hey
Lil Aussie Alias Chick i haven't added any new chapters on AA or Sd-1 so they're still up to chap 42 :)
thanks for all the great reviews guys! here's the next chap
Chapter 35
Sydney woke up at 10:30 on Christmas day. She looked at the clock on her bed stand and groaned, wanting to hide back under the covers and go asleep. She thought back to when she was younger; the excitement of Christmas keeping her up most of the night, and causing her to get up in the early hours of the morning, much to the frustration of her parents. Christmas just wasn't the same as it was all those years ago, she no longer anticipated its arrival, or tried to wake her parents up at 4am just so she could open her presents. But she knew that this Christmas would be fun; she was having dinner with both of her parents, and then she had the Halliwell's party to go to.
Sighing, she threw back the covers and got out of bed. Her father would be there soon, and she doubted that he would be pleased to find that she was still in bed. She showered and dressed in the new jeans and blue jumper that her mother had bought her days before.
Irina was busy in the kitchen, preparing the dinner for when Jack arrived. She hadn't been able to sleep well the night before; she was far too excited about him spending the day with them. Although she wouldn't openly admit it, she had missed not having him around on Christmas day, or on any day for that matter.
"Merry Christmas mom!" She exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen and straight into her mother's embrace.
"Merry Christmas to you too!" She replied, hugging her closely. "They look goo on you." She commented, nodding at Sydney's clothes.
"Yeah, well the person who picked them has very great taste!"
Irina smiled at her. "Thanks." Her expression suddenly changed, her left eyebrow raised, her smile long gone from her face. "But compliments won't get you out of helping me." She joked, pointing towards the bag of potatoes that were waiting to be peeled.
Irina answered the door and smiled brightly at Jack. "Happy Christmas!" She gave him a hug and invited him in.
He gave her a kiss. "Yeah you too!" He placed the bags of presents beside the tree ready to be opened once they'd had dinner.
Sydney came down the stairs and joined them, wishing her father a merry Christmas. She watched how her parents acted around each other, and it was like nothing had changed between them. They were both so comfortable around each other; they were finally a family again.
After dinner, Jack and Irina were sat on the couch, each drinking a glass of wine. Jack had his arm around her, her head lightly resting on his shoulder. Sydney smiled at them, loving the happy expressions that were written on both of their faces. She hadn't seen them this happy for a long time, and now that they were, she didn't want it to stop. The doorbell rang, pulling her from her thoughts.
She stood up to get it, not wanting to disturb her parents, and besides, she already knew it was for her.
"Merry Christmas!" She smiled at him, as he stood on her doorstep, a smile on his face, although she thought he looked a little nervous about something. She quickly dismissed this thought, as her eyes fell upon a small bag that was in his hand. She started to wonder what was inside, but she knew she'd find out soon enough.
"Merry Christmas." He replied, leaning forward to give her a kiss. She stood aside and let him walk in, closing the door behind him. Jack and Irina greeted him, and then Sydney took him upstairs. She knew that her parents needed some time to themselves, and she herself wanted to spend a little time alone with her boyfriend on Christmas day.
"Ok, so you open you present first." She told him as she shut her bedroom door and handed him the wrapped present that was on her bed. He put her present on the bed and began to open his own.
He threw the wrapping paper down onto the bed, leaving him with a hockey shirt and a white envelope. Putting the envelope down for a minute, he examined the shirt, holding it out infront of him. It was a LA Kings shirt, only on the back wasn't the name of any player. Instead him name was stitched on, along with the number 11; the number he was in the team.
"Wow, Syd! This is amazing." He was genuinely touched by the present. He had dozens of hockey shirts, but none of them said 'Vaughn 11' on the back, and none of them were bought by her, which made this one that more special.
"You like it?" She asked, his facial expressions telling her everything that she needed to hear.
"I love it." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
"Great!" She picked up the envelope and passed it to him. "Now open this."
He felt the envelope, trying to figure out what was inside. It was flat, as if there was a piece of paper or something inside. He could tell by her face that she was excited for him to open it, so that's what he did.
Inside he found one ticket to the next Kings game, and the seat was 2 rows from the front. "Oh my God. Sydney, I can't believe you bought me this."
She smiled. "Well I know how much you love the Kings, so I thought it would be the perfect gift." He stepped towards her, his arms wrapping around her as he hugged her.
"It is the perfect gift. Thank you." He spoke into her hair, placing a light kiss on the top of her head. "You have the other ticket, right?"
She smiled sweetly at him and shook her head. "Nope!"
"What?"
"I don't have the other ticket!" Her sweet smile didn't fool him, he knew that there was something she wasn't telling him.
"Oh God, your dad doesn't have it does he?" Although Jack Bristow had warmed considerably to him over the past two months, he knew that going to a hockey game with him would be hell.
Sydney shook her head again.
"Ok, so who has the other ticket?" Vaughn asked, feeling slightly confused.
"What other ticket?" She continued to play innocent with him, her arms still wrapped around his neck. "I never said anything about another ticket!" She found it hard not to laugh at him; he looked so cute when he was confused like he was now.
"So there's only one ticket?"
"Yes." The tone of her voice matched the innocent smile on her face, as she carried on acting like she didn't know what he was talking about.
Vaughn still didn't believe her, so he tried something else to make her talk. "Well I guess there's always the possibility that I'll be sat next to a hot blonde…" She hit his chest and for a minute he thought that his plan had worked. But then she started shaking her head, her smile back on her face.
"Yeah let me just tell you that the chances of that are pretty slim." She teased back, knowing that she was driving him insane by not telling him. He finally gave up, realising that there must only be one ticket.
"Time for you to open yours…" He sat down on the bed next to her, handing her the bag. She smiled excitedly as she took a small velvet box out of the bag. He smiled back at her as she opened up the box. Inside was a silver bracelet with a silver heart charm dangling from the centre.
"Michael, it's beautiful!" She turned the heart over, and ran her hand over the inscription.
Forever Yours.
MV
She continued to stare at the inscription as she held the bracelet in her hand. "Thank you." She turned to look at him, as he ran his hand down her cheek.
"I'm glad you like it." He placed a chaste kiss and pulled away, his hand still on her cheek. His heart was beating faster in his chest as he decided that he would do it. "There's actually something else." She looked at him, shocked that he'd bought her something else. "Well it's not a gift, it's just something that I've been wanting to tell you." She nodded, urging him to continue. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you." His eyes fell to the floor as the room went silent.
Sydney's eyes filled up as she thought about what he had said. It had come as a shock, it wasn't what she was expecting him to say. But now that he had said it, she liked the way it sounded; he loved her!
"Hey." She smiled, placing her hand under his chin, turning his face to look at her. "I…"
"Sydney?" Her mom knocked on the door before opening it. Sydney stopped speaking and quickly wiped away the tear that was making it's way down her cheek.
"Yeah?"
"The Sloanes are downstairs. They were wondering if you'd come down and see them."
Sydney cleared her throat as she stood up, hoping that the lump that had formed there would go away. "Sure." She smiled at her mom and then turned back to Vaughn. Irina glanced at them both, and wondered what she had interrupted. Sydney took one last look at Vaughn and then followed her mother out of the door.
Irina offered to give them a lift to the party, as they were already running late, and thankfully Irina hadn't had that much to drink. The car was silent, both Sydney and Vaughn sat staring out of the window each lost in their own thoughts. Sydney felt bad, that Vaughn had told her how he truly felt, and she didn't have the chance to say anything back. After she had finished speaking with Arvin and Emily, she went back up to her room to finish talking to him and to get ready. But the moment was gone. Vaughn was acting like he hadn't said anything, so Sydney didn't mention it. And now she was beginning to regret that.
They walked up the steps to the house, and Sydney slipped her hand in his, squeezing it slightly. He smiled at her as they rang the bell.
"Hey!" Paige hugged them both as she opened the door. "Merry Christmas!" They followed her inside the house, to see that the party had already started.
"I'm gonna go say hi to Eric." Vaughn excused himself and walked over to Weiss.
"What was all that about?" Paige asked, looking at Sydney who was just watching him walk away. From the minute they had walked in, Paige sensed that there was something wrong between them, she could tell by the way they were acting around each other.
Sydney sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's a long story." She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it. Paige wasn't usually the Halliwell she went to for relationship advice. "So, did Weiss like his present?"
"Yeah he did. He was a little confused about the hockey ticket though. He was convinced that there was another ticket!" They both laughed.
"Michael was asking a lot of questions about it. But I'm sure they'll eventually figure it out." Sydney looked around her at all the people who were there. She spotted an unexpected face and quickly looked away. "Danny's here?"
Paige looked down at the floor and sighed. "Yeah he turned up with a couple of the guys. I couldn't exactly tell him to go away!"
"It's ok. It's been a couple of months since we broke up, I'm sure he's gotten over everything that happened!" She reassured her, hoping that Danny wouldn't be causing any trouble.
"So she didn't say anything?" Eric asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"No, before she had chance to her mom came up and then she had to go and talk to some family friends." Vaughn sighed and glanced over to the other side of the room where Sydney was talking to some girls that he didn't recognise. They had been avoiding each other since they got there, things had gotten awkward between them, although that was the last thing either of them wanted.
"But just because she didn't say anything, that doesn't mean she doesn't feel the same way!" Weiss tried to reassure him, but it didn't look like it was working. Paige walked over and joined them, wrapping her arms around Eric's waist. She kissed his cheek as she moved closer into his embrace
"What are you guys talking about?" She looked at Weiss, then Vaughn, and then back at Weiss again. "Sydney?" Vaughn nodded.
"He told her he loved her." Weiss informed her, while Vaughn stared aimlessly at the floor.
"Oh my God! And what did she say?"
"Nothing!" Vaughn sighed. "That's the problem."
An hour later, Sydney and Vaughn were still ignoring each other. Sydney quickly finished her drink and went to find Piper. She needed to know what she should do; it was ridiculous how they were spending the night, each on opposite sides of the room.
She found Piper talking to Cole and Leo and quickly made her way over to them. "Piper, can I talk to you for a minute please?"
Piper could see that Sydney was upset about something. She wrapped her arm around her shoulder and led her towards the kitchen, which was now empty. "Honey, what's wrong?"
"Michael told me he loved me today!"
Piper's mouth fell open as a smile took over her face. "Oh my God!" She hugged her friend and squealed. "This is so good. And what did you say?"
Sydney sat down at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. "I didn't! That's the problem." Piper took a seat next to her; wand waited for her to continue. "Before I could say anything, my mom walked in. And then I had to go talk to Emily and Arvin, and when I came back he was acting like nothing had happened, and so I didn't bring the conversation back up!" She sighed. I have actually managed to make a mess of what was meant to be a perfect moment.
"And if your mom hadn't have walked in, what would you have said?" Sydney bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "I don't know!""Well, do you love him?" Sydney looked down at the table as she thought about her question. In the couple of months that they had been together, he had changed her life, and she couldn't imagine him not being a part of her life.
"Yeah I do!"
Piper smiled. "There's you answer." She stood up and pulled Sydney to her feet. "Now, go find him and tell him."
Sydney looked at her as if she were crazy. "What now?"
"Er...yeah!" She replied, as if it were the most obvious answer. "You only have like the perfect setting. It's Christmas day, one of the most romantic days of the year. Now go tell him you love him." She ushered her out of the kitchen.
"Thanks Piper."
"Go!"
Sydney walked into the living room ready to find Vaughn. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and thinking that it was him she turned around with a huge smile on her face.
"Hey!" Her smile quickly faded when she saw who it was.
"Sydney! It's great to see you again." She could tell that he had had a lot to drink, she could smell it on him, and he was acting a little drunk.
"Look Danny, I really don't have time for any of your little games, so why don't you go and cause trouble with someone else ok?" She turned to leave but he grabbed her arm.
"Sydney, I need to talk to you. Please just give me a couple of minutes, and then I'll be gone. Please?" Suddenly his face turned serious, and she felt like she couldn't say no. I can always wait a few minutes before I talk to Michael…
"You have five minutes." She walked into the empty kitchen, Danny following closely behind her.
Piper walked over to Michael, who was laughing along with Eric and Paige. He looked happier than he did when he first arrived, which she was glad about. "Hey guys! Did you and Sydney talk?" Vaughn stopped laughing and shook his head.
"I haven't spoken to her since we got here why?"
Piper looked at him, confusion all over her face. "But, I just sent her out here to talk to you…"
"Well I've been here talking. She hasn't come anywhere near me."
"Well, will you please go and find her. She wants to talk to you about something." Everyone knew what she meant by 'something,' and Weiss looked at him, silently telling him to go and find her.
"Ok." He looked across the room, searching for any sign of her but he couldn't find her. "Where is she?" He asked, looking back at Piper. Piper turned and grabbed Leo who was dancing next to them.
"You seen Syd?" Leo stopped dancing and nodded.
"Yeah she walked into the kitchen with Danny a couple of minutes ago. Is everything ok?" No one answered his question, as all eyes fell on Michael.
"You…kitchen now!" She pushed him towards the kitchen, wanting him and Sydney to sort everything out.
Sydney leaned back against the kitchen counter, listening to Danny talk. "Look Syd, I know I made some mistakes when we were together. I pushed you away, I get that, I really do." Sydney rolled her eyes, knowing that in the morning he wouldn't remember a word of what he'd said to her. Her on the other hand, would remember the last couple of minutes, and regret letting him talk to her. "But I've changed. I'm different then I was two months ago, you've got to believe me. And if you just gave me another chance, you'd see that I'm not who I used to be." He stepped towards her, and placed his hands on her hips. Before she could say anything, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, moving his hands up to her back.
Vaughn noticed how quiet it was as he walked into the kitchen, and he was began to doubt that she was in there. But when he stepped into the kitchen he saw her. Danny was kissing her, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Without saying anything he stormed out of the kitchen and into the hall, only to run into Piper, Eric and Paige.
"So?" Piper asked excitedly, wanting to hear how they'd sorted everything ok. Vaughn didn't say anything, he just stood there shaking his head, his eyes full of anger and unshed tears. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, and he stormed past them, slamming the front door behind him.
The three of them looked at each other, no one knowing what to say. They were just as confused as each other.
"Ok, what just happened here?" Piper asked, but neither of them answered her. They just didn't know.
"Danny!" Sydney angrily pushed him off her, and wiped her lips dry. "What do you think you're doing?" He looked down at his shoes, his cheeks reddening.
"I love you Sydney. I've never stopped loving you. Please come back to me." He pleaded with her, but she just wasn't listening.
"Danny, when are you going to realise that I've moved on. I have a boyfriend now, and I'm not about to lose him just because you can't get past this." She actually felt sorry for Danny, he was obviously had some problems in his life, but there was nothing she could do to help him. He was no longer her responsibility. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go be with the guy that I love." She walked out of the kitchen, ready to find Vaughn.
She walked into the living room, her eyes searching the crowds for him. She couldn't spot him, but she found Weiss and Piper, so she went over to them.
"Guys, have any of you seen Michael?" She asked, smiling at them. She was excited to tell him how she felt, she just hoped she wasn't too late.
"We should really be asking you that." Paige replied, still feeling confused about what happened with Vaughn. Sydney looked at her, her eyebrows raised.
"What the hell happened in there?" Piper asked, stepping forward. She wanted to get to the bottom of this; there was no way that somebody telling you they loved you, made you react the way Michael had.
Sydney shook her head. "Happen in where?" She had absolutely no idea what they were talking about; she'd obviously missed something.
"The kitchen. We sent Michael in there to talk to you, and then he stormed back out, and left. I've never seen him so angry and upset at the same time." Piper explained, wanting Sydney to fill them in on what they'd missed.
Sydney stomach turned. The kitchen. Her eyes filled up and she didn't even bother to stop the tears from falling. "Oh God…" She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes falling to the floor. The bracelet caught her attention, which just made the tears worse. I've may just have lost the guy that I love…
runs off and hides hehe please don't kill me! lol a lil angst never hurt anyone:)
i'll update again over the weekend :)
