`school bag in hand, she leaves home [ALY]

[penn justice prescott]

It felt… Uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with a side of nauseating. There was something off kilter about the way the moon appeared to hang in the sky, suspended on an invisible hinge that seemed to creek and moan with the hulls of the ships moored in the marina. His skin was crawling with an unpleasant anticipation, as if his body were expecting something. The words clamy and froth came to mind and suddenly he felt sick. He had to sit down somewhere, for he was certain that if he stood a moment longer, he would be in terrible danger of toppling over the edge of the dock and into the black lacquer of the water. Or you know; in danger of throwing himself off of it. Whichever.

Penn lowered himself slowly to the soggy wood of the dock, careful to avoid any splinters that might lodge themselves in the thick hide of his palms as he slung his legs over the edge. He watched idly as the toes of his brown leather shoes just barely missed the surface of the water, catching the mist that seemed to cling there, existing mysteriously and unobtrusively. This could have been something enjoyable for him; just sitting on the dock of the bay, indulging in the feeling of the evening that seemed to slip over your skin like a light sweater. It was familiar. But it was the familiarity that was making his stomach churn and the hairs of the back of his neck prickle in their own disconcerting way. The mist felt toxic, like some sort of sulfuric fog with poisonous properties.

Four years had passed, lugubriously I might add, and yet it seemed as if nothing had changed here. The trains still ran at least 15 minutes late, the flickering neon sign at Viva’s diner still hadn’t been replaced, and the majority of Lampton’s citizens still preferred their own shopping trolleys to those offered at the shops. Many of the same townspeople remained; Mrs. Robins was still the owner of the local flower shop and still the resident gossip, Penn’s ex-wife was still living in their fine colonial style home, and a majority of the recent high school and collage graduates remained in town. The only thing now that really seemed different was the fact that in a short while, little Alyson Kent would be somebody’s wife. It seemed surreal, almost like it wasn’t happening and it was in fact some little pretend game that she’d devised and she was still 6 years old.

Marriage. It seems like such a nice thing when you’re young doesn’t it?

Had he been the type of person inclined towards cynicism, he might have told her to get herself out of it; to just run and never look back. That committing for life, especially at such a young age, was not in fact a splendid or romantic idea. Though still terribly bitter at how his own marriage had ended, he understood that not every young couple was subject to his experiences. While he wanted her to be mindful, he didn’t want to scare her. Most of all he just wanted her to be happy. She deserved it after everything she’d had to endure over the years.

[alyson sophia kent]

ALYSON had become very well acquainted with the yacht club over the last few months. More so then she already was. Which was a fair bit, considering she’d loved going there growing up. Now that it was the location for her wedding though, Alyson spent a lot of time there. Tasting menus, checking linens, okaying table settings. Her Blackberry was almost permanently attached to her ear with the club’s event manager on the other end. So much so that Finn had taken to hiding her phone just to spend some time with her when she wasn’t on the bloody thing talking china patterns. She’d always been a perfectionist though, so planning the fairy-tale was a lot of hard work.

IT was all paying off though. It was going to be perfect; she was sure of it. She’d just been at the ball-room. The one that had an entire wall of windows that over-looked the water. The event manager taking her over variations on the possible table layouts that they had discussed. She knew the one she preferred, but keeping up the charade that Finley had just as much say in it as she did, Alyson had taken pictures of each of them, to show Finn and ask his advice. Of course she did value his opinion. She wanted the day to be special for him too, but it was hard for her to let go of control. She figured that was the normal bride thing though. That they all took much more of a roll in these things then the groom.

INSTEAD of walking straight to her car, Alyson had decided to take a walk down the wharf. It was a lovely time in the afternoon where the sun was just starting to set and everything looked so pretty. The perfect way to de-stress after the day. She’d had a sort of freak out earlier, when the place cards had been the wrong size. It wasn’t the first bridezilla moment she’d had, and she was sure it would not be the last. The closer things got, the more the smallest details bugged Alyson, because the less time she had to fix things that weren’t right. Thank god for Kayla though, she’d smoothed over the stress earlier that day for Alyson and got the cards re-printed for no extra cost.

SHE had been so caught up in her thoughts and the views, the girl had barely noticed the familiar figure sitting to her left. As it was, she had to stop to look again. The young woman’s heart just about skipped a beat, jumping into her chest as it became very clear just who the man was. She’d heard from his very own mother that he was back in town, but she hadn’t seen him yet. She wasn’t sure if he’d want to see her, the daughter of the man that had betrayed her. She couldn’t lie though, she’d missed Penn. He’d been a second father to her for so long. It was hard to let go of those feelings.

TRYING to keep her smile soft, containing some of the joy she was feeling, Alyson cleared her throat. “Mr Prescott..” She spoke softly, not wanting to startle him at all. If it was up to her impulses, she’d had thrown herself on him in a hug. However she was a woman now, so she’d refrain..

[/size]

[penn justice prescott]

Idly, he watched a flock of marine birds bobbing atop the gentle waves that lulled in the harbor, their beaks dipping beneath the black lacquered surface in order to catch indolent aquatic insects for supper. A gentle smile crept onto his lips at the routinely quaint display, but only for a second before he once again became aware of the restless feeling in the pit of his stomach. To Penn, the simple delights of this town which he used to find charming now seemed, for lack of better words, weird. No matter the amount of self control he applied to his thought process, he couldn’t seem to shake the fact that almost everywhere he went and everything he saw reminded him of his agonizing past. It was to be expected though, considering right after everything had happened he’d left the country, allowing him no time to properly make amends with the place. That was the problem with escape; in its immediacy you were untroubled, but in the long run it became harder to come back.

After a good while of sitting, stewing in his own thoughts, Penn roused himself out from the depths of his mind, catching himself rubbing the space of skin where his wedding band had been with the tips of his fingers. Gaaah! He knew that this was a terrible idea. Things seemed so much simpler when you were in a sherpa village at high altitude; you were more concentrated on surviving then on idle thoughts and miseries from you past. He should have remained lost somewhere in Asia. Trekking through the Himalayas seemed delightfully easy compared to the oncoming storm of emotions that was sure to fallow in wake of his arrival. However he knew that if he left, neither his mother nor Alyson for that matter, would forgive him for missing the wedding. He would just have to put aside his concerns, his fears, and suck it up. This time was supposed to be all about the bride, and while Penn was uncomfortable with being back in Lampton, he wasn’t about to ruin it all for Alyson.

In what could be considered a meek voice, Penn was approached from behind. Thinking that it was one of the many young club employees tentatively attempting to get him to move away from the edge, he swung his legs back onto the dock. "I’m sorry, I’ll move-" he began to say, shooting an apologetic smile towards the voice along with a fleeting glance, however he cut himself off when he noticed who it was that had used his surname.

She was as beautiful as she’d always been; tall, striking, and with a head of glorious blond hair like her mother’s. However there was something different about her. There was a maturity in her face that hadn’t been there when he’d seen her last; a defiance in her brow and learned expression in her lips. She also seemed to have acquired the standard glow of a bride-to-be within her rosy cheeks. Penn couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed at the sight of her. The anxiety he’d felt pumping through his veins ceased and was replaced with an elation so intense in prompted him to a state where he could have easily burst into tears. He clambered to his feet, grinning ear to ear in the classic crooked Penn way of his. “Hey kiddo,” he said warmly, making his way over to her and wrapping her up in a fatherly embrace. “And who are you calling ‘Mr. Prescott’ huh? Geeze, that’s my father’s name.”

[alyson sophia kent]

ALYSON wasn’t sure why she had called him Mr. Prescott. She’d really never done that before in her life. He’d always been just plain ‘Penn’ to the blonde. Or when she was really sucking up ‘second daddy’. She was certain, even though she did not remember it herself, that he had been there with her father in the waiting room when she’d been born. He was probably about the fourth or fifth person to hold her. Ever. Formalities with them had dissolved before they’d even formed between the two. She could remember the days she used to take her father’s hand in one and Penn’s hand in the other, walk them into her room and demand they play with you. ‘I’ll be the princess and you both be the kingdom okay?’.

IT was mostly out of fear that she had been so formal. What do you say to the man that treated you like his own child, only to find out your father had betrayed him in the worst way possible? It was an extremely un-comfortable situation. Made worse by the fact Penn had left. Leaving everyone behind to clean up after the bomb. For a while she had been angry at him. If he could love her like a daughter, surely he could come to terms with things and still be there for the kid he’d raised as a son? The older she got though, the more time and space she had to deal with things, she understood how hard it must have been. On all the adults. It’s a hard lesson, when you discover the people you look up to will make mistakes.

BLUSHING at her own sillyness, Alyson could not help but grin at the way Penn had greeted her. All her fears of a less then warm reception melting away in that one moment. She felt like a child again. The joy of seeing him that she used to feel as a young child rising in her stomach. She really had adored the man. Even as a toddler, it had been ‘Penn Penn’ this and ‘Penn Penn’ that. She had even run away to her Penn Penn once when she was seven and her own parents told her she could not have a pony. Despite everything, he belonged in her life, and Alyson was glad to have him back, right where he belonged.

Throwing her arms around the older man, she buried her face in his chest. Breathing in the scent of him. Anyone watching may have gotten the wrong impression of the situation. However there was nothing seedy about the embrace at all. It was such a pure, platonic, father and daughter moment for Alyson. It felt so safe being in his arms. Not as safe as her own father’s, but pretty darn close. The only other man in her life who’s arms could even compare were Finn’s. However that was for completely different reasons. Reasons that, if they were the same for Penn, would be really...just wrong.

NOT wanting to let go, the blonde clung tighter to him. Five years was an awful long time not to see a person, and a girl might be scared of loosing said person again if she let him go too quickly. “I’ve missed you so much..” She mumbled into his chest. Trying to keep her emotions at bay. What was with weddings making her so much more emotional than usual? Well, maybe not more emotional. She didn’t have much of a problem feeling emotions. More like, she was crying a .lot more these days. “I may have to insist you don’t leave for so long ever again you know...” She added, pulling back to look at him. “Man, you got old.” She winked as she spoke. Playful spark ruining the moment.

[/size]

[penn justice prescott]

A deep rumbling chuckle took control of his chest as he felt her wrap her arms around him in turn. Despite the complicated relationship he had with her family, none of the messy business that had occurred years prior seemed relevant in this moment; he was just glad to see her. Truth be told, he hadn’t expected her welcome to be so warm. She had all the reason in the world to hate him considering he’d just up and left without a word in what could be considered one of the most traumatic moments in both of their lives. He’d already experienced a fair amount of grief from her mother over the way in which he’d departed and he was sure to find it with the rest of her family, but for now he was just glad to be hugging her.

A watery smile came to his lips as she spoke into the fabric of his shirt about how she’d missed him, to which he responded with a gentle kiss atop of her golden head. He’d missed her terribly as well. How could he not? She was his surrogate daughter; the one he doted upon and spoiled like she was his own. “I promise, I’m not going anywhere,” he replied gently, loosening his grip on the hug just enough so that he might make eye contact with her.

“And you’ve gotten terribly rude,” he retorted, furrowing his brows at her, frowning disconcertingly as she commented on his appearance and how terribly he’d aged over the years they’d been apart. Though his vanity had been bruised a little by the comment, he wasn’t offended in the slightest. Sure, it looked as if he were disturbed by her assertion, but truly it was all in jest. She could have called him a big fat lard and in that moment he wouldn’t have even cared; just seeing her again rendered him unable to feel anything but joy. “Old?” he said, wrinkling his nose as if the word had some terrible aroma about it. "It's the hair isn't it?" he asked, running a hand over the severly cropped salt and pepper brown fuzz atop his head. "Too short? I told the girl just a little off the top. She clearly didn't speak English," he said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

He took a moment to just look at her, disbelief evident in his expression as he examined the subtle differences in her face and her height. Since when had she gotten so tall? It seemed like only yesterday that the top of her head just barely reached his hip. Where had the little girl with the chubby cheeks and the cherry red lollipop stained mouth gone? He offered her wistful smile, his hands coming to gently grasp her shoulders. “I can’t even believe it; little Aly Kent getting married,” he said, unable to keep his smile from cracking into a full on grin. “This is too weird,” he replied with the shake of his head, “I feel like you should still be playing with barbies or something.”

[alyson sophia kent]

A devilish smirk crossed the young women’s features. Rude? Alyson? Never. Still grinning she wriggled her eyebrows at Penn. She’d always been a bit on the cheeky side, and Penn was no stranger to that part of her. “I’m not rude Mister!” She announced, as though indignant to his suggestion that she was anything but perfectly sweet. “I’m just being honest. Isn’t that how you and my daddy--....” She paused mid sentence, not finishing her comment about how she was raised to be honest. Cheeks turning a deep red. She hadn’t even thought about it before she’d let the comment slip. She never really thought before speaking, but she should probably learn to right?

MOVING her arms from around the older man, Alyson took a step backwards. It would have only been a matter of time before it came up. It was inevitable really. Still though, she would have preferred it didn’t come up quiet so soon. It would have been nice to re-connect and learn what the other was up to before the hard topics from the past came up. Still though, maybe it was good to get it all out early on? Generally though, she liked to avoid awkward conversations. Which her thoughtless mouth didn’t actually help with. Curse that mouth of hers. Always getting her into trouble.

SILENCE hung between them for a moment. While the blonde fidgeted in place. She had no idea what to say. She had so many feelings on the situation. So many things she wanted Penn to know. But some of it wasn’t exactly her place, and she didn’t know how much he’d like her saying it anyway. Plus where do you start with something this big? She couldn’t just say ‘I’m sorry my dad broke your heart and betrayed you..’. With a deep sigh, she looked at her feet. They couldn’t just stand there. It was getting dark, not to mention cold. And the longer they stood there, the worse things would be for them.

ATTEMPTING to regain the previous atmosphere, Alyson fixed a smile to her features. Rising her blue eyes to look up at his face. Clearing her throat, the girl reached out one hand, palm face up, to Penn. A peace offering of sorts. “Penn Prescott, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” She asked, still smiling. After all, they had a lot to catch up on and talk about. Besides it would be much nicer to have something to do in any awkward moments. Like move around cutlery and the like. “No pressure, but if you accept you will make me the happiest girl in the world..”

[/size]

[penn justice prescott]

He hadn’t wanted to let it bother him, but it had. It was such a small thing, such a tiny insignificant slip on her part, but it was enough. He felt the taste in his mouth become foul; almost coppery. He should have known that sooner or later the topic or mere indication of Alex would be brought up. It was inevitable after all, what with him being her father as well the curator of his family’s destruction and all. He was naïve enough to think that somehow things would have been fine, that the reunion between Aly and himself would proceed in a fashion in which they laughed and swapped stories over a bottle of wine without any sort of hiccup in their conversation or reminder of unfortunate events that had come to pass between his family and hers. Stupid Penn. Stupid, stupid, stupid immature Penn for thinking such dumb insensible things.

Penn’s arms slipped from around her and his throat suddenly felt very dry. He did his best to muster all the will in the world to appear unfazed by the mention of her father, but his smokescreen wasn’t entirely believable, as made apparent by the far off, dazed look in his baby blues. He fidgeted slightly, his eyes lowering from her so that they might not betray him in his moment of discomfort. He suddenly became very concerned about the placement of his hands. First he hugged them around his mid-riff, then noticing that was a stance that seemed too awkward to be genuine, he placed them in his pockets, then after a moment of sifting his fingers through their contents, he took them out and with one of his hands, he scratched the back of his neck. All this was conducted without even the slightest glance in her direction. For some reason he felt inclined to apologize, but he wasn’t exactly sure what for.

He opened his mouth to say something, but to his surprise, not a sound was uttered. His brows creased and he tried yet again to muster proper words for this type of situation, but still no luck. He felt like a fish, opening and closing his mouth, sucking in air whilst simultaneously looking like dunce. Luckily he was spared the obligation of trying to correct the awkward moment when Aly offered her hand to him. He smiled faintly, looking at the eager white palm stretched out to him in a way that he was all too familiar with. Though the hand was perhaps more mature and now accessorized with a rather beautiful diamond, it still seemed as if it were still the same 6 year old hand he’d taken so many times when the dear girl had wanted him to push her on the swings or lift her up into the big oak tree in her backyard.

After a moment, he accepted her hand and managed to look her in the eye once more. “I would love to,” he said, his smile still mournful, but growing on his lips all the same. “I’m buying though.”

[alyson sophia kent]

Alyson could live with that; Letting the older man pay. While she did like being a strong, independent woman, she also knew the value of letting a guy do the chivalrous thing- like pay for a meal. Especially when that man was practically your father. For a man like Penn, it may even be insulting if she refused him. Besides all of that, she was actually an old fashioned girl in a lot of ways. She liked the men in her life open her doors and showering her with attention. Who cared how far fact it set the woman’s movement. She liked it that way, and wasn’t about to change.

Grinning at the man, she nodded. “I think I can comply with those terms. Only I get to choose the place..” She gave him a playful wink before setting off down the side-walk. This was better. Dinner. They had a purpose now. And hopefully she could slip in some of the important subjects she wanted to discuss with him while they were eating. “Oh!” She just about hit her forehead. “Let me just call Finn and let him know I won’t be home so he doesn’t worry.” She paused in her stride to get out her cell phone. It was a good thing she remembered, because that may not have gone over too well, had she completely forgotten.

Once her phone was out, she quickly accessed Finn’s number. Clearly, it was the first of her most recent call list. She was always calling these days, back and forth with Wedding plans when they could not be together. Holding the phone to her ear, she smiled as it rang. “Hey you... I miss you..” Of course, the normal cuteness had to go first. “Listen though baby, I won’t be home for dinner. I ran into Penn Prescott.. and well. We are having dinner. ... Yeah. I will. Love you baby..bye.” After blowing a kiss into the phone, she hung up and slipped it back into her purse.

“Sorry..” she mused, blushing slightly. She was well aware how completely embarrassing her conversations with Finn were. Mostly she didn’t care, but sometimes she felt the need to apologise for her gushy romantic talk. Especially around people who were not used to it. With her phone safely away, and her fiancé equipped with the knowledge of her location, she started walking again, leading Penn to the cute little restaurant near the wharf that she adored. She and Finn usually went there as their go-to place when they could not decide what to eat. “You’ll love this place, it’s like sea-food meats Italian..”

[/size]

[penn justice prescott]

Penn couldn’t help but chuckle quietly to himself as he watched Aly skitter away, phone in hand. Ah, what a thing it was to be young and in love. He remembered being roughly Aly’s age when he’d first proposed to his wife. If he recalled correctly, there was a fair amount of abuse that went on in that time period. Of course nothing serious; it was mostly Penn getting hit in the head with the wedding planning book if he became “too uninvolved” or wasn’t thinking sensibly about placemats or something. However, along with the squabbles and the stress, there was a lot of mush, a lot of staring into each others eyes, and a lot of random phone calls during the day to “just talk”. In a sense it was kind of… Fulfilling to see Aly calling her beau just to tell him where she was. Things had come full circle; after years of raising these kids, he finally got to see them become adults and make their own choices in familiar situations. This was the part of parenting where things got bittersweet.

Though the moment was a sweet one to look upon, Penn suddenly felt a little on guard as she disclosed her whereabouts to Finn and who she happened to be with. He almost interjected her in order to stop her from making his presence known, but found that he wasn’t quick enough. Perhaps it was silly of him, but Penn wasn’t entirely comfortable with letting everyone know that he was back in town yet. After all, he had only just arrived about a day ago and still needed time to get acclimatized to the feelings and the memories that this place was so heavily impregnated with. He hadn’t even told Tristan that he was back in town yet. What if he found out though word of mouth that the man who’d raised him for 18 years was in town, but hadn’t yet come to call on him?

He calmed himself, doing his best to convince himself that neither Finn nor Aly would give him away to his son or the former Mrs. Prescott. They were sensible; surely they would understand that it wasn’t easy for him to ease back into a place that had essentially been tainted forever in his mind. He just needed some time before he could begin to approach the whole hairy situation of reuniting with his broken family.

He grinned as she approached him once agian, blushing over the sheer sugary sweetness of the conversation. “You guy’s are sweet. Disgustingly so,” he teased crinkling his nose at her before the headed down the wharf towards the little seafood shack just up a ways. When they reached the establishment, Penn opened the door for Alyson in pure gentlemanly form, making sure that even though he was uncomfortable with being back here, he wasn’t forgetting his manners. The inside of the restaurant was a little kitschy what with the netting decorations and the mounted fish on the wall, but it was endearing, lively, and smelled heavenly. After indicating to the hostess that a table for two was needed, both Mr. Prescott and the soon to be Mrs. Heaton found themselves at a quaint table next to the window that over looked the wharf. He could tell that the impending conversation they were about to have was going to be a long one, but he was unsure of how to start it. Even though being with her gave him a sense of ease, there was still the residual awkwardness of the whole “I haven’t seen you in 5 years” thing. He cleared his throat, running a hand over his cleanly cropped hair before he looked back at her. “What’s good here?” Stupid. Stupid thing to say. There could better things to start with.

[alyson sophia kent]

Well. It would be nice to report that Alyson ‘just wouldn’t’ tell Tristan about his father (for all intense and purposes) was back in town. But honestly? Expecting secrecy from Alyson Kent was perhaps a little too much. It wasn’t that she was a loud-mouth gossip. It was more that if your secret will put the blonde in an awkward situation chances are she’ll put her own feelings first and let the secret slide. And this secret was just that sort of thing. If Tristan found out she knew and hid it, he’d be rather upset at her, and she couldn’t have that. It was the blunt, honest truth. Alyson had a strong tendency to look out for herself.

She didn’t do it to be openly nasty to other people. Half the time she didn’t even really consider how the other people involved would be affected by her actions. Which, mind you, was just as bad as doing it out of malice. At least with bad intentions you still considered the other person. She wasn’t a mean spirited person, but an oblivious person could cause just as much damage. Maybe the one redeeming quality of an oblivious person was the fact that they usually did feel bad (even if they couldn’t admit it) when they found out the mess they’d created.

She really did have the best intentions in that moment though. She wasn’t at all planning to run off and tell Tristan right off. In fact she was planning to talk Penn into telling the kid himself. That would have been the best outcome for everyone involved anyway. The question was, how to broach the subject? ‘Tell your son you are home, oh and past the pepper..” really just wasn’t going to cut it. She needed a plan of attack. Well, more like an idea of a plan she’d consider, say ‘fuck it’ then just say it rather bluntly with little tact. She was good at saying stuff with no tact at times.

Settling into her chair, Alyson picked up her menu. Flicking through the pages leisurely. Eyes glancing over the various headings and dishes. Waiting for something to take her eye. “What’s good?” She repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Pretty much everything..” She smirked with a shrug. “Finn and I have worked our way through most of the menu and still haven’t found a bad dish. I’d suggest one of the fettichuni dishes . They are so lush.” That was her favourite at least, the pasta dishes. In fact, that was what she was going to have. Maybe the cabanara. Screw the wedding related diet. She wanted creamy sauce and bacon, stat.

Putting her menu down, Alyson reached for the jug of water that was just placed on the table. Pouring herself a drink and slowly taking a sip before turning her attention on Penn. She’d start with the easy things. That sounded like a plan right? Work up to the hard things. “So where are you staying?” She tilted her head, smiling blandly. As though there was no other motive behind asking the question than just her curiosity. She was, after all, at least a little curious as to where he was staying. Was it with Deanie?

[/size]