This drabble was inspired by Joe Cruz's Zumba class, and my Vodka obsession. Thanks all for the notes & comments on my otherdrabble,here's to more Brettonio in future! :) R&R x
Gabriela drowned herself in Sylvie's lemon-flavoured water, gasping for breath.
Why, oh why did she let Sylvie convince her to come to Zumba tonight?
She could have said 'no' and spent the evening snuggled up to her Casey, with Louie asleep on her lap, but no, her fiancé was insistent, as was Sylvie – it was their girls' night out, and besides, Louie was happy bonding with Casey, or so they seemed, when Louie checkmated him at Chess.
Gabi winced, wondering how in the world Sylvie managed to make it look so easy.
She shouldn't have eaten that extra piece of Mouth's chocolate mousse cake at lunch.
Even Joe Cruz, whom Sylvie dated briefly, winked at Gabi, as if to counter in that a) she was trying, and b) his marketing tactic 'to bring a friend' meant more business.
He looked as animated as ever; a teddy-bear in a red headband.
"Just hang in there, we've only ten minutes left," Sylvie reassured her best friend.
"Ten minutes?! Are you kidding me?"
Gabi heard a familiar chuckle by the exit.
"Nice moves," Antonio grinned, receiving death glares from his sister.
Sylvie's eyes shone brightly with an invitation.
"Join us, Antonio?" she called, ignoring Gabi's stunned look.
The Detective smiled, wearing his usual jeans, V-neck t-shirt and a black leather jacket.
"Looks like fun, but I'm working a case. Just wanted to swing by and say hi," he said.
Gabi raised her eyebrows, thrown by her brother and her best friend's flirtatious exchanges.
"What? He looksfit," Sylvie muttered, grabbing her water from Gabi.
Her friend eyed Antonio's Intelligence badge on his belt, and his gun holster, curiously.
"Shame, maybe next time?" she said, chewing her straw.
Antonio pulled his gaze from Sylvie's pink yoga pants, and plaits, then cracked his knuckles.
Gabi hadn't seen him this nervous since asking Krystal Morgan to share his sandwich in middle school.
"Yeah, next time," he nodded.
Sylvie gave Gabi her bottle, and went to finish the Zumba class, a little disheartened.
Gabi looked at her brother, hoping for an explanation, but he fidgeted, conflicted.
"You should come check out my Boxing Ring?" he blurted, making Sylvie look back.
"I'd like that," she smiled, smirking at Gabi.
Gabi didn't stay for the last ten minutes, she had more pressing matters to deal with, such as the Oliphant in the room that was her brother's feelings for her best friend.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded.
"What?" he asked blankly.
"You, and Sylvie?" Gabi shot him an incredulous look. "Flirting!"
Antonio pressed his palm against Gabi's forehead.
"Are you feeling okay?" he joked, avoiding the question.
Gabi pushed his hand away.
"I'm not sick, although the thought of you two dating does make my stomach squirm, but that's besides the point."
Antonio furrowed his brows, confused.
"Dating?" he repeated, lost.
Gabi rolled her eyes, and pushed Antonio further from the door, worried Sylvie might hear.
"Yes, you and Sylvie, dating!" she hissed.
"We're not dating," Antonio scoffed, unable to look his sister in the eye.
"You came to 'say hi'? You invited her to see your boxing ring?" Gabi pressed.
"I recall inviting you to my boxing ring…" Antonio chuckled.
"Are you sure it's your boxing ring you want to show Sylvie?" Gabi sighed.
Antonio ran a stressed hand through his oiled hair - his confident demeanour a distant friend.
"No. Yes!" Antonio stuttered. "Look, it's not like I planned any of this… it just happened. That day at Molly's, well, we worked together on a case, and Brett saved this guy's life. She was amazing, and it made me think, why shouldn't I get a second chance at love?"
"Love, really?" Gabi questioned, raising her eyebrows.
Antonio shrugged, staring at his feet.
"I don't know, but it could be, you know? I mean, look at Laura, I thought that was love. Nine years together, and then, she left. She left with our kids, and now we're divorced, with shared custody. There was a moment I thought I could fix it, but that dream's gone, and now, I'm all alone."
Gabi shook her head.
"You have me, and Matt, and Louie. You're not alone, Antonio," she said.
"It's not the same. I want what you and Matt have, I want somebody to come home to."
"And you think that person is Sylvie?" Gabi asked, folding her arms.
"I don't know, I just know I like her," he shrugged, looking hopeless.
Gabi massaged her temples, itwas like middle school all over again.
"Well, she likes you too," Gabi pushed Antonio toward the door.
"She does?" Antonio's face paled, and he stopped walking.
"She thinks you're fit," Gabi smiled, building up his confidence.
She tried to shove her reluctant brother through the door.
"I wasn't lying, I really do have a case," he stuttered, pushing against the door.
Gabi gritted her teeth.
"Antonio, go ask Sylvie out before I murder you myself!" she snapped.
Sylvie walked through the door, towel on her shoulder, surprised to see them.
"Oh, still here?"
Had she overheard everything?
"Unfortunately," Gabi muttered, and tookher bag from Sylvie, looking for the Ambulance's keys.
Casey would've found the whole thing funny, she thought.
"I can't believe you chickened out," she hissed to Antonio when they reached the car park.
"Says the girl who made Bambi eyes at her lieutenant for months before she asked him out."
Gabi punched Antonio in the arm when Sylvie wasn't looking.
"So, what sort of case are you working on?" Sylvie asked him, curious.
"A murder investigation," he answered, to the point.
Sylvie climbed into the passenger side of the Ambulance and waited for Gabi.
"I'll see you," Antonio said, patting the driver's side door.
"Be safe," Gabi sighed, turning on the car engine.
"He's not into me, is he?" Sylvie said, pouring vodka into two shot glasses.
"What?" Gabi asked, kicking off her sneakers, and collapsing snugly into Sylvie's couch.
Sylvie sighed, tasting the vodka and licking her lips.
"Antonio, I'm such an idiot! I thought, I thought we had something, but I guess not."
Gabi picked up her drink.
"What makes you say that?" she asked.
Sylvie raised her head, looking lost.
"He didn't ask me out," she sighed.
"He asked you to his boxing ring?" Gabi pressed. "Doesn't that count?"
"I was thinking more, dinner and a movie? I don't even like boxing. A bunch of men-
"-or women-" Gabi suggested, raising her glass.
"-beating the crap out of each other, what's sexy about that?" Sylvie muttered.
Gabi drank her shot, regretting the thought that popped into her mind.
"You haven't seen Antonio box," she said, catching Sylvie's eye.
Gabi sighed, tucking her legs beneath her.
"He's new to all of this. He just got out of a messy divorce, but he's trying, and he likes you."
Sylvie raised her eyebrows, "Really?"
"Yes, give him time," Gabi suggested.
Sylvie poured another shot and snuggled back into the couch.
"Fine, but you're sure?" she asked.
Gabi clinked her shot glass against Sylvie's.
"Yes! He couldn't take his eyes off you tonight, and he thinks you're amazing!"
Sylvie blushed, and smiled into her glass.
The buzzer to Sylvie's apartment sounded like a foghorn, and Gabi raised her head from beneath the cushions on the couch ready to murder the culprit.
"Sylvie!" she hissed. "Door!"
Their girls' night had taken a turn for the worse when Sylvie decided to finish off the bottle of vodka and the baileys she'd found beneath the kitchen sink.
For some unknown reason, Gabi joined her, and all sane thoughts of returning home to Casey and Louie before 2am were forgotten.
"SYLVIE!" Gabi yelled upon the third loud jolt.
A jumbled pile of clothes began to move toward the door, groaning.
"Who is it?" Gabi mumbled, her eye-lids heavy from sleep deprivation.
Sylvie squinted through the peep-hole, and swung open the door.
Something heavy crashed to the floor.
"What the hell happened?" Gabi demanded, wide awake.
Antonio groaned, clutching his ribs, his face bloodied and covered in black-blue bruises.
"I told you, I was working a case," he grunted, wiping blood from his broken nose.
Gabi ignored her pounding headache and queasy stomach-ache, helping him to the couch.
"Where? Prison?" Gabi demanded, grabbing some ice from the kitchen.
A concerned Sylvie brushed her shaking hand over Antonio's cheek.
"You look like hell," she whispered, taking in his injuries.
He chuckled.
"You should see the other guy," he joked, wincing when he tried to sit up.
Gabi wrapped the ice in a tea-towel and gave it to him.
"Why didn't you call 911?" she demanded.
"No point, my two best paramedics are here," he shrugged, icing his nose.
Sylvie smiled at Gabi and caressed her brother's fringe.
Gabi noticed the way they were looking at each other, like lovesick teenagers.
"You've a broken nose, fractured ribs and what could be a serious case of internal bleeding," Gabi noted, looking him over. She found a new bottle of vodka and broke the seal.
"Can you take care of it?" Antonio asked, holding Gabi's gaze.
"That all depends on my hangover," she sighed.
Sylvie caught Gabi's reluctant gaze, and she took the bottle from Gabi's hand.
"I'll pour, you snap," she said, determined.
Sylvie threw Antonio's clothes into the washing machine and scrubbed the blood from her hands.
How much of it was Antonio's or his opponent's?
What kind of case was he working on?
Was that marshmallow in her hair?
A million questions bombarded her brain, the million dollar one, why had he turned up at her door?
Sylvie returned to a snoozing Antonio, his phone resting against his stomach.
She heard Gabi on the phone to Matt, and then various 'I love yous' and thought about notifying the Chief, or even confiding in Gabi, as she dropped tea bags into cups while the kettle boiled.
"You're amazing, you know that?"
Antonio leaned against the bench, smiling at her.
Sylvie's eyes travelled down his muscular torso stained with blood.
"I know, took you long enough," she said pouring the kettle.
Antonio laughed, and glanced at Gabi in the next room, he stepped forward and winced.
"You should really take it easy," Sylvie said, steadying him.
Antonio shook his head, determined to say what was on his mind.
"You know, a few months ago, everything in my body hurt, it hurt so bad I couldn't breathe. But then I met you, and you gave me hope, and today, you made me forget that pain."
He grinned, caressing her neck beneath her messy blond hair.
Sylvie blinked, flattered – she had her answer about Antonio's true feelings.
"Thank you, Sylvie," he murmured, glancing at her lips.
She didn't have time to respond, gasping against Antonio's fiery kisses.
Butterflies danced through her bloodstream, igniting the spark of true love.
"You're welcome," she whispered against his ear.
A/N: Well, this became less cracky, and more angsty, and I didn't even fit the scene I initially wanted in, so expect a 3rd drabble! R&R please x