Chapter 13

Prue and Andy had been sitting on the porch for the last twenty minutes. They had been talking about old times and the things that had happened since Prue had left. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice Andy's parents come out to the porch.

They both greeted Prue who greeted them back. "Andy, your father and I are going out for the afternoon. I've left some food in the oven for your dinner. I knew you had company so I've made enough for both of you!" Andy blushed at his mom's not too subtle hint at trying to get Prue to stay for dinner. He thanked her for the kind gesture and then they both left.

"So I guess we've gathered that you can stay for dinner!" Andy joked making Prue smile. "So how long are you staying in the city for?" He asked her. He remembered the day that she came to tell him that she was moving away. It almost broke his heart.

"To be honest, I don't know yet. Could be a couple of weeks, months, maybe even permanently." She looked around her at the neighbourhood where Andy lived. He used to live next door to her when they were kids, but when they were 10 the Truddeau family moved a couple of blocks away. Apparently the house was better than the one they had, but Prue preferred the one next to hers. "Don't get me wrong, I love living in San Francisco, but I miss my sisters, my mom, Grams, my friends...you." The last part was more of a whisper but Andy still heard what she said.

"I've missed you too!" He smiled as he stood up. "I have an idea, how about we go and have dinner now, and then afterwards we can go some place special. Ok?" Prue nodded as she stood up, knowing exactly the place that he was talking about.

"So what movie do you guys want to see?" Vaughn asked as the three of them stood outside the cinema looking the choices of films available. Eric groaned as he saw what films where there; Shrek 2, Mean Girls, Notebook, Raising Helen, the only action film, or any film that couldn't be counted as a chick flick started over an hour ago.

"Dude," Eric took Vaughn aside thinking that Sydney couldn't hear him. "You do realise that all of those films are chick flicks, don't you?" Vaughn looked at the board displaying the films to find that Eric was right, chick flicks were playing all afternoon. "No body said anything about coming to see a chick flick!" Weiss informed him. The only girly film that he had ever watched was 'City of Angels' and that was only because his mom had insisted that they watched it. After watching that he made a pact that he wouldn't put himself through the torture that was a chick flick.

"I can see that Eric!" Vaughn laughed at his friend's panic.

Sydney could hear what they were saying but she wasn't the least surprised. Whenever she asked Danny if they could watch any romantic film he would always make up some lame excuse to get out of it. So why should now be any different.

"What is it with you guys and chick flicks? We have to sit and watch films packed with guns, car chases, and guy stuff like that. So why is it that you guys can never spend two hours watching a romantic comedy?" She asked Eric, who slightly amazed that she had heard him. He paused for a moment trying to find an answer to give her.

"Because, at least with the films we watch the story is completely different. I mean with your films, the plot is always the same. Its girl meets guy; guy falls for girl who nine times out of ten already has a boyfriend. Then comes the angst and the girl realises that she likes the guy too, but she's stuck in a relationship. And then finally ladies and gentlemen, the big finale," He waved his hands in the air making a big gesture that attracted some people walking past. "Guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after! See it's always the same." Weiss leaned on the wall of the cinema content with the answer he had given her. The look on Sydney's face was priceless.

"Ok, so you're saying for a film to be good, there has to be meaningless car chases that are not even relevant to the plot, guns or some sort of violence, and then the hero of the film has to sleep with the first woman that he meets. Is that what your saying?" Sydney rested her hands on her hips, making her look like she shouldn't be messed with.

Vaughn didn't know which side to take, as both of his friends had a good point. So he decided that he would just stay out of this one and let Eric dig himself out of the whole that he had dug.

"Er...pretty much yeah!" Weiss informed her, smiling cutely. Sydney sighed. This was one fight that neither of them were going to win, and they both knew it.

"Ok, so now that the discussion is over, are we seeing a chick flick or not?" Vaughn asked, standing between the two of them. Sydney looked at Weiss with puppy dog eyes trying so hard not to laugh. Vaughn picked up on what she was doing and he joined in. So Weiss was forced to look at the pair of them pulling sad puppy dog eyes. "Cute!" He said sarcastically as a small smile curved the edges of his mouth. He would have to break his pact and fold.

"Fine!" He gave in. "But the pair of you owe me, and I mean OWE me. I'm talking popcorn, nachos, candy. You name it...I'll eat it. Deal?" Sydney walked over to him and looped her arm in his, leading him towards the door. Shooting an amused look at Vaughn who just shook his head and laughed at Weiss's funny demands. "Deal!" She agreed as they bought their tickets to see Mean Girls.

"Where do you wanna go for dinner?" Phoebe asked wrapping her arms around Cole's neck, hugging him from behind.

"Yeah about that. I have a surprise waiting for you."

"For me? What is it?" Phoebe asked eagerly jumping up and down.

"I'm not telling you that because then it wouldn't be a surprise!" He turned around and kissed her before taking her hand and leading her into the garden. "Voila." He waved his hands infront of him.

Phoebe stared in disbelief. Layed out under the big oak tree in Cole's garden was a chequered picnic blanket accompanied by a wicker blanket. The basket was so full of food that the lid wouldn't close. "You did all of this?" She asked as Cole put his arm around her pulling her towards him, causing her arm to automatically wrap around his waist.

"Well instead of going out somewhere, I thought we could have lunch à la Cole." They laughed as they walked towards the array of food.

"I can't believe you did all this." Phoebe took a seat on the blanket, Cole sitting next to her. He certainly is the best boyfriend!

"You're worth it." He smiled charmingly at her and took out some of the food from the blanket. "Now let's eat this!"

After buying the cinema ticket, Weiss made a pit stop to get some snacks to eat during the movie. Sydney and Vaughn stood waiting for him as he tried to make his mind up about what he wanted to eat. "Weiss are you sure you're gonna eat all of that?" Vaughn asked as his friend walked up to the cashier with a jumbo sized bucket of popcorn, a tray of nachos and a bag full of sweets that he had randomly picked.

"Of course. And besides I've got you two with me. This food's not gonna last a minute!" He smiled at them both as Sydney came up to him and stole a hand full of popcorn. "Too right!" She stated as she started to eat the sweet snack.

They finally left the refreshment stall behind them and went in search of some seats. The lights were already dimmed and adverts were playing on the giant silver screen. Weiss and Sydney followed Vaughn as he made his way down the aisle looking for three empty seats. Looking around the cinema Weiss noted that the majority of the people in there were female, with a couple of unfortunate guys who had been dragged along by their girlfriends. And here he was with his friend, and his friend's possible new girlfriend. Anybody else would have felt like a gooseberry, but at least he had this big stack of food to keep him company.

Sydney ended up sitting in the middle of the two guys which was a good thing as each time the popcorn got passed to Vaughn and then back to Weiss she had easy access to the bucket. "Sydney, if this film turns out to be a load of romantic rubbish, I mean it this bucket of popcorn will become your new hair accessory! Got it?" Weiss tried his best to act tough, as though he would actually dump the popcorn on her head. But both him and Sydney knew that he was only bluffing, even the people sitting behind them who were listening into their conversation knew that he wouldn't do that. The truth was that Eric Weiss was too much of a sweet person to do something like that.

"Whoa, the true side of Eric Weiss is finally revealed!" Sydney mocked him. "But I hope that you've got that bucket in a different colour because that one will so not go with my outfit!" Vaughn couldn't help but laugh at her witty comeback, it even left Eric speechless.

"We'll see Bristow. We'll see." Syd and Vaughn laughed while Eric tried to pretend that she hadn't just got one over on him.

They were half way through the movie. Sydney was enjoying and Vaughn didn't seem to be that bored. Weiss kept whispering to Sydney that he didn't like it but then everytime she turned around his eyes were glued to the screen. Typical guy pretends not to like something so as not to ruin his image, but it's all a big front!

Sydney saw Vaughn's arm leaning on the chair rest, his hand loosely hanging off the edge. She carefully slid her hand underneath his, enclosing her fingers around his. He was surprised at first he hadn't expected her to do that. But after she had, he responded by gently entwining their fingers together. They looked at each other and smiled warmingly and then went back to watching the film.