CHAPTER 12 - LOVE
It was unbelievably peaceful on the beach; only the sound of the strong waves lapping against the shore could be heard. Sydney walked slowly, allowing the cool sensation of the water to mix with the feeling of coarse sand under her feet. Unlike her calm, collected exterior, Syd's mind was full of burning questions and thoughts. She was still trying to process how a few weeks ago, this was pretty much impossible and now, such a short time later, she was somehow walking along the most beautiful beach with the man she loved, a million miles away from her problems.
A sudden gust of wind hit them and Sydney shivered. Instinctively, she moved closer to Vaughn, who in turn put a protecting arm around her. She sighed, allowing her head to gently drop onto his shoulder and they continued walking. She commented, "This beach seems to go on forever, how long have we been walking?" They paused for a second, while Vaughn checked his watch. "11:45," he replied, "why? Are you tired?"
"No, I just thought maybe we could sit down and talk for a while. Look, there's a little bench a bit further on," she replied, pointing in the direction of the small, wooden seat for two. "Sure, ok." Vaughn agreed and they made their way to the bench to sit down.
"So, Miss Bristow, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Vaughn asked teasingly. "Nothing in particular. It's just, during dinner it suddenly struck me that you know so much about me but I hardly know anything about you," Sydney answered, almost sadly. There was silence for a minute and then Sydney suddenly asked, "Vaughn?" "Mmm?" "Tell me about your past. How was your childhood? What was your school like?" she enquired, hoping that it didn't come out sounding like she was nosey. "Well, I grew up in France which was great. I lived in a small village in Fleury, Normandy so everyone was really close and friendly. Naturally I went to the village school, which was ok, but I think I'd prefer something a bit livelier - there weren't many pupils so school was pretty quiet," Vaughn answered truthfully, pausing every few words and smiling at the memories. "That sounds lovely," Sydney commented, wishing that her childhood had been like his and not the screwed up mess that it was. Vaughn just nodded.
"What about your favourite colour?" Sydney asked, as if she was playing a game of 20 questions. "Erm..I'm not too sure. Probably green, or navy, or black." Sydney giggled at his indecisiveness and added, "Green would match your eyes," not knowing why she'd said that but feeling the need to anyway. "Yeh, I guess it would" Vaughn said, gazing deeply into the chocolate-brown windows into Sydney's soul.
They stayed there for a minute, just enjoying the silence. Sydney was the one to break it. "Vaughn, I need to tell you something," she said seriously. Her hands were beginning to shake and her heartbeat had already doubled. 'It's now or never Syd' added the voice in her head, which recently seemed to be talking to her a lot. To be honest, Sydney really wasn't sure if she was ready to admit her feelings for him. However, she realised that they might not get another opportunity like this for a long time.
Vaughn sensed that the mood had suddenly changed from being happy and playful to very serious and he watched Sydney intently, awaiting her next comment. He silently prayed that it was the same thing as he had been wanting to say for a long time, but couldn't be sure.
"Vaughn..I love you," Sydney said abruptly, her voice full of emotion, "And I've tried not to, every day, but I just can't stop. I can't stop loving you, damit! And every time I look in your beautiful eyes, I get lost in them..Oh Vaughn, I love you more then anything and I just need you to know that, cause if anything happens to me." she stopped, tears streaming down her cheeks and her body shaking from the sobs and her sudden announcement. She knew she'd babbled, but didn't care.
Vaughn, finding it hard to cover his joy at what she'd just said, pulled her close to him, whispering comforting words in her ear, mostly in French.
After a minute, Sydney had composed herself and looked up at Vaughn, desperately, trying to see if he felt the same way. It was Vaughn's turn to confess.
"Sydney, I love you too. I have done since I first laid eyes on you. I can't begin to explain how overjoyed I am at what you just said - because I feel exactly the same way.." he paused to wipe a single tear which had made it's way down her cheek and continued gently, "Sydney, you really are the most amazing person I have ever met. You're insanely beautiful, incredibly smart and the strongest, most persistent person I know. Every time you go on a mission, I go crazy; worrying about you, praying that you'll come back to me. Every time you come to me, broken, my heart breaks too. Sydney Bristow, I love you, more than the world it self." Vaughn finished his speech and only hoped that his words had come out sincere and didn't sound cheesy. After a moment he added, "I know this is against protocol, but right now, I don't care. I broke protocol the day we met, by falling head- over-heels in love with you, and I'm not gonna stop now."
They quickly embraced and sat there, content in each other's arms but overwhelmed by their raging emotions. When they broke apart, Sydney looked at Vaughn, questioning if she should do what she wanted to do so much. His eyes revealed so much love and passion and without realising it, her lips found his. The kiss was incredible and bound all their feelings together in one heavenly sensation. It was slow and sweet but became more passionate and hungry towards the end. Eventually they broke apart, coming up for vitally important air which had been used up, exploring each others' mouths.
Vaughn stared at her, allowing a huge smile to play on his tender lips. Syd brought up a hand to her own lips which still tingled from his touch. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that." Vaughn commented. "Not as long as I have," Sydney answered, her wide smile matching his.
Suddenly aware that it was just past twelve, Vaughn and Syd simultaneously got up off the bench. Vaughn was still proudly wearing his loving smile but noticed that Syd's had disappeared and was yet again, replaced by a few tears. "Hey," he cooed soothingly, gently rubbing her arm,"don't cry, the kiss wasn't that bad," he said, attempting a lame joke. Despite herself, Sydney giggled. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking." Vaughn interrupted her, "You were thinking what's going to happen next." Sydney nodded sheepishly, not bothering to hide her worry. "Truthfully Syd, I don't know. My mid is still trying to figure out if I'm in heaven, after what you said and what we just did. I know things are never gonna be the same, now that we've confessed our feelings but I assure you," he said quickly, not wanting her to cry again, "we'll find a way. We'll MAKE THIS WORK," he finished, emphasizing the last part in an effort to convince both of them. Sydney, in response, hugged him again and kissed his cheek, whispering a 'thank you'.
The couple walked soundlessly back to the villa, which by now was deserted; grabbed their coats; took one more look at the terrace as if to commit the lovely scene to memory and headed out the door.
A sudden sadness hung in the air around them, as each in turn realised that they had to return home separately and follow different routes, once again returning to all their problems back in LA. Just before getting into her car, Sydney walked up to Vaughn, kissed him passionately once more and whispered that she loved him, before returning to the car and driving off into the peaceful night, her life changed forever.
It was unbelievably peaceful on the beach; only the sound of the strong waves lapping against the shore could be heard. Sydney walked slowly, allowing the cool sensation of the water to mix with the feeling of coarse sand under her feet. Unlike her calm, collected exterior, Syd's mind was full of burning questions and thoughts. She was still trying to process how a few weeks ago, this was pretty much impossible and now, such a short time later, she was somehow walking along the most beautiful beach with the man she loved, a million miles away from her problems.
A sudden gust of wind hit them and Sydney shivered. Instinctively, she moved closer to Vaughn, who in turn put a protecting arm around her. She sighed, allowing her head to gently drop onto his shoulder and they continued walking. She commented, "This beach seems to go on forever, how long have we been walking?" They paused for a second, while Vaughn checked his watch. "11:45," he replied, "why? Are you tired?"
"No, I just thought maybe we could sit down and talk for a while. Look, there's a little bench a bit further on," she replied, pointing in the direction of the small, wooden seat for two. "Sure, ok." Vaughn agreed and they made their way to the bench to sit down.
"So, Miss Bristow, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Vaughn asked teasingly. "Nothing in particular. It's just, during dinner it suddenly struck me that you know so much about me but I hardly know anything about you," Sydney answered, almost sadly. There was silence for a minute and then Sydney suddenly asked, "Vaughn?" "Mmm?" "Tell me about your past. How was your childhood? What was your school like?" she enquired, hoping that it didn't come out sounding like she was nosey. "Well, I grew up in France which was great. I lived in a small village in Fleury, Normandy so everyone was really close and friendly. Naturally I went to the village school, which was ok, but I think I'd prefer something a bit livelier - there weren't many pupils so school was pretty quiet," Vaughn answered truthfully, pausing every few words and smiling at the memories. "That sounds lovely," Sydney commented, wishing that her childhood had been like his and not the screwed up mess that it was. Vaughn just nodded.
"What about your favourite colour?" Sydney asked, as if she was playing a game of 20 questions. "Erm..I'm not too sure. Probably green, or navy, or black." Sydney giggled at his indecisiveness and added, "Green would match your eyes," not knowing why she'd said that but feeling the need to anyway. "Yeh, I guess it would" Vaughn said, gazing deeply into the chocolate-brown windows into Sydney's soul.
They stayed there for a minute, just enjoying the silence. Sydney was the one to break it. "Vaughn, I need to tell you something," she said seriously. Her hands were beginning to shake and her heartbeat had already doubled. 'It's now or never Syd' added the voice in her head, which recently seemed to be talking to her a lot. To be honest, Sydney really wasn't sure if she was ready to admit her feelings for him. However, she realised that they might not get another opportunity like this for a long time.
Vaughn sensed that the mood had suddenly changed from being happy and playful to very serious and he watched Sydney intently, awaiting her next comment. He silently prayed that it was the same thing as he had been wanting to say for a long time, but couldn't be sure.
"Vaughn..I love you," Sydney said abruptly, her voice full of emotion, "And I've tried not to, every day, but I just can't stop. I can't stop loving you, damit! And every time I look in your beautiful eyes, I get lost in them..Oh Vaughn, I love you more then anything and I just need you to know that, cause if anything happens to me." she stopped, tears streaming down her cheeks and her body shaking from the sobs and her sudden announcement. She knew she'd babbled, but didn't care.
Vaughn, finding it hard to cover his joy at what she'd just said, pulled her close to him, whispering comforting words in her ear, mostly in French.
After a minute, Sydney had composed herself and looked up at Vaughn, desperately, trying to see if he felt the same way. It was Vaughn's turn to confess.
"Sydney, I love you too. I have done since I first laid eyes on you. I can't begin to explain how overjoyed I am at what you just said - because I feel exactly the same way.." he paused to wipe a single tear which had made it's way down her cheek and continued gently, "Sydney, you really are the most amazing person I have ever met. You're insanely beautiful, incredibly smart and the strongest, most persistent person I know. Every time you go on a mission, I go crazy; worrying about you, praying that you'll come back to me. Every time you come to me, broken, my heart breaks too. Sydney Bristow, I love you, more than the world it self." Vaughn finished his speech and only hoped that his words had come out sincere and didn't sound cheesy. After a moment he added, "I know this is against protocol, but right now, I don't care. I broke protocol the day we met, by falling head- over-heels in love with you, and I'm not gonna stop now."
They quickly embraced and sat there, content in each other's arms but overwhelmed by their raging emotions. When they broke apart, Sydney looked at Vaughn, questioning if she should do what she wanted to do so much. His eyes revealed so much love and passion and without realising it, her lips found his. The kiss was incredible and bound all their feelings together in one heavenly sensation. It was slow and sweet but became more passionate and hungry towards the end. Eventually they broke apart, coming up for vitally important air which had been used up, exploring each others' mouths.
Vaughn stared at her, allowing a huge smile to play on his tender lips. Syd brought up a hand to her own lips which still tingled from his touch. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that." Vaughn commented. "Not as long as I have," Sydney answered, her wide smile matching his.
Suddenly aware that it was just past twelve, Vaughn and Syd simultaneously got up off the bench. Vaughn was still proudly wearing his loving smile but noticed that Syd's had disappeared and was yet again, replaced by a few tears. "Hey," he cooed soothingly, gently rubbing her arm,"don't cry, the kiss wasn't that bad," he said, attempting a lame joke. Despite herself, Sydney giggled. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking." Vaughn interrupted her, "You were thinking what's going to happen next." Sydney nodded sheepishly, not bothering to hide her worry. "Truthfully Syd, I don't know. My mid is still trying to figure out if I'm in heaven, after what you said and what we just did. I know things are never gonna be the same, now that we've confessed our feelings but I assure you," he said quickly, not wanting her to cry again, "we'll find a way. We'll MAKE THIS WORK," he finished, emphasizing the last part in an effort to convince both of them. Sydney, in response, hugged him again and kissed his cheek, whispering a 'thank you'.
The couple walked soundlessly back to the villa, which by now was deserted; grabbed their coats; took one more look at the terrace as if to commit the lovely scene to memory and headed out the door.
A sudden sadness hung in the air around them, as each in turn realised that they had to return home separately and follow different routes, once again returning to all their problems back in LA. Just before getting into her car, Sydney walked up to Vaughn, kissed him passionately once more and whispered that she loved him, before returning to the car and driving off into the peaceful night, her life changed forever.