Meant to Live

Title: Meant to Live (2/?)

Author: Gillian

Pairing: Jack/Will, more possible later on

Rating: R

Warnings: Complete and total AU. Child Abuse. General t. It. If it’s not your thing, be elsewhere.

Disclaimer: Belongs to the big eared one himself. If I owned either of them, I wouldn’t be writing, believe me…I would be taping them and sending copies out to my slash-loving friends. As things stand, I’m just writing out my fantasies.

Beta: spikedvengeance

Feedback: Does a bear shaz in the woods?

Summary: Will arrives at Lizzie’s house and he’s got some ‘splainin’ to do…

Author’s Notes: My Jack muse is becoming increasingly stubb so so he may not show up until around chapter four. If I can whip his ass into shape, he may show up sooner, but it’s doubtful.
******* denotes scene change or passage of time. “speech” ‘thoughts’/emphasized word/ flashbacks.
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Wee! I got reviews!

My Jessie: You know what? You suck. But I love you anyway. *ggg* I still want my pirates. They haven’t stopped by yet. You should fix that. *hinthint*

MIKKY: Wow. Thanks. I’m glad you like it! Also, I’m glad that you like the personalities that I have “given” them. I always felt that Lizzie was more of a friend to Will than anything, so I’m trying to give them a close, brother/sister friendship. Is it working? *lol* There are going to be even more hints coming up, so be on the lookout!

Tabee: Yay! Another wow! The abuse angst n’t n’t last too long, so don’t worry. It’s the other angst you gotta watch out for. Jack and Will shall meet…sorta soon. Jack is being a diva and won’t tell me what he wants to be. Con-man? Thief? *sigh* I’ll figure it out, I promise. Do you think Will’s dad should get cool at or towards the end? I’ve been kinda back and forth about this one…What do you think?

Awk: Why thank you. I’m glad you like the flashback. Only stupid people wouldn’t fall for Sam. *ggg*

Dea Puella: Hehe. Yes, my hint. Who wants to be Ken? He’s got plastic hair; you can’t style that crap. *lol* Hugs for Will shall come, just be patient and imagine them hugging in your mind. I will try to update every Friday, so you won’t have to wait for weeks in between updates. The slash will commence soon.

Leannan: I’m glad you think it has potential. That makes me happy. I thought about how old I was gonna make him when he came to the conclusion about himself, and I decided that 13 would be a good age. I can’t really say how quickly most guys develop, because I’m not one, but I figured that by 13 guys have their first crush. Now, with most, it’s on a girl, but with Will, it was a guy. I knew I was straight by the time I was 13, so Iidedided Will, being the smart guy I have him set up as, would know he was gay. Does that make sense? *lol* I’m glad you liked the scene where he “discovered” it, anyway. And look, an update!

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Up in her room, Lizzie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Every few seconds she glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 12:09 glared back at her in bright red letters.

‘Maybe he’s not coming tonight.’ Lizzie thought to herself. Will only camer wer when his dad was drunk. Unsurprisingly, that was more often than the two teens would have hoped, and more often than not, Will showed up at Lizzie’s window, waiting for her to let him in. ‘Maybe his dad left him alone,’ Lizzie mused optimistically, before letting out a cynical sigh. ‘Right, because that happens /so/ often.’

She lay awake for several more minutes, willing him silently to show up. After five agonizingly long minutes with no sign of Will, she gave up and rolled over to go to sleep.

Just as she was about to nod off, she heard a gentle tapping noise at her window. She jumped out of bed as quickly as she could, regretting the sudden movement when the blood rushed to her head. She stood in the middle of the room for a few moments, fighting to banish the haze in front of her eyes before shaking her head and clearing her thoughts. She padded softly to the window where Will was waiting with an impatient look on his face, one eyebrow raised in amused annoyance. She shrugged sheepishly and pulled up the glass, stepping back to give Will room to pull himself in.

“’Bout bloody time. I’ve been waitin’ out there forever.”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen. Let’s see you get outta bed at the drop of a hat at-” Lizzie glanced sideways at the clock, “12:17 in the morning.”

“I am /not/ a drama queen,” Will insisted indignantly, offended by her choice of words.

“Ah, but a /queen/ you are.” Lizzie stated sagely.

Will huffed, mock-insulted. “Fine, but that doesn’t mean I’m iviouvious to cramps. I swear, that stupid, evil maple tree’s got it in for me,” he lamented, dropping his bag next to the bed so that he could rub the back of his aching neck.

“Aww, poor baby. Do you need some ice? Maybe a masseuse?” Lizzie pretended to be concerned, shepherding Will toward the bed. He giggled softly, swatting her hands away. His laughs turned into a sharp gasp of pain as she pushed him down to sit on the mattress, accidentally pressing against his still throbbing ribs in the process. Lizzie’s demeanor changed almost instantly. Gone was the gentle teasing and friendly banter of mere seconds ago. Instead her face hardened, and she asked Will seriously, “What did he do?”

Will’s eyes widened at her tone. Lizzie was a sweet girl by nature, but when she got pissed off, it was advisable to stay out of her way. Being her best friend of many years, Will knew this only too well. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Lizzie cocked her head to the side, sporting an expression that clearly showed she didn’t believe him in the least. Will sighedalizalizing that she wasn’t going to give in anytime soon. His eyes dropped to the blankets he was sitting on, fingering the edge with slightly shaking hands. “I got home from the library 20 minutes late.”

Lizzie sat heavily next to him on the bed, already knowing where this conversation was headed. She looked at him imploringly when he failed to elaborate. “Go on,” she said gently.

Will took a deep breath and continued to recount what had happened a few hours before. “When I wd ind in the front door, Dad was waiting for me.” His eyes were haunted when he looked back up at her. “You can guess the rest.”

“Are you alright?” To the casual observer, this would seem like the silliest question Lizzie could have asked, but to the two of them, the meaning was easily understood. Many nights of trying to get Will to open up had shown Lizzie that asking anything too obvious just made him uncomfortable. Will understood what she was asking: Did he do any damage that I need to know about specifically?

“I’m good. Got a foot to the ribs before he stopped, though.”

Lizzie took his larger hand in hers and pulled him into a tight hug, being careful not to put pressure on his side. Will rested his chin on her shoulder, grateful for the friendly contact. She stroked his back soothingly for a few long moments before gently pulling back to look him in the eyes once more. “I’ll go get some ice,” she said softly. When she reached the door, she looked back and gave Will a small smile. “Be right back.”

She waited for him to nod, and when he did, she tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen to get some ice. She rummaged through some cupboards, looking for the water bottle. After minutes of fruitless searching, she made a last ditch effort and checked the pantry. “Success,” she mumbled to herself, locating it in the far recesses of the snack shelf. “What the hell were you doing in there?” Before exiting, she snatched some chote cte chip cookies for her and Will to share.

Moving to the refrigerator, she yanked open the heavy freezer door and retrieved the ice cube tray from within. A gust of cold air hit her bare arms. “Brr, chiwy wiwwy,” she shivered. Lizzie gathered her “supplies” and unloaded them onto the island in the middle of the room. When she was done filling the water bottle with ice cubes, she put the rest of her things away and headed back to herm, tm, trying to be silent.

Lizzie nudged the bedroom door open with her elbow, just enough to let herself in, and shut it behind her. Turning back towards the bed on the far side of the fairly large room, she spotted Will sprawled across the bed, eyes closed, arms carefully awaym him his injured side. She smiled warmly at the sight him, walking to the bed and trying to lower herself to the mattress without disturbing him. She brushed the chocolate curls that had escaped the hair tie away from his forehead, watching as his lids slowly fluttered open. He blinked to clear the sleep from his eyes and looked at her questioningly.

“Tired?” she asked him, traces of amusement causing her mouth to turn up at the corners.

Will frowned, his mind still hazy from his too-short nap. “Yes, I suppose I am,” he grinned at her cheekily.

“I can see that,” she retorted wryly. “Come on, get up. Go into the bathroom and get changed.” She swatted buttbutt lightly to make him move faster.

“Fine, fine. I’m going. Don’t rush me.” Will hauled himself to his feet, scooped his bag off the floor, and plodded into Lizzie’s attached bathroom. He stuck his tongue out at her, quickly shutting the door before she could come up with a suitable comeback.

Will changed at an easy pace, shucking his jeans in favor of his boxers and the pajama pants he brt. Ht. He carefully removed his shirt, and just as carefully replaced it with a clean white t-shirt. He peeked out the door and, seeing that Lizwasnwasn’t ready to seek immediate revenge, made his way back into the room.

While he had been in the bathroom, Lizzie had been busy, bustling around the room, getting his make-shift bed ready for him. His “bed” was actually a bunch of blankets that she kept in her closet spread out on the floor next to her own. A thin mattress pad pilfered from her dad’s camping supplies was shoved underneath them, making it soft enough to sleep on.

Will plopped down onto the bed, yelping when the impact jarred his ribs. His hands shot to his sidoldiolding it and biting his lip against the pain. He glanced up at Lizzie who was looking down at him with a slight frown of sympathy creasing the space between her eyebrows. She dropped down carefully beside him, eyeing him concernedly. “Let me see?”

Will looked away, a faint blush staining his cheeks. “I’m fine Lizzie, really.”

“No, Will. You’re not. Just let me see, and I promise I’ll stop being such a nag, deal?” Lizzie pleaded.

Will scrubbed a hand over his face wearily, knowing he couldn’t resist Lizzie when she wanted something, but not looking forward to showing her, regardless of that fact. “Deal. But only if I can go to sleep afterwards.”

“I promise you can go to sleep afterwards, you lazy bum. Now, lift up your shirt.”

Will grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, but hesitated slightly before lifting it up. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for Lizzie’s inevitable anger.

Lizzie gasped when she saw the angry looking bruise marring Will’s left side. It was a dark purple color, with red scrapes in places and stretched up from his bellybutton, all the way to his last visible rib. She cringed to see it, and with a look of sympathy, she began to gentlybe tbe the bruise with her fingertips. Will squeezed his eyes shut and hissed in pain but let Lizzie do what she needed to.

When her fingers left his side and the sharp pain faded to a dull ache, Will opened his eyes. Lizzie was still sitting next to him on the bed, offering him the ice pack in her left hand. He took it and gingerly lay back on his bed, placing the pack carefully on his side.

“You gonna be okay?” Lizzie implored, pulling a blanket up over Will, tucking it in under his arms.

“You gonna stop mothering me?” Will asked teasingly, his dark brown eyes twinkling mischievously.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes menacingly before bearing her teeth in a mildly alarming grin. “For now.” She patted his head condescendingly, hopping into her own bed.

“And on that disturbing note…” Will shifted a und under his covers. His tone turned grateful as he continued, “Thanks, luv.”

She smiled to herself as she lay in bed. “Anytime, Will. Now sleep.”

“Goodnight Lizzie.”

“Goodnight.”

~tbc~

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Yes, shorter than the first, but if I didn’t stop it there, it would have been enormous. It seemed like a good place to cut it off. The next one will most likely be longer, so don’t hurt me.