Chapter 23

Irina took a sip of her coffee and smiled. So far so good! She had woken up earlier that morning, in the hopes of avoiding running into Jack in the car park. Mission accomplished! As soon as her classes had started, she hadn't left the classroom, and no one apart from her students had entered the room. When the lunch bell rang, she quickly dashed out to her car, and drove to Starbucks, not wanting to eat in the teacher's lounge where Jack might be. I may just make it through the day without running into him.

Walking back to her car, coffee cup in hand, Irina took out her cell phone, noticing that she had one missed call. She rested the coffee cup on the roof of her car, as she looked for who the call was off.

September 07, 12:27pm

Jack

Irina sighed as she flipped her phone down and took another sip of her drink. Why did I have to kiss him? She climbed back into her car and drove slowly back to work.

Jack looked around the teacher's lounge for what had to be the tenth time, and he still couldn't see Irina. He knew that she wasn't in the room, but his eyes kept searching for her. She kissed me! That one thought had been running through his mind since the minute it happened. He wanted to talk to her about it, but that was easier said that done. Why do I get the feeling that Irina is avoiding me?

Arvin Sloane was sitting in the seat next to Jack. They had been talking for the past couple of minutes, but Jack couldn't seem to pay attention to a word that Arvin was saying. All that he could think about was Irina. She kissed me, and given the chance I would have kissed her back.

"So this is your room!" Vaughn stood in the doorway taking in every detail, his arm loosely wrapped around Sydney's waist. After school finished, Sydney had asked Vaughn if he wanted to come and hang out at her house until they had their 'double date.' Her mom had said something about errands to run, but Sydney wasn't convinced. Ever since her mother had returned from dinner with her father she had been acting really weird. During their Eng. Lit class this afternoon, her eyes were constantly on the door everytime the sound of somebody walking down the corridor could be heard.

"Yeah!" Sydney left the comfort of Vaughn's embrace and walked into her room, kicking off her shoes next to the bed. Vaughn followed her into the room, and took a seat on the bed. Her room was painted light blue, contrasted by the dark blue curtains, which hung either side of the window. Her double bed was on the far side of the room, and Vaughn couldn't help but smile at the cute little teddy bear that was resting on her pillow.

Noticing that the answering machine was beeping, Sydney pressed the play button:

Hey sweetie, I was just calling to see if you wanted to do something tonight, but I ran into Paige and she told me that you guys were doing something, so nevermind. How are you? I feel like we haven't spoken for ages Sydney smiled as she listened to Francie's bubbly voice. Vaughn tried to make it look like he wasn't listening, which was kind of hard considering Francie's voice filled the room. So are you all ready for the game tomorrow? I can't believe that there's a football game already and we've only been back in school for a week! But at least the routine should be ok Oh no! I totally forgot about cheerleading for the game tomorrow night! Anyways, call me later! Love you The message came to an end, leaving a smile on Sydney's face. Her and Francie always left each other messages on their answering machines, even when they had been hanging out together. It was like a tradition that they had been keeping for nearly four years.

"What time are we meeting Weiss?" Sydney asked, sitting next to Vaughn on the bed.

Vaughn looked at his watch. "He's coming to pick us up at 7:00pm."

"Wait Weiss drives? He has a car?" Sydney was amazed at this new piece of information. She had absolutely no idea that Weiss knew how to drive; probably because before Vaughn came along, her and Weiss never actually talked.

"Yeah…" Vaughn replied in a you-don't-say kinda voice. Receiving a glare from Sydney, he carried on talking in his normal voice. "He passed his test before the summer I think he said!"

"Oh well we can pick Paige up on the way!" Sydney smiled, excited as she wondered how her plan was going to work.

"I still can't believe that you're trying to set them up. Do you even know if they like each other?"

"No, not exactly. But that's not the point. They'll get to hang out and we'll just see how things go!" She picked up the nearest cushion and threw it at him. "You should never question my match-making skills!" Vaughn raised his eyebrows at her comment.

"It's your match-making skills that I'm worried about!" Sydney's mouth fell open as she pushed him down onto the bed. He looked up at her a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I have made some good matches! I'd offer to set you up with somebody, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for inflicting that kind of torture on anybody!" She laughed as she joked with him.

"Well then, it looks like you're the unlucky girl who's stuck with me…" He finally closed the gap between them, his lips meeting with hers.

"I'd say I was pretty lucky myself!" Sydney whispered, a half smile covering her lips. She rested her head on his chest, her hand playing with the wrinkles in his T-shirt. His hands were resting comfortingly on her back, his chin leaning down against her head; the scent of her shampoo tingling with his senses.

The silence was broken by Vaughn's laughter. "I'm sorry Sydney, but I have to ask…what is with this teddy bear?" He picked up the teddy bear in question and held it so she could see. She buried her head in his chest, her cheeks reddening.

"I've had it since I was a baby. It's just there for decoration…I promise!" She smiled shyly at him, causing Vaughn to start laughing again. She is so cute when she is embarrassed.

"But I doubt I'll need him anymore…you're much more cuddlier." Smiling sweetly, she hugged him, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Her comment made Vaughn smile, as he rested his head on hers.

"Come on man keep up!" Leo yelled as his car over took Cole's. Cole took his eyes away from the TV screen long enough to glare at his friend, but when he looked back, his car had crashed into a tree.

"Just because your glued to the Playstation and get to practise whenever you want, doesn't mean that I'm an expert too, you know!" Leo rolled his eyes and carried on playing the game.

Phoebe couldn't help but laugh. Cole had never been a good loser, especially not at video games. Piper, Phoebe, and Prue were sat on Leo's couch, digging into a big bag of MMs that Prue found in one of the kitchen cupboards.

"Aha! I win!" Leo smiled triumphantly at Cole, who threw a couple of MMs in his direction.

"Whatever!" Cole pretended to sulk, putting down the game controller and sitting down on the floor infront of Phoebe. She ran her hands through his hair as his head rested back against her legs.

"Ok, no need to be angry just because you lost." Leo teased.

"Hey, can we not be mean to my boyfriend please?" Phoebe asked, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his neck, planting soft kisses along his neck.

Andy walked back from the kitchen carrying some cans of soda. He noticed the playful glares that Cole and Leo were throwing each other and laughed. "Ok, what did I miss?" He put the cans down on the table and sat down.

"Cole sucked at the game! That's all." Leo laughed and ducked, as Phoebe launched a pillow at his head.

"What do you guys want to do now?" Piper asked, discarding of the empty sweet wrapper.

"We could watch a movie…" Prue suggested, looking over at the huge stack of dvds that were next to the TV.

Sydney stood next to the microwave, watching as the jacket potatoes slowly rotated to the hum of the machine. She heard Vaughn walk into the kitchen, and turned to face him as he leaned back against the kitchen table. The room was filled with a comfortable, as neither felt the need for words; their eyes were giving away much more than any words ever could. The ting of the microwave caused Sydney to look away to get their snack ready.

"So did you get bored of watching TV?" She asked as she put the potatoes onto two separate plates and covered them in baked beans.

"No, I just got lonely!" His voice sounded similar to that of a child's, causing Sydney to throw him a sarcastic look. He laughed as she handed him the plate.

"I know I'm no gourmet chef or anything, but I'm thinking that this should be edible!" She looked down at the jacket potato as they walked into the living room.

"Gee, that's comforting!" He deadpanned, taking a seat on the couch. Will and Grace was on the TV in the background, the audiences laughter occasionally filling the living room.

Sydney gently hit his arm, as she took a bite of her potato. Well at least I'm still alive! She thought, the minute she'd swallowed her first piece. Her mother never let her do any of the cooking, unless she was there to supervise. An unsupervised Sydney in the kitchen normally led to disaster and a bad case of food poisoning.

"I love this show!" Sydney started laughing along with the jokes in between mouthfuls. Vaughn rolled his eyes as he turned his attention the programme. He didn't have a clue what it was; he hadn't watched much TV since he had moved there.

"What is this?"

"It's Will and Grace! Only like one of the greatest comedies!" She smiled brightly at him. "It's basically about this woman, Grace, and her best friend Will. They live together and they would be the perfect couple, if only Will wasn't gay! And then there's their best friend Jack who is also gay, and rather funny, and Karen who works with Grace and she always manages to make me laugh!" Vaughn nodded, but his attention was now far from the television. He was watching Sydney out of the corner of his eye.

Her eyes were glued to the screen, a smile firmly placed on her lips. Everytime something funny was said, her head would fall backwards as she burst out with laughter. Could she be any cuter?

The programme came to an end, and they both finished what they were eating. Sydney gathered up the plates and put them in the dishwasher, and smiled as a pair of arms came across her stomach. She turned her head slightly to see Vaughn's head resting on her shoulder.

"Thanks for dinner!" He grinned and leaned forward, kissing her gently on the cheek.

"Well the main thing is that you're still alive!" She laughed. Looking at her watch, she disentangled herself from his embrace and walked towards the stairs. "Weiss is gonna be here in 20 minutes. I'm just gonna go and get ready!" She gave him a small smile as she ran up the stairs to her room, to chose an outfit.

Vaughn answered the door, to find Eric standing on the doorstep, fidgeting with his car keys.

"Hey man, come in." Vaughn stood aside and let him in. Closing the door he shouted up the stairs to Sydney. "Syd, Weiss is here!" The two guys walked into the living room, but the minute they sat down Sydney came bounding down the stairs.

"Hi Weiss!" She smiled as both their heads turned to look at her. She was dressed casually in jeans and a stripy blue top, her hair falling loosely down her back. Even though she was casually dressed, Michael thought that she had never looked more beautiful.

"You look great Syd!" He complemented her.

"Yeah you do." Eric commented, standing up. He too was dressed casually, in dark blue cargo pants and a white T-shirt.

"Thanks guys." You best keep your complements for Paige! Sydney laughed to herself as the three of them walked out of the house, Sydney's hand comfortingly placed in Vaughn's.

Vaughn sat in the front seat next to Weiss, while Sydney opted for the back seat. The drive to the Halliwell house was fairly quick, and soon enough they were waiting outside after Weiss beeped the horn. A minute or two later, the front door flew open, and Paige skipped down the steps and into the car.

"Hey." She greeted them all as she got in and closed the door. After a chorus of hellos the pulled away from her house. She too was dressed in jeans, and a red vest top.

"Is everyone in the Manor?" Sydney asked curiously.

"No, they all went over to Leo's with Cole and Andy I think."

I wonder if Danny went… Sydney stopped herself. Why should I care if he hangs out with them? It's not like their not his friends aswell…

Paige seemed to read the expression on Sydney's face. "No one else went. It was just the 6 of them." Sydney gave her a half smile, silently thanking her for putting her thoughts to rest, and hopefully out of mind.

"You know what I totally forgot about? The game tomorrow! I totally forgot that we were cheering." Eric heard them talking and looked at them through his rear view mirror.

"You guys are cheering at the game tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it should be fun!" Paige answered, smiling.

"Why? Are you going?" Sydney asked looking from him to Vaughn and then back to Weiss.

"Yeah, I thought it was time that Mickey here went to his first football game!" Sydney looked at Vaughn and judging by the look of shock on his face, this was the first that he had heard of his plans for tomorrow night.

"Ok, Weiss I've told you before…do not call me Mickey! I don't like it." Weiss rolled his eyes, but kept his sight on the road. "And besides, we do have football in France!"

Now it was Weiss's turn to roll his eyes. "No Mickey. I think you'll find that that is called soccer!" Sydney and Paige laughed.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll go." Vaughn gave in, but then the prospect of going to a football game wasn't that bad. After all Sydney will be there, dressed in her cheerleading uniform! If I hate the game, I can just look at her for the whole time. He smiled to himself, suddenly exited about tomorrow night.

"So I guess we'll be seeing you both there then!" Sydney looked at Michael, and he knew that she was thinking about how Paige and Eric were gonna get to see each other again tomorrow night.

They finally pulled up outside the bowling alley, and everybody got out of the car, laughing at a joke that Weiss had just told. Sydney linked her arm through Paige's as they walked through the main door, Weiss, and Vaughn following behind.

They stood in the queue waiting to pay for their alley and to get their bowling shoes. Sydney was stood next to Vaughn, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Paige noted how much happier Sydney looked than she ever did with Danny; her and Vaughn just looked so comfortable together.

"Hi, can we have a lane please?" Weiss asked as he produced a wallet from his back pocket.

"Sure." The guy behind the counter typed some numbers on the computer.

"Eric what are you doing?" Sydney asked, nodding towards his open wallet.

"It's my treat." He smiled at Sydney and then at Paige, who mirrored his smile.

"That'll come to 25." Eric handed over 30 and waited for his change. The cashier guy gave them each the correct shoes and the group walked over to a row of chairs.

"Thanks Eric." Paige said. She had to admit that it was sweet of him to pay for them all; even though he had only known Paige for a day and Sydney for just over a week.

"Don't mention it." He smiled and tied the laces on his shoes. "Wow, don't they really make bowling shoes attractive!" He joked as everybody else fastened the green and red shoes.

The sound of the balls hitting the wooden pins filled their ears as they made their way down to their aisle. Next to them was a young woman with four kids, who seemed to be having a great time. Paige knew immediately that this was going to be a disaster. She hadn't been bowling for a while; and on those occasions that she actually did bowl, she had a very hard time knocking down the pins, or even keeping the ball in the right lane.

Vaughn sat down and typed everybody's into the computer, while Weiss wondered off looking for the perfect bowling ball. He finally returned carrying a large red shiny ball.

"Weiss your first!" Sydney took a seat on Vaughn's knee, his arms wrapped around her waist. They all watched as Weiss held the ball in his right hand, did a small run, and let the ball speed down the aisle, knocking over all the pins.

"Wohoo!" Sydney and Paige both cheered and clapped, as Weiss turned around and bowed.

"Nicely done Eric." Paige told him, as he took a seat next to her.

"Thanks." His cheeks coloured slightly as he smiled. Vaughn removed his arms from Sydney's waist so that she could go up and have her go. After spending a couple of minutes picking a ball that she could pick up, she sent it down the aisle, hitting the pins, but leaving 3 still standing.

She waited for them to be picked up again, and took another ball. She focused on the remaining 3 pins and rolled the ball towards them, but the ball managed to dodge each.

Sydney sighed and sat back down. "I was close!" She shrugged.

Paige walked towards the pins, ball in hand. Taking a deep breath, she swung her arm back and then let the ball go. She watched as it went straight but then curved, falling straight into the gutter that was either side of the lane. She laughed as she had another go. Bowling is definitely not my game!

She rolled the ball, and managed to knock over the 2 outside pins. She jumped up and down on the spot and then returned to her seat, a huge grin on her face. "I hit two of them!"

"Yeah you nearly had a strike there!" Sydney said sarcastically, causing Paige to pull tongues at her.

"Hey! It's an improvement." Vaughn got up and took his go, while Paige talked to Sydney and Weiss. "At least it stayed in our lane and not the lady's next to us." She sighed contentedly, as Eric threw her a puzzled look. "Oh, trust me – it's happened!" She explained, watching as his confusion was replaced with laughter.

Sydney silently watched them as they talked; they were both laughing and talking as if they had known each other for ages. It would be hard for somebody to realise that they only started talking earlier that day.

Vaughn sat back down, a grin on his face. Sydney looked down the aisle and noticed that all the pins had been knocked down. "Somebody's done this before…" She stated.

"Well, France does have bowling alleys you know!"

"Really?" Sydney acted like she was shocked, but Vaughn knew that she was teasing him. "I would never have known." She smiled sheepishly at him, as he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Eric cleared his throat and they both broke away to look at him. "What did I tell you guys?" The both looked up at him clueless. "That you have to stop with the acting all lovey-dovey. Or I'm gonna have to find new friends!" Paige laughed, as both Sydney and Vaughn pouted at him. "Don't be pulling the old pout trick on me…it's just not gonna work!" Weiss laughed to himself as he walked past them and picked up the red ball. Haha, teasing with them is fun!

Sydney stood up and sat back down on Vaughn's knee, snuggling back into his chest. "How unfair is this. I'm not even allowed to kiss my own boyfriend!" She looked at Vaughn, her eyebrow arched. In the background she could hear the sound of pins being knocked over, but she wasn't concentrating on that. All that mattered to her was the arms that were wrapped around her and the pair of eyes that were infront of her. I could get lost in those eyes…

"Well, Weiss is a little busy right now!" Vaughn observed, as Weiss picked up another bowling pin. "And what Weiss doesn't see, can't hurt." Sydney smiled as her hand came up behind his neck, pulling his face closer to hers. Their lips met and Vaughn hugged her even closer to him. They broke apart, their foreheads resting against each other.

"Don't think I didn't see that!" Weiss yelled, his back still towards them, bowling ball in hand. Sydney's mouth fell open as she turned to Vaughn. She couldn't believe that he had caught them even when his back was turned. They both rolled their eyes and watched as Eric managed to get yet another strike.

"Remind me again why we're watching a scary movie?" Phoebe shouted from behind the pillow. Leo had suggested that they watch Nightmare on Elm Street, and the other two guys had agreed. Now they were sat in the dark, Andy and Prue snuggled on one chair; Phoebe, Cole, Piper and Leo on the coach. Phoebe had spent the majority of the film hiding either behind the cushion, or with her head buried in Cole's chest. Horror movies had never been her thing.

"Because they're fun!" Leo replied. He was sat with his arm around his girlfriend, who was cuddling into his chest.

"Yeah sure. Because being scared half to death is the height of fun!" She replied sarcastically, screaming and putting her head against Cole's chest as yet another gruesome thing happened on the screen.

"Aww, Pheebs, don't be such a baby." Piper teased. She was quite enjoying the film, she wasn't usually a scary film kinda person, but she liked this one.

"You're forgetting that I am the baby. I am the youngest person here!" She stated - her voice barely audible as the pillow was infront of her face.

"Well you could always go and sit in another room…" Prue suggested.

"Are you kidding me?" Her voice rose a pitch higher. "I am not leaving the room. There could be somebody out there!" Everyone rolled their eyes and continued to watch the film, but Phoebe shut her eyes, determined not to open them until the film ended.

Paige groaned as yet another ball failed to knock any pins over. "Seriously, why can't I bowl?" She asked sinking down into a seat. Looking at the score board, she sighed, realising that she was losing, and was nowhere close to the other scores.

"Come here…" Weiss took hold of her hand and led her towards the pins. Picking up a ball, he handed it to her. "Bowling a la Weiss!" She laughed, but then became serious as he started talking again.

Sydney and Vaughn watched from their seats. "See there is definitely some attraction there. They just needed a push in the right direction!" She smiled sweetly at him then continued to watch her friends.

Paige had the ball in her right hand and Weiss was standing right behind, his hand covering hers. "Right look straight down that lane at the pins, and then you smoothly swing your arm back and then as it comes forward we let it go." They released the ball and watched as it knocked over 9 of the pins.

"Oh. My. God." She turned around and threw her arms around his neck. "I did…well we did it! Thanks Eric." She moved back so that she could look at him, their faces inches apart.