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Chapter 26.

Syd's POV

The next couple of days were spent moving all of my stuff into Vaughn's place and packing up all of our clothes for home. Telling Francie that I was officially moving into Vaughn's was hard to do. A little part of me felt like I was betraying her. I never wanted to be the type of person to ditch your best friend for a guy, but living with my boyfriend was what I really wanted.

We figured out that for the rest of the summer, I'd mail up my rent check to her and then when Emily moves in at the end of August that I'll start paying rent with Weiss and Vaughn.

I was a bit skeptical of this Emily girl. I wondered what she was like and if her and Francie were going to be best friends. Vaughn laughed every time I referred to Emily as "The Best Friend Stealer" even though I'd never met her before and was the one moving out on Francie.

It took us a full two days to move out all the stuff from my room and throw away things I didn't need. Since my bed was a futon, it was easy to place it in Vaughn's room and have a couch in there. Plus, I figured if I ever got mad at him I wouldn't have to sleep in the same bed.

After clearing everything out, Vaughn and I sat on the floor of my now empty bedroom.

"It looks so empty in here. Don't you think it's sad?" I asked him quietly.

"Of course it's sad. It was your first place away from home." He said, bringing his hand up to rub my shoulder.

"I'm really going to miss this place. You know this is the place where we spent out first night together?"

"Yeah… Too bad we never got to have sex in here." He mumbled, thinking I couldn't hear him.

"Oh my god, are you still upset over that?"

"C'mon Syd. We have to expand our horizon…" He joked.

"We're going back home to LA tomorrow. We can expand our horizon there." I added as I slapped him in the hand.

"Alright… We have to get home and get cleaned up. Let's go." Standing up, Vaughn offered his hand to help me up.

On the previous day, Weiss and Francie were finally able to sort things out. She kindly explained to him that she just wanted to be friends for now because she wasn't ready for a relationship. Weiss was a bit bummed out, but fully accepted her decision and was glad they were back to being friends again.

We all decided that we'd do something special for our last night in San Francisco. The only person staying in the city for the summer was Francie. Since none of us wanted to touch any sort of alcohol for a while, we all figured drinking was our last option.

Instead, Weiss all got us great tickets for the Giants game that night. I smiled thinking about the last time I was at a Giants game. It was the night that Vaughn and I kissed for the first time. Of course, both of us were too shy to fess up to our real feelings that nothing happened for a week.

We finally arrived at the game just in time to hear the starting lineup. Walking down the steep set of stairs, we sat down in the third row.

"Wow Weiss, these are some awesome seats! And, I don't even like baseball!" Francie said excitedly.

"I bought them online a couple of days ago for face value. What do you think Mike?" Weiss asked, looking over to Vaughn.

"I think they're great. I feel like we're on the field."

"I know, dude. You all better duck if a foul ball comes your way." Weiss warned us.

It was like Vaughn and mine's date all over again with Weiss and Francie. They sat there giggling with each other while he tried to explain everything he knew about baseball. I remembered most of the stuff Vaughn taught me and screamed out, "Drop third strike!" when the catcher dropped the ball and the runner started sprinting towards first base.

I've never seen Vaughn look so proud. I think I even saw a couple of tears of joy come out of his green eyes.

"Hey Syd…" Fran said nudging me. "Look at that guy standing on top of the dugout. Don't you think he's hot?"

Sitting up a little so I could get a good view, I surveyed the sight in front of me. No doubt was the player hot. He also had a great smile.

"Ooohhh, yeah he is! Weiss who is that?" I asked, wanting to know the cute player's name.

"That's Jesse Foppert. He's a pitcher." He answered.

"Jesse Foppert. He is one good looking boy." Fran added while we both stared at him.

Just then, Jesse Foppert took off his hand and slowly ran a hand through his blonde hair making both Francie and I gasp.

"He even has nice hair!" Francie shouted.

I could feel Vaughn tensing up to the right of me. His grip on my hand slowly became tighter every second I stared at the hot baseball player. I knew Vaughn was getting slightly jealous, but he really didn't have anything to worry about. Francie was the one that was lusting.

Vaughn's POV

I sat there watching as my girlfriend stared at the good-looking player standing on the top step of the dugout. Yes, I admitted that he was good-looking. He still wasn't anything special. Sure, he was a professional athlete and probably made a lot of money. Not to mention his arms looked really strong.

With Sydney's hand entwined with my own, I gripped on to her tighter. I never liked to be the one that was jealous. But, after what happened with Danny, I felt a bit insecure.

"I don't mean to disappoint you guys or whatever, but that dude doesn't even play. He's been hurt for the whole season. There's something wrong with his arm." Weiss bragged, thinking this would turn the girls off.

"So… he's still hot." Francie snapped back.

Meanwhile, Syd looked at me silently. Giving me one of her adorable, dimpled smiles, she brought her hand up to smooth the concerned wrinkles on my forehead.

"You're not jealous, are you Vaughn?" She asked innocently, knowing full well that she was playing with my emotions.

"No…" I gritted through my teeth.

"I'm just playing with you. You've got nothing to worry about. I love my man."

Cupping my face with both her hands, she leaned in for a slow, long kiss. I didn't need any more reassurance. That alone showed me I was fretting over nothing.

For the rest of the game, Syd and I snuggled up close with my arm around her shoulders and her head tucked under mine. The four of us couldn't have had a better time. We sat there laughing, cheering, and enjoying our time spent together.

I knew it'd be different once I got back home to LA. I didn't want admit it, but I really was going to miss Weiss. His friendly banter always made me laugh along with all of his crazy advice. In reality, if it weren't for his encouragement, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to finally tell Syd how I felt about her.

Over these past few months, Weiss grew to be my best friend and my wingman. I guess the one thing I wasn't going to miss was his loud snoring and his constant belching. I couldn't help but think how weird it was going to be not waking up to Weiss' pancakes and bacon, which I said I didn't like but secretly thought they tasted pretty good.

All of us were exhausted when we finally got back to our apartment. Even though it was late and sleep was calling all of our names, we decided to sit around the family room and reminisce about all of the things that happened to us in the last 10 months.

"Ok Mike… do you remember the first time you walked in this place? I had already been living here for a week and when you walked in your room you screamed, 'Oh my god my room is huge!" Weiss reminisced.

"Yeah. It's only because I always imagined my first year in college I'd be cramped in some small ass apartment and hating my roommate."

"Geez thanks! It's nice to know you had a lot of expectations for me."

"Oh c'mon. We get along just fine. I lucked out buddy. I thought I was going to get stuck with a jerk." I answered as I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"I have a confession to make though. Syd, I had the hugest crush on you for like two weeks. When you first came here to visit Mike. I thought you were so hot." Weiss said laughing.

"Awww thanks Weiss. I'm flattered." Syd responded.

"I would've tried and went after you, but after seeing the way Mike looked at you, I knew you weren't for me."

I felt slightly embarrassed from what Weiss was saying. I had no reason to, but I could feel the blush creeping up on my cheeks.

"Oh that is so sweet." Francie added. "I also knew you too were meant to be together. Michael, on the first day Syd moved in with me all she did was talk about you."

"Really?" I questioned, feeling quite special.

"Oh yeah. She was going on and on about how you guys decided to move up to San Francisco together and how you've been best friends since you were little kids. Before I even met you, I knew you meant a lot to her."

It was now Syd's time to feel embarrassed as she bit her lip nervously and looked down to the floor.

"Yep Syd, Vaughn was so in love with you that during his naps on his couch, I could hear him moaning your name in his sleep." Everyone but me started cracking up at Weiss' revelation. No one was meant to hear that.

"Ok, that's enough reminiscing. C'mon babe, we're going to bed." I said amused while I pulled Syd up off of the couch and into my bedroom.

Syd's POV

I awoke early the next morning and spent several minutes staring at Vaughn while he slept peacefully. A tiny smile was played out on his lips while his left arm was tucked securely under his pillow.

I continued to lie there and just take in how gorgeous Vaughn really was. Even though I saw him everyday and have known him forever, he still seemed to take my breath away. Every time he walked into a room and flashed me his charming smile, my breath would hitch in my throat. Even after all of these years I was still taken back by just how incredibly good-looking he was.

Turning slowly on to my back, I remembered the day Vaughn and I decided we were going to San Francisco State.

FLASHBACK

"Can you believe we're graduating in like 4 months Vaughn? Isn't that insane?" I asked him as I looked over my Econ book.

Both of us were sprawled out on his bed reviewing for our Economics test the next day.

"I know. I can't believe it. It went by so amazingly fast. But, I'm happy we're getting out of that school. Four years have been enough." He answered.

"Have you decided where you're going to college yet? You have to sign your intent to enroll at the end of the month, right?"

"Yeah… I'm still deciding. I know Northridge is cool and it's close to home. I could still take care of my mom if I were here. I could also go to community college for a couple of years and then try to transfer into UCLA or something."

"So you want to stay local?" I questioned, disappointed that he wasn't going to be close to me.

"I'm not sure. Are you still stoked about San Francisco?"

"Yeah, I'm going to officially enroll next week."

I tried to hide my discontentment well. I didn't want to pressure Vaughn into anything even though I had been hinting for the last month that I wanted him to go to San Francisco State with me.

"That's good Syd. I'm glad you know where you want to go." He said encouragingly.

"Yep…" I responded quietly.

Beginning to doodle on my notebook, I stayed silent for a moment trying to take in what life would be like without Vaughn by my side.

"You want me to go with you, don't you?" Vaughn asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course I do. You're my best friend. But I know you want to stay close to your mom. So stop worrying about me cause I'll be fine."

Suddenly, Vaughn slipped off of his bed and stood up quietly. I could see he was thinking hard because his eyes were squinted and his forehead had the familiar wrinkles.

"I'm gonna go with you." He spit out abruptly.

"What?" I asked stunned. Did I hear him correctly?

"I want to go to San Francisco with you."

"Are you serious?" Jumping off of his bed, I stood in front of him to look him straight in the face.

"I'm dead serious. I've been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks, I just didn't want to tell you and get your hopes up. But, I want to do it. I figured, we aren't that far away from home plus I'll be with you."

"Aww Vaughn! I'm so happy!" Leaping into his arms, I gave him a tight hug.

"We're going to be gators." He laughed.

"Yep, we're going to be gators."

END OF FLASHBACK

Hearing Vaughn stirring next to me, I turned to look at him while he flickered his eyes open.

"Hey…" He whispered.

"Good morning."

"What were you doing?"

"Just watching you sleep." I answered as placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I was just thinking about the day you and I decided we were moving up here."

"You had no idea I was planning on going to state with you the whole time, did you?" He said smirking.

"What? You told me you were all confused on where you wanted to go."

"I only did that so you wouldn't think I was following you up here." He explained.

"Vaughn, I was practically begging you to come with me."

"I know, but still. I was so determined to hide my feelings and I didn't want it to be so obvious by immediately telling you my plans."

"I get it…" I whispered. "I'm glad you're here with me though. I don't know what I would do without you."

It was traditional for Francie to cook us a big breakfast that morning. All of us ate in silence not really knowing how to feel. Even though we were only going to be away from each other for a few months, all of us were too sad to leave.

We were all so comfortable hanging out with each other all the time and adjusting to life on our own. It made me not want to say goodbye to Francie and Weiss. Too many fond memories were shared during our freshman year and part of me wanted to make it last forever.

After we finally loaded all of our luggage and bags into Vaughn's car, we started to say our sad goodbyes to Francie and Weiss.

"Alright dude. Call me later when you guys get in." Weiss said to Vaughn, as they were a little apprehensive to show any emotion.

"I will Eric. Thanks for everything man." Vaughn responded, finally giving in embracing Weiss quickly.

"I'm going to miss you Sydney Bristow. Come over here and give me some sugar." Walking over to Weiss, I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug.

"I'll miss you too Weiss. Don't worry I'll take care of Vaughn for you. What time is your flight?" I asked.

"4:30. Francie is going to drive me to the airport."

I looked over to Francie who already had tears spilling down her face.

"Oh sweetie, come here." I said quietly, opening my arms to Francie. After shedding a few tears of my own, I finally let go.

"This is so sad! It's not like we're never going to see each other again! Ok, the week before the 4th of July I'm coming down to LA and you're going to take me shopping on Sunset Boulevard." Francie announced.

"That sounds good. I love you Fran."

"I love you too Syd. I'll see you in a little while. You be good to her Michael." Fran added before hugging Vaughn.

"Don't worry, I will."

Wiping my eyes one last time, I made my way to the other side of the car and hopped into the passenger's seat. As we pulled out of the driveway, both Vaughn and I rolled down our windows and quickly waved to Fran and Weiss.

"You ready to go home, Syd?" Vaughn asked, reaching over to hold my hand.

"Yeah… let's go home."

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