Chapter 34

A week before Christmas, Sydney was sat on Vaughn's bed, telling him about the conversation she had had with her mother. Although she had had a couple of days to think it over, she still couldn't believe that it was actually happening; they were back together.

"So are you ok about it all?" Vaughn asked, running his hand through her hair. They were lying down on the bed, Sydney's head resting on his chest. She was about to answer his question when the phone on his bedside table rang. He sighed as he reached over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy!"

"Weiss, what's up?" Sydney remained lying on Vaughn's chest as he spoke to his friend. Vaughn's question was still running through her head, she wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying until she heard her name.

"Sydney? You called my house to talk to my girlfriend?" Sydney glanced up at Vaughn, a small smile on her face as she took the phone off him.

"Hey Weiss." Vaughn went back to playing with her hair, while he listened to only one half of the conversation.

"Hi Syd. Do you know what Paige has got me for Christmas?" Weiss came straight out with the question that he had been thinking about for the past couple of days.

Sydney laughed, knowing where this conversation was heading. "Yes I do." Weiss waited for her to continue but she never did.

"So…?"

"So, I'm not going to tell you." She teased, rolling her eyes at Vaughn.

"Oh come on! I'll tell you what Vaughn's bought you…"

"Eric, I don't want to know what he has bought me, I want it to be a surprise. Just like it will be when Paige gives you yours."

"Hey! Tell him that your present is a surprise and I want to keep it that way." Vaughn told her.

She started to speak again, but Weiss cut her off. "It's ok, I heard him." He sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to tell him. "Ok, so can you at least give me some idea of what I should get her?"

She smiled. "Now that I can do!" I sat up on the bed, crossing her legs beneath her. Vaughn was disappointed that she was no longer leaning on him, he missed the feeling of her in his arms. "So what were you thinking of getting her?"

"That is the problem! I have absolutely no idea!" He started to panic on the other end of the phone, as he realized that he didn't have a clue what to buy his girlfriend.

Sydney smiled slightly. It's cute how Eric's panicking about this, it shows that he really cares about her… "Ok, Weiss calm down. Has she mentioned anything that she might like?"

"Nope."

Vaughn picked up the sports magazine that was on the floor next to his bed; he had a feeling that the conversation might last a while.

"Right, well there's jewelry, erm…or if you wanted to get her something a little more personal, she likes painting! So maybe you could get her like an art book or something." Sydney suggested.

"Yeah, maybe I could get her a book on that French artist she likes…" He tried to think back to the conversation that they had had about the artist; but he couldn't remember the guys name.

"That's a good idea! And you know, I hear French is in this season." She teased, watching as Vaughn's head appeared from behind the magazine. His mouth fell open as he stared back at her; shock all over his face.

"I'd be careful if I were you Bristow. I might start to get the impression that you're only dating me so that you have the latest fashion accessory!" Vaughn feigned hurt, folding his arms infront of him.

"Aww," Sydney leaned towards him, her smile still on her face. "You know that will never be true!" She told him, placing a soft kiss on his lips. She smiled at him, seeing his frown replaced with a smile that mirrored her own.

"Ew, guys you do know that I can hear you right?" They both laughed as Weiss's disgusted voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Sorry Weiss." Sydney apologized, placing another quick kiss on Vaughn's lips. "So, are you all sorted now?"

Weiss genuinely smiled, relieved that he now had something to buy her. "Yeah, I might go down to the mall and see what I can find."

"Great. And you know, if all else fails, you always have the fallback plan…jewelry and chocolate." Vaughn rolled his eyes. He would never understand why girls loved those two things so much; to him they were just a bunch of stones and a snack. He really didn't see what the big deal was.

"Thanks Sydney. Talk to you guys later." Sydney hung up the phone and handed it back to Vaughn.

He took the phone off her and put it back on the table. "So what's this I hear about French being in this season?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. Sydney laughed, and lay down beside him on the bed, his arms wrapping around her.

"Well it's true. I mean you have the French fry," He laughed as she began counting them off on her hands. "French guys, French artists and my two favourite French things."

He gently brushed her hair out of her face. "Oh yeah? And what would they be?"

She moved closer to him, lifting her hand to stroke his cheek. "First, is French kisses," She smiled as she kissed him.

"And what comes next?" He asked, their faces only inches apart. She paused, her gaze getting lost in his eyes.

"You."

"So you're gonna tell her?" Weiss asked, skating over to Vaughn. They were at the ice rink, and for the past twenty minutes that had been talking about Paige and Sydney.

"Yeah. I was going to tell her yesterday, but then I decided I'd wait until Christmas day." He hit the puck over to Weiss and skated over to the net. "I think I'll tell her when I give her the present, which by the way, I wasn't impressed that you were going to tell her what it was…"

"Hey!" Weiss stopped skating. "I wouldn't have told her the truth. I would have made something else up…but it doesn't matter. She didn't want to know, so your secret is still safe!" Weiss pointed out, hitting the puck to the back of the net.