Open Your Eyes
by
Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: October 25, 2005
Summary: If she’d just open her eyes…
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, wish I did.
Rating: T
AN: Ok, yeah, inspired by the Nick Lachey song, “Open Your Eyes”, this
story just sorta popped into my head on the night of Oct. 24, and then by the
morning of the 25th, this is what I had. Enjoy!
Dedicated To: BloomingViolets, here’s some angsty Syd/Sky fluff for ya!
--
Yeah baby
He told you he could be the man that I could never be
He has a way of making promises that he can't keep
You get so angry when I try to point this out
And still it's you who's always calling me this late at night
I know you miss the way I used to hold your body tight
You needed me girl but you never say it
If you love him more just tell me so (tell me so)
But do one thing for me before you go
--
He groaned loudly as the cursed machine that was his phone rang for the fifth
time, shooting him straight to wakefulness. Pushing the pillow off his head, the
former Blue Ranger noticed the 2:00 A.M. blinking back at him in bright red
numbers from his alarm clock. Shaking his head, he grabbed for the cordless
handset and pushed the talk button.
“Tate here. This had better be good.”
“Sky.”
Just the way she said his name sent shivers down his spine; in fact, her voice,
the simple way she could say his name and make him feel so many things, hadn’t
changed over the years nor with the different changes in their relationship.
They’d been best friends, teammates, boyfriend and girlfriend, and even lovers,
but no matter what happened, her voice always affected him.
“Syd, do you realize what time it is?” he asked in exasperation.
“I’m sorry, I know it’s late, I just…”
And that’s when he realized what he should have the second she’d said his name –
something was wrong. “It’s ok, what’s wrong?”
Sitting up, Sky rearranged himself so that he could lean back against his
headboard, the phone tucked in the crook of his shoulder, the same spot where
her head had often been tucked when they’d been laying together. That thought
brought an ache to Sky’s heart that not even time could heal. Two and a half
years ago, he’d been blind to the fact that he’d had everything he’d ever wanted
out of life, and he’d let the best thing to ever happen to him walk right out of
their apartment door and never come back.
“What’s wrong, Syd?”
“I just… I… Matt…”
Sky sighed. He hated Matt Stormier with a passion. It didn’t matter that Sky had
been the one to let Syd go, even if it had been unintentional, he still hated
the man Syd was with. ‘Ok, yeah, you’re the one who ignored the hell out of her
because being put in charge of A Squad seemed oh so more important at the time!’
“Syd?”
“He hasn’t come home, again,” Syd’s soft voice informed him, making him mad.
“That’s because you know where he is…” Sky started, and sighed. He knew what was
coming next.
“HE IS NOT CHEATING ON ME SKY! HE LOVES ME! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING MARRIED
NEXT MONTH! HE WOULDN’T CHEAT!” she screamed into the phone.
Like normal, Sky took her yelling at him with a grain of salt. Syd had been
overly emotional lately, especially when he suggested that Matt was seeing
someone else. He’d tried to tell her, numerous times, as had Jack, Bridge and Z,
but she wouldn’t hear of it. Too bad she didn’t realize her friends were telling
her the truth.
“Sydney, calm down. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for him not being
home. Have you called his job? Have you called his cell phone? Has he called
you?” Sky asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. He really didn’t want to
be talking about this when he had to be up in four hours to get to work, but she
was his heart and soul; there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. ‘Too bad you
didn’t realize that fact two and a half years ago!’ he shouted to himself,
sighing heavily into the phone.
The former Pink Ranger was on the other end, crying her eyes out. Sky hated
knowing she was crying and there was nothing he could do about it. “Syd, honey,
come on now, don’t cry,” he soothed, listening as her breathing hitched. He
hadn’t used any term of endearment with her other than her abbreviated name
since they’d broken up, and she’d done the same – now he’d broken their unspoken
truce.
“Sky,” she sniffled, sounding a bit calmer now. “What am I gonna do?”
Shaking his head, Sky blew out a breath. He knew what he wanted to tell her to
do, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Moving slightly, Sky grabbed the
remote to his stereo and turned it on. Just then, a familiar song floated softly
from the speakers, making his heart constrict. It was a remake of a song from
2003, called “Open Your Eyes”. Sky’s mother had the original on CD, but he
liked this version from a current boy band, surprisingly enough, even better.
“Sydney, do me a favor, listen to this song for a second, ok, and then you
decide what you’re gonna do.” Sky moved to put the phone near the speaker as the
first chorus came on.
--
Open your eyes
Girl if it's love
Why can't you sleep at night
Open your eyes
Why don't you tremble when he holds you tight
If it's the last thing that I ever do
Let me make this clear to you
Open up your eyes
Don't be blinded by his promises
Open your eyes
The one he says isn't who he is
There's more to us than you realize
So open your eyes
--
She cried. She’d heard the song on the radio a lot lately, and each and every
time she heard it, it reminded her of someone she loved – and that person was
not her fiancé. Even after all this time, she was still reminded that the man on
the phone with her was the one who would forever hold her heart. They had such a
history behind them, from their days at the academy together, to being Rangers,
to being in love with one another, but they hadn’t been able to make it last.
Correction, Syd thought, I got tired of SPD coming first with him, and left
him without trying to make it work.
Oh, she’d listened when her friends had repeatedly told her that Matt was
cheating on her, she knew they were telling her the truth, but she had been so
sure that she could change him, and that he was the one she was meant to be with
now; she’d all but given up on the thought of being with Sky, he didn’t want
her, not like that, not now, not ever again. It was a tough pill to swallow, and
she made everyone believe that she was so naďve to what was going on around her,
but it hurt still, especially on nights like this, when she remembered how life
had been when she’d been happy.
In some ways, she knew it was a good thing she hadn’t slept with Matt yet,
especially knowing he was cheating on her. Sky was right though, and she was
finally getting to that point where she’d have to admit it, not just to herself,
but to everyone around her. The song wasn’t helping though. She was confused by
what Sky meant by having her listen to it, and hurt because it reminded her of
the way life use to be, of her life with him.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Syd sobbed brokenly into the phone, not sure he
could hear her over the music.
“Sydney, listen to me,” his voice was low and soothing. “You have got to get rid
of him, or you’re never gonna be happy.”
“What does that mean?” Syd argued angrily.
Sky sighed. “Dammit Syd! You know I love you! Why are you doing this to us?!”
The former Pink Ranger felt like he’d stabbed a knife in her heart. “Me? You’re
the one who put your job before our relationship!”
“And you didn’t give me a chance to fix my mistakes, you just took off!” he
accused. This was the first time they’d talked about what had happened between
them. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stand watching you with him, watching you be with
him like you are, because he doesn’t love you! He loves the fact that you’re
wealthy and a star and a former Power Ranger. He makes promises to you that he
never keeps, he isn’t who he says he is!”
“How would you know?” Syd shot back, angered and yet, she knew he was being
truthful.
“Because! I’ve had him checked out; he isn’t who he says he is.”
“How dare you!” Sydney hollered. “I thought you were my friend! How could you go
behind my back like that?”
Sky’s face was set in stone as he replied coolly, “Because, I love you, more
than you will ever comprehend, but if I can’t be with you, I want to make sure
whoever you’re with is somewhat marginally fit to be with you. But if you don’t
want me meddling in your life, Sydney, stop calling me this late at night.
Goodnight.”
Syd cried softly as she heard the dial tone, knowing now she had a lot of soul
searching to do.
XXX
It had been an extremely long week for everyone at SPD. Commander Cruger had
been promoted to head of SPD in the wake of General Birdie’s retirement and
had been given a goodbye party, which unfortunately, had a strained air to it
the second she and Sky had seen one another. She had been forced to show up
alone after having left message after message on Matt’s cell phone. He hadn’t
responded, not once.
Then there were the looks she’d been getting, not only from Sky, but from
Bridge, Z, Jack, Kat, Boom and even Commander Cruger. She knew that the others
probably knew about her and Sky’s big blow up from the previous weekend; they
hadn’t exactly been discreet with ignoring the hell out of each other.
But of all the stuff she’d done and experienced the past week, none had been
more important or heart wrenching as the soul searching she’d done. She and Z
had sat down and had a long heart to heart about all of it, which had ended with
her apologizing for her behavior and asking her former Yellow teammate for some
love advice. Z had merely stared at her and told her, “You know where you
belong, Syd, and with whom. You just have to decide if you’re ready to try that
again.” So here she was now, waiting for Matt to get off the phone with
whichever of his friends he was talking to.
“So, Babe, what’s up?”
Sydney felt sick, actually sick to her stomach sick when he called her that now.
She didn’t feel the fluttering in her stomach she’d had whenever HE had called
her Babe, only a clenching that was akin to the worst menstrual cramps in the
universe now that she heard Matt call her it.
“We’re through.”
She watched Matt blink and stare at her before asking, “What the hell do you
mean, we’re through? For God’s sake, Sydney, we’re engaged to be married in a
month.”
“We’re through. I can’t take anymore, and I sure as hell won’t be married to
someone who’s cheating on me and lying through his teeth to me about whom he’s
been with and where he’s been.” The look she gave him dared him to deny her
accusations, which he didn’t. “Besides, I’ve come to the conclusion that I know
where and with whom I’m supposed to be with, and it isn’t you.”
“Fine, get out.”
Syd smirked. “Dear, I hate to remind you, but this is my house. You have a week
to get out, before I get a court order to have you physically removed from the
premises.”
“Fine. Go screw your little blue teammate for all I care! You never loved me the
way you loved him anyway!” he hollered, then began to throw things as he moved
toward the door of Sydney’s townhouse, slamming said door behind him as he left.
He’s right, she thought now. She had never loved him the way she loved Sky,
which was totally and all consuming.
--
I know our history is something that we can't ignore
Just give me half a chance I'll make it better than before
Worse thing I did was give you wings to fly away
And if it's yesterday that keeps your heart from coming home
Girl I apologize for all the things that I've done wrong
To lose your love would be a price too high to pay
He can't love you more than I do
Girl don't let his sweet lies blind you
--
The knock on his apartment door startled him. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but
knowing his friends and knowing they understood the mood he’d been in for the
last week, he wasn’t surprised that someone had come to snap him out of it.
When he opened the door and found who was standing in the hallway outside his
door, he was surprised even more. She was staring at her feet, but he could see
her shoulders shake and he could barely make out the tears coursing down her
cheeks.
“Sydney?”
She looked up at him then, and he saw everything she needed to tell him right
there on her face, and more importantly, in her eyes. Silently, he reached out
and pulled her into his arms. They hugged each other tightly for a few minutes
before he ushered her into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.
“What’s wrong? What are you doing here?”
Syd stood near the front window, looking out into the night, not sure how to
start. “I needed to see you,” she told him truthfully, noting from the corner of
her eye how his shoulders seemed to tense at that. “We’ve been through a lot
together, haven’t we, Schuyler?”
Sky nodded. “Yeah, more than most people. Is this just a trip down memory lane,
Syd? Cause if it is, couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow at work?”
She saw that he was indeed dressed for bed, and she noted the time on the clock
on the wall; it was one in the morning. “Sky, this couldn’t wait,” she told him,
turning to face him, her hands folded in front of her.
“What is it?”
Her lips trembled and tears fell freely from her eyes as she stared at him,
taking in his appearance as if it were the first time in months that she’d seen
him; his skin was paler than she remembered, his face taunt, his eyes had deeper
shadows within them then she’d ever seen and circles from sleepless nights
underneath. He looked like he’d lost a bit of weight, and overall, he just
looked and sounded, mentally and physically, tired. Just like she knew she did.
“Sydney?”
“You were right.”
Realization dawned on him then. Z had called him a few hours ago, had let him
know that Syd was wandering around New Tech City in an emotional daze, and had
warned she might come to him. He’d been prepared to deal with it, but then that
had been hours ago, and now, all he wanted was peace and quiet to nurse his
still broken heart.
“About?”
“Matt, me, everything, like usual.”
“I’m sorry.”
Syd laughed bitterly at that, wiping away her tears. “No you’re not, and we both
know it.”
Sky shrugged. “You’re right, I’m not sorry you found out the truth,” he started,
moving toward her. “I am sorry you had to get hurt like this before you came to
your senses though.”
They were standing less than a foot apart now, and Sydney could smell his
aftershave and soap and that lingering trace of maleness that was his alone. She
hadn’t realized until this very moment, how deeply she’d missed him. “I miss
you, I miss us,” she murmured, tears spilling down her cheeks in a fresh
torrent.
“So do I.”
“Why? Why did it take so long for me to realize that? I look back now, and I
realize you’re the only one I’ve ever wanted to be with, why did it take me so
long to accept and admit that?”
Sky bit back the smirk that wanted to peep out and simply reached out both of
his hands to touch her face, wiping away the tears as he went. “Because we
needed the time apart, for both of us to get our priorities straight.”
“I’m sorry.”
Sky shrugged and stepped closer to her. “That makes two of us.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know, but as long as we’re together, this isn’t anything we can’t get passed,
Sydney.”
“Sky!” she cried, rushing head long into his arms, relief flooding her as he
held onto her tightly.
“I love you, Syd, always.”
“I know,” she whispered, leaning up to look into his eyes. “And I love you,
forever.”
“Stay here tonight? Be with me?”
“Always.”
--
Open your eyes
Girl if it's love
Why can't you sleep at night
Open your eyes
Why don't you tremble when he holds you tight
If it's the last thing that I ever do
Let me make this clear to you
Open up your eyes
Don't be blinded by his promises
Open your eyes
The one he says isn't who he is
There's more to us than you realize
Just open your eyes
--
Sydney shivered as they passed the threshold to his bedroom. She hadn’t been in
this room in nearly three years, but the memories she had of this room were
bright and as crystal clear as they had been when they’d been made.
“You ok?” Sky whispered as they settled on his bed, Sydney curling against him,
her head tucked in the crook of his neck.
“Yeah,” she sighed happily before stifling a yawn.
Sky smiled down at her, watching her eyes get heavy, and thought how right she
looked just laying in his arms, falling asleep. He sent up a little prayer and
thanked the higher powers for bringing her back to him. He kissed her forehead
and then settled down to go to sleep himself, but not before turning on the
stereo.
A goofy grin spread across both of their faces as the last chorus of a familiar
song began to play, both content to be in each other’s arms, knowing that’s
exactly where they belong.
--
Oh no
Every night
I say a lonely pray that you
Wake up and find
My love is waiting here
Open your eyes
Yeah baby
If it's the last thing that I ever do
Let me make this clear to you
Open up your eyes
Don't be blinded by his promises
Open your eyes
The one he says isn't who he is
There's more to us than you realize
Open your eyes
Oh, open your eyes
Just open your eyes
--
“Goodnight, Sydney.”
“Night Sky.”