Thank you all for your reviews.
eViL cHoCoBo GoDdEsS: Yay, another Aussie Alias fan! In regards to buying the series on DVD, I managed to get mine when JB HiFi were having a sale- I got all three seasons for $120! (Though I had just gotten my first paycheck for a new job and was totally willing to pay the full price :D)
Late Monday afternoon, Vaughn decided to drop by Sydney's apartment. When he walked up to her front door he could hear music blaring from inside and when he actually opened it, it took all of his will power not to burst out laughing.
Sydney, dressed in an old t-shirt and baggy tracksuit pants, was standing with her back to Vaughn and looked to be singing into the broom she was holding.
"What I like about you, you really know how to dance. When you go up down, jump around, talk about true romance. Yeah." She sang as she pushed the broom back and forth. Vaughn smiled as he leant against the doorframe, arms crossed and just watched the scene before him.
"Keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things that I wanna hear," Sydney jumped around and stopped short when she saw Vaughn. But only a split second later a grin broke out on her face and she brought the broomstick to her mouth as she approached Vaughn. "Coz it's true. That's what I like about you."
"So this is how you spend your time alone?" Vaughn said before kissing her.
"Hey, you gotta make cleaning fun somehow." Sydney shrugged as she walked over to the stereo to switch it off.
"What did you do that for?" Vaughn asked. "I was going to take you out for dinner, but now I just want to see more of the Sydney Show."
"Well, how about you still take me out for dinner, and then the Sydney Show may make an encore performance later tonight." Sydney smiled, sauntering over to him. Vaughn couldn't help but marvel at the fact the Sydney even made old t-shirts and trackies look incredibly sexy.
"I think that sounds like a deal."
Tuesday morning Sydney woke up in Vaughn's bed alone. He had an early class and Sydney couldn't even remember waking up when he left.
Looking at the alarm clock she saw that there was still a couple of hours until her first class. For some reason she felt really energised, so after throwing on some clothes, she head out to the backyard.
"Donovan! Here, boy!" she called and when he came bounding towards her, Sydney dropped the magic word. "Walk."
So a few minutes later she was out on the sunny street with Donovan plodding along in front of her, the leash stretched as far as it could go. She decided to head to a café that was about a 20 minute walk from Vaughn's house. She guessed that by that time Donovan would be ready for a rest and then she could grab a coffee.
When she reached the café, however, Sydney was surprised to see her father seated at one of the outside tables.
"Dad!"
He turned at the sound of her voice. "Hello Sydney." The words sounded slightly standoffish. "I didn't know you had a dog."
"I don't. Donovan belongs to Vaughn."
"Oh."
"I was actually going to call you."
"What for?"
"To see if you had any plans for your birthday."
"Why?"
"Because if you hadn't made any I was going to suggest dinner."
"So you could just walk out again?"
"Don't start, dad. My leaving Friday night was nothing personal."
"Sydney, you hated every second of that dinner. I wouldn't be surprised if you actually planned for that phone call to occur, as a means of escape."
"I can't believe you actually think that, dad." She paused. "You know what? I actually liked Judith."
Jack looked up at her, his expression blank, but Sydney knew he was surprised.
"So you can think what you want about me, dad. But I know that I did the right thing Friday night. If you don't like my actions, well, then tough. My friends have been there for me a lot longer than you. I'm not going to abandon them because you think it is inappropriate to leave during the middle of a dinner." Sydney tugged at Donovan's leash. "Now, if you will excuse me, Donovan and I have to go. Come on, boy."
As Sydney walked away, she didn't feel any anger towards Jack. All she felt was an intense disappointment at the thought that she and her father seemed to be back at square one.
Sydney and Vaughn sat on her couch feeling slightly awkward that they weren't doing anything.
"She's like a machine." Vaughn hissed. It was Friday night and Francie had been bustling around like a mad woman, organising the formal sit-down dinner she had suggested during the week. Five courses, fancy china borrowed from her parents and strict instructions to everyone coming to dress up.
"I know." Sydney replied, looking over her shoulder as Francie banged about in the kitchen. "Too be honest, I'm a little worried."
"Why?"
"Well, you remember how I was after Emily died."
"Yeah."
"I think that's what Francie is doing. By bottling up how she's feeling after the miscarriage, she's projecting her emotions in other ways."
Vaughn leaned back slightly and looked at Sydney. "That's pretty impressive. Since when are you such a psychologist?"
"I'm not. I learnt it off The Simpsons."
"The Simpsons?"
"Yeah, you know the episode when we learn that Marge is afraid to fly and she doesn't talk about it and as a result wants to marry the cat and dog, because they have been living in sin."
Vaughn let out a low whistle. "Ok, too much TV for you."
"Shut up." Sydney slapped him slightly. "I'm serious though, I'm worried about Francie."
Vaughn leaned across and wrapped Sydney in his arms. "You and her are completely different, Syd. Maybe this is Francie's way of dealing."
"I don't know Vaughn." Sydney wasn't convinced.
"Well, if you are right then Francie is going to get to a point when everything is just going to spill. All you can do, Syd, is just be there for her when it does."
"Now who's being the psychologist?"
"Well you've given me plenty of practice." Vaughn joked, ducking Sydney's fist. "Hmm, continuous displays of violence indicate to me a desperate need to be tickled for an extremely long period of time."
"Don't you dare, Michael Vaughn." Sydney cried, jumping off the couch and backing away.
"Then promise you'll never throw a punch in my direction again." Vaughn demanded as he advanced towards her.
"I promise I'll never throw a punch in your direction again." Sydney replied very quickly.
"Her fingers were crossed." Francie called from the kitchen.
"Francie!" Sydney exclaimed, whirling around to face her friend.
"Well Syd, I think it's time that you learnt to control your anger." Francie replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Wha-" Sydney stopped when Vaughn wrapped his arms tightly around her, constricting her arms to her body.
"I agree," he said, grinning at Francie.
"I swear," Sydney gritted her teeth as she struggled against Vaughn. "You two are both going to get it."
"See, that is what I'm talking about, Syd." Francie grinned, as she tasted something from a spoon.
"What is this? Gang Up on Sydney Day?" Sydney asked as she finally managed to free herself from Vaughn's arms.
"No, it's Give Sydney a Taste of her Own Medicine." Vaughn replied, pressing his lips into Sydney's before she could retort.
The dinner was fantastic. Sydney couldn't understand how Francie's cooking could keep improving. Weiss, who was eating her cooking for the first time was in complete raptures, causing Ainsley to joke that she was scared that he would leave her for one of Francie's chocolate soufflés.
During the dinner Sydney had been keeping a close eye on Francie and it did appear that she was doing ok. She behaved like the perfect hostess, chatting, joking and laughing. Though perhaps sometimes her laughter sounded forced and was slightly louder than usual.
After Amy, Weiss and Ainsley had left, Francie sent Will and Vaughn out to get another bottle of wine. The four of them weren't quite ready to stop celebrating just yet.
"I'm just going to get changed." Francie said as she and Sydney were drying the dishes.
"Alright, I'll finish up here." However by the time that Sydney had finished, Francie still hadn't appeared. Curious, Sydney headed towards her bedroom.
"Fran?" There was no answer and when Sydney pushed the door open, she could hear a muffled sob. "Francie."
"Down here." At the sound of her voice, Sydney noticed the top of Francie's head where she had sat on the floor on the other side of the bed.
"Francie!" Sydney walked across and wrapped her arms around the sobbing Francie. "What's wrong?"
"I-don't-know!" Francie choked out. "I was getting changed and then all of a sudden the tears started."
"Oh Fran." Sydney stroked her head. "It's been a difficult week, hey?"
"I thought I was fine, Syd. I really did." Francie buried her head into Sydney's shoulder. "Why am I blubbering like a fool?"
"Because you are a living, breathing and feeling human being. That's what we do."
Francie let out a short laugh through her tears. "I'm so confused."
"I know you are. Anybody in situation would feel that way."
Francie sat back and looked at Sydney, her face tearstained. "How do I fix it?"
"Well," Sydney started gently. "Maybe you should speak to somebody."
"I'm talking to you."
"I meant somebody professional, Fran." Sydney replied, brushing Francie's hair away from her face. "Somebody who knows how to really help."
Francie was nodding slightly. "I think you're right."
"It'll get better, Francie, I promise." Sydney smiled gently. "But for now, I know there is a carton of chocolate choc-chip ice cream in the freezer with your name on it."
"Ah." Francie closed her eyes. "Chocolate, the perfect short term solution."
"Come on," Sydney stood up and held out her hand. "Let's get stuck into it before the guys get home."
Francie smiled gratefully and took Sydney's hand.
A/N: Hey all. I just thought that I would give you guys a heads up- there's only ten more chapters to go after this. It's kinda scary that it's coming to an end. However, if the interest is there, I have already written about ten chapters for a sequel (I'm not quite ready to let go of this story just yet:P)