Status: On hiatus for a little while... sorry :(
Stereos
Four
After a long meal, Peyton was content to have Joy walk between her and Luke and talk about the Twilight film. While Peyton had no idea what Joy was talking about, Luke seemed intent on pleasing the young Riley girl by attentively nodding at her when his attention was demanded.
“ –I would let Robert Pattinson suck my blood,” Joy relented with a long sigh.
Peyton scrunched her nose and looked helplessly over to Luke. She didn’t want to, once again, ask Joy who Robert Pattinson was. Luke just shrugged sympathetically at her, once he realized she was looking at him. Little did Peyton realize how much her constant stares were really affecting Luke.
---
Her and Luke had been in separate houses for about four hours now. It was just after midnight, and she was wide-awake and feeling oddly alone – even though her Grandparents were just in the room over.
She glanced at her phone, which sat on the desk in her room in a docile fashion. But at the same time, it was begging her to phone him. Him. He who she could not really identify in her life, yet she knew she wanted to call him.
Maybe she should call Alexandra, the girl whom she had been told was her best friend and roommate in University. University – what was she studying again? Communication in some form or another. But when she thought about sitting next to someone in a comfortable silence, finding a way to sort through the jumbled mess in her head, she didn’t picture the girl she had met two days ago with her short pixie-cut blonde hair and cute little smile. She pictured Luke Schenn, supposed defenseman of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Right, Peyton sighed in her head, like she knew a famous athlete. Even so, when her fingers touched the hard plastic of her phone, she found herself scrolling through the L section of her phonebook, not the A section. It looked like her subconscious had just decided for her.
There, glaring at her tauntingly, was his name. Luke Schenn. She hit call.
“Hello?” A groggy voice answered after quite a few rings.
Peyton immediately felt bad. Just because she couldn’t sleep, didn’t mean he couldn’t either. So, she gasped and quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, Luke, I just couldn’t sleep, and –”
“Peyton?” His voice sounded clearer this time, as if hearing her voice had sobered him up into a state of complete consciousness.
“Yeah,” She confirmed quietly, hugging her knees to her chest and staring blankly at the wall opposite her. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
---
Despite the fact that he hadn’t wanted to leave her since she had woken up, he had to go home and sleep because there was a chance he would be playing against the Flyers tomorrow. And as soon as his head hit the pillow, he’d fallen asleep. Perhaps Peyton being in a coma had really done a number on his stress levels. Psht. He knew Peyton’s safety concerned him in every sense of the word, and it had downright nearly killed him to find her knocking on death’s door. If she had died, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done without her.
Nonetheless, about three and a half hours later, his phone had been obnoxiously ringing. It brought him out of a lovely dream of getting the game winner against Philadelphia tomorrow – assuming he was playing. He hadn’t even checked the caller ID as he flipped open his phone and proceeded to grind out a greeting.
When he heard Peyton’s quiet voice on the other end, he also heard a hint of a plead in her voice. “I just wanted to talk to you,” she had said to him. The fact that she had wanted to talk to him, not needed to was a euphoric feeling he didn’t want to try to decode. All he knew was that despite the fact that she couldn’t really remember him, she needed him as much as he needed her.
A silence settled over the line, and he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He’d be more awake this way. He figured all she wanted to hear was his voice; since if he was in her position that’s what he’d want. To hear her voice, though, not his own.
“So, tomorrow,” he began casually, “I’ll bring you down to the locker room to meet the guys. You knew them all before the accident, Peyton, and they all loved you.”
Silence rocked her end, and he wondered if she had fallen asleep. “Will you drive me to my Doctor’s appointment tomorrow? My mom volunteered, but I think I kind of want you to walk through the door with me.”
He smiled into the phone. “Of course I will, Pay-day,” he answered soothingly. He glanced at his alarm clock. 12:35. He stifled a yawn, since he was more compelled to stay with Peyton.
“Luke?” she asked tentatively.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
His chest constricted at the thought of the indecisive look on her face. “Peyton, I don’t care if you’re awake at 3:30 in the morning and I have to get up at five. Call me.” He thought heard a choked sob on her end.
---
She might have been in love with him, she reflected the next morning as she came downstairs fully bathed and dressed. Last night, after choking back a sob on the phone, she bid him goodnight and hung up.
Her parents and sister had gone back home, so the only people left in the house were her Grandparents.
“Good morning, Grandpa,” Peyton greeted, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Her Grandfather looked over at her from his spot at the stove. “Oh Pay-day, you’re up! I was just coming to wake you up. I made pancakes for you.”
Her heart swelled at the small act of affection put on by her Grandfather. “Thank you Grandpa.”
As she dug into the warm, gooey chocolate chip pancakes, her Grandfather studied her fondly. “You get that from your Grandmother,” he told her. Peyton immediately knew he was referring to her polite disposition.
Then, without thinking, she added, “And my smile from my mum, right?”
Her Grandfather’s eyes welled up with tears, and he nodded. “I told that to Luke the first time you met him.”
Peyton pouted apologetically. “I’m sorry, Grandpa. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
He then cleared his throat gruffly, as if reasserting his masculinity. “Don’t be, Pay-day.”
As she popped the last bite of her pancakes in her mouth, the doorbell rang. Peyton found herself standing quickly to get the door. “That’s Luke.”
As she turned to go get the door, she completely missed the look her Grandfather gave her.
---
Into the building Luke and Peyton went. It wasn’t a regular physician’s appointment, but more of a psychiatric appointment. It wasn’t that Peyton was mentally handicapped, but the attending Doctor had suggested that Peyton see a psychologist to help deal with the fact that she had little recollection of her past.
Of course, privacy rules meant that Luke couldn’t sit in with Peyton, but something told her that a lot of what she was going to be discussing today with the Psychologist was going to be about Luke, and she didn’t want him to necessarily be privy to the kind of information was undoubtedly going to discover.
Before he left, Luke gave her a comforting smile. “Are you going to be okay, Peyton?”
Peyton sighed nervously, but nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She didn’t shrink away as his fingers lightly brushed her arm this time, and although it gave Luke a small glimmer of hope, he didn’t realize that she was just too preoccupied to notice.
With the large oak door shut firmly behind her, Peyton made her way into a room where an elderly woman was standing. Although the woman didn’t come over and greet her with a warm smile and hug, Peyton could tell by her greeting that she was the kind of psychologist that she would want to talk to. Once comfortably settled in a cozy chair, the introductions began.
“Hello Peyton, my name is Doctor Bard. You may call me Stephanie, if you wish.”
Peyton nodded. The fact that she was open to the possibility of being referred to as something other than Doctor lulled her into a small sense of security and comfort.
They jumped right into the discussion. “How are you feeling this afternoon?” Dr. Bard asked.
Peyton thought slowly. At this exact moment, she felt calm and slightly elated. So far, it was her best day yet. “I feel extremely good, considering the fact I woke up from a three month coma a couple of days ago.”
Dr. Bard nodded, her face masked but not at all unreachable. “So, do I just answer your questions, or do I start the conversation?”
“How would you like to do it?”
Peyton bit her lip carefully, and said the most prominent thing that had been nagging her. “I think my family is keeping something from me.”
A politely interested look crossed Stephanie’s face. “And what makes you think that they’re keeping something from you?”
“I don’t know. It’s just every time Luke’s around, I get this weird feeling like someone wants to say something, but they’re afraid of my reaction.”
“Who is Luke, Peyton?”
Ah, the question she needed an answer to. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.
A soothing smile crossed Stephanie’s face, and her words were calm and velvety like a blanket. “What is it that you don’t think you know?”
“I don’t understand how I felt about him,” Peyton admitted with a sigh. “And I think my family does.”
“Did something happen to make you feel this way?”
Although admitting this to a stranger was easier than she’d originally thought, she wondered if she’d get the same satisfaction out of it. She decided it would be best if she said something. She never knew – maybe Stephanie would shed some light on the subject.
“There’s just something about him that makes me think that I’m swimming in the deep end when I should still be in the kiddy pool.”
“How does this make you feel?”
“Confused.”
“Why do think you’re confused?”
“Because I feel like my family is keeping something important from me, and it makes me wonder why they would do that to me.”
“Do you think maybe it’s for your own good – keeping something from you?”
Peyton shook her head. “I think that people should be honest with me about everything. Things happen and I have to learn to deal with it. I mean, I’m still standing after all these things have happened to me – why would they assume I couldn’t handle it a second time?”
“Perhaps it’s something that they feel they have to coax you into. Have you been visiting familiar spots from your past?”
Not yet, but soon she would be. “Luke is taking me to the Air Canada Center to watch his hockey team play. He said his team mates loved me.”
Stephanie smiled. “I urge you to visit places of your past. It may trigger memories, and memories are good. I also strongly urge you to talk about any dreams or memories you may get. It’s important, not just for you, but for the people in your life to recognize that remembering things and discussing it may help you remember other things.”
Peyton nodded. “Thank you Stephanie.”
---
When Luke met her back outside Dr. Bard’s office, she felt herself smiling. She also felt herself trying to hide the knee-jerk reaction, but the only thing that wiped it off her face was when Luke gave her an adorable little grin.
Yeah, she had to have had something going on with him.
He waited until she got to his side before he turned and went with her. “So, Peyton, what would you like to do before I take you to the ACC?”
“If you don’t mind, Luke, I’d actually just like to go to the ACC. Stephanie said I should be going to places that are familiar to me.”
---
And familiar it was. The second Luke pulled into a parking spot that was completely separated from the rest of the general parking, Peyton felt this overwhelming sense of home. “How often did I come here?” She wondered out loud.
Luke laughed at the tone in her voice. “A lot. I think you came to every home game.”
Peyton flushed. Did she have some kind of weird stalker-like crush on Luke? It didn’t seem to be requited. “I liked that you came to all the home games,” Luke admitted to her softly.
And that was when her heart did this painful little flip. That look he just gave her could probably kill a lot of females. Innocently, of course.
Nearing the locker room brought on a wave of anticipation that Peyton welcomed. She wasn’t feeling anxious about re-meeting anyone anymore, and she was thankful. She did, however, take a step closer to Luke so she could take solace in his proximity.
Just as Luke took a hold of the handle, Peyton stopped him. “Wait, which one did I have a crush on?”
A wicked little grin splashed across his face at her question. “I’ll point him out,” he replied loftily.
Part of her grimaced as he opened the door. Something was about to happen…
But once she walked in the locker room, all she got was a roomful of smiles, and she didn’t recognize any of them. She was suddenly overwhelmed, and she backed into Luke’s side. She looked around the room, looking for anything that was noticeably familiar. All she found was a pair of brown eyes. She weaved through the crowd until she was standing before him. Her eyes roamed over his face, and the connection immediately sparked in her brain. Before he could even introduce himself, she looked over her shoulder at Luke. “This is the guy I had a crush on!”
Luke winced and came through the crowd at her. The other players tried not to react to Peyton’s outburst, but the only thing Peyton noticed was the way Luke stood beside her. “I was the only person who knew that, Peyton,” he whispered in her ear.
Peyton’s back went rigid, “oh.”
“ –I would let Robert Pattinson suck my blood,” Joy relented with a long sigh.
Peyton scrunched her nose and looked helplessly over to Luke. She didn’t want to, once again, ask Joy who Robert Pattinson was. Luke just shrugged sympathetically at her, once he realized she was looking at him. Little did Peyton realize how much her constant stares were really affecting Luke.
---
Her and Luke had been in separate houses for about four hours now. It was just after midnight, and she was wide-awake and feeling oddly alone – even though her Grandparents were just in the room over.
She glanced at her phone, which sat on the desk in her room in a docile fashion. But at the same time, it was begging her to phone him. Him. He who she could not really identify in her life, yet she knew she wanted to call him.
Maybe she should call Alexandra, the girl whom she had been told was her best friend and roommate in University. University – what was she studying again? Communication in some form or another. But when she thought about sitting next to someone in a comfortable silence, finding a way to sort through the jumbled mess in her head, she didn’t picture the girl she had met two days ago with her short pixie-cut blonde hair and cute little smile. She pictured Luke Schenn, supposed defenseman of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Right, Peyton sighed in her head, like she knew a famous athlete. Even so, when her fingers touched the hard plastic of her phone, she found herself scrolling through the L section of her phonebook, not the A section. It looked like her subconscious had just decided for her.
There, glaring at her tauntingly, was his name. Luke Schenn. She hit call.
“Hello?” A groggy voice answered after quite a few rings.
Peyton immediately felt bad. Just because she couldn’t sleep, didn’t mean he couldn’t either. So, she gasped and quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, Luke, I just couldn’t sleep, and –”
“Peyton?” His voice sounded clearer this time, as if hearing her voice had sobered him up into a state of complete consciousness.
“Yeah,” She confirmed quietly, hugging her knees to her chest and staring blankly at the wall opposite her. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
---
Despite the fact that he hadn’t wanted to leave her since she had woken up, he had to go home and sleep because there was a chance he would be playing against the Flyers tomorrow. And as soon as his head hit the pillow, he’d fallen asleep. Perhaps Peyton being in a coma had really done a number on his stress levels. Psht. He knew Peyton’s safety concerned him in every sense of the word, and it had downright nearly killed him to find her knocking on death’s door. If she had died, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done without her.
Nonetheless, about three and a half hours later, his phone had been obnoxiously ringing. It brought him out of a lovely dream of getting the game winner against Philadelphia tomorrow – assuming he was playing. He hadn’t even checked the caller ID as he flipped open his phone and proceeded to grind out a greeting.
When he heard Peyton’s quiet voice on the other end, he also heard a hint of a plead in her voice. “I just wanted to talk to you,” she had said to him. The fact that she had wanted to talk to him, not needed to was a euphoric feeling he didn’t want to try to decode. All he knew was that despite the fact that she couldn’t really remember him, she needed him as much as he needed her.
A silence settled over the line, and he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He’d be more awake this way. He figured all she wanted to hear was his voice; since if he was in her position that’s what he’d want. To hear her voice, though, not his own.
“So, tomorrow,” he began casually, “I’ll bring you down to the locker room to meet the guys. You knew them all before the accident, Peyton, and they all loved you.”
Silence rocked her end, and he wondered if she had fallen asleep. “Will you drive me to my Doctor’s appointment tomorrow? My mom volunteered, but I think I kind of want you to walk through the door with me.”
He smiled into the phone. “Of course I will, Pay-day,” he answered soothingly. He glanced at his alarm clock. 12:35. He stifled a yawn, since he was more compelled to stay with Peyton.
“Luke?” she asked tentatively.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
His chest constricted at the thought of the indecisive look on her face. “Peyton, I don’t care if you’re awake at 3:30 in the morning and I have to get up at five. Call me.” He thought heard a choked sob on her end.
---
She might have been in love with him, she reflected the next morning as she came downstairs fully bathed and dressed. Last night, after choking back a sob on the phone, she bid him goodnight and hung up.
Her parents and sister had gone back home, so the only people left in the house were her Grandparents.
“Good morning, Grandpa,” Peyton greeted, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Her Grandfather looked over at her from his spot at the stove. “Oh Pay-day, you’re up! I was just coming to wake you up. I made pancakes for you.”
Her heart swelled at the small act of affection put on by her Grandfather. “Thank you Grandpa.”
As she dug into the warm, gooey chocolate chip pancakes, her Grandfather studied her fondly. “You get that from your Grandmother,” he told her. Peyton immediately knew he was referring to her polite disposition.
Then, without thinking, she added, “And my smile from my mum, right?”
Her Grandfather’s eyes welled up with tears, and he nodded. “I told that to Luke the first time you met him.”
Peyton pouted apologetically. “I’m sorry, Grandpa. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
He then cleared his throat gruffly, as if reasserting his masculinity. “Don’t be, Pay-day.”
As she popped the last bite of her pancakes in her mouth, the doorbell rang. Peyton found herself standing quickly to get the door. “That’s Luke.”
As she turned to go get the door, she completely missed the look her Grandfather gave her.
---
Into the building Luke and Peyton went. It wasn’t a regular physician’s appointment, but more of a psychiatric appointment. It wasn’t that Peyton was mentally handicapped, but the attending Doctor had suggested that Peyton see a psychologist to help deal with the fact that she had little recollection of her past.
Of course, privacy rules meant that Luke couldn’t sit in with Peyton, but something told her that a lot of what she was going to be discussing today with the Psychologist was going to be about Luke, and she didn’t want him to necessarily be privy to the kind of information was undoubtedly going to discover.
Before he left, Luke gave her a comforting smile. “Are you going to be okay, Peyton?”
Peyton sighed nervously, but nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She didn’t shrink away as his fingers lightly brushed her arm this time, and although it gave Luke a small glimmer of hope, he didn’t realize that she was just too preoccupied to notice.
With the large oak door shut firmly behind her, Peyton made her way into a room where an elderly woman was standing. Although the woman didn’t come over and greet her with a warm smile and hug, Peyton could tell by her greeting that she was the kind of psychologist that she would want to talk to. Once comfortably settled in a cozy chair, the introductions began.
“Hello Peyton, my name is Doctor Bard. You may call me Stephanie, if you wish.”
Peyton nodded. The fact that she was open to the possibility of being referred to as something other than Doctor lulled her into a small sense of security and comfort.
They jumped right into the discussion. “How are you feeling this afternoon?” Dr. Bard asked.
Peyton thought slowly. At this exact moment, she felt calm and slightly elated. So far, it was her best day yet. “I feel extremely good, considering the fact I woke up from a three month coma a couple of days ago.”
Dr. Bard nodded, her face masked but not at all unreachable. “So, do I just answer your questions, or do I start the conversation?”
“How would you like to do it?”
Peyton bit her lip carefully, and said the most prominent thing that had been nagging her. “I think my family is keeping something from me.”
A politely interested look crossed Stephanie’s face. “And what makes you think that they’re keeping something from you?”
“I don’t know. It’s just every time Luke’s around, I get this weird feeling like someone wants to say something, but they’re afraid of my reaction.”
“Who is Luke, Peyton?”
Ah, the question she needed an answer to. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.
A soothing smile crossed Stephanie’s face, and her words were calm and velvety like a blanket. “What is it that you don’t think you know?”
“I don’t understand how I felt about him,” Peyton admitted with a sigh. “And I think my family does.”
“Did something happen to make you feel this way?”
Although admitting this to a stranger was easier than she’d originally thought, she wondered if she’d get the same satisfaction out of it. She decided it would be best if she said something. She never knew – maybe Stephanie would shed some light on the subject.
“There’s just something about him that makes me think that I’m swimming in the deep end when I should still be in the kiddy pool.”
“How does this make you feel?”
“Confused.”
“Why do think you’re confused?”
“Because I feel like my family is keeping something important from me, and it makes me wonder why they would do that to me.”
“Do you think maybe it’s for your own good – keeping something from you?”
Peyton shook her head. “I think that people should be honest with me about everything. Things happen and I have to learn to deal with it. I mean, I’m still standing after all these things have happened to me – why would they assume I couldn’t handle it a second time?”
“Perhaps it’s something that they feel they have to coax you into. Have you been visiting familiar spots from your past?”
Not yet, but soon she would be. “Luke is taking me to the Air Canada Center to watch his hockey team play. He said his team mates loved me.”
Stephanie smiled. “I urge you to visit places of your past. It may trigger memories, and memories are good. I also strongly urge you to talk about any dreams or memories you may get. It’s important, not just for you, but for the people in your life to recognize that remembering things and discussing it may help you remember other things.”
Peyton nodded. “Thank you Stephanie.”
---
When Luke met her back outside Dr. Bard’s office, she felt herself smiling. She also felt herself trying to hide the knee-jerk reaction, but the only thing that wiped it off her face was when Luke gave her an adorable little grin.
Yeah, she had to have had something going on with him.
He waited until she got to his side before he turned and went with her. “So, Peyton, what would you like to do before I take you to the ACC?”
“If you don’t mind, Luke, I’d actually just like to go to the ACC. Stephanie said I should be going to places that are familiar to me.”
---
And familiar it was. The second Luke pulled into a parking spot that was completely separated from the rest of the general parking, Peyton felt this overwhelming sense of home. “How often did I come here?” She wondered out loud.
Luke laughed at the tone in her voice. “A lot. I think you came to every home game.”
Peyton flushed. Did she have some kind of weird stalker-like crush on Luke? It didn’t seem to be requited. “I liked that you came to all the home games,” Luke admitted to her softly.
And that was when her heart did this painful little flip. That look he just gave her could probably kill a lot of females. Innocently, of course.
Nearing the locker room brought on a wave of anticipation that Peyton welcomed. She wasn’t feeling anxious about re-meeting anyone anymore, and she was thankful. She did, however, take a step closer to Luke so she could take solace in his proximity.
Just as Luke took a hold of the handle, Peyton stopped him. “Wait, which one did I have a crush on?”
A wicked little grin splashed across his face at her question. “I’ll point him out,” he replied loftily.
Part of her grimaced as he opened the door. Something was about to happen…
But once she walked in the locker room, all she got was a roomful of smiles, and she didn’t recognize any of them. She was suddenly overwhelmed, and she backed into Luke’s side. She looked around the room, looking for anything that was noticeably familiar. All she found was a pair of brown eyes. She weaved through the crowd until she was standing before him. Her eyes roamed over his face, and the connection immediately sparked in her brain. Before he could even introduce himself, she looked over her shoulder at Luke. “This is the guy I had a crush on!”
Luke winced and came through the crowd at her. The other players tried not to react to Peyton’s outburst, but the only thing Peyton noticed was the way Luke stood beside her. “I was the only person who knew that, Peyton,” he whispered in her ear.
Peyton’s back went rigid, “oh.”
♠ ♠ ♠
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