Chapter 7 (part 2!)

Sydney followed Vaughn outside. Although it wasn't cold outside and it was still fairly light, Leo's back garden was deserted. Sydney was quite pleased about this because right now she wasn't really in the mood to face a crowd. She stood leaning on the wall of the house, deeply breathing in the fresh air trying to keep herself calm.

"Are you ok?" Vaughn asked his voice full of concern. He could see that she clearly wasn't ok, which made him want to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be ok.

She sighed. "Yeah, it's just..." She searched for a way to tell him how she was feeling. "The whole thing with Danny, it's getting to me." She moved to sit down on a bench a couple of feet away from the house. "Look you can go inside if you want. I'm sure that there's loads of people inside that you wanna talk to!" She told him, secretly hoping that he would stay outside with her in the garden.

He moved to sit down next to her on the bench. "Syd, I didn't come to this party to talk to a bunch of people that I don't even know." He put his hand on her chin, gently turning her face to look at him. "I came to talk to you!" He smiled shyly at her. He could see tears glistening in her eyes, making them even more beautiful. Something that he thought would never be possible.

"Thank you." She smiled back at him suddenly feeling less upset.

"Now, do you wanna talk about it?" Vaughn asked quietly, not wanting to force her to share her problems with him.

Sydney looked down at her lap, contemplating all the problems in her life. Danny was the major one. "Danny and I, we used to be so...close you know. But he's changed, and not in a good way." She looked at him, her eyes full of despair. "The more time that I spend apart from him, the happier I am. And that's not the way it should be. Not if you truly love someone." Vaughn listened intently, even though he was jealous of what Danny and Syd have. Or had as the case maybe.

"Are you saying that you don't love him anymore?" Vaughn asked. He put his arm on her back, giving her some comfort. She could feel the warmth of his hand through her dress, and she felt safe. For the first time in a long while.

"To be honest with you Michael, I don't think I do." She shook her head, as the truth was finally spilling out. During the summer we grew apart and then the least little things that he would do, annoyed the hell outta me. Then suddenly he was becoming all jealous and possessive. And then he kicked off over me spending time with you." She rested her head in her hands, not knowing what she should do.

"Look if you want my advice..." She looked up at him, so he continued. "If being with Danny doesn't feel right to you, then don't be with him. It's better to end it now, before you get really hurt." He couldn't believe that he had just tried to convince her to break up with her boyfriend. What was up with him?

"Your right!" Sydney admitted. "It's about time that I end this." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm just afraid..." She took a deep breath, wishing that the problem with Danny would just disappear.

"Of what?" Vaughn still had his hand gently on her back, his fingers drawing light circles over her dress.

"Of being alone!" She stated, feeling rather stupid for admitting her fears to him. Vaughn felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Syd, you're never going to be alone. You have a group of friends in there," he pointed to the house. "Who love you more than anything. And I'm always gonna be here for you Syd!" She sat up, and looked him in the eyes. She could see how much her cared for her just by looking into the sea of green that was infront of her. She could even hear his concern in his voice.

They sat looking into each other's eyes, trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Sydney was overcome with emotion, she couldn't believe how much better she felt just by sitting outside with Vaughn. A tear quickly rolled down her cheek, but Vaughn lifted up his hand, and wiped it away. The touch of his hand on her face made Sydney's heart pound faster.

Vaughn loved the feel of her skin it was perfect. Just like Syd. Reluctantly, he moved his hand away, but she quickly took hold of it, slowly pulling him towards her. He didn't refuse this gesture, so he soon found himself one step closer to kissing Sydney Bristow.

They were now a couple of inches away from each other, each feeling both nervous and exited about what was going to happen next. Sydney finally decided to close the gap between them, but as soon as they were about to kiss, the patio door flew open and out staggered a group of teenagers who had obviously had too much to drink, as they were staggering around the garden.

Sydney and Vaughn immediately pulled away, their faces mirroring the expression that a young child might have when they have been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. Sydney let go of his hand opting to fold her arms across her chest as she thought about what had just happened. Or more like what had not just happened. Maybe it was a good thing that they were interrupted when they were, it may have stopped Syd form doing something that she might have regretted later. But then on the other hand she really wanted to kiss Vaughn, but thoughts of her jealous boyfriend kept flooding into her mind.

Vaughn let out a sigh, silently cursing the drunken idiots for coming outside when they did. They looked at each other, and both blushing.

Clearing her throat, and sighing, Sydney was the first to speak. "We best get back inside." Vaughn reluctantly nodded and followed her indoors.

Piper and Leo were sitting on the couch listening to the music. The party was going well and everybody seemed to be having a good time, except for Danny who was sulking about his situation with Sydney.

"So are you having a nice birthday?" Piper asked, entwining their hands together. She had been dating Leo for about 2 years, and she loved every minute of it.

"Of course I am, now that I get to spend it with you and all of my friends." He leant in and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. They pulled apart, and a pair of hands came and covered Piper's eyes. Leo saw the mystery person and smiled, leaving Piper totally oblivious.

"Phoebe?" She guessed, but as there was no answer she continued to shout out the names of her friends. "Paige?...Sydney?...Cole?...Francie?...I give up!" She said throwing her arms up into the air.

The hands were removed and Piper spun around and she could hardly believe who was infront of her.

"Oh my gosh! Prue!" She threw her arms around her sister, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Hey sis!" Prue managed to say, once Piper had stopped hugging her.

"What? What are you doing here? Not that I'm not pleased to see you." She looked like somebody had placed a coat hanger in her mouth, her smile was slowly taking over her face.

Prue sat down on the couch next to her sister. "Dad had to come into town to do some business, and I knew that it was Leo's birthday, so I thought that I would come and celebrate with you guys." Prue's face mirrored the happy expression that was on Piper's. "Happy birthday Leo." She stood up and hugged him, before reclaiming her place next to her sister.

"I'll leave you guys to catch up." Leo kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and left them.

"This is great. How long are you in town for?"

"A couple of days, but I was thinking that I'm thinking about stay for a bit longer. You know I've really missed you, Phoebe, Paige and mom. I haven't spoken to dad about it yet, but I'm sure that he wouldn't mind me spending some more time over here..."

"PRUE!" Phoebe and Paige ran across the room after noticing her. Prue hugged her younger sisters.

"Hey you guys." Her eyes filled up with tears, as she realized just how much she had missed them. It amazed her at times; the strong bond that they shared as sisters. She loved them more than anybody else in the world, and it was at that moment that she decided that she would definitely stay in LA longer than she had planned.