Irina tossed and turned all night, the thoughts of Jack's lips on hers preventing her from sleeping. If someone had told her a week ago, that she would have kissed Jack twice in a period of 24 hours, she would have laughed in their face. But here she was in that exact situation.
Things had changed between them over the years; they went from being a family to being another statistic. But suddenly things were changing again. He was no longer just her ex-husband to her; she was suddenly thinking about him in a totally different way, and that scared her.
A couple of blocks away, Jack Bristow sat on his porch swing, a cup of coffee in his hand. Although it was 5A.M he was finding it hard to sleep, and the porch swing seemed more inviting than his empty bed. Sipping the warm drink, he looked up at the sky, the blue fading more and more each second, turning slightly more orange as the sun came up. It had been a long time since he had watched the sun rise; usually he was asleep until 6:30. But sleep wasn't on the agenda, while his mind was racing with mixed emotions.
Irina. She was the reason for his sleepless night. Everything about their situation screamed 'run,' but Jack couldn't seem to turn away this time. He knew that him and Irina had failed once before, but something about the way he felt when he kissed her, made him think that they could work. He was still in love with her; he knew it…and deep down Irina probably knew it too.
Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and rested his head on his hands. What am I going to do?
A loud knock on the door disturbed Sydney from her dream. Glancing over the covers she saw her mom standing in the doorway. "Are you planning on getting up for school anytime soon?" She asked, her hand on her hips.
Sydney sighed and threw the covers back over her head. "Mom, it's still early." She shouted, her voice muffled by the thick duvet. She knew that she should probably be getting ready, but somehow she couldn't find the energy to get out of bed; she wanted to go back to the dream that she was having of her and Michael having a picnic on the beach.
"Come on. I'll give you a ride to school but only if you get your ass out of bed!" Irina walked out of her daughter's room and sat in the kitchen; Jack Bristow still taking over her mind.
Groaning, Sydney threw back the covers and scrabbled out of bed. Looking into the mirror only made matters worse, as a bad case of bed head had taken over her hair. She walked into the bathroom to switch on the shower, the smell of freshly cooked pancakes rising up the stairs.
"Hey guys." Paige walked into the kitchen, a huge smile on her face. Phoebe noticed that she was dressed in a new pair of jeans and a white top. Her hair was straight, falling loosely around her face. If Phoebe didn't know any better, she'd say that Paige was dressed to impress. The only question is who?
"Morning." A chorus of voices filled the kitchen. Paige smiled at each of her sisters and then took a glass and filled it with orange juice.
"You seem to be in a happy mood!" Prue observed, after watching the smile stay constantly fixed on Paige's face. She looked up innocently at her sister, her cheeks gaining a little extra colour.
"I am that's why! It's a lovely day outside; the sun is out, it looks like it's going to stay dry!" She looked out of the window, taking a sip of her juice.
The other three Halliwells looked at each other, each not believing a word that she was saying. It wasn't normal Paige behaviour for her to make comments on the weather; and she never usually let her moods be affected by whether or not the sun was shining.
"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Phoebe joked, taking a bagel and cutting it open.
Paige rolled her eyes and looked at her. "Haha, very funny. Is it so unusual for me to be in a good mood?" She looked from Phoebe, to Piper and then to Prue; each of their faces looking questioningly at her, wanting answers.
"Yes!" Piper replied. "What happened when you and Sydney went out last night? Did you meet a guy?" She quizzed, a huge grin taking over her face. She put down her coffee and walked over to her sister. "Well did you?"
Paige laughed. "No. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna be late for school." She gulped down the rest of her drink and walked out of the kitchen waving her hand behind her at them. Prue looked at the clock and then across at the doorway where her sister had just walked.
"Talk about being a little eager! School doesn't start for another forty minutes!" Piper shrugged. If there were something going on with Paige, they would have to wait until she was ready to tell them.
Paige sighed as she walked down the street. She felt bad lying to her sisters, but she wasn't even sure what was going on with Weiss. She hadn't spoken to him since last night, and for all she knew that kiss could have just been a one off.
Sydney glanced over at her mom, her eyes were fixed on the road, but Sydney knew that there was something else on her mind. Something besides driving. Except for the early morning wake up call that Sydney had received, her mother had barely said two words to her. Something was on her mind and Sydney had a relatively good idea about who to ask.
"Dad?" She tapped lightly on the classroom door. Classes weren't due to start for another twenty minutes, giving Sydney enough time to question her dad.
"Sydney! Come in." He smiled at her, trying his best to hide his surprise. He had been expecting to see Irina, but it looked like she was avoiding him again; not that he could blame her, they both needed time to sort out their feelings. Sydney walked into the room, shutting the door behind her and perching on one of the front desks. She looked down at the floor, trying to find the right words to use.
"I wanted to talk to you about mom." She looked at him; her eyes portraying an innocence that he hadn't seen since she was a child. He knew just by looking at her that she was concerned, but was he really the best person that she should be talking to about this?
He took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. "What about her?"
"It's just that lately she's been acting very strangely. Like there's something on her mind. I don't know." She shrugged, and looked down at her hands that were clasped together in her lap. "The past couple of days has seemed like she's in her own world, but it's been worse this morning. I think something happened last night because this morning she hardly spoke. I wanted to ask her about it, but I doubt that she would have given me the truth. Do you not what is wrong with her?"
Jack felt guilty, he knew the reason; he was the reason. But he couldn't tell her that. Not until he was sure about what Irina wanted. "I think I would be the last person that your mother would confide in. She may just be stressed with work or something!" He suggested, knowing perfectly well that work was the last thing on Irina's mind.
Sydney nodded slowly and sighed. What he is saying makes sense…so why is it that I don't believe a word that he is saying?
"You kissed her?" Vaughn questioned Weiss. He knew that Weiss liked Paige, after some very successful matchmaking by Sydney, but he hadn't expected Weiss to make a move on her.
"Well yeah kinda. It was only a quick peck on the lips. I was probably more shocked than she was. I didn't know that I was going to kiss her, and before I knew what was happening…it was over!" Weiss shuck his head. I'm hopeless when it comes to romance or whatever!
"Have you spoken to her since?" They made their way through the crowded halls of the school.
"No. I haven't seen her."
Vaughn was silent for a minute before suddenly nudging Weiss. "Well here's your chance." He nodded over to the other side of the corridor, his gaze focussing on Paige who was opening her locker. Weiss followed his gaze, his eyes settling on Paige. He couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she looked, and he obviously wasn't the only one who thought so. A couple of jocks were busy checking her out; but Paige was unaware that she was the centre of their attention.
"I can't just walk up to her and start talking!" Weiss stated. Knowing that other guys were interested in her made Weiss feel even more nervous talking to her. Why would she choose me over those other guys? They are all popular, handsome and every girl in school dreams about them. I don't even compare to those guys.
"Eric! You like her and she likes you. Where's the problem in you going over to her and striking up a conversation?"
Weiss sighed. "There isn't one." He gave the answer that he knew Vaughn wanted to hear.
"Good! So get your ass over there and start talking!" He gave him a little push over in her direction, and watched with a half smile as Weiss manages to walk the rest of the way over to her.
Paige removed some books from her bag and placed them in her locker. The corridor was filled with noise as everyone made their way to their lessons. Although the corridor was noisy, she still managed to hear the 'hey' that came from the person standing next to her. She turned to see Weiss smiling at her.
"Eric! Hey." She smiled and closed her locker, adjusting her bag on her shoulders. She noticed how casually he was dressed, his jeans complementing the black and navy T-shirt that he was wearing.
Silence washed over them, as neither knew what to say next. Weiss turned around to see if Vaughn was still there, but to his disappointment he had gone. I wish those jerks would leave too! Weiss glanced over at where the group of guys were each of them watching as he attempted to talk to Paige.
Come on Weiss, make conversation… "So are you all ready for the game tonight?"
Paige leaned back against her locker, relieved that they had something to talk about. She hated awkward moments; she always tried her best to avoid them. "Yeah I think so. We have a final practise at lunch today, but hopefully it'll be alright." She gave him another smile, which he mirrored.
"I'm sure it'll be a great game." There was something about the way he spoke, which made Paige instantly believe him. Maybe it was his voice; calm and steady with a small hint of humour, or his eyes; sparkling at her like she was the only person in the packed corridor.
"Who is that guy that Paige is talking to?" Phoebe asked, nudging Piper and nodding in the direction of her younger sister.
Piper looked at the mystery guy for a minute and shuck her head. "I don't know. I've seen him around, but I don't actually know who he is. He looks a little like that guy Michael is friends with." She commented her eyes still fixed on her sister and the guy.
"Oh. My. God. That's it." Phoebe stopped in the middle of the corridor, jumping up and down.
"What's it?" Piper asked.
"You know how this morning Paige was acting all giddy and stuff! Well last night Paige went out with Sydney, and I'm guessing Michael probably went to. But he's not likely to turn up on his own so he brought a friend. That friend." She pointed at Weiss and then looked back at Piper.
"You think something's going on with them?"
"I don't know. But look at the way that they are looking at each other! You can tell that there's some attraction there." Piper nodded her agreement, and the two sisters continued to walk to class.
"Are you and Michael still coming?" Paige knew immediately that she sounded desperate, but Weiss didn't seem to pick up on it.
"Yeah I think so. What can I say, the guy needs to be taught a thing or two about America!" Weiss joked, pleased that Paige even laughed a little.
"Are you walking to Chem.?" She asked. He nodded and they started walking. As they walked past the popular jocks, Weiss couldn't help but smile at them, watching as each of their smug faces dropped. To them it looked like Weiss and Paige were together, when in reality they were just walking to class together.
The Chem. Room was nearly full, only a couple of people still missing from their seats. Paige noticed her Piper and Phoebe watching her as she walked in, and felt her cheeks getting hotter.
"So I'll talk to you later?" This came out more like a question instead of a statement, Paige eager to talk to him again. They still hadn't talked about their kiss last night, and both of them wanted to know how the other felt.
"Of course." Weiss reassured her, feeling quite happy that she was asking to see him again. They smiled at each other, and went their separate ways; Weiss taking a seat next to Vaughn and Sydney who were busy whispering to each other, and Paige sat with two of her sisters and Francie.
"Hi guys." Weiss sat down and smiled at the loved-up couple. They stopped their whispering and smiled back at him.
"So am I to take it by the smiles on both of your faces that you survived talking to her?" Vaughn teased. Weiss threw him an un-amused look, while Sydney playfully hit him on the arm.
"Don't tease him!" She told him, the smile on her lips telling him that she was only joking.
"Ok mom!" Needless to say, he received another hit, only this time less playfully and with a lot more effort.
"Hi." Paige took her seat in-between Francie and Piper. They smiled at her, waiting to see if she would shed any light on her possible new romance, but her lips remained sealed as she sat down. Noticing that Sloane still hadn't arrived to take the lesson, Sydney took the chance to find out what happened when she had left the night before.
She got up and stood behind Paige, wrapping her arms around her neck, making it seem like she was just giving her a hug. "Hi. So am I going to get to hear what happened last night?" She whispered loud enough for only Paige to hear. Piper and Phoebe watched curiously, desperate to know what they were talking about. Francie remained totally oblivious to what was going on, she was in her own dream world as she doodled pointless patterns on a pad of paper.
"Nothing happened!" Paige whispered back, looking at her sisters as they tried to listen in.
"What?" Sydney forgot to whisper making Paige jump slightly as Sydney's loud voice filled her ears. "Oops." Sydney smiled shyly, and went back to whispering. "So he didn't try to kiss you or anything?"
Paige paused. "Can we talk about this later?" She suggested as Sloane walked into the room, letting the door slam shut behind him.
"Sure." Sydney quickly kissed her on the cheek and sat down in her seat next to Vaughn.
The lesson went slowly, Sydney amusing herself my writing notes to Vaughn on the side of his work. Weiss was trying hard to concentrate, but his eyes kept drifting over to Paige, and he finally gave up trying to concentrate and just focused on her. He knew that he was probably staring, but he just couldn't help himself. Something about her fascinated him…but he couldn't quite figure out what.
Everything that Sloane was saying was going in one ear and out of the other for Paige. She just couldn't seem to concentrate because of a certain someone that was sitting behind her. Why haven't' I noticed him before?
She slowly turned her head to look at him, trying to not make it obvious. She was shocked to find him looking at her, but he quickly averted his eyes to the table. She laughed quietly, trying to hide her smile behind her hand.
He looked back up, and their eyes met, automatically locking. Neither wanted to be the first to look away, to break the connection between them. Sydney looked up from her work, and was amazed at the sight of them both. Paige could feel Sydney's eyes on her and reluctantly looked away, lowering her eyes. She smiled again at Weiss and turned back around, not wanting to have to answer any awkward questions from Sydney.
Paige was finally starting to pay attention to what Sloane was saying, when she felt something hit her arm. Looking down at the floor, she found a ball of paper. Discreetly picking it up so that Sloane didn't see her, she opened it, smoothing out the creases:
What are you doing after the game? WeissShe turned around and looked at him, watching a small smile creep onto his face. Picking up the nearest pen, she replied.
I don't know yet. What did you have in mind?She scrunched up the paper and threw it onto his desk. He read her note and replied to it, waiting until Sloane was looking away before he threw it back to her:
I don't know! Maybe we could hang out or something?
He grew nervous as he watched her write back. He enjoyed hanging out with her; he just hoped that she felt the same. She passed the paper back to him, and continued with her work, although her mind was on other things.
Sure. Sound's greatWeiss smiled to himself as he studied her message for a couple of seconds before folding the paper up and stuffing it into his pocket as Sloane started to walk around the room.
The stadium at the back of the school was packed full of fans from both of the schools, ready to cheer on their team. The bright lights surrounding the stadium contrasted with the darkness of the sky; a small breeze finding it's way among all the people. Weiss made his way down the steps, looking for some empty seats, which was proving to be a difficult task.
"Here's some." Vaughn pointed out, grabbing Weiss by the arm and pulling him towards the vacant chairs. They were sat 6 rows from the front, providing them with a great view of the game. Vaughn had to admit that he was excited; he had only seen things like this in films, and here he was about to experience it for himself.
The screaming crowds got louder, something that Vaughn thought couldn't have been humanly possible. He looked around him; the students seemed to be getting even more hyped up as the cheerleaders ran onto the field.
Sydney led the rest of the team onto the field, pom-poms moving around in the air. They were all dressed in red pleated skirts, accompanied by a red top with the team logo printed in white on the front. Vaughn watched her with amazement, her brown ponytail moving around as she jumped up and down. Weiss spotted Paige waving her pom-poms above her head as the team got the crowd even more hyped up.
"Come on tigers!" They all shouted at the top of the voices, clapping the pom-poms together.
Pure snuggled even closer into Andy's side as she watched her friends and her three sisters. They were left on their own tonight, as all of their friends were either playing football or busy cheering on the field. Andy had been one of the players, but he quit a few months ago.
"How come you're not up there with them?" He asked Prue, who's eyes were focused on the cheerleaders.
"I haven't cheered for a while." Her voice was full of regret as she spoke. She looked away from them, staring out into the crowds. "I never did cheerleading when I moved to San Francisco, the team was already full and besides the girls weren't exactly the nicest of people, if you know what I mean." He wrapped his arms even tighter around her, gently planting a kiss on the side of her head.
The football team ran onto the field, the crowd shouting encouraging things to them. The cheerleaders got into their positions, while the players received a final prep talk from the Coach.
"Who rocks the
house?
The Kennedy Tigers rocks the house and when the Kennedy
Tigers rock the house, they rock it all the way down,"
came the chants from the front of the fields. Vaughn smiled as he
watched Sydney. It was so natural the way she moved, her body moving
in perfect timing with the other girls.
The other football team, The Gosforth Bulls came onto the field, earning mostly cheers from the crowd, along with the odd 'boo' from other people. The cheerleaders from Gosforth started their routines, while Sydney and co watched.
"P-
O
O-W-E-R
We got power
Got
that Gosforth Bull power
say it say it."
Piper rolled her eyes and turned back to her team. "Can you believe those guys? Look at them!" All eyes focused on the other team, watching in amusement as one girl always managed to get the routine wrong. The girls laughed as the game began.
Danny knew that Sydney would be at the game; she always was, being a cheerleader and all. But he had this feeling that if she was there, then she definitely didn't come alone. Somewhere in the crowd, her new boyfriend would be sitting their thinking how lucky he was. He sighed as he caught the ball and threw it to Sark. Taking one last look at Sydney he ran down the field ready to focus on the game.
