Author: me, Denial is Bliss (a.k.a Tubby in other sites)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except for Seth.

Summary: Alice and Vaughn were high school sweethearts, but things changed.

POV: Alice pov

Parings: S/V, Alice/Seth, Alice/Vaughn

Song: Every Ship Must Sail Away by Blue Merlie

One Partner

A/N: Please bere with me here and tell me what you think of it. It is just an idea that i have had stuck in my head and i had to write it out.

Every Ship Must Sail Away

Have you ever heard the sounds,

In the shadows of a song?
Have you ever felt the words,

Blow right threw from beyond?

We used to be something. We were once happy, in a time where we only needed each other. Where our love was stronger than everything else we had known. I don't know how it changed; I just know that it did.

Let me start from the beginning. Michael Vaughn and I were once high school sweethearts. The thought of being apart had never crossed our minds until we both got accepted into different universities. I got into UNY while Michael had stayed and got into UCLA. Being the gentleman that he is, he put my needs in front of his own. I didn't want to let go, he was the best thing that happened to me, so we tried to make us work.

Cause years pass people change,

Bluer skies could turn to grey.
Though its gonna hurt for now every ship must sail away.
Every ship must sail way

It was fun at first for a while. We would talk forever on the phone every night and would leave each other messages full of promises, which would soon be broken. As time passed, we grew apart. It was bound to happen anyway, and we both knew it.

I found myself falling for my roommate's brother, Seth. Seth was what anyone would want to be with. He was smart and funny. He had asked me out a couple of times, I wanted to say yes, but I couldn't do that to Michael, it wasn't fair. Soon I was faced with two choices in front of me and I didn't like it. It was between Michael and Seth.

Oh change is in the air,
And you ware it oh so well
I asked you if you cared,

If you care I couldn't tell.

Finally the time came when Michael was to visit me, as we had planed a while earlier. Michael was such the gentleman that his mother had raised him to be and had arrived on my doorstep with a bouquet of my favourite flowers. I could see into his face and his beautiful green eyes that I loved so much that you had changed, just as much as I had. Standing next to you, and hugging you, I felt something that was dormant for a while now. It was love, but a different love to what we had together before. It was a love that one would feel for a friend, not a lover. It was in that moment that I knew my choice was to be.

Cause years pass people change
Bluer skies could turn to grey.
Though its gonna hurt for now every ship must sail away
Every ship must sail way

It was time for the truth, and I had to do this now, before I backed out and put myself in a situation I didn't want to be in. Closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath to try and calm my nerves, I suddenly blurted out what I had wanted to say.

Though its gonna hurt for now

"Imnotinlovewithyouanymore."

I had said it so fast that he didn't catch what I said and was smiling with one of his knee weakening smiles that he was famous for, waiting for me to continue. Slower this time, I looked into his eyes and said what I had wanted to get of my chest for a while.

"I'm not in love with you any more Michael. I fell in love with someone else. I didn't mean to, it just happened"

Though its gonna hurt for now

I waited for his response but only got his silence in return. It was like that for a while, until I broke it.

"I mean I still love you, but not in the way I once did. Everything is different from before, everything has changed"

"When did this happen?" he finally asked, looking up at me with a questioning gaze.

"I don't know, it just did I guess" I answered him honestly. "Michael, we are in different states, on opposite sides of the country. Something like this was bound to happen. We haven't been spending time together. People grow apart."

Though its gonna hurt for now every ship must sail way

"And this guy," he had paused for a moment, "It is a guy right? He treats you right, makes you happy?"

"Yes" I said looking down and nodding my head sheepishly. "He is my roommate's brother. He makes my see everything in a different light and makes me laugh at the simple things."

Every ship must sail way

With that he just nodded and we sat together on the couch in the silence for there was nothing else to say. After about 10 minutes, Michael stood up and turned to me.

"Well I guess there is nothing else I can do but say goodbye" he said sadly.

I felt so guilty that I had to do this to him, but I had to do it other wise we would have ended up hating each other. With a hug and a goodbye kiss on my cheek, Michael Vaughn was out of my life.

Every ship must sail way

Three years have passed now and I'm still with Seth. He had proposed to me last week. It was one of the happiest moments in my life. We had decided to break the news to my parents together. My mother was happy for us and my dad was putting on an act of losing his only daughter, but I knew he was happy for me. I'll always be his baby girl to him.

I was in a conversation with mum, as she was practically planning the wedding already, when she mentioned Michael's name

"He has moved on you know" she said simply "She is a really lovely girl too, they look happy together. He deserves to be happy after everything. Her name is Sydney. I can't remember her last name, it starts with a 'B' I know that. Bristow, that's it Sydney Bristow"

Every ship must sail way

My mother kept on with her ramblings. She loved Michael and he was practically part of the family. Our mothers still had their 'gossip lunches' as I called them, once a week and they knew everything about every one, and I mean everything. Nothing was safe around them.

I am glad that he moved on. I didn't tell anyone this but I saw them together at the mall when I had to go 'emergency shopping'. He was looking at cereal brands. I was tempted to say "hi, hows things, it's been a while" you know the usual things you would say to a person you haven't seen in a while, but a woman sneaked but behind Michael and surprised him by hugging his back and kissing him when he turned around. I could tell from here that they were madly in love. Looking down the aisle I found what I was looking for and walked away.

Every ship must sail way