Hey kids... Happy Alias day! I'm going crazy waiting for 9pm to roll around so I'm updating in the meantime. Thanks forall the reviews and the support!

PART II- Chapter 9.

Syd's POV

I woke up with a blistering headache Thursday morning. It was so horrible that I couldn't even lift my head from the pillow. Reaching for the bottle of Tylenol, I blindly opened the bottle and popped two pills in my mouth, not bothering to help with down with any water.

It was a week and a half away from the end of the semester and three weeks away from Christmas. I was driving myself insane trying to find the perfect gift for Vaughn. Everything I had gotten him in the past was too friendly. None of it represented any sort of romantic feeling. Well, I guess that makes sense since this was our first Christmas together.

Vaughn also forbade me from buying him a birthday present last month. He told me that he wanted his Christmas and birthday present together so it would be extra special. But, I think he was really preventing me on spending all my money cause he knew I'd spoil him like crazy.

I had a shopping date with Francie later on that evening in hopes to pick up gifts for Vaughn and my father. I had already bought Weiss and Francie their gifts. For Weiss, I ordered the new George Foreman grill for his grilled cheese sandwiches. He was always complaining that he could never get the 'cool grill' marks from using the pan.

Francie was a bit trickier. It took some good thinking to figure out what I was going to get for her. Finally, I stumbled across the Home Shopping Network late at night and saw they were selling full sets of brand new pots and pans. Vaughn and I decided that it would be the perfect gift from the both of us.

I hadn't had my eyes closed for more than 15 minutes before my cell phone began buzzing on the nightstand. Expecting it to be Vaughn giving me my warning wake up call, I was surprised when Francie's voice started screaming on the other end.

"Ok, tell me why Eric and Emily are walking around campus… holding hands?" She began to shout a little too loudly into the phone.

"Because maybe they're dating, Fran."

"What's wrong with you? How come you sound like you're in bed? This is a crisis Sydney!" Groaning into the phone, I shut my eyes tightly, attempting to block the sun from getting into my eyes.

"I have a migraine… and it's not a crisis. They're going out. She likes him, he likes her, that's how relationships work Fran."

"I blew it Syd." She sighed. "That's supposed to be me with him. I played around thinking he was going to wait for me and he's moved on. I guess I can't blame him for that."

A twinge of me was happy that Eric finally made up his mind. And, as much as I wanted to feel bad for Fran, I couldn't because she had the opportunity.

"I'm sorry Fran. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. It's ok. Go back to sleep and call me before you come over. We're still on for shopping tonight, right?" She asked, perking up a little.

"Of course. I'll call you later."

Throwing my phone down on the other side of the bed, I brought Vaughn's pillow to my chest and snuggled up under the warm covers. My head was beginning to feel like someone was pounding it with a hammer and I desperately needed to get some rest.

The next time I awoke, it was 1:30 in the afternoon and I managed to miss all of my classes. Not like I cared or anything. I had made it a habit to accidentally miss class. Laughing and two loud voices could be heard from the family room.

Swinging my bedroom door open, I saw Emily squirming on the floor while Weiss tickled her stomach.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Weiss asked, pausing his assault on Emily.

"No, don't worry about it." I answered flatly.

I really wasn't in the mood to watch some other happy couple while I was miserable being separated from Vaughn. Not that I didn't like Emily and Weiss. Well ok, yeah I didn't really like Emily and Weiss together. But, I didn't want to show it towards them. They deserved to be happy.

Walking over to the kitchen, I opened up the fridge and pressed a cold water bottle to my head. My migraine had subsided, but the aching was still there. The cool bottle felt good against my heated skin as I leaned back on the counter.

Weiss came ambling over a minute later, concerned that I slept in till 1:30 in the afternoon.

"Seriously, we didn't wake you right? We can leave." He whispered, hoping that Emily didn't hear.

"No, I was already up. Don't worry about it."

"You feeling ok? Are you sick?" He questioned while he raised the back of his hand to touch my forehead.

"I woke up with a really bad headache this morning. I already took Tylenol and slept it off. I'll be ok, thanks."

"You sure, you seem a little hot? Maybe you have a fever."

"That's because I was under all of those heavy blankets. Really, I'm fine. You can go back and hang out with your girlfriend now." I didn't mean for my last sentence to see so harsh. But, Weiss quietly hung his head and walked back to Emily.

Later that night, after slowly gaining back my appetite, I sipped slowly on a jamba juice on my way to Fran's apartment. I was excited to go Christmas shopping. Ever since I was a young child it had always been my favorite time of the year.

My father and I weren't close growing up. All of the holidays I had spent with him felt so empty and impersonal. But, Christmas was different. Christmas was the one day out of the year that my father would not be occupied with work, or send his gifts through my nanny. It would always be only the two of us, but we made it special.

I knew this Christmas would be even more special. From the recent turn of events between my father and I, I looked forward to buying him a meaningful gift. This was like a new beginning. And also, of course because it's the first Christmas that Vaughn I would be sharing together.

"Hey, you feeling any better?" Fran asked as she swung the car door open.

"Yep. Not really hungry that much though. Maybe if we start walking around I'll get my appetite back."

We tried to pick a time where the mall wouldn't be that crowded. We figured that a weeknight at the mall would be too bad. Boy, were we wrong. I guess when it's holiday season it doesn't really matter what day it is.

We spent about 30 minutes driving around the packed parking lot, closely following behind fellow shoppers only to see that a car was already waiting for the spot. Finally, after finding a parking spot furthest from the mall, we hopped out of the car and made our way to the entrance.

"So what exactly are you looking to buy for your dad, Syd?"

"I don't know. What do you think about a watch? Would that be a good gift? I know he has one and all. But, he's been wearing the same one for the past 15 years. We need to bring my dad into the new age of technology." I joked, peering into the glass case of watched.

The guy working behind the counter must have taken out around 30 watches and on almost every one of them I shook my head in disapproval. Finally narrowing it down to two watches, I glanced down at the both of my hands.

In one, I held a nice Kenneth Cole watch with a sleek, silver face and brown band. In the other, a fancy looking fossil watch with a more complicated face, but a shiny, silver clasped band. I couldn't decide on either one. Both were extraordinary and would make a great gift.

Finally, after the annoyed watch salesman sat there tapping his fingers lightly on the glass case, I decided on the Fossil watch. I figured it looked more professional and would match better with his work suits. Fran agreed after I made the salesman try on both watches for an example.

"So what should I get for Weiss?" Fran asked as we strolled slowly through the mall.

"I don't know. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was going to buy him the Godfather Trilogy on DVD. They just came out with this special edition one." She explained, pulling me into Banana Republic.

"That's a good gift. Why don't you just get him that?"

"I don't know. He's with Emily now and I don't know what she's getting him, but I don't want my gift to be like more expensive than hers."

"Fran, that's ridiculous. Who cares what she's getting him. You guys are friends. She shouldn't have anything to do with it." I explained, irritated that Emily seemed to pop up in every conversation Francie and I had.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna stop fretting over this now. Sorry Syd."

Vaughn's POV

After taking Donovan on a long evening walk, I came home to find my mom rummaging through all of her old pictures. Three big, leather bound photo albums sat on the coffee table as she slowly drank her tea and examined each picture.

A wistful smiled appeared on her face as I recognized the wedding album she was fingering through. Donovan, running straight towards her, nudged his head under her hand looking for some love.

"Hi Michael, how was Donovan's walk?" My mom asked as she scratched lightly under Donny's chin.

"Good. He was barking at those two German Sheppard's down the street. What are you looking at? Wedding pictures?"

Walking over to my mom, I took a seat closely to her while she pointed to an old picture of my father.

"Look how handsome he was. He was probably 22 in that picture. You know you are a spitting image of him. You took none of my genes Michael." She joked, tugging at my jaw.

"What about that one? Where were you guys in that picture?" Pointing to a small, black and white photo of my parent's on a farm, I figured it was somewhere in France.

"That was your grandparent's farm in France, sweetheart. It's a shame you never got to meet Bill's parents. They were wonderful people."

"I'm sure they were." I sighed.

We sat in silence for the next several minutes while I watched my mom lightly touch old photos of my father and laugh at baby pictures of me.

"Hey mom, are you scared of the surgery coming up? Cause I was thinking about it while I was walking and the whole thing terrifies me. It must be eating at you, right?"

"It is, but I'm not worried about it too much. I'm more worried about you. I don't want you stressing over this Michael. I know how you are." She told me, pulling Donovan into her lap. "I know that you are the most caring, loving son that any mother could ask for. But, if you keep worrying about me so much you're going to drive yourself insane. You hear me?"

"I know, but I can't help it. I'm just trying to do what Dad would do. I'm taking care of you like he would. He asked me to do that."

Getting up from the couch, I ran my hand through my hair tiredly. I wanted my mom to know that I didn't plan on going anywhere.

"Michael, you were 8 years old when he died. You've been carrying around this burden for more than 11 years. I love you, sweetie. But, let me be your mother. Let me be the one to take care of you. I know you are a grown man now, but I want you to know that you don't have to do anything. Your love in return is all I need."

I could feel the tears springing to my eyes. Hearing my mother saying that to me felt like someone was taking the weight off of my shoulders.

"I'm not just doing this because Dad told me to. I'm doing it because I love you mom. I want you to know that."

"Oh I know Michael. Come here."

Opening up her arms, my mother embraced me tightly and planted a kiss on my forehead. Her hugs always made me feel so warm.

"No matter how old you get, you're still going to be my little boy." She joked.

"Yes, I know mom. And no girl will ever be good enough for me." I answered back laughing, knowing that's what all Mom's think of their future daughter in-laws.

"Nope, no girl will ever be good for you… except for one. We both know who that is."

"Sydney?"

"Of course. You know I just adore her. You two make a darling couple. I don't want to freak you out or anything because I know you're only 20 years old, but if you were to ever consider marrying her, I would approve."

That night in bed, I tossed and turned, the words of my mother echoing in my mind. It's not that the thought of marrying Syd never crossed my mind. But, I was only 20 years old. The thing that freaked me out the most was being able to see myself with her for the rest of my life.

20 year old guys don't see that in their lives. They don't look at their current serious girlfriend and go, 'hey, I think I could marry her.' I always thought I'd be dating girls that would force me to figure out what I'd want in a marriage. I figured I'd date a whole bunch of different girls that would be productive in finding the perfect one.

It's just like that guy in Sweet Home Alabama said, "Who meets their soul mate when they're 5 years old? Where's the fun in that, right?" Not that I watched that movie just for the hell of it or anything. Syd dragged me to the theatres for that one. I had to say, out of the many chick flicks I had watched, that movie wasn't the worse.

Finally, after not being able to shut my eyes, I grabbed my phone and decided to call Syd. I knew she wouldn't be a happy camper and all being that it was 3:30 in the morning.

After two rings, a groggy voice filled the other line.

"Hello.." She answered tiredly.

"Hey… it's me."

"Vaughn? Is something wrong? Are you ok?" She asked frantically, suddenly breaking out of her slumber.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to call you, to you know… hear your voice."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Really, I'm fine. I couldn't sleep though. My mind is too active."

Sliding down into my bed, I pulled the sheets up to my shoulders and held the phone tightly to my ear.

"What are you thinking about?" She questioned as she let out a deep yawn.

"Just something my mom said to me today. She told me no girl will ever be good enough for me except for you."

"Awww, that is so sweet. That's why I love your mom. Why are you thinking about it so much? She was just being nice."

"Because it got me thinking about marriage." I let out, hoping I wouldn't scare the shit out of Syd.

"Marriage? You're not proposing to me now, are you?"

"No! Syd, I deserve more credit than that. I wouldn't do it over the phone you know." I answered sarcastically.

"Ok, just checking. What about marriage? You scared of it or something?" I could tell her voice shook a little.

"Not at all. The thing that scared me was that… I don't even know if I want to tell you this. You're going to think I'm stupid or I might freak you out or something." I sighed.

"Vaughn, it's me. You can tell me anything."

"Well, the thing that scared me was that… I can see myself spending the rest of my life with you. And it's so weird cause we're 20 years old! Well, me I'm 20. You're still 19. But, still. We're way too young to be thinking that way. At least I'm too young to be thinking that way…"

"Vaughn, you're rambling, hun." She interrupted. "The truth is, I have those thoughts too. Not all the time or I think about it all the time. But really, I can see myself marrying you and there's nothing wrong with that. It's normal for people to look at the one they're with and think about if they have all the qualities they want in life partner. As long as we don't rush into anything, right?"

"Right. I mean, we're not harming anyone by thinking like that. You still don't think it's weird? I'm talking about me having these thoughts. It's different for you cause girls plan their wedding when they're like 6. But guys, some guys don't want to get married at the age of 40!" I laughed as I shifted onto my left side.

"But you're different from other guys. You've never been a typical guy. Plus, everyone's different. So stop worrying about it, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Sorry for calling you so late. I just needed someone to talk to." I apologized.

"You don't ever have to say sorry for calling. Now get some sleep. I'll be home before you know it. I love you Vaughn."

"I love you too, Syd."

As soon as I hung up, I felt a whole lot better. Syd was exactly at the same place I was and I didn't have to fret over it anymore. With my eyelids beginning to fall heavily, I snuggled warmly under the blankets and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

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