Chapter 5

Knock knock.

Michael groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock.

The knocking was louder now and more persistent.

Michael reluctantly got out of bed. He yawned and stretched as he made his way to the door, stumbling slightly over the many boxes scattered across the room.

"Ow!" He yelped as he stubbed his toe. "Damn."

Knock knock knock knock.

"I'm coming!" Michael called out.

Michael finally got to the door. He opened it, rubbing his still sleep-filled eyes.

"Finally," Ella said impatiently. "I've been standing out here forever."

"Good morning to you too, little sister," Michael said. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Early? It's ten o' clock!"

Michael grunted and followed her into the living room.

"This place is a mess," Ella said, echoing Eric's words from the night before. She handed Michael the small paper bag she was carrying, along with a cup of coffee. "Eat that then go take a shower. I'm going to start trying to make this place semi-livable."

Michael gratefully took the coffee. Inside the bag were bagels, which he wolfed down quickly. He didn't realize how hungry he actually was.

"Shanks fo comin ower," he said through mouthfuls of food.

Ella looked at him in disgust. "Don't talk with your mouth full," she reprimanded, sounding eerily like their mother.

Michael swallowed. "Thanks for coming over."

"If I hadn't, you'd be living in this mess for weeks," she picked up one of the beer bottles scattered all over the coffee table. "Obviously you have priorities."

Michael could sense a lecture coming on and quickly pulled his puppy dog face, knowing that this got his sister every time.

Ella rolled her eyes. "Go. Go take a shower, then you can make yourself useful."

Michael came out of his shower, refreshed and wide awake. When he got to the living room he found it in larger disarray than before. Several boxes were unpacked, its contents scattered all over the room.

"How the hell is it possible that you have this much stuff?"Ella demanded.

Michael shrugged and picked up a stack of DVDs.

"Sydney and I are going to have to take you shopping," she sighed.

Michael dropped the DVDs. "Wait, what?"

"Shopping," Ella repeated. "You need a bigger CD rack, a magazine rack for the insane amount of Sports Illustrateds you have. I looked in your bedroom and you definitely need another nightstand…."

Ella continued to list the things he needed but Michael wasn't listening anymore. His mind had focused on one word, Sydney.

He waited until Ella stopped talking and went back to digging in one of his boxes before asking, in what he hoped was a casual manner. "What were you saying about Sydney?"

"We're going to take you shopping with us. It will have to be tomorrow though. We have too much to do here. She should be here any minute now to help out."

The DVDs that Michael had carefully stacked together once again slipped out of his hands. "Sydney's coming over?"

"Yeah," Ella said. "Are you trying to break those DVDs or something? That's the second time you've dropped them."

He didn't say anything.

Ella looked at him. "What is the big deal? It's just Sydney."

Knock knock.

"There she is," Ella smiled. "Get the door, will you?"

Once Michael was out of Ella's sight, he gave himself a once over in the mirror in the hallway. Black shirt, jeans, he looked presentable enough.

He opened the door and was greeted by Sydney's radiant smile, which woke him up more thoroughly than the cup of coffee and the hot shower put together. "Hi," he said.

"Hi."

"Come on in. Ella's in there," he tilted his head in the direction of the living room.

"Sydney!" Ella exclaimed. "Thank God you're here. Look at this place, who knew my brother was such a pack rat?"

Sydney went over to the couch and picked up a CD off the floor. "Dolly Parton?" She looked up at Michael. "You listen to Dolly Parton?"

Michael's eyes widened and he shifted uncomfortably. Of all the CDs she could've picked, she had to pick up his guilty pleasure one.

"That's my Mom's," he said. "I don't how it got here."

Ella burst out laughing. "Yeah, right. That is so not Mom's!"

Sydney was laughing now too. "I always thought you were the alternative rock type of guy, Michael. Who knew you actually had Dolly Parton mixed in with your Coldplay?"

"Keep digging around," Ella gasped out between giggles. "Maybe you'll find Mariah Carey there somewhere."

"I thought you guys were here to help me get the place organized, not to find things with which to humiliate me with," Michael said.

"Don't be so naïve, big brother. This was the perfect excuse to go through your stuff."

Ella and Sydney grinned at each other. That secret, mischievous grin that Michael had always hated. It always, always meant that they were up to something. And it was never anything good.

He thought it best to just bring up a distraction. "I'm going to order Chinese for lunch. What do you guys want?"

"Mooshoo pork," Ella said.

"Kung Pao chicken," Sydney said.

"Don't forget to order egg rolls," Ella added.

Michael went into the kitchen to order their food, hoping against hope that they wouldn't find anything else embarrassing.

No such luck. When he got off the phone with the Chinese restaurant, he found Sydney and Ella huddled together on the couch, flipping through a photo album. Dolly Parton was playing in the background.

"Very funny," Michael's voice dripped with sarcasm.

The girls looked up. "We like Dolly Parton," Sydney said innocently. "Maybe later we can have Eric bring over his karaoke and you can serenade us with her wonderful music."

Sometimes, Sydney was just as bad as Ella. She had a mischievous gleam in her eye that indicated she was enjoying teasing him way too much. He might have gotten angry if she didn't look so damn cute.

"Ooh, look!" Ella squealed, pointing to one of the pictures. "Michael's naked!"

"Hey!" Michael cried.

They ignored him and giggled at the picture.

"How old is he here?" Sydney asked.

"Around two years old, I guess."

"You were so cute, Michael," Sydney grinned.

Michael's face turned red, whether it was from embarrassment or Sydney's compliment, he didn't know. Maybe it was a combination of both. He snatched the photo album away from them.

"She's right, Mikey. You were cute," Ella laughed. "What happened?"

Sydney nudged Ella. "Oh, stop. Michael's still cute."

Michael flushed an even deeper shade of red. This time he knew it was from her compliment.

Michael and Sydney's eyes locked on one another and he swore she looked a little flushed as well. The girls' laughter subsided and suddenly the room was quiet, an awkward quiet. Only the soft sounds of Dolly Parton's singing broke through the silence.

Knock knock knock.

Sydney shot up from the couch. "That must be the Chinese. I'll get it."

Michael and Ella watched as she practically ran out of the room. Ella turned her gaze towards Michael and looked at him oddly, as if to ask 'what the hell was that?'.

Michael averted his eyes and mumbled something about having to pay the delivery guy to get away from her silent question.

The truth was he had no idea what had just happened. One minute Sydney was teasing him mercilessly, the next she was complimenting him. He tried not to think too much about it. It was probably nothing.

"So Michael, what exactly is this supposed to be?" Sydney held up an abstract painting he had bought in France.

"Anything you want it to be," Michael answered vaguely.

"Huh," Sydney said, eyeing the painting carefully. "All I see are weird circle shapes in bright colors. How much did you pay for this thing?"

Michael smiled. "Believe me, you don't want to know."

"Ella, what do you see?" Sydney held up the painting for her to see.

"I have no idea. Michael inherited Mom's love for art, I didn't."

"Where do you want to put this?" Sydney asked him.

"I don't know yet. Just prop it against the wall for now, I'll find a place for it later."

Two hours passed without incidence; the three of them had managed to push aside their awkwardness and get straight to work. They talked and laughed about Sydney and Ella's adventures and misadventures at school as they unpacked. Ella was talking with her usual animation, but Michael was sure he noticed her watching him and Sydney carefully.

"So where are your paintings?" Sydney's question caught him off guard.

"What?"

"Come on, Michael, I know you paint. But in all the years I've known you, I haven't seen even one of your paintings."

"She has a point, Mike," Ella spoke up. "Even I've never seen any of your finished products. I was lucky if I even got to see a half-finished product."

Michael looked away from them and busied himself with arranging his CDs, the

non-embarrassing ones. His paintings were safely tucked away at the back of his closet. There was no way he was going to let anyone see them. Ever. And he told them so.

Sydney pouted. "But I bet they're really good. What's the point of painting if you're not going to let anyone admire their beauty?"

"Whoever said they were beautiful?"

"How can they not be?" Sydney argued. "You painted them."

Michael stared at her, more than a little taken aback. Sydney blushed and looked away.

Ella cleared her throat. "So, um, Syd. Are you and Danny still on for dinner tonight?"

Thanks a lot, Ella, Michael thought. Thanks a whole lot.

In the course of the day he had almost forgotten that Sydney had a boyfriend. Almost.

Sydney looked at her blankly for a second and then slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, God. Dinner, tonight. I totally forgot."

Ella raised an eyebrow. "You forgot you were having dinner with your boyfriend?"

"I--I thought it was another night. I have to go; I still have some homework to do before I start getting ready."

"Okay," Ella hugged her. "We'll see you tomorrow then."

"Right, tomorrow," Sydney gathered her things slowly.

Michael walked her to the door. "Thanks for coming over."

"No problem," Sydney smiled. "I had fun."

Michael nodded. They just stood there looking at each other; he could see something in her eyes. Something he couldn't describe.

Sydney was the first to break their gaze. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Drive safely, Syd."

"Thanks."

Michael waited until she was out of sight before closing the door. As soon as he turned around, Ella was right there, hands on her hips.

"What was going on between you and Sydney?"

"Nothing." He tried to step around her but she blocked him.

"That was not nothing," Ella insisted.

Michael shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bull."

Michael finally managed to get past Ella; she just followed him.

"You guys were flirting!" She exclaimed.

"We were not!"

"Yes, you were. I'm not blind you know, and I'm certainly not deaf."

Michael flopped onto the couch.

"She has a boyfriend, you know," Ella said.

"I know," he sighed.

"She's six years younger than you."

"I know."

Ella sat down next to him. "She's my best friend."

"Ella, can you just drop it?" Michael pleaded.

"No, I can't. We have to talk about this. I'm not going to let Sydney be another one of your flings."

"It's not like that."

"Michael, I have watched you break way too many women's hearts."

"So what? I'm not good enough for Sydney?"

Ella sighed. "That's not it."

"Just tell me the truth, Michael," she said. "Is it just a crush? Did you come back from Paris and realize she was hot?"

"I think I'm in love her," Michael said so softly it was almost a whisper.

Ella stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"I love her, alright? I think a part of me has always loved her, it just took me awhile to realize it."

Ella looked stunned. For once in her life, she was actually speechless.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Michael said. "She has a boyfriend."

"Danny's a good guy. He treats her well."

Michael smiled sadly. "So I don't stand a chance, huh?"

"Danny's good to Sydney," Ella said. "But he isn't good for her. I think she's beginning to realize that."

Michael contemplated that. Did that mean he had a chance? That Sydney was going to break up with Danny? Before he could think to ask, Ella was getting ready to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mike," she turned to leave.

"Ella!" He called out. She turned around. "You're okay with all of this?"

Ella smiled. "I really can't say I'm all that surprised," she looked at him thoughtfully for a minute. "Out of all the girls for you to fall in love with….I'm really glad it was Sydney."

"Me too," Michael admitted.

Ella left and Michael lay back on the couch. So now both his best friend and his sister he was in love with Sydney Bristow. The only person left to tell, it seemed, was Sydney herself.