Malibu Madness: Doreen & Johnny

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Doreen seeks out an old family haunt and is followed by Johnny. The most honest talk they've had follows.

She did manage to sneak out, even with Angel and Cats. Doreen had a lot of experience with sneaking out of big houses, though you wouldn't know it from her normal personality. But the only time she had ever really felt safe in her routine running and jumping was at the insane hours of night. And she had always been afraid of what the neighbors would say even if she didn't admit it.

So she learned the skill of sneaking out. It wasn't quite night yet. It was dusk and she was going some place… special.

It was empty of course, what she wasn't expecting was the 'For Sale by Owner' sign that hung on the property. The house was small, isolated and more than enough for a family of four that used to play on the beach and laugh during the long, sunny days or California summers.

Doreen walked up to the porch and sat down; tail curled around her and watched the waves. Monkey Joe was back at Julian's beach house as an insurance policy in case anyone realized she was gone they would know she'd be back.

For a bit she just watched the waves, remembering being chased around the beach by her laughing and smiling father.

As apt as Doreen's skills were, a distracted mind and an unlikely path by her classmate's perch upon the lower section of the beach house roof had left her with a concerned tag along. Johnny didn't know where she was going, but he knew the girl well enough to be concerned by her expression, her posture, even the unusual bristle of her large tail, as she had hurried past him. And so he had followed.

The white-haired teen approached quietly now, worn sneakers all but silent against the sand. She didn't look like herself. The pain and the nostalgia on her face were blatant, not obscured by that ever-present lightness she insisted on wearing, and she gazed out on the dimming scenery, curled up in the body of her tail as if it were a security blanket. The fact that her senses hadn't alerted her to his presence spoke volumes. He stopped a few feet shy of her and broke the silence carefully, "...Hey Dori. Mind if I sit with you?"

Doreen quickly wiped her eyes, “Uh, sure,” she said simply, “There used to be a swing bench out here, but I guess Dad must’ve taken it down.”

"...Steps aren't so bad," Johnny offered gently, not venturing forth to join her until her hand had dropped from her eyes. He folded his arms against his knees and looked at her briefly before allowing his gaze to wander down toward his shoes and her clawed feet now dusted with sand. He frowned faintly and fought the urge to chew his lip. "What're you doing out here?"

“This used to be our beach house. We spent a lot of time here,” Doreen said, looking out at the ocean, “I guess I just wanted to see if Dad was here. I sort of knew he wouldn’t be.”

Johnny remained quiet for a long moment, perhaps longer than he'd intended to. The man seemed to have a habit of letting her down. And an aptitude for it. Not that he knew anything about that. He thought about Darren unhappily and about the long evening he'd spent with Doreen waiting for her dad to call and scuffed the heel of his sneaker along the lowest of the steps. "Maybe it's for the best he's not," he said at last, in a soft and careful voice.

Doreen didn't say anything for a long moment, "Maybe," she admitted, "He doesn't want to do anything with me - at all," she admitted. "He just drinks and forgets that I exist and wants my brother bad enough to sue for custody but not me. I just... wish it was all a bad dream, I guess..."

"For your sake. Not for his," Johnny corrected immediately, his companion's weighted words drawing his light eyes to her beneath sinking brows. She continued and he listened. It was uncommon to hear her speak with such candor and such honest unhappiness and it made his chest tighten. "Dori..." Her name came out small on his lips and he forced some amount of volume and resolve back into his voice before speaking again, "It's not your fault. He may be trying to pin it all on you, but it's not your fault."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Doreen said, "Everyone but him and my brother and his lawyer," she said and then she looked at him, "What if it is my fault? What if it really is?"

"It's not," Johnny said again, swallowing a little and forcing his eyes to meet hers and to stay there. It was important that she heard this. "If your dad can't see that you're the same person you've always been just because the circumstances have changed a little, that fault lies with him, not with you." He shook his head. "Parents are...they can be just like anybody else. When things don't go the way they planned, sometimes they just want somebody to blame. Even if it's stupid and unfair and...it's not your fault, Dori."

"Yeah..." Doreen said after a moment, "...There's a hearing tomorrow... do....do you think you could come? I don't want to go up in front of a bunch of people all by myself. Julian is coming too, but... I don't know. You two are my friends. ...And... it would mean a lot to me," she said quietly.

This question gave her classmate brief pause. It had nothing to do with the task itself, but simply the shock of the request and the ache her soft, broken words worked into him. Johnny's features softened and he moved to touch the cusp of her arm and shoulder carefully, "...Sure thing. I'll be there. Whatever you need, just say the word, okay?" He forced a small smile and lifted his hand to brush a long, misplaced curl out of her face, "Don't make me ask Monkey Joe. My Squirrel isn't nearly as fluent as yours."

She laughed quietly, "Yeah. I'll let you know. ...Um... thank you," she said, smiling up at him, "Really." She was more scared than she cared to admit. But this... this helped.

A lot.