Chapter 17.
Syd's POVI didn't get released from the hospital until Thursday morning. It was amazing how much better I felt after what happened to me. I was able to walk somewhat normally and the pain wasn't too bad. I wasn't too pleased with all of the cuts around my body, but I knew those would heal eventually. The pain in my back got a tad bit better, but the bruising looked awful. I was thankful though. I was thankful that I came out of the car accident without any serious injuries or long-term damage.
Vaughn, his mom, and my dad were the ones that kept me company the few days that I had to spend in the hospital. When I was lying there in the bed and taking a look around the room, everyone was laughing and smiling. Just the sight of everyone getting along made me incredibly happy.
At night, Vaughn insisted on staying with me at the hospital, but I forced him to go home. I knew the chair he slept in was going to end up killing his neck, so every night I reassured him that I was fine. Being the loving boyfriend that he was, I knew he was skeptical about what I said, but he ended up listening to me. He would be back first thing in the morning though.
Vaughn always brought me something yummy to eat when he returned in the morning. He would bring me donuts, chocolate croissants or a bagel. My dad was also very sweet. He brought me snow bear to sleep with and a portable DVD player so I wouldn't be completely bored out of my mind.
The oddest thing was when I woke up from a nap and my dad and Vaughn were talking about sports. I didn't even know my dad followed sports. But, he sure as heck sounded like he knew what he was talking about. They were discussing something about building a new ballpark for the Dodgers. I wanted to listen, but couldn't really put a grip on the conversation since the pain medication was still making me groggy.
When my dad finally brought me home on Thursday, I couldn't have been more thrilled. My bed felt so comfortable and warm. Sleeping on that hospital bed was like sleeping on the floor. The doctor ordered me to stay off of my feet as much as possible and to only walk when necessary. I wasn't allowed to drive either. Not because of the accident, but because the pain medication I was on was supposed to make me sleepy and they didn't want me falling asleep on the road.
That night, Vaughn came over after dinner and brought me a whole pot of delicious Clam Chowder that Amelié made from scratch.
"Hey Syd, my mom made you some soup if you're up to eating." Vaughn said as he walked into my room.
My appetite still hadn't returned and the only thing I felt like eating was crackers and sprite. It's not like I was sick, but everything seemed to upset my stomach.
"Thanks. I'm not really hungry, but I'll try it in a little bit." Taking off his shoes, Vaughn slipped under the covers with me.
"You know we have to go back to school on Sunday. Are you going to be ok with sitting in a car for a few hours?" I snuggled up to his body and laid my head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'll be ok. I'll be sure to take a couple of pills to make sure I'm at least comfortable sitting there."
"Ok good."
Just then, my dad walked into the room and was a bit taken back by the sight before him. Walking in with a bowl of clam chowder in one hand, and a spoon in the other, his eyes widened a little bit and then normalized as the initial shock by passed him. It's not everyday that he walks in on his daughter and her boyfriend in bed. But, I would like to add that we were fully clothed and just cuddling.
Vaughn immediately jumped up out of bed and stood up.
"Hi Jack… I know I already said hi to you downstairs, but hello again. Umm, I uhh… yeah, Syd and I were just talking." He couldn't spit a word out to save his life.
"Hello Michael. Yes, it looks like you guys were doing a lot of talking." My dad said while walking over to my bed. "Here, you should try to eat some of this. It will make you feel better sweetheart." He placed the bowl of clam chowder on my bed stand.
"Thanks dad. I'll try to eat some in some in a little while." Before shutting my door, he gave Vaughn a fatherly glare.
Right after my dad exited my room, Vaughn was still standing up and looking a little tense. I knew him and my dad had reached an understanding, but I don't think it made him any less uncomfortable.
"Vaughn, you can get back into bed, you know." I pulled back the covers a little and patted the mattress.
"Are you sure? I mean he's not going to walk in again, right? I don't want to get on his bad side. I've seen his bad side Syd, and it's not fun."
"It's going to be ok. By the way, I like how you clarified for my dad that we were just talking."
Still not getting back into the bed, Vaughn began to pace back and forth. He ran his fingers through his unruly hair a few times, making it look even more disheveled than it already was.
"What? I didn't want him to think we were having sex or anything." He answered.
"What if we were? Were you gonna jump out of bed naked?"
"Can we stop talking about this? The thought of your dad walking in on us while we're having sex is not something I want to talk about."
"Fine, just please get into bed."
Vaughn's POVWhen a girl tells you to get into bed, you get into the damn bed. It's not like I have any experience in this. Syd's the only one that has told me to get into her bed. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I would love spending time in her bed with her. What guy wouldn't? It's not like I haven't had thoughts about this. I'm a 19-year-old guy after all. We're supposed to think about these things.
I snuggled up close to her body and wrapped my arms around her. It was perfect. The dim light from the moon set a soft glow around the room. The slow music from the stereo filled our ears as we continued to lie there. Apart from the music, it was silent. No talking was needed because we both knew it would ruin the moment.
Continuing to lie there, I thought Syd was asleep by then cause her breathing started to level out and she hadn't said anything in the past 10 minutes. Suddenly, she slipped both of her hands under my shirt and started running her fingertips over my stomach and chest.
I gasped as her hands came into contact with my bare skin. Maneuvering herself on top of my body, she brought her lips to my neck. Darting her tongue out of her mouth, she started doing all sorts of things with my neck that I had no idea what the hell was going on. All I knew was that I was losing control… fast.
"Syd… Hey Syd, hold on a second…" She couldn't seem to stop herself at all and moved her lips to the sensitive spot behind my ear. "Baby, slow down a little."
Her lips felt amazing on my neck, but I couldn't bring myself to get lost in the moment. I was halfway gone, but my mind kept reminding me that Jack could walk in any minute and find us like this. For sure this time he would then drag me downstairs and beat the living crap out of me.
I grabbed her hands from under my shirt and slowly picked up her body off of mine.
"What's wrong Vaughn? Don't you want this?" She asked concerned.
"Oh believe me, I want this. But, you just got out of the hospital. You're in no condition to be doing… that. I don't want you to get hurt." I propped myself up on one elbow so I could look down at her.
"I'm not going to get hurt. Trust me, I've been thinking a lot about this and I want to be with you."
Putting her head down to stare at the bed, a blush crept over her face.
"When did you have time to think about this? You were conked out most of the time in the hospital." I said letting out a chuckle.
"I started thinking about it the day I woke up. After seeing you there, sleeping next to my bed, I wanted to show you just how I felt about you. You've been so good to me Vaughn. I wanted to let you know that."
"Syd, you don't have to let me know through sex." We both laughed at my statement. "You could just tell me, you know."
"So you don't want to make love to me?"
"No!" My answer came out as more than a shout than anything else. I think I actually made her jump. "Of course I want to do that. It's just I don't want you to feel rushed. Don't you think it's too fast?"
"I guess so. We haven't been dating for that long."
"Listen to me Syd. When the time comes for us to take our relationship to the next level, then it'll just happen. I don't want both of us feeling we have to or we should do it. I don't want it to be planned. When we feel we're both ready, we're going to know."
It became silent for a few minutes. I didn't know if I said something wrong or upset her. But Syd wasn't saying anything.
Suddenly, she slowly moved to sit up against the back of her bed. Turning to me, she finally broke the silence.
"Ok." She said.
"Ok what?" I was slightly confused.
"We're not going to plan to have sex." She explained.
"Yes."
"We're just going to take things slow and let it happen."
"Yes."
"Are you sure this is what you want Vaughn?"
"Yes." A big smile played out on her face as she started to giggle.
"Is all you're going to say is yes?"
"I can't think of anything else to say." I answered.
"So we have everything straightened out, right?"
"Right. We're just going to let things play out and see where they'll take us. No pressure Syd. We'll go wherever life takes us."
Sunday morning was hard on the both of us. We got up at 7am in hopes to get on the road before the traffic hit. My mom packed every meal possible for me and stuffed it in the trunk. I swear, she made 10 different meals and put them all in plastic containers with little pink post notes on the top reminding me what was in them.
Before going to pick up Syd, I said a tearful goodbye to my mom. After everything that had happened that week, I felt really emotional.
I made sure I put Donovan's favorite pillow on my bed before I left. I knew he loved to sleep on my bed when I was gone and wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. Walking downstairs, I picked up the little guy and propped him on my lap.
"Alright Donny, you're the man of the house again. You make sure you take care of mom now. She's our special girl, you remember that ok?" His long, wet tongue lapped at my face until I finally pulled away.
"That's a good boy. I'll miss you buddy. I'll be back home in a little while."
Giving him one final hug, I put him back down on the ground. My mom stood by the threshold of the kitchen, watching the whole thing.
"He's going to miss his best friend, Michael." She said to me.
"I know he will. Make sure you give him a hug and a kiss for me everyday, ok mom?"
"Ok sweetie, I will."
I got up and embraced my mom tightly. Tears rolled down my face a little as the feeling of leaving all over again hit me hard. I could feel her wet tears against my neck while we both stayed silent.
"Thank you mom. Not just for making me all of that food, but for everything. For this week, for understanding Sydney and I, for being there for me when she got in the accident. I really needed you."
"I know dear. That's what mothers are for."
Pulling back, I gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you mom."
"I love you too Michael. Have a safe trip back and call me when you get in."
Wiping my eyes one last time, I shut the front door and hopped into my car to pick up Sydney.
Syd's POV"Ok sweetheart, make sure you take all of your medicines everyday. Stay off of your feet as much as possible and don't drive anywhere. Make Michael carry your backpack and let him take care of you." My dad held up the bottle of pills I was supposed to take, shook the bottle a little, and then placed them in my backpack.
"I know dad. I'll be fine, really."
Walking over to my dad, I threw my arms around his neck and held him.
"Now you take care of yourself dad. No overworking yourself or staying up too late."
"Ok Sydney, I won't."
"Oh, and also, it's ok to call me more than every two weeks." He chuckled a little after hearing my statement.
"Alright, I will call you more often than every two weeks."
After hearing the doorbell ring, we broke apart. My dad grabbed my suitcase from the couch as I opened the door.
"Hello Michael. Will you open up your trunk for me so I can put this in your car?" My dad asked.
"Yeah, sure Jack."
Following them out to the back of Vaughn's car, I saw my dad place my suitcase in the trunk.
"You take care of my daughter now Michael, you hear me?" My dad's voice was stern, but it was only to make sure that Vaughn knew he was serious.
"Yes sir. I promise, I'll take care of her."
They both shook hands and a small smile could be seen on my dad's face. The trip home was a wild one. I never expected to fight with my dad, get in a car accident, and still end up in this position. After everything that had happened, I wasn't sorry for anything.
I came out of this Spring Break accomplishing a lot. My dad and I were finally on the same page. He promised me he would be the father that I needed and would respect my relationship with Vaughn. And while things were rough for a while, I could only see smooth sailing from that moment.