Chapter 12

"Bye Angela."

"Bye." Sydney hung up the phone and turned around to face Vaughn, who wasn't there.

Sydney, now nervous because she didn't know where Vaughn was, looked around the house. She headed toward her room. Upon reaching the main hallway, she saw rose petals. She reached her room, and looked around. She was breathless. There were roses and sunflowers in vases all around the room, which was bathed in candlelight. She then found Vaughn sitting at the foot of her bed.

"When did you have time to do this?"

"Today."

"I thought you said that it would be to suggestive to come be in my house."

"I did. I never said that I was never in your house. I was just here long enough for the flowers to be delivered."

"How did you know that I wouldn't come home while you were here?"

"Angela."

"What?"

"I called her and told her about my plan. She told me she would keep you distracted until I was ready."

"I'm going to have to kill her."

"No you won't. You love surprises like this."

"Yes, I do. Thank you, for everything." She walked up to him, and he stood up and she kissed him, full of passion. They soon got carried away and landed on her bed. Before getting too carried away, and before any clothes were shed, Vaughn broke the kiss. Sydney had a hurt expression on her face.

"Sorry. I know we agreed to wait. Sorry." With that, he left the room. Sydney got up, and followed him, only to find him in the living room, on the couch, with his head in his hands. She hated seeing him like this. She sat down next to him.

"Vaughn, I wanted that just as much as you did, if not more."

"But I should have stopped. I shouldn't have done that, with the flowers."

"Are you kidding? I loved that! It's not totally your fault. It's mine, too. I kissed you first."

"It's still my fault."

"Why? Because you let your judgement be impaired for a moment of happiness? Or is it because you lost control or yourself? Or is it that the only thing we agreed not to do was about to happen?"

"It is all of those things. I shouldn't let my judgement be impaired. I shouldn't have broken the only rule that we had for the next three months, no matter how much I wanted too."

"You don't think I want that, too? I want the next two months and three weeks to fly by, but they won't. You know it, and I know it. Don't blame yourself. If anyone should be to blame it is me because I kissed you first, I brought it on."

"I can't blame you."

"That's the problem. You have me on a pedestal. I'm not perfect. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to be the one to blame sometimes."

"You are perfect though. Even with the so called flaws that you think you have, you are perfect."

"Vaughn. I'm not. The image you have of me that is what is perfect. I am not. I kill people on a regular basis-"

"For self-defense."

"I want things that I shouldn't want."

"Like what?"

"You, for example."

"You can just turn off your feelings."

"I should be able to. We've been taught to compartmentalize things. This is one of those things that should be."

"Not being able to compartmentalize doesn't make you any less perfect. I know that people make mistakes. It's not the image or the memory that I have of you that I think is perfect, it's you, the woman whom I worked with on a daily basis for two years, up until recently. The woman who is strong even when she feels like her life is falling apart. You make people feel joy, even if you don't. That is the woman I love. You are perfect, even if you don't believe me." Sydney was once again speechless. She wanted to kiss him, but refrained, knowing what happened the last time she did that. Instead, she settled for a hug, and a kiss on the cheek, or multiple, in this case.

"Syd, you have to stop that, or we may have a problem."

"Right." Sydney looked around. She decided that she wanted to still be close to him, so she wanted to watch a movie, preferably a long one.

"Do you want to watch a movie? I just got Pearl Harbor."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." A few hours later found Vaughn and Sydney snuggled up together, Sydney lying in front of Vaughn horizontally across the couch. Vaughn's arm was wrapped protectively across Sydney's waist. Sydney was half asleep, while Vaughn was entertained. He was watching the final scene. It was the part where Ben Affleck's character was with Kate Beckensale's and they were on the farm with the little boy, "Danny". He noticed the similarities between the three characters- in a strange twist of fate, the girl ended up with the first guy she was in love with, much like he and Sydney.

As the credits rolled, Vaughn turned off the TV and followed Sydney off to dreamland. It was another great night of sleep.

The morning came, as it always does, shining brightly through the window, waking Sydney. She wondered who that was with their arm wrapped around her, but the memories of yesterday came flooding back. It was Vaughn, who, by the sound of his breathing, was still asleep. She hadn't remembered sleeping that well in a while, other than when she and Vaughn slept together the last time he was there.

Sydney was pulled from her thoughts by the shifting of Vaughn. He was waking up. She turned over to face him. She wanted to see his eyes first thing in the morning; they were the deepest green then. Perhaps that was why she loved the morning so much.

"Morning," she said as he opened his eyes.

"Morning," he replied, after he took a deep breath, "I can't wait for this to be over and this will happen every morning."

"Me too. Less than three months."

"Counting down? I didn't think the great Sydney Bristow would count down something."

"Sure do!" Sydney laughed at what she just said. Spending so much time with Angela made her develop her Southern dialect.

"You know, Christmas is coming soon."

"And this will be another year that we can't spend it together."

"No."

"We should go get breakfast, because I have to leave in two hours," Vaughn said, changing the subject.

"Sure." They had pancakes, eggs and bacon. After breakfast, Vaughn left to catch his plane.

It was a week later, two days before Christmas, when Sydney decided to go to Los Angeles. Otherwise, she would spend it alone. Angela was going to Georgia to see her family.

When Sydney got to Los Angeles, she drove around town to finish her Christmas shopping. She had planned to send everyone their gifts that day, once she was finished. After she was finished, she was off to deliver, hoping everyone would enjoy their gifts.