Will finished off a bottle of wine in his apartment, relaxing after a day at work. He was drunk, he couldn't deny it, but he felt so light. If he had to be honest, he had been drinking more often since Marie's birth. There were just so many things about which he had to worry.
He was falling behind at work, mostly because he was so worried about Karen that he took a lot of half days and such. But there was no way he would allow her to go through a depression alone. He just wasn't that sort of man. Also, he was worried about their relationship. They hadn't made love in six months, since Marie was born, and he wasn't sure how to take it. He couldn't tell if she just didn't feel like it, which he could respect, or if she didn't find him attractive anymore.
Time passed, but their lives together stalled. They were close, but it seemed as if they were only close on a friendship level. She didn't even kiss him once the last couple of times they saw one another. He was worried, but he didn't want to say anything because he didn't want her to feel the same. But he wondered if she even noticed.
"Hi, honey." She entered his apartment with a smile upon her face, pushing the stroller in front of her. "How was work?"
"Long." He placed his empty wine glass upon the coffee table and turned a bit to face her. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? Well, honey, you invited me two nights ago." She chuckled a bit at how forgetful he had been. "Do you want me to go? You know, leave you with your bottle."
"What?"
"You're drunk." He waved her statement away with his hand and took his glass to the kitchen. She followed and stood watching him from the other side of the island counter. "Will, is something wrong?"
"I…no, just a long day." She didn't believe him for a moment when she saw the glossiness of his eyes. "What did you do today?"
"Marie and I had lunch with your mother." She decided to allow him to wallow in whatever was wrong with him for the moment. She didn't want to push him into talking about anything. He made his way back to the couch and sat, pulling Marie's stroller over to him and playing with her a bit. "She gave me a few pictures of you when you were a baby. Marie looks a lot like you did, well, except for the parts of her that look like me."
"Why did you have lunch with my mother?" He sounded angry, and she still wasn't sure why. She placed her hands upon her hips and tilted her head.
"She asked me to go. Does that bother you?" He shook his head and leaned further back on the couch. She sat next to him and smiled. "Oh, that's good. I'm surprised at how well she and I get along. It's really strange because…"
"Why are you so talkative?" She knew he was drunk, but his words sounded so harsh. He could be very heartless when he was drunk, and that is why he never drank too much. But something was different.
"I'm on a roll, honey. Today was the first time in two days that I've had a real conversation with someone who doesn't spit baby food at me. I just thought we could share about our day."
"Well, I've spent all day talking, and I was hoping for some peace and quiet."
"You invited me over." His eyes were dark with purpose when she tried to look deeply into his emotion. They were sharp.
"How the hell was I supposed to know it was going to be such a stressful day?" She abruptly stood and grabbed the stroller, turning it before opening the door. "Damn it, Karen, wait." He followed her out the door, finding her waiting for the elevator.
"Get away from me, Will."
"No, just come back inside. We can talk." She turned to face him, neither of them noticing Jack peeking through his apartment door. He heard loud speaking and was curious to know the source.
"We can talk later, when you're sober and coherent." She turned away, but he firmly grabbed her upper arms and turned to face him once more. "Ouch, let go."
"Not until you come back inside!" He shook her to emphasize his words, but it only worked to frighten her a bit. She wasn't used to him reacting so harshly to her. She began to remember a story he told her about a time he hit a friend of his in college when they were drunk. She hoped to God he wouldn't revert back to that state of mind.
"Let go!" She struggled to pull away, pushing at his chest, but he shoved her against the wall. His face was close to hers, and she felt her shoulders ache a bit at the pressure he was applying. "Will, you're hurting me."
Jack exited his apartment and stepped next to Will, taking his arms and pulling him away from Karen. She was breathing heavily, and still feeling slightly threatened by Will's behavior towards her. He looked at Jack, met her eyes once more, and he began to sob.
"Karen, I'm so sorry." She was left unarmed, standing tightly against the wall. He covered his eyes with his hands and stepped away from Jack, returning to his apartment to lye upon the couch.
"Poodle, would you mind watching Marie for a while." He walked over to the stroller and began pushing her towards his apartment.
"She can spend the night, if you want."
"Thanks." He closed the door to his apartment, and she slowly made her way to Will's. She had never seen a man cry, discounting Jack of course, and she felt nervous. As she walked inside she placed a hand against his arm before he slowly pulled him into a hug, allowing him to cry into her shoulder.
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She sat upon the floor next to him as he lay upon the couch. He had stopped crying quickly after he had begun, and she was running her fingers through his hair. He didn't tell her why he was behaving so strangely, why he was drinking, but she planned to get to the bottom of it. There was no way she was just going to let it go.
"Will, what's going on? I've never seen you act like this." He sighed, but didn't answer right away. He had to tell her; he just didn't know how. Yes, he was holding a secret. He took her hand in his and placed a kiss upon her fingers. "Please." He met her hazel eyes, full of concern for him.
"I don't know how to tell you."
"Honey, you don't have to be afraid to tell me anything." He chuckled a bit, but continued to think of the right words to say. Her face fell into a frown, her brow furrowed. "You don't want to break up with me do you?"
"No, not at all." He was quick to answer. That was the last thing he wanted to happen. He sat up and took both of her hands in his. She continued to look into his eyes from the ground, worried. "I went out with Jack the other night and something happened."
"What?" She felt panic begin to arise within her throat. She stood from the ground, sitting next to him upon the couch. Suddenly she wanted to be on the same plane as he.
"I met this guy, and I was so drunk. We went to the back room at the club and…well…" He didn't continue, and her heart was pounding within her chest.
"Did you fuck him?"
"No." He didn't continue, though. He wasn't sure how to say it without making her feel betrayed. He looked in her direction, but she was no longer studying his face. She looked hurt already, even though she didn't know the whole story. "He kissed me…and I didn't push him away right away."
"Did you feel anything? Do you miss men?" Her questions were odd to him. He didn't expect her to sound rational at all, but to yell and leave him.
"I thought I did when he and I were dancing, but all I kept thinking about was you."
"Don't try to sweet-talk me."
"I'm not. And I'm so sorry, Kare. It didn't mean anything, I swear." She met his eyes to find them pleading for forgiveness. She sighed and turned to face him a bit more.
"Well, it was just a kiss, right? No tongue or anything?"
"No, just a kiss." She smiled a bit, and he felt his mind ease for a moment. She wasn't taking it the way he assumed she would.
"That's not really a big deal, like you made it sound."
"You aren't angry?"
"Not really. I mean, if you're freaking out about one kiss then I guess I should trust that you wouldn't do more."
"I wouldn't, I promise you. I would never cheat on you."
"Do me one favor and we'll forget all about this whole thing, honey."
"I'll do anything for you." She gave him a soft smile, hoping to ease his mind.
"Stop drinking so much."
