Friends : New & Old

Chapter 7 - Sunday

6:54a.m. Sunday May 19

Sydney's House

6:54a.m. Sunday May 19

Sydney's House

Gage pulled up to Sydney's driveway with Nick following him. Nick had followed Gage over there to pick up Sara. Nick was going to take Sara out and Gage planned to spend the day with Sydney. Gage got out of the car and rang the doorbell, Nick was right behind him. Sydney came to the door and invited Gage and Nick in. Gage gave her a kiss and Nick followed, only on the check.

"Sara and Catherine will be out soon. Why don't you two take their stuff out and put it in the vehicles," Sydney told them.

Gage nodded his head and picked up a couple of suitcases and headed out toward his car. Nick stayed behind and asked Sydney, "Are you happy?" A big smile came to her face and she slowly nodded her head up and down. "Good. I love you Sydney, and if you ever need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call. I don't want our friendship to suffer like it did these past several years."

"I won't, and I don't want our friendship to suffer either. Although, you now know that I will be calling you every week."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sydney smiled and replied, "I love you, too."

'Huh?' Gage thought, although trusting completely there was nothing wrong. He walked in and asked good heartily, "What's this?"

Nick and Sydney laughed and she responded, "Don't worry, I love you, too." Together, Gage and Sydney headed to the kitchen.

A minute later Catherine came in. "Hi," She said sitting down and began to eat the breakfast Sydney had prepared earlier that morning.

Gage was already stuffing his face, but managed to swallow enough to say, "Catherine, I will take you over to my house. Grissom, Warrick, and Greg are waiting for you. They said you four are going to spend the day 'seeing the sights' before the party this afternoon. Your flight leaves right after the party is over."

"Thanks, Gage. I'll be ready as soon as I am finished here," Catherine said indicating her food. "Sydney, you are a great cook."

"Thanks and no rush. We have time," Sydney said sitting down next to Gage beginning to eat.

Minutes later they heard, "Bye, guys. See ya'll this afternoon!" It was Nick leaving with Sara.

After everyone finished breakfast, Gage loaded Catherine's things into his car and took her to his house and then took Sydney out to spend the afternoon with her. Sydney also had to go and get Gage's present for Angela. Sydney had promised her help last week. Around three o'clock Gage and Sydney met up with Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg and had them follow Gage to Walker's.

3:12p.m. Sunday May 19

Walker Ranch

Gage drove up to the Walker Ranch. He and Sydney got out of the car and waited for the CSI's to catch up. They went up to the house and knocked on the door. Erica came to answer it. "Well, it's about time," Erica said giving Sydney a huge and pulling everyone into the house.

Sydney made a beeline upstairs after finding out where Angela and Alex were. "How's the birthday girl?" Sydney asked walking up to Angela and giving her a kiss on the head.

"A little cranky," Alex replied for her daughter.

"Well, Gage is downstairs, he'll cheer her up," Sydney said lifting Angela up from the table where Alex had just changed her.

"Speaking of which, you guys left so quickly after everything that happened last night. What happened?"

"We talked, and I listened for the first time. We got things out in the open and I let down my walls."

"Well, I'm very happy for you two."

"Thanks, Alex. I just love him so much."

"I know. We all did, and we knew he felt the same way."

Sydney laughed and replied, "Then why didn't anyone tell me?"

Alex gave her a playful look and responded, "Would you have believed us?"

Sydney laughed and started walking down stairs laughing, "Probably not." Gage came over to Sydney and took Angela out of her arms. He sat down on the couch with her and started to make her laugh by tickling her and blowing raspberries on her stomach. "Told you," Sydney said to Alex.

Alex smiled and nodded her head, but Gage replied, "Told who, what?"

Sydney went over to Gage and gave him a quick kiss before smiling, picking up Angela, and replying, "Nothing. Get out of here," Sydney said playfully and followed the girls into the kitchen to finish the preparations and the guys went outside to grill the hamburgers.

Minutes later they heard Nick's voice saying, "Knock, knock."

"In here," Sydney's reply.

"Hey everyone," Nick said as he walked into the kitchen leading Sara by his hand on the small of her back.

"Hi Nicholas," Sydney said. Everyone said 'hi' and then Sydney told Nick that the guys were outside grilling.

The rest of the party went off smoothly. Everyone got to know each other better, great food was eaten, and with Alex's help, Angela opened her presents. It shortly became a little after five o'clock and Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Sara, and Greg had to catch a plane at six. They said their good-byes and with Sydney and Gage following, they went to the airport.

5:55p.m. Sunday May 19

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

"This is the final boarding call for flight 207 to Las Vegas. Repeat: final boarding call for flight 207 to Las Vegas," Came the announcement over the intercom. Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg immediately said goodbye to Sydney and Gage and headed over to the gate.

"Nice to meet to you Sydney," Sara said and hugged her. She turned to Gage and said, "You too, Gage." He nodded his head and she turned to Nick.

"Go ahead, I'll see you on the plane," Nick told her. Sara nodded her head and turned to walk away. Nick grabbed her arm and spun her around giving her a kiss. She grinned really big then went to catch up with the others that were about to get on the plane. Nick smiled and turned around to Sydney. Gage had backed up away from Sydney. She was still in viewing distances but he wanted to give her time alone to say goodbye to her friend, especially after the story Nick told him. Gage wondered if Sydney would ever tell him what had happened all those years ago. Nick told Sydney, "It was really, really good to see you again."

"I feel the same way," Sydney replied. "You'll still always be my other little brother."

"And you'll always be my sixth sister," Nick replied. "Oh, Sydney, by way I told Gage about Jeremey. I don't want you to be mad but it was the only way to convince him of our relationship and that I wasn't in love with you,"

'Nick, in love with me? Ha!' Sydney thought smiling but tearing up at the same time from the mention of Jeremey. "I understand."

"It's okay if he sees you cry. You know that right?"

"Yeah."

"OK, well I better go."

"OK."

"I'll call you later this week."

"You better," She replied smiling.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They hugged and Nick ran off to make the flight yelling over his shoulder, "Bye."

Sydney whispered, "Bye," and went over to where Gage was waiting.

"Everything okay?" Gage asked.

"Perfect," She replied leaning over and giving him a kiss. "Everything is just perfect, but we need to talk."

"Uh, oh. Nothing ever good comes from those four words."

"Well, good or bad, you need to know. Let's go someplace quiet," Sydney said not wanting to talk to him in the crowded airport and trying to control her tears at the same time; dreading, yet, needing to tell this story.

6:28p.m. Sunday May 19

The Park

Sydney had said she wanted to talk someplace quiet, so Gage had taken her to the park. They had gotten out of the car and walked around for several minutes before she led him over to a bench. Gage had not said anything this whole time, wanting her to tell him whatever it was she needed to tell him. Sydney's thoughts were on not backing out of telling him. Finally she began, "Nick told me that he told you about Jeremey. First, I told you he was just a close friend, but Nick is more like my second brother. Second, I don't know how much Nick told you, so I'm going to tell you everything about that day. Third, I have only told this story twice before, once to a grief counselor and the most recent time was to Alex last year. Be forewarned that every time I tell it or even thin about Jeremey, I usually tend to cry."

Gage was flabbergasted at the admission but wanted her to know that he was here and ready to listen. Gage took her hands in his and said, "Syd, you can tell me anything. I love you. I promise to be supportive and not to say a word until you want me to."

"Thanks," Sydney said knowing he would be there for her and would be supportive. "I was a senior in high school and had told my parents and Nicholas' parents that afternoon I would pick him and my brother, Jeremey, and sister, Lindsey, up from school.

"Jeremey and Nicholas were best friends and in eighth grade. I had pulled up to the middle school and Jeremey had hopped in beside me and Nicholas behind me. I was always glad that my brother and I had a great relationship. My younger sister was my complete opposite. We loved each other and respected each other but we didn't have a close relationship like Jeremey and I.

"I was on the way to the upper elementary to pick up Lindsey were she attended as a sixth grader. I had pulled up to the red light and smiled listening to Nicholas and Jeremey bicker. It was the last day of school for Christmas break and they were just happy. The red light turned green and I was headed straight. I looked both ways and stepped on the gas. I was a little over halfway through the intersection when I saw something big and gray in the corner of my right eye.

"By the time I could have reacted, the gray van with the drunk driver had creamed the passenger side of my car. The air bag had inflated and by the time that I had recovered I looked toward my left and Jeremey wasn't moving. I had screamed then looked behind me toward Nicholas. His eyes were just popping open and I heard my name, barely audible.

"I had told Nicholas to get out and go get help. He had managed to get out with the help of bystanders that had gathered around to see if they could help. I screamed that Jeremey hadn't moved. Fortunately a doctor had been a couple of cars behind me. He had, with the help of a few others, managed to get my door off and I tried to get out. The second my foot had hit the pavement, I collapsed. They moved me out of the way and the doctor went in the car and tried to help Jeremey.

"Jeremey died shortly after the ambulance arrived. Nicholas had a fractured leg that they put in a cast. I ended up with both wrists broken and a broken ankle. The driver of the van only got a concussion and they had arrested him. However, evidently, there wasn't enough evidence to hold him, although he had practically pleaded guilty.

"I was so torn up then, I thought I had killed him and it was all my fault. It took me years to recover. Right after the trial had ended, Dad had moved my family down to Houston. Let's just say that didn't help one bit. I needed to talk to Nicholas' really badly. He was the only one that could understand, he was there. At one point in time, Dad had forbidden me from contacting anyone in Dallas. That didn't help either. I went into a depression and one point in time.

"Mom had made friends with a female cop shortly after we had moved there. Mom had her friend talk to me and counsel me, because the shrink they sent me to wasn't working out. This friend eventually helped me get past things, not over, but past. I was finally able to move on with my life. You can probably tell that this was how I got into law enforcement.

"I love my brother very much, still. I became very serious after his death. You've probably noticed I don't go out very much, especially with guys. Alex has been my first female friend since high school. You've been the first guy since the accident that I have been interested in romantically.

"Gage, I'm telling you this because for years I blamed myself for this. I know it wasn't my fault, but I felt like it was. Even now I still feel partially responsible. For awhile I thought no guy would ever want to date me because I had killed my brother. Even though, I don't fell that way anymore, I want you to know where I come form. I want you to know about my past and why there were so many walls.

"I am sharing this with you to make sure you know that I want to be up front and honest. I want a real relationship. I want you to know everything about me. I love you so much, Gage," Sydney concluded. She was crying and having trouble articulating. She nodded her head so Gage knew that she was finished.

"Oh Syd," Was all Gage could say. He gathered her in his arms and tried to calm her down and comfort her.

Several moments later Sydney had finally stopped crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear streaks down her face. "I'm sorry for dumping all this on you," She whispered to Gage.

"Don't ever apologize for talking to me. I love you and will always be here for you. I am extremely sorry for what happened to you and your family. If I could do anything to help, I would do it in a minute. You know that I haven't had the best past either, and I'll tell you anything you want to know about it, but at another time. I love you, too, Syd, and I'm glad that you told me this," Gage said giving her a quick kiss. Sydney snuggled in closer to his chest. Later he said, "Let me take you home. We have to be at work tomorrow." Sydney nodded in agreement and let Gage escort her home.

9:03p.m. Sunday May 19

Sydney's House

Gage pulled up to Sydney's house and they both got out of the vehicle and walked up to her front door. "Goodnight, Syd," Gage said putting his arms around her and leaning in to give her a kiss.

"Goodnight, Gage. I'll see you in the morning," She replied.

"I love you," Gage told her. 'And I love finally being able to say that,' He thought.

"I love you," She replied. They gave each other another kiss that left them both breathless.

Gage pulled away and walked back to his car after saying goodbye and that he would see her in the morning, one more time. He got in, and waited until she unlocked her door and walked in, and head to his house. This time though, when he drove away, was different. He didn't need to say 'I will love you forever Syd.' just like he did all those other nights when he drove away after dropping it off. He loved her, she loved him, and he knew it would be forever. That was all there was to it.

The End