The Way it Should Be
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
Despite the fact that I am having a mental breakdown right now, I am writing the next chapter.
I know that a lot of you are protesting about the ring but please believe me when I say that the flashbacks are there for a reason. The flashbacks themselves are going to answer the ring question and then Vaughn will answer it again talking to Sydney.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
7.
"Sangria please." Vaughn looked down at his crossed arms, realizing where he was and what exactly he was doing. And though there was a part of his mind that told him that he was doing this for the right reasons and that he should be at the point where he was able to come out of the house, he still couldn't suppress the pleading of his heart.
Eric sat next to him, silent in his uncertainty of what to say. Looking around the bar in order to do something to break the heavy uncomfortable silence, he froze and turned back, not knowing how to say it.
"Mike…"
Vaughn turned and looked at him. Without saying a word, he just looked at him, waiting for more words to come as he knew they eventually would.
"There's a girl on the other end of the bar checking you out."
He had expected embarrassment, anger, maybe even a storming-out-of-the-room was appropriate given the situation. What Eric hadn't thought would happen was to see tears spring into his friends eyes.
"There's a girl at the other end of the bar checking you out."
Michael raised his eyebrow with an unspoken question and Sydney couldn't help but laugh at expression. Turning around, he saw the overweight, middle-aged women sitting in the corner, drowning her sorrows whilst giving him the eye.
He shook his head as he turned back to her. "I really don't think you have to be worried about her, Syd."
"Who said I was worried? I just wanted to let you know that you are attractive. I mean any one who can get the attentions of a drunk woman…"
He stopped her with a kiss. "Syd… just don't speak anymore."
She placed a hand on his chin and turned it to the other corner where a curvy young blonde sat on a stool, holding a glass of wine in one hand and nonchalantly surveying the room. "And her?"
He turned back to her. "You don't have to worry about her either. The only face I'm interested in is-" he took a hold of her purse and rummaged in it until he found a compact. Opening it, he held it up to her face – "this one."
~End second flashback~
Vaughn turned to look over his shoulder, vainly hoping that the woman would turn out to be Sydney…somehow…
But it wasn't. It never was.
~End Flashback~
"Sydney…" He gulped, wanting to say the right things, wanting to come up with some sort of magic word which would make the past two years disappear. He unsurely brought a hand up to her chin, resting his fingers under it, feeling how soft her skin was and how real she felt to him before he dropped his fingers, "You want to know why I'm wearing this ring. And I'm sorry for not answering yet but… God Sydney, I thought I'd never be able to forget you –and I haven't- and it's just that it always gets me how beautiful you are."
She tried to stop the springing of tears in her eyes.
"It should be illegal how beautiful, Sydney…" The tears were creeping up into his own eyes as he finally felt reality beginning to sink in. "This really is you, isn't it? I'm not going to wake up and realize that I'm alone again?"
She was still for a moment, waiting, before nodding.
And he fell against her, hugging her tightly to him in a grip that she had never felt before. His desperation and relief mingled into a single entity and she felt herself being held with a love that she had never before felt. And she felt the cool metal of the ring push itself into her hand as he disengaged from her.
"Three months after you disappeared, Eric made me go to the bar. And… do you remember that time we went to the bar?"
She smiled a little tentatively, slowly beginning to realize and believe that he wasn't a possession of someone else. That it was possible that he might still belong to her…
"Of course I remember Vaughn. That was… that was good."
He laughed. "Sydney, I was talking about the bar, not after the bar. Anyway, Eric pointed out this girl that was looking at me and it reminded me of that time and… God Sydney, everything reminded me of you. Life was living hell and I don't even understand why I'm still alive today but I'm so glad that I am. I'm so thankful that you are here with me. Sydney… Sydney, God I'm so glad."
She brought a hand to his face, wanting to comfort him though she was still unsure of the situation.
"Every time I looked at something, I had a memory that we shared together… every time I saw something that we didn't share, I would think of how you would react. And I couldn't take it anymore. Every one was telling me to move on and I couldn't. How could I possibly move on and settle for any body else after I found you? No one is as real as you are."
He stopped, the pain still poignant and obvious in his eyes… the relief hadn't yet sunk in and he was still reliving the last two years of being without her.
She turned the ring towards the light and read it, knowing instinctively that there would be an inscription.
Stay with me and keep me with you. Wherever you are. You have my heart. Always.
TBC…
Hmmm… so you kind of have the explanation. We'll go more deeply into it later.
