[17]
Michael walked back into the living room and Sydney gazed up at him, "Who was that?"
"Your father," he replied, "He wanted to make sure nothing had happened and to let me know he is heading out here for the weekend."
Her eyes grew wide, "Here as in LA? As in this apartment? As in staying here with us?"
"Well he probably won't stay here at the apartment," Michael told her, "He'll probably stay at a nearby hotel or something."
She shook her head back and forth, "He's so going to know right away..."
He looked confused, "Going to know what right away?"
"About us."
Michael looked at her like she was crazy, but wanted to reassure his girlfriend that she was just worrying for nothing, so he sat down in front of her and grasped her hands, "Syd, how is he going to know?"
"He just is!" Sydney exclaimed, "He's always been able to tell things like this with me when I was growing up, even though he was hardly around. One look in your eyes, and one look in mine, he'll see how happy we are around each other, and he'll know."
He pulled her to him, and kissed the top of her head, "It will be fine Syd, I promise. Now we have more important things to worry about."
She looked up into his eyes, "Like what?"
"Like what your father asked me to explain to you. Do you remember the first time I was ever here, that night when I checked the apartment," she nodded and he continued, "Well that night I went to your bedroom to look around, make sure nothing was wrong in there.
"Well when I walked in, at first seemed as if nothing was wrong, and I was relieved, but then I felt a cool breeze and I looked over and your sliding glass door to the balcony was wide open, the curtains flapping in the breeze."
He saw the way her eyes narrowed, and her lips thinned, and he knew she was mad that he hadn't told her, but he cut her off, "Just let me finish before you say anything."
She nodded, giving her consent to continue, "I immediately freaked, I mean, obviously someone had been in there and had fled when we walked in the house. So I walked over to the window and walked out onto the balcony, and what really disturbed me is that the balconies of your two nearest neighbors are within jumping distance.
"And before you get eternally pissed at me for not telling, you have to understand that even then I didn't want to worry you until I told your father about it, to see what he wanted me to do.
"I told him this morning, and what he wants us to do is to meet your two neighbors, to see their demeanor."
Sydney looked him square in the eyes, "You let me continue to sleep in that bedroom after you found out someone had been in there. You allowed me to stay in there when clearly it wasn't safe."
He all but pounded his hand down on the floor, she wasn't seeing his point, "Syd, if there was any chance that it was unsafe, believe me, you wouldn't have been sleeping in there, you would have been sleeping in my bed for god's sake, I wouldn't let you sleep in there by yourself in an unsafe environment, I wouldn't let that happen, how could you think I'd let that happen?"
Sydney hung her head, she hadn't thought it all through, she had just been quick with the accusations, and now she regretted them, what was she going to do now? She felt terrible, absolutely terrible.
She would have to make it up to him somehow.
Grabbing his hand she vowed she would make it up to him, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so, so sorry for accusing you, oh god, I'm such a freakin' idiot."
She tried to kiss him, but he backed away, stood up and walked to a window overlooking the parking lot.
'Dammit!' she thought, 'What the hell have I done now? Dad won't have anything to figure out at the rate I'm going.'
"Michael let's do something," she told him, he didn't flinch, "Let's like blow off my classes for the day and just have fun before my dad gets here."
He didn't respond again, and she went to him now, all but pleading with him, "Michael, please, please talk to me."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and he couldn't stand to see her crying over this, their first official fight, he took her hand and brought him to her, "Let's never fight again."
She laughed, "No matter how much I like that idea, it's easier said than done. Every normal couple has fights."
"So what was that about going to have some fun and skipping class today?" he questioned.
"Let's do it," she said.
"Where to?" Michael asked.
Sydney shrugged, "We'll figure that out when we drive."
Secretly Michael knew where they would eventually end up, because he had already packed a picnic lunch for them before she had woken up, now that they weren't going to her classes, they could eat at the park instead of on campus where he had originally planned for them to eat.
****
Today was a day they weren't going to forget, and to make sure that wouldn't happen, they had come stocked with cameras, determined to capture every moment of it.
Their first destination was the local playground, someplace the two of them hadn't been in years, but were going to relive their childhood.
Sydney immediately ran to the swings, her favorite of anything at the playground, and Michael ran behind her, pushing her high into the air.
For Sydney it felt like 14 years before when her mother and father had taken her to the playground before her mother had died. They had actually been at the playground the day before the accident.
Minutes later, Sydney jumped off the swing once Michael was standing in front of her, steadying her when her feet hit the ground.
They collapsed onto the grass, arms and legs tangled together as they lay in the grass. A couple of tourists approached them, gazing curiously at the fallen couple.
"Excuse me," Michael called out, "Can you take a picture of us please?"
The couple nodded and gratefully took the camera from Michael, the two of them bringing their heads close together and smiling, it was a picture- perfect moment.
Sydney grabbed Michael's hand after she grabbed the camera back, and she dragged him towards the twisty slide and up the ladder.
She sat down on his lap at the top of the slide and sat back in his embrace (she had given the camera to someone else before they had climbed up the stairs to the slide), and then they pushed off, flying down the slide that she had used to be scared of.
At the bottom, they flew off it, and fell in a heap in the sand below, laughing merrily along the way.
"What time is it?" Michael whispered in her ear, the were still lying in a heap.
"Uh, 12:30," Sydney told him, then grinned, "I'm supposed to be in class now, it feels so good to be skipping for the first time."
"I'm glad you're so happy about it, now come on," he pulled her up after him, "I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" she asked excitedly, giggling also, god how did he love that sound, "I love surprises."
****
He had blindfolded her so she wouldn't see where they were going, as he said, it was a surprise. So, when he pulled into the parking lot at the park, she had no clue where they were.
Michael got out of his side, grabbed the picnic basket out of the back and finally ended up in front of Sydney's door. He opened it, eased her out of the door carefully, she was after all trusting him with her life, not like she wouldn't, she'd always trust him.
Together, Michael leading her, they made their way across the park until Michael saw the perfect tree, he set the basket down, and went around behind Sydney.
"Are you ready Syd?" he whispered in her ear.
She shivered, he really did have a pull over her, "I said I like surprises, but I feel defenseless with this thing on, so bring it on!"
He untied the blindfold to reveal the picnic lunch he had made for the two of them, "Michael, I love it!"
Michael smiled and sat down, his back resting against the tree trunk, he pulled Sydney down with him, and she sat between his legs.
"This is the best surprise ever," Sydney murmured, "Ever."
"Good," Michael replied, placing his chin in the crook of her shoulder, and giving her neck a light kiss, "Because we need to talk."
She tensed slightly, he sounded so serious, "About what?"
"Who is Danny?"
Sydney had known it was coming, she had only wished she had a little more time.
But now, it had already been long enough, he deserved to know the truth, and she was determined to tell him it.
"Danny, he's my ex-boyfriend, well actually, I should probably say my ex- fiancé, because we were engaged, this was probably five months ago, and we were going to get married."
Her voice cracked as she continued, "A week before our wedding, I decided to blow off my afternoon class to spend time with him because we were getting married, and I thought it would be a nice surprise.
"Except of course, he wasn't the surprised one, I was, especially when I walked into our bedroom and found my fiancé in bed with some big-breasted, blonde bimbo he had been two-timing me with for months.
"Luckily though, I found out a week before our wedding so I didn't marry that bastard, so that's a good thing. That is why Will and Francie are so overprotective of me; they don't want another Danny-like fiasco."
Michael could feel this was a hard topic for her to discuss, so he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close, I promise to never do that to you Syd, never."
"Good, because if you did, I'd have to kick your ass," she joked, they had successfully gotten through this discussion, and his Syd was back, the one that would joke through everything to get through it.
They were quiet the rest of the lunch, taking turns feeding each other, and eating all of the lunch Michael had packed, once they were done, they made sure they picked everything up.
"I have one more destination for us today before we head back to the apartment," Michael told her.
"Where?"
He smiled, "You'll just have to wait and see."
****
He had planned the entire day out to the last detail, it would be their last opportunity to be themselves around each other until her father had left.
And he was going to make the most of it.
The city had just opened up a petting zoo downtown, he had driven by it a few times while driving around, but it wasn't until he was with Sydney that he had any urge to even visit it.
She had changed him, changed him in a good way, and he would be forever grateful.
"Come on, just tell me where we're going?" she begged, "Please?"
Michael flashed her a smile, he really was enjoying this little game, "Nope, sorry, can't tell you."
Sydney pouted, she would use any means necessary to find out where they were going.
"That's not going to work Syd."
'Damn,' she thought, 'Something's gotta give, I need to know where we're going.'
The rest of the car ride to the petting zoo was quiet, but when they pulled into the parking lot, Sydney squealed, it was like reliving her childhood all over again.
"So what do you want to see first?" Michael asked.
She shook her head, "I don't care, I want to see everything."
And that's exactly what they did, they saw everything, anything that was possible to be seen, and they even saw some of the things Sydney liked the most numerous times, all in all, the two hours they spent there were some of the best two hours they had ever spent together, they had had so much fun.
As they got settled into Michael's car again, he looked over at Sydney, "Want to grab a pizza for dinner on the way home?"
"Sounds good," Sydney replied, "How much longer until my dad gets here?"
"We've got a few hours."
The last few hours for a few days that they could be together without worrying about Jack catching them.
~&~&~
Michael walked back into the living room and Sydney gazed up at him, "Who was that?"
"Your father," he replied, "He wanted to make sure nothing had happened and to let me know he is heading out here for the weekend."
Her eyes grew wide, "Here as in LA? As in this apartment? As in staying here with us?"
"Well he probably won't stay here at the apartment," Michael told her, "He'll probably stay at a nearby hotel or something."
She shook her head back and forth, "He's so going to know right away..."
He looked confused, "Going to know what right away?"
"About us."
Michael looked at her like she was crazy, but wanted to reassure his girlfriend that she was just worrying for nothing, so he sat down in front of her and grasped her hands, "Syd, how is he going to know?"
"He just is!" Sydney exclaimed, "He's always been able to tell things like this with me when I was growing up, even though he was hardly around. One look in your eyes, and one look in mine, he'll see how happy we are around each other, and he'll know."
He pulled her to him, and kissed the top of her head, "It will be fine Syd, I promise. Now we have more important things to worry about."
She looked up into his eyes, "Like what?"
"Like what your father asked me to explain to you. Do you remember the first time I was ever here, that night when I checked the apartment," she nodded and he continued, "Well that night I went to your bedroom to look around, make sure nothing was wrong in there.
"Well when I walked in, at first seemed as if nothing was wrong, and I was relieved, but then I felt a cool breeze and I looked over and your sliding glass door to the balcony was wide open, the curtains flapping in the breeze."
He saw the way her eyes narrowed, and her lips thinned, and he knew she was mad that he hadn't told her, but he cut her off, "Just let me finish before you say anything."
She nodded, giving her consent to continue, "I immediately freaked, I mean, obviously someone had been in there and had fled when we walked in the house. So I walked over to the window and walked out onto the balcony, and what really disturbed me is that the balconies of your two nearest neighbors are within jumping distance.
"And before you get eternally pissed at me for not telling, you have to understand that even then I didn't want to worry you until I told your father about it, to see what he wanted me to do.
"I told him this morning, and what he wants us to do is to meet your two neighbors, to see their demeanor."
Sydney looked him square in the eyes, "You let me continue to sleep in that bedroom after you found out someone had been in there. You allowed me to stay in there when clearly it wasn't safe."
He all but pounded his hand down on the floor, she wasn't seeing his point, "Syd, if there was any chance that it was unsafe, believe me, you wouldn't have been sleeping in there, you would have been sleeping in my bed for god's sake, I wouldn't let you sleep in there by yourself in an unsafe environment, I wouldn't let that happen, how could you think I'd let that happen?"
Sydney hung her head, she hadn't thought it all through, she had just been quick with the accusations, and now she regretted them, what was she going to do now? She felt terrible, absolutely terrible.
She would have to make it up to him somehow.
Grabbing his hand she vowed she would make it up to him, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so, so sorry for accusing you, oh god, I'm such a freakin' idiot."
She tried to kiss him, but he backed away, stood up and walked to a window overlooking the parking lot.
'Dammit!' she thought, 'What the hell have I done now? Dad won't have anything to figure out at the rate I'm going.'
"Michael let's do something," she told him, he didn't flinch, "Let's like blow off my classes for the day and just have fun before my dad gets here."
He didn't respond again, and she went to him now, all but pleading with him, "Michael, please, please talk to me."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and he couldn't stand to see her crying over this, their first official fight, he took her hand and brought him to her, "Let's never fight again."
She laughed, "No matter how much I like that idea, it's easier said than done. Every normal couple has fights."
"So what was that about going to have some fun and skipping class today?" he questioned.
"Let's do it," she said.
"Where to?" Michael asked.
Sydney shrugged, "We'll figure that out when we drive."
Secretly Michael knew where they would eventually end up, because he had already packed a picnic lunch for them before she had woken up, now that they weren't going to her classes, they could eat at the park instead of on campus where he had originally planned for them to eat.
****
Today was a day they weren't going to forget, and to make sure that wouldn't happen, they had come stocked with cameras, determined to capture every moment of it.
Their first destination was the local playground, someplace the two of them hadn't been in years, but were going to relive their childhood.
Sydney immediately ran to the swings, her favorite of anything at the playground, and Michael ran behind her, pushing her high into the air.
For Sydney it felt like 14 years before when her mother and father had taken her to the playground before her mother had died. They had actually been at the playground the day before the accident.
Minutes later, Sydney jumped off the swing once Michael was standing in front of her, steadying her when her feet hit the ground.
They collapsed onto the grass, arms and legs tangled together as they lay in the grass. A couple of tourists approached them, gazing curiously at the fallen couple.
"Excuse me," Michael called out, "Can you take a picture of us please?"
The couple nodded and gratefully took the camera from Michael, the two of them bringing their heads close together and smiling, it was a picture- perfect moment.
Sydney grabbed Michael's hand after she grabbed the camera back, and she dragged him towards the twisty slide and up the ladder.
She sat down on his lap at the top of the slide and sat back in his embrace (she had given the camera to someone else before they had climbed up the stairs to the slide), and then they pushed off, flying down the slide that she had used to be scared of.
At the bottom, they flew off it, and fell in a heap in the sand below, laughing merrily along the way.
"What time is it?" Michael whispered in her ear, the were still lying in a heap.
"Uh, 12:30," Sydney told him, then grinned, "I'm supposed to be in class now, it feels so good to be skipping for the first time."
"I'm glad you're so happy about it, now come on," he pulled her up after him, "I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" she asked excitedly, giggling also, god how did he love that sound, "I love surprises."
****
He had blindfolded her so she wouldn't see where they were going, as he said, it was a surprise. So, when he pulled into the parking lot at the park, she had no clue where they were.
Michael got out of his side, grabbed the picnic basket out of the back and finally ended up in front of Sydney's door. He opened it, eased her out of the door carefully, she was after all trusting him with her life, not like she wouldn't, she'd always trust him.
Together, Michael leading her, they made their way across the park until Michael saw the perfect tree, he set the basket down, and went around behind Sydney.
"Are you ready Syd?" he whispered in her ear.
She shivered, he really did have a pull over her, "I said I like surprises, but I feel defenseless with this thing on, so bring it on!"
He untied the blindfold to reveal the picnic lunch he had made for the two of them, "Michael, I love it!"
Michael smiled and sat down, his back resting against the tree trunk, he pulled Sydney down with him, and she sat between his legs.
"This is the best surprise ever," Sydney murmured, "Ever."
"Good," Michael replied, placing his chin in the crook of her shoulder, and giving her neck a light kiss, "Because we need to talk."
She tensed slightly, he sounded so serious, "About what?"
"Who is Danny?"
Sydney had known it was coming, she had only wished she had a little more time.
But now, it had already been long enough, he deserved to know the truth, and she was determined to tell him it.
"Danny, he's my ex-boyfriend, well actually, I should probably say my ex- fiancé, because we were engaged, this was probably five months ago, and we were going to get married."
Her voice cracked as she continued, "A week before our wedding, I decided to blow off my afternoon class to spend time with him because we were getting married, and I thought it would be a nice surprise.
"Except of course, he wasn't the surprised one, I was, especially when I walked into our bedroom and found my fiancé in bed with some big-breasted, blonde bimbo he had been two-timing me with for months.
"Luckily though, I found out a week before our wedding so I didn't marry that bastard, so that's a good thing. That is why Will and Francie are so overprotective of me; they don't want another Danny-like fiasco."
Michael could feel this was a hard topic for her to discuss, so he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close, I promise to never do that to you Syd, never."
"Good, because if you did, I'd have to kick your ass," she joked, they had successfully gotten through this discussion, and his Syd was back, the one that would joke through everything to get through it.
They were quiet the rest of the lunch, taking turns feeding each other, and eating all of the lunch Michael had packed, once they were done, they made sure they picked everything up.
"I have one more destination for us today before we head back to the apartment," Michael told her.
"Where?"
He smiled, "You'll just have to wait and see."
****
He had planned the entire day out to the last detail, it would be their last opportunity to be themselves around each other until her father had left.
And he was going to make the most of it.
The city had just opened up a petting zoo downtown, he had driven by it a few times while driving around, but it wasn't until he was with Sydney that he had any urge to even visit it.
She had changed him, changed him in a good way, and he would be forever grateful.
"Come on, just tell me where we're going?" she begged, "Please?"
Michael flashed her a smile, he really was enjoying this little game, "Nope, sorry, can't tell you."
Sydney pouted, she would use any means necessary to find out where they were going.
"That's not going to work Syd."
'Damn,' she thought, 'Something's gotta give, I need to know where we're going.'
The rest of the car ride to the petting zoo was quiet, but when they pulled into the parking lot, Sydney squealed, it was like reliving her childhood all over again.
"So what do you want to see first?" Michael asked.
She shook her head, "I don't care, I want to see everything."
And that's exactly what they did, they saw everything, anything that was possible to be seen, and they even saw some of the things Sydney liked the most numerous times, all in all, the two hours they spent there were some of the best two hours they had ever spent together, they had had so much fun.
As they got settled into Michael's car again, he looked over at Sydney, "Want to grab a pizza for dinner on the way home?"
"Sounds good," Sydney replied, "How much longer until my dad gets here?"
"We've got a few hours."
The last few hours for a few days that they could be together without worrying about Jack catching them.
~&~&~