LOG; worst way to cope; AUTUMN + WILL
who; Autumn and Will
when; Last night.
what; Shitty coping / Birthday wishes.
He wasn't really good at this. He wasn't even sure if this was the right date. He'd kind of stopped caring about the passage of time, to tell the truth.
Will hadn't even thought he still had her number, but after digging around his desk, there it was scribbled hastily in his own handwriting. He punched the number into the phone and waited for someone, preferably Autumn, to answer.
Indeed, she picked up the phone. It was late... ish, and so the stepmonster had already taken her dosage of valium that would surely be lethal to anyone else.
She didn't really want to talk to anyone, but people were calling in condolances, and she couldn't really just not pick up, if that was the case. Although if this was another thing her father had planned for her birthday, Autumn didn't know what she'd end up doing.
"Washland."
"Hey, Autumn," he said when he recognized her voice. "... Happy birthday."
... what, he still had her number?
She grabbed the phone and went into her own room, closing the door silently behind her. Habit, when she talked to boys. She realized too late her father wasn't around to be nosy anymore.
"Will?"
He set the paper back down on his desk and made his way to his bed to sit down while he talked. "Yeah."
She went to sit down on her bed also, pulling her legs up next to her. She hadn't really talked to him on the phone for months. "... thanks."
Quite a few months, really. And he wasn't a huge phone person to start with.
But he just might have been concerned. Just might have. "You okay?"
She almost said she was fine, but she didn't want to lie like that. She would've, a few months ago. But what point was there, right? She wanted attention and he was giving it to her and he sounded worried. "No."
She wanted her father.
Will hadn't expected the honest answer. Nor did he really know what to do in response to it.
... but he was concerned.
"What happened?"
Dad's dead, she was supposed to say, but choked on the words. Typing them had been so much easier, and Mac wasn't hard to tell it to. For whatever reason. Almost as easy to talk to as Lauren, but as far as Autumn knew, they were both drinking themselves stupid over this. She was even starting to smell like her best friend.
"He had this whole thing planned," she said instead, staring at a spot on the wall. "Singing cards and presents and attention all day long and none of it was cancelled because he's not here to cancel it and--" There was no reason to say she'd broke down crying, since she was doing it now and he could probably hear. She hated this.
He listened to her cry, pulling a pillow over is head in a half-assed attempt to possibly axphyxiate himself. Her dad had probably died in the stupid freeway falling, hadn't he. There was no way she'd be so upset otherwise.
And it was his fault. Fantastic job, Will, he thought to himself, you sure thought all of that through. Fucking fantastic. He threw the pillow off to the side.
"... I'm sorry."
She wanted to scream at him, because she knew what had happened, knew it was the fucking end of the world and knew he'd been the one to destroy the freeway. Knew it because who else could it be? He was the Kamui who'd chosen and now she was one of his Angels.
Nothing about it was really funny anymore. As if it ever had been.
Fishel was dead too. She'd never even gotten to kiss him.
"Thank you."
"Do you want to do something?" He'd asked it before he'd really thought about the question, but he really had no other ideas for how to cheer up a depressed teenager.
... oh god she was still a teenager. Never mind what happened in Tijuana. But hell, it was the end of the world whether any of them liked it or not.
She nodded in return, not really thinking about that either. But he'd asked, and she didn't want to stay in the house with a knocked out stepmother and pictures of her dad all around. But he couldn't see her nod, and so...
"... okay."
Will needed to be punched. Where was Hayden? He needed Hayden to punch him for this.
"I'll come pick you up."
"I'll get ready." Like wash her face and make sure she didn't look as tired as she felt. Which was ridiculous. She had every right to be this tired.
"See you soon." Will clicked the phone off and headed for the door to track down Hayden before he got ready to leave.
She'd gone out on the porch after she finished, not wanting to wake up Gloria for fear that she might actually start telling her what she should and shouldn't do.
It felt better, being outdoors, even if she could see her father's other car out of the corner of her eye in the garage. The one he'd been driving was totalled, she'd never see it again. Which was good, she didn't want to. But the one left behind annoyed her, and she angled her head so she wouldn't look be able to see it anymore, looking towards the driveway instead, waiting for Will to show up.
This was probably not the best of ideas, but it sounded like the best one at that particular moment. She couldn't think of anything else to turn herself off, so why not?
Will felt his cheek when he'd gotten back into the valley, the bruise already gone. The fast healing helped a lot, but the punch hadn't deterred him at all. Even if Hayden gave him a look as he left.
He learned years ago what side streets to take instead of freeways, and strangely enough, the guard at the front gate remembered him after all that time and let him into the community after exchanging a few pleasantries.
Will pulled into Washland's driveway and left the car running. They wouldn't need to stay long.
The guard had a scary memory, if nothing else, and sometimes Autumn wished he didn't remember everything, but she was glad for it, right now. The moment she saw the car, she got to her feet and moving towards it. She didn't want to stay here at all if she could help it.
"Hey."
He leaned across the car to open the passenger seat for her, music blasting out of the opened door. "Hey." Will leaned back into his seat and waited for her to get in.
She slid into the seat next to him and closed the door behind her, seatbelt buckled before she really thought about what she was doing. Like it mattered anymore. Angel now, right? She was made of sturdier things. Or something. Whatever.
"So what are we doing?"
The hypothetical car crash would still suck, though, even if there was a good chance of them living.
"There's my place, there's probably tons of places still open if you can name anything." He shrugged and turned the car back around for the front gate. "Whatever you feel like."
"I don't really feel like anything," she said, then rectified herself. "Wait, I do feel like getting smashed." And he was old enough now.
Hopefully he hadn't grown morals or something and wouldn't get any for her as well.
If it was possible his morals had probably degenerated since the time they'd broken up. Will smiled a little and drove them back to Santa Monica, to their stupid pink house where the only ones who still lived there was Hayden, Tamara and himself through one reason or another.
He opened the front door to let Autumn inside and gestured towards the kitchen. "Help yourself."
"Awesome." She didn't rummage, however. Although the house was surprisingly well kept, it was still a bandhouse. There might be rats as far as she knew.
He locked back up and joined her in the kitchen, dropping his car keys and wallet on the empty counter. No one had brought in the mail that day.
Will opened up the fridge and pulled a beer out for himself and let Autumn take her pick. "We can take it up to the roof." The better to avoid Hayden and Tamara for the moment.
"Sure." She didn't mind the roof. Less rats, in theory, also more privacy.
She grabbed a beer for herself as well, although she would've preferred heavier stuff, but whatever. She wasn't going to complain.
Starting towards the stairs, Autumn paused halfway there, looking around. "Kind of deserted."
He grabbed a few more for later, shrugging in response. What could he say to that? Will stepped past her to head up the stairs.
... fine then.
She followed, not really wanting to bring it up again if he didn't like the subject. Just like she expected him not to do the same to her, if something came up.
She stepped out on the roof and everything smelled like seawater. It wasn't so bad, just different. Autumn sat down on the edge of the roof, ignoring the chairs and table set a little way off, and held out her bottle for him to open.
He twisted the cap off for her and handed it back, doing the same to his own. Will took a drink and glanced down to the beach. No one was out there tonight. It was no longer hot July weather and the ocean made everything a bit cooler than the valley.
Will set the beer down and leaned back against the railing post.
She waited a while until she spoke again, staring out at the water while drinking her beer. She never did particularly like it, but it doesn't really matter; it'll get the job done anyway. She had to finish the bottle to speak again, however.
"Why'd you call?"
He eyed her empty bottle, taking his time with his. He'd have to drive her home later, wouldn't he? She probably wouldn't want to stay the night, after all.
"Saw your post. Remembered it was your birthday." Will cracked his knuckles a little. "I dunno. I didn't even think I had your number anymore."
As if Gloria would notice. It really depended on where he offered her a place to sleep. God, she didn't even care right now.
"Ah." Seventeen now. And maybe even more immature than she had been a year ago. Whatever. "Right."
Well there were certainly plenty of rooms avaliable. Will downed the rest of his drink and reached for two more for each of them. "And you know, at the rate we're going, our livers will be shot by October." But that didn't stop him from twisting off the caps.
"I think that might be preferable to anything else," she smiled as she took the bottle from him. Then she paused, and looked at her shoes. "Because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do as your Angel."
He chewed on his lip and took a drink. "I don't know. Ocassionally we get the bright idea to go destroy a landmark, we go, and things usually fuck up from there."
"Sounds like hilarious fun." She didn't even know what exactly her whole power thing could do. She never read comics.
"It's an absolute blast." Will picked up the empty beer bottle and chucked it off the roof, waiting for the smash of glass on pavement. "Especially when everyone starts dying, but I guess that's kind of the point. Can't exactly keep on living when the world finally ends."
She had a huge irrational thought of that doesn't sound so bad, then paused, surprised at herself. There was no use thinking like that, really. Even if...
"I guess."
"So," he picked up the second empty one, not throwing it just yet. "Might as well live while we can."
Sometimes he wondered just where his logic really came from.
She glanced at him, eyebrows raised, before almost emptying her own bottle. "Is that a pick-up line, Montgomery, or did you grow into a cheezeball in the past ten months?"
He threw it, grinning a little. "Cheezeball? That's a new one." The bottle shattered down below.
"You'd know if it was a pick-up line."
"I'm trying out words." Not really. She was more just talking for the sake of talking, and he was easy to judge. Or something.
"Would I?"
"I think you would." Will was out of empty bottles to throw for now. He turned away from the beach.
She got to her feet, putting the bottle down on the roof floor instead of throwing it. Something about not littering. Especially not where she could step all over the shards later. "You should try it and see if I do."
Will glanced up at her, eyebrows raised. First off, why was she only seventeen. Secondly, ... oh, hell with that.
He stood up and tugged Autumn a little closer to kiss her.
She almost yelped, but it was drowned out by his lips and before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing back and holding on to the front of his shirt. Wonderful coping mechanism, Autumn, you're really doing the right thing here, but fuck it.
"I don't think that can be catagorized as a pick-up line," she muttered once they broke apart.
If he could come up with every way you weren't supposed to act in response to losing someone you loved, he'd consider it an accomplishment. Will let go of her arm, hands shoving into her pockets.
"I thought I'd skip the pick-up line."
And apparently other steps.
"Really, I didn't notice." She shouldn't be doing this; her father had just died, and it was the worst way ever to cope , but she didn't really want to think right then. "How's my ass?"
He was really bad at remembering what steps went in what order anyway. "Great, actually," Will didn't pull his hands away.
As if she had expected him to.
"It's very flattered." She was talking nonsense.
Her grip on his shirt loosened slightly, raising herself up on her toes to kiss him again.
He kissed her back, hands moving up from her back pockets and over her back, careful to stay outside of her shirt. For now.
when; Last night.
what; Shitty coping / Birthday wishes.
He wasn't really good at this. He wasn't even sure if this was the right date. He'd kind of stopped caring about the passage of time, to tell the truth.
Will hadn't even thought he still had her number, but after digging around his desk, there it was scribbled hastily in his own handwriting. He punched the number into the phone and waited for someone, preferably Autumn, to answer.
Indeed, she picked up the phone. It was late... ish, and so the stepmonster had already taken her dosage of valium that would surely be lethal to anyone else.
She didn't really want to talk to anyone, but people were calling in condolances, and she couldn't really just not pick up, if that was the case. Although if this was another thing her father had planned for her birthday, Autumn didn't know what she'd end up doing.
"Washland."
"Hey, Autumn," he said when he recognized her voice. "... Happy birthday."
... what, he still had her number?
She grabbed the phone and went into her own room, closing the door silently behind her. Habit, when she talked to boys. She realized too late her father wasn't around to be nosy anymore.
"Will?"
He set the paper back down on his desk and made his way to his bed to sit down while he talked. "Yeah."
She went to sit down on her bed also, pulling her legs up next to her. She hadn't really talked to him on the phone for months. "... thanks."
Quite a few months, really. And he wasn't a huge phone person to start with.
But he just might have been concerned. Just might have. "You okay?"
She almost said she was fine, but she didn't want to lie like that. She would've, a few months ago. But what point was there, right? She wanted attention and he was giving it to her and he sounded worried. "No."
She wanted her father.
Will hadn't expected the honest answer. Nor did he really know what to do in response to it.
... but he was concerned.
"What happened?"
Dad's dead, she was supposed to say, but choked on the words. Typing them had been so much easier, and Mac wasn't hard to tell it to. For whatever reason. Almost as easy to talk to as Lauren, but as far as Autumn knew, they were both drinking themselves stupid over this. She was even starting to smell like her best friend.
"He had this whole thing planned," she said instead, staring at a spot on the wall. "Singing cards and presents and attention all day long and none of it was cancelled because he's not here to cancel it and--" There was no reason to say she'd broke down crying, since she was doing it now and he could probably hear. She hated this.
He listened to her cry, pulling a pillow over is head in a half-assed attempt to possibly axphyxiate himself. Her dad had probably died in the stupid freeway falling, hadn't he. There was no way she'd be so upset otherwise.
And it was his fault. Fantastic job, Will, he thought to himself, you sure thought all of that through. Fucking fantastic. He threw the pillow off to the side.
"... I'm sorry."
She wanted to scream at him, because she knew what had happened, knew it was the fucking end of the world and knew he'd been the one to destroy the freeway. Knew it because who else could it be? He was the Kamui who'd chosen and now she was one of his Angels.
Nothing about it was really funny anymore. As if it ever had been.
Fishel was dead too. She'd never even gotten to kiss him.
"Thank you."
"Do you want to do something?" He'd asked it before he'd really thought about the question, but he really had no other ideas for how to cheer up a depressed teenager.
... oh god she was still a teenager. Never mind what happened in Tijuana. But hell, it was the end of the world whether any of them liked it or not.
She nodded in return, not really thinking about that either. But he'd asked, and she didn't want to stay in the house with a knocked out stepmother and pictures of her dad all around. But he couldn't see her nod, and so...
"... okay."
Will needed to be punched. Where was Hayden? He needed Hayden to punch him for this.
"I'll come pick you up."
"I'll get ready." Like wash her face and make sure she didn't look as tired as she felt. Which was ridiculous. She had every right to be this tired.
"See you soon." Will clicked the phone off and headed for the door to track down Hayden before he got ready to leave.
She'd gone out on the porch after she finished, not wanting to wake up Gloria for fear that she might actually start telling her what she should and shouldn't do.
It felt better, being outdoors, even if she could see her father's other car out of the corner of her eye in the garage. The one he'd been driving was totalled, she'd never see it again. Which was good, she didn't want to. But the one left behind annoyed her, and she angled her head so she wouldn't look be able to see it anymore, looking towards the driveway instead, waiting for Will to show up.
This was probably not the best of ideas, but it sounded like the best one at that particular moment. She couldn't think of anything else to turn herself off, so why not?
Will felt his cheek when he'd gotten back into the valley, the bruise already gone. The fast healing helped a lot, but the punch hadn't deterred him at all. Even if Hayden gave him a look as he left.
He learned years ago what side streets to take instead of freeways, and strangely enough, the guard at the front gate remembered him after all that time and let him into the community after exchanging a few pleasantries.
Will pulled into Washland's driveway and left the car running. They wouldn't need to stay long.
The guard had a scary memory, if nothing else, and sometimes Autumn wished he didn't remember everything, but she was glad for it, right now. The moment she saw the car, she got to her feet and moving towards it. She didn't want to stay here at all if she could help it.
"Hey."
He leaned across the car to open the passenger seat for her, music blasting out of the opened door. "Hey." Will leaned back into his seat and waited for her to get in.
She slid into the seat next to him and closed the door behind her, seatbelt buckled before she really thought about what she was doing. Like it mattered anymore. Angel now, right? She was made of sturdier things. Or something. Whatever.
"So what are we doing?"
The hypothetical car crash would still suck, though, even if there was a good chance of them living.
"There's my place, there's probably tons of places still open if you can name anything." He shrugged and turned the car back around for the front gate. "Whatever you feel like."
"I don't really feel like anything," she said, then rectified herself. "Wait, I do feel like getting smashed." And he was old enough now.
Hopefully he hadn't grown morals or something and wouldn't get any for her as well.
If it was possible his morals had probably degenerated since the time they'd broken up. Will smiled a little and drove them back to Santa Monica, to their stupid pink house where the only ones who still lived there was Hayden, Tamara and himself through one reason or another.
He opened the front door to let Autumn inside and gestured towards the kitchen. "Help yourself."
"Awesome." She didn't rummage, however. Although the house was surprisingly well kept, it was still a bandhouse. There might be rats as far as she knew.
He locked back up and joined her in the kitchen, dropping his car keys and wallet on the empty counter. No one had brought in the mail that day.
Will opened up the fridge and pulled a beer out for himself and let Autumn take her pick. "We can take it up to the roof." The better to avoid Hayden and Tamara for the moment.
"Sure." She didn't mind the roof. Less rats, in theory, also more privacy.
She grabbed a beer for herself as well, although she would've preferred heavier stuff, but whatever. She wasn't going to complain.
Starting towards the stairs, Autumn paused halfway there, looking around. "Kind of deserted."
He grabbed a few more for later, shrugging in response. What could he say to that? Will stepped past her to head up the stairs.
... fine then.
She followed, not really wanting to bring it up again if he didn't like the subject. Just like she expected him not to do the same to her, if something came up.
She stepped out on the roof and everything smelled like seawater. It wasn't so bad, just different. Autumn sat down on the edge of the roof, ignoring the chairs and table set a little way off, and held out her bottle for him to open.
He twisted the cap off for her and handed it back, doing the same to his own. Will took a drink and glanced down to the beach. No one was out there tonight. It was no longer hot July weather and the ocean made everything a bit cooler than the valley.
Will set the beer down and leaned back against the railing post.
She waited a while until she spoke again, staring out at the water while drinking her beer. She never did particularly like it, but it doesn't really matter; it'll get the job done anyway. She had to finish the bottle to speak again, however.
"Why'd you call?"
He eyed her empty bottle, taking his time with his. He'd have to drive her home later, wouldn't he? She probably wouldn't want to stay the night, after all.
"Saw your post. Remembered it was your birthday." Will cracked his knuckles a little. "I dunno. I didn't even think I had your number anymore."
As if Gloria would notice. It really depended on where he offered her a place to sleep. God, she didn't even care right now.
"Ah." Seventeen now. And maybe even more immature than she had been a year ago. Whatever. "Right."
Well there were certainly plenty of rooms avaliable. Will downed the rest of his drink and reached for two more for each of them. "And you know, at the rate we're going, our livers will be shot by October." But that didn't stop him from twisting off the caps.
"I think that might be preferable to anything else," she smiled as she took the bottle from him. Then she paused, and looked at her shoes. "Because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do as your Angel."
He chewed on his lip and took a drink. "I don't know. Ocassionally we get the bright idea to go destroy a landmark, we go, and things usually fuck up from there."
"Sounds like hilarious fun." She didn't even know what exactly her whole power thing could do. She never read comics.
"It's an absolute blast." Will picked up the empty beer bottle and chucked it off the roof, waiting for the smash of glass on pavement. "Especially when everyone starts dying, but I guess that's kind of the point. Can't exactly keep on living when the world finally ends."
She had a huge irrational thought of that doesn't sound so bad, then paused, surprised at herself. There was no use thinking like that, really. Even if...
"I guess."
"So," he picked up the second empty one, not throwing it just yet. "Might as well live while we can."
Sometimes he wondered just where his logic really came from.
She glanced at him, eyebrows raised, before almost emptying her own bottle. "Is that a pick-up line, Montgomery, or did you grow into a cheezeball in the past ten months?"
He threw it, grinning a little. "Cheezeball? That's a new one." The bottle shattered down below.
"You'd know if it was a pick-up line."
"I'm trying out words." Not really. She was more just talking for the sake of talking, and he was easy to judge. Or something.
"Would I?"
"I think you would." Will was out of empty bottles to throw for now. He turned away from the beach.
She got to her feet, putting the bottle down on the roof floor instead of throwing it. Something about not littering. Especially not where she could step all over the shards later. "You should try it and see if I do."
Will glanced up at her, eyebrows raised. First off, why was she only seventeen. Secondly, ... oh, hell with that.
He stood up and tugged Autumn a little closer to kiss her.
She almost yelped, but it was drowned out by his lips and before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing back and holding on to the front of his shirt. Wonderful coping mechanism, Autumn, you're really doing the right thing here, but fuck it.
"I don't think that can be catagorized as a pick-up line," she muttered once they broke apart.
If he could come up with every way you weren't supposed to act in response to losing someone you loved, he'd consider it an accomplishment. Will let go of her arm, hands shoving into her pockets.
"I thought I'd skip the pick-up line."
And apparently other steps.
"Really, I didn't notice." She shouldn't be doing this; her father had just died, and it was the worst way ever to cope , but she didn't really want to think right then. "How's my ass?"
He was really bad at remembering what steps went in what order anyway. "Great, actually," Will didn't pull his hands away.
As if she had expected him to.
"It's very flattered." She was talking nonsense.
Her grip on his shirt loosened slightly, raising herself up on her toes to kiss him again.
He kissed her back, hands moving up from her back pockets and over her back, careful to stay outside of her shirt. For now.