Title: The Date
Rating: PG-13??
Disclaimer: I don't own the show or any of the characters.
Summary: Sydney goes on a date and makes a decision to change her life. S/V.
A/N: - I'm not sure how in character Sydney and Vaughn are in this fic. But I really just wanted to write something that's relatively fluffy, light-hearted and 'shippy, but with a bit of angst thrown in too. This will probably be only one chapter long. Please R&R! Thanks!
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Vaughn paced up and down on the hard concrete floor of the warehouse as he spoke. He handed over a listening device and a few documents to Sydney. He went through the counter-mission specifics in his usual manner, professional and to the point. His job was on of the few things in his life that he could control and he was determined to still do his best. There was a long pause after he finished speaking. He saw Sydney gazing into the distance. She looked as if she was deep in thought.
"So that's itSydney?" He repeated a bit louder that time.
Sydney looked directly at Vaughn with an expression that was by now familiar to him. It was obvious to him that she had something that she wanted to tell him.
"What is it?' He asked.
"I have a date tonight." Vaughn seemed to think that she said it in a casual, matter-of-fact way.
'Saying I have grocery shopping to do later is no big deal. Sydney going on a date is.' He thought. "Oh?" Vaughn said as nonchalantly as he could manage. Vaughn was relived that he was already sitting down. "How did you meet? What's his name?" Vaughn added. He silently cursed at himself. He realised that Sydney was treating him like he was one of her girlfriends and that despite himself he was playing along.
"His name is Steven Harvey. He's a wine merchant. I met him at Francie's restaurant." Sydney explained. Vaughn tried to cover the pained expression on his face. He had only asked her out of politeness. He didn't really want to know. Now he had created an image of an actual person in his head, a man that really could go on a date with Sydney.
"Well, I hope you have a good time. I should let you go, if you want to get ready for your date."
"It's okay. It's nothing fancy. Just dinner." She replied.
'What I wouldn't give to have 'just dinner' with her.' Vaughn thought. "Okay. I'll see you when you get back from your mission. Bye Syd." He said. Vaughn rushed off as soon as he could. Sydney's voice was already ringing in his ears, mocking his unwillingness to confess his true feelings to her.
~~~
Sydney looked at her watch and grumbled to herself about the fact that she had just wasted three hours of her life with one of the most uninteresting men in the country. It was a painfully bad date for her. She was just glad that she was able to lie with ease as she had used the excuse that she had an 8am meeting at work the next day to get out of the date early. Unfortunately her dedication to her job had only impressed him even more and it had taken all her skill to wriggle out of a promise for a second date.
Sydney opened the door to her apartment and headed straight for the kitchen.
"Hey Francie." Sydney's bad mood began to lift a little. "Do we have any chocolate? I need some chocolate."
"Are you back already? How did the date go?" Francie asked already wincing, expecting to hear the worst.
"It's all your fault Francie. You introduced him to me!"
"I promise I won't play matchmaker again! He seemed nice when I spoke to him. Anyway he was cute! I'm sorry." Francie apologised.
"Well you should have asked him out instead! But it's okay and it was only one date so it's not the end of the world." She said. "Anyway I have a plane to catch in the morning. I should try and get some sleep." Sydney continued. Sydney then left Francie in the kitchen and went to get ready for bed.
It was only while she had closed her eyes, trying to get to sleep that she realised the true reason she hadn't enjoyed that date that evening was that she had been thinking about Vaughn all that time. She had even secretly hoped that he would have called her for some reason.
Sydney continued to try to get to sleep, but she was failing miserably. She eventually switched on her bedside lamp and reached for her cell phone. But she stopped herself from dialling Vaughn's phone number when she looked at her alarm clock and saw how late it was. She knew she would have to wait until she had returned from the mission.
~~~
Vaughn counted the hours until Sydney arrived back in LA. During the long wait he kept thinking about her date.
'Of course that guy will like Sydney' he thought. So he tortured himself with the idea that Sydney probably liked him too. Vaughn eventually got a call from Sydney asking to meet her at the warehouse. But instead of rushing over there and waiting for her as he usually did, he left at the last possible moment. He found Sydney already there waiting for him.
"Hi Vaughn. I got the disk." She said.
"Good." Vaughn then took the disk from her and he put it in his pocket.
"Vaughn. I wanted to explain why I told you about my date the other day."
"Look Syd. I don't mind listening to you talk about your problems. I know you don't have anyone else to talk to about certain things, but"
"Vaughn" she interrupted.
"Please, can I finish? I just don't want to hear about your dates. You can talk to Francie or Will about stuff like that. I don't really want to know, okay?" Vaughn blurted out.
"Oh." Sydney replied suddenly aware how upset he was.
"I'm glad we cleared this up." Vaughn said regaining his composure.
"By the way, I had a terrible time." Sydney stated.
"What?"
"The date- it was horrible. It was the date from hell!"
"Really?" Vaughn asked despite what he had just said to her.
"That might be a slight overstatement, but it definitely wasn't good! Now ask me why." She said firmly.
"Okay, why?" He finally relented.
"There were three reasons why I should never have gone on that date. One- Francie was sitting next to me when he asked me out. I couldn't say no because she has been bugging me for a while now that I should start dating again so I had no choice. Two- He was also extremely boring! He kept talking about taxes and his business accounts all evening. Why did I tell him that I work at a bank?! You should have seen me, I almost fell asleep in my dinner!" Sydney laughed. She noticed that Vaughn was now smiling as well.
"What was the third reason?" Vaughn asked visibly relieved that she hadn't enjoyed the date.
"I felt guilty all throughout the date. I didn't fully understand why until I got back home."
"Guiltywhy?"
"I felt bad that I was on a date with him. I was wishing I was on a date with someone else instead." She answered.
"Who?'" Vaughn asked impatient to find out.
"I thought you didn't want to know." She teased.
"Sydney!" Vaughn exclaimed.
"I wished that I was there with you." Sydney was relieved that she finally told him how she felt.
"If this is your idea of a joke" Vaughn said in disbelief.
"No Vaughn, it isn't." Sydney whispered.
"Youyou just surprised me that's all." Vaughn managed to say.
"I'm glad I went on that date now." Sydney said. "It made me realise that I wanted to see your face across the table from me. To hear your voice perhaps recounting one of your hockey playing stories"
"are you sure I wouldn't bore you?!" Vaughn joked. A big smile gradually formed on his face.
"Thenthen you feel the same way?" She tentatively asked.
"Yes" Vaughn's smile melted away and was replaced by a look of sadness.
"But?" Sydney said quietly.
"We can't just go for dinner like other couples can." Vaughn said sadly, bringing them both back to reality with a bump.
"How about you tell me one of your hockey stories now and I ate an hour ago so if you want, we can pretend?"
"Will that be enough for you?" Vaughn asked earnestly.
"No,but if the story was followed by a kiss, then maybe that would be, for now." She said suggestively.
"Maybe we could forget the hockey story entirely" Vaughn responded.
"and get to the best part of a date?" She asked smiling broadly.
Vaughn took a step closer towards Sydney and kissed her. Sydney kissed him back just as passionately. They eventually broke apart, both breathless, but happy. Suddenly a thought occurred to Vaughn.
"Was thiswas this your plan, to see if I'd be jealous?!" He asked. A smile played on her lips as she paused before giving Vaughn an answer to his question. "Sydney?" Vaughn added.
"We got the desired result so does it matter how we got to this point?" she finally asked.
"I guess not." He replied. Sydney soon realised that Vaughn wasn't satisfied with her answer.
"Vaughn, I've lied to so many people, especially to myself. But you have no idea how being able to be honest, not having to hide who I really am around you is important to me. I finally realised that I wanted you and me, us, to be together more than anything."
"Are you sure about all this? You do know it's going to be much more complicated than before?"
"Yes. Yes." Sydney nodded her head. "If you're willing to take the next step forward, then so am I."
Vaughn sighed with relief. He had always been aware how intense his feelings were for Sydney, but he had never guessed that she could feel the same way for him. Vaughn looked into Sydney's warm brown eyes, her face barely inches away from his. This time he kissed her more tentatively as if it was their first kiss. He could feel her fingers trail through his hair as she kissed him. For those few moments they forgot that they were standing on the cold concrete floor, in the semi-darkness of the warehouse. Sydney reluctantly pulled away from Vaughn.
"Vaughn" She said quietly. "I'm not quite ready to go back to the real world just yet."
He didn't answer her, but instead he took a few steps back, his fingers still intertwined with hers. He finally let go of her hand, but instead of feeling despondent, he felt hopeful, for the first time in a really long while. Sydney saw the optimism in his eyes and a smile on his face and returned the smile. Their smiles remained on both their faces as they walked out of the warehouse in opposite directions and into the warm evening air.
~~~
The End