Feels Like Starting Over

"Will! Get out here!"

His father's voice was so close and sounded so angry. Will was sure he'd kill him if he came out of his hiding place and showed his face. Pulling his knees up, he wrapped his arms around his legs and prayed that he could make himself small enough to disappear.

"Goddamn it, Will! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!"

Eyes squeezed shut, Will rested his forehead on his knees and breathed. His mom always told him when he was scared, if he remembered to keep breathing, he wouldn't be as scared. She was right, but only a little bit.

"Tobias, stop it. Please, sweetheart, it was an accident."

His mother's voice made Will raise his head. She always tried to save him.

"Why the fuck was he running in the house?" Tobias Porter raged. "He has no respect for anything or anyone."

"He's five, baby. Little boys run when they're not supposed to, they don't always follow the rules. He didn't mean to break your--"

The sound of the slap and the resulting cry made Will jump. He knew what had happened, he had heard it so many times before. He'd seen it, too; felt it for himself.

"Stop making excuses for him! It's your fault he's such a fucking pansy and stays inside to play instead of going outside like normal boys. You baby him, you stupid bitch. It'll be your fault if he grows up to be some fucking fag."

"Stop it, Tobias," Inez said, though her voice wasn't as strong and sure as it had been before. "Leave him alone. Please..."

"God, my mother was right. I never should have married you. I should have known a whore wouldn't know how to raise a child."

Will covered his ears with his hands, crying at the way his dad yelled at his mom. He didn't understand everything he said to her - he didn't know what a whore or a cunt was - but he knew the words always made her cry as much as when his dad hit her.

"Then divorce me, Toby. Let me go. I'll take Will and we'll--"

"You're not taking my son anywhere. You can leave and I won't give a shit, but my boy stays with me."

Shaking his head, Will tried not to cry, but he'd forgotten to keep breathing and now he was really scared. If his mom left him, he knew his dad would hurt him even worse than he already did.

"The only way I'll leave him with you is if you kill me." Inez's words were quiet but firm.

Tobias's chuckle made a shiver go down Will's spine. "You don't think that can be arranged?"

"NO!" Will screamed and burst from his hiding place under the staircase, straight to his mother. "No, Mommy!" he cried as he was lifted into her arms and hugged her tightly around her neck. "Don't let Daddy kill you!"

"Shh, baby," Inez soothed him, rubbing his back and glaring at her husband. "I didn't mean to scare you, baby. It's okay..."

Tobias reached to slap Will, but Inez turned in time to take the blow herself.

"STOP IT, TOBY!" Will suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs.

Both of his parents looked at him, stunned, then Inez started to laugh. It wasn't the happy laugh that Will was used to when she played with him, but he couldn't think of how to describe it other than sad.

"Oh, baby," she said, holding her son even tighter. "Don't yell at your father."

That confused Will, but he just held onto her for dear life and snuck his father a dirty look.

"Piece of shit," Tobias grunted. "Inez, tonight. You owe me."

Those words sent another shiver down Will's spine. He knew that after he was put to bed, his mom would have to go into the room she shared with his dad and pay him whatever it was he thought she owed. The door would be locked, she would cry and Will would be helpless to do anything but listen to the sounds coming from his parents' room. These were the nights Will hid under his bed until morning.

Title: Bad News
Prompt: 053. Indifferent
Word Count: 405
Rating: G
Summary: Will gets some news about an old boss.

It was after midnight when the phone rang. Will was awake, his own schedule having changed since his boyfriend had begun working the night shift. Being unemployed afforded him that luxury, so at least it was good for something.

"Hello?"

"Will, it's Sandy. I'm sorry to call you so late."

Will smiled at the sound of his former assistant's voice. He'd been meaning to catch up with her, maybe take her to lunch, but she'd been busy and he'd been enjoying his vast amounts of nothing to do.

"Don't worry about it. How's it going?" Then it hit him. Late night phone calls weren't good things. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"I've got some bad news," she said, her voice cracking a little. "It's Mr. Fillmore, Will. He's dead."

Will hadn't thought about his old boss since he'd quit his job. The man had gone missing before Will had left, everyone assuming he was taking an unscheduled vacation due to some personal problems.

"What happened?"

"Suicide. He went to his wife's house and shot himself in front of her."

"Wow," Will whispered. He knew that Fillmore's wife had probably been cheating on him - the woman had made a pass at Will on more than one occasion - but Will never thought the old man would do himself in over it. "Is it because she was cheating on him?"

"What? I don't know." Sandy sounded a little shocked. "Mr. Fillmore's dead. Why does it matter why he did it?"

Will immediately felt chagrined. He'd only seen Fillmore as a boss and the news, while unexpected, made him feel the same sense of loss that hearing about one of his co-workers dying would have. Besides, Will had worked for Fillmore for months as opposed to the years that Sandy had with him.

"I'm sorry, Sandy. I know you were very fond of him."

"I thought you were, too. You were so concerned when he went missing."

Because I knew I'd have to do his work on top of my own.

"Yeah, I guess... It's late. I'm not thinking."

"Of course. I'm sorry," Sandy said quickly. "I just thought you should know. I'll get in touch with the funeral details, all right?"

"Okay. Thanks, Sandy."

When Will hung up the phone, he wondered about the way he'd reacted to the news of his ex-boss's death. Maybe it would hit him later and then he'd feel a little sad. Maybe.

Title: Calling a Friend
Fandom: Original Character
Characters: Will Porter, and his best friend Peter Cavanaugh
Prompt: 055. Jealous
Word Count: 584
Rating: G
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Will calls Peter to share some news, but gets an unexpected reaction.

( Calling a Friend )

I've just signed up Will for the 100moods community. Here's the table:

( Behind the cut )