Those left behind... Discovering each other. (BarelyAiwake & Butternut)

[barelyAiwake]

It had been almost surreal, her mother had passed away awhile back. Fawn sat in her last class of the day, she hadn’t even taken out her notebook or pencil yet as she was about to the intercom buzzed to life. “Miss Sanders. Can you please have Fawn come to the office?” she said. “Yes she’ll be right down.” The woman spoke looking at the strawberry red haired girl whose expression was flat as she gathered her bag and got to her feet fixing her uniform skirt. Hoisting her heavy bag over her shoulder before she’d left the room. Making the trip to the office that by now she could do with her eyes shut.

Coming to a large wooden door with a window in it she pressed a button to get buzzed in. She opened the thick old door, once on the other side she greeted the woman behind the desk, who gave her a look pointing down the hall.

With an annoyed sigh made her way to the familiar room which she has many times before. Stepping into the small room she saw a familiar woman giving her stern look. “You know you can’t just skip class. And you got in a fight while you weren’t in class.” The woman said with a sour expression.

“She started it. She was commenting on my mom.” She said to the woman her expression changed, now uncomfortable. “We’ll have to tell your dad.” The woman said and she rolled her eyes. “He’s not my dad, I’m like a hot potato… The time ran out and he was the last one holding on.” She said with a shrug. The woman sighed. I still need to talk to him, but you can go early.” Shea said, Fawn nodded, getting to her feet. She left the room, then left the office making her way home. She walked most days as she hadn’t lived too far.

20 minutes later she was in front of their apartment building. It was a nicer building her mom had worked hard so they could live here. She made her way to the top floor taking her time opening her door smelling the food Alan had been making. She sighed, it was frustrating. He’d been a fixture in her life for a long time, the past 4 years though since she was 10 when he came around it seemed like forever. He was her first crush, he seemed indifferent to her but she like being his helper and getting to watch him. That was still true. But unfortunately her feelings, along with her body had bloomed into adult hood. Even though she’d known he would never see her as more the a little girl.

She walked into the kitchen seeing him sitting at the table putting on a smile but she knew his mind was heavy. Walking in she greeted him as she came up behind him her hands on his shoulders. “How was your day?” She asked lightly.

 

[Butternut]

Without exaggerating, Weston could say with confidence that the last few weeks had been the worst weeks of his entire life. He had been able to hold a job as an ER nurse for awhile now. It was stressful and it caused him to see things he never would have wanted to see in his life, but he had fallen madly in love with one of the doctors, Julie. The feeling seemed mutual, and their relationship was even progressing to the point where he decided to move out of his shitty, overpriced studio apartment and in with her. She liked to be a little frugal as she was trying to support her daughter, but the apartment was pretty high end to say the least. She had been physically fit, ate healthy, and even preached the overwhelming need for mental health. When she got cancer unexpectedly, Weston figured she would be just fine. As it turned out, the vile disease didn't take too long to claim her.

From that point on, it was honestly quite easy for Weston to make it through his daily routine. It wasn't that he didn't mourn or miss his girlfriend, there was just so much going on that kept him from dwelling and kept his mind occupied. Work was always a shit show, and he was always running around with his head cut off trying to help every doctor and nurse he could. It helped that his co-workers who knew them both didn't say much and left him well alone. Then, there was the matter of her daughter. He didn't necessarily love her as a daughter, they were actually pretty close in age, but he had promised Julie he would do his best to take care of her and he planned to keep his promise.

Even now, it was one of his few days off from work. He hated being home in the apartment by himself. It was really the only time he got to stew on the death of his girlfriend. In fact, Weston hadn't found the courage to even open the door to their bedroom. The pain of seeing their bed was too much. So, Weston had been sleeping on the couch for the last few weeks. Even still, most nights he cried himself to sleep grasping tightly to the memories he had with his Julie. The wound was still quite fresh, but Weston made due as best as he could. He had to.

Hearing the door to the apartment open and shut, Weston didn't even have time to look before he felt hands on his shoulders. Turning and giving her a little smile, Weston focused on the gravy he was stirring for dinner that night. "Well, I got a call from your school." He said, turning the whisk a few more times before shutting off the burner and removing the saucepot of gravy. It was an awkward position, were they expecting him to punish her? He didn't feel as though they had that kind of relationship. He also wasn't one for lectures. Besides, had he been in that situation, he likely would have done the same thing.

"It doesn't matter." He said finally. Opening the oven to check on his roast, he turned and faced her, leaning up against the counter to the side of the range. "How are you holding up?" He asked her, though he felt as though he already knew the answer. Her answer was likely similar to his. She had just gotten done fighting at school over her mom. Weston knew how she was holding up. "Sorry." He said finally. "Don't answer that." His phone ringing saved him from the awkward conversation. "Hey, I gotta take this, can you make sure nothing burns? Thanks!" He said before waiting for an answer. Weston answered the phone right before walking out of the room