Helping the Helper
Characters: Adam and Autumn Setting: Movie Theater, Late morning
Adam really was having issues wiping the stupid grin off his face, but even with knowing Mazie was really upset, and wondering if Autumn was as well, the smile was there, thinking about Kyle and what it was they were doing. Which was technically a lot of nothing given the walls between them, but the words were enough for right now. They were trying and Kyle thought he was hot and wanted to be closer to him. Adam was in close to heaven. He let himself into the movie theater, impressed by it as a whole, wandering around and flipping through the film options. He guessed that he and Autumn would more likely talk than watch a movie, but it was a nice, cool place. Maybe it would be relaxing.
Autumn was in deeper thought than she usually was, sort of half assedly listening to music and trying to work out what to do with her day when she'd messaged Adam. She wasn't in any different position when she realized she should get going. As she crossed the courtyard, her eyes drifted to Jim's new room, and then she determinedly turned back to the theater and headed inside. When she got there, she did smile at the back of Adam's head. She'd been kind of avoiding, but not actively. But it was nice to see him. And...he looked happy?
Putting on her best smile, she dropped down beside him, and bumped her shoulder against his. "Hey there."
He heard her coming, smiling more at the sight of her. She was about all he had left on the block or he was going to start thinking of Charlie as his friend. “Hey back,” he told her. “Good to see you.”
"You too." she said. "You look all bright eyed and bushy tailed. What's up?" she asked. It was a huge improvement over before. Especially since last time she'd talked to him he was back to 'the world is fucking ending zomg' mode.
Adam was pretty sure he shouldn’t tell Autumn what made him so happy. Her last bit of instruction was to leave Kyle the hell alone, to stop being friends with him and now they were dating. Sort of. Whatever they were. He shrugged one shoulder. “Slept last night.” Which was accurate even if slightly fudged. “What about you? How’re you doing?”
"See? Things seem better when you get sleep!" she said. And she did the same thing Adam did. Lied. "I'm y'know...alright. Not super awesome great or anything, but hanging in there." she assured him.
Right. Sleep with the phone line open so your sort-of boyfriend could hear when you woke up screaming. That made things better. “Yeah? Because Mazie’s pretty pissed.” He looked over at Autumn. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”
“Why did you ask, if you were just going to throw that in my face?” Autumn asked. She didn’t sound mad or anything, but it felt like a set up. She’d admitted she wasn’t great, but also hadn’t been planning on delving into something she wasn’t even sure she wanted to talk about. And here is where Adam bitches at you, and you lose a friend, and he loses someone to talk to about his never ending drama. she supplied in her head. Considering the last time she and Mazie had even mildly been out of sorts and he reacted by being very upset and grilling her about it, getting a little in her face there, she was pretty positive this was just going to end poorly. He was going to be horrified, and angry with her too. Which she deserved, in not-a-whore-land.
It sucked. He hadn’t sounded like that was all he’d invited her there for. He’d seemed happy and everything. So...had she misjudged?
Then she felt bad. She was probably overreacting here. “Sorry,” she said first. “That just sounded like a set up. I’m being oversensitive.” If it wasn’t. Which she still didn’t know if she was, but Adam did actually deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Adam was surprised at what she said, looking over at her, shock in his eyes. It wasn’t until she apologized that he even knew what to do. Reaching for her hand he held it lightly, watching her eyes for a moment. “Maybe a little bit of a set up, but just so I could find out what happened. Mazie...well she gets pissed easy...I don’t know I was worried about you. Worried something happened and I know that sucks. And I don’t know what happened, but I heard that something might have gone wrong with you two and I thought I should check in on you.”
She'd spent a lot of time telling Adam he was awesome, and sweet, and all sorts of things. But sometimes she lost sight of that because he also got so mired in his own ass that it was hard to see past it. But in that moment, he just proved every praise point she'd ever leveled in his direction, and she squeezed his hand back then abruptly gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're awesome." she told him. "Thank you." she added. "For checking on me. It means a lot to me.” she got that out of the way first, just in case he did decide to disown her after he found out what happened.
The kiss made him blush a little, but he answered her hug then sunk in the chair a little so he was closer to her. “Well, don’t tell anyone, but you’re my only friend over here now. I gotta look out for you.” He supposed Hunter was someone who was close to his friend, but they’d only just met. “So come on, tell me. You okay?”
Autumn ignore the insulting aspect of that, and instead sighed. "...don't hate me." she said first. "But I did something wrong, I suppose. Mazie and I had never discussed exclusivity. I was unaware she wanted that, and...I wasn't exclusive. Now she's understandably upset."
Adam tilted his head a little, listening to that. He’d almost preemptively told her he couldn’t hate her, but he didn’t get it out in time. He opened his mouth once, then another time, trying to let that click into place. “Did you...oh..Damn.” He sunk in his chair more, running his fingers through his hair. The first thing he thought of was the fact that he needed to ask if they were exclusive. Massive note to self. “Autumn…” He bit at his lip then looked at her. “How were you..unaware she wanted that?”
"We never talked about it." Autumn said. "And not everyone works the same way. A lot of people don't just leap right into that type of relationship, they see each other for a while before they decide they're done with anyone else. I know for someone like you, it's probably hard to understand. You're...an intense person. And something casual probably wouldn't work for you. But it isn't actually unusual. And for me..." she trailed off. "You remember what I am, right?"
Adam sighed and nodded. “I know...what I’m like. But I also have done casual.” Or one night stands which he guessed was as casual as it got. “I know it’s not really me, and I get that it happens. Dates and such for a while and all that. And I know...I remember. So I guess….commitment wouldn’t be your thing but…” Adam trailed off biting at his lip as he thought about where to go next. “Mazie like...starts off not liking people. I’m not sure why you didn’t think she’d be thinking of it that way. If you can think of me being that way.” He looked at his hands feeling, like he was lecturing Autumn, when he really was trying not to, keeping his voice quiet and without any other emotion other than concern. He hated that something had happened, but he got that maybe they’d missed a step somewhere. Or maybe Autumn didn’t care about Mazie the same as Mazie cared about her.
Autumn smiled. "You've done casual?" she asked. "And hon...Mazie is sometimes a pretty closed off personality. Obviously, I adore her. But wound up with Jim, who I guess is one of her best friends. Only I didn't know that because she never talks about him. And he didn't know who I was either. Her best friend didn't know about her girlfriend. It's...how does that add up too?" she posed. "Are neither of us important enough to talk about? Does she just compartmentalize so completely that she forgets? How does that translate to an actual relationship?" she continued. "...it isn't so cut and dried."
“I’ll have you know the only people I slept with...I’ve never hooked up with again. Some of them I haven’t even seen again.” There was a flash of Ella, the dead girl, and it took Adam a solid moment to push the fact that he definitely wouldn’t see her again away. When he came back to it he shook his head. “I don’t even know who Jim is…” Adam said. “I think she does the compartmentalize thing. She’s a different person with different people…And I don’t think she’s ever been in a relationship. I don’t think she’s had much in the way of friends that aren’t online.” He sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you like being with Jim more?”
"That's not casual, that's one night stand. I'm talking about people seeing each other for a while, maybe some dates, hanging out, but not only seeing that one person." Autumn explained. "It's a step up from friends with benefits, but not quite a solid thing." She sighed when Adam admitted to not knowing Jim either. That just...said a lot. At least it wasn't just her. "I think she's very much different people depending on her company." she agreed. Not that she minded. A lot of people were like that. Autumn knew she was.
At the last question, Autumn shook her head. "It isn't like that." she said. "Or about that, even. Things with Jim have nothing to do with things with Mazie. There was this instant, electric kind of attraction, and we acted on it. It isn't a matter of 'who's better', I don't rank people like that in my head."
Adam frowned. “Uhh well yeah, I didn’t do much dating.” That hadn’t really been an option, though he was wondering more and more why. Why the girls who said he was so cute bailed and never came back. They hadn’t seemed like they weren’t enjoying themselves at the time. Adam turned in his chair to look at Autumn, still frowning. “But...I mean that spark, that thing you said, you didn’t have that with Mazie. Maybe that’s better. ‘Cause...you might still have to choose.”
"Who says I didn't have that with Mazie?" Autumn asked, arching a brow. "...you're assuming a whole lot there. I did. I was attracted to Mazie right away. But, as you said earlier, Mazie's never had a relationship. So, for her, I just took things slowly. I wanted everything to be really special for her." she explained. "With Jim, it was just...zing!" she snapped her fingers. "Everyone needs different things, or wants different things." She shook her head at the last part. "I don't have to do anything. And it isn't even all up to me. I'm in a position where I may lose Mazie, but this is mostly up to her. It's in her court, whether or not she's even able to forgive me, if she wants to, or not, and if we can even come to an agreement on what we're doing together."
“I guess I just thought the ‘zing’, you know nevermind.” Adam sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. I get going slow and I get maybe that getting old.” And he was inwardly panicking about Kyle, but trying desperately to keep that inside and not out in the open for Autumn to ask about. They’d talked about slow and about how Adam had no idea what he was doing with Kyle, but what if Kyle got bored? “I think the last part is important though. I think...even if she can forgive you, if you don’t want what she wants…”
"I know." Autumn said with a heavy exhale. "It's why I'm not doing so great." she said. "I really adore Mazie. I think she's amazing. I love being around her, listening to her, I love that spark that makes her who she is...but I'm me. And just like I wouldn't seek to edit her as a person? I don't want anyone editing me, either." she admitted. “No one should.”
“And being exclusive…” Adam was mostly just inferring out loud. “I’m sorry Autumn. I’m not sure what to tell you.”
"I know, sweetie. It's okay." She hadn't asked for him to come up with answers for her. She didn't know that there were any. It was Mazie's move at the moment, and all she could do was wait it out. "But thanks for asking, and trying, and not jumping down my throat."
He shrugged. “I hadn’t talked to Mazie yet,” Adam admitted. “So that helped. But also...I guess...I’m more sad that it got messed up like it did.” He liked them together. It made Mazie happy and it was a nice concept. “Anything I can do to help?”
"Be there for her." Autumn said. "And I'd like us to keep hanging out and everything, but I get it if side choosing has to happen or something. Though for the record, I won't make you do that. But I know she'll need help. And since I can't..."
“I’d like to keep hanging out too…” Adam said, frowning a little. He was short on good options on the block anyway. It’d be nice to hang on to one friend. “I will though. And maybe Wren or Ky too. They’re good for that sort of thing.” He’d thought of Kyle first, but managed to get Wren’s name in there before his.
Autumn was thinking that last time Kyle and Mazie had a run in, it had been one hell of a fireworks display, so that might not go well. Still. She didn't know Wren personally, just through Adam talking about her. "I'm sure they are." she said. "So...movie?" she asked, giving him a tired smile.
Adam made a mental note to message Wren, see if she could talk to Mazie, and leaned in closer to Autumn. “Movie. You can pick. Whatever cheesy, girly, romantic comedy or gory, horror flick suits your fancy. And if you choose not to pick, I’m going to sort them by age and go back as far as I can because I grew up with a grandmother who had a huge crush on Bogart.”
"Oh god--Casablanca! That's my choice!" she said immediately. She smiled at him. "You're awesome." she told him again, affection in her tone. "Now let's hit up some classic greatness."
“Don’t judge me, but I know every word,” Adam said, grinning and getting up to start the film. Once it was running he moved to sit with her again. “You’re awesome too Autumn. Don’t forget that.”