Chapter Six: Torn

Sydney opened her eyes slowly and realized that she was sleeping in Michael's lap. He was already awake, sitting up, a smile playing at his lips as he looked at her. Sydney shifted so she was sitting up as well and curled back into his arms. She glanced around the room and was a little confused. How had they ended up in her bedroom? The last thing she remembered was sitting in his arms in the living room in front of the fire. Sitting in front of the fire… after they had kissed. Kissed a lot. A shiver went down Sydney's spine as she remembered the intensity of those kisses. Michael's kisses were gentle and demanding at the same time and just thinking of them made Sydney look up at him and pull him down for another one. After they had broken away, he gave her a questioning look, "What was that for?"

"I couldn't resist. I was thinking of yesterday… how did we end up here anyways?"

"After the fire dimmed, you fell asleep and you looked really tired, so I carried you here. I fell asleep after a few moments also." He smiled as he remembered Sydney's mumbling when he carried her to her bedroom. Something along the lines of, "France is too far away."

"Hmmm. You're such a gentleman. Want some breakfast? Hey, what are you smiling about?" Sydney noticed the smile and the laughter in his eyes. Obviously, something was very amusing.

"Oh, nothing. Breakfast would be great. I'll cook. You can go take a shower or something."

"Well, how about we both take a shower… not at the same time!" Sydney exclaimed to Michael's raised eyebrows and smirk. "And then we can both cook." Sydney nearly started laughing at the thought of showering together. They hadn't even been together for a week yet.

"Hah. Sure. I'll go first. I don't have any clean clothes though. Well I guess I can go home and change later." Michael stood up and headed toward the kitchen, while Sydney grabbed some clothes from her closet and headed from the shower.

After 15 minutes, Sydney walked into the kitchen to find that Michael had gathered eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and just about every other breakfast food in her refrigerator. Now he rummaged through the shelves while mumbling to himself, "Pans… where does she keep her pans?"

Sydney leaned against the doorway, smiling at the sight of Michael in her kitchen. It seemed so natural. She knew that she wanted to wake up this way every morning. "The pans are under the sink." She laughed as he turned around and smiled at her.

"Uh. Ok. In fact I was just going to look there." He proceeded to pull three different size pans from under the sink. He took in the sight of Sydney, dressed in baggy sweat pants and a white tank top that revealed her stomach and belly button. Her hair was still wet from the shower and she looked fantastic.

Sydney grinned. "Why did you take out just about everything in my refrigerator? And why do you need 3 pans?"

"Uh, well… I didn't know what you would like to eat. And… I can cook three dishes at once?" Michael gave her a sheepish look that Sydney found absolutely adorable. She couldn't get over how gorgeous he was and how after 2 years of regret, Michael was finally her's.

Sydney laughed again. "You can go take a shower now. I'll take over around here." Michael reluctantly complied, after giving Sydney a quick kiss that resulted in her pulling him back for a longer one. "Ok now you can go." Grinning, he walked toward the bathroom, feeling like a whipped teenager that did everything for his girlfriend. His beautiful, wonderful girlfriend. Shaking his head, Michael wondered how he had survived the 2 years in France without her.

Sydney hummed a tune while she put half the things Michael had taken out of the fridge back in. She gathered the eggs and decided to scramble them. She was cooking the bacon when she heard the water go off in the bathroom. She smiled, allowing herself to wonder what Michael looked like just coming out of the shower. She shook her head. No need for dirty thoughts right now. About two minutes later, the phone rang. Sydney couldn't just leave the bacon. "Michael, can you get the phone for me please? I'm tied up at the moment."

She heard the bathroom door open and heard him pick up the phone with a breathless voice, "Hello?"

"Uh… may I please speak with Sydney?" On the other side of the phone, a confused Jack Bristow wondered who was there with his daughter. Michael frowned slightly. The guy sounded a little edgy. He walked to the kitchen and handed the phone to Sydney.

"Hello?" Sydney turned off the bacon and motioned for Michael to put it on the plates. "Oh, hey Dad. What's up?"

"Sydney. Everything's fine. Who is the man at your house?" Jack cut right to the chase. He was a father after all.

"Oh… ummm… actually—" Sydney managed to say before she gave a little gasp. Michael had wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and had begun to kiss her neck, slightly nipping the skin near her earlobe.

"Sydney?" Jack frowned into the phone. Why was Sydney acting so strange?

"Oh yea, sorry dad. What were you saying?" Sydney hoped he wouldn't ask who was at her house again. She shifted the phone to the other ear as Michael continued to lavish kisses on the back of her neck.

Jack sensed his daughter's discomfort and decided to talk to her about the real reason why he was calling her, "Oh yes, I've decided that I will probably go to opening of Francie's restaurant. When did you say it was?"

Sydney almost sighed in relief of being off the hook… for now. "It's two weeks from this coming Monday. Around noon."

"Ok then. I'll see you there. Bye, Sydney."

"Bye, dad." As soon as she disconnected the phone, she whirled around to yell at Michael. "Do you know how hard it was trying to talk to my dad in a normal tone of voice while you…" her sentence trailed off as she realized that Michael's shirt was unbuttoned and it revealed his smooth chest and taunt abs. Her breath caught in her throat.

Michael gave her a lopsided grin. "Are you mad? I couldn't resist."

Sydney managed to slow down her breathing and say, "Sure. Is that why you didn't button your shirt also?"

Michael laughed, "No, that was because you made me get the phone. I'll button it now, if you want."

He moved his hands to button up his shirt but Sydney stopped him. "It's ok." She let her hands rest on his bare chest for a few seconds before letting them slide over his chest and abs. She felt his muscles jump at her touch and smiled at the effect she had on him. She pulled his head down to meet hers and brought her lips up for another kiss.

-

A Few Months Later

Michael sat at the table, looking at the black velvet box in his hands. He opened it slowly, imagining Sydney's delighted expression when he would open the box for her and she would see just how much he loved her. She would be so happy. She deserved it. Sighing, he grabbed his jacket and put the box in his pocket as he headed out the door.

As he climbed into his car and began to drive toward a very familiar place, Michael wondered if this was the right choice. He loved Sydney, but was it too soon? He didn't think so, but what would Sydney think? He knew that before anything could happen, he would have to tell her the entire story. He vowed to do it soon as he climbed out of the car and made his way up the little hill where there lay a gravestone with the words:

William C. Vaughn
1945 – 1982
Beloved Husband, Loving Father, Patriot

Michael crouched down and ran his fingers over the etched words. "Hey Dad," he began softly. "We all still miss you so much. After all this time, not a day goes by that we don't miss you. I guess you know that already, huh? I've only told you all of the times I've been here." He chuckled. "I wish you could be here. You could meet Sydney. You'd love her, Dad. She's beautiful and she's one of the most fantastic people I've ever met. She makes me happy. Sydney's an English teacher and she has this way with kids. Olivia loves her too. You know how we met? She lost her fiancé, Danny Hetch, in a car accident. I was in the accident too. He gave me a message to tell her. So I went to his funeral and told her. We became friends, I guess. One day, a year after Danny's death, she came over for dinner. That's when I started to fall for her. Things got complicated and basically she told me that we were friends but nothing more. I went to France for two years. Two years! During that time, Sydney had somehow become friends with Bridgette. How ironic. When I got back to LA, she was at my house. Bridgette, Olivia, and Josh had been staying there. I had missed her so much and I guess she had missed me too. We started dating… Danny brought us together… I know what you're thinking, Dad. Yeah, it's the same Danny. You remember him? I didn't. Not until later. I don't know if he remembered me. Maybe he did. Sydney doesn't know though. I just… can't bring myself to tell her. I'm afraid I'll hurt her. Just… watch over her. Okay? She deserves to be happy. If you see Danny up there, thank him for me, will you? I love you, Dad. Bye."

Somehow, in his little speech, he had begun to cry. Michael shook his head and wiped his tears away. There was one more thing he had to do.

-

Sydney looked at the clock. There were a few more hours to kill before she was going to have dinner with Michael. Maybe she could go visit Danny. Tell him what was going on. She smiled. Danny and Michael would've gotten along great. She wondered what would have happened if they had met before the accident. Would they be friends? Would she love them both? She frowned. That would've been a problem. Sydney decided that Danny had brought her and Michael together in the first place. Besides, what had happened couldn't be changed. There was no room for regrets. She wondered what the future would be like. A future with Michael? She entertained the thought of marrying him and having kids and starting a family with him. It would be great. Sydney almost laughed as she remembered what Francie had interpreted tonight's dinner as. Francie had said, confidently, "He's going to propose." Sydney had no idea why Francie would say that, but as she thought about it, she wouldn't mind a marriage proposal. She decided to visit Danny.

As she walked slowly toward the area where Danny's grave was, she noticed that someone was there. Sydney frowned, a little puzzled. Who would visit Danny's grave? As she got closer, she realized it was… Michael. Sydney opened her mouth to call him, but shut up it immediately. She crept forward, curious as to what, exactly, he was doing here. She got close enough to hear his words and listened carefully.

…"Syd's doing great. She still loves you, you know. I wouldn't doubt it. I know she has moved on, and I love her so much. I'm taking care of her, like you asked. I think that we're gonna be together forever. Yeah, man, I sound like a sap." Sydney heard him laugh and pondered his words. Take care of her? She continued listening. "Anyways, she doesn't know. I can't tell her. I didn't even remember myself until later on. Did you remember me at the accident? It seemed almost… as if you did. I know I should tell Syd. I just don't want to hurt her."

Sydney's mouth was hanging open now. She got a little angry. Michael had been hiding something all this time. He knew Danny. How did he know Danny? Before she could help it, she blurted out, "Why don't you let me decide?"

Michael spun around, the shock evident on his face. "Sydney… I…"

"Why are you hiding things from me? How do you know Danny? C'mon, tell me, I can take it."

"No, Sydney, it's not what you think."

"How do you know what I think? You've been lying to me for such a long time. You know what? I don't want to hear it. I'm getting outta here." With that, Sydney turned around and tore off.

"Sydney! Wait!" Michael ran after her.