Because i'm nice....
~Part 87~
~Running in Circles with Nowhere to Go~
Hours passed, he wasn’t sure how many. After he was done explaining, Sydney had more then enough questions to keep their discussion going. She found it very disturbing, what had happened, how his father had played a hand in this scheme of betrayal.
“Have you talked to my parents since…you found out?” Vaughn asked.
Sydney nodded. “Yeah, I used to talk to your mom often after you were gone. But…we lost touch.” Sydney shook her head as anger filled her eyes again. “That son-of-a-b****.” She said. “Your father came to my door and told me you weren’t coming home. The bas**** had the heart to look me in the eyes and actually tell me you were dead.” She said. She shook her head. “Now I know why you hate that man so much.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah.” He shook his head. “Syd…”
She watched him.
“You said we all have to make choices, and that even though sometimes we think we’re doing the right thing, to others it might not be.”
She sat silent.
He shook his head. “I…I don’t know what made me go with my father.” He told her. “I mean, I had myself believing that he was telling me the truth, that if I didn’t do something about Hurst, that they’d come after you again, that we’d be running for the rest of our lives. But then I think about it again, and I’m not so sure.” He said. “I think I wanted to believe that I was doing it for us. That my reason was justified because I was trying to protect you, and then I realize that wasn’t the real reason at all. My father could have taken care of him on his own, he didn’t need my help. But he knew how much I wanted to kill that man for what he did to my sister. I was selfish and he used it against me.”
“If only we could go back in time.” She said.
He smiled softly and nodded. “Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice?” He asked. “I should have never left you, though.” He shook his head. “That was the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Well, on the other hand you learn from your mistakes.” She said.
He studied her for a moment, wondering what she meant, if there was another meaning to that phrase. Did that mean she didn’t want him to ever leave again? That he should have learned from his mistake?
He brushed that topic aside for the time being.
“So…who’s the new guy?” He asked. He faked a smile, trying to act like he was happy for her. But she saw through him.
“Vaughn.” She said raising her eyebrows.
He sighed. “Yeah okay.” He said. “Does he treat you good?” He asked.
“He does.” She nodded.
“Does he make you happy?”
Sydney watched him for a moment. “Michael…Pete’s a good man, he helped me get up from a place where I didn’t belong. You wouldn’t have wanted me to go on like I was.” She said.
He nodded. “No, you’re right. I want you to be happy.” He said. “Even if it’s not with me.”
“That has to be very hard for you to say.” She told him.
“It is.” He confessed. “Love’s not an easy thing to get over.”
She agreed, “No, it’s an impossible thing to get over.” She told him. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I loved you back then, or even now.” She shrugged. “What we had was the most amazing thing in the world to me. But it just wasn’t our time. There was too much going on.”
He nodded. “Are we ever truly going to get our time?” He asked. It was an indirect way of asking her if there was ever a chance for them. Or if she just wanted to finally settle down with another man, and not have to worry about her former dead boyfriend’s messed up life.
“Vaughn…”
“I know.” He said. “It doesn’t hurt to try though.”
She smiled softly. “I guess not.” She said.
“This place looks great.” He said looking around. “I’m glad you decided not to give up on it.”
“I’d never do that. It was your dream.” She said.
He smiled. “Well, it’s better than I ever imagined.” He said. “Thank you.”
“How long are you staying in LA?” She asked.
Vaughn shook his head. “I’m not sure, I just came back to see you, honestly. I wasn’t planning on staying, there’s not really a place for me here anymore.”
“Of course there is.” She said. “This is where you belong. I’ve been running this place by myself for the last few years and it drives me insane cause I can’t keep up with everything.” She laughed.
He smiled. “Are you asking for help?” He asked.
“No,” She said. “This place is yours just as much as it is mine.” She told him. “We started this here together. You’re the second half, unless you don’t want it.”
“I don’t know…”
“Gosh, fine I’ll just say it.” She said. “I don’t want you to leave again. Stay and run this place with me. If you leave, I’m never going to be able to think about anything else besides you.”
He smiled. “Well, I don’t really have a designated home or a place to be.” He said. “But…”
“You’d need somewhere to stay.” She said. He nodded. “Well, I’d have you stay with me, but I don’t think Pete would appreciate that. I bought a motel across the street. It’s amazing really. It’s mostly for people that get to drunk to drive home; they stay there for the night. It brings in a lot of profits.” She said. “You could stay there.”
He nodded, “Syd, I don’t really have anyway to pay you. I don’t have anything to give you again.”
“It’s fine.” She told him. “You never need to pay me for anything. I’m serious.”
He nodded.
“Yes?” She asked.
“Yeah. Why not.”
“Good. Come on.” She took his hand and stood up. “I’ll introduce you to the crew.” She told him as she led him downstairs.
“Don’t they think I’m dead?” He asked.
“Not when they see you, they’ll think it was a rumor.” She told him. She led him through the crowd and over to the bar. “Hey, Daniel. This is Michael Vaughn; he’s the one that started this place. He’s gonna be sticking around, he’s got just as much authority as I do.” She told their bartender.
“That’s cool. Glad you joined us. I’m getting tired of being bossed around by a woman.” He laughed.
Sydney glared at him. “Funny, funny…get back to work.” She told him.
“See!” Dan said. Vaughn laughed softly as Sydney pulled him around the building, introducing him to all of the workers. Some of them were shocked, but Sydney only told them that whatever they thought hadn’t been true, that Michael Vaughn was very much alive.
After Sydney introduced him to everyone they walked into the back office. Sydney closed the door and the loud noise was immediately blocked out.
“It gets loud here in the evenings. That’s why I stay in here. After I’m done on the set I can’t take much more talking.” She said.
He smiled. “How is everything going with the movies and stuff?” He asked.
“Great.” She said. “I listened to you.” She told him. “I don’t do many action films anymore, I do the stuff that actually means something. I won an Oscar last year.” She smiled.
“I’m proud of you.” He told her as they stood there. Neither of them were aware that she still had grasp of his hand. Another moment later and Sydney moved closer to him again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
“I’m sorry.” She told him. “I just…can’t stop touching you.”
He laughed softly. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.” He told her.
She scratched the back of his head softly with her nails as she played with his hair.
They were too close, too bonded to even pretend that they weren’t still very much in love with each other. But there was a problem, they both knew it, and it couldn’t be dealt with easily. It was tricky situation, and no matter what, someone was going to get hurt in the end.
Sydney kissed his cheek softly and pulled back to look at him. She ran her finger across his jaw line and stopped at the indentation in his chin. He watched her as she reacquainted herself with him. She dropped her hand from his face and ran it up his left arm and under the sleeve of his t-shirt. Her fingers found the bumpy skin where he’d been stabbed many years before.
“It’s still there.” He told her. “Among many new ones.”
“How many new ones?” She asked.
“Too many.” He told her. Sydney’s eyes traveled to his arm and she saw ink on his skin.
“Oh my gosh. You got a tattoo?” She asked.
He laughed. “Yeah, it’s a French cross.” He told her.
“Well at least it’s not some random woman’s name.” She said.
“No, I wouldn’t do that, unless it were your name.” He smiled. “It’s the only one worth remembering.”
Sydney pulled his sleeve back over his arm and looked down. He sighed and pulled her into his arms once again.
“Do you know how many nights I wished for this? For you to hold me again?” She asked as she took fistfuls of his white t-shirt into her hands.
“Too many.” He said.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, whenever you need a hug just come to me. My arms are always open.” He told her. “I don’t think they’ll be occupied for quite a while.” He joked.
“Don’t be so sure.” She told him. “Have some faith.” She ran her hands up and down his back, feeling the toned muscles under her fingers.
“In who?” He asked.
“Me.” She told him softly. She buried her face in his neck as they just held each other. What feeling could possibly be better than holding the one person that actually makes sense out of all the craziness in the world?