awwww!!!!! they both watched eachother!!!and she/he won!!!! i cant wait till tomm!!! seriously this is like the highlight of my day...this story that is!!!
LOL, love the fluffiness as always. It's really cute that they're both nervous for their upcoming events. But so glad that they nailed them down. It's really great!
“Yes, and the rule is, if you call it a week in advance then you can have it. Look! Look at the sticky note on the TV. It’s been there since before Christmas. I’ve got the TV tonight,” Michael said firmly.
Chapter 9
Three days after the competition, Michael had yet to hear from Sydney. He wasn’t entirely surprised because he knew she was busy, but still, he wished that she’d call. It was on the fourth day (Friday), that he was sitting in the apartment after morning practice, when his phone rang.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hey,” Sydney sighed, just as casual as ever.
“Hey Syd, oh my god, congratulations,” he said quickly.
“Thank you. Hey, listen, can you maybe help me out here a second? Because mapquest directions suck.”
“Sure, wait, mapquest, where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m coming to see you.”
“Shut up, you are not,” he said in an almost giggly tone.
“Yep, I am. But I’m lost.” She sighed.
“Ok, where are you?”
“Um, a gas station,” she said.
“Thanks, that helped me.”
She laughed. “Sorry, umm, wait I think I see a street sign,” she said. Once she told him her location he, recognized it immediately and gave her directions to his apartment building. When she got there, he was outside waiting for her, even though it was snowing.
“Hey,” he sighed, immediately pulling her into a hug.
“Hey,” she sighed into his neck. “So, this is where you live, hmm?”
“Yeah, but you can’t go up there,” he said. She looked curious. “It’s unfit for human habitation.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “Where do you want to go then?”
“Did you bring your skates?” He smiled.
“Of course.” She laughed.
“Then we’ll go to the rink. Just lemme get my stuff. Two seconds,” he said. He stroked her face once with his thumb before racing back to his apartment and returning a moment later with his bag. “Is it ok if we take your car? Mine is buried.”
“Yeah, sure, but I have no idea where I’m going. You want to drive?”
“Sure,” he said, taking the keys from her and tossing his bag in her trunk along side her bag. After a fifteen minute drive, he pulled into the empty rink parking lot.
“So, this is where you practice?” She smiled.
“No, this is where I live,” he corrected. She laughed. He grabbed both their bags and then they walked into the rink together.
“Ohh, the zamboni. I love that thing.” Sydney sighed. Michael looked at her questioningly. “I DO!” she insisted. “I always have.”
“You’re cute.” He smiled. She smiled back. “So... not that I mind, because I don’t at all, but... why are you here?” he asked as they walked over to the bleachers to sit down while they waited for the zamboni to finish.
“Well... Francie gave me until Sunday off before I start my practice for worlds so... I got home, packed a bag and came here.” She smiled. “I wanted to see you.”
“I wanted to see you too,” he said as he reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. She smiled as tingles went up and down her spine. “So... I was watching figure skating.”
“Were you?” She laughed.
“Yes... and I’m so confused,” he said pathetically, as he shook his head.
“Aww.” She sighed. “But that’s ok, because hockey confused me.”
“Mm hmm. Maybe we should educate each other.” He smiled.
“That sounds perfect, but... I think I’m a little skated out at the moment. I’ll educate you tomorrow,” she said.
“Alright,” he said. “But... do you not want to be here? We could go...”
“No, it’s fine. Skating with you isn’t the same as skating. It’s different. Did that make sense?” she asked, cringing at the way she must have sounded like an idiot.
“Perfect sense.” He smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. A few minutes later the zamboni was off the ice and Sydney and Vaughn put on their skates and gloves before skating out onto the freshly smoothed ice.
“Ohh, I love making the first marks in it.” She sighed as she skated out on one foot with her other leg high in the air, making a perfect circle in the ice.
“Show off,” he muttered.
“Maybe.” She smiled.
“Syd come ‘ere,” Michael said, as he held out his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her before she even realized what happened. When his lips touched hers, every hair stood on end and goose bumps covered her skin. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead gently upon hers. She wrapped her arms around his back but kept her eyes shut, wanting that perfect moment to last. “You know how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he whispered.
“Yeah.” She sighed.
“Even more since you got here.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked, now opening her eyes and looking up at him.
“I wanted to do it on the ice.” He smiled. She giggled and smiled broader than he had ever seen her smile before. Then, he leaned down and kissed her again. Before either of them realized it, they were holding each other even closer and kissing so passionately Sydney was afraid the ice would melt at their feet.
“Mmm, Michael wait.” Sydney sighed, skating away from him slightly.
“What?” he asked quietly.
“I’m sorry, it’s just... god, this is embarrassing.” She groaned as she turned a soft shade of pink and tried to cover her face with her hands.
“What is it?” he asked in a concerned tone.
“Well... it’s just, you know how I said about me not really having any friends?” she asked. He nodded. She cringed. “Well... the same goes for boyfriends.”
“Oh...” He sighed.
“I’ve only had one boyfriend.... he was a skater and he turned out to be gay.” She laughed.
Michael laughed as well. “I promise you I’m not gay.”
“No, I know... it’s just... I don’t really know what I’m doing here.” She shrugged. “And I didn’t want you to think I was awful.”
“Well, there is absolutely no chance of that--ever.” He smiled. “There’s no rush Syd, no pressure, I just... at the end of the day I want you to be the one I call to say goodnight to because you’re my girlfriend.” He smiled.
Sydney’s legs almost buckled and she blushed again. “Ok you’re perfect.”
He laughed. “Far from it, I swear.”
“No, you’re perfect and I want that, too.” She smiled as she skated back over to him and threw her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the ground and spun around in a circle. “Hey, you know, we could do pairs skating,” she suggested with a smile.
“NO, no, no, no, no, no, no and did I mention? NO,” he said.
She laughed. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” He groaned. “There is absolutely no way you’re getting me into those legging thingies, not to mention the fact that if I even tried to do a jump, I’d break something.”
“Okay.” She laughed.
“So... another National championship, hmm? Did you bring your medal?”
“Nah, I left it at home,” she told him.
“Just tacked it up on the wall with the others, hmm?” he asked.
She laughed. “No, actually, they’re in a box.”
“Really?” he asked. She nodded. “All my stuff is displayed... only because my mom forces me to give it to her though.”
Sydney laughed. “Yeah... my dad has never even asked to see mine.”
“What? You’re kidding?” he asked, almost in disbelief. Sydney shook her head. She knew he was curious and wanted to know more. She didn’t like talking about it, but she wanted him to know. She took his hand and pulled him off the ice where they both sat down on the bleachers.
“When my mom died... he changed so much. I was only six, so I don’t remember much of before but... I remember him being fun. When she died, he threw himself into work and he told me that I had to pick something, anything at all, but I had to pick something. Skating became my something. My dad was never around and I didn’t like my nanny, so I’d spend all my free time at the rink. One day, I decided that I was going to jump. I didn’t know how to do it but I had watched other people do it, so I was sure I could do it to. I landed it the first try and this older woman who ran this skating camp thing saw me and was, like, floored, she was so impressed. She called my dad... he didn’t even care, he just said I could do whatever I wanted.
“He’s never once come to watch me skate, not even when I was little. When I won my first medal at a junior championship I was so proud, so, so proud. I went home and I showed him and he didn’t even look at it. For a while, I thought that it was because what I won wasn’t big enough. But when the coaches said I could go to the Olympics if I wanted – this was four years ago for the 2002 Olympics and I told him, he didn’t even care. He just asked how much he should make the check out for.
“When I broke my leg that year, I cried for hours, because I knew I couldn’t go to the Olympics. Francie’s the one who took me to the hospital. I called him, he was away, but he didn’t even care. I mean... honestly, I’m not even sure if he really knows who I am, you know? I could stand in front of him and say ‘Dad, do you know I’m the best female skater in the United States?’ and he’d just ask me how much my next check needed to be. He just throws money at me... I guess that’s his way of saying that he loves me but... still, he’s never been to one single competition.” She sighed.
Michael was utterly speechless. He had absolutely no idea that her father was that way. He had absolutely no idea how any father could be that way, least of all a father with a daughter like Sydney. He was even more impressed by the fact that she didn’t cry one tear the whole time she was talking, because even he had wanted to cry after hearing that. “Sydney... I... I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. You deserve so much more than that.”
She smiled softly and then leaned in to kiss him. “Hearing you say that is enough,” she whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair. Michael pulled her into a strong hug and held her tighter than he had ever held anyone ever before.