A Great Elvis, A Better Friend
Jul. 31st, 2015 12:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katleeptTitle: A Great Elvis, A Better Friend
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Walker, Texas Ranger
Character/Pairing: Gage/Syd
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
hc_bingo: Abandonment Issues
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,075
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"In the ghetto, and his mama cries." The deep voice seems almost to resonate inside of Sydney. She keeps her eyes fixed on the radio, not daring to lift them to the man singing along with the song she'd thought it would be cool to have play and put him in his place. She still says it's Elvis' best song, but what she can no longer say is that Gage can't sing.
"Wow." At first, she doesn't realize the whisper ringing in her head has escaped her lips, but then Gage reaches over and clicks the radio off.
"Syd?"
She forces herself to lift her head and meet his questioning gaze with a smile. It's tight lipped, but it's not because of what she just experienced. It's not because of his song; he does sing beautifully. It's not because he didn't move her; he moved her in every way possible. She gulps hard and wipes her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans.
He's grinning at her, and she knows she has to say something fast or she'll never live this down. Requesting that song was quite possibly one of the stupidest moves she's made since becoming a Ranger. But she faces her partner's gaze. She even smiles truthfully as she inclines her head into a nod. "You can sing," she admits, and his radiant smile is almost as moving as his version of Elvis' song just was.
But then his smile begins to fade, and she finds her heart aching for him as it drops into a frown. "Just not in front of people."
"If you can sing in front of me, I don't know why you can't do it in front of them."
"Because I trust you," he answers truthfully. "I don't think you'd make a fool of me."
"You're scared they'd laugh at you?" she asks in disbelief.
He cranks the car and starts to pull out without looking back at her. Now it is his turn to feel uncomfortable, he who can not meet her gaze, and just as he did before with her, she now prods him. "Gage, you can't be serious -- "
"I'm afraid of making an ass of myself, okay, Syd?" he snaps, eyes blazing. "You saw how I choked up in there."
She's taken aback in surprise and looks at him with her head cocked to one side and her eyes slightly widened. He is afraid, she realizes, and it's not just of singing in front of an audience of more than one. She remembers what he told her before about how he grew up in an orphanage with only his sister as any real family. He's afraid of making a fool of himself, but he's afraid of being hurt, too.
Just like she is. She grew up with her father and her brothers. Gage has never had any one he could trust other than his sister, and she's never had any one but them. They've always loved her, but she saw how they treated women sometimes. Her brothers broke more than one of her friend's hearts while they were growing up, and she's had her heart broken several times before, too. Experience had taught her that the only men she could really trust were the ones in her close knit family, but all that's been changing recently.
She hasn't spoken to her brothers in weeks, and she doesn't really miss them. She's spending increasingly more time with Gage since they've come to work with Walker and Trivette, not just on duty but off duty as well. She likes him. She likes him as more than a friend, if she's honest with herself, and he's proven that he can be trusted time and again. He's saved her life more than once and always has her back.
But that's on the field of duty. The field of the heart is an entirely different playing field. She can't trust him; she can't trust any man with her heart again. She'd just be setting herself up for another heartbreak. God knows Elvis sang a lot about heartbreak, and she's experienced far more than her fair share.
She's building a new world here in Dallas. She's got friends. She's got people she can trust to have her back and to help her in any way they can. CD might fuss about women Rangers, but if she ever needed help, she knows even he would come through for her. These friends won't abandon her, not like every one else always has eventually before, not unless she gives them a reason to do so. They've known Gage far longer than they've known her; there's no doubt they'll choose his side if something happens between them.
She can't risk messing up her life here, and she damn sure doesn't want to risk changing her friendship with Gage, much less losing it. That's exactly what will happen if they date and break up. She'll lose him, and she'll lose the others, too, because they were his friends first. It's what always happens, another lesson the past has taught her. Just as she used to choose her brothers over her friends, Walker, Trivette, Alex, and CD will all choose Gage over her. If she loses him, not only will her heart be broken again, but she'll losing everything she has here.
She won't risk it. She can't, so she forces herself to shrug and act nonchalant. "You could try imagining them in their underwear or something," she teases lightly. "I've heard that works."
He shakes his head. "I'm not going there. I'm not going to try it, especially after what happened back there."
"Okay."
He glances at her. She smiles to remind him he can trust her. They are friends, even if they'll never be anything more. And they won't be. It doesn't matter that she gets tingles every time their hands touch, that her body burns with desire for his every time they wrestle or they knock each other out of the line of fire, or even that she dreams every night of what it would be like to kiss him.
She shakes her head and fiercely shoves those thoughts to the back of her mind. He is her friend, nothing more or less. Okay, well maybe one thing more. "I still say you'd make a great Elvis," she adds aloud, and the broad, sparkling smile with which he rewards her is the best part of her day.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Walker, Texas Ranger
Character/Pairing: Gage/Syd
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt:
hc_bingo: Abandonment IssuesWarning(s): None
Word Count: 1,075
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"In the ghetto, and his mama cries." The deep voice seems almost to resonate inside of Sydney. She keeps her eyes fixed on the radio, not daring to lift them to the man singing along with the song she'd thought it would be cool to have play and put him in his place. She still says it's Elvis' best song, but what she can no longer say is that Gage can't sing.
"Wow." At first, she doesn't realize the whisper ringing in her head has escaped her lips, but then Gage reaches over and clicks the radio off.
"Syd?"
She forces herself to lift her head and meet his questioning gaze with a smile. It's tight lipped, but it's not because of what she just experienced. It's not because of his song; he does sing beautifully. It's not because he didn't move her; he moved her in every way possible. She gulps hard and wipes her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans.
He's grinning at her, and she knows she has to say something fast or she'll never live this down. Requesting that song was quite possibly one of the stupidest moves she's made since becoming a Ranger. But she faces her partner's gaze. She even smiles truthfully as she inclines her head into a nod. "You can sing," she admits, and his radiant smile is almost as moving as his version of Elvis' song just was.
But then his smile begins to fade, and she finds her heart aching for him as it drops into a frown. "Just not in front of people."
"If you can sing in front of me, I don't know why you can't do it in front of them."
"Because I trust you," he answers truthfully. "I don't think you'd make a fool of me."
"You're scared they'd laugh at you?" she asks in disbelief.
He cranks the car and starts to pull out without looking back at her. Now it is his turn to feel uncomfortable, he who can not meet her gaze, and just as he did before with her, she now prods him. "Gage, you can't be serious -- "
"I'm afraid of making an ass of myself, okay, Syd?" he snaps, eyes blazing. "You saw how I choked up in there."
She's taken aback in surprise and looks at him with her head cocked to one side and her eyes slightly widened. He is afraid, she realizes, and it's not just of singing in front of an audience of more than one. She remembers what he told her before about how he grew up in an orphanage with only his sister as any real family. He's afraid of making a fool of himself, but he's afraid of being hurt, too.
Just like she is. She grew up with her father and her brothers. Gage has never had any one he could trust other than his sister, and she's never had any one but them. They've always loved her, but she saw how they treated women sometimes. Her brothers broke more than one of her friend's hearts while they were growing up, and she's had her heart broken several times before, too. Experience had taught her that the only men she could really trust were the ones in her close knit family, but all that's been changing recently.
She hasn't spoken to her brothers in weeks, and she doesn't really miss them. She's spending increasingly more time with Gage since they've come to work with Walker and Trivette, not just on duty but off duty as well. She likes him. She likes him as more than a friend, if she's honest with herself, and he's proven that he can be trusted time and again. He's saved her life more than once and always has her back.
But that's on the field of duty. The field of the heart is an entirely different playing field. She can't trust him; she can't trust any man with her heart again. She'd just be setting herself up for another heartbreak. God knows Elvis sang a lot about heartbreak, and she's experienced far more than her fair share.
She's building a new world here in Dallas. She's got friends. She's got people she can trust to have her back and to help her in any way they can. CD might fuss about women Rangers, but if she ever needed help, she knows even he would come through for her. These friends won't abandon her, not like every one else always has eventually before, not unless she gives them a reason to do so. They've known Gage far longer than they've known her; there's no doubt they'll choose his side if something happens between them.
She can't risk messing up her life here, and she damn sure doesn't want to risk changing her friendship with Gage, much less losing it. That's exactly what will happen if they date and break up. She'll lose him, and she'll lose the others, too, because they were his friends first. It's what always happens, another lesson the past has taught her. Just as she used to choose her brothers over her friends, Walker, Trivette, Alex, and CD will all choose Gage over her. If she loses him, not only will her heart be broken again, but she'll losing everything she has here.
She won't risk it. She can't, so she forces herself to shrug and act nonchalant. "You could try imagining them in their underwear or something," she teases lightly. "I've heard that works."
He shakes his head. "I'm not going there. I'm not going to try it, especially after what happened back there."
"Okay."
He glances at her. She smiles to remind him he can trust her. They are friends, even if they'll never be anything more. And they won't be. It doesn't matter that she gets tingles every time their hands touch, that her body burns with desire for his every time they wrestle or they knock each other out of the line of fire, or even that she dreams every night of what it would be like to kiss him.
She shakes her head and fiercely shoves those thoughts to the back of her mind. He is her friend, nothing more or less. Okay, well maybe one thing more. "I still say you'd make a great Elvis," she adds aloud, and the broad, sparkling smile with which he rewards her is the best part of her day.
The End
