"Bridge, you really should eat something," Syd insisted as the trio's youngest member continued to pace through the Rec Room. She herself had a very nice fruit bowl sitting in front of her, and Sky's bowl of cereal was sitting next to her. The man himself had gone back into the kitchenette to fetch something, leaving her alone with the twitchy teen.
It was times like this that reminded Syd of just how young Bridge really was. He was always a little aloof and confused, but right now, the seventeen-year-old was downright bouncy. He blatantly refused to sit still long enough to even eat, and frankly, she was starting to get tired just watching him.
Not that she could blame him. They were getting their squad assignments in a couple of hours, and she herself could only pray that she'd end up in the same squad as her boys. After all, they'd been together for four years. She got the feeling it was especially bad in Bridge's case. The teen didn't get a chance to get really close to a lot of the people at S.P.D. given his unique personality and abilities. He was hard to follow on the best of days, and frankly a little annoying on the worst. It wasn't his fault or anything, it was just how he was. As the years went on, he and Sky had become best friends, and getting separated would be hard on the teen.
Sky would never admit it, but Syd knew it would be hard on him, too. He thought he was tough and all, but she knew him better than he thought she did. She saw those looks he gave Bridge when he thought no one was looking. There was affection in those icy cold eyes of his – a chink in the armor, she thought. She'd never say it out loud, but she did sometimes wonder if there was more than a brotherly love going on there.
"I'm too nervous to eat!" Bridge exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Or, you know, not really nervous, but I've got that feeling like my stomach's all heavy, like I swallowed a lead weight or something. That's a funny saying, isn't it? Swallowing a lead weight. I mean, who would swallow a lead weight? They can't taste good, and what if you—"
Bridge was cut off by a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Sky standing behind him with an eyebrow arched amusedly. He had one hand behind his back, and used the other to steer Bridge into the seat next to where he'd been sitting on one of the sofas.
"If you don't eat now, you'll be starving later," Sky said simply.
"But I'm too nervous to eat—" He pauses as Sky takes his hand from behind his back. Balanced on his palm is a plate stacked high with squares of glowing perfection. "Toast," Bridge finished, and his eyes flitted longingly between Sky and the toast. "Is it…?" He raised a hand and wiggled his fingers.
Sky nodded gravely. "The butteriest."
Bridge's eyes suddenly lit up, and Sky could've sworn he heard the hallelujah chorus somewhere. The lanky teen took the plate reverently, and with all the glee of a child in a candy store, he took a giant bite out of the first piece of toast.
"It's so good," he said around a mouthful of buttered bread and an impossibly wide smile.
The compliment came as Sky was picking his own bowl of cereal back up off the table. He knew full well that it was soggy by now, but the smile on Bridge's face was so worth it. It was sort of unfair the way Bridge wielded that smile, but Sky guessed it was hard to hold it against him when he didn't even know the effect it had. Besides, Sky loved that smile. Not that he'd ever tell anyone that – especially not Bridge. He didn't even know if Bridge would understand the concept.
Suddenly, a piece of toast appeared in front of his face, and he turned to see Bridge holding it out to him with that same grin. "You want some, Sky? It's really buttery."
Insert finger wiggle.
Sky chanced a glance at Syd, who as it happened looked about one step away from exploding. She looked like she wanted to laugh.
He chose to ignore it, and instead shook his head at Bridge. "You have it," he said. Truth be told, he didn't understand what the allure was with buttered toast. Granted he didn't have much of an appetite that morning. Squad assignments came out today, and…well, it went without saying that he had hopes for how it would go. Squads spent all their time together, after all. If he and Bridge got put in separate squads, he didn't know what he'd do.
As the time rolled around to hear their squads, Sky figured he better start figuring that out. After all, he'd been way too lucky so far, staying on Earth with his two friends while over half of the class was weeded out and sent to other bases. Surely he was running out of luck by now.
At least he wasn't the only one feeling the heat, though. As he looked around him at all the other cadets lined up awaiting their instructions, he saw more than a few sweaty brows. Sky hoped he looked a lot cooler on the outside.
It seemed even Bridge wasn't immune to the tension. The teen was shifting his weight back and forth from side to side, and his jaw clenched and unclenched steadily. He looked a little bit pale, actually.
Everyone in the room suddenly straightened, as Commander Cruger entered the room. "Cadets," he said.
"Sir!" all the cadets replied in unison as they saluted.
"I'm sure you are all eager to hear your squad assignments, but before I give them, it is imperative that you understand what these squads signify. These squads will become your families. You will spend your days with them, training, studying, and even sleeping. See to it that you learn to work together; only then can your squad reach its true potential."
"Sir!"
"Very good, cadets. When I call your name, come to the front. You will receive your new bunk assignments and training schedules. H-Squad…"
With each name Cruger called that wasn't his, Sky felt his heartbeat quicken. One by one, through Squads H, G, F and on, the cadets went to the front where they met up with their fellow squad members and received their new orders.
"B-Squad…Schuyler Tate."
From the moment Sky heard his name, everything seemed to move in slow motion. As he made his way gracefully through the remaining people – this would be the last squad to be called, meaning the rest of these unfortunate cadets would be continuing their training – he felt like each step was a mile. It wasn't until he was standing in the front, his back to the rest of the cadets in full salute in front of Cruger that the commander called the next name.
"Sydney Drew."
Sky was careful to keep his face carefully schooled as he was hit with a wave of equal-parts relief and concern. Only one more spot in the initial squad. He for one thought that Bridge was the most qualified of any of the remaining cadets. He topped every score that Sky didn't, and his record was utterly impeccable.
But then, he was also young. Twenty-one was the standard age for squad assignments, and though Sky and Syd both met that age requirement, Bridge was only seventeen. He was also a little spacey, even on the best of days. It wasn't like it made him ineffective or anything; Bridge had his way of doing things, and it wasn't any less productive, it was just different. Command might not see it that way, though, and he worried that his differences could mean that Sky would be forced to separate from his Bridge.
He almost couldn't hear anything over the thudding of his heart in his ears, but somehow, someway, he heard the last name leave Cruger's lips.
"Bridge Carson."
If Sky had been any less steely than he was, he probably would've collapsed to the floor in a pool of boneless relief right then and there. It was only through sheer will power (and the knowledge that Commander Cruger was staring straight at him) that Sky managed to keep what he was sure would have been the mother of all dopey grins off his face.
Bridge came to stand next to him, and right then, Sky could've died a happy man. Sure, it would mean more years of secretly pining for someone who probably didn't understand the concept of love. It would mean rooming with the oblivious object of said secret pining, training with him, and essentially spending all hours of the day with him, but if he was being honest, it was better than nothing.
He'd learned a couple months ago, after a particularly bad episode with his powers left Bridge under over-night observation in the medical bay, that he literally couldn't sleep without the young man making his usual noise. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to get into the dating scene anyway. He didn't have time for things like that.
That was his story, and he was sticking to it.
Needless to say, he was floating on a pretty nice high as he accepted his orders from Cruger and headed out to start packing up his things.
"Looks like we're roomies again," he commented as he reviewed his papers. It was in a different hallway, though, so they would still have to move.
He expected Bridge to go on one of his non-stop rants in response – probably something about the likelihood of being in the same room, or how he was going to move his stuff, or some other something that he couldn't begin to understand – so one could understand his surprise when all he got was a noncommittal "hmm."
"Something wrong?" he asked. It wasn't like Bridge to be so quiet. He wondered if maybe all the excitement of the day had gotten to him. Surely being an empathy crammed in a room with so many other anxious cadets couldn't have been a pleasant experience.
Bridge smiled, though Sky noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes, and shook his head. "I'm good," he said. "Just thinking is all. You know how I like to think."
Yes, Sky did know how he liked to think. He liked to think out loud, and the fact that he wasn't talking was seriously starting to make Sky worry. Could it be possible that Bridge wasn't happy with this assignment? He couldn't think of anything he'd done to make Bridge want to get in another group; he'd always thought Bridge was happy being around him. But he was obviously upset about something.
Obviously, though, he wasn't getting anywhere pushing. He decided to wait a few hours, maybe until they'd finished getting settled in their new quarters, so that everything could chill out and maybe Bridge would be back to normal. If not, he'd sit him down and have a talk. After all, the silent treatment wasn't a great way to get this new squad started.
If he'd thought his mind was reeling that morning, he couldn't imagine what it was now. As he got all of his things packed, the room was quiet, and it gave his mind plenty of free space to wander. Frankly, he didn't like the places it was going, and he seemed to have absolutely no control over the directions it took. He wondered if this was what it was like inside Bridge's head all the time, all these random little tangents that led into one another, but somehow led nowhere at all. If so, it was a wonder he managed to even sort of make sense on any given day. This was freaking maddening!
He knew he'd told himself that he would wait until they'd gotten settled into their rooms, but after dinner passed in relative silence, he realized he just couldn't take any more. As Syd went her own way towards the women's quarters, he and Bridge walked back to their rooms.
It was strange walking into the room. It had the same format as the old room, with mirroring set ups on either side. It had the same shelves, the same beds, and the same door to what was probably a bathroom with the same design. The only difference was how bare it was.
Bridge walked immediately to the left side of the room – it was the same side that he'd had back in their own quarters – and Sky made his way to the right side. He started to unpack, but only because he was still trying to think of a way to start the conversation.
"Training starts bright and early tomorrow," he began as he started to unpack the boxes he'd stacked so neatly on his cart.
"Yeah," Bridge replied, and Sky turned around to see that he hadn't even looked up from the milk crate of trinkets he was trying to sort through.
Yep, that was it. Sitting the box he'd been unpacking on his bed, Sky turned around and made for the other side of the room. "Okay, what's the deal, Bridge?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest. He was right behind Bridge, so that when the youth turned around, he was barely a foot or two away from him. The height difference between them was even more impressive with this closeness – Sky stood nearly half a head taller than Bridge – and he felt sort of guilty. He didn't mean to be intimidating.
Bridge didn't even look up at him; he kept his eyes down and his hands folded behind his back. "What deal? There is no deal," he protested mildly.
Sky wasn't buying it. "Try again."
"Sky…" Bridge muttered. It was obvious he was comfortable, but he was hiding something, and that was something that Sky wouldn't tolerate. He told himself that it would be better for him in the long run to come out with it.
"Bridge, just tell me. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."
"You say that," Bridge said, "but you can't really know that for sure until I've told you. And then once I've told you, it's too late, because if it really can be that bad, it's already out there. You'd already know, and it would already be that bad, and you're my best friend, Sky. I don't want to lose that, and if it really was that bad, even though you said it can't be, if it really was…you'd hate me, Sky."
By the time he was finished, Bridge was almost in hysterics. Sky wondered if he'd even taken a chance to breathe in there. And what he'd said….
Sky unfolded his arms, resting a hand on Bridge's shoulder. He was alarmed to find he was shaking lightly, and knotted his eyebrows worriedly. Whatever this was, it had his best friend all out of sorts. "Bridge, I could never hate you. Just tell me what's wrong, and we can figure it out."
Finally, Bridge looked up, and Sky was taken aback by the conflict there. His brow was drawn in, and he was worrying his lip like he was debating something with himself.
"Come on, Bridge, just—" Sky's urging was cut short by a pair of lips crashing into his own. It took him a few seconds to realize just whose lips those were, after the stars were done exploding behind his eyes.
Bridge was kissing him. Bridge…was kissing…him.
And just as soon as he got a grip on that fact, Bridge was backing away, until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed. The expression on his face was torn between dazed and terrified.
"I'm sorry!" he said quickly, his green eyes wide and oddly apologetic. "You said that you…well, I just thought that if I—I didn't know how to say it, so I thought that if I showed you, then maybe that would work, but I don't think that was such a good idea. You see, I really like you, Sky. It's like those books you always laugh at me for reading, but they're actually kind of fun, where the person gets that flutter in their chest and it's hard to breathe, and that's what it's like when I'm around you, Sky. It was just…I thought I wouldn't get to be around you anymore, because I'm not good like you and Syd are, and I don't think they like me very much here. I thought I would get sent to someone else or something, and when I wasn't, I got all hopeful and everything, but I knew that it wasn't going to happen, and it was just…I know I screwed up, Sky, and it probably was that bad, but you said to tell you, and I really, really like you, so I—"
"Bridge," Sky said firmly, and Bridge shut his mouth. That was good, because what Sky had in mind wouldn't have worked nearly as well if Bridge was slack-jawed, funny as it would have been.
Taking care to keep his face schooled, Sky took two slow, even steps to close the distance Bridge had put between them when he backed up. Carefully, so as not to alarm Bridge any worse than he already was, Sky slipped his hands around Bridge's narrow hips and pulled him close.
And then he kissed him. Unlike Bridge's, Sky's kiss wasn't awkward or rushed or anything. He took his time, gently pressing his lips to Bridge's and smiling as the younger boy started to respond. Once he was confident Bridge had taken the hint, he broke the kiss. He didn't take his arms from Bridge's waist, though, and Bridge didn't seem to mind.
"So, that means you…" Bridge started, but for once, he didn't seem to be able to pull the words together. He still had that stunned look on his face, like he couldn't quite figure out what was going on, but there was a smile there, too, so it wasn't all bad.
Sky nodded. "It means I really, really like you too," he said. At that, Bridge's dimples returned to full force, but he still looked absolutely spacey. Sky couldn't help worrying if the direct content had overloaded his circuits or something. "Hey," he started, lifting a hand to Bridge's cheek, "you okay?"
"Better than okay," Bridge corrected. "Kissing…the books don't do it justice. Or maybe it's just kissing you. It's like all your colors exploded in my head…I've never felt anything like that before. That's definitely it. The books don't have you, Sky, but I do. I do have you, right?"
Sky resisted the urge to say something corny – you had me at hello – and instead leaned in for another kiss from his awkward companion. "Bridge, you talk entirely too much." he said.
"But you love me," Bridge replied. "Which is good, because if you didn't, then I'd just love you, and I'd be all by myself, and that would just be awkward. That was awkward, back before you kissed me back and all. One really is a lonely number."
Bridge continued along that vein for a while, before his wandering mind carried him off on some wild tangent. Sky didn't care; he had never been happier to hear Bridge's chipper voice.
When night rolled around, with all of his things unpacked and in their proper places, Sky settled into his bed and shut off the lights in their room. Bridge had already changed into his pajamas, but there were still mounds of junk piled on his bed, and by Sky's best estimation, he'd be working on that pile for a while to come.
After Bridge let out his third yawn in that many minutes, Sky let out a sigh and scooted over in his bed. "Come on, Bridge," he said.
Bridge turned and looked at him curiously, so Sky tried a nonverbal approach, gesturing for the younger teen to come over. This time, Bridge followed the cue, and padded over to the side of Sky's bed with a confused look on his face.
"Am I being too loud?" he asked, a hint of a kicked puppy expression creeping onto his face.
At that point, Sky was so tired he couldn't be bothered trying to explain this to Bridge. Instead, he reached out, hooked an arm around his waist, and pulled him back onto the bed beside him.
He promptly pulled the covers back up over both himself and a thoroughly perplexed Bridge, and shut his eyes. "Go to sleep," he commanded.
Miraculously, Bridge didn't ask any questions. No, he seemed all too happy to curl into the older cadet's chest, moving a lot closer than even the small bed called for. Sky was surprised at first – okay, so it wasn't shocking that Bridge would be a cuddler, but he'd certainly adjusted to the opportunity quickly – but it didn't take him long to relax. Since he had nothing else to do with it, Sky draped his arm around the Bridge and allowed himself a smile into the dark. As far as he was concerned, lying there with his new squad member (and boyfriend?) in his arms, this was the perfect end to the day.
With the steady rise and fall of his chest, Bridge gave all appearance of being asleep. Just when Sky was about to call it quits for the night, though, the softest whisper of a voice met his ears.
"Love you, Sky…"
That was the day Sky learned that Bridge Carson loved him back.
