This one is from Soldiers of Hate, but it really just takes off from the very end of the episode and has very litle else to do with it.
Culpable Confetti
Gage watched the Kick Drugs Out of America All Star Unity Team give their demonstration, clapping as they finished the routine. He looked up as confetti was released to fall over the crowd, landing on top of his head. He gazed down at Syd who was standing in front of him and saw the bright smile on her face as she tried to avoid most of the confetti floating down on her. He reached out and grabbed some of the strings of confetti before playfully wrapping them around her neck. The smile that she sent in his direction was so breathtaking that he couldn't resist. Without even realizing what he was doing, he pulled her towards him using the confetti he had just wrapped around her neck and lowered his lips to hers. He could feel her shock at the contact, just as she could probably feel his as he realized that he was kissing her. He pulled back quickly from her in shock, looking away from her in embarrassment. As Alex turned to him and suggested that he invite Darvin and his older brother JJ over to meet the Unity Team he was relieved to have an excuse to leave. He quickly walked over to where the two were standing, risking a glance in Syd's direction to see her staring over at him in confusion. He broke the eye contact and turned his attention to the young boy in front of him; he would have to deal with the kiss later.
As Syd watched the Unity Team perform, she was, as always, conscious of the warm, solid presence standing immediately behind her. It was a comforting feeling, knowing that Gage was always there. He made her feel safe and cared for, two feelings which she cherished. She had never felt as comfortable and at ease around any other man as she did with him. The first time she had met him, she had been shocked at the force of the attraction that she felt for him. Over time, as they had become best friends, she had slowly and gently fallen in love with him. It had happened so gradually that she hadn't even noticed that it was happening until she realized it suddenly some time in the last week. After that realization, she had been unsure how to act around him for a while. Then she had realized that he was still her best friend, and that would never change, and their relationship had continued on as always.
She was shaken from her thoughts as the Unity team finished their demonstration. She looked up as confetti fell all around her. She smiled as she turned to look up at Gage who grabbed onto some of the confetti and playfully wrapped it around her neck. She smiled up at him, unable to keep some of the love she felt for him from shining through in her expression. He lowered his head towards her, and before she could figure out what he was doing, she felt his lips brush against hers. She blinked in shock before letting her eyes close. A moment later, through her shock, she started to tentatively kiss him back. Just as suddenly as the kiss had begun, he pulled back from her and turned away. She looked up at him and would have sworn that he was blushing. She held back her sigh of disappointment as Gage practically ran away from her at Alex's suggestion. She shook herself out of her shock and disappointment as Walker came over to introduce them to one of his best students. She would just have to figure out what had happened between her and Gage later
Syd was standing nervously outside of Gage's apartment. Ever since the celebration, Gage had been avoiding her. She had missed his presence for the remainder of the day, and she wanted desperately to talk to him about what had happened earlier. Now that she was standing outside his door, however, she was starting to wonder if talking to him about this was a good idea. Maybe she should just go home and see him at work on Monday. Still, thinking back to how uncomfortable he had seemed around her earlier, she thought it probably would be a good idea to settle this now, instead of letting it ruin their friendship.
With a new burst of courage, she walked up to the door and knocked decisively. He opened the door a minute later, and she almost swallowed her tongue as she looked up at him. He had obviously been working out, and he was wearing an old shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of shorts, showing off his muscular arms and legs. There was a slight sheen of sweat covering his body. She tore her eyes from his body looking up guiltily into his face. His hair was ruffled and his gorgeous blue eyes were looking at her full of curiosity.
She smiled through her embarrassment as he stepped back from the door, allowing her access to his apartment.
"Hey, Syd. What's up?" Gage asked hesitantly as he looked at his partner curiously.
"Nothin' much." Syd sighed as she stood uncomfortably in his living room. Things were more awkward and uneasy between them than they had ever been.
"So..." Gage started, knowing that his unexpected kiss was the cause of their uneasiness now, but not knowing what to do to fix it.
"Um, Gage? Can we talk?" Syd asked hesitantly, gesturing towards his couch.
"Sure, you want something to drink or anything?" Gage asked, trying to postpone the conversation that they were about to have.
"No, that's okay," she said as she sat down on the couch, patting the seat next to her and watching him hesitantly sit down beside her.
"So, Syd."
"So, Gage, about earlier..." Syd and Gage both spoke at the same time, laughing slightly as they realized how ridiculous they were being.
"Okay, Gage, this is ridiculous. Earlier, you..." Syd sighed, knowing that she had to just spit it out or they were never going to get anywhere. "You kissed me."
Gage flinched slightly at her blunt phrasing. He cleared his throat nervously. "Uhm, yea. I did."
She looked up at him reassuringly before asking her next question. "Why?"
"Wh- why?" He broke eye contact, looking away from her nervously.
She reached up and turned his face to her. "Gage. Why did you kiss me?"
"I don't know, Syd. I didn't even realize that I was doing it until it was too late. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to kiss you. I didn't even want to kiss you." Gage sighed, not noticing the disappointed look that crossed his partner's face as he was too distracted by his own confusion. He didn't understand what he was feeling. Syd was his best friend, and he loved her, but until tonight, he hadn't ever imagined that he could feel anything for her romantically. When he had kissed her earlier, it had just felt so unbelievably right. The incredible desire he had to do it again had shocked him, almost as much as the fact that he had kissed her in the first place. Now he was trying to figure out just what was going on, and with her sitting as close to him as she was, it wasn't easy to concentrate. He pulled back from her and turned to stand and started to pace around his living room.
Syd, in the meantime, was fighting tears. His last comment had hurt her a great deal. Ever since he had kissed her, she had been unable to keep from hoping that he may share some of her feelings, but now, with one simple sentence, all her hopes had been dashed. The man she was in love with didn't even seem to be even remotely attracted to her. She looked over at where he was pacing, and shook off her hurt, needing to keep him from seeing her pain. She pulled herself together and stood, turning to face him. "Fine then. We'll just forget it ever happened and move on with our lives. I'm gonna get going, I'll see you at work on Monday. Goodnight, Gage," she mumbled, not even waiting for his reaction before she started to walk away.
Gage blinked as he was pulled from his thoughts and watched her walk towards the door. Trying to figure out what had upset her, he thought back over what he had said. 'I didn't even want to kiss you.' He groaned and ran after her, trying to stop her from leaving. "No, Syd. Wait. We still need to talk."
She paused with her hand on the doorknob and reluctantly turned to face him once again. "Gage, really, it's fine. I'm kinda tired too. I'll just see you Monday."
"Please, just give me a chance to explain what I meant. I didn't mean what I said the way it sounded. Come on, just come sit down again," Gage said, feeling horrible for the impression that he had given her.
Syd dropped her shoulders, knowing that she was of course going to give in. She reluctantly turned and followed him over to the couch, hoping that she hadn't already given away too much about her feelings for him.
"Syd, I didn't mean what I said, about not wanting to kiss you." Gage sighed, hating that she still wasn't meeting his eyes as he sat across from her.
"Well then what did you mean?" Syd asked, trying to keep from getting her hopes up.
"All I meant was that before this afternoon, I'd never thought about kissing you before. Heck, I wasn't even thinking about it as I was doing it. It was probably just as much of a shock to me as it was to you," Gage said, hoping that his words were getting through to her.
"So, you'd never wanted to do it, and you didn't even want to do it when you were actually kissing me. Is that what you're saying?" Syd questioned softly, wondering if the pain she was feeling could get much worse.
"Yes. No. I don't know, Syd. I'm just so confused about all of this." Gage ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"That's fine Gage. I already told you. We can just forget it ever happened," Syd said, wanting to give him an easy way out. Even if she was hurt, she still loved him and wanted to keep their friendship intact.
"But that's just it, Syd! I don't think I want to forget it happened!" Gage said forcefully, standing and starting to pace once again as he tried to work through his feelings. "I don't want to forget what it felt like to kiss you. I don't want to forget what it felt like when you started kissing me back. I don't want to forget about the fact that I want to kiss you again."
Syd sat on his couch, staring at him in shock as he paced in front of her. She didn't have a chance to respond as he continued to pace and talk.
"I'd never even thought of kissing you before. It probably was my subconscious telling me not to ruin the best friendship I've ever had. When I kissed you today, it felt like I was finally getting to do something that I've wanted to do since I'd met you." Gage sighed as he finally settled back down on the couch, putting his head in his hands in frustration.
"Gage, why did you kiss me this afternoon?" Syd asked quietly, her hopes up higher than she had ever intended to let them get.
"I just... I don't know. I looked down at you, and you looked so beautiful with that confetti in your hair and that smile on your face. I didn't even realize what I was doing until I felt your lips under mine." He sighed once more, looking over at her. "All I know is that I want to kiss you again, and until now I'd never imagined having a romantic relationship with you. Now, I can't stop thinking about it. At the same time, I know that it would probably ruin our friendship, and that's the last thing I'd want to do. And I know you probably don't have any desire whatsoever to be more then friends with me, but now I just don't know how to just be friends with you any more when I want more. I just don't kno-" Gage's eyes opened wide as his nervous speech was cut off by his partner's mouth.
Syd had been listening to him ramble with an increasingly brilliant smile spreading across her face. When he mentioned wanting more than friendship with her, she gave up. She reached over and grabbed his face between her hands, covering his mouth with hers. She felt his shock but was pleased as he started to return her kiss.
They were both breathless when they pulled back from each other endless moments later. Syd smiled tentatively up at her shocked partner, who was staring back at her in shock.
"Hey, Syd?" he asked as he came out of some of his shock.
"Yea?" She smiled gently at him, knowing what his question was going to be.
"What was that for?" Gage asked hesitantly.
"For being an idiot." She laughed at his confused expression and slapped his arm playfully. "You just assumed I didn't feel the same way you did. If I wasn't so good at getting you to talk, who knows where we'd be." She chuckled at him.
"You mean, you do feel the same way?" Gage asked, ignoring her teasing of him in favor of focusing on the meaning of what she had said.
"Well, no, not really." She watched his brow furrow in confusion and laughed quietly before she continued what she was saying. "I've known since I met you that I wanted to kiss you." She laughed out loud as his eyes flew to hers in shock.
"You have?" he said incredulously.
"Uh huh," Syd replied, enjoying his reaction immensely.
"Wow." Gage smiled cockily.
Syd groaned as she saw his face. "Oh no you don't. Don't even think about getting all cocky on me now." She punched him lightly in the side, and was surprised as he grabbed onto her arm, pulling her into his arms.
"Come on, how can I help but feel confident? Sydney Cooke just told me that she's wanted to kiss me ever since she first met me. That would give anyone an ego boost." He smiled sexily at her and the look in his eyes as he looked down at her took her breath away. A moment later, she was having trouble breathing for an entirely different reason as his mouth covered hers once again.
This kiss was more confident and also more passionate. It also had a teasing, playful feel to it. They both pulled back from the kiss smiling and slightly breathless.
After an indeterminable amount of time of just looking at each other, Syd decided to ask the question she had been silently wondering since the first time she had kissed him. "So... Where exactly do we go from here?"
"Whadda ya mean?" Gage asked.
"Well, are we just best friends who kiss occasionally? Are we gonna date a little? Or are we going to ignore what happened tonight?" Syd was hesitant to make the suggestion of what she really wanted to happen.
"No, no, and no. What else you got?" He smiled teasingly at her.
"This is the start of a deep and meaningful relationship that will last the rest of our lives?" she suggested, trying to force a teasing note into her voice despite her feelings.
"Yea, that one sounds about right." Gage smiled gently down at the beautiful woman he was cradling carefully in his arms. His own grin grew as she smiled brilliantly up at him before placing a quick and happy kiss against his lips. He was quickly getting used to that, and he wondered how he'd never imagined how amazing it would feel to kiss his partner.
"You better not be just playing with me," Syd threatened playfully, but with a note of real concern in her voice.
Gage pulled his arms from where they had settled around her shoulders and held them up as a gesture of his innocence. "Would I do that?" he asked in wide eyed shock that she would even suggest such an idea.
"Yes, you would. You'd just better think twice before trying it, Francis," she growled, knowing that she was pushing it by using his hated first name. She smiled as he reacted in just the way she expected, flipping her over and hovering above her with his hands poised to attack.
"Take it back," he warned, acknowledging her unspoken refusal by starting to tickle her ruthlessly.
And so began the most playful wrestling match the two had ever engaged in. They rolled off his couch, not halting their battle but instead continuing to roll around on the floor of his apartment. They continually traded having the advantage, each taking the opportunity to tickle each other ruthlessly. Their wrestling match was only broken when they stole the occasional kiss from their far from complaining partner.
Awhile later they lay entangled on the ground in each others arms, exhausted but content. Gage cradled his smaller partner in his arms, exceedingly glad that his heart had ignored his mind earlier in the day and allowed him to kiss her.
"Hey, Syd?" Gage asked quietly.
"Yea, Gage?" Syd sighed, incredibly comfortable nestled in his arms.
"You think we could get some confetti?" Gage struggled to keep his smile from coming through in his voice.
"Confetti?" Syd asked in confusion.
"Yea, I'd love a picture of you covered in the stuff. I mean, I've got the mental picture, but that's only worth so much. I mean, I can hardly show my memory to everyone we've ever met, can I?" He struggled to keep from laughing as he imagined what her reaction would be, at the same time as he tightened his stomach muscles in preparation for the expected blow. However, her reaction wasn't what he expected.
"Gage?" She tried to keep from laughing as she felt his abs tighten beneath her, knowing exactly what he was doing.
"Yea?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly, but still with a teasing note to it.
"Shut up and kiss me."
And he did, and it was so much better than what he'd expected.
The End