He's a bit of a Rough Diamond, but his Hearts in the Right Place
By: Bratney
Disclaimer: I do not own Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I will not be making money off of this piece of fanfiction.
A/N: This was requested some time ago by an anonymous reviewer. I took on the challenge immediately, but it took a couple of years to finish.
It was immediately after the reading of Aunt Lisa's will that I had my bags packed and ready to go. She had been buried next to her brother, my dad, only yesterday; today I was off to her house to fix it up for the sale.
Auntie Lisa had been the only family I had for years; when I graduated high school she decided to move down to Texas on a whim. I had stayed behind in Washington to finish off my schooling, and we had stayed in contact up until a week-and-a-half ago when she died without warning.
It had been a five day trip by car when I finally pulled into the small, mostly abandoned town. It was getting nearer to dusk, and I wanted to get to the house as quickly as possible. I stopped outside of the only building that still had an open sign in the window and switched off the car. I headed toward the building and pushed the locking mechanism on my little remote relieved at the sound of the loud beep that sounded behind me.
A lady was sitting behind the counter, a bored look on her face when I entered the room. She looked up at me, then back down at her knitting, letting out a monotone, "Can I help you?" I rolled my eyes, appalled at the lack of service and the disgusting state of the rest of the store before setting down my purse on the counter.
"Actually, yes, I'm looking for the old Towe house," I said and rummaged through my purse to find the exact address I had written down on a piece of paper, "It's not too far from here if I remember correctly, it's been a couple of years since I've been out this way though."
"I'll get the Sheriff to take you out there," the lady said putting down her knitting needles and flashing me her first genuine smile. She stood up and walked over to the wall, picking up the old phone and dialing out. She chatted with whoever it was on the other end for a few minutes and then slammed down the receiver, "He'll be here in ten minutes while you're waiting do you want anything to drink honey?"
"No thank you, I have iced tea out in the car," I replied, "I think I'll go wait for the Sheriff out there, thanks for the help, it was nice to meet you." I left the shop and let the chill run down my spine, that encounter had been almost creepy.
It wasn't long before the police cruiser pulled up beside mine, and I watched as the driver of the vehicle got out and walked toward me. I rolled down my window, and smiled up at the man, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear in the process.
"You Lisa's Niece?" he asked, hands on his hips. He spit out a wad of tobacco and waited for my nod in reply; satisfied he pointed down the road and said, "The house is about three miles that way I'll lead you out there."
We arrived there quickly, and it was my turn to get out of the car to talk to the man. "Thanks Sheriff, I would have been out here driving around for hours looking for this place," I said with a smile, "You want to come inside and have a glass of water? Or I could make you some tea when I get my groceries inside."
He joined me in front of the house and flashed me his toothy grin. The man obviously didn't take very good care of his teeth at all, "I'll have a glass of water, and don't worry about those bags of yours, I'll have my nephew come and haul them inside for you."
"Going above and beyond the call of duty, huh?" I asked and went to unlock the front door, "Thanks so much, you don't know how much this means to me." I noticed that the inside of the house was cluttered, years of my Aunt being an obsessive compulsive pack rat seemed to fill the front room. I made my way into the kitchen to get the sheriff his glass of water. I handed it to him with a smile and asked, "So, do you have a name?"
"Folks around here call me Hoyt," He said drinking down the glass of water. He sat the cup down on the counter and turned to look at me, "Do you have a name?"
I laughed and replied with a half-smile, "I'm Peyton; It's nice to meet you Hoyt."
"We'll get the boy out here tomorrow morning to unpack the car; I insist you come over to our house for dinner. After all, you are family, more or less," Hoyt said, his eerie grin never leaving his face.
"I would like that, but I do need to get a few things out of the car and get cleaned up before I'll be ready," I set my purse on the counter and shot him a smile, "you will wait while I get ready, won't you?" I didn't know the way to his place, and I wasn't about to go driving around looking for the home of Sheriff Hoyt.
"If you hurry your pretty little ass, I'll wait," he said taking one of the seats at the table. He looked me up and down; it was almost creepy, like he was sizing me up for something. I shook my head and left the room, heading out to my car to grab the perishables and my overnight bag so I could freshen up my makeup.
I stopped back in the kitchen to drop off the food, and then with a hasty wave of my hand I was off to find a bathroom to freshen up a bit. The bathroom was a tiny room at the end of the hallway on the first floor, enough space for a sink and a small tub.
I was back in the kitchen within ten minutes, feeling a hell of a lot better and wanting dinner sometime soon. "Was that quick enough, Sheriff?" I asked clipping my simple silver chain around my neck and picking up my purse, "I'm ready, let's go."
Hoyt stood and looked me up and down, this time it seemed like he was seeing me, not just a piece of meat. "Well, don't you look nice?" he said walking over to me, he took off his hat and took my hand in his, placing an awkward kiss on my knuckles, "Come on Sweet Cheeks lets go, Mama doesn't like it when we're late for a meal."
"You're driving, right?" I asked wondering if I needed to grab my keys or not. He nodded and headed out the door, I followed and he helped me into the passenger seat of the police cruiser. I buckled up and we headed out toward the middle of nowhere, and the prettiest white house I had ever seen. It could have used a coat of paint, but despite that fact I found myself falling in love with it.
When the car stopped, it was time for introductions. Mama, the lady from the store earlier, gave me a large hug. Monty, an old man in a wheelchair, shook my hand and gave me a weird look. Then there was Thomas, the large man who had something I couldn't place covering his face, stood there awkwardly and watched me interacting with the rest of the family.
It didn't take long for us to make our way into the kitchen, the family taking their seats around the table. I was given a seat next to the Sheriff, and a bowl full of some sort of soup set in front of me. Tentatively, I took my first bite, deciding that it was eatable I quickly finished off the bowl.
"You like Mama's cooking, Peyton?" Hoyt asked, his eyes telling me there was something I really didn't want to know. I nodded, and looked around the table, not knowing what was going on.
"That's good, Honey. Thomas, I want you to go out to Lisa's house tomorrow and give Peyton a hand with her stuff, got that boy?" Thomas looked at me, and then down at the table, nodding once to show that he knew what was expected of him.
It wasn't long after that that I was back at the old house; I had changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a tank top before crawling into the big bed. Ten minutes after that, I was sound asleep.
The next morning I was awaken from a restless sleep by someone pounding on the door downstairs. I dragged myself out of bed, checked the mirror to make sure I was somewhat presentable, and then quickly ran down the stairs to answer the door.
Both Thomas and Hoyt stood there, Hoyt with his hands on his hips and Thomas awkwardly beside him. I ushered them inside and handed Thomas the keys to the car, "Be gentle with the boxes, I have some breakable stuff in there. Other than that, feel free to just throw the rest of the stuff on the bed."
With a nod, Thomas got to work, leaving me and Hoyt standing in the foyer. "So why did you come along?" I asked leaning up against the wall looking the man up and down. He wasn't bad looking for his age, handsome even. He had to be at least fifteen or twenty years older than me, however, that didn't matter much. The only thing that bothered me about him was the state of his teeth. It didn't help that he chewed.
"I just wanted to stop by and see how you were this morning, adjusting to a new place and all," he said with his usual toothy grin, "You know, I could fix that porch for you, I wouldn't want you falling through. I fixed the step up the stairs for Lisa a month or so ago, and the porch was next on her list anyway."
I nodded, wide-eyed at the offer, "That would be nice, I'll make some lunch when you're finished. Would Thomas like to stay around? I'm going to go through all the stuff in the living room today and toss out a bunch of things; it would be nice to have him around to haul things out for me."
Thomas, who had walked in halfway through my little request nodded his head and headed into the living room, I smiled at his retreating back and turned to Hoyt, "Well come on in and tell me when you're done, I'll get on lunch then." With that I followed Thomas into the living room and started sorting through boxes of stuff.
Items that held memories were kept, also things that were of use were left alone, but things such as old documents and newspapers, old McDonalds toys, and bottles were hauled out to an old truck that was parked in the driveway to be hauled to the dump later that week.
Hoyt came in a few hours later and watched as we sorted through the last box in the living room, the room less cluttered and more cozy already. I sent Thomas out with the last load and headed into the kitchen to make Turkey and Swiss sandwiches with iced tea.
This went on for about a month. Hoyt and Thomas would come over; Thomas would help me with the heavy lifting while Hoyt did work around the house. By the time we were done I had grown use to having them around.
We were standing in the front yard, looking up at the house when it all hit me. I would be heading back north soon and I wouldn't be seeing either of my two favorite men again. "It looks good Hoyt; the past two days of painting really gave the old house some life."
He looked over at me and nodded, "Too bad you're not staying, it's fit for you to live in now." Though he didn't say it, I knew he was telling me he didn't want me to leave. We were standing very close to one another and all I had to do was lean over a bit and I had him in a hug. It took him a minute to react, but soon he had his arms wrapped around me as well.
"I really don't know if I want to leave," I said moving slowly away from Hoyt and giving Thomas a quick hug as well, "It's starting to grow on me, and you've both done so much." It was getting awkward, and a bit strained, but I was confused. I wasn't sure what I was trying to say as I looked from them back to the house.
With a small smile I moved from where I was standing toward the building in front of me, it was starting to feel like home. I turned on the porch and looked across the lawn at Hoyt, "I'm going to go get cleaned up, and then you can drive me to dinner again."
He gave a silent nod in my direction, muttering something loudly about my 'cute ass' before I turned and made my way up to my bathroom. I fixed my makeup and changed into a pale blue sun dress before heading down the stairs and out the front door to the waiting Sheriff.
"Did you miss me?" I asked sliding into the passenger seat of the police cruiser, looking around for Thomas, who wasn't around, "Did the big guy decide to walk home?"
"Yeah, he's emotional right now, doesn't want to see you leave," Hoyt said as he pulled into the driveway. "Mama and Monty are both sad you'll be leaving too…" he trailed off and looked down at his hands, "I'm going to miss you too, you know."
I sighed, "You have become family in the past month, and I don't know what I would do without you." I, Peyton Towe, was confused. Completely and genuinely confused and I didn't know what I was going to do about it. I had a life up in Washington, a job. But here I had a family: Mama, Thomas, Monty, and most of all Hoyt.
I had two duffle bags left to put in the car, a car that was already packed with boxes of old keepsakes and mementos. Then I would be on my way, out of the almost abandoned town that I loved so dearly.
"You could always come back for a visit," I heard Hoyt say as the cruiser pulled to a stop next to the large house. I turned and nodded, silent as the thoughts continued swimming through my head. I had a feeling that tonight there wouldn't be a lot of talking amongst any of us over dinner, a time that was usually full of talking and inside jokes would be very near silent.
We got out of the car silently, and not a word was uttered as we walked up the front porch. He held open the front door for me and motioned me inside; I caught a glimpse of Thomas walking up the drive when I turned to thank Hoyt; a small smile making its way to my face at the thought of such a big boy being so emotional over me.
As per usual dinner was sitting on the table when we got inside, whatever Mama had cooked today smelled a bit odd, but I was do hungry I would eat just about anything. Dinner, as I had expected, was almost silent. The only words uttered were requests for food. We all lingered at the table far longer than we would have normally, none of us wanting to end our last meal together.
It was very late before Hoyt drove me back home, I didn't have a watch on me and the clock on his cruiser hadn't been set, but it was easily around two in the morning. Goodbyes back at the house had been hard, but I managed to hold it together until I had to leave Thomas, he had pulled me into his arms engulfing me in a bone crushing hug. I cried.
I didn't stop crying until I stepped out of the cruiser, and still trying to catch my breath I launched myself into Hoyt's arms. The tears renewed themselves quickly as I sobbed into his shoulder. His arms wrapping around me in a comforting embrace did nothing to ease the sadness I felt.
He kissed the top of my head lightly, his arms untangling from me so he could push my chin up with his finger, "Peyton, sweet thing, don't cry, please don't cry." His hand moved from my chin to brush my tears away from my face. The usually gruff, slightly perverted man was being uncharacteristically sweet. His lips brushed my forehead, trying to coax my tears to stop falling, but that only made me cry harder.
His lips brushed against each of my tear stained cheeks before coming to rest on my own. The kiss was slightly awkward and I had to giggle despite myself. Hoyt didn't seem to know what he was doing, but the gesture was still sweet, and somehow it felt right.
My arms moved to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to me so I could kiss him back good and proper. The kiss lasted only a few moments, Hoyt pulled away and looked down at me nervously, his arms coming to rest on my waist. "Peyton," his voice sounded unsteady and shaky, "don't go, just don't leave."
Never before had this request been so tempting. Now I had a concrete reason to stay, here I had Hoyt. It's not like I really needed my old life; sure in Washington I had enough income to be comfortable, but here I really didn't need money to stay alive. The house was clean, large, and close to my makeshift family.
I shivered, the air out here had grown cold, or maybe it was just me. I was still weighing my options. "Let's go inside," I said quietly, moving backward toward the house, pulling him along with me slowly.
I started thinking about my situation again only when I was sitting on the couch with a cup of coco in my hand, Hoyt's arm draped across my shoulder as I leaned into him. Deep down I knew what I was going to do, but I couldn't help the small pang of guilt that I felt in the pit of my stomach.
This guilt was squashed when our lips met for a second time, his tongue darting out to lick the excess coco off the corner of my mouth before he pulled away from me. "You can bet your sweet ass that I'm not going to let you go without a fight," his arm around me drew me in tighter and I laughed.
"Hoyt, you can bet your sweet ass that I'll be around for quite some time," I muttered before I kissed him again, letting my fingers trace his cheek as he recovered from the shock of my words.