At the Train Station

Tegan Mallory and Spencer Arnold are from two different parts of New York. But when tradgey strikes the two, they find themselves connected by sleep deprevation and a broken soul.

"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons."

{Quote by. Jim Rohn}

 

 

 

When she first stopped being able to sleep at night, Tegan Mallory, walked the streets of Brooklyn, New York, looking for a descent place to go. She needed a place that was busy, fast paced so she didn't feel alone, but excluded enough to where no one bothered her. The fist place she found was a local diner. The coffee was good, helping her stay awake, not like she needed it. The food was also good, their sugar cookies becoming an addiction for her. The people didn't bother her, just kept to them selves, reading their newspaper, or engrossed in their own conversations. The diner was open all-night, and Tegan would go there just to sit, ordering a coffee and sugar cookie, staying until the sun began to rise, ending yet another sleepless night.

A few months passed since she found the little all-night diner on the corner, but tragedy struck when the diner went out of business, forcing it to close down, putting Tegan back where she started; nocturnal with no place to go. She couldn't go back to her home, the pain of being there during the night too much for her to handle. She hadn't slept in her own home since the accident that took her bothers life. It was too painful to be there, her bothers room next to her own, thoughts of him still being alive flooded her mind. The nights were even harder than the days. She use to could hear his breathing at night, through their wall paper-thin, but in the still of the night as she laid wide-awake, no one was there on the other side of the wall, just an empty room, the memory of her only bother hanging above the air.

 

The train station was four blocks away from the loft, the hustle and bustle of it all catching Tegan's attention as she walked home from school one day. It was open twenty-four hours seven days a week, with people surrounding it, and there was a diner inside, a place for waiting passengers to sit. That night, Tegan walked back to the train station, taking a seat inside the diner, ordering a coffee and blueberry muffin. It wasn't as good as the little all-night diner she used to attend, but it was close enough. She'd always bring a book to read, something for school off of the reading list handed out every year.

 

Ever since her first night there, Tegan returned to the train station, ordering the same thing, book in hand. She'd spent so many nights there; she'd memorized the trains schedule by heart. But the faces changed ever night, different people from different places around the world, coming and going. They were all moving so fast, oblivious to the fact that she spent so much of her life in a place they only stayed for less than an hour. But there was one face that was the same, besides the workers, the cleanup crew, or the homeless man that slept under the 8th Gate.

 

There was a boy, about her age, always sitting at the far end of the little diner every night. He continuously ordered an ice tea and a plate of plain toast. The boy also held a book in his hand, reading as he munched on the toast, sometimes watching the people board the trains, just like her. He was cute. His hair was short, a sandy brown color, eyes the same shade as hers.

 

When he'd first stopped being able to sleep during the nights, Spencer Arnold, roamed the streets in the hopes of finding a decent place to go. A place he could find comfort in, a place that was quiet, where no one could pester him with questions of his father, and how he was dealing with the 'situation'. His first place of comfort was the Plaza hotel. His best friend, Tanner Abrams, owned a suite there, a place he used to spend most of time before his father was sent to rehab. Because Tanner was out of the country with his girlfriend that month, he allowed Spencer to stay at his suite during the nights while he was away. At first, the plaza was a good place for him to go; somewhere he could sit, think, and keep his mind off of everything. He would drink from the bar, numbing most of the pain, but never passing out. He just sat on the couch in the suite, bottle of hard liquor in hand, staring blankly at the TV filled with infomercials.

 

But after a while, the silence became too much for him, the loneliness in the pit of his stomach never easing away. Even after Tanner returned from his vacation, the two of them hanging out drinking scotch, he still felt alone, like there was something missing, splitting the hole inside his chest even wider.

 

Without hurting his friends feeling, Spencer never returned the Plaza, telling Tanner that he needed to spend more time at home. But it was just a lie, something to tell his friend to avoid the questions. He then continued to roam the streets, looking for another place to spend his sleepless nights. The train station was far away from where he lived, a place where no one in the Upper East Side could find him. He could put all though of his father's addiction out of his head, leaving them in the sad, cold, and lonely place that was his childhood home.

The first night he'd spent at the train station, Spencer brought along with him a book from school, ordering an iced tea and a plate of plain toast, butter on the side. He came back every night since then, ordering the same food, book in hand. Spencer spent so many nights at the train station; he'd started memorizing the entire bus schedule by heart. The faces changed ever night, different people from different places around the world, coming and going. Unaware that he spent his entire life in a place they'd only spent less than an hour, waiting until it was their time to leave. But there was one face that was the same, besides the workers, the cleanup crew, or the homeless man, Ale, he later learned, that slept under the 8th Gate.

 

There was a girl, about his age, that always sat at the far end if the little diner, closet to the entrance. She would always order a cup of coffee, blueberry muffin, and there was always a book in her hand, sometimes watching the people board the trains, just like him. She was cute. Her hair was short and blond, eyes the color of the ocean, mirroring his.

 

They didn't speak to each other at first, just sat at their regular tables, doing their same routine, parting when the sun began to rise, ending their reason for being there. Of coursed they admired one another from afar, looking, then looking away quickly after they'd been caught by the other person, trying to hide the heat that rose up their cheeks. It wasn't until a delay with the trains, which Spencer and Tegan first spoke to each other. The diner was flooded with waiting passengers, their trains being delayed, leaving both teenagers to sit outside near the boarding ramps, the night's air surrounding them.

 

"It's pretty crowded in there," Spencer spoke, taking a seat on the bench next to Tegan. He looked back into the diner, aggravated tourist waiting to board their late train.

 

"Yeah," Tegan agreed, the wind blowing her blonde hair wildly around her face. She tried to tuck a few loose strains behind her ear, but they continued to fly.

 

He sat back on the bench, resting, staring ahead at the trains. "I'm Spencer, by the way." He stuck his hand out to her.

 

She smiled, accepting his hand, shaking it. "Tegan," she pointed to herself.

 

Spencer nodded the feeling of her hand in his shooting sparks up his spine. From the look on her face, Tegan had gotten that same feeling, causing her to shiver. When letting go of each other's hand, they continued to smile in that goofy way, before turning to face the loading dock. The silence between them was easy, not a trace of awkwardness, just the two of them sitting, enjoying one another's company.

 

It had been a while since Tegan spend time with someone besides her father, even though it was rare. The only time she ever really saw him was via web cam when he talked to her from his tour bus. It was funny how her father was coping better with the death of his own son than she was. Daniel Mallory had been deceased for six months, the pain of him being gone still staying with her, not being able to let go. Daniel was her bother, the one person that she could turn to when things got bad. When he died all those months back, it felt as if her world came crashing down, slicing a hole in her chest, one that was too big to cover. She cut all ties with every friend she ever made, quit chorus, and left her designs on the back burner until they were no more than a distant memory. After his death, she stopped sleeping, just laying in her bed until the sun crept into the sky.

 

It was a little different for Spencer. He was so crowded all the time, people of the Upper East Side, hounding him and his mother, wanting to know the both of them were dealing with the scandal his father bestowed on their family. For the past six months, the paparazzi made it their job to stalk him and his mother everywhere they went, waiting outside for him at the gates of St. Jude's Private School for Boys. They would flock to him as he buried himself inside the comfort of his limo, telling his driver, Wellford, not to even bother stopping home. He knew they would be waiting for him with flashing lights and crude questions. Spencer earned to break free, separating himself from the rest of the Upper East Side world. Just like Tegan, he cut all ties with all the friends he'd ever made, turned his back on the soccer team, and breaking the heart of his longtime girlfriend, Vanessa, who never seemed to care about the problems he faced when it came to his father. Spencer left everyone behind, the only company he thought he needed was himself, the loneliness never becoming a problem to him. After his father's drug scandal, Spencer stopped sleeping, just laying awake in his bed until the sun made itself present to the world.

 

"So, I have to ask you this," Spencer started saying, rotating his body so that he was facing Tegan slightly. "what's a girl like you doing at a train station so late?"

 

She couldn't help but laugh. He was one to talk, seeing as how he'd spent his nights in the same place she had for months now. "I could ask you the same thing."

 

He laughed in return, smiling brightly. "Touché."

 

Tegan placed a clump of hair behind both ears, giggling. It was a rare reaction for her, not having this kind of effect since before her brother died. But there was something about this boy that made her act this way, different from the zombie-like creature she'd become for the past six months. A part of her felt bad, thinking she wasn't allowed to act this way when the death of her only brother was all her fault. There was an intense feeling of shame that took over her body, the smile that once graced her face because of the boy sitting next to her instantly faded.

 

"I, uh, think I'm going to go back home," Tegan mumbled, rising from the bench, facing to the ground. She pulled her coat more tightly around her body, making a hasty escape away from Spencer.

 

He watched her go, confused as to what just happened. Had he done something wrong? Had he offended her? Sighing to himself, Spencer sat back on the bench, looking far into the twilight.

 

The next night, both Spencer and Tegan were back to their same routine. She got there first, book in hand, ordering the same thing, sitting at the same table. When Spencer entered the small diner, she didn't even look at him, keeping her head low until he'd ordered, taking his usual seat. When she lifter her head, he was looking at her, a puzzled look on his face. He must have been a little upset about her hasty exit the night before. As much as she didn't mean to make him feel bad, there was no way she was going to be able to tell him the real reason behind her change of action. Instead, she sat back, going on with the nights as if nothing happened between them, as if she didn't even know his name, and he knew nothing of hers.

 

More nights passed between them, Tegan avoiding his eyes, and eventually, he stopped trying to contact with her. There were something Spencer didn't want to relive again, and the drama of a girl was one of them. He'd suffered through enough with Vanessa, not needing to go through it again. At first, Tegan seemed like a nice girl, someone he could converse with while spending his nights at the train station. Maybe it was because she didn't know him or anything about his father's scandal, but Spencer was drawn to her, a force pulling him in her direction. Even after she started to ignore his presents, Spencer doing the same to her, he couldn't get her off of his mind. The moment the sun went down, yawning as it did so, he thought of her. But he knew where she would be no matter if he was there or not.

 

Ever since his father's scandal, Spencer stayed away from the outside world. Maybe it was because Tegan knew nothing of his past or the instant spark he felt whenever he saw her, but Spencer found himself slowly trying to reconnect with Tegan. When coming back to the train station diner, Spencer would sit a little bit closer to her, moving one booth at a time each night. Tegan noticed but she never said anything, just kept her head down, reading a book and drinking her coffee.

 

The night Spencer was seated a table away from Tegan; he decided to talk to her. "Hey!" he greeted smiling.

 

Tegan looked up at him, an incredulous look on her face. She wanted so badly to roll her eyes at him, then doing something very un-lady-like, but instead, she placed the book down in front of her, and said, "Hello."

 

Spencer hated the way her voice sounded, like they were meeting each other for the very first time. There was something about this girl that intrigued him; ever since the first night they'd physically met outside the train station diner. "What are you reading?"

 

She held up the book, waiting until he was done reading the title to put it back down. "What's it about?" he asked, smirking.

 

Sighing to herself, Tegan answered, "An alcoholic and his struggle to regain the love of his family."

 

"Sounds familiar," Spencer hypothesized, looking out the window at the boarding ramp full of people. "…except where I come from, the father doesn't care about his family's love."

 

Tegan stared at him, not knowing what to say. The sudden bursts of information about him making her feel slightly uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, his need to speak with her was also putting her into an unpleasant position. She'd spent so much of her time alone, feelings bottled up with no one to listen or care, that the sudden attention was getting to her. She didn't know this boy and he didn't know her maybe that was the reason she hadn't hurt his feels already like she normally would with any other person. This boy, Spencer, didn't know about her father, or her brother, or how his death was all her fault. He just saw her as the blonde girl that spent all her nights at the train station.

 

It was the same with Spencer. In her eyes, he was just like any other boy. She knew nothing of his father's drug scandal, his need to break free from the world he'd lived in for so long, or how the paparazzi hounded him and his mother, asking derogatory questions about his father. Tegan only saw him as a boy that spent all his nights at the train station.

 

From that point on, Spencer and Tegan-two insomniatic teens with secrets of their own-because something more. They would meet every night at the train station, leaving all their problems outside the wall, bonding and learning from the other, parting as the sun rose, reclaiming their lives they lived before the sun disappeared. They never talked in the sun or saw one another outside of the train station. It was only in the nightfall when Spencer and Tegan came together, laughing and talking about random things, blindly falling in love with one another. It didn't matter that they would never be together outside of the train station wall. All that mattered was the night, the two of them nocturnal, coming together without problems of the day hanging above their heads.

 

There were times when the both of them thought about their relationship, wondering if it would be able to survive the morning sun, but quickly dismissed the thought. They were both more comfortable with each other in the dark, when everything seemed different, better. During the twilight, everything seemed so much easier, words were never said, just a silent knowing. People seemed more comfortable, willing to break all the rules, do something wild and crazy for a couple of hours, things they were too scared to accomplish during the day. With Spencer, the darkness surrounding them, Tegan was more like her old self, the person she was before her brother's death. She could do things, say things that she never could when the sun was up. The darkness set her free, showing her a world she'd never knew, with the most unlikely person. Tegan's feelings for Spencer started to grow as time went on. She started to develop feelings for him, loving everything that there was to know about him.

 

Spencer was starting to feel the same way. He was changing night-by-night with Tegan, venturing off into something so much bigger than him. In the hours of the night, he forgot all his problems, letting them disintegrate in the air. He was a much different person now, not the zombie he'd become after his father's case. He was a happier Spencer, someone that laughed and joked on a regular occasion. But of course that all changed once the sun began to rise, thrusting him back into the world he never wanted to return to. If it was up to Spencer, he would stay in the dark forever with Tegan, the two of them sitting inside the booth of the little diner at the train station. They would always talk about leaving, one day boarding the train and never looking back. It seemed like just a dream, a dream that would never come true for them.

 

A year passed at the train station, Spencer and Tegan spending ever holiday together, just the two of them inside of their booth, the roaring engine of the trains around them. Tegan spent the night of her eighteenth birthday with him, the two of them eating free cake from the behind the counter. Spencer spends his birthday with Tegan as well. She'd given him a card, something homemade from material scraps, the only piece of her Spencer had during the day. Whenever he felt himself missing her-which was a lot-he, would take out the card from its place in his bedside table. He would look at the card; admire the work of it, thinking about the blue-eyed girl that would be waiting for him at the train station.

 

When he told her about his father's scandal, it was an accident. His father had been released from rehab, striking an abundance of news stories all across the world. Spencer had been upset about the constant hounding of the paparazzi that day, so when Tegan asked if he was alright, the beans were spilled. He never wanted to tell her of the life he lived outside of their walls, wanted to leave it until morning came, but that was gone now. Tegan knew all about his life, and there was no stopping her from looking at him differently. But he was wrong. She didn't look at him differently. Just placed her hand over his, telling him that it would all be alright, that things will get better.

 

Months later, on the anniversary of his death, Tegan told Spencer about her brother. How everything was her fault because she was the one that suggested they walk through the park. If it wasn't for her then Dan never would have died trying to protect her. Of course Spencer was there for her, holding on tightly to her until she stopped crying. He told her that nothing was her fault, telling her that everything would alright, that things would get better because they had each other.

 

"I promise," he'd said to her after the tears subsided, her face red and puffy. They just stared at each other, their beautiful ocean blue eyes connected. They leaned in at the same time, meeting each other's lips. The kiss was soft and sweet, the first they'd ever shared with one another. Their relationship was different from most. Two lost souls only coexisting after the sun went to bed. It went on that way for another year, their relationship progressing, the 'I love you' following soon after. Now that the air was clear, the two of them starting to heal from their once unshared pain, they could talk more openly about the lives they lived when the sun was up. But one night, just like every other, they met at the train station, only this time they both were carrying loads of suitcases.

 

"You ready for this?" Tegan had asked him, once they were on the train they watched for two years board with strangers going somewhere.

 

Spencer leaned over, kissing the softness of her lips. "We've spent too much time at that train station." They braced themselves for the train to leave, getting ready for it to send the two of them further into the hours of darkness.

 

.END.

Author's Note

this was once a fanfiction I'd written for a friend's birthday.

Reviews

[Koleamoku]

I really liked the characters and their depth as the relationship slowly develops. :)

The idea of them finally leaving the train station, a place where the two "spent [their] entire [lives] in a place [most people] only spent less than an hour, waiting until it was their time to leave," was really heartwarming.

I'm looking forward to reading your other stuff. Good Job!

[Paradoxical]

That's so beautiful! I love how the two are so similar yet different and fall in love. It's a wonderful piece and clever, too. Amazing job! :)