Thank you to all you wonderful, faithful reviewers. I've been meaning to update this sooner, but got a little busy. But, here it is and I hope you guys enjoy it. And yeah, I couldn't hold out on Syd and Vaughn being apart for too long. Writing a depressed Vaughn makes me sad, hehe. Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!
PART II- Chapter 4.
Vaughn's POV
After hanging up with Syd, I was so completely bummed out that there were no words to explain my sadness. The one thing I had to look forward to was my girlfriend coming back home and spending one weekend with me. I hadn't seen her in over a month and I was starting to believe I'd never see her again.
Slamming my fist down on my desk, I didn't realize how hard I'd done it until I looked at my hand and saw blood streaking down from my knuckles. I silently cursed myself under my breath and made my way downstairs.
My mother was sitting at the kitchen table knitting when I entered.
"Hey Mom. Do you want something to eat or drink?" I asked, while I reached into the fridge to grab some ice.
"No, I'm quite fine thank you." Glancing up at me, she saw the damage I had done to my hand. "Oh! Michael! What happened?" She squealed and tried to get up from the table.
"No, Mom. I'm fine. Just sit back down. I umm, hit my hand too hard on the desk."
I sat down opposite from her and placed the cool pack of ice on my hand. Watching my mom carefully work the needles with the yarn, I had come to realize how much my mom enjoyed knitting after she got sick.
"And why did you punch something my dear? Were you angry? You know your father used to do that sometimes and I would hate it." She told me.
"Yeah… I just got off the phone with Sydney. I was hoping she could come down to LA for this weekend since it's a holiday weekend, but she said she couldn't make it down."
"I'm sorry sweetheart. You know Sydney would never miss a chance to spend some time with you."
"I know, it's just I was looking forward to it so much. I miss her Mom. I can't even think clearly when she's not here." I explained, surprising myself of my own admission.
"That's because you are in love Michael."
I continued to sit there thinking about what my mom had just said. Of course I was in love with Sydney. Love was the greatest thing that ever happened to me once I got together with her. I just couldn't understand how something so amazing as love could also bring me the worst pain.
I needed Syd. And, as much as it's probably hard for other guys to admit that they need their girlfriends, I had no problem letting it out because it was the truth. I knew somehow that if Sydney were by my side at the moment, I wouldn't feel so helpless.
Although, at the beginning of my mother's sickness, I felt the exact opposite. I pushed her away when I needed her most.
FLASHBACKWe were sitting on the beach letting Donovan run around. It was the week after my mom's first chemo treatment and she wasn't handling it well at all. I was handling it even worst, but kept all of my feelings bottled up inside of me.
Syd had urged my several times that morning to talk to her about it. She said I'd feel better. Instead, I kept quiet and lead her to believe that everything was fine with me. Because Sydney had known me better than anyone else, she knew it was all a façade.
"Vaughn… Vaughn I need you to talk to me. You can't keep doing this to yourself." She told me as she brushed a few hairs away from my forehead.
"Look Syd, I already told you that I don't want to talk about it." I stated firmly.
"You're keeping all of your emotions inside and that's not good for you."
"How do you know what's good for me?" I yelled as I stood up and walked away from her. "You don't see what she has to go through Sydney. You don't know how it feels and how much it hurts to see your mother be so sick and so weak that she can barely talk."
"So tell me Vaughn. I want to know!" She screamed back.
"You can't keep pushing me like this! You're on my fuing back 24/7 to tell you how I feel and I don't want to do that. I don't want to talk to you about this. You don't understand."
I can feel her coming up to stand beside me. Placing her hand on my shoulder, she spoke softly in my ear.
"So make me understand." She stated.
"I can't. You'll never get it." I answered.
"Fine. If you want to keep going on like this Vaughn, then I'm not going to help you. You keep pushing me away and I'm not going to stand here and let you do that to me. Call me when you decide to stop being such a jerk."
END FLASHBACK
Syd was completely right that day. I was being an asshole and I bottling up all my emotions like a typical guy. I just didn't want to break down in front of her. It was my job to take care of her, not the other way around. I was the man in this relationship I felt that she shouldn't have to see me cry.
Eventually, I came to my senses and wound up on her doorstep hoping that she would at least let me apologize.
FLASHBACKI knocked lightly on the door expecting to see Jack open it. It seemed that every time I went over Syd's house, which was practically everyday, he was there. I never remembered a time when we were growing up that Jack was actually around. Sydney was practically raised by her nanny who no longer worked for the Bristow's a few months after Syd left for San Francisco.
Instead of Jack swinging the door open, Syd opened it up, clad in Adidas sweats and a red sweatshirt. Oh, how I loved when she wore sweats and lounged around the house free of any makeup with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. It made her look so pure and beautiful.
"Hey…" I greeted her quietly.
"Hi." She responded, stepping back from the doorway to let me in. Without a word, she walked back to the couch and wrapped her pink blanket around her shoulders. Following closely, I took a seat next to her on the couch.
"Look Syd. I came to apologize. I know you're completely pissed at me right now, and you have every reason to be. But, I was being stupid back there." I paused to turn to her. Still not glancing at me, I put my finger under her chin and turned her head so she could look at me. "I know I pushed you away. But, it's only because I don't want you to have to deal with my problems. I don't want to load them on your back and make you miserable too." I explained.
"But Vaughn…" I put my hand up to wave her off.
"No. Let me finish Syd. I was being like that… closing myself off to you because I don't want to look weak in front of you. I don't want to be less than a man or show emotions. It's just the way I am."
"Vaughn… you don't need to hide yourself from me. I know you're not some big emotional wimp. So let me help you." Bringing her hand up to my chest, she placed it over my heart. "Let me help you ease the pain that's built up in there."
END FLASHBACK
Syd's POV
On Thursday morning, I began to pack a bag for LA. The previous night, I managed to grab an 8pm flight to LAX for cheap. Realizing that I didn't have any classes on Friday, I jumped all over the opportunity to go home a day early.
I didn't even know how I was going to react to seeing Vaughn again. It had been way too long and I was worried I'd jump all over him and never stop kissing him. Not that I minded that though and I was guessing neither would Vaughn, but I did want to actually talk to him and spend some time with his mother.
I was driving myself crazy with anticipation the whole day. Throughout my two classes, I was constantly tapping my pen on my desk anxiously and kept getting lost in my thoughts. My concentration level could've have been more shot and it would've been better off not going to those classes at all.
It was definitely one of those days where you sit in class for a hour and half, leave, and then realize you have no idea what the hell went on when you were there. It seemed that ever since I started dating Vaughn those days began to grow more common. All of my thoughts always drifted to him whether I liked it or not.
It was the little things that would make my smile. I'd see the initials M.V. carved into the back of a desk and smile on the inside. I'd often wear one of his sweatshirts on the days I was too lazy to dress up and smell his familiar scent on the collar.
Vaughn has always been one of those guys that naturally smells really good. Of course, mix in his aftershave and cologne and the smell is completely intoxicating. The one thing I loved to do in the morning was nuzzle his neck and just breathe in deeply a few times.
By the time 6pm rolled around, I literally ran out of the apartment and screamed at Weiss to move faster. I had to wake him up from his evening nap to drive me to the apartment.
Reaching the airport in 10 minutes, Weiss hopped out of the car and carried my luggage all the way to the ticket counter.
"Ok Syd. You're all set." He said as he hugged me. "Do me a favor and say hello to Mike for me."
"I will. Thank you so much Weiss. I'll call you when I get in on Monday."
"No problem. It'll be nice having the apartment to myself for a few days. I can walk around naked now." I threw my head back in laughter just thinking about Weiss strolling around the apartment with no clothes on and singing some U2 songs.
"Yeah, just do us a favor and don't sit on the couch." I responded before pulling out of his embrace.
With one final wave to him, I made my way to the gate.
I was way too excited to even sleep a wink on the plane. It wasn't like I had a lot of time anyway since the flight from SFO to LAX only lasted a little over an hour. I had to check my bag twice just to make sure I didn't forget the hockey tickets.
After three bags of peanuts and one diet coke, we finally arrived in Los Angeles. My hands were shaking so bad that I had a hard time holding on to my bag. I couldn't recall a time where my nerves were this bad. But, it wasn't a bad nervousness. It was a nervousness filled with anxiousness and anxiety.
I had thought about giving my father a call to give me a ride home from the airport. But, I knew he would insist on dropping all of my stuff at home first and having a late dinner with him. As much as I loved my dad and also wanted to see him, I could only focus on Vaughn.
Being able to get a cab couldn't have been any harder. There must've been at least 60 people in line and even though the cabs were picking up people quickly, it still felt like I was standing in line for days. It seemed that time was passing slower by the minute.
At last I reached the front of the line and patiently waited for the cab driver to pull up. A bright yellow taxi with red stripes drove closely to the curb as I stepped forward and threw open the door.
"529 King St!" I yelled without thinking. I could hardly take in that in less than 10 minutes I would finally be reunited with Vaughn.
Vaughn's POV
After getting my mom settled in bed and making sure she was comfortable, I immediately grabbed the phone and dialed the number to Pizza Hut. I had it timed perfectly. If the pizza were to arrive at 8:00 like it was supposed to, then I would have exactly 5 minutes to pay the pizza guy, tip him, and get comfortable on my couch before the Kings game started.
I had to say, watching the Kings game by myself had its benefits. I had the whole pizza to myself and didn't have to worry about giving up the last slice. Of course, it was a little different nowadays since I couldn't yell too loud at the TV in fear that I would wake my mom.
I couldn't have been more excited when the first face off started. I already had crammed a piece of pizza in my mouth and my lucky Kings t-shirt on. My lucky Kings t-shirt was the oldest shirt I owned. It was seriously at least 12 years old with enough holes in it to make it look like a rag. The purple script that once said Los Angeles Kings couldn't even be seen anymore. But, I was proud of my shirt.
As soon as I knew it, it was already the secondperiod The Kings were up 2-0 and I silently celebrated by myself. Luckily, Weiss was also watching the game and called me to ask if I saw the second goal.
"Hey Mike! Please tell me you saw Frolov's goal." Weiss familiar voice shouted from the other line.
"Of course I did. I'm telling you man this is the year. They look so good out there." I responded.
"I know dude. They do look smooth. We have to get some tickets to the Sharks sometime though. I like Marleau and Cheechoo. Those guys are pretty good."
"Yeah I know. The Sharks are going to be tough this year. Hey let me talk to Syd real quick. She's watching the game with you, right?" There was a long pause in the background. "Eric, hello?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here."
"Let me talk to Syd real quick." I asked again.
"No! I mean, no dude. She's not here."
That was odd, I thought. She didn't mention to me that she was going anywhere when I called her this morning. She just told me that she was going to stay in and watch the hockey game with Eric.
"That's weird. Where'd she go?" I questioned curiously.
"She said she had to run out with Francie real quick. She'll be back later. I'll tell her to call you, ok?"
""Yeah man, ok."
Waving it off, I sat back on the couch and took a long swig of my coke. Donovan came strolling out of my mom's room a minute later and hopped on the couch with me. His adorable stubby tail was wagging wildly as I pet him under his chin.
"What's up Donny? You want to watch the game with me, boy?" I asked him while I scratched his ears.
He responded by licking and nudging my hand to continue. Eventually, he fell asleep on my lap and was snoring so loud that I had to turn the TV up a bit.
When the Sharks scored to tie the game at the end of the second period, I accidentally jumped up and scared the living hell out of Donovan. He immediately hopped off the couch and made his way back into my mom's room.
At the break I was so riled up that I had to go outside and cool off. The game was intense and the Sharks managed to tie it up at the end of the second period. I had to remind myself that it was only the first game of the season. But, I couldn't help but having that playoff vibe inside of me. Season openers were always like that for me growing up.
Taking a seat on my patio, I let the cool air calm me down as I looked up at the stars. It was a clear night and I managed to find the big and little dipper rather quickly. Syd and I always used to argue about the planets and the stars.
She used to insist that the bright lights of the airplanes flying high above were planets. Meanwhile, I would laugh at her and kindly remind her that planets don't really move that fast. We used to lie in her background in our sleeping bags and look for shooting stars when we were in middle school. I knew both of us were looking for a shooting start to wish on the same thing. We were both wishing that my father and her mother would somehow return.
I was naïve in those days. I thought that maybe if I prayed hard enough and never gave up, that my dad would come strolling back in the door. Eventually, I finally faced the reality that my father was never coming back.
As I sat there and looked up at the sky, I also came to the realization that I could lose my mother too. When she first got sick, I was terrified. I didn't want her to leave me here all by myself. But, inside I knew that my dad was the love of her life. And if she were to pass away from this sickness, I knew she would be entering heaven with a smile on her face.
A loud knock on the door is what awoke me from my thoughts. I quietly shut the sliding glass door that lead to my backyard and made my way to the front. Donovan came barreling out of my mom's room and ran straight to the door, ready to defend his territory.
Taking a glance down at my watch, I realized that was almost 9:45 at night. I couldn't figure out who would be coming over to my house at this time of the night.
"Hold on a second!" I yelled as I scooted Donny away from the door.
Swinging it open, I nearly fainted at the sight before me. Standing in front of me was Sydney, with a huge dimpled smile on her face and tightly holding her luggage bag at her side.
"Syd?" I squeaked out.
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