A/N: So much has happened in the past 15 days and I'm going to be very, very busy the next few weeks so I don't know how much I'll be updating. But I managed to write this last night. I particually love this chapter because I like Noah as a character, although most of you don't. So please read this and review with how you feel
It may seem short but it's just as long as my average chapter. ^_^
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!</span>
Okay, now that I have your attention, I shall tell you the important announcement.
By Chance is ending very soon.
:run:
Please, don't get mad. My school is starting on August 4th and I know that when I start eighth grade I'm going to have little to no time to write. Which means that I have to find time for the stories that I like writing the most. Don't get me wrong, I love, adore and cherish this story more than anything. It was my first and it will always have a very special spot in my heart...but...it's at a point where if I end it, properly of course, it won't be a tradedy. So there's only going to be about 5-6 chapters (including the epilogue) left. I'll get everything that I want done and end the story properly.
As regards to a sequel...at the moment, it doesn't look like there's one in planning. But maybe I'll write a companion if I ever have time in the future. But don't worry, you still have some time left before it's completely over.
:group:
Chapter Thirty-Four: Don’t You Ever Forget That
Sydney’s coffee maker was set to brew a fresh pot every morning at eight AM sharp. She’d had it that way ever since she could remember having that specific coffee maker and she loved it. It had its pros and cons of course. For instance, on mornings she
needed to wake up, she could simply smell the coffee and she would spring out of bed. But other times, like this morning, when all she wanted to do was mope around in bed
all day, the coffee timer made her get out of bed because the smell was just too appealing.
She groaned as she pushed the comforter away from her and formed a lump on the other side of the bed. Sydney was looking directly at the big lump and realized she didn’t have
that much comforter and sheets. She c***ed her head to the side and studied its shape.
“Oh,” she said quietly to herself. It finally dawned on her what it was.
*Flashback*
“Can you just stay here until I fall asleep?” Sydney asked wiping some tears from the corners of her eyes.
He nodded, “Of course I will.”
Sydney smiled and walked into her bedroom. She didn’t bother to brush her teeth or take out her ponytail; she just curled up under the covers and waited for Vaughn to join her.
*End of Flashback*
Once again, he was there for her right when she needed him. He always was, and it was then, that she realized, he always would be.
Taking in the moment, and engraving in her mind, for the rest of her life, she slowly and thoughtfully walked into her kitchen and poured the steaming coffee in to the pink mug she used every morning. She added a dash of milk and two sugars and let it cool down a bit.
And that’s when she saw it. It was a plain envelope with simply the word “Sydney” scrawled on the front. It was right by the door, like someone had slid it under the doorframe in hopes of Sydney seeing it. Well, when they thought that she would see it, and be rather shocked and apt to pick it up, they were correct.
Reluctantly, she put down her coffee on the kitchen counter and walked over to the area the envelope was in. Sydney tried to make out the handwriting in hopes of figuring out who had left this mysterious letter for her, but it all came to a dead end; she couldn’t think of a match for anyone she knew.
Sydney picked up the white envelope and tried to open it. A single piece of tape was the only thing that kept the piece of paper inside from falling out. She took a deep breath and started to read the note.
Sydney,
I pen this letter after I got home from the coffee shop. What I told you there was all true; every single word. I swear that everything I said was true. I couldn’t lie to you about something like that. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that. Not after everything we’ve been through.
When I was kidnapped six years ago, and forced to live my life without you, I selfishly hoped that maybe you would wait for me to come back. I may have thought that for awhile when I first was in New York, but I soon realized that’s too much to ask of you. It was so very much to ask of you.
Sydney’s jaw quivered and she sat down on her couch and continued to read.
But it was the memories of our times together that kept me going. I remember when we first met. You were getting the mail and I was riding my skateboard. I practically ran into you when you were going up your driveway back into your house. I hope you don’t hate me for that because I think that was the best day of my life. Maybe that, or the day that we both realized we had feelings for each other. I can remember that day perfectly too. You were a junior and I was fresh out of high school. It was the Spring Fling and you had recently broken up with your boyfriend. I remember helping you through that too. But you wanted to show him, Matt I think his name was that you could get over him just as easily as he had gotten over you. So you asked me to escort you to the dance. I happily accepted because by then I knew that I was in love with you and it was just a matter of time before you felt the same way about me. That night of the Spring Fling was technically our first official date, and a wonderful one at that. The four years that we were considered a couple were the best four years of my life. I’m glad I was able to help you through the tough time in your teens and even though my parental troubles were over, you helped me. You gave me memories that will last forever and that helped me survive five straight years of hell.
Those same memories that help me haunt me, though. Because I’ll think of you, and the wonderful times we shared and wonder what would have happened if this shi* had never happened and I had never been taken away from you. I wonder if we would have made it to our new lives and if we would have married and if we would have shared our lives together. I think about that all the time. What my life would have been like if it wasn’t for the a**holes that couldn’t get over a grudge. I want you to know that I would have liked my life to be like that; living with you in a white house with dark blue shutters with a wrap-around porch and a white picket fence. I can just picture us sitting in chairs on the porch and watching kids play with toys by a large Oak tree in the front yard. I would have loved that, Syd, more than anything. But I’m forced to face the reality that you found someone else while I was gone.
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m extremely happy for you; I couldn’t be any happier. It’s wonderful to see your dimpled smile again after all these years and know that during my absence you found someone that brought joy to your life. You, of all people, deserve that. Although I constantly wish that man could have been me, I can live with that fact that it’s not.
Sometimes I wish that I could go back in time and change my father’s actions. That way none of this would have ever happened. But that’s not an option I can pursue. I’m sorry if I ever caused any pain to you; I never meant for any of the bad things to happen. I just wanted to love you, and for you to love me back.
That brings me to the real reason I’m writing. You are happy and I don’t want to take that away from you or cause you any more pain or trouble than I already have. So I’m leaving LA, for good. By the time you get this letter, I’ll be long gone; so don’t try to stop me. Instead, just promise me one thing. Don’t let the time and memories we shared together be regret for you. Just think of it as an experience that helped you grow and made you a better person.
Please, keep in touch with me. Just because we may not be romantically involved anymore doesn’t mean I want to stop hearing from you. I just got a new cell phone that’s going to be pretty permanent: (888) 555-6248 and a new e-mail address for you to reach me at if you wish: NHicks@default.com. I hope that I hear from you soon, Syd. I loved you more than anything in the world. I still do.
Please, never forget me.
Love,
Noah.
Sydney didn’t move from her spot on the couch. She had a few tears crawling down her cheeks and she couldn’t stop staring at the letter.
“Syd…” Vaughn started as he came out of the bedroom.
She looked up at him all teary eyed and he didn’t ask anything. He simply walked over and held her.
A few minutes later, when she had stopped sniffling and could finally talk. She blurted out, “He left.”
“Who left, sweetie?”
“Noah, he just…left,” she said quietly. Then Sydney handed him the note and let him read it.
He was silent for the next few minutes and when he finished, he placed the piece of paper on the coffee table and looked at Sydney.
“What is it?” she asked still sniffling.
“I love you,” he responded simply and then kissed her softly and tenderly. “Don’t you ever forget that.”
