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Chapter 14.

Syd's POV

The smell of waffles creeping through the bottom of the door is what awoke Vaughn and I from our deep slumber. Thinking that Amelié would be slightly uncomfortable with me spending the night, I was hesitant to walk downstairs. But, after I made my way into the kitchen she smiled widely and told me to eat up.

The waffles were delicious. With the fresh strawberries on top, I ended up downing four waffles. Vaughn began to joke with me saying I ate more than he did. It was so nice waking up to an amazing breakfast. Vaughn is spoiled to death and it was nice to get a little taste of what it was like to have such a great cook in the house.

Once I was able to pry myself away from the kitchen table, I said a quick thank you to Vaughn's mom and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. I needed to go home, clean up, and take a shower. While the thought of having to go home and seeing my dad wasn't pleasant, I couldn't avoid him forever.

As soon as I walked into the house my dad wasted no time in yelling at me.

"Sydney Bristow, where the hell were you last night?" His voice was raised and his eyes were narrow. While my dad usually showed no emotion, those were two things that showed he was really pissed off.

"I spent the night at Vaughn's." I said nonchalantly.

"You spent the night at Michael's house? You didn't even bother to call me to tell me where you were or answer your cell phone. I was worried sick about you!" Shrugging my shoulders, I let out a sigh.

"Wow, that's a change, you actually caring or worrying about me." I could see the red in my dad's face grow even brighter as I was saying all the right things to make him even angrier.

"Don't you ever say that Sydney. You know how much I care about you."

"Do you Dad? Cause you don't show it. How am I supposed to know?"

I walked past him and attempted to make my way up the stairs. I didn't feel like hearing what he had to say. Before I could get anywhere, he grabbed my elbow.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Pulling me back, he stood in front of me so I could face him.

"You should know the feeling. You've done it to me my whole life."

I knew that one was a low blow, but my dad needed to know how I felt. I've let him walk away from me in the past and I let him do it. I put a fake smile on my face and acted like everything was ok.

We stood there glaring at each other in silence. It took a minute for my dad to figure out what to say to me.

"If you're going to act like this, then I forbid you to see Michael." He's going to forbid me to see Michael? I let out a sarcastic laugh before speaking.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am 19 years old now. I don't even live here anymore. You can't tell me I can't see Vaughn."

"Yes I can, I am your father!" I pushed past him once again. This time, before going up the stairs I turned back.

"You were never my father."

With that, I went up to my room and slammed the door. Falling back against the door, I slid down to the floor and began to sob. All these years of pent up emotion and anger towards my father were coming out of me. I never had the guts to say to him how I really felt until today.

And while I it felt so good to let everything out, I cried tears of sadness. Because everything I said about my dad was true and I knew it was going to hurt him. I don't want my dad to feel any pain or any guilt for how I grew up. I just want him to realize his mistakes and to begin to act like a real father should.

Vaughn's POV

After Syd left, I helped my mom clean up the kitchen and put the extra waffles in the refrigerator. I know those will come in handy at 3am in the morning when I wake up for a snack.

Making sure I fed Donovan and gave him some water, I hopped into my car and started to drive. Picking up a bouquet of flowers from the local flower shop, I made my way to Cypress Hill Cemetery.

As soon as I walked up to my father's grave, I could feel my throat already tighten. The last time I visited him was in November before Thanksgiving. And while every year it gets a little easier to talk about him and hold back the tears as I think of a memory we shared, it's always hard to come here and see his headstone.

William C. Vaughn

1954-1993

A loving father and devoted husband

Gently putting down the bouquet of roses, I bent down and began to trace the letters of my last name. My fingers rubbed over the cool stone as I still remember the day my father was taken from me. He was an agent in the CIA and when I was a kid, I idolized everything he did.

Over the years, I learned that my dad was shot in the chest three times on a mission in Russia. Of course, my mother didn't tell me that when I was 8 years old. But, eventually she told me when I was older.

Even after my dad died, I was determined to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to be just like him and become a CIA agent. It was set in my mind all the way until high school when my mother expressed to me how much she didn't want me to take that route. She told me she already lost my father, and if she lost me too, she wouldn't be able to survive.

Never wanting to disappoint my mom or make her unhappy, I changed my mind on wanting to be in the CIA. The thought still crosses my mind once in awhile, but now that I'm pursuing a career as a lawyer, I know my mom's happiness comes first.

Still crouching down, I began to speak to my father.

"Hey dad… I know it's been awhile since I've come to see you, but this is the first time I've been back home since Christmas break. I'm on my second semester of college now and I'm doing pretty ok. Right now, I'm getting my general education classes done so I can start taking Political Science classes. In about a year or so I get to start learning about the interesting stuff.

"Mom seems to be doing good. I feel bad that she has to stay here by herself all the time, but at least she has Donovan to keep her company. She misses you. I miss you. Just the other day I was thinking back on all those old winter days when you would take me to the ice rink and play hockey with me. I can't wait till hockey season starts up again. I think the Kings have a real shot this year. What do you think dad?

"I love living in the city and Weiss makes a great roommate. He's a little messy at times, but he's become one of my best friends. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's got a heart of gold and can make me laugh like no other. The city is absolutely beautiful. The new baseball park is amazing and in the Fall I'm going to drive to San Jose to catch a few Sharks games. It's not going to be as fun as Kings games, but you can't pass up an opportunity to watch hockey, right?

"Of course Syd is up there in San Francisco with me too. It's been great having her there with me and going through all the scares of being away from home and at college. So… she's my girlfriend now. I know we never got to have the father, son talk about dating girls since I was too young. But, mom's taught me everything I need to know.

"Sydney is amazing, dad. She makes me so incredibly happy and every minute I'm around her I fall for her even more. I didn't even think that was possible, but it is. She's smart, beautiful, and a bit stubborn at times, but so caring and loving of others. She makes me want to be a better person. If you were here, you would absolutely love her."

To an innocent bystander, it would look like I was talking to the ground. But, I knew my dad could hear me. After all these years, even though he's been gone a long time, I could always feel that my dad is with me. He's always looking out for my mom and I. And, even though there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about him, I know I'll see him again one day.

I patted the headstone one more time before getting up.

"I love you dad, I'll see you soon."

Syd's POV

After walking into the bathroom, I took a look at myself in the mirror. I looked awful. My eyes were all puffy and red from the crying and my hair looked a mess. The spot under my nose was red from the constant rubbing from the Kleenex.

Stripping off my clothes, I turned on the shower and just stood under the water. Placing two hands up on the wall, I put my head down and let the water hit the back of my neck. I stood there for several minutes trying to relax and compose myself.

The shower eased a little tension from me. But, I still felt stressed. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, I pulled my wet hair into a messy ponytail. I decided that I wanted to go walk on the beach, hoping that would make me feel better.

My dad was nowhere to be found as I made my way down the stairs. Grabbing the keys from the kitchen counter, I made my way out to the black Mercedes sitting in front of the house. It was my dad's extra car that he never used and never let me drive in high school. Since my car was still up in San Francisco, I didn't have a choice and had to take the Benz.

As soon as I hit the rode, my foot was heavy on the gas. I knew it wasn't safe, but I couldn't help it. All of the stress and anger in my body needed a release and driving fast made me feel better.

There was only one person in this world that could make me feel the way I was feeling, and that was my dad. We had the usual fights that a father and a daughter have, but I knew that this one would need a lot of repairing. I somehow couldn't find the heart to forgive my dad for saying what he said.

It's like he was deliberately trying to hurt me with his words. He knows Vaughn and he knows that Vaughn is a great guy. He knows that he's a guy that would never hurt me or disrespect me. When I decided to tell my dad about Vaughn and I, I thought that this time it would be different. I thought that this time he would actually be approving of my relationship with a guy.

I couldn't have been more wrong. And why I was expecting for my dad to have changed, to know that I have matured and am able to make my own decisions, I don't know why I got my hopes up. It was appropriate that I felt let down. It was a feeling all too familiar for me.

I was too caught up in my thoughts that I wasn't even concentrating on driving. Still pressing on the gas harder than usual, I started to pass the park. When I looked out my window, I saw a father trying to teach his daughter to ride a bike. A smile actually appeared on my face as the little girl kept telling her father not to let go.

She was riding a pink bike with an array of different color streamers hanging from the handlebars. A pink Barbie helmet was sitting slightly tilted on her head as her father stood 10 ft. away from her, encouraging her to keep pedaling. It was a sweet sight and unfortunately something I never experienced.

By the time I turned around, I hadn't even noticed I accidentally ran a stop sign. Panicking as every part of my body froze, the only thing I could see was a semi truck coming straight for the passenger's side of my car.

Vaughn's POV

I felt so much better after visiting my dad's grave. Every time I went there and talked to him, I felt like someone was taking the weight off of my shoulders. I always seemed to get choked up and silent tears would run down my face, but it was important to me that I still talked to my dad and let him know what was going on in my life.

Even though I know he's probably watching over me, I always make sure to tell him that mom and I are doing ok. I know that if there's one thing my dad would worry about, it would be the welfare of mom and I.

After getting in my car, I grabbed the cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Syd's number. I wanted to see what she was up to and if her dad yelled at her for not coming home last night.

I got about five rings and then her voicemail. Weird, I thought. Syd always picks up when I call. Maybe she didn't hear it or she went somewhere and didn't have her cell phone on her. Dialing up her number again, I decided that this time I'd leave a voicemail.

"Hey Syd, it's me. Just wanted to know what you were up to. Give me a call when you get a chance. Talk to you later."

Closing my cell phone and putting it back into my pocket, I started my car and made my way back to my house. When I got there, Donovan was on the porch lying down with his head on his paws. I smiled at the sight of my lazy bulldog. He just happened to find the spot directly were the sun was hitting.

Walking up the stairs, I kneeled down to pet him a bit. He rolled onto his back and stuck his paws up in the air, a sign that he wanted me to scratch his tummy. Lightly scratching my fingertips up and down his stomach, I patted him twice, and then made my way through the door.

When I walked in, my mom was sitting on the couch with a serious look on her face. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. My mom always had a smile on her face and whenever it wasn't there, something was definitely up.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Walking over to where she sat, I looked down to see tears in her eyes.

"Michael… sit down." She grabbed both my hands as I placed myself on the leather couch.

"Jack just called… and… Sydney was in a car accident."

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