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It was Sunday morning, just after eleven, and Stephie was on a mission. She sat on the end of her bed, wrapped in a blanket to ward off the cold. The cordless phone sat in her lap and she was twisting the peice of paper with Father Peter's phone number on her hands till it was completely crinkled. Her nerves were set to overpower her, but the anxiety of not knowing if she was healthy or not had been building and building, exponintially this past week and she'd come to the firm conclusion that knowing was better than wondering.
Well, perhaps the conclusion wasn't quite so firm as she wished, because her stomach was all in knots. She'd decided last night that she did want to go by herself; she wanted to be alone to deal with bad news, needed time to process it before sharing it with Ry and the others. Even though she was certain of Ry's support, she didn't want him there- didn't want anyone there. She'd slept in his bed last night while he was at Jocelin's- hey, he'd offered, and there was a kind of confort in it.
But now... now she swallowed all her nerves and smoothed out the peice of paper, then, with every scrap of determination in her she punched in Father Peter's phone number, counting the rings while she waited.
A little girl answered the phone. She used me most polite voice. "Hello, Kemp residence, Lydia speaking."
Stephie was speechless for a moment. Had Deirdre given her the right number? "Hello Lydia. Uh, does Father Peter live here?"
Lydia scrunched up her face. Father Peter? Well her father, Peter, lived there. "Yes! I'll go get him for you!" She put down the phone and run up the stairs where Peter was just putting on a shirt. "Daddy, there's a girl on the phone for you."
'Tuesday?' Peter rushed down the stairs and picked up the reciever. He was about to say, 'Tuesday, what's wrong!?' but he thought better of it. "This is Peter?"
Daddy? Had she heard that right? No- it really didn't matter. "Hey, it's Stephie. I was, um, wondering if you'd made any appointments for me or anything or was I supposed to do it and if I was can I have their number or something?" she said in one breath.
"Hello, Stephie." Peter was incredibly relieved. "Yes, your appointment is either Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th at noon. I told her you could call her and decide which one was best." He rattled off the number to her, glad she had called. He had been waiting for it. If she called, it meant she would go.
"How have you been, Stephie. Are you okay?"
Okay, tomorrow at noon, that was good- the sooner the better. She breathed an audible sigh of relief. "I'm okay. Life's been really quite mad- has Deirdre talked to you lately?"
Deirdre? Hmmm...not since... "Not recently, no. I do need to contact her soon. Is she alright?"
"Oh, she's fine, as far as I know. I was just wondering if she'd told you about," Stephie chewed over her words, "weird things that happened at our place the other night. Nothing... bad, don't worry."
"Weird things?" Interesting. Was Deirdre doing the weird things?
"Weird, but nice and distracting." Stephie nodded to herself. She wasn't planning on telling Father Peter about the Angel- he'd just think she'd been drinking or something. Deirdre could do it; he'd believe her. "So, where is this place?"
"It's only a short walk from your house actually, on Regent's Street. Her name is Dr. Lisa Bowen. She's a lovely woman."
Stephie nodded again. "Thanks..." she stopped talking as she wrote 'Regents Street' under Father Peter's number on the paper.
"Anytime, Stephie. You can call me anytime. Is there anything else you need to talk about?"
"Um," Stephie thought, still musing over the angel; over ghosts and other strange... things. "Nope, at least not at the moment. I just wanted to say... thank you. Thanks for listening and helping me out, I really do appriciate it. I hope you know how cool you are. Um. I guess I'll see you around?"
Peter smiled, "Of course you will. You're welcome, Stephie. See you soon and good luck."
She could hear the smile in his voice and it made her smile, too, despite the nerves. Oh God, tomorrow?! "See you then, and thanks again!" She hung up the phone, cradling it in her arms for a moment before getting up to head downstairs and put it back in it's home. She slid the peice of paper into her pocket, and patted it, making sure it wasn't going anywhere.
Whooo boy. Tomorrow. She better look up this doctor and confirm it now, then, while she was still on a roll.
Ry knocked on her bedroom door. He'd just gotten back from Jocelin's. Ready to deal with things after his reading with Renee yesterday. And the first thing he needed to deal with...
He knocked again when she didn't answer the first time. Maybe she wasn't in? Could she be seeing the doctor - without him? Well, it's not exactly like he'd been here for her to ask, so maybe yeah.
Biting his lip and looking around the hall as though she would magically appear there, Ry thought about heading downstairs and coming up with a Plan B.
Stephie was on her way back up the stairs from hanging up the phone a second time (everything was set, she had her appointment for twelve) when she saw Ry at the top of the stairs heading down. "Heya," she said. "You living here again, or just dropping by?"
"Yeah, I'm dropping by to pick up the rest of my stuff and get gone," Ry said, with a smile to let her know that he was joking around. "I was just looking for you, actually. How have you been? Didn't get much of a chance to talk to you the other night before I took off."
Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring that up so soon... but if everyone had seen it, surely it wouldn't help matters to not talk about it at all? Well, if Slink wanted to take up that conversation, she could do so, or ignore it for the rest of what he'd said.
"Yeah, I've been good," Stephie smiled, fiddling with the paper in her pocket. "You did disappear rather rapidly the other night, but I guess it must have been pretty trippy, especially with whatevr you'd been taking."
"It was just an upper," Ry said, waving it away as unimportant with his hand. "I rarely if ever do them, but Joc was handing them out to the whole group of us; it would have been rude to refuse. And then pot on top of that... crazy times, Slink. Real fucking crazy."
His eyes caught sight of her fiddling and he asked idley, "What's that you've got there?"
"A pocket." Stephie said, bluntly.
"Hey, if you don't wanna talk to me about it, that's all your own business." He held his hands up innocently to prove to her that it was exactly as he said. "However, I'm all sticky and I smell bad," he enveloped her into a boyish hug to prove this point, "So, I'm going to have a shower now. Wanna join me?"
"Tempting," Stephie smirked, stretching her neck up to kiss him.
"Can I make it more tempting?" Ry murmured, his lips leaving hers to make a trail down the side of her neck and kissing her collar bone, while his hands gently massaged her waist.
Stephie tipped her head back, offering more of her neck with a little moan of pleasure. Goddamnit, she wanted that shower with him, more than anything right now. "Yes," she murmured, wrapping her arms round his neck. "But I can't, not today."
Ry just leaned down to give her a peck on the very tip of her nose. It was with a sad smile that he looked at her, but not pitying. "Because of what I heard you talking about in the living room with the priest?" he asked without judgement. "Or could it be merely a less than wanted 4-weekly friend come to stay?" he asked to add a bit of a humor and a raised eyebrow.
She lay her head on his shoulder, face burrowed in his neck. "The first one," she mummbled.
"Hey..." He pulled her face away from his neck and made it so he was sure she would look him in the eye. "It's okay. Whatever it is. We can deal with it together." He rolled his eyes then. "Well, as 'together' as you want to deal with it. I'm hardly going to push me into helping you with anything." He paused. "Speaking of... did you want anyone to go to the doctor with you? Have you organised to go yet?"
"It's okay." She was still talking into his shoulder, quietly. "I've organised it." Thank god for his arms around her right now. She pressed herself closer to him, kissed his neck.
He smiled a little to nowhere in particular, stroking his hand over her hair. Then he pulled back and kissed her again. "I'm going to have that shower now," he informed her, "Otherwise, it ain't gonna get done. I'll come check on you when I'm done though, if you want?"
He blew her a kiss as he wandered down the hall.
Godfuckingdamn everything, she wanted him so much right now. Even so, she was grateful for his leaving; at least one of them had some self control. "Sure thing, Ry." She smiled wryly at him as he walked off, then went back up to her room to distract herself with the internet.
Well, perhaps the conclusion wasn't quite so firm as she wished, because her stomach was all in knots. She'd decided last night that she did want to go by herself; she wanted to be alone to deal with bad news, needed time to process it before sharing it with Ry and the others. Even though she was certain of Ry's support, she didn't want him there- didn't want anyone there. She'd slept in his bed last night while he was at Jocelin's- hey, he'd offered, and there was a kind of confort in it.
But now... now she swallowed all her nerves and smoothed out the peice of paper, then, with every scrap of determination in her she punched in Father Peter's phone number, counting the rings while she waited.
A little girl answered the phone. She used me most polite voice. "Hello, Kemp residence, Lydia speaking."
Stephie was speechless for a moment. Had Deirdre given her the right number? "Hello Lydia. Uh, does Father Peter live here?"
Lydia scrunched up her face. Father Peter? Well her father, Peter, lived there. "Yes! I'll go get him for you!" She put down the phone and run up the stairs where Peter was just putting on a shirt. "Daddy, there's a girl on the phone for you."
'Tuesday?' Peter rushed down the stairs and picked up the reciever. He was about to say, 'Tuesday, what's wrong!?' but he thought better of it. "This is Peter?"
Daddy? Had she heard that right? No- it really didn't matter. "Hey, it's Stephie. I was, um, wondering if you'd made any appointments for me or anything or was I supposed to do it and if I was can I have their number or something?" she said in one breath.
"Hello, Stephie." Peter was incredibly relieved. "Yes, your appointment is either Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th at noon. I told her you could call her and decide which one was best." He rattled off the number to her, glad she had called. He had been waiting for it. If she called, it meant she would go.
"How have you been, Stephie. Are you okay?"
Okay, tomorrow at noon, that was good- the sooner the better. She breathed an audible sigh of relief. "I'm okay. Life's been really quite mad- has Deirdre talked to you lately?"
Deirdre? Hmmm...not since... "Not recently, no. I do need to contact her soon. Is she alright?"
"Oh, she's fine, as far as I know. I was just wondering if she'd told you about," Stephie chewed over her words, "weird things that happened at our place the other night. Nothing... bad, don't worry."
"Weird things?" Interesting. Was Deirdre doing the weird things?
"Weird, but nice and distracting." Stephie nodded to herself. She wasn't planning on telling Father Peter about the Angel- he'd just think she'd been drinking or something. Deirdre could do it; he'd believe her. "So, where is this place?"
"It's only a short walk from your house actually, on Regent's Street. Her name is Dr. Lisa Bowen. She's a lovely woman."
Stephie nodded again. "Thanks..." she stopped talking as she wrote 'Regents Street' under Father Peter's number on the paper.
"Anytime, Stephie. You can call me anytime. Is there anything else you need to talk about?"
"Um," Stephie thought, still musing over the angel; over ghosts and other strange... things. "Nope, at least not at the moment. I just wanted to say... thank you. Thanks for listening and helping me out, I really do appriciate it. I hope you know how cool you are. Um. I guess I'll see you around?"
Peter smiled, "Of course you will. You're welcome, Stephie. See you soon and good luck."
She could hear the smile in his voice and it made her smile, too, despite the nerves. Oh God, tomorrow?! "See you then, and thanks again!" She hung up the phone, cradling it in her arms for a moment before getting up to head downstairs and put it back in it's home. She slid the peice of paper into her pocket, and patted it, making sure it wasn't going anywhere.
Whooo boy. Tomorrow. She better look up this doctor and confirm it now, then, while she was still on a roll.
Ry knocked on her bedroom door. He'd just gotten back from Jocelin's. Ready to deal with things after his reading with Renee yesterday. And the first thing he needed to deal with...
He knocked again when she didn't answer the first time. Maybe she wasn't in? Could she be seeing the doctor - without him? Well, it's not exactly like he'd been here for her to ask, so maybe yeah.
Biting his lip and looking around the hall as though she would magically appear there, Ry thought about heading downstairs and coming up with a Plan B.
Stephie was on her way back up the stairs from hanging up the phone a second time (everything was set, she had her appointment for twelve) when she saw Ry at the top of the stairs heading down. "Heya," she said. "You living here again, or just dropping by?"
"Yeah, I'm dropping by to pick up the rest of my stuff and get gone," Ry said, with a smile to let her know that he was joking around. "I was just looking for you, actually. How have you been? Didn't get much of a chance to talk to you the other night before I took off."
Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring that up so soon... but if everyone had seen it, surely it wouldn't help matters to not talk about it at all? Well, if Slink wanted to take up that conversation, she could do so, or ignore it for the rest of what he'd said.
"Yeah, I've been good," Stephie smiled, fiddling with the paper in her pocket. "You did disappear rather rapidly the other night, but I guess it must have been pretty trippy, especially with whatevr you'd been taking."
"It was just an upper," Ry said, waving it away as unimportant with his hand. "I rarely if ever do them, but Joc was handing them out to the whole group of us; it would have been rude to refuse. And then pot on top of that... crazy times, Slink. Real fucking crazy."
His eyes caught sight of her fiddling and he asked idley, "What's that you've got there?"
"A pocket." Stephie said, bluntly.
"Hey, if you don't wanna talk to me about it, that's all your own business." He held his hands up innocently to prove to her that it was exactly as he said. "However, I'm all sticky and I smell bad," he enveloped her into a boyish hug to prove this point, "So, I'm going to have a shower now. Wanna join me?"
"Tempting," Stephie smirked, stretching her neck up to kiss him.
"Can I make it more tempting?" Ry murmured, his lips leaving hers to make a trail down the side of her neck and kissing her collar bone, while his hands gently massaged her waist.
Stephie tipped her head back, offering more of her neck with a little moan of pleasure. Goddamnit, she wanted that shower with him, more than anything right now. "Yes," she murmured, wrapping her arms round his neck. "But I can't, not today."
Ry just leaned down to give her a peck on the very tip of her nose. It was with a sad smile that he looked at her, but not pitying. "Because of what I heard you talking about in the living room with the priest?" he asked without judgement. "Or could it be merely a less than wanted 4-weekly friend come to stay?" he asked to add a bit of a humor and a raised eyebrow.
She lay her head on his shoulder, face burrowed in his neck. "The first one," she mummbled.
"Hey..." He pulled her face away from his neck and made it so he was sure she would look him in the eye. "It's okay. Whatever it is. We can deal with it together." He rolled his eyes then. "Well, as 'together' as you want to deal with it. I'm hardly going to push me into helping you with anything." He paused. "Speaking of... did you want anyone to go to the doctor with you? Have you organised to go yet?"
"It's okay." She was still talking into his shoulder, quietly. "I've organised it." Thank god for his arms around her right now. She pressed herself closer to him, kissed his neck.
He smiled a little to nowhere in particular, stroking his hand over her hair. Then he pulled back and kissed her again. "I'm going to have that shower now," he informed her, "Otherwise, it ain't gonna get done. I'll come check on you when I'm done though, if you want?"
He blew her a kiss as he wandered down the hall.
Godfuckingdamn everything, she wanted him so much right now. Even so, she was grateful for his leaving; at least one of them had some self control. "Sure thing, Ry." She smiled wryly at him as he walked off, then went back up to her room to distract herself with the internet.
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