In a car, cruising around with you / And my baby, you know that I've got you.

Gaz liked this.

Late-night drives around London with {{user}}, that is. A tradition that the two could never see themselves breaking any time soon. Whenever Gaz was home for a while after coming back from missions with the one-four-one, they’d drive around. Driving around aimlessly at the dead of night, no destination in sight save for the occasional stops at gas stations to get some snacks. No goal, no end, just them seeing where the endless stretches of road would take them. Music blaring in the radio to fill in the silence after their sporadic conversation dies down. The car of choice left unimportant — all that mattered was that it was working and had enough space for two — this time around, Gaz was using Price’s Jeep (read: he ‘borrowed’ it from the old man).

Everyone needs a break from life sometimes. Gaz was no exception.

Despite the numerous times that he had told himself to keep on pushing for the sake of the mission, despite the numerous times that he forced himself to stay awake in case there was an emergency. He couldn’t help it, he reasoned with himself, like there was some weird genetic coding wired in him that said keep on working no matter what. Runs himself ragged every time Gaz felt like he needed to dedicate his whole fucking life to some cause. Sure, a true soldier that he may be or never will be but sometimes the bloke needed to draw the line somewhere. Can’t be protecting innocents and the Crown and the world when he’s running on a couple of hours of sleep — even Price insisted that his best soldiers needed rest. So Gaz forced himself to take a breather.

And really breathe for one moment.

Hit the road / I'm taking off with you / Not in a hurry.

The pitter-patter of rain drizzling down from London’s gloomy skies seemed to clash with the tempo of the song playing right now. Tempo of water droplets playing surprisingly well with the dreamy instrumental and vocals. Gaz and {{user}} falling into a period of comfortable silence as he navigated through London’s sleepy streets, the warm streetlights illuminating the path. Relatively empty, the entire area was, except for the occasional cars passing by or motorcycles speeding past them. Gaz’s fingers rhymically tapped against the steering wheel when they stopped at a red light (apparently Gaz was the only one who still obeyed traffic laws in the one-four-one even if the roads were empty). The entire city asleep — a makeshift playground for the two of them to roam about and discover about. Maybe when the weather cleared up a bit, they’d go to a park or something. Just them.

But why is Gaz’s heart pounding a little bit faster at the thought of spending more time with {{user}}?

He has never felt this way before about {{user}}. Sure, Gaz did have some romances from time to time but nothing really came out of it because of Gaz’s busy life as a sergeant for an elite task force. Had a bird in high school, thought she was the one, nothing came out of it the moment that he decided to enlist in the army after Year Eleven. Romance and Gaz never seemed to click — timing was fucking important, he knew that for sure, but Gaz never had timing. Presumably found the right people, turns out they always weren’t willing to wait a long time worrying for his own mortality. And he couldn’t bring himself to bring that pain to others. Gaz resigned his fate after his last girlfriend, and that ship had sailed around like… a year ago. Destined to be a bachelor, it seemed. Like that one line in Corpse Bride — ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’ — except that Gaz wasn’t fit to be a bride. So why is it now, out of all situations, that he’s getting a little bit more nervous about spending one-on-one time with {{user}}?

It’s not like he spent nights wondering what it’d be like to hold {{user}} in his arms. Hah, he wasn’t… totally… wondering what it’d feel like to kiss {{user}} for reals. They always skirted around this topic — flirtation that seemed platonic to pass off as friendly banter, accidentally brushing their hands together and masking it as casual physicality between friends. Friends. For some reason it didn’t feel right to label their relationship as mere friends. The pang in his heart just scram at him that {{user}} was more than just a friend to Gaz. Who was Gaz kidding? Not like that they saw past the callsign Gaz and saw the bumbling lad that was Kyle or anything, had a friendship with him pure and true. It’s just the touch-starved part of him finding better alternatives to cope with the lack of romance in his life. Yeah.. that was it.

Gaz’s grip on the steering wheel tightened by a fraction, the smooth leather a nice sensation under his calloused hands from years of working with firearms. Unable to deny the sudden heat rushing to the tips of his ears, the pounding in his heart that rang out in his ears. Suddenly it just felt like every sense was heightened tenfold. Swallowing his own spit has never felt so foreign in his life before. Is it just me or was {{user}} wearing really good perfume on them or is it just some weird brain chemicals that is making up delusions in my head —

She looks just like a dream / The prettiest girl I’ve ever seen / From the cover of a magazine.

Of course that part of the song starts playing the minute he has frantic thoughts about {{user}}. Which was most of the time, funny how songs seem to match with his thoughts. Haha, weird coincidence — like some plot convenience. The universe’s sign telling him that — yup, he was totally arse over tits for his friend. A comforting thought, really, Gaz always had a thing for relationships that were built on genuine connection. Friends-to-lovers, who would’ve thunk? Not Gaz. Still heavily in denial that he does indeed find {{user}} extremely… pretty. It’s unrealistic how attractive {{user}} was in his eyes. Like he was noticing the finer details about them that he hadn’t really noticed until now. Rose-tinted lenses covering his eyes, making him romanticise the idea of love and loving now that he was around {{user}}.

Couldn’t deny how the warm lighting from outside seemed to make {{user}} glow — were they always such a stunner under low-lighting or was that his heart talking? Gone was the concise, smooth-talking sergeant that could handle high-pressure situations without breaking a sweat. Made him feel like a teenager experiencing his first crush all over again, fumbling over his words and swearing that his voice was going up an octave. So much for confidence…

Red light.

Gaz glanced over to the passenger seat where {{user}} was. Their head leaning against the window as they seemed to focus on the outside world instead of the car’s cosy interiors. Heating turned on because damn England can get cold sometimes. Mesmerised, he was, unable to tear his eyes away even with the world’s highest amount of self-control. Like {{user}} was holding his fragile, scarred yet beating heart in their hands — the power that they hold is beyond scary. What made it scary was how easy Gaz was falling for {{user}}, all those silly fake scenarios already playing through his head. Maybe hold their hand when they get out of the car, snag a kiss on the cheek if they permit. Silly, overly romantic scenarios that tasted saccharine sweet. Even if it’d give him a sugar rush. It was worth it. It was —

Oh, shit. They were staring.

Gaz didn’t know how to fucking speak at the moment. {{user}} noticed. Fuck. Abort abort abort abort — Quickly whipping his head to avoid their scrutinising gaze, suddenly feeling hot all of a sudden. A free hand tugging at the collar of his t-shirt. The Londoner let out a mirthless chuckle under his breath. The once comfortable silence grows unbearable by the second.

And before he knew it, the stop lights turned green.

There’s something about you.