Author's Note: I would have had this chapter posted by Thursday afternoon, but ff.net was having problems uploading HTML docs. Sorry for the delay.

* * * * *

On the morning of the wedding, Sydney Bristow opened her eyes and let out a sigh as she gave a bleak stare to the white popcorn ceiling of Will's apartment. She had spent a restless night tossing and turning (which was not easy to do in the narrow confines of Will's couch), the events of the previous afternoon replaying like a bad horror flick in her mind.

After Vaughn left her in the stables, Sydney quickly got dressed and made her way back to the party. She desperately wanted to leave without seeing Vaughn again and for once, luck was on her side as she managed to find Will rather quickly upon her return to the house. He took one look at her face and knew instantly that something was wrong, but he didn't press her for any explanations, an act of kindness for which she would be eternally grateful.

The drive back to Will's apartment had been made in relative silence. Will kept glancing over at Sydney, who had her head turned and facing the open window, with a worried look on his face. He had never seen her so quiet and withdrawn and it frightened him that she might be regressing back into her depression-mode from last summer. Selfish as it may have sounded, he didn't think he would be able to handle seeing the woman he had always thought of as a tower of strength in such a state.

When they got back to his apartment, Will let Sydney be. He kept an eye on her as he paid some of his bills and balanced his checkbook before checking out the last few innings of an afternoon Dodgers game on T.V., but by the way she had zoned out to the point of not even acknowledging his existence, he might as well have just been invisible.

Later that evening, Will thought it safe to risk leaving Sydney alone for the ten minutes it would take to shower and change his clothes. He sped through his grooming rituals in record time and came out of the bathroom casually dressed in jeans and a gray pullover, his hair a bit damp and curling ever-so-slightly on the ends. He could always tell when he needed a haircut when his hair started to flip out on him.

Will was due to head out to the church for the wedding rehearsal and then on to Francie's restaurant, where the rehearsal dinner would be held, but he was worried about leaving Sydney. He didn't think she'd do anything as horrific as inflict bodily harm upon herself, but he still would have felt better if there had been someone who could stay with her. Unfortunately, Jack Bristow was still out of town and Francie was working tonight as well.

With a bit of trepidation in his heart, Will was relieved to find Sydney still sitting on the couch, her legs tucked beneath her and her arms wrapped around a pillow as she stared forlornly into space. She seemingly hadn't moved since they'd arrived back home earlier that afternoon.

"Syd?" Will said tentatively, planting himself down next to her on the couch.

"Hmmm?" Well, at least she had heard him.

"I'm going to head out to the church now." He informed her. "Are you going to be okay by yourself tonight?"

Sydney took a long time before answering. When she finally spoke, her words came out in a listless mumble. "I might as well start getting used to being by myself."

Will frowned. "Syd, I can't stand this anymore. You've got to tell me what's wrong." He said urgently.

Sydney turned her head to look at him and he was startled by the look of desolation on her face. Her usually warm chocolate-brown eyes were a dull mud color and the corners of her mouth were turned down.

Will waited silently as Sydney gathered up of her energies in order to speak. "I managed to get Vaughn to myself for awhile and we talked." She finally admitted to him. "I told him about last summer."

"Oh." Will said shortly. "What did he say when you told him?"

"Naturally, he was shocked and stunned. I don't want to make you sit through a word-for-word account of our entire conversation, but he did tell me he felt badly for what I went through and I told him I was sorry for not keeping in touch." Sydney didn't go into detail, but she went on to tell him a little about what they'd talked about, but of course, not about what they had done.

"And then he forgave you, right?" Will prompted her.

"Yeah, I-I think so." Sydney nodded uncertainly.

"So I don't get it." His brow furrowed. "Why hasn't anyone called to tell me that the rehearsal's been canceled?"

"Well, that's probably because the wedding is still going on as scheduled." She gave a careless shrug that belied her true feelings.

"No, that can't be." Will said disbelievingly. "If Mike's forgiven you, then he can't marry Alice."

"One thing has nothing to do with the other, Will." Her voice was sad.

Will was having a hard time grasping the situation. Everyone knew that Sydney and Vaughn belonged together. Hell, even he knew it and he had been one of those most resistant to the idea. He had been so positive that all they'd have to do was get everything out in the open, tell all of their secrets and clear up all of their misunderstandings. So why were they still forcing themselves to stay apart from one another?

Sydney knew she could never tell Will--or maybe even anybody--what had happened between her and Vaughn that afternoon. It would just cause a rift amongst everyone involved and she had no desire to create any further tensions. Will and Vaughn still had to work together, after all, and neither of them would be able to do their jobs effectively if they were too busy choosing up sides. The moment she had shared with Vaughn would have to be kept as hers and hers alone, something to cherish for the joy it had brought her, but also something to regret because it would serve as a constant reminder for what could never be again.

"So you told him everything and he's still going to marry Alice." Will looked perplexed.

"That seems to be the gist of it." She said with an air of resignation.

Will's heart ached for Sydney. "Oh, Syd." He took her hands in his. "I'm not even going to try to pretend I understand what's going through Mike's head right now, but I want you to know that I'm truly sorry things didn't work out. I was pulling for you guys, you know that, don't you?"

Sydney gave him a smile, her eyes tearing up because he was being so sweet to her. "Of course I do, Will, and I love you for saying it." She put her arms around his neck and felt comforted when his arms went around her. "Thanks for caring enough to make me talk about it. I feel a little better now."

"I'm glad." He said in her ear. "Hey, what's this?" As Will's face brushed against Sydney's hair, something poked him in the cheek. His fingers caught at a piece of straw tangled in her silky locks and he pulled it free. "Where did this come from?"

When Sydney saw what Will was holding, a telltale blush rose to her cheeks. "I went down to the stables and I accidentally tripped over a pitchfork." She plucked the blade of grass out of his hand. "Not one of my finer moments, but on the upside, the bruise on my hip is the first one I've had since I left the Agency." Sydney tried to make a joke to cover her nervousness.

"Just one more thing not to miss about your old life." Will said teasingly, thinking nothing more of it. "Syd, I hate to do this to you, but I have to get going. Alice will kill me if I'm late to the rehearsal."

"Go ahead and go." She shooed him off. "I need a quiet evening at home after all the chaos from the last two days."

Will threw her a parting glance full of concern. "If you want to talk some more, call me and I'll leave the dinner early, okay?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary, but thanks for offering." She smiled and waved at him as he went out the front door.

As it turned out, Sydney did not need to take Will up on his offer. After a nice, warm bath (during which she washed her hair to remove any further traces of her afternoon pursuits), she made herself a light meal and then flipped on Will's computer. She went online to check her email and was tickled to find a few messages from a couple of her former students who were traveling through Europe for the summer. The seasoned world traveler that she had been, she had offered her advice on where to go and what to see and was pleased to find out that her recommendations had delivered on their promise.

Somewhat cheered up, Sydney had gone to bed with a smile on her face, but unhappily for her, it didn't last long. In the darkness of Will's living room, with nothing to occupy her thoughts but the memory of how it had felt as Vaughn trailed kisses down her neck or the way his eyes had appeared so impossibly green when he looked at her, Sydney started crying again for her lost love.

She was still awake when Will came home a little after midnight, but she pretended to be asleep. She felt him tuck her blanket around her legs and then heard him go into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. The next few hours were the longest of her life as she found herself unable to tear her thoughts away from Vaughn and the all-too-brief moments they had spent in each other's arms.

Some time during the wee hours of the morning, Sydney must have fallen asleep out of sheer emotional and physical exhaustion, but unfortunately, the respite from her problems was short-lived and not at all restful. Her body and soul were crying out for the blessed relief that sleep would bring, but for some tortuously evil reason, her mind staunchly refused to listen to their pleas.

Sydney peeked at the clock on Will's VCR only to discover that just an hour had passed since the last time she had looked. She decided it wasn't worth the effort it would take to lay her head down on the pillow again, so she stood up and walked over to the front window. Whereas the room had been somewhat dark when her eyes had closed, it was now gradually brightening. As Sydney drew back the curtains, she could see that new day had begun, one of which she had hoped would never happen.

After a few moments spent staring out the window, Sydney plopped back onto the couch, settling her blanket on her lap. All night long, she had struggled with her thoughts as she tried to decide on her next course of action. Part of her wanted to run away, bury her head in the sand and just try to forget that Vaughn was marrying another woman, but would it hurt any less if she stayed to make one more last-ditch effort? She had already bared her soul (as well as everything else) to him, so she had nothing more to lose.

Except your pride and your dignity, a little voice inside her head chastised her. Accept the fact that you and Vaughn were just never meant to be.

"If only I could do that." Sydney said out loud. But it was hard to come to grips with the fact that everything she had worked for and strived for during her last few years as a double agent had all been for nothing. She had given her heart and pinned all of her hopes on a dream she thought would eventually come true and it was the hardest thing in the world to give up on it.

But in addition to being a romantic, she was also a realist. Vaughn had all of the facts; he knew that she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Now it was his turn to decide if he could throw caution to the wind and make the same kind of commitment to her.

All of a sudden, Sydney knew what she had to do. Having made up her mind, she vaulted off the couch to go jump into the shower.

* * * * *

Francie Calfo woke up at 4:30 am to the tune of some old 80's hit by Madonna playing on her clock radio. With a slightly distasteful grimace, she turned off the alarm and dragged herself out of bed. Half an hour later, she was showered, dressed and in her car, heading straight for her restaurant to start doing the food prep for the wedding. As she traversed the empty Saturday morning streets, her mind couldn't help but wander to thoughts of Sydney.

In spite of her best efforts, Sydney appeared to have failed in her attempt to disrupt the wedding plans of Mike and Alice. Francie had always been of the belief that Sydney could do anything she set her mind to, but in this case, maybe there was just too much water under the bridge. She knew better than most how tightly grudges could be held and it wasn't hard to imagine that a combination of fear and anger and pride would be enough to feed a deep and painful hurt. Perhaps if she'd had more time, Sydney could have made some inroads into easing some of Mike's anxieties in regard to their past and future relationship, but as it was, the wedding had come all too soon.

With a heavy feeling in her heart for her two friends, Francie gunned it through a yellow light and then turned into the parking lot of her restaurant.

* * * * *

Alice Fairchild was awakened by the sound of chirping birds outside of her bedroom window. She lazily stretched her arms above her head and then her eyelids fluttered open. Her blue eyes traveled around her blush pink boudoir to settle upon her $10,000 Vera Wang wedding gown. A self-satisfied smile spread across her face as she contemplated how stunningly beautiful she would look walking down the aisle later that evening. She would have to remember to accept her compliments with a modest and graceful air.

Alice let out a contented sigh. Everything was going exactly to plan and before the day was out, she was going to be Mrs. Michael Vaughn. In spite of her twisted reasons for getting married, she had thoroughly enjoyed planning her dream wedding, but tonight was when the real fun would begin. As Alice drifted back to sleep, she was lulled by the thought that her darling Michael wouldn't know what hit him.

* * * * *

Marguerite Vaughn was an early riser, usually up before the crack of dawn. Her son's wedding day was no exception and she was already into her second cup of coffee before the sun broke over the horizon.

Marguerite had found herself deeply troubled upon learning from Sydney Bristow that the intentions of her son's fiancée were less than honorable. Despite her outward appearance of poise and self-control, she had not taken kindly to finding out that Alice had only revenge on her mind when she had manipulated Michael into proposing marriage to her. Her son was the light of her life and she could be as ferocious as a mama bear protecting her cub when it came to shielding Michael from hurt.

If only I could be more of the meddling sort, Marguerite thought, somewhat woefully. She had told Sydney that it wasn't in her nature to interfere in her son's life. She would offer advice if asked (and even sometimes if she wasn't), but she didn't push. Learning to make his own decisions and facing the consequences of his actions were just part of the reason why Michael had turned into the fine, strong-minded individual he was today.

Mother and son had not managed too much in the way of conversation at the rehearsal dinner the night before. Alice had monopolized Michael's attentions (Why had I never noticed that before? Marguerite wondered.), so she had no time to mention to him that she had met Sydney and found her quite lovely, just as he had described. It had been clearly evident to her how Sydney felt about Michael and Marguerite hoped there would still be time for the two of them to talk and perhaps settle their differences. But oh, they were cutting it close…

If not, then Marguerite was not quite sure she would be able to hold her tongue tonight when the minister asked, "If anyone can show just cause for why this union should not take place, speak now or forever hold your peace." Hmmm, perhaps I have a bit of meddling mother in me, after all.

* * * * *

In regard to his sleeping habits, Michael Vaughn took after his mother and he had already been awake for hours before his alarm buzzed at 7:30 am. He had thought he would sleep in on his wedding day, but his mind was too cluttered for him to enjoy catching a few extra moments of shuteye.

Vaughn ran through his usual morning habits as if on automatic pilot, showering, shaving and running a comb through his spiky-looking hair. After getting dressed, he went through the contents of his suitcase one more time before taking his bag downstairs to set it beside the front door. He made two more trips up and down the stairs of his condo, the first one to bring down his tuxedo still encased in its protective garment bag and the second to grab the plane tickets to Rome and his passport from his bedside table.

When he looked at the clock, Vaughn was dismayed to see that he still had forty-five minutes before he was due to meet Weiss for breakfast. He had wanted to keep busy for every moment of the day, so that he wouldn't have time to stop and think and now he had this window where those were the only two things he could do.

There was still a cup of coffee left in the carafe of his coffeemaker from the day before and since Vaughn didn't feel like making a fresh pot, he poured the cold remains into a mug and nuked it for a few minutes in the microwave. His beverage came out steaming hot, but predictably bitter, and he made a face as he took his first sip. But he sat down to drink it, anyway, since it seemed to fit in with his mood.

From the moment he had closed the stable door behind him--leaving Sydney looking lost and alone in his wake--Vaughn couldn't stop wondering if he was making the second biggest mistake of his life (he counted his first as being his agreeing to go to Washington while Sydney had still been under protective custody after the SD-6 takedown). No man liked to think of himself as a coward, but what other word was there to describe why he was walking away from the woman he loved so desperately and completely?

There weren't many things Michael Vaughn was afraid of, but Sydney Bristow had always scared him. He knew his feelings for her had been intense from the start and they had only ratcheted upwards as each year passed.

She, on the other hand, had taken her time to explore her feelings. Their bond had always been there, as well as a feeling of absolute trust, but the love had come at a more deliberate pace. If he wanted to, he could take her hesitancy as a sign that she had just wanted to be sure that they were both jumping into the abyss for the right reasons. Once they leapt, there was no going back and they would have to deal with wherever they ended up.

Had he gone back on his promise by not following things through to the end? Vaughn had told Sydney that he wanted to be the person she could always count on, but he had never added, as long as I don't get hurt in the process. Real love--the kind of love that lasts for all eternity--means suffering through the bad times as well as rejoicing through the good. It isn't all hearts and flowers and candlelight dinners; it's also being there when she's sick as a dog or when she's been upset by her father's duplicity or when she's horrified after finding out that her mother murdered your father. They had already survived through so much tragedy and pain yet their feelings had remarkably shown no signs of diminishing.

Didn't that tell him anything about the strength of their commitment and the depth of their love? Vaughn had to wonder.

* * * * *

Eric Weiss had to hit the snooze bar on his alarm clock five times before he was sufficiently conscious enough to roll over onto his back and let out a loud yawn. He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that the penguin suit he'd agreed to wear for the wedding was piled up in a heap on the floor. No doubt Alice'll harp on me for wrinkling my suit, he thought to himself wryly, making no move to get out of bed just yet. Leaving his tux on the floor for five more minutes wouldn't matter one way or the other.

Weiss wasn't happy that the day had finally dawned on the farce known as His Best Friend's Wedding, but seeing as how Vaughn was his best friend, he didn't see any other choice but to go through with it. He personally believed that Mike would live to regret marrying his shrew of a fiancée, but if his idiot friend was actually going to do the dirty deed, then he would need his best bud Weiss to back him up. Weiss wasn't going to let Alice emasculate Vaughn any more than she already had and if that meant incurring Alice's wrath in the process…well, then that was just icing on the cake as far as he was concerned.

He was mournful over the fact that Sydney's presence hadn't worked the magic he'd thought it would. Weiss had been so sure that seeing Sydney again would be enough to make Vaughn come to his senses, but for some reason, Mike was behaving like a stubborn jackass. Now Weiss' only hope was that Sydney had somehow managed to tell Vaughn the truth behind her disappearance last summer; that would be the only revelation shocking enough to force Vaughn into reconsidering his options.

Weiss didn't know for sure if the big confrontation had taken place, but he found it of noteworthy interest that both Sydney and Vaughn had been conspicuously absent from the barbecue for at least an hour yesterday afternoon. The thought that they might have been together pleased him to no end and it was just an added bonus to witness Alice's frantic meltdown as she sent the servants scurrying all over the grounds in order to find her wayward fiancé.

Nosy as he was, Weiss had tried his damnedest to get his best friend to spill the possibly juicy details when they were all at the rehearsal dinner, but Vaughn was having no part of it, immediately clamming up at the first mention of Sydney's name. Weiss wanted to pursue it, but with Alice positively hovering over Vaughn all evening, he never got the chance. So instead he just sat back and kept a close eye on his friend's body language, observing that Vaughn was acting a bit subdued and more than a little distracted. That led Weiss to believe that there had been some sort of face-off between the two star-crossed lovers and he just needed to work harder to get Vaughn to open up. Maybe he would have better luck at breakfast this morning.

Weiss looked at the clock again, calculated that he would only be fifteen minutes late if he skipped a shower and shave and then started scrounging around on the floor for something clean (or at least semi-clean) to wear.

* * * * *

Will Tippin was jolted from a peaceful slumber by the sound of something clattering noisily into his bathroom sink. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he staggered out of bed and opened his bedroom door. He crossed the few steps it took to get him into the doorway of his bathroom and was surprised to see Sydney stuffing her toothbrush and comb into a small make-up case.

"Syd?" He croaked out.

Sydney threw him an apologetic look. "Oh, geez, Will, I'm sorry I woke you up. I was hoping you hadn't heard me dropping the blow dryer into the sink."

"It's okay. I was going to go head on over to the gym this morning, anyway. " He watched as she ducked into the shower stall to grab her travel-size bottles of shampoo and conditioner. "What are you doing? Are you packing? You're not planning to leave right after the ceremony, are you?" His questions came out in a confused rush.

"No, actually, I'm planning to leave in about an hour." She replied, somewhat guiltily.

"What?" Will's mouth dropped open. "You're not going to the wedding?"

"No." Sydney said firmly, squeezing past him to go back into the living room.

"Syd, we have to talk about this." He followed closely on her heels. "You have to rethink this."

"There's nothing to think or rethink about, Will." She shook her head, placing her makeup bag in her suitcase. "I've made up my mind."

"Syd," Will grabbed her by the hand and forced her to sit down next to him on the couch. "Listen to me. Forget about what I said before. You have to tell Mike why Alice is marrying him."

"You think I should tell him?" Sydney's eyes widened. "Why the change of heart?"

Will's mouth was set into a grim line. "I was sitting there last night--through the rehearsal and then the dinner--and I was watching Alice bill and coo at Mike like some overgrown Barbie doll and it just made me sick." He looked at her with an agitated look on his face. "She's marrying him for the wrongest reason there is and I know I was a journalism major and I know that's not a word, but now is not the time to correct my English, Syd!" He finished heatedly.

Sydney couldn't help but smile. "You have to know that it's killing the English teacher in me not to do it, but I won't." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "You know, I think it's really great that you're going to bat for him like this. I always wanted you to be friends and you are, no thanks to me."

Her eyes dropped to the ground. "That being said, I can't do what you're asking me to do." She replied with great difficulty.

"You can't?" His eyes boggled. "Sydney, unless you've lost the power of speech, the word can't shouldn't be in your vocabulary."

"Will, please try to understand." A bundle of nervous energy, Sydney suddenly jumped off the couch and started pacing. "What good will it do if I tell him the truth about her? Sure, he'll probably call off the wedding and maybe eventually, we might be lucky enough to get a second chance."

"Well, isn't that what you want?" He asked her. "Mike leaves her, he goes to you. Everyone's happy."

"I won't be." She burst out. "I would feel like second choice."

"Sydney, you have no reason to feel that way." Will insisted. "You know he only took up with her because he couldn't have you. She's second choice, not you."

Sydney shook her head. "It would still be in the back of my mind that the only reason Vaughn's not with her is because I told him something bad about her."

"Don't you see my point, Will?" She gave him a pleading look. "I don't want Alice to dictate whether or not he comes back to me. I want it to be his choice. That's the only way I'll feel that it was meant to be."

Will still looked perturbed, but he grudgingly admitted she was right. "I guess it would tell you more where his head is at if he decides who he wants not knowing what a bitch Alice really is." His blue eyes met hers. "Because all things being equal, there isn't a doubt in my mind that he'd rather be with you than with her."

"Well, that may be true, but I don't know if he'll let himself accept that just yet." Sydney looked regretful. "By the time he figures that out, it may be too late."

She suddenly let out a loud groan. "Oh, we're getting much too maudlin here." She went over to him and pulled him off the couch. "Look, you go on to the gym and have a great time at the wedding." Sydney tucked her arm through his as she led him down the hallway towards his bedroom. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you alone and dateless, but maybe you'll meet someone there. Alice's friends can't all be snooty and stuck-up, can they?"

Will stopped outside of his bedroom door and turned to face her. "I wouldn't be so sure. I think those types of women tend to run in packs."

She grinned. "Well, maybe a good one will manage to sneak her way in. I don't know why she would want to, but it could happen."

He gave her a chuckle. Right before he headed into his bedroom to go change his clothes, he turned back around. "Syd, what do you want me to say if Mike asks where you are tonight?"

Sydney shot him a wry look tinged with sadness around her eyes. "If he's still going through with it, he won't ask."

* * * * *

Sydney and Will exchanged tearful goodbyes before he left to go to the gym, promising each other that their visits would be more frequent and not so angst-filled in the future. She laughed at his joke and he gave her a kiss on the cheek before telling her that he would call her later that night when he got home. She smiled that she would love to hear from him and then waved from the doorway of his apartment as he jumped into his car and took off.

Sydney was preparing to make one last sweep of the apartment to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything when the doorbell suddenly rang. Her heart nearly jumped into her throat and her pulse involuntarily started racing. It came as no great shock to her how much she had been hoping this would happen.

Sydney gave a little fluff to her hair and then took a deep breath before opening the door.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Hi everyone, just wanted to give a clarification on the remaining chapters – This chapter turned out longer than I expected, so I split up some segments and the next chapter will be its own, short but sweet. The final chapter will follow after that. It just flowed better for me if I broke up some scenes.

P.S. to Rachel (in response to your last review): Since I wrote the last chapter before "The Getaway" and I don't read the spoilers, I didn't even think about the parallels between Sydney, Vaughn and the room key that didn't get used and what happened with S/V in the stables in my story. Hmmm, maybe I'm more prescient than even I knew. (grin)