The Docks [OPEN, tw: marriage break up, drunken behaviour, violent tempers]

[willcabot]

Sitting at the end of the dock, Will's legs draped into the cold water as he finished the last mouthful of the bottle. Turning the bottle in his hand, the amber glow made him for one awful moment think of Corry's hair in the fading sunlight- throwing the bottle impulsively at the wall, he let it smash satisfyingly before pulling another bottle towards him.

He couldn't feel his toes any more, he couldn't remember how long he'd been sat here for like this. He hadn't been home yet, hadn't been to the boat just in case she was there. Everywhere he looked it reminded him of her, of the life that they'd promised each other and the life that was now in ruins. Because she loved him. Ha!

Glancing at the ring on his finger, he pressed his forehead to the rim of his drink and took a gulping breath in. Her smile as she said I do. Pulling the ring off he stumbled up and backwards before throwing it into the deep waters of the cove. Turning his back on the water, he took another few mouthfuls and heading towards the shore.

"Shit," Will swore, dropping the bottle to the floor before he turned and ran towards the end of the dock. Tearing off his shirt, he jumped into the water and dived into the deep, ice cold waters. Shifting, he swam deeper and deeper until he found the band of metal down in the dark bottom. Clutching it in his hand, he swam back to the surface before pulling himself onto the docks. Collapsing on the wooden planks, he stretched out his hand and ignored the feet of someone else standing there. "Pass me a drink, will you?"

His hand curled round his wedding ring, letting the metal bite into his palm as he stared up at empty grey skies.

Comments

[trinamoon]

Trina is late to work, and she's practically running down the sidewalk into Quill, purse flinging and heels clicking. She would normally just skip out on her bagel and coffee, but her parents had actually returned from their never-ending retirement vacation to spend the holidays with her and she's tired from trying to keep them occupied. Thank god, they weren't staying in her apartment this year. They had booked a cabin up at the lodge. Still, her mother's questions never ceased. Career, marriage, kids. Trina was spoiled rotten to the core, but five minutes with her mother Vivica could always make her feel inadequate.

A feeling she hated because she's not used to it. She's Trina Moon. She's perfect, or that's what she tries to tell herself when she leaves Quill, bagel and espresso in hand. She doesn't hurry straight to her car once she has her breakfast. Instead, she takes a stroll further towards the docks, thinking she needs to get her head right before she goes into the office.

It doesn't take her long to stumble upon Will staggering around his boat. She had heard shouting, and she had come over to see if someone was in trouble only to find Will shirtless with a bottle in his hand. Shocked, she watches him in silence from a moment, not sure what she's seeing, but he is visibly upset. She is far enough away that he hasn't noticed her, and she looks down at her watch to check the time. Oh god, she's so late, and she wants to leave because it's work and she should.

Stamping her heel into the ground, she sighs frustrated knowing that she can't just go now that she's seen him. Wrapping her coat and scarf around her body, she approaches the side of the boat slowly. "Will, are you okay?" she asks, checking him over for something to explain this behavior.

[willcabot]

It wasn't his boat, it was his father's. Everything and everywhere reminded him of her; the way she'd curl her hands into his sheets on his boats, when they'd sit close together, when she'd read scripts, when he'd tell her his plans. Every little place reminded him of the future, their future which was lying in tatters. Instead of drinking, sparkling juice, to their future on his boat, he was drinking through his father's stash of booze to forget it.

Leaning against the side of the boat, he blinked blearily at the familiar voice and leaned in closer. The lost, haunted look tinged his eyes and lips as he smiled at Trina.

"Oh, you know me just... celebrating Christmas. Why don't you join me," Will murmured, arm draping over the side of the boat. "Don't know any good lawyers, do you? Looks like I'll be needing one."

[trinamoon]

Trina pushes a hand through her hair, sighing at the look on his face. Obviously something terrible has happened, and part of her wants to blow off work and help him. It's Will. He is her friend. The other voice that keeps her focused on her upward career trajectory says she shouldn't just drop everything because Will Cabot looks a bit mopey. It doesn't take very long for the first voice to win out, and she steps onto the boat and finds more empty bottles scattered along the deck.

She pulls her purse onto her shoulder and takes out her cellphone. "I'm positive your family already employs the best lawyers in the state," Trina says, as she quickly shoots a couple text messages off to the office explaining her absence. She looks up at him. "Tell me what happened. Is everyone okay?" she asks because it could be his brothers or his parents, and she prays it isn't.

But he is acting like someone just died.

[willcabot]

Running a hand through his hair, he dropped his hand away before holding out towards her just in case she needed help boarding. Not that he was in any state to do anything right now. His ring was buried in his pocket, removed from his finger were it didn't belong any more. Because she loved him.

"I know but currently my family are trying to do everything to- it doesn't matter." Will began before taking another mouthful of alcohol. Enjoying the burning sensation, he swallowed then smiled at her question. "Everyone's fine. Everything but my marriage. You can have that as an exclusive."

[trinamoon]

His marriage.

Trina is usually so quick on the uptake too, but she actually has to check his finger as he reaches out to help her onto the upper part of the boat where he's standing. It's easy to see the shiny gold wedding band is missing from his hand. She's beside herself for a second because this would be quite the scoop. The scoop of the year, hell. Her own fingers itch to reach back into her purse, pull out her phone, and give Dani a heads up. Her head is going to explode when she finds out.

Cabot-Flynn. Done. Less than two weeks after that oh-so-fancy and expensive wedding reception. She, herself, is even bearing witness to the fall out. Will Cabot seen drunk and heart-broken on his boat, calling for lawyers to take his ex-wife for every cent. A little bit of the truth stretched. That's how the gossip worked.

She puts down her purse on the deck's bench and goes over to him. He's drunk, probably rightly, but he looks like he's had enough. "Will, come on, let's sit down for a second," she offers, grabbing his arm and wanting to help him over to the bench, but he's bigger and not really going to move unless he wants.

[willcabot]

"You can tell them, I don't care... might as well benefit someone." Burying his head in his hands, he leaned forward as he took a breath and tried not to think about the last time they were together. How happy they had been, how in love she'd seemed but then she always was a good actress. He just never believed she was acting with him.

Following Trina's urging, he lets her tug him along before falling into a seat. "I thought she loved me, she said it enough. What an idiot."

[trinamoon]

Maybe she should be offended or something that Will knows her so well, that he knows the string of thoughts that just blew through her head at discovering the end of his marriage, how it could help her sell papers or earn a commission from Dani if she sold the story to The Cove. She's the writer and he's her subject, and she tries to keep it that way but Will does make it...difficult at times.

She takes the empty space beside him, keeping a hand on his shoulder and his arm, trying to comfort him, relieved that he follows her request. She just tries to forget the papers for a moment because Will looks more torn up than she's really ever seen him. He is normally so bright and charming. He is wasted and clearly devastated right now.

"You don't have to tell me what happened," she says, because he probably shouldn't. She doesn't know what she would do with the information. If she'd keep it or do worse. "But you're not an idiot, Will. If she lied to you, it's not you. It's her."

[willcabot]

Her hand presses against his shoulder until he turns and draws Trina closer. Hands at her waist, he presses his face against her shoulder uncaring that she should see him like this. He doesn't cry but it's enough just to rest his head against her shoulder, to feel the warmth of her body near his. It wasn't a hug from him but it was almost just as close.

"I'd tell you if I knew, if I knew what I'd done. She just was cooking lunch and then gave me a present and then that was it, she was going to leave." Will said. He still, days later, did not know what he had said or done to make his wife so miserable. To make her compare how he made her feel to her father and mother's relationship. "I'm the one who believed her."

[trinamoon]

Trina gives him a concerned look, brow creasing with worry, as Will leans his head against her. She lets her hand rest against his back, patting his shoulder, which probably looks awkward since she's half his size. More than that, no one would ever consider Trina a warm comforting person, and really she isn't. She's too self-absorbed and cold for that. However, Will doesn't really give her a chance to be herself about it. He just kind of latches on, and it's not like Trina can tell him off and toss him on the ground. He's heartbroken.

Besides that she wouldn't. She likes Will. They aren't like the best of friends, but she's always had a soft spot for him. She's really never seen him this way, and she isn't quite sure what to do.

"Will you didn't do anything," she says, leaning back a little to look at him. "I saw you. You were happy and in love. I don't know what Corrine's thinking, but you didn't make her leave." Trina has not had the pleasure of knowing his wife well, and she probably never will now. At the moment she wishes she did because she wants to know what the hell the woman is thinking. Will Cabot is not someone you just ditch. His father is a U.S. senator. "Sometimes we can't explain why people do the things they do."

[willcabot]

It's kind of like when they were kids, except instead of pressing his face against Trina's neck to leave marks on her skin or trying to slip his hand beneath her tiny cheerleading skirt. For once he was actually leaning on her for support. Nothing else.

Sighing as she pulled back, Will rubbed a hand through his hair. Even if it wasn't something he had done, then it had to be because he was something she didn't want.

"Think I probably did, I'm not... him. That's who she loves, guess the papers were right about that too." Will said sighing as he wrapped his arms around Trina. "Wish we could explain it, might make it hurt less then."

[trinamoon]

All Trina can do is hug him back when he says that, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment, feeling sad that he's sad, because this isn't Will. She realizes how much she enjoys how charming and good-spirited he always is. It just isn't right for Will Cabot to be sad and heart-broken this way. She doesn't know completely what happened, but she feels a rush of hatred for Corrine Flynn for hurting her friend.

Why did she marry him, just to leave him?

"I'm sorry, Will," Trina says in a quiet voice. Maybe it's not true, about that other guy, but Will believes it is. That's all that matters to her. She had read the papers too with that gossip about Corrine and that friend of hers. He was nothing compared to Will Cabot---with his connections and his family's name and money---and better than that Will was a good person Not many people compared to that. "I'm sorry she hurt you."