- just because everyone was so nice, you all get a new chapter! It's pretty boring.lol. Enjoy!





Chapter 2

"Are you sure about this?" Sydney asked, pausing in front of his parents' house.

"Absolutely. They're going to love you. Quit worrying for a second why don't ya?" Patrick teased, ringing the doorbell.

Sydney shivered. She had not yet gotten used to the cold freezing winters of Michigan. LA was always warm. This change of climate was not welcome. Three years of this, and the snow was the only thing she liked.

The door flew open, revealing a smiling face of a woman. She had the same blue eyes as Patrick, but while Patrick's hair was blonde, hers was brown.

"You must be Lily!" she smiled. "I'm Nancy. Come in!"

Sydney had to smile.

"Fine Ma, don't say hi to your darling son," Patrick sniffed, helping Sydney take off her jacket.

"I was getting to you Patrick," Nancy turned to look at her son. "My, Lily, you look so beautiful."

Sydney blushed as Patrick nodded his head in agreement.

"She's right you know. You look very pretty," Patrick said, smiling at Sydney.

Sydney's face was frozen in a strained smile. That phrase.Vaughn had said it years ago.

"Where's dad?" Patrick asked, sticking his head into the living room.

"Oh, him," Nancy groaned. "The old man's cooking."

"He volunteered to cook?" Patrick asked incredulously.

"He insisted," Nancy corrected. "The last time he cooked was when you got the job at Lewis."

"I remember."

Sydney snapped out of her thoughts and joined the conversation. "Am I missing something?"

"Nick's not a big fan of cooking," Nancy started.

"But he's really good at it," Patrick interjected.

Should I feel special? Sydney asked herself. Shaking the thought off, she smiled. "That's really nice of him. Does he need any help?"

"Oh no, no - he has to work alone," Nancy mimicked.

"Talking about me?" came a jolly voice from the kitchen, followed by a loud rattle of pots and pans.

"Patrick and Lily are here!"

A balding man burst through the door of the kitchen.

"Hm." he said thoughtfully, glancing at Sydney. "She's a looker, son."

"Dad . . ." Patrick groaned.

Sydney stared at her hands, as there was nothing else to look at.

"You made her nervous!" Nancy clucked.

"I'll give her a tour of the house while you two do whatever you two want to do, all right?" Patrick said, leading Sydney up the stairs.

"Sorry about that," he said as his parents were out of earshot.

"It's all right. They're really nice," Sydney replied.

Patrick snickered. "Yeah. This over here, was my room . . ."

--

"So, Lily, tell us about yourself," Nick suggested, passing the plate of mashed potatoes to his son.

"Um, my name is Lily Brown. . ." Sydney started uncomfortably.

"Did you come from New York? Patrick said that you graduated NYU," Nancy interrupted.

Sydney nodded. "Born and raised there."

"Did you want to be a teacher all your life?" Nancy questioned.

"Basically, yes. I'm still working on becoming a Lit. professor at NYU," Sydney replied, remembering her cover story. She could never forget it. Hours were spent poring over the story, filling in all the holes, and creating the identification and certificates to go with it.

"So, tell me. . .did you have a significant other before Patrick?" Nick grinned, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Dad!" Patrick exclaimed.

Sydney looked down. "To be honest, yes. I did. But he died."

"Oh my," Nancy gasped. "You poor darling."

Patrick sat there, stunned. He had not known that little tidbit about Lily. But then again, he had never asked. What guy would want to know? Or rather, what guy would actually ask?

"It's all right," Sydney sniffed. "It's been a while."

--

Sydney dropped her purse on her bed and collapsed onto it. Who knew a dinner could be that strength consuming? Nick and Nancy were darlings, but she knew she wasn't supposed to be there. She was not that serious about Patrick, even though they have been dating for years now. . .He was just a distraction. A distraction from her real prince with the white horse.

But Vaughn's out of the picture. He's been out of my life for years, she thought. I can't believe I yelled at him the last time I saw him. Sydney remembered their last meeting vividly.

It was the first time she was at the warehouse before Vaughn. He was ten minutes late. He was never late. Then exactly twelve minutes later, he ran through the gates with a worried look on his face. She thought he would have been happy - SD 6 was gone. But instead, words like "the Witness Protection Program" and "dangerous" poured out of his mouth at an alarmingly fast rate. Then he told Sydney that Sloane was not captured. He had escaped before the agents got there. Apparently, he had been warned beforehand. "He could come after you," Vaughn warned. Sydney had argued, saying that she had had enough with this spying and hiding life. That she wanted it to be over. "I thought you'd be happy Vaughn. We can be seen in public together," Sydney tried. Vaughn had interrupted her, a pained look on his face. And with the two little words, "I can't," Vaughn had shattered Sydney's hopes. Angry words fell from Sydney's mouth, and within seconds, she had stormed out of their meeting place.

"I hope I never see you again," were her last words.

How true they turned out to be, Sydney thought sardonically.

It was her father who had presented her with her new identity, revealing no words about Vaughn. In fact, her handler was not even mentioned in any of their conversations.

She grabbed the phone from her night table, and dialed the familiar numbers.

"Hello?" came a deep voice.