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"Oh no." Vaughn said when he walked in Friday afternoon and saw Sydney stretched out on the couch with a pile of marking in front of her. "It's starting."

"You don't need to tell me," Sydney grimaced. "Listen to this. My year 10's basic comprehension questions for Romeo and Juliet- Where do Romeo and Juliet first meet? The answer- when they see each other through the fish tank."

Vaughn cracked up. "You're not serious?"

"I am- look." Sydney held up the piece of paper. "It's written right here. Do these kids really think that I won't realize if they haven't read the play?"

"You know, you could really play with their minds." Vaughn mused, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

"How so?"

"Set them questions all about the scenes that didn't appear in the movie." Vaughn said. "That'd freak them out."

Sydney laughed slightly and put the paper aside. She'd had enough of marking for that afternoon. "So how was your day?" she asked.

They fell into a relaxed conversation, the kind that belonged to a lazy Sunday morning in bed. It was moments like these that both Sydney and Vaughn cherished the most. A confirmation that, after three years, they were still able to talk and listen to each other.

However, this time was short-lived. A sharp knocking on the front door interrupted the conversation.

Groaning, Vaughn stood up. "Ten bucks it's Weiss."

Sydney grinned. "My money's on Francie."

It was the quickest ten dollars that Sydney had ever made. After Vaughn opened the door, an incredibly excited Francie burst inside.

"I've found it!" she announced, walking over to the couch and plopping herself down.

"Found what?" Sydney asked, refusing to look at Vaughn. If she did, she knew that he would make her laugh.

"My restaurant."

Sydney's eyebrows rose slightly. "Your restaurant?"

"Well, it's not really a restaurant- it's kind of an empty space at the moment." Francie said. "And it's not really mine- yet. But it will be, I just know it, Syd. This place is perfect!"

"Where is it?" Vaughn asked, sitting down on an armchair.

"It's in Silverlake," Francie glanced at both of them. "Now is the time to tell me if you think this idea is completely insane."

"Francie," Sydney started. "I told you before, I think that it's a fantastic idea. We all know you'll be brilliant at it, and you should know that too."

"Really?" Francie asked.

"Really." Sydney affirmed.

"But," Vaughn broke in, "there is something that really should be discussed before this plan goes ahead any further."

Francie glanced at Sydney, who just shrugged, and so she turned back to Vaughn. "What?"

"This restaurant of yours- are we going to get a discount, or totally free meals cos we're in with the boss?"

"Go Syd!" Ainsley cheered.

"Hey!" Weiss yelled indignantly. "What happened to you having my back?"

Ainsley shrugged. "I like Sydney better."

Weiss's jaw dropped. "I'll tell you what-" He was abruptly cut off by a jet of water hitting him square in the face, courtesy of Sydney, who was standing at the other end of the yard, holding a hose.

It was Saturday and the plan was to help Craig move into Will's place, but after a couple of hours of hauling furniture and unpacking boxes, everybody's attention had shifted elsewhere. The day had been quite warm and all it taken was for Vaughn to squirt Sydney with a water bottle and an all-out war had broken out.

By this point everybody- Vaughn, Sydney, Weiss, Ainsley, Will and Craig- was out in the front yard, all of them dripping wet.

"Right," Weiss picked up the bucket that he had previously filled with water and charged over to Sydney. Her eyes widened considerably when she realized what he was going to do.

"Don't you dare!" she warned and turned to run, but she was too late. Weiss dumped the entire bucket over her head. Vaughn, Will and Craig all cracked up as Sydney grabbed the hose and aimed it at Weiss's face again.

"Let's see you get out of this one, Houdini!" Sydney yelled.

Craig turned to Vaughn, chuckling. "Hey Mike."

"Yeah."

"Did you know about this side of Sydney? Cos if you didn't, I think you should be reconsidering this engagement."

Vaughn laughed. "I knew exactly what I was getting myself into."

They looked over at the sound of a yell from Weiss. Both Sydney and Ainsley had tackled him to the ground. Ainsley had straddled him and was holding his arms down.

"Quick Syd," she called. "The hose."

With a laugh that could only be described as evil, Sydney once again aimed the hose at Weiss's head. This went on for a few seconds until an astonished voice came across the yard.

"Miss Bristow?"

Sydney dropped the hose and looked towards the footpath, where two of her year eight students were standing.

"Hello Liam, Bella," she said, straightening up. "How are you?"

"Ok," they both replied mechanically, staring at Sydney as if she had two heads. A few seconds passed before they spoke again, "Um, see you Monday…"

"See ya." Sydney smiled and waved them off. When they had disappeared she turned to Vaughn and the two of them cracked up.

"I can just see the story spreading around on Monday." Vaughn said. "Miss Bristow is some insane freak who attacks helpless men with a hose."

"Helpless? Excuse me, I don't think so." Weiss grumbled, standing up. "I can look after myself, thank you very much."

The only reply Sydney, Vaughn, Ainsley, Will and Craig could give him was to laugh.

Monday night Sydney and Vaughn had settled down on the couch- Sydney going over a text for one of her classes and Vaughn was watching a basketball game that he'd taped over the weekend.

Sydney was so engrossed in her book that when the phone rang, she was actually startled. Letting out a small gasp, she jumped slightly.

Vaughn stood, a bemused look on his face and headed towards the phone.

"Don't say a word," Sydney said, straightening up on the couch.

"Wasn't gonna," Vaughn said as he picked up the phone. "Hello... ah, bonjour."

Sydney looked up, trying to listen to Vaughn's side of the conversation.

"Comment allez-vous? …Je vais très bien, merci…Merci…"

By that point Vaughn was rattling off in French so fast that Sydney didn't have a snowball's hope of understanding. In the past few years she had picked up quite a lot of the language, but had come to realize that she would never come to fully grasp Vaughn's native tongue- especially when spoken at this speed.

However, even though Sydney couldn't understand what was being said, she could read the seriousness of Vaughn's expression. It wasn't serious as in that something bad had happened. No, it was more of a thoughtful seriousness.

"Hmm…Oui…Je vous en prie…Au revoir" Vaughn placed the phone back on the receiver and then turned to Sydney. "That was Felise."

"Oh." Sydney watched as he made his way back to the couch. "What did she want?"

"A favour." Vaughn sat down. "A huge one."

"What sort of favour?"

"It has to do with Danielle." Vaughn said, referring to his cousin. "She's decided that she wants to come to university here. She's already enrolled and will be starting in January." Vaughn paused. "But, she wants to come over a couple of months earlier, so she can adapt to living overseas. The problem is, her accommodation at the uni won't be available until early January."

"And Felise asked if she could stay here?" Sydney inquired and Vaughn nodded. "What did you say?"

"I said I had to talk it over with you first."

"How long would she be staying with us?" Sydney asked.

"A little over two months. She's planning on arriving towards the end of October." Vaughn was rubbing the back of his neck. "She's family and I do want to help out, but…"

Sydney was nodding slowly. "We haven't got a lot on in the next couple of months, and Danielle is an adult. It's not as if we'd have to baby-sit her. She can look after herself."

"But the thing is Syd, I don't- we don't- really know her all that well. What if she is completely heinous to live with?"

"Then we send her out to sleep in Donovan's kennel." Sydney smiled. "Look, it's only going to be two months. She'll probably be gone by the time we get to know what she is really like."

"I suppose." Vaughn sighed. "You really want to do this?"

Sydney shifted across and curled up against his body. "Well it won't be the ideal situation, but as you said before, Danielle is family."

"Ok then." Vaughn wrapped one of his arms around her. "There goes our peaceful existence."

"Peaceful- yeah right! Francie's daily dramas, Weiss banging on the door continuously, five days of our week spent trying to educate teenagers- where exactly does the peace come in Vaughn?"

Vaughn chuckled and pulled Sydney in tighter. "I call this peaceful," he whispered softly in her ear and then planting a row of gentle kisses down her neck.

"Hmm, maybe your right." Sydney replied, turning slightly and looking into Vaughn's eyes. "So are you going to call Felise back?"

Vaughn shook his head as he cupped Sydney's face in his hands. "I can't."

"Why not?" Sydney asked before Vaughn placed his lips on her in a long kiss.

"Because." Vaughn answered. "I'm going to be busy for the rest of the night."

Sydney raised her eyebrows. "Is that so, Mr Vaughn?"

"Yes, Miss Bristow, it is."