FicWad

There she was, just exactly where her roommate said she would be. Instantly he could see where she was, not only physically but also mentally. His newfound courage found him again and he barely hesitated before walking up behind her and sitting down next to her.
He didn't say a word at first, just swung his legs over the edge of the quarry where hers dangled and rested his arms on the railing inches from hers.
"Now she told you where I was," she sounded as annoyed as he figured that she would be.
"I don't think she wanted to. I found your address next to your number in the local phone book. I figured if I called again you'd just hang up on me but if I showed up you'd maybe listen. Slim odds but they were stacked in favor of showing up. She didn't want to tell me. First she told me you moved. Then she told me you died. That was a good one by the way. She wasn't going to tell me anything until I pointed out that there were a bunch of weird guys roaming the streets tonight and you shouldn't be out alone. Then she caved," he didn't look at her but stared out into the huge expanse of blackness that lay in front of them.
"I can handle myself." she said sternly
"I'm sure you can, but she worries. She's a good friend."
"She's not my friend, just my roommate."
Mikey couldn't quite imagine wanting to live with someone you weren't friends with. He also wasn't sure what to say to that.
She broke the silence instead.
"So. You hunted me down like some kind of stalker. Say what you have to say and kindly leave me alone," he could hear the anger in her words but he couldn't quite feel it coming from her like you could when someone was as furious as she sounded.
"You left pretty quickly today and I think you got the wrong idea about me and about what went on. I don't sleep with girls in every town I go to," he started.
"Good, so I'm the special random girl," she deadpanned.
"I don't sleep with random girls."
"You did with me."
She maybe had a point.
They still hadn't looked at each other. He was beginning to wonder just how deep the quarry they were perched on the edge of was.
"Yeah, I did. I don't know what possessed me to do that. I never do that. But even when it was going on, I wasn't thinking of it as a one time thing," he wasn't sure it was coming out right at all.
It sounded a lot better in his head before it came out his mouth but none of it was coming out exactly how he wanted it to.
"And you were thinking what? That we'd get married next Wednesday? You didn't even know my full name. All you wanted was what you got. I don't know why you're making this such a big deal."
Maybe she didn't but it was a big deal to him. He didn't do that shit. He didn't hook up with random girls all the time and he definitely didn't want to start with this instance.
"I know you think I'm in a band so this is second nature to me, like I bring girls on my bus all the time. That's a great cliché but it's far from reality. You are the first girl I have ever slept with who I didn't know and that's the truth. When I saw you I admit that I was far from thinking things through but there was something there I couldn't explain. For some reason I acted ways I never act and said things I never say. I can't say I understand it. I just know what I felt even if I'm not sure what that means. There's something between us and I don't know what it is but I want to know. I want to know all there is to know about you. That's why I asked your roommate for your number. That's why I came to your place tonight and that's why I followed you out here. If it was just some random score, if I were that kind of guy, I would have just walked away, adding another tally to the wall but I'm here, missing my bus and asking you just to let me know you."
There was confident Mikey again. He didn't know his other half very well but he was coming to like it. He turned his head to her, staring dead straight into her, waiting for her to look back at him and plead with his eyes that he was being completely honest with her.
She didn't say anything for a long time and he just sat next to her, aware of nothing but her presence beside him.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, she exhaled and answered him.
"I don't sleep with random guys. I don't know why I did what I did other than that you are the first person I felt a connection to in the past year and a half."
Mikey's body lit up with triumph when he realized he finally got her to talk
"So can I start by asking your last name since you obviously already know mine?"
He could have sworn he noticed her smile a little.
"Conlon. Jen Conlon."
"Nice to officially meet you, Conlon Jen Conlon," he couldn't help making fun of her a little.
"You too Mikey Mikey Way," she could obviously take it.
"So, are you Irish then or did your parents just really like the name?"
"They both came from Ireland but I was born in New York. Where are you from?"
"New Jersey currently by way of a large bus with too many guys on it."
"So my roommate tells me you're in a fairly TV worthy band."
"Yeah but I just play bass and hide in the back. My brother takes the spotlight. He and Frankie, this other guy in the band and they can have it as far as I'm concerned."
"So there's a brother?"
Maybe they were getting somewhere.
"In the same tiny space day in and day out. How about you? Brothers or sisters?"
She got quiet again and he immediately thought about what she had said about not connecting with anyone in over a year.
"One brother, two sisters, all younger," she responded but her voice was quieter, less forthcoming than in the last few minutes.
He didn't want to ask but he wanted to know and Confident Mikey took over.
"What did you mean I was the first person you've felt a connection with in the past year and a half?"
"I mean that I am pretty much alone in this world."
She paused and he was sure there was more coming.
"I know that sounds weird and everybody feels like they are alone at times but I really am. That's probably my fault to a good extent. I don't let people in," she took another short breath.
"A year and a half ago I was on vacation with my entire family and my boyfriend and best friend. We went to Hawaii for a week and one morning they booked a plane tour. They were all so excited and I was just being a jerk. No matter how much they begged me to go, I kept telling them the whole thing was stupid and I'd rather sleep. They went out on the plane... and barely got off the runway before something happened and they crashed. My whole family died along with my best friend and boyfriend. In one morning I lost my whole life and I fucking slept through it!"

He could hear the tears enter her voice as she progressed through to the end of the story. By then, the anger and the sadness resonated off of her. He'd known that there was something. He'd felt it on the bus but he could never have guessed that.
His only instinct was to pull her to him and hold her as close as he could. He moved back from the ledge and pulled her with him. He was surprised at how quickly she let him, the minute his arms wrapped around her, finally letting herself cry. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed for a long time. He just held her, rubbing her back and trying to comfort her to the best of his ability. He felt completely lost for what to do and in over his head so he just held her.
"Why am I still here? I should have been with them. I should have been on that plane. I should have died with them," she sobbed into his chest.
"Everything happens for a reason," he whispered.
Jen continued to cry.
"I should have died that day! I should have fucking died. Then I wouldn't be here by myself."
There was something so honest and raw about that statement that Mikey felt like he shouldn't have heard it. He felt almost voyeuristic listening to her pain.
"Why would they all leave me here by myself? Don't they know I can't do this alone?"
"Then don't," he heard the words before he realized that they had come from his lips.
She looked up at him and really looked at him for the first time since he had come to sit beside her, maybe for the first time since he'd met her.
"Don't," he restated it as much to be sure that he had really said it the first time as to let her know he had. "Come with me."

"Come with you?"