SkyGirl5
Cadet
Title: Hemlock Grove
Genre: s/v au
Summary: Sydney Bristow only had one goal for her trip home to Hemlock Grove, a place she has not been in over eight years. Of course, once she arrives back in the small town atmosphere any hope of getting in and getting out quickly is lost and the hope of rekindling an old romance is gained. [15]
Inspired by (kind of) Sweet Home Alabama
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Prologue
“You got married?!” exclaimed Amelia Vaughn, shock and horror filling her eyes as they shifted between her son and apparent daughter-in-law before her.
“Isn’t it great?” Michael beamed. He snaked his arms around his wife’s waist and gave her hip a gentle squeeze; she smiled back at him.
“But Sydney is only eighteen years old! And she just graduated high school last week!” Amelia insisted.
“We love each other,” Sydney chimed in with an explanation while giving her new husband a gooey-eyed look. “Besides, I’m still going to Penn in the fall; my plans aren’t changing,” she assured the elder woman. They had it all planned out and were not nearly as rational as Michael’s parents made it seem.
“So you’re going to quit working in the shop?” Michael’s father, Bill, demanded. He was referring to his shop, Vaughn’s Auto Repair, which was the only car-related store within the limits of their small town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania.
“No, of course not. While Sydney’s in Philly, I’m going to keep working and stay here and work on the house,” Michael smiled.
“HOUSE?!” Amelia and Bill asked in unison.
“Yeah, we bought the old Branson property,” Sydney told them. They had just closed the deal that morning, making the down payment using the money from Sydney’s salary from the grocery store, and from Michael’s full time work at the auto repair shop.
“That run down shack?!” Amelia asked, her horror turning to nausea. “You cannot live there! It doesn’t even have any plumbing or electricity!”
“Yes it does, Mom,” Michael groaned at his mother’s melodramatic attitude. “It’s just a little run down. I’ll fix it up, though,” he assured her. Amelia threw her hands up in the air, obviously fed up with their actions, and disappeared from the room. She could not believe her son and his girlfriend of two years were acting so foolish.
“It’s all going to work out fine,” Michael said to his father.
“I hope you’re right, son,” Bill said before walking off in the direction his wife had just disappeared.
“It is going to be fine,” Sydney told him, knowing he would be slightly hurt from his parent’s obvious disproval.
“Yeah,” he said, giving her a half smile and then kissing her. They had a plan and, as long as they stuck by it, everything would be fine.
Chapter 1
“…get ready cats and kittens – we’re flashing back to 1981 with Rick Springfield’s Jesse’s Girl here on-”
Sydney Bristow groaned loudly as she punched the seek button on her car’s radio. She absolutely hated 80’s flashbacks, especially when it came to music (and fashion trends). She had lived through the decade and was in no rush to relive it in any form.
She settled on a station playing soft rock before relaxing back into the seat of her rented BMW. Living and working in New York City she had no use for a car on a day to day basis, so it would have been an utter waste to own one. In fact, the only time she drove was when she went on a business trip and rented a car at her destination. Even that was not all that frequent. That day was no business trip, though; it was her first vacation in years. Then again, vacation was the wrong word. Typically, a person looked forward to a vacation and planned it weeks in advance. Sydney was not exactly looking forward to her trip back to Hemlock Grove after being away for over eight years. She had not planned her trip, either; it was more of a spur of the moment decision to do something that was a long time coming.
Cruising down the tree lined roads of northern Pennsylvania, Sydney was careful to watch her speed. Years earlier, during her reckless youth, she sped along similar narrow roads by her hometown. One time, while fiddling with the radio, she lost control of the vehicle and slammed it into a very large pine tree. Miraculously, she was unharmed, but the car was not so lucky. After an endless verbal lashing from her father, Sydney was scared straight enough to know that going seventy miles per hour on such a road was not a wise decision to make.
As Sydney drove towards her home town, her mind drifted back to the last time she was there. It was Christmas 1998 and as much as she wanted to stay at the University of Pennsylvania over their four week semester break, she knew she had to come home to visit her father. Her mother had died before she was thirteen years old and since she had no siblings her father was the only family she had.
During that month’s worth of time, she rarely left her house, not wanting to inadvertently run into him on the streets. She wasn’t ready to talk to him, not yet, not after what happened. Confrontations were not her strong suit at all. Then again, avoidance was not usually something she did either, but in that particular case avoidance was definitely preferable over some horrible confrontation. Their confrontation would be horrible too; there was no way around that.
After that break was over, though, she never returned. Of course she had seen her father when he came to visit her at school or up in New York City, which he tried to do at least twice a year – once on her birthday and once again at Christmas. They spoke over the phone, too. As for setting foot back in Hemlock Grove, though, she just could not bear it. At first, it was too soon. Then, as time passed, it would have been too awkward, something she just could not bear.
Now, at the age of twenty-eight, she realized she had avoided that confrontation for far too long. At that point, it was just downright pathetic that she was afraid to speak with a man she had known practically her whole life. There was nothing frightening about him (except perhaps when his favorite baseball team was on a particularly painful losing streak), so she needed to get it over with, lest it continue on forever. It was going to be horrible, that she knew, but at least it would be over with and she could move on with her life.
For the most part, Sydney had moved on from her life in Hemlock Grove. She was a successful financial advisor working for one of the foremost financial firms in New York City. She had an apartment in a high rise, wore designer clothing and expensive jewelry. This was a complete one eighty from her life in Hemlock Grove, where ‘designer’ meant the Martha Stewart Collection from K-Mart. Not to mention the fact that a job like a financial advisor would be nowhere within the town limits.
The only thing left tying her to Hemlock Grove was him, and with that visit she was going to sever that tie. Though it made a part of her very sad, it was time to break the bond; there just wasn’t anything left anymore.
When she pulled off the highway onto the road that would take her straight through the middle of Hemlock Grove, butterflies began to fill her stomach. In her mind, she began imagining all the possible reactions he would have when she confronted him. In many of these instances he would yell until his face was red and his brow crinkled beyond repair. Most likely, this was the most accurate of all the scenarios, which was why her trepidation was growing with each traffic light she passed beneath.
Finally, after many hours of driving, she arrived at her destination. She parked her car along the street, not wanting to block the gravel driveway exit point, before taking a deep breath an exiting her car. As she walked up the front path, she found that, not surprisingly, the Vaughn residence had not changed very much over the years. The flowers in the bed surrounding the house had grown significantly, and there was a new rocking chair on the wrap-around porch, but otherwise it was identical; this made her smile inwardly, hoping that the house occupants had remained steady as well.
Her hand trembling ever so slightly, she knocked on the wood frame of the screen front door. Through it, she heard dishes clinking as someone rose from the brunch table to see who was interrupting their mid-morning meal. When Amelia Vaughn appeared in the hallway looking just as Sydney remembered her, Sydney smiled at her and waved ever so slightly.
“My goodness! Sydney that isn’t you is it?!” Amelia asked excitedly.
“It’s me,” Sydney confirmed softly, adjusting the purse strap over her shoulder.
“Oh honey look are you! It’s been so long!” Amelia said. As she pushed open the screen door, it creaked loudly, but it did not faze either of the women as they embraced each other warmly. “My goodness child you are skin and bones! Come inside and have something to eat!”
“Oh I don’t want to impose on your-”
“Nonsense,” Amelia cut her off with a wave of her hand. “You’re coming inside and you’re going to tell us all about your time in New York. Your father told us that you were working up there at some big fancy firm… I can’t remember what it is that you do though…something with numbers…”
“Financial advising,” Sydney informed her.
“Yes that! Oh I don’t know how you do it but I’m just so happy to see you!” Amelia said pulling her into yet another bone-crushing hug. Then, she pulled the younger girl into the house, nearly ripping Sydney’s arm off with her fervor.
Once inside the house, Sydney was overwhelmed with a sense of family, despite her still fluttering nerves. She had spent many, many days in her youth in the family room at the Vaughn residence in which she stood. After her mother’s death, Amelia became sort of a replacement mother in her life. Not keeping in touch with her during her time in the big city was definitely one of the regrets Sydney had.
Looking around the familiar environment, Sydney caught a glimpse back into the kitchen, where there was a distinct six-foot-one-inch figure slinking behind the refrigerator out of view. She would have to deal with him in a moment; there were still more hugs to be given out.
“Sydney we were thinkin’ you were never gonna come back,” Bill Vaughn said as he, too, gave her a hug.
“Well I’m just so busy,” she said as a weak defense. True, she was busy, but after eight years that was not exactly a valid excuse. “This is the first vacation I’ve ever had,” she laughed.
“They’re working you to the bone up there - just as I suspected. You need to come back here and get a more relaxing job – maybe at the bank,” Amelia smiled at her.
“Nice try,” Sydney laughed softly, winking at her. “I do love my job though – a lot. It’s fun and I don’t mind being busy; it’s nice for once.”
“Well we’re glad you’re happy dear,” Amelia smiled at her before giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Now how about you come and get something to eat? We’ve got pancakes and bacon and hash browns and muffins – all your favorites,” she enticed. Weekly Sunday brunch at the Vaughn’s was a must. When she still lived in Hemlock Grove, Sydney only missed it if she was too ill to even sit up properly; it was absolutely her favorite meal of the week.
“Wow I haven’t eaten like that in a long time,” she laughed softly, knowing that as of recently her lunchtime meal consisted mostly of coffee, coffee, more coffee and sometimes an occasional salad or cup of yogurt. She followed Amelia into the dining area where he was sitting at the table, staring intently at his plate. Only when she sat across from him, did he look up and lock eyes with her.
“Hi,” she said timidly.
“Hi,” he echoed almost silently. Then, he turned his eyes right back down to his lap.
Sydney sighed inwardly as she reached for a plate to pile pancakes onto. Of course her first meal with her husband in nearly nine years was going to be very awkward. She merely hoped it wasn’t going to be painful as well.
