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"Hey Syd, could you just check that number for me again?" Vaughn said as he indicated to turn down a residential street. Sydney glanced at the piece of paper he'd put on the dashboard.
"Uh…number 47."
They continued to drive down the street until Vaughn pulled up in front of a small house.
"Vaughn, this isn't an apartment- it's a house." Sydney said as she climbed out of the car. "And don't even think about saying that I'm stating the obvious."
"I wasn't going to!" Vaughn held up his hands in defence. "And yes, I am aware that it is a house, but it's only a two bedroom, so I'd thought I'd check it out anyway."
As soon as they walked inside Vaughn knew that this was where he wanted to live. It was small- not much bigger than Sydney and Francie's apartment, but that didn't matter, as he'd be the only one residing there. It was open and bright, with timber floors and best of all, it had backyard.
"This place is perfect, Vaughn." Sydney said, gazing around.
"I know- it has a backyard!" Vaughn's excited face resembled a young child.
Sydney laughed. "Well, I wasn't really talking about the backyard."
"Don't you know what this means?"
"Uh, no."
"It means I can get a dog!"
"A dog?"
"Yeah. I've always wanted one, but never could. Maman is scared of dogs, Lauren was allergic- or so she said and it would have been cruel to have in my little apartment. But now I have a backyard!"
"So does this mean that the apartment search is over?"
Vaughn grinned. "I think it does."
Thursday morning Sydney was roused from her slumber by a tickling feeling on her nose. Without opening her eyes, she rubbed at it, hoping to stop whatever was doing it. The tickling, however, did not stop.
With a groan Sydney opened one eye and saw that the culprit was not a bug, or an impending sneeze, but Vaughn, sitting up, displaying a playful smile and gently stroking her nose with his index finger.
"Good morning sunshine," he said.
"Vaughn, it is way too early to be chipper." Sydney mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, come on Syd. It's a beautiful day out."
"Beautiful day or not, I have no intention of leaving this bed before midday."
"Well, I don't have a problem with that." Vaughn said cheekily as he lay back under the covers and wrapped Sydney in his arms.
"So, what are we going to do today?" Sydney asked, rotating her body so she could snuggle up to Vaughn's chest. "Well, what are we going to do when we finally get up?"
"No plans. Nothing. Nada."
"Nothing?"
"Well I have a few ideas," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. Sydney laughed lightly as she tilted his chin, so she could kiss him.
"Something like that?" she asked.
"Hmm, sort of. But this is what I had in mind." Vaughn rolled himself on top of Sydney, and kissed her intensely- much like the kiss they shared on the pier exactly three months ago. However they weren't on the pier now, they were in the privacy of Vaughn's bedroom and could do whatever they pleased.
"Let's go out for lunch." Sydney announced hours later. She and Vaughn were still in his bed, his hand gently grazing her back.
"Where do you propose we go?"
"I don't care- anywhere." The lethargy that Sydney experienced earlier that day was long gone. "I just feel like getting up and doing something."
"I can think of plenty of things to do here." Vaughn replied, kissing her gently.
Sydney smiled when they broke apart. "Vaughn."
Vaughn pulled his head back slightly and looked Sydney in the eyes. "How come you never call me Michael?"
Sydney paused. She never really thought about the fact that she referred to Vaughn by his surname. She guessed it was because he and Weiss called each other by their last names. She heard them do it, and started it herself.
"I do sometimes," she answered, scrambling to think of a time when she had. However she realized that she hadn't called him Michael since-
"Not since the first time we met." Vaughn interrupted.
"Yeah, I know." Sydney smiled. "Vaughn."
"What?" he asked, laughing lightly.
"Let's go out for lunch. Somewhere near the pier."
"Are you getting all romantic on me, Bristow?"
"Me? Never."
"Yeah right. I know you. You'd just love for me to march up to your father and announce that 'Nobody puts Sydney in a corner', wouldn't you?"
Instead of fantasizing about that thought, Sydney burst into laughter. "Vaughn, you do realize that you just quoted Dirty Dancing, right?"
Horror dawned on Vaughn's face when Sydney said that. "Oh god, I've got to get out more."
"Exactly- like out for lunch." Sydney kissed his forehead. "Besides, if you don't come to lunch with me, I'll tell Weiss what you said."
"Are you blackmailing me, Little Miss Snot Bubble?"
"Would I do that?" Sydney said, sitting up, an innocent expression on her face.
"Yes."
"I can't believe you think so poorly of me, Vaughn," she patted his hand. "To apologise, you can drive and pay."
"Huh? What?" Vaughn propped himself up by the elbows. "What do I have to apologise for?"
Sydney laughed and poked out her tongue as she climbed out of the bed. "I'm going to have a shower. While I'm in there, you can think about your actions, mister," she said, wagging her finger.
"Man, I really do pity your future students." Vaughn retorted and he could still hear Sydney's laughter after she had closed the bathroom door.
In the shower Sydney stood under the hot stream of water, enjoying the feel on her skin. She couldn't wait to go out, back to the pier. Three months. It didn't sound that long, but she and Vaughn had already experienced so much in those months.
A smile came to her face when she remembered something she had said on their first date- something about what a ride they'd experienced to get to that point. That was nothing compared to what they had experienced, after that point.
She was about to turn off the water and get out when she heard the shower door open. A second later two strong arms wrapped themselves around her body and Sydney realized that lunch was about to be postponed.
'Oh well," she thought, turning around so she could warp her own arms around Vaughn. "There's always dinner."
"Ok, so what did you think of me when you first saw me that day in the courtyard?" Vaughn asked Sydney. The two of them had finally left Vaughn's apartment to go out for dinner. After eating at a casual little diner by the pier, they'd gone for a walk, before ending up seated on Sydney's favourite bench.
"That wasn't the first time I saw you."
"Huh?"
"It was the first time I actually met you. But the first time I saw you was the day before, at the bookstore, when Weiss was buying his sister's present."
"You saw me that day?"
"You were kinda hard to miss, Vaughn, standing in the doorway and bellowing at Weiss about some hockey match you were going to miss."
"Really?" He tilted his head as he looked at her. "So was it a good first impression? What did you think?"
"I was intrigued. I didn't know you from a bar of soap, and you just barged in and starting telling Weiss off, but I still wanted to get to know you." Sydney smiled and placed a hand on Vaughn's cheek. "Plus, I thought you were a bit of alright."
Vaughn grinned. "Now that's what a guy likes to hear."
"What about you? What did you think of me?"
"I liked you straightaway- liked the way you joked around with Weiss. You two barely knew each other, but appeared to be old mates…and then the watch just sealed it for." Vaughn paused. "I'm not saying that 'bang' I was head over heels and planning how I should propose, but it gave me the incentive I needed to want to get to know you."
"And?" Sydney prompted, raising her eyebrows at him.
"And I thought you were a bit of alright."
"Ah, music to my ears." Sydney said as Vaughn cupped her face with his hands and kissed her gently.
"That was for three, crazy, intense, emotional roller coaster of a ride, incredible months." Vaughn whispered, as they broke apart.
"And here's to the crazy, intense, emotional roller coaster of a ride, incredible months to come." Sydney replied, as their lips connected once more.