Hey all. Thank you for the feedback (glad I could make up for what I did to Will and Francie!)
Saturday afternoon Sydney was struggling up Vaughn's walkway, her arms laden with shopping bags. Vaughn had been asked at the last minute to work a double shift, and so Sydney had offered to do the grocery shopping that he had originally planning on doing
"Uh, excuse me…miss…are you ok?" Sydney looked to her left and saw a brown haired man approaching. "Do you need some help?" He reached out and relieved her of some of the bags.
"Thanks," Sydney smiled gratefully. "Serves me right for being lazy and trying to do it all in one trip."
"Well, it's, uh, given me a chance to, ahem, finally introduce myself." The man said as Sydney opened the front door. "I'm Marshall."
"Hi Marshall, I'm Sydney."
"You know I've been meaning to say hello for such a long time. I met Michael. Nice guy. " He started to prattle. "But you have seemed to keep eluding me. Which makes me look like such a bad person. It's not the best impression to give your new neighbour. I mean, how long have you been living here? I can't remember exactly…Hey your dog is really cute, did you know that?"
Sydney stifled a laugh. "Yeah, Donovan is a bit of a spunk, and on that other note, technically I'm not your neighbour."
"Oh. But I thought…" Marshall's voice trailed off as his eyes surveyed the apartment. It certainly looked as if Sydney lived there. Her face appeared many times on the Walls of Fame, there was the odd piece of her clothing lying around, and a few of her magazines were spread over the coffee table.
"I guess it does seem like I live here." Sydney said. "But no." A small smile came to her face when she thought about her reaction the last time somebody had said she and Vaughn were living together. What she felt now was completely different- it was kind of comforting, to think about living with Vaughn permanently.
"Oh, ok." Marshall snapped Sydney from her thoughts. "Well, I'd better be going. There's this documentary on monkeys I want to watch."
"OK, then. Thank-you so much for your help." Sydney said as she led him to the door. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."
"Vaughn, I'm not sure about this. I haven't skated since I was five." Sydney said as she teetered at the edge of the hockey rink Monday afternoon.
"Syd, you'll be fine." Vaughn laughed, as he grabbed her hands and led her onto the ice. He let go and a smile erupted on her face when she didn't fall straight on her butt. "See, you're a natural, Syd."
"Not quite-" Sydney's eyes widened and her mouth formed a little 'o' as her feet suddenly shot out from underneath her and she fell to the ice.
"Sh- Syd, are you ok?" Vaughn was by her side in a flash and reached down to help her up.
"I'm fine," she grimaced slightly. "Though I don't think you have to worry about me being competition for you on the ice."
"Oh, I don't know. A few more lessons and I'll have you shooting pucks at Weiss's head in no time."
"I don't think so." Sydney laughed. "If I survive any more lessons, I'm going to need a holiday."
"And where would you go on this holiday?" Vaughn asked as they skated over to the seats.
"Hmm," Sydney pondered this as they sat down and she started to undo her skates. Vaughn waited for an answer. Sydney's birthday was in 10 days and after what she had done for his, well he wanted to give her something just as special.
"I'd go to Santa Barbara."
"Why there?"
"Because I love it there. The beach, the zoo- especially the giraffe with the crooked neck."
"A giraffe-" Vaughn was cut off by the sound of his mobile phone ringing. "Hello…Oh, hey maman."
"Michael, are you and Sydney busy Wednesday night?"
"I don't think so. Hang on a sec." Vaughn looked at Sydney. "Have you got plans Wednesday night?" She shook her head. "We're both free, maman. Why?"
"I just you two could come over for dinner." Juliette suggested. "I haven't seen you in such a long time."
"That'd be great. About what time?"
"Shall we say seven?"
"We'll be there."
"Before you go, Michael, could I have a word with Sydney?"
"Ok." Vaughn held the phone out to Sydney. "Maman wants to speak with you."
With a curious look, Sydney took the phone. "Hello Juliette."
"Ah, Sydney, I need to ask you a favour."
"Sure, what?"
"Michael mentioned to me a while back that you had a first edition of Alice in Wonderland."
"Yeah, my mum gave it to me for my fifth birthday. Why?"
"Well, I don't know if Michael has told you, but I've been a collector of all things Alice since I was a little girl." Sydney grinned as she listened. So Juliette was to blame with Vaughn's little fascination. "And I would love to have a look at your book."
"Of course. I'll bring it with me Wednesday."
"Thank-you so much Sydney. I'll see you then."
"Yeah. See ya." Sydney flipped the phone shut.
Francie sat in her and Sydney's living room Wednesday night, thumbing through one of her recipe books and half watching the TV that was on in front of her. As she sat there, she noticed a faint, but odd smell coming from somewhere in the apartment and she couldn't quite place where from.
Given that the odour was so faint, Francie convinced herself that she was imagining things. With a yawn she threw the recipe book aside and turned the TV off. She felt like a bath.
"Oh, did I tell you that I met your neighbour." Sydney said to Vaughn as he drove them towards Juliette's house.
"Which one?" Vaughn asked.
"The guy on the right. He helped me bring in the shopping the other day."
"Marshall?"
"Yeah, him. He seems like a nice guy." She paused. "A little odd, maybe."
Vaughn grinned. "I know. The other day he saw me stub my toe and started going on about magnets and how they can be used to alleviate pain."
"Magnets?"
"Don't ask me." Vaughn laughed. "But, he seems like a good guy."
"He thought we were living together." Sydney smiled.
Vaughn looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "And how did you react to that?" he asked carefully.
"I crumpled into a ball and started crying." Sydney replied, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. "No, I didn't freak out, if that is what you're asking."
"You didn't?"
"No," Sydney's eyes were sparkling. "I didn't."
Vaughn didn't say anything else, just laced his fingers through hers, a huge grin spreading on his face.
Dinner at Juliette's was an informal affair. The three of them simply settled down in the living room, with a large amount of Chinese take-out to share.
"How is your father doing?" Juliette asked Sydney as they were cleaning up after dinner.
"He's doing ok." Sydney paused. "He has a girlfriend."
"And are you ok with that?"
"Yeah." Sydney nodded firmly. "I was really jealous at first, but I know now that Judith isn't a threat and she is a really nice person." Sydney said as they dumped the rubbish into the bin in the kitchen.
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah." Sydney said, faintly. "So, do you want-" Sydney stopped, hearing her mobile ring from the lounge room. "Vaughn, can you get that?"
"Got it!" he yelled back as Sydney and Juliette started towards the lounge room. When they got there, they saw Vaughn, standing in the middle of the room, his face ashen as he listened into the phone.
"She's here now." Vaughn said to whoever was on the other end. "Do you want me to tell her?" He paused, listening and then held the phone out to Sydney. "It's Francie."
"What's wrong?" Sydney asked as she grabbed the phone, but Vaughn just shook his head.
"Francie wants to tell you."
Sydney's brow was furrowed with worry as she put the phone to her ear. Juliette went to speak to Vaughn, but he held up his hand, silencing her. Instead, he put his arm around Sydney, knowing exactly what she was about to be told.
"Fran? Are you ok?" Sydney asked as Vaughn gently pulled her down on the couch.
"Oh my god, Sydney!" Francie sounded hysterical.
"Francie, what is it?" Sydney was terrified. Between Vaughn's grim face and Francie's hysteria, she had no idea what to expect.
"It's gone. Destroyed." Francie sobbed.
"I don't understand. What's gone?"
"The apartment."
"What?"
"There was a fire, Syd. The apartment…it burnt down."
Sydney dropped the phone.
A/N: Only five more chapters to go...