Hearts Never Lie
By
Geekery & Becky Matthews
A/N: This is a Random Hearts Movie Fan Fiction that is a joint collaboration between Geekery (Sabrina) & Becky Matthews (Sarah) aka "The Larrabee Corporation". This story is our first collaborative work together as well as probably the first and only Random Hearts Fic that is out there. In this Fic we're putting a new spin on the story of Random Hearts because we feel like there are so many different ways and things that could have been different in the movie. Furthermore, we are not just changing up small things or just certain scenes of the movie; we are literally rewriting & remaking the whole story with the basic general plot of the movie in mind… infidelity in marriage.
Please Read and Review our story as we thrive on positive feedback!! And any Flames will be used to toast marshmallows. ;)
Anyway before this A/N turns into a novel itself… On with the story!
Disclaimer: We do NOTown Random Hearts or any of its characters (i.e. Dutch, Peyton, Kay, Cullen, Alcee, etc.). We DO own any original characters and ideas. No copyright infringement intended, this story is written only for fun and no money is being made. So please do not sue!
Chapter 1 – "Planning An Unhappy Anniversary"
Wednesday, November 10, 1999
It was 7 p.m., the sun was setting and the Van Den Broeck's had just finished their dinner and were talking over coffee. As they talked, tension seemed to fill the air as the darkness began to fall and the breeze that blew through the open windows seemed to pick up as if a violent storm was brewing.
Peyton Van Den Broeck stared across the table at her husband Dutch in almost utter disbelief. Her husband had just told her that he had just planned out what they were going to do for their anniversary and she did not like what he came up with. It was bad enough that the time in which he picked to go, was at a time when she had other plans but he also picked a place that she dreaded going… His Cabin up in Oxford, Maryland. She couldn't stand going up there; it was too quiet for her. She was the type of person who loved dancing; lively-music and a night of seductive romance not a cabin in the middle of nowhere where it was so silent you could hear a pin drop. She needed to find a way to get out of going up there; she needed Dutch to find something different for them to do.
"Dutch, we can't go up to the cabin… Not for our anniversary." Peyton started out.
"Why not?" Dutch asked already knowing that his question marked the beginning to what was about to be a very heated argument.
"Because we just can't. You know I have things to do for work on that day and I don't even like going to the cabin. We've been married long enough, you should remember that." Peyton stated crossing her arms as she gave Dutch a nasty glare across the table.
Dutch glared back at her then shook his head and sighed. He knew that she really didn't like going to the cabin but he thought that since they could be alone with no one to bother them there that she might like to spend their anniversary there. He took a breath and began to try to reason with his wife.
"I just thought that we could go up there to spend some time alone. It's nice and quiet up there and no one would bother us…" Dutch started to explain.
"Exactly. You just thought. Sometimes you think too much Dutch." Peyton snapped interrupting him.
"Peyton… You are being a bit unreasonable don't you think? I mean I hardly ever ask you to come up to the cabin with me and it is our anniversary." Dutch asked trying not to lose his temper.
"No. No I don't Dutch. You need to come up with something different for us to do and on a different day." Peyton said in a rather angry tone almost as if she was ordering him to do it.
"Different day?" Dutch asked puzzled as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why should we go on a different day? Our anniversary is that day after all." Dutch replied feeling his resolve that was holding his temper in check slowly start to slip away.
"I already told you Dutch. I have to work that day." Peyton answered with noticeable irritation in her voice.
Peyton knew this was going to be a hard fight to win as her husband could be rather stubborn a lot of the time, but she couldn't let him win this one. She just had to get her way. She knew her husband wouldn't back down easily, but she knew if she kept at it long enough she might just be able to get just what she wanted. After all, she was married to the man for almost 5 years now; she certainly knew how his mind worked and how to get what she wanted from him. She looked across the table at Dutch, and noticed he was now staring into his coffee mug, trying to think of what to say next. She smiled to herself, knowing that while the argument was far from over, she had the upper hand.
Dutch wanted nothing more than to pout, but when had a glum-look ever worked for him?
So he kept his sadness to himself, but he let his anger linger between the air they shared.
"Work isn't that important."
Peyton was shocked.
Had he just made a bold step by insulting her profession or had he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life?
"And your job is?"
"My job is more demanding than yours…" He cut himself short. "It's more demanding."
"You think I don't get any deadlines?"
"You work for a department store in the city and I work for the city."
She excused herself from the table by picking up her half-empty plate and walking into the kitchen.
Dutch lingered in the dining room; waiting a few moments to see if she would come back, but after the short-time wait, he excused himself with his own plate and walked into the kitchen.
"I'm not organizing my work schedule around your cabin visit."
"You make it sound like it's a job to get you up there."
"I'm not going, Dutch!"
She barked before sweeping the small puddle of water that ended up on the countertops.
"And just what do you think I'm going to do for the time I took off?"
"Go to work?" She suggested like he had an attitude about his job.
He huffed, what else could he do? She had already turned on her heels and strode out of the room like she had set her words in rock, hard stone.
Later that night she wanted to scream while he slept silently next to her. Naturally the rise and fall of his chest wrecked havoc on her delicate ears. The slight brush of his foot against her leg made her pray for a much larger bed. The smell of their soap to the smell of his shampoo rode her nerves all the way to the nut house, as she lay next to him.
If anything, one would think he would be climbing the walls. That anything that belonged to her would annoy him on that particular night, but when did anything about Peyton ever annoy Dutch to the point he fought for sleep?
To him she was perfect.
Peyton saw the light from her cell phone bounce through the corner of her eye and diligently moved away from her husband.
"Damn…Ape." She said somewhat bitterly, yet playfully.
Taking a second to make sure he was still sound asleep, she grabbed her phone then exited their bedroom and made her way to the stairs.
A few seconds later, Dutch's eyes popped open and he looked around only to find that Peyton was no longer sleeping beside him. He laid there briefly wondering where she had gone, but when she did not return after a few minutes he threw the covers off of him and got out of bed.
He groggily sauntered out of the room and into the hall. He looked around briefly and when he did not see her, he called out to her.
"Peyton?" He whispered, in hopes that she would respond, when he got no answer, tried again this time a little louder.
"Peyton?" His voice rising now to a loud whisper but he still got no response. He stood there for a moment listening, wondering where she could be but then he heard it. He heard her talking, but he couldn't make out what was being said. He walked a little further down the hall, and stood in the corner but she didn't seem to notice his presence, she just kept on talking.
"…No I promise I'll be there. We don't have to reschedule." Peyton practically pleaded to whoever she was talking to.
Dutch stood there quietly listening to her, just wondering who the hell she was talking to and what exactly is she making plans to do.
"Okay… I'll see you then… You too… Bye." Peyton softly sighed and then hung up. Peyton then turned to go back towards the bedroom, only to find her husband standing there in the corner.
"Dutch!" Peyton yelled startled with a hand over her chest, she hadn't expected him to be there she had thought he was sound asleep.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you… I woke up and you weren't there, so I decided to see where you had gone…" Dutch apologized and then sighed, crossing his arms, "Just who were you talking to?"
"Oh just someone from work." She answered quickly.
"Someone from work was calling you this late?" He looked almost disbelievingly at her as he glanced at his watch.
"Yes, Dutch. They did." Peyton replied basically shrugging him off as she spun on her heels and walked back towards the bedroom.