WC: 3,426
Trigger Warnings: domestic abuse
Quinn. Quinn Woods.
That name meant a lot to them. They had picked out their first name themself for one. A very happy moment in the 17 year old’s life.
The last one was adopted, however. Not that they had particularly tried not to take it when it actually happened, but at some point, newly put in a loveless marriage, Quinn had wished they could have their maiden name back.
Before they could do anything about it though, something came up.
Namely a small bouncing boy by the name of Paige.
Paige Woods.
It was such a wonderful name for their baby boy, Quinn couldn’t find it in themself to change either of their last names.
But, there was of course the one both of them had inherited the name from.
Mackerel. Mackerel Woods.
With dusty vampire white skin and a slight lisp and almost red eyes, the man had intrigued Quinn way back in college. With their tenacity, it wasn’t long before the two of them were friends, then partners, then lovers.
But, and this was a secret, Quinn had never really been interested in Mack that way. They just didn’t know in what way they were supposed to like him in, so they simply went through the motions. All the way.
When the marriage bells rang, Quinn had cried.
There was only one person in the world who knew they weren’t tears of happiness, but tears of realization.
Carmen. Carmen Aguja.
Carmen was Quinn’s first friend in college. It was just a passing help at first, Carmen walking up to the lost student and pointing out the proper way, but eventually it became clockwork.
“I’m so bad at directions…” Quinn remembers saying. “Sorry you have to help me everyday…”
“Eh,” Carmen had shrugged, walking down the hallway with them. “What are friends for?”
“We’re friends?” Quinn had gasped excitedly, stopping in their tracks.
Carmen looked back, confused. “Aren’t we?”
“Yes!” Quinn shouted with enthusiasm, catching up and wrapping both arms around one of Carmen’s. “Yes we are! Or, we can be! Or, we are!”
Carmen had chuckled. “You are something else, aren’tcha?”
“In a good way?” Quinn pouted.
“In a good way,” Carmen nodded.
Thus was the start (or continuation?) of a wonderful friendship. Carmen was always there for Quinn, and Quinn was always there for Carmen. Thick as thieves, the other students had called them. If there was a Carmen Aguja to be found somewhere, there was no doubt a Quinn Woods somewhere right next to him.
So, when Quinn had taken an interest in Mack, Carmen had supported them wholeheartedly. Even as their hangouts became more scarce and they talked a bit less, Carmen was still always there for Quinn.
It made their heart warm in ways Mack could never quite achieve, no matter how many cheesy pick up lines he used on them, or how much he had tried to flirt with them.
Still, when he had asked Quinn for their hand, Quinn had no idea what to say. So they said yes.
Thus began The Downfall of Quinn Woods.
At some point between a Bachelor’s and getting married, Quinn and Carmen had gotten close again. With both of them pushing 30, they had both settled in different ways. Carmen had found a sweetheart of his own, though Quinn could never quite remember his name for whatever reason.
Regardless, the two of them had moved to a nice, quaint area in Queens. He had moved from Brooklyn, right after having the cutest little kid ever. Brandon was his name.
Brandon Aguja.
He was just adorable, chubby cheeks and swirly baby hair gracing his head. It had made Quinn excited.
After all, they’d be due soon too.
“They can grow up together!” Carmen had laughed. “I’m finally in Queens full time, so we’ll have no excuse for them not to be best friends!”
“Yeah!” Quinn had smiled brightly, only to frown after. “I just… I just wish they would have someone be a better Dad for them than Mack. He’s always out with friends or drunk or both…”
“You’ve always got me,” Carmen had said gently, placing a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “I know Mack isn’t really the best guy, but I’ll always be here for you, got that?”
It was so kind, so genuine, so real…
Quinn had broken down sobbing in Carmen’s arms, lamenting the horror that was dating Mackerel Woods.
They don’t think they’ve ever seen Carmen as angry as he was after they had spilled the whole story.
So, when a very developed Quinn broke down at the wedding (that they were certain was only spurred by the baby in the oven), Carmen knew the real reason.
Still, it was too late now. Baby on the way, newly married, being practically forced to cram themself into a stiff and stuffy Queens apartment with someone they honestly couldn’t stand anymore, Quinn felt trapped.
But, even through this all, they still had Carmen.
It wasn’t okay, but for a little while every time they hung out, Carmen would make it feel that way.
Eventually, Quinn would find themself over at Carmen’s house more often that their own. They’d stay over with Paige, he and Brandon having a ball. The two of them would more often than not crash together on the sofa, little bodies tuckered out from playing.
“I wish we lived closer,” Quinn had said one day after the kids had fallen asleep. “The commute here isn’t bad, but I can’t stand Queens buses. They’re always too late or too early and we’re always stuck waiting.”
“Quinnsie, why didn’t you just tell me?” Carmen gaspsd. “I can drive you!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want you to waste gas on us,” Quinn said, shaking their head. “We can make it here just fine, it’s just annoying, y’know?”
“Weeeell,” Carmen droned, “If it’s annoying, just let me come get you!” He smiled. “Nothing I do for you is a waste, querida. You know that.”
Quinn had smiled softly. “I do.”
So, for the foreseeable future, when Mack would come home drunk or start yelling and throwing things or just generally would be awful, Quinn hit 3 on their phone and Carmen's number would speed dial. They’d hold up the phone passively and let whatever chaos was happening happen, and they’d hang up just a moment later.
This was their agreed upon signal. If Mack was acting crazy, call, give a snippet of it, then hang up. That’s when Carmen would load Brandon up in his car and drive them both down to pick up Quinn and Paige, and they’d go out to eat or do something equally as fun.
Mack hated it. He clearly didn’t understand how Carmen would just miraculously pop up at all the right times, which had pissed him off. He confronted Quinn about it exactly once.
“That damn friend of yours, Car-somethin’,” he had spat, breath smelling of cheap beer. “Why’s she always here, huh?” He had frowned deeply. “What, I’m not enough for you now?”
“Me and Min just like to hang out a lot,” Quinn had defended. “You’re always out with your friends, why can’t I be with mine?”
“‘Cause she’s tearing us apart!” Mack cried. “It’s like I barely see my own son nowadays. Or you, for that matter. Every time I turn around, oh I’m at Carsie’s. Oh, me and Carly are out. Oh, me and Carpal are at the park with the boys.” He pointed to himself. “What about me huh?” He pointed between the two of them. “What about us?”
Quinn had said nothing. They had their phone on them while he went off, and sure enough, there was a ringing of their bell soon after.
Mack had gotten to it first.
“Who?”
“Carmen,” the parent had answered.
“Fuck off.”
“Wh—” Mack clicked the bell off.
Quinn was not allowed to leave that night.
That’s when the praying began.
That very night, Quinn had prayed long and hard to a god they didn’t believe in.
“Take him out,” they begged the open air. “Please. I can’t leave him any other way.”
God, or whoever was listening, never replied.
But that didn’t stop Quinn.
Every night, like a ritual, they would pray. Just for this one thing. They would pray and pray and pray until Mack would shove his way into the bedroom and climb into bed.
Then, while they laid down next to him, they would pray silently.
See, there was one thing Quinn knew for a fact about Mackerel Woods: he was fragile. Oh so fragile. So fragile he had once cut himself on a piece of paper and it had taken about two weeks for it to fully heal.
So, when Paige is newly 7 and Quinn receives a call, the news is only mildly surprising in that regard.
“Ma’am?” the officer over the line crackles. “Ma’am are you there?”
Quinn had nearly dropped their phone. Quickly they pull it back to their face. “You’re sure?’ they breathe. “Mr. Mackerel Woods. That’s who died?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
The intense amount of emotions rumbling through Quinn right now was impossible to describe.
“We’ll need you to come down and identify that body to be absolutely certain, but…”
“Yes, of course,” Quinn rushes out. “What morgue are you taking him to?”
The officer rattles off the address and Quin wispily writes it down. “Then we’ll see you soon?”
“Sometime for sure, but it… may take a while for me to prepare for it.”
“Of course. Take your time, Mrs… Ms. Woods.” The line clicks off.
“Oh my god,” Quinn sighs. “Oh my god!”
Without another thought, the widow holds down the 3 key on their phone. When it clicks on, Carmen is quiet, just like always, just in case. But there was no need this time. Or ever again.
“Min-Min,” Quinn says, not quite certain what else to say. “Min-Min…”
“Yes, querida?” Carmen asks gently. “Are you okay? You sound sort of out of breath…”
“Can you come pick me up?”
“Is Mack doing something again?” He sounds angry.
“N-no.” Quinn gulps. “He’s dead.”
“...I’m on my way.”
+++
Quinn waits on their dinky little couch for Carmen. They still couldn’t quite believe it. After years and years of praying, finally they had been answered.
The front door unlocks. Carmen was here.
“Quinnsie, honey, are you alright?” he asks the moment he opens the door. “Are you sure he’s… dead?”
Quinn nods pathetically as the other takes care to close the door and walk over. “They… the officers… the police called me from his phone. I-I was listed as an emergency contact.”
“How?” Carmen asks, sitting and taking Quinn’s hands in his own.
“He…” Of all things, Quinn giggles. “He fell.”
“He just… fell?” Carmen is clearly in disbelief. It makes Quinn laugh harder.
“Y-yeah! He just… he just tripped and fell! And—and he hit his head on a nearby guardrail! Bang!” Quinn takes away one of their hands and smacks their own head, in hysterics. “He was DOA!”
“Quinnsie…”
“Oh, Min-Min!” Quinn bursts out, “I’m so happy!”
“I can imagine,” Carmen smiles softly. “But what about you? What will you do now?”
“Did you know with the job he worked, his life insurance gives me basically one million?” Quinn chuckles. “One whole million! Do—do you know what I could do with that?”
“What?”
“Move!” Quinn bounces. “I can get out of this hell hole and live near you and Paige and Brandon can really grow up together and—” They stop in their tracks, gasping. “Oh my god. I… I have to figure out how to tell Paige…” The hysterical tears have now turned gray and sad. “Oh my god…”
“No, no. Don’t fret over this, querida. I can help. I’m always here to help. Lo sabes, ¿no?”
“I know,” Quinn sighs, looking away. “I just…”
“Hey. No.” Carmen grabs Quinn’s cheeks and turns them to face him again. “Look at me.”
“Looking at you.”
“Repeat after me.”
“Repeating after you.”
Carmen chuckles, but loses none of the seriousness. “You can do this,” he says, pouring as much motivation as he can in it.
“I-I can do this,” Quinn repeats weakly.
“No, no. Like me.” Again, he says, “You can do this,” stressing its importance even more.
“I can do this.”
“You can do this!”
“I can do this!”
“That’s my girl!” Carmen nuzzles his cheek against Quinn’s. “I’ll be right with you when you tell him, okay? Maybe we should tell both the kids at the same time…”
“Yes, that’s probably the best course of action.” Quinn takes a deep breath, collapsing on top of Carmen with the exhale. “Oh my god, Min.”
Carmen cards his hand through their hair. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”
+++
“Kids, I have some bad news and I have some good news.” Quinn announces as they drive off from the elementary school.
“What’s the good news?” Paige asks immediately, bouncing in the back seat. “Are we getting ice cream?”
“No, sweetie,” Quinn laughs beside herself. “That wasn’t the plan.”
“Oh, but maybe we should?” Carmen suggests. “It might help.”
“Help what?” Brando asks. “Do we have a lot of chores or something to do?” He crosses his arms, squinting at the rear view mirror. “Are you tryin’ to butter us up?”
This time both parents laugh. Quinn almost feels bad they’d only ever guess mundane things like this.
Of course, who would expect that they were about to drop?
“So, the good news?” Quinn glances back in their seat. “Me and Paige are moving soon!”
“We are!?” Paige gasps at the same time Brandon shouts “You are!?”
“Sí, sí,” Carmen nods. “And, if I can strong arm my way in, I’ll see if we can’t get them into that new open house down the street!”
“Woah!” Brandon gasps. “That’s like… right down the street!”
“He just said that, Brandon.” Paige says.
“I know!” He claps. “So epic! We’ll live right next to each other!”
“It is pretty awesome,” Paige smiles, then frowns. “But what about Dad? Won’t he get… mad?”
Quinn’s face falls the little way it needs to have them frowning too. “That’s… the bad news, sweetie.”
“What?” Paige blinks. Then, sounding a little excited, goes, “I-is he not coming with us?”
“...That’s one way to put it,” Quinn finally settles on. “I’ll explain when we get to Min’s place, okay?”
“Aw, what?” Brandon pouts. “We can’t have the good news without the bad! That’s like… cheatin’ or something!”
Paige answers before either parent can. “I dunno, Brandon… if we have to wait to hear it maybe it’s not just bad news, but super bad news…”
“Oh,” Brandon says. “I didn’t think about it like that.” He looks up at the front. “Is t super bad news?”
The parents are quiet.
“Uh oh,” Paige frowns.
“Just don’t think about it,” Brandon comforts. “We’ll be home soon.”
“Yeah, okay,” Paige sighs.
The rest of the ride home is silent, save for a new Spanish song rotating over the radio every couple minutes.
This was not going to be easy.
+++
“Okay, what’s the bad news?” Brandon asks, popping a squat on the couch, arms crossed. “It better not be chores,” he pouts.
Paige on the other hand, sits next to him anxiously quiet, wringing his hands.
Oh boy.
Quinn takes a seat next to Paige while Carmen sits next to Brandon. “Paige,” Quinn says, putting their hands on his shoulders and sighing. “There’s no easy way to say this, sweetie.”
“What…?” he asks, sounding afraid of the answer.
“...Your father died today.”
“Oh.” is all Paige says.
Brandon on the other hand, blanches. “Oh my god.” He hovers his own hands over Paige. “Dude… I… I don’t know what to say…”
“...was it quick?” Paige mumbles.
“I think so.”
“...Hmph.”
“Huh?” all three parties aside from Paige question, all seeming equally as surprised.
“I said hmph,” Paige repeats, crossing his arms and furrowing his brows. “It should’ve been long. It should’ve been painful. It should’ve hurt.”
“Dude?” Brandon asks at the same time Quinn and Carmen ask, “Sweetie?”
Paige is quick to throw his arms around Quinn’s middle, laying his head against their chest. “He was awful to you, Mom. He would yell and throw things and threaten to hit you…”
“Honey, how do you know that?” Quinn gasps. “He only really threatened me when you were asleep…”
“He was loud,” Paige sniffs. “And… and I don’t sleep well when things are loud.”
“Oh, baby…” Quinn frets. “You should have told me…”
“And make you more upset?” Paige shakes his head a small amount. “You were already getting the worst of it.”
“But it was bad for you too, mijo,” Carmen breaks in. “You’re allowed to tell your mom when you don’t feel good.”
“Yes, but…” Paige lifts up, face a bit damp. “I dunno. Sorry, Mom.”
“It’s alright sweetie. It’s alright.”
“Can we stay here tonight?” Paige asks, turning towards Carmen. “Is that okay? I… don’t wanna go back to the apartment.”
“Of course, Paige,” Carmen says, face soft. “As long as Quinn’s okay with it.”
“Mom?” Paige asks, turning back to his mom.
“Absolutely,” Quinn nods. “Honestly, if you didn’t ask, I was going to in a bit.”
“Sleepover?” Brandon asks, clearly trying to control his excitement.
“Sleepover,” Paige smiles weakly.
“Epic!” Brandon exclaims, only to reign it back in. “I mean… not why we’re having it, but…”
“I understand, Brandon,” Paige reassures. “But to be fair, Dad dying is pretty epic for us!” he giggles.
Carmen claps. “Okay!” he says, lifting up. “Who wants ice cream?”
“Ooh, me!” Brandon jumps up. “Meee!”
“I’m good,” Paige sighs. “I kinda just want to go to sleep…”
“We can rest here for now, honey,” Quinn offers, laying back on the now mostly clear couch. They pat the small space next to them. “Come on, it can be just like when you were little!”
“Moom,” Paige huffs playfully, “I’m not little anymore!”
“Oh? Then you don’t want to take a nap with your Mama?”
“I never said that,” Paige says, taking his place next to his mother.
Quinn laughs. “Go get your ice cream, you two,” they say to the others. “We’ll be here.”
“‘Kay!” Brandon smiles, already bouncing towards the kitchen. Carmen just sighs and shakes his head.
“Mi bondad…” he says, but it’s with a chuckle in his voice. “Just holler if you need something, alright?”
“Gotcha,” Quinn nods, snuggling with her son. With a wave, Camen is off to the kitchen as well.
Well. That really didn’t go how Quinn was expecting it to, but… perhaps that was for the best.
Much later, once the sun had gone down and the whole family was fed, watered and bathed, Quinn sits on the edge of Carmen’s bed.
“Are you sure this is okay?” they ask tentatively. “I can always sleep on the couch with the kids.”
“And get a crick in your neck only someone their age could ever possibly hope to get out?” Carmen laughs. “No, no. Sleep here.”
“We haven’t slept in the same bed since college…” Quinn reminisces, laying down in borrowed clothes. “...I kind of missed it.”
“Great news then, Quinnsie,” Carmen smiles. “Not only is my bed more comfortable than any of those awful college beds, but I also got you an extra blanket so you can steal it without freezing me to death this time!”
His tone is lighthearted and playful, but still Quinn glances off to the side and chuckles guiltily. “Still not over that one, huh Min?”
“Not in your life,” Carmen smirks. “Now scooch, you’re all laid out like a puppy.” He bats a pillow at them.
“Okay, okay!” Quinn laughs. “No need to fight me!”
Carmen laughs back as the two settle down together, albeit a bit apart. Quinn wants so badly to bridge the gap between them, but…
Carmen’s hand finds Quinn’s under the sheets.
“¿Acércate más?” he asks. “¿Por favor?”
Quinn smiles softly.
“Por supuesto,” they nod, pushing themself closer to the other, who in turn does the same. Slowly but surely they find each other and, in the end, they’re holding each other loosely.
“Thank you for everything,” Quinn mumbles. “I love you.”
…Oh.
Wait.
Did they just say that out loud?
“I love you too, Quinnsie,” Carmen simply sighs happily. “I really do.”
Quinn’s nervousness melts. This was something they could talk about in the morning. Right now? All they wanted to do was sleep with their best friend in the world.