have told you that I have a steady girlfriend."

She gave a small smile. "I guess we're even, then."

He bent down and kissed her, hard, taking her mouth as his. "You owe me."

She smiled slyly. "You owe me." She kissed him again, but pulled backwards before everything started all over again.

"If I ever see you again," Mike said, "I am going to get you drunk so fast you won't even see it coming."

"Likewise." She moved her head a little, as if to kiss him once more, but thought better of it. "I'll see you around, then?"

"You can count on it."

He watched her leave the bathroom and close the door before grabbing one of the hand towels and attempting to dry his hair.

--

Author's notes: hehe, a bit o' fluff for the holiday. i definitely love the ooc-ness i have going on. especially with danny. not that i dont like the guy, i just never saw the pilot. is swig even a word? and i know sean paul didn't put out dutty rock when syd was in her second year of college, but i really wanted to stick "get busy" in. don't you just love that song?