Learn to Fly

Peyton sat on the couch between Eric and Delilah, laughing at the two arguing on either side of her. They had about seven hours until they left Arizona and started driving and Delilah was here to get her fill of “sibling bonding”.

“Your name is Delilah, which means temptress. You were born to be a whore!” Eric yelled laughing.

“It’s not my fault that mom named me that!” the brunette retorted.

“Don’t bring mom into this!” Halvo screamed.

John shook his head across the room, continuing to flip through channels. Surprisingly even at three in the afternoon nothing was on. He finally settled in Jersey Shore, much to everyone’s enjoyment.

“Lilah, you would fit right in with these kids! They all have STDs.”

“Oh shut the hell up, mouth breather.”

Peyton watched as Eric seemed to generally become upset. His lips went from playful into a scowl, “Go die you effing whore.”

Peyton felt her own heart strings pull out of anger as he said those words. He didn’t mean them. He may have thought he did at the moment, but Eric had no idea what it was like to lose someone you loved. She stood up from her seat on the couch and excused herself quietly before any tears could escape her lids. Nick watched her as she exited the room with her American Spirits in hand, but he didn’t move towards her. He let her go.

Peyton walked out onto the stairs in front of the boy’s apartment and lit her cigarette. It was hotter than hell outside and Peyton tied her curly hair into a loose bun on the nape of her neck. She sighed and leaned back on the stair behind her letting her neck elongate. A single tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away with her finger tip lightly.

“Why are you crying?”

Peyton bit her lip softly before looking at the boy who had taken a seat next to her. His loose tank top hung on his thin frame and his jeans were rolled. His grey toms were dirty from long days and nights on tour. “I-I’m not,” Peyton said dumbly, ignoring John’s question.

He looked into her eyes unbelievingly, his green orbs staring into her. His eyes softened as he realized she was genuinely falling apart in front of him, “Hayes, talk to me…I want to be here for you,” John said tenderly, and she could tell he cared about her and what she was going through.

“Eric…he has no idea what it’s like to lose someone,” Peyton said after a moment, adverting her eyes everywhere but John’s.

“Who did you lose?” He asked tentatively.

“My best friend,” she answered dryly. Her lips were becoming chapped and she frowned as she realized that she was wearing a dress—meaning her Burt’s Bees was inside.

“How long ago?”

“Eight months,” Peyton replied, staring out at the sky in front of her.

John was silent for a few short moments, his eyes surveying her body. “It’ll be okay you know.”

“Everyone always says that,” she started bitterly. “But no one knows what I’m going through.”

“Maybe you just haven’t talked to the right people,” John questioned.

Peyton looked at him curiously, “You lost someone too?”

“What gave me away?” He chuckled, his eyes looking desperate and gloomy.

“You didn’t say ‘I’m sorry,’” she replied.

John looked at her with a bittersweet grin, “My best friend died almost two years ago. People don’t understand that I’m sorry doesn’t give you the peace you need. It never brings the person back.”

Peyton felt not happy…but content for once in a quite a while. Someone seemed to understand her and that’s all she had wanted for eight months now. Sure, Nick was there but he didn’t have to deal the same way she did. He wasn’t there the night she died. He wasn’t in the car. He wasn’t in the middle of a fight with her.

“Why are you on this tour, Peyton?” John asked intrigued.

She smiled softly, “I have this list…well Georgia and I had a list. We had all these things we planned to do after graduation. We were going to complete it before we died…” she cleared her throat, trying to not let tears come. “I’m here to do just that.”

“Georgia,” he repeated softly. John looked at her with admiration in his eyes, “What is on this list exactly?”

“Have a meaningful conversation with a beggar, run a mile on the beach, buy someone a drink,” Peyton smiled, looking at his smiling face, “Get a tattoo.”

He chuckled, “This is all starting to make so much more sense.”

“I’m not really that ‘weird’,” she laughed. “I just don’t have sleeping with band boys on my agenda as Halvo presumed.”

“How much more is on this list?” John asked, ignoring her comment.

“A lot,” she replied, “Why?”

“I want to help you,” he replied simply turning his beautiful green eyes to her.

“You what?” Peyton asked, unsure she had heard him right.

“I’m not trying to replace Georgia, at all; not at all whatsoever. But, I lost my best friend…and you lost yours and I honestly think we could both need someone right now. And well, I think we both need each other right now,” John said sincerely.

Peyton smiled at him, “I’d like that, John.”

He grinned his sideways grin, “Come with me somewhere then.”

“Where?” She asked, standing up and following his jogging frame down the stairs.

“I’m going to see my mom for dinner. I want you to meet her,” he smiled.

Peyton looked at him nervously, “I don’t know, John.”

“Why not?”

“Shouldn’t you be bringing Melissa?” She questioned.

“They’ve met,” he shrugged. “And plus, my mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies,” he chuckled.

Peyton smiled at the boy, looking up into his eyes. She got butterflies as he grabbed her hand. “Well, I guess I can’t say no now.”
_____

Peyton pulled anxiously on the bottom of her sundress, awaiting the woman on the other side of the door. She bit her pink stained lip and fixed her fedora before looking into John’s green eyes. There was a smile playing in them and his cheeks had a small blush.

“Don’t be nervous, Hayes. My mom loves when people come over for dinner and she’ll love you! She’s making lasagna,” John smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

Within a moment the white door in front of the two opened revealing a slender woman. She stood about five foot eleven and had long sandy blonde hair. Her eyes were large green orbs that matched that of her son and freckles splashed the bridge of her nose. She had a wide smile on her lips, “John! You came.”

“Hey Mama,” he smiled, hugging his mother. He released her thin frame and smiled at the girl next to him. “This is Peyton, Ma.”

Peyton smiled and stuck out her hand, “Hi, it’s so nice to meet you.”

Mrs. O’Callaghan looked at her with a smirk on her lips, her eyes shifting between the two. “It’s nice to meet you too, dear. You can call me Molly. John, you didn’t tell me she was this pretty.”

Peyton felt her cheeks blush and she watched as John’s eyes went wide in shock before his smirk came back onto his thin lips, “Let’s just get inside,” he chuckled.

Peyton followed Molly and John inside the warm home. It had a calming scent to it—apples and fresh laundry. The house was tidy, but baby toys lay around the floor in certain areas. “Don’t mind the mess,” Molly laughed. “We have a little one still.”

John grinned at Peyton, “Want to meet one of my little brothers?”

She nodded her head as he took her hand in his. He led her up a staircase and down a long hallway decorated with pictures. There were pictures of John when he was growing up, a boy looking about four years younger than him in a few. And then there were some that looked more recent of John with a little baby boy in his arms. “You coming?” John laughed, pulling Peyton away from a photo of him in a tux, his arms around his girlfriend who was wearing a long golden dress. She assumed it was their senior prom.

Peyton followed John into what she could see was a nursery. The walls were painted a light blue and had hand painted giraffes and other zoo animals dancing on it. Clouds were on the ceilings and she could see those little glow in the dark stars taped onto the roof. She watched as he walked over to a white crib in the corner of the room and lifted a small baby from inside.

“Hey there, little guy,” John grinned, his eyes on the baby in his arms. He placed a kiss on his head. “Jace, this is Peyton. Can you say hi?”

She smiled at the baby who was staring into her eyes with his big brown ones. He babbled at her and raised his hands with a small smile on his lips. “Hi Jace,” she said softly, taking his little hand in hers.

Jace laughed and smiled between her and John. “He’s only about sixth months,” John smiled. “My mom adopted him a little while ago. Parents left him on a doorstep.”

Peyton looked at the little boy knowingly, “So did my mom.”

John stared at her with his big green orbs, a small smile on his lips. “Do you want to hold him?”

She nodded her head and took the little boy into her arms. Jace stared up at her with his mouth open. His eyes were large and full of excitement as he touched her cheek with his little hand. Peyton smiled as she placed him on her hip and looked at John, “He’s so sweet.”

“He likes you,” he grinned back, taking Jace’s little fingers in his own. “He’s usually really shy around people. Only lets the family hold him typically.”

Peyton smiled nervously, feeling a connection to the little boy because of their adoption. She knew what he would be growing through some day when he found out these weren’t his parents—the happiness and wonders of his real family would always plague his mind.

“Oh good, you got Jace. Dinner is ready,” Molly smiled as she entered the room. She cocked her eyebrow, “Wow, Jace made a friend?”

John chuckled as he looked at the blonde next to him, “I know right?”

Molly smiled at the three, “Let’s head down to dinner. Your father will be home any minute.”

Peyton and John followed his mom down the stairs, Jace still on her thin hip. It felt weird holding a baby like this she realized. Soon enough she herself would be like Mrs. O’Callaghan cooking meals and cleaning house for her children. It was eerie to Peyton.

They all walked into a dining room with a long mahogany table. The room was decorated with a pure white and mint complex, simple decorations on the wall. There were candles on the table on either side of a beautiful lasagna. Peyton placed Jace in his high chair and looked to John who was pulling out a chair for her. “Thank you,” she said with a smile on her lips.

John took a seat on her right and placed his napkin over his lap, “Ethan! Get down here dinner is ready!” He yelled loudly.

Peyton heard footsteps coming down the stairs loudly along with the giggles of teenage voices. Soon enough a thin adolescent boy walked into the room. It was almost bizarre how much he looked like his older brother. He had the same big green eyes, thin nose with a light splash of freckles, and long lanky frame. Peyton noticed a small girl standing behind the boy with a blush on her cheeks. She had long blonde hair and big brown eyes. She was thin and Peyton could instantly tell that she was a girl that all the guys would want.

“Peyton this is my brother Ethan,” John smiled, gesturing at the boy, “Ethan this Peyton, my friend.”

Ethan took a seat across from Peyton, the girl behind him taking a seat to his left. “Where is your slut of a girlfriend?” Ethan laughed.

“Shut the hell up,” John chuckled. “And out with some friends.”

Molly rolled her eyes as she entered the room, “You are in town for two days and she’s out with friends? Yeah, she’s a keeper, John.”

Ethan snorted, “Well now that you knocked her up you have to keep her.”

John threw an ice cube from his cup at the boy across from him and he dodged it swiftly, sticking out his tongue.

“No fighting at the table,” Molly announced at the two boys. “Ethan, have you introduced your friend?”

The girl next to the boy blushed, “This is Kenzie.”

The girl gave Peyton and John a nervous hello as a man bounded through the living room door, “I am home, O’Callaghans!”

John looked at Peyton with a smile on his lips before looking at the man she presumed to be his father, “Dad, this is my friend Peyton.”

“Ah, yes Peyton, I heard your name a bit yesterday. I am John O’Callaghan the fourth,” the man smiled, “You can call me Dad, it’ll be way less confusing.”

Peyton smiled and shook John’s hand looking over him. He had the same build as John did just older. He wore a black suit and had a briefcase in his hands, his slicked back hair completing the business man look.

“Nice to meet you,” she smiled as John’s eyes looked at his other son.

“Ah, and you must be the famous Kenzie Welker. Ethan never stops talking about you and now I understand why! Welcome to the family darling,” John smiled, taking a seat to Peyton’s left at the head of the table. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

Peyton could already tell that John’s dad was going to be one of the nicest people she had met. He honestly seemed to care about his family and the comfort of everyone around him. They began to eat dinner and she giggled as John and Ethan seemed to argue the whole time like typical siblings.

Molly groaned, “Ugh, John you’re twenty one, act it. Ethan you’re almost sixteen, act it. So Peyton, where are you from, dear?”

“I live in Braintree,” she smiled, taking a sip of the wine Molly had given her.

“Oh! Of course you’re Nick Santino’s cousin right?” John Senior asked, taking a mouthful of his pasta.

“Yeah, he actually grew up right down the street from me,” Peyton smiled.

“I bet that was really nice, so you just graduated this past year?” Molly questioned. “Looking at colleges?”

“I did graduate this year yeah and I got into a few schools this past year, but some pretty milestone things happened, and well, I just decided to take the year off. Do some traveling, then next year I’m going to reapply for schools,” Peyton explained.

“I see, I see,” John nodded his head. “What schools did you get in to?”

“Uh,” Peyton began embarrassed, “USC, UCLA, NYU, ASU…Julliard. Brown, Yale…”

She watched as the boy next to hers eyes widened. John looked at her, “Jesus, Pey, you didn’t tell me you were amazing at everything.”

She shrugged, “I’m not. I just studied a lot in high school.”

Molly smiled at her, “I wish my sons had that ability. What did you get into Julliard for?”

“Dance,” Peyton replied with a small smile on her lips. “I’ve been dancing for forever.”

“I used to dance in my day,” Molly grinned.

“Like a hundred years ago,” Ethan laughed.

“You’re grounded,” his mother retorted back causing him to laugh louder.

“So, Kenzie, are you dating my son?” John Senior laughed.

Kenzie’s cheeks blushed immediately as she looked at the older man, “Yes, I am sir.”

John laughed, “Good luck!”

“Peyton, John, if you two had an advice for two teenagers in a relationship what would it be?” Molly asked, looking at the two intrigued.

“Don’t have sex,” John laughed.

“John Cornelius,” his mother scolded. “Be appropriate please.”

“Right, be appropriate! Like that is totally not a hickey on Kenzie’s neck!” John laughed causing the girl to grab her neck and blush even more than she had.

“John!” Ethan yelled, “Come on, bro!”

“Remember when you called mom and told her I was wasted at Kennedy’s party a few years ago? This is payback. Suck it,” he laughed.

Peyton giggled and everyone eventually turned their eyes to her waiting for her answer to Molly’s question. She thought seriously before answering, “Never take any day for granted. If you love someone tell them because they might not be there tomorrow.”

Molly and John Senior smiled at her before mouthing ‘I love you’ to each other across the table. Everyone seemed more than content with this answer and let it roll into silence. Peyton felt her mind drifting off to Georgia just wishing once more that she could tell her that she missed her and that she loved her more than anything; they were best friends and she never wanted to take that for granted again.

As if John could read her mind he softly grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She sat at the table and saw all the family love everyone had for each other; it warmed her heart.

This night was exactly what she needed; after dinner John and Peyton said goodbye and thank yous to his parents before making their way back to his apartment to meet up with the rest of the bands. When they walked in they were greeted with questions on where they had been but no one seemed to really care once they had answered them.

Peyton snuck into Eric’s bathroom and took a shower before they started their drive that night to Texas. After she got out of the shower the boys were all in their own rooms just silently doing their own thing. She stepped outside after grabbing her cigarettes and went and sat on the bottom steps.

She could hear voices coming around the corner and as she recognized Delilah and Melissa she hid under the staircase. She could tell by the tone in their voices this was a conversation that they wanted to keep secret.

“Melissa,” Delilah seethed in a whisper. “What happened down there did you…?”

“I got it taken care of,” Melissa responded in the same hushed tone.

“Have you told John?”

“No.”

“He’s going to be furious that he didn’t know first…”

“Yeah well something tells me he’ll be furious either way,” Melissa sighed. “I just—I can’t yet. I’m not ready.”

Delilah sighed, “This isn’t just a little white lie, dear. This is an—

“I know what it was, okay? I just went through it…”

“I can’t believe you did it…I didn’t think you would actually go through with it,” Delilah said softly. Peyton was confused as the girls spoke in hushed whispers and she craned her neck as to hear them better. What did Melissa do? Did she sleep with Trent?

“You can say it. Just say it, Lilah. Just effing say it,” Melissa seethed. “I know you’re disappointed in me but I don’t care. This is what is best.”

“I just…I thought you were pro life,” her friend whispered confusedly.

Peyton’s eyes widened as she listened to the girl’s response.

“Yeah, well abortion seems like a much more realistic decision when you know that the father of your baby isn’t ever going to be around. What’s done is done. Let’s go, John is waiting inside.”

Peyton listened as the girls walked up the stairs with her thoughts spinning. What the hell was she going to do?