Wasted

Autumn sucked in a breath as she took in her new flat in California. It was more lavish than the one she had shared with her two friends in New York but Danny was living with her and splitting the rent, even though he was putting down more money than she was. She walked around and lightly touched the walls. From the cab ride to the new flat, she could tell New York and Los Angeles were two very different cities.

“You want to see if the walls are paper thin or what?” Danny asked from behind her. He was pulling his suitcases through the door and wiped the sweat from his brow with a smile towards Autumn.

She glanced at him over her shoulder and shook her head with a small smile. “It’s just…new.”

Danny placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the flat with an approving hum. “Ladies first with the rooms, so you get your pick.”

“Oh, no it’s okay. You go ahead. I don’t mind which room I get.” She shook her head and protested.

He rolled his eyes playfully and swung his arm around her shoulders. He pulled them both towards the hallway with the rooms and walked into the one on the right. It was spacious and from what Autumn could see it had a terrace and a small bathroom.

“I know women like to have their own bathrooms and whatever, so this is yours.” He sent her a warning glance when her lips parted with a frown to protest. “Don’t worry about it.” He patted her shoulder before walking back to his own room to unpack his things.

The walls in her room were a soft white and a queen bed was pushed against the wall with the terrace window on its right. Autumn slightly squinted and laughed under her breath. It was even brighter in California. She sighed and spoke to herself. “I guess this is it then.”

After hours of Autumn unpacking everything she brought along with her, her room was complete. She had hung up pictures of Frank and her and the rest of her family. She was in the process of making the bed with a new set of sheets she had gone out and bought at the local Target when Danny knocked on the threshold of her room. He leaned against the doorway with a hand in his pocket and a smile.

“You hungry?”

She looked up, brushing stray strands of hair away from her face. “Starved.”

“Come on,” he nodded his head, “there’s a pretty good Chinese place a few blocks away.”

“Okay,” she smiled and stood up, brushing down her shirt and walked past Danny, towards the front door.

As they walked towards the Chinese restaurant they chatted about how different California really started to seem and laughed along at comparisons of New York and the New York lingo. Autumn enjoyed Danny’s company. He was nice and funny and extremely down to Earth. Once they were seated Autumn noticed the conversation take a turn and her mind went to the thing she wanted to forget the most.

“So are you and your boyfriend doing the long distance thing?” Danny asked as he played with his chopsticks.

Autumn swallowed thickly and glanced down at her hands awkwardly. “We broke up actually.” She glanced back up and shrugged. “Figured long distance was too much of a long shot.”

She was lying through her teeth but all she wanted was for the thoughts of Gerard and their history to disappear. The less Danny knew, the better.

-
Autumn’s head was spinning and all she wanted to do was relax and drink a hot cup of coffee but the deadline for the episode she was working on was tomorrow morning and she only had less than four hours to perfect it.

Danny had already gone to bed about two hours ago and she was downing her third espresso shot to keep herself awake. It was times like these she wished she had a cat or a dog to keep her company when she was cramming but her schedule was too busy to even take care of herself.

Life in LA had become a sort of routine but she was thoroughly enjoying it. She went to the studio every day and watched the tapings of the episodes she wrote and worked on the next ones down the list. It was something she never imagined herself doing but she was more than happy that the opportunity came up and she couldn’t see herself doing anything else.

She had even begun to explore the city on her time off and found herself falling in love with it, even though it would never compare to New Jersey or New York. She was meeting new people and making new friends but she still kept up with Riley and Taylor, occasionally video chatting with them.

In the two months that she was gone and moved things had started moving along for her friends back home. Taylor had finally gotten a residency at the hospital and Riley had gotten her own internship at a publishing company. Things were moving along and she kept up with Frank more than anyone. The band was getting ready to record their second album.

Frank didn’t bring up Gerard and if he was in a situation he spoke about, he cut him out as much as possible. But Autumn knew that the baby would be coming within the next two or three months and she tried to push the thought away as far as possible. She was living her own life now and finally had a job she loved that could support her.

She sighed as she finished up the last few lines on the script and smiled lazily at the finished product. She was so tired but knew she could only have two hours of sleep before she had to be up and turn in her last episode to the studio. Standing up and stretching out the kinks from sitting so long, she headed to the kitchen and warmed up a cup of coffee.

“You still awake?” Danny’s groggy voice startled her and she spun around to face him.

“You scared me!” She gasped and clutched a hand to her chest.

He laughed sleepily and scratched his messy hair away from his face. Autumn knew Danny liked to sleep in just his underwear and even though she grew up with Frank who was almost nude half of the time she didn’t think she would ever get used to it. She turned back to her coffee to hide the small blush on her cheeks.

“It’s four in the morning,” he mumbled and leaned against the kitchen counter behind her.

She stirred the sugar into her coffee and shrugged, turning around and holding the mug up to her lips.

“I barely wrapped up the script for Jensen’s episode.”

“Do you think four in the morning is too early to grab some pancakes down at the diner on Melrose?” He smirked.

“Put on some clothes and let’s go,” she grinned and crossed to the door to grab her coat and keys.

-

“So Autumn,” Yessenia, one of the actresses on the show Autumn wrote for was sitting next to her at the full booth filled with other people that were involved in the studio. “What’s the deal with you and Danny?”

They were sitting at a small club in Hollywood, the alcohol getting the best of many of them but the air was fresh and everyone was letting loose and having a good time. Danny was a few people away, chatting up with one of his colleagues.

“He gave me the internship at Sony back in New York and thanks to him I got the job here in LA. He’s like my manager,” she joked.

Yessenia cocked an eyebrow and smirked, “That’s it?”

“What?” Autumn’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Danny is one of the hottest guys sitting at our table. You expect me to believe there is nothing there?”

Autumn snorted and swallowed down the drink in her hand.

“He’s my roommate and my friend, that’s it.” She glanced briefly over at Danny who threw his head back in laughter to whatever the guy next to him said. She had to admit Danny was easy on the eyes but she wasn’t interested.

Yessenia gave her a playful frown and shrugged her shoulders. “If you say so.”

The rest of the night Autumn danced along to the catchy club music and drank more than she usually did. She laughed and finally let loose and for the first time, Gerard wasn’t on her mind. She found herself having a good time without the thoughts of her past lover plaguing her. As the night was winding down she was far gone and barely walking on her own two feet. Danny had grabbed her and walked down the strip with her towards their flat.

“You know, you’ve got really pretty eyes.” She looked up at Danny and gave him a hazy smile as he moved her inside their flat.

He laughed under his breath and flicked on the light by the door. He had a couple of drinks and was feeling the effects but he wasn’t as gone as Autumn.

“So do you.”

She smiled and leaned against the back of their couch, trying to gain some balance. In the dim light, the yellow in her eyes still popped out, making her look somewhat cat like.

“Do you think,” she licked her lips, “I’m pretty?”

Danny laughed and shook his head at the drunken girl. “You are so gone Autumn.”

She shrugged and tilted her head. “Do you?”

He rolled his eyes playfully but nodded his head. “Yes, I do.”

Her teeth caught her bottom lip and she bit down. Danny was looking more attractive with the effects of the alcohol and Autumn wanted to lose control.
“Will you kiss me?” She asked.

“What?” His eyes widened.

She stood straight and crossed to him, her hands going to his chest and lightly tracing her fingers upon it.

“Kiss me.” She looked up and locked her hazel eyes with his blue ones, the drunken lust and confidence overpowering everything behind them.

“We’re drunk Autumn,” he murmured.

“So?” She cocked an eyebrow.

He licked his lips and leaned down, gently pressing his lips against hers and wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned in closer to him, putting more pressure on the kiss and her hands flew to his hair. She tugged on his brown locks and pulled him down towards the floor with her. She was feeling a rush that was so indescribable she didn’t know what exactly to feel. But she didn’t want her feelings to go to waste and she let herself go.