Thanks for your great reviews guys
LilAussieAliasChick: I'm about ready to storm the channel 7 offices! The wait is drving me completely nuts, but being Alias I know that the wait is worth it:)
thehoodedsweatshirt: your review (and everybody else's- love ya guys!) had the same effect on me. I didn't have the best day and it really brightened my mood to see that you were enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it.
Sydney woke the next day to find that her knee had not improved. Still swollen, it was stiff and she could hardly put any weight on it. She had no classes on Thursdays, so uni wouldn't be a problem, but she did have a 7 hour shift at the bookstore. There was no way she'd be able to do it.
After calling in sick (or injured) she settled on the couch, unsure of what to do with herself. She had no assignments due, was up to date with her readings for class and she was unable to do anything around the apartment. Finally she decided to work her way through some DVD's. It wasn't very often that she had the place to herself and she decided to indulge.
However, before she got to put a movie in, the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hello Sydney."
"Hey dad. How are you?"
"Fine. I'm just calling to see if you are free Sunday night."
"I work to five o'clock, but after that nothing. Why?"
"The Sloane's have invited us around for dinner."
"Sure. What time?"
"Arvin said to be there at 6.30."
"Ok. I'll see you then."
"Yes, goodbye Sydney."
"Goodbye dad," she said, hanging up the phone. The Sloane's were old family friends, her dad and Arvin had worked together for years. Sydney had never really felt comfortable around Arvin, there was something creepy about him, especially his eyes. His wife, Emily, on the otherhand was very dear to Sydney. After her mother had died, Sydney had adopted Emily as a sort of surrogate mother role and loved her as if she were the real thing. It would be good to see her again.
"I'm coming!" Thursday was Vaughn's day off from uni and he'd planned to spend it doing all the odd jobs that needed being done around his little apartment. But before he could start there was a knock at his door. After opening it he wished he'd never even woken up this morning.
"What do you want?"
"Hello to you to Michael. Are you going to leave me standing on your doorstep?"
"Yes." Vaughn replied bluntly. "What do you want?"
"I want my CD's Michael. It's been over four months. Stop trying to hold onto me through my belongings and give them back." Her blue eyes flashed as she tossed her blonde hair over her shoulders.
"Lauren, I don't have your damn CD's."
"Well if you don't mind, I want to check."
"Yes I do mind. Now leave, I have to be somewhere."
"Where?"
"None of your damn business. Now, go and don't ever return!"
"Fine Michael." She turned and headed towards her car. Vaughn slammed the door shut. He had to get out of here. Knowing Lauren she'd hang around to make sure he really was going somewhere. The only question was where could he go?
Sydney sat on the couch, engrossed by a ghostly Patrick Swayze. Most people didn't realize but she was a sucker for chick flicks and Ghost was one of her all-time favourites.
Unfortunately her enjoyment was cut short by a knock on the door. Limpimg painfully, she slowly made her way over and opened the door.
"Vaughn!" She was surprised to see him standing on her doorstep.
"I came to see how you were doing. Can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure." After closing the door she slowly began heading back to the couch.
"I take it the knee isn't any better," Vaughn observed, watching her limp across the room.
"If anything, it's worse," she answered, settling back down on the couch. "If it hasn't improved by tomorrow I'll have to go to the physio."
"I swear those guys like to cause the injured more pain."
"Tell me about it. They poke and prod, asking if it hurts and if you say yes, they poke twice as hard!"
"So you've had a lot of experience with them?"
"Yeah, but not for ages. I had a lot of problems with this knee when I was 16. Dealt with enough physio to last a lifetime."
"I did my hamstring playing hockey last year. I reckon the physio sessions were worse than the actual injury."
"You play hockey?" Sydney asked.
"Best sport there is. My dad lived for it and he passed his love for it down to me."
"You really loved your dad, didn't you."
"What I remember, he was the best. I don't know if I've forgotten any bad memories of him, but everything I know about him tells me he was a great guy."
"Are you close to your mum?"
"She's my rock. It's been just the two of us for so long, and she really is the best maman a guy could ask for."
"Sounds nice." Sydney commented wistfully.
"Are you not close with your dad?"
"No. I love him, and I suppose he loves me, but we have nothing to say to each other. Our only common ground died in a car accident 15 years ago."
"How much do you remember about your mum?"
"Bits and pieces. But nothing totally solid. Sometimes I'm scared that the person in my mind, a beautiful, loving, wonderful woman, is justa persona I've created over the years."
"I've felt the same way. But the way I see it is that our parents had to be good people in the first place in order to build those happy memories."
Sydney nodded slightly, taking in what Vaughn had just said. It was comforting to talk to somebody who knew exactly how she felt.
"So anyway," Vaughn interrupted her thoughts. "What was on your agenda today? I didn't interupt anything, did I?"
"No, I got off work and have no classes on Thursdays. So it was just me, the couch and Patrick Swayze." After Sydney spoke, Vaughn looked up at the frozen picture on the TV screen.
"Ghost- my maman's favourite."
"Your maman sounds like a smart woman." Sydney smiled. "You're welcome to join me. I have a solid day's viewing planned."
"Can I choose the next movie?"
"Oh, I think that can be allowed."
"Then I'd love to stay." The two of them sat watching movies until mid-afternoon when Vaughn had to leave for work at a local sports store.
"We barely made a dent in your collection," Vaughn commented, looking at all the DVD's stacked on the bookshelf, as they headed to the door.
"Well then we should organise a movie night." Sydney suggested.
"Sounds good. When should we have it?"
"What time do you finish class on Wednesday's?"
"12."
"Well I finish at 1. Since neither of us has classes Thursday we can start Wednesday afternoon and go as late as we want."
"You've got it all planned, haven't you Bristow?"
"See you here about 2 on Wednesday?"
"On the dot."
Vaughn walked out to his car smiling. Sydney, watching him, had the same expression on her face. Wednesday all of sudden seemed light years away.
"Movie night, aye." Weiss sat beside Vaughn on the couch making stupid 'wink wink nudge nudge' actions.
"Shut up, Weiss."
"Oh come on man, you're thinking the same thing I am. You and Syd are going to hook up eventually."
"And how do you know this?"
"Come off it Vaughn. First it was the flirting during the pool game. Then during your little basketball match there was so much sexual tension that Will and I were starting to get the heebie-jeebies."
"Weiss, she spent that entire match calling me an arsehole."
"That's how you know if a girl likes you- she insults you."
"Yeah- in the third grade!"
"Oh..."
"Weiss you live with two females. How is it that you have no idea about girls?"
"Maybe because one is my mum and one is my sister, 11 years my junior, who speaking of which, I hate living with. Can I move in here?"
"Weiss, there is only one bedroom."
"Oh, and am I right to guess that bunk beds are out of the question?"
"I will not even justify that with an answer. No give me the remote."
"Sydney!" Emily Sloane greeted Sydney with a huge hug.
"Hey Emily. How have you been?"
"So, so. I've been feeling a little off for a while."
"What's wrong?" The two headed towards the dining room.
"Just feeling run down. I probably need to eat more red meat or something like that." Emily smiled at Sydney. "So how have you been?"
"Not great either." Emily looked at her questioningly. "I hurt my knee playing basketball on Wednesday. It's still not totally back to normal."
"Well aren't we just the healthy pair?" Emily laughed. "Sit down. Dinner is ready, I'm just waiting for Arvin and your father to stop talking business."
"Is dad here?"
"Yes, in the study, with Arvin. Those two are unable to not work."
'Tell me about it' thought Sydney, thinking back to her childhood, when Jack was never around because of work.
"Anyway, it gives us the chance to talk without being interrupted." Emily said. "What's new?"
"Well, I kinda met a guy..."Sydney trailed off, unsure of whether Emily would want to hear about Vaughn.
"Sydney! That's fantastic!"
"You sound more excited than me."
"Well it's been so long since all that stuff with Noah. It's time you were happy again."
"Hey, don't count my chickens before they hatch. Nothing has happened yet."
"Yes, but Sydney, you would not have told me anything unless it was headed in a certain direction." Emily said knowingly. "So what is he like?"
"Tall, dirty blonde hair and he has these amazing green eyes. He makes me laugh, carries to his car when I can't walk and he understands me more than anyone else I know."
"He sounds wonderful Sydney."
"Who sounds wonderful?" asked Arvin Sloane as he walked into the dining room followed by Jack Bristow.
"Nobody darling. Sydney and I were just having some girl chat." Emily answered, rising from the table."Now if you two have finished talking business I'll serve up dinner."
"So Sydney, how is school?" Arvin asked.
"Good, my classes are reallyinteresting this semester."
"How are Will and Francie?" Sydney looked at Jack in suprise. She couldn't believe that he actually remembered her friend's names. Not only that, he was actually taking some interest in her life.
"Yeah, they're fine. Francie is going a little crazy trying to organise a Halloween party."
"Ohh, a Halloween party!" Emily exclaimed, coming back into the dining room, carrying a tray with four bowls of soup. "What are you going as?"
"I'm not sure. I have a few ideas floating around, but I can't seem to make a decision."
An hour later dinner was finished and Sydney wanted desperately to leave. While she loved speaking to Emily, she was sick and tired of making small talk with her father and Arvin.
"Emily, I'm going to have to go." she said, after helping Emily clean up. "I have a tonne of study to get through tonight."
"Sydney, I don't need to hear you little white lies."
'Pardon?"
"I know how awkward it is for you around your father. Let's have lunch one day, so we can really talk."
"Thank-you" Sydney whispered, wrapping her arms around Emily. "You're the best."
After leaving, Sydney drove straight to the pier. Sitting on her favourite bench, looking out at the still ocean was the perfect way to calm down after dinner with her father.
"Whatcha doing?" A voice broke through her reverie.
"Wha- oh hey." Vaughn was standing beside the bench. "What are you doing here?" she asked, standing up.
"Was going for a run, saw some chick sitting here and thought I might score. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was you!" Vaughn grinned cheekily, and Sydney gave him a light slap on the arm. "Why are you here?"
"I just had dinner with the Sloane's and my father. I had to clear my head."
"I take it you get along with the Sloane's as well as you do with your father."
"Arvin, yes. But Emily is awesome. I love her like a mother."
"Ok. Well I gotta finish my run. I'll see you Wednesday."
"Looking forward to some solid movie viewing."
"Yeah, me too." Vaughn said smiling, and Sydney grinned back. Both of them hoped...well knew that watching movies wouldn't be the only they'd be doing.
"Bye."
"Bye."
Wednesday couldn't come quick enough.
A/N- Hey all my faithful readers. It has been mentioned in the reviews that Syndey shouldn't go as Alice in Wonderland to the Halloween party. Now, I was planning on it (the chapter is actually already written) but I will change it if you guys want. So if you could please, in your reviews, let me know if you want Syd to be Alice or something else. Suggestions of alternative costumes would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)