Mornings of Mist

3.

<<Remembering You>>


(There is a pretty important note at the end of the chapter so read it~ yay)

So she woke up the next morning and the morning after that. And she was happy and with her family and her students and everything that was important to her.

And completely forgot about seeing Vaughn on television. Except when she didn't. Which was every minute of every day. His eyes haunted her, their brilliant green boring into her eyes, looking into her soul. His smile stayed with her, his happiness and laughter echoing in her mind and reminding her every day that she had loved him. Still did love him.

Sydney tucked her hair behind her ear. No. I don't love him anymore. I did love him but not now. How could I love him when my whole family is here? My daughter loves me and my son loves me and Patrick loves me. And I love-

Vaughn.

She sat down heavily at her desk, missing Vaughn. Forgetting for a moment why she left. And as if her body could understand her thoughts, she did remember.

~:~ Flashback ~:~

"Sydney, don't do this."

"I have to. Vaughn, listen to me. I can't be happy like this. I can't live like this. Looking behind my shoulder every time we go out. No. I can't do it."

"Please Sydney. Do it for me. Do it for us." Vaughn's eyes pleaded with her.

Sydney felt her own eyes tearing and looked down at the floor. "I can't. Vaughn, if you love me, let me go."

"Damn it Sydney, don't say that to me! You KNOW I love you. You know I love you more than anything. Don't manipulate me like that. I could do it to you too. I could tell you that if you loved me you would stay." Michael looked frantic. "Sydney, what we have. . . it's just too special. How can you throw it away? Please Sydney."

"I tried," she said, finally breaking down and sliding to the floor. "I tried so hard Michael. But I'm not as strong as you. I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of being scared to say my name. I'm tired of not being able to hold your hand outside or pretend I just met you and you asked me for a date. I tried and I can't do it."

It was as if his whole body sagged. "All right. All right.

"Go."

He sat down next to her and laid his head to his knees.

Sydney hugged him to her, still crying. "Thank you Michael. Thank you so much. I love you. I do love you. I'll love you forever. I just need something else."

Vaughn lifted his head and looked at her. "You mean someone else."

She was silent.

~:~ End Flashback ~:~


She felt the tear slide down her cheek and quickly wiped it away and posted the test scores on the bulletin board.

~:~ Flashback ~:~

"Good bye Sydney."

"Bye Michael."

"You can always come back. You can always come back to me. I promise. I'll wait for you."

She shook her head, pushing down the tears. "Don't do that. Don't say that. Don't say that to me. You're going to find someone else. And you are going to love her; don't stop yourself for me."

"I'm not stopping myself for you. I'm stopping myself for me. I love you so much Sydney that you can't even begin to understand. You're the one who is leaving. You're the one who has made her peace about leaving the love of her life behind. And I'm the one being abandoned. Do you really think that I could fall in love with someone else knowing that you are out there somewhere? Do you think that I would ever be happy that way?"

"Yes. I think you could. You are so perfect Vaughn. There are a million women who would love you as much as I did. Do."

"But I wouldn't love them back. You're the only one for me."

"No I'm not. You'll find someone. I'll find someone. And even if I don't, I won't come back. Because you can't stop love. And if you do fall in love again, I don't want to come back and find out that you are married and happy. And that it was my fault that I gave you up."

Michael looked at her, debating whether to ask her one more time to stay or not. But he didn't. He swallowed and nodded. Sydney turned to go even though she saw the pleading in his eyes. "Someone is going to fall madly in love with you Sydney. And you will have the perfect life. But it's not going to be the simple love that you want. It will be safe but you will feel exactly what I'm talking about. You're going to be happy and have a family. But you will always remember me. I love you Sydney. That's why I'm letting you leave. But you think that this will make you happy and the difference between us is that I'm willing to try. Happiness takes effort. And I'm not going to torture myself or any other woman by pretending to love someone I don't. It's not right. And it's not fair."

Sydney stopped herself from turning back. She walked into the terminal and into the airplane. Michael was wrong. She could find love again. She would find it.

~:~ End Flashback ~:~


Sydney lay her head on her desk, watching the tears fall and land on the wooden surface of the desk. Michael was right.

She wasn't happy. She could be happy but she wasn't. Because Michael was out there somewhere loving her.

No. She couldn't leave. Like it or not it had been her decision to leave and she was warned about the consequences. These were the consequences. She couldn't leave her family. They were HER family.

No more abandonment.

At the sound of footsteps, she quickly wiped her eyes and raised her head. And looked into bright green eyes.



Review~

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I know what I'm doing now. . . MANY THANKS TO NANCY who definitely saved my butt on this one. Let me just tell you know that this story will end realistically but after the "last" chapter, there will be one more for all the shipper people. . . It's not an alternate ending but it's definitely an addition to the ending which will make the people who are desperately S/V happy and which will make sense overall.

So if you are a reader who is more realistic, stop at the last chapter (I'll warn you guys again) and if you are a die-hard shipper, read the chapter and the one after it. Okay, thanks for reading~

-Jenn
 
I get it now...at fist it like "huh",but now its like "ooooo i get it".i can't wait to see what happens.that was a great chapter,keep up the great work (y)

-please PM me when the next chapter is up :smiley:
 
This is really really really good!
U are so good at writin peoples emotions and comin up with good ideas!
That was an evil endin--plz let it be Vaughn!! Tell Vaughn that u still love him syd!!
Thanks for the pm!
-becki-
 
ahahahah thanks~ you're so nice... you're making me :blush: ;)


i'm glad that you liked it... there's lots more to come so i'm happy that you like the direction and also understand it.
 
awww... im semi-s/v but im sure itll make me happy - well, vaughn does *gulps* i'm getting OVER VAUGHN! for Paul Walker- no fair, i want them both.

p.s. these fanfics save me. just saw S2 finale here in Aust. (i knew wat waz and iz gonna happen) but, im still NOT happy, keep it up pleaseeeeeeeeeeee!
 
4. A Jarring Interview

No more abandonment.

At the sound of footsteps, she quickly wiped her eyes and raised her head. And looked into bright green eyes.

******************************

"Hey Joey," she said tiredly.

"Hi Mrs. Marshall, I was wondering if you could help me with-" He stopped, suddenly noticing her red eyes and the tear stains on her face. "Are you all right?"

She wiped her eyes and nodded. "I'm fine. What can I help you with?"

~:~

The day was over. It had been long; one of the longer days of her life partially because of all the memories she had been bombarded with today.

But she managed to convince herself that they didn't matter as much as she thought; that she had only been remembering because she had seen Vaughn on television the night before.

She had always expected him to be some sort of lawyer or even, like her, a professor. Yet he was now in show business? Though being a presenter for the news was hardly glitzy or glamorous. Well, she supposed, it just showed you how well you knew people.

She walked into the teacher's lounge and was surprised to see a group of teachers crowded around the small television. "What are you guys still doing here? It's after five! I know you guys aren't as wacked up as I am so I really have no idea as to why you aren't at home with your respective families."

One turned around, Sue Brown, one of her closest friends. "Shh, that gorgeous presenter is doing an interview."

That's when she noticed that all the teachers were female. She got a look at the screen and saw that it was Vaughn. She gasped a little, not expecting to see him and heard Sue giggle. "I knew you would like him. He seemed like the type of man you would go for. He is gorgeous isn't he?"

Sydney nodded and sank down into the couch, watching the interview with the rest of the entourage; mesmerized by the image of his face on the television.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now back with the hot new news presenter Michael Williams. Now Michael, what do you think about the impact that you have had, especially on the female audience?"

The smiling Vaughn laughed. "I didn't know that I had one."

The host turned to the audience, smiling. "Do you see how humble this man is? How charming!"

Sydney saw Vaughn blush. It was a good thing he wasn't anything more than a presenter; he was too humble to be a successful actor. But then again, maybe he could. After all, his shyness was endearing. She shook her head free; not wanting to think. She just wanted to see him and hear his voice again.

"So Michael. . . you are 36 years old correct?"

A nod.

"Well, then, tell me. Why are you single? I mean, if a guy with looks like yours can't get a woman, what kind of hope is there for me?"

Sydney grinned a little at the banter but stopped when she saw Vaughn looking at the screen. It felt like he was directly looking into her eyes and she almost didn't hear the sighs of the teachers around her she was so swept up by his guys.

He picked his next words carefully.

"Well, the truth is, I am in love."

There were groans from both the TV audience and the women around her. Sydney felt her heart falling at the same time she was wondering if he was still talking about. . .

"Really? And pray, who is the lovely lady who has your attentions?"

"I couldn't tell you. She's more like a love lost. I knew her 12 years ago and she. . . well, she left me."

"12 years. . . wow. That's a long time without any other women, Mr. Williams. So. . . no rebound women? No flings? 12 years. . . wow, I can't believe I've had more sex that you have in the last decade."

Michael chuckled a little. "Let's just say that I'm a man who loves deeply. And she didn't leave me because she didn't love me. There were. . . I know it sounds corny, but there were forces out of our control. I sort of promised her that I wouldn't love anyone else."

The host raised his eyebrows. "Why would you promise that if she were leaving you? Surely she didn't promise any such thing to you?"

Michael's face took on a slightly wistful expression. "You would promise her the same thing if you knew her. Even if I hadn't promised her that, I wouldn't have been able to love anyone else. You don't understand how amazing she was. Is. And even though she's not with me anymore, I can't love anyone else knowing that she is out there somewhere. She's the best thing that every happened to me."

There was a round of "awws" from both audiences and Sydney heard Sue mutter, "Who the hell would ever leave that hunk of a man?"

And that's when she realized she couldn't remember why she did it. And felt the tears running down her face again.

TBC~

Review!!!

-Jenn
 
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