1 CHAPTER 5: barbecue
Vaughn was standing in his back yard, talking to his uncle.
He had been right, the day was extremely hot. He was wearing his favourite pair of tight blue jeans and a white T-shirt. He took a mouth full of beer from the bottle in his hand as he listened to his uncle speak about the young French girls he wished he had brought with him.
"They would really liven up this little get together" he grunted in a strong accent "know what I mean?" as he spoke, he nudged Vaughn playfully in the stomach.
"Then again" Pierre said as he grabbed Vaughn's shoulders and turned him around "maybe this isn't a total loss!" Vaughn gave him a confused look and his uncle smiled "whom is that gorgeous young thing talking to your mother?"
Vaughn inspected the crowd, searching for his mother. His breath caught in his throat when his eyes landed on the object of his uncle's question.
She was wearing a knee length summer dress in an attractive pale blue. The dress hugged her figure like a second skin. Her hair was pulled back into a clip, from which it tumbled down her neck in tight curls. There were small blue and white flowers dotted about making her look extremely young and harmless, but Vaughn knew better.
She was deep in conversation with Marie as both he and his uncle as good as drooled as they watched her.
Vaughn cleared his throat and tore his eyes away to look at his uncle.
"That's… that's Sydney. The girl I told you about! Remember?"
"I can now see why you weren't interested in any of the girls I tried to hook you up with!" he laughed loudly and Vaughn only smiled.
"Look lively my boy! Your mother is bringing her over! Look at the way she carries herself! Now there is a woman how is comfortable in her skin and I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of that skin!" Vaughn elbowed Pierre in the ribs as he turned to face Sydney and his mother.
"Hey" she greeted him
"Hi," he cleared his throat when his uncle poked him in the side for encouragement, "you look amazing"
"thank you Vaughn, not too shabby yourself". She smiled as she noticed that both his mother and the man beside him were trying to make him speak more by giving him certain looks and jabbing him. "It's nice to see you wearing something other than a suit!"
Pierre got impatient and pushed Vaughn aside "hello my dear, I'm Pierre!" he said as he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, trying to get a peak down the neckline of her dress as he bent. Vaughn smacked the back of his head when he saw this action.
"And" he said as he took Sydney's had away from his uncle "I'm going to play the knight in shining armour, and rescue the damsel in distress from the randy Frenchman!"
Pierre laughed loudly and patted Vaughn on the shoulder as he walked away pulling Sydney with him.
They walked to the bottom of the garden and sat on the low wall and talked for a long time. Vaughn noticed his uncle trying to tell him to kiss her. Sydney followed his gaze and laughed when she saw the actions Pierre was performing. Vaughn stood up, grabbed a bread roll, prepared himself to throw it like a Baseball pitcher, then he launched it across the garden and it bounced off his uncle's head, sending crumbs scattering in all directions from the impact.
"Good arm!" his mother shouted and gave him the thumbs up as she dragged Pierre away from them.
When he turned around, Sydney was laughing sweetly and had her hand over her mouth.
"What?" he asked innocently "he asked for it!"
"It looked like he was asking for something else!"
"I am not going to kiss my uncle!" he said with a smile, making Sydney laugh again.
"I never realised what a great sense of humour you have!"
"Well, in our previous meeting it wasn't really appropriate to be funny." He suddenly went extremely serious "not when I was sending you into situation that could easily have got you killed!"
Sydney placed her hand on his shoulder "don't go all serious on me now! I like it better when you making mischief."
Vaughn chuckled and glanced at her. "Did you see the explosion when it hit his head?"
The barbecue was extremely enjoyable and a lot of the guests commented to Marie that her son and Sydney had been inseparable all night and asked 'were they dating?' To which her answer was always the same; "give me about a week or so and they will be!"
It was almost midnight when Sydney reluctantly said she had to leave. Vaughn noticed as she spoke that she was shivering slightly. The air had turned cold as he had predicted it would.
"Do you have your car?"
"No I wanted to walk. It's a lovely night and I like to walk under the stars."
"I'll walk you home. Just wait here one second"
He dashed off into the house and told his mother where he was going. When he returned to Sydney, he handed her his favourite sweater. "Here put this on"
The sweater was too big for her but it was extremely warm. They walked extremely close to each other as they walked on the wide sidewalk. They were chattering when they reached Sydney's doorstep, and in Vaughn's opinion they had gotten there way to fast. Sydney was thinking the same thing as she turned to him on her porch.
"I had a great time today, thank you for inviting me."
"I was fun," he paused and looked down at his shoes as he gathered the courage to ask her the next question.
"Maybe we could do it again sometime" she said the beginning for him. His eyes shot up to hers
"Maybe I could cook you dinner tomorrow night?… um if you have nothing planned that is"
"I like that" she said with a bright smile.
"Really?" she nodded "great, say about 8?" she nodded again and her heart leapt as their eyes locked.
Vaughn decided that it was now or never, he ducked his head quickly, pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away instantly, thinking that he had just destroyed everything between them.
Sydney reached out and pulled him back down to kiss her again.
The embrace deepened as she opened her mouth to him and pressed her body against his as he inspected her mouth tenderly.
They were both out of breath when they finally broke the kiss.
"What took you so long" she gasped and he chuckled. Her arms were still around his neck when she leaned back to look at him, he held her waist tightly.
"What would your mother say if she knew you just did that?"
"Something like… 'Nice one my son!' she's been nagging me about this ever since I mentioned your name"
"Well…mother knows best!"
"Maybe. But I'm not looking froward to the 'I told you so' when she finds out"
Sydney laughed and watched as he smiled at her.
"Syd? Would you mind if I did that again?"
"You don't have to ask Michael!"
Vaughn pulled away slightly "did I just hear right? Did you call me Michael?"
"It's your name isn't it?" she joked knowing what he meant.
He grinned and moved in to kiss her again "it's the first time you ever called me that!" he said between kisses.
~~~
When he got home that night. His mother was asleep in the guest bedroom and his Uncle was flat out on the sofa with a bottle of beer at his side. Vaughn sat on the back porch for a long time, just thinking about what had just happened.
He finally went to his bedroom and to sleep to enjoy dreams of Sydney Bristow, the woman he had wanted for so long. And as he dreamt of her, things didn't seem at all as impossible as they had before.
Vaughn was standing in his back yard, talking to his uncle.
He had been right, the day was extremely hot. He was wearing his favourite pair of tight blue jeans and a white T-shirt. He took a mouth full of beer from the bottle in his hand as he listened to his uncle speak about the young French girls he wished he had brought with him.
"They would really liven up this little get together" he grunted in a strong accent "know what I mean?" as he spoke, he nudged Vaughn playfully in the stomach.
"Then again" Pierre said as he grabbed Vaughn's shoulders and turned him around "maybe this isn't a total loss!" Vaughn gave him a confused look and his uncle smiled "whom is that gorgeous young thing talking to your mother?"
Vaughn inspected the crowd, searching for his mother. His breath caught in his throat when his eyes landed on the object of his uncle's question.
She was wearing a knee length summer dress in an attractive pale blue. The dress hugged her figure like a second skin. Her hair was pulled back into a clip, from which it tumbled down her neck in tight curls. There were small blue and white flowers dotted about making her look extremely young and harmless, but Vaughn knew better.
She was deep in conversation with Marie as both he and his uncle as good as drooled as they watched her.
Vaughn cleared his throat and tore his eyes away to look at his uncle.
"That's… that's Sydney. The girl I told you about! Remember?"
"I can now see why you weren't interested in any of the girls I tried to hook you up with!" he laughed loudly and Vaughn only smiled.
"Look lively my boy! Your mother is bringing her over! Look at the way she carries herself! Now there is a woman how is comfortable in her skin and I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of that skin!" Vaughn elbowed Pierre in the ribs as he turned to face Sydney and his mother.
"Hey" she greeted him
"Hi," he cleared his throat when his uncle poked him in the side for encouragement, "you look amazing"
"thank you Vaughn, not too shabby yourself". She smiled as she noticed that both his mother and the man beside him were trying to make him speak more by giving him certain looks and jabbing him. "It's nice to see you wearing something other than a suit!"
Pierre got impatient and pushed Vaughn aside "hello my dear, I'm Pierre!" he said as he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, trying to get a peak down the neckline of her dress as he bent. Vaughn smacked the back of his head when he saw this action.
"And" he said as he took Sydney's had away from his uncle "I'm going to play the knight in shining armour, and rescue the damsel in distress from the randy Frenchman!"
Pierre laughed loudly and patted Vaughn on the shoulder as he walked away pulling Sydney with him.
They walked to the bottom of the garden and sat on the low wall and talked for a long time. Vaughn noticed his uncle trying to tell him to kiss her. Sydney followed his gaze and laughed when she saw the actions Pierre was performing. Vaughn stood up, grabbed a bread roll, prepared himself to throw it like a Baseball pitcher, then he launched it across the garden and it bounced off his uncle's head, sending crumbs scattering in all directions from the impact.
"Good arm!" his mother shouted and gave him the thumbs up as she dragged Pierre away from them.
When he turned around, Sydney was laughing sweetly and had her hand over her mouth.
"What?" he asked innocently "he asked for it!"
"It looked like he was asking for something else!"
"I am not going to kiss my uncle!" he said with a smile, making Sydney laugh again.
"I never realised what a great sense of humour you have!"
"Well, in our previous meeting it wasn't really appropriate to be funny." He suddenly went extremely serious "not when I was sending you into situation that could easily have got you killed!"
Sydney placed her hand on his shoulder "don't go all serious on me now! I like it better when you making mischief."
Vaughn chuckled and glanced at her. "Did you see the explosion when it hit his head?"
The barbecue was extremely enjoyable and a lot of the guests commented to Marie that her son and Sydney had been inseparable all night and asked 'were they dating?' To which her answer was always the same; "give me about a week or so and they will be!"
It was almost midnight when Sydney reluctantly said she had to leave. Vaughn noticed as she spoke that she was shivering slightly. The air had turned cold as he had predicted it would.
"Do you have your car?"
"No I wanted to walk. It's a lovely night and I like to walk under the stars."
"I'll walk you home. Just wait here one second"
He dashed off into the house and told his mother where he was going. When he returned to Sydney, he handed her his favourite sweater. "Here put this on"
The sweater was too big for her but it was extremely warm. They walked extremely close to each other as they walked on the wide sidewalk. They were chattering when they reached Sydney's doorstep, and in Vaughn's opinion they had gotten there way to fast. Sydney was thinking the same thing as she turned to him on her porch.
"I had a great time today, thank you for inviting me."
"I was fun," he paused and looked down at his shoes as he gathered the courage to ask her the next question.
"Maybe we could do it again sometime" she said the beginning for him. His eyes shot up to hers
"Maybe I could cook you dinner tomorrow night?… um if you have nothing planned that is"
"I like that" she said with a bright smile.
"Really?" she nodded "great, say about 8?" she nodded again and her heart leapt as their eyes locked.
Vaughn decided that it was now or never, he ducked his head quickly, pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away instantly, thinking that he had just destroyed everything between them.
Sydney reached out and pulled him back down to kiss her again.
The embrace deepened as she opened her mouth to him and pressed her body against his as he inspected her mouth tenderly.
They were both out of breath when they finally broke the kiss.
"What took you so long" she gasped and he chuckled. Her arms were still around his neck when she leaned back to look at him, he held her waist tightly.
"What would your mother say if she knew you just did that?"
"Something like… 'Nice one my son!' she's been nagging me about this ever since I mentioned your name"
"Well…mother knows best!"
"Maybe. But I'm not looking froward to the 'I told you so' when she finds out"
Sydney laughed and watched as he smiled at her.
"Syd? Would you mind if I did that again?"
"You don't have to ask Michael!"
Vaughn pulled away slightly "did I just hear right? Did you call me Michael?"
"It's your name isn't it?" she joked knowing what he meant.
He grinned and moved in to kiss her again "it's the first time you ever called me that!" he said between kisses.
~~~
When he got home that night. His mother was asleep in the guest bedroom and his Uncle was flat out on the sofa with a bottle of beer at his side. Vaughn sat on the back porch for a long time, just thinking about what had just happened.
He finally went to his bedroom and to sleep to enjoy dreams of Sydney Bristow, the woman he had wanted for so long. And as he dreamt of her, things didn't seem at all as impossible as they had before.