"A Perfect Sonnet"

Chapter Five

It was a normal morning at the SPD headquarters. We were having breakfast; bacon and eggs courtesy of Bridge.
"So how's it taste?" Bridge asked eagerly.
"Pretty good, actually." Jack replied, sounding a bit surprised.

"Could you pass the orange juice?" Syd questioned, letting her hand rest on my knee.
"Sure thing swe--" I stopped mid-sentence, realizing what I had almost said. "Syd." Jack coughed as Sky gave us a puzzled glance.

"Jack, are you okay? Sydney asked, removing her hand and biting her lip nervously.
"I'm fine. Just got some..bacon..lodged in my throat. It's out now." Jack lied.
"Good. Scared us there for a minute." I answered, handing Syd the orange juice she wanted. I sat there for a few minutes and finished my breakfast, leaving the table when I was done. My legs carried me outside. A little while later, Syd joined me on my walk. I slipped my hand in hers, and we were quiet.

Syd dropped my hand when she spotted someone walking towards us. The guy smiled, and I angrily shoved my hands into my pants pockets. Obviously she didn't want to be couple-y around him, and I was wondering why. I could feel the jealousy rising to my face.

"Wow, I didn't know you were in town." Sydney began, genuinely surprised to see whoever this was. I stood there, not wanting to say anything.
"Yeah. I just got back this week." He told her nonchalantly, running a hand through his spiky brown hair. It looked stupid.
"Oh. How have you been?" I noticed Syd stiffen up as she asked this, crossing her arms to her chest. So something bad had happened between them.
"So-so, and you?" He replied, keeping his eye on her.
"Pretty good." Syd shrugged.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" As he gazed at me with a smile, jealousy settling further into my stomach. I couldn't help the fact that I wanted to punch him in the face. I decided to suck it up.

I stepped forward, extending my hand. "Hello. I'm Z Delgado."
"Hi, I'm Travis." He greeted, and I fought back the urge to growl.
"Trav and I used to go back in high school." Syd explained.
"Freshman year." He continued coolly.
"Wow. Cool." I answered sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Syd still as amazing as ever?" Travis questioned, and my face began to turn a visible shade of pink. I was beginning to get really angry.
"Are we talking about the same person?" I snapped, clenching my jaw.
"Oh shut up, Z." Syd joked. I turned to her with a scowl.

"Don't tell me to shut up." I demanded.
"I'm sorry, I was kidding." Syd gazed at me helplessly, throwing up her hands.
"Don't bother." I mumbled, pushing past Sydney and beginning my walk back to the command center. I didn't want to talk to her right now.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Nice seeing you." Syd chased after me after saying goodbye to Travis. "Z, wait up. Hey," She grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I lied, not wanting to tell her the truth.
"Tell me." She insisted, looking me in the eye.
"No. It's stupid." I shook my head, ashamed of myself.

"Are you jealous of Travis?" She got right to the point.
"Of course not." I got defensive, shouting back at her.

"It's okay if you are, you know." She said quietly, and I finally gave in. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I was jealous. At least it showed that I cared enough about her to get jealous.
"Okay, maybe I am a little jealous. But that's only because you were flirting with him."

"I wasn't flirting," Syd took my hand in hers, and I could feel my body begin to sway. "You know that I care about you and that I think about you all the time, right?"
"Right." I replied, my face glowing.
"So there's nothing to be worried about." She assured me. I nodded, still not completely convinced. Part of it was because I was so insecure. I also knew what dating me would do to her reputation. She was constantly in the media and it might not go over so well that she was dating a woman.

"Sure." I remarked with an unsatisfied frown.
"Do you not trust me? Is that it?" She accused, beginning to get upset. No, that's not what it was. I thought she deserved better than me.
"No. You're beautiful and amazing and you deserve to have someone who is right for you." I marveled, honestly telling her how I felt. She pulled me closer to her, touching my cheek lovingly.
"I already have that someone. Z, why would I be with you if I didn't think you were right for me? I don't want anyone else - especially Travis - and I'm not going anywhere." Syd vowed, narrowing her eyes.
"Good to know." I grumbled, crossing my arms.

"What would make you feel better?" She pled, gazing at me in helplessness.
"If you told everybody. Jack and the commander already know. I'm sure the commander told Kat and after our display today, I doubt Sky will be too surprised." I disclosed. She didn't look excited.
"You think?" She asked absentmindedly.
"He's not a complete idiot." I quipped, a smile returning to my lips.
"You're right, that's Bridge's job." Syd paused. "It's just scary, you know? What did the commander say?"

"Just that he was happy for us. He also might have mentioned the consequences if we were to, say, break up? Apparently if that happens and we can't get along, one of us will have to leave." I admitted, not happy about Cruger's warning. I didn't want to think about one of us leaving SPD. I couldn't imagine my life back the way it used to be. Everyone at SPD had become my family, and leaving the only family I've ever had wasn't something I particularly wanted to do.

"Wow. That's encouraging." Syd replied sarcastically.
"I thought so." I shrugged.

"When you said everybody, did you mean--" She began, but I interrupted.
"Everybody."
"My parents?" She sounded worried, and I didn't blame her. I was scared to meet her parents because maybe they wouldn't end up being too happy about us being together. I didn't want to be the victim of any mean words. After all, if Syd had got her ability to be mean from her parents, then I definitely had something to worry about.

"I don't know. I wish you would." I confessed, hating that I was asking her this. She frowned, leaning into me. I could see the worry in her eyes.
"I can. It's just a little, yikes, you know? How am I going to explain all of this to them?" She gulped. I didn't know what to say to make her feel better.
"I don't know, Syd." I was silent for a moment. "How about we go back to the command center?"
"Alright."

Together we walked back to the headquarters, hand in hand. At the front door was Sky, and as he stood there, I grew nervous. I squeezed Syd's hand and felt her squeeze back.

"Hey guys," Sky paused, his gaze shifting to our entwined hands. "Why...are you holding hands?"
"Here goes." I heard Syd whisper under her breath.

A/N: Shorter chapter, I apologize. It's not very good, either. I just had a lot of dialogue to get out. The next (last) chapter is pretty long and is more balanced and WAY better in my opinion...Thanks again to my friend Ryland, aka Impy.