"Easy does it, Mal. Almost there..."

"My head's gonna fall off, I swear."

"Sure hope it doesn't, I ain't a surgeon." The phone started ringing much to Malcolm's distaste. He collapsed onto his own couch as Angus grabbed the phone from the side table. "Hello?"

"Mal?"

"It's Angus," he said, recognizing Bon's voice.

"Are you at his apartment, is Mal okay?"

"Just dropped him off." 

"You walked there?"

"No, took a cab." Angus swung the chord over him so he could sit down on the couch. "He's alright for now, but he ain't lookin' so hot."

"I know how that feels," Bon sympathized. "Hey, tell him I didn't mean for this to happen, I mean-I knew he wanted a drink an' I let him have one but I didn't-know he'd get so bad..."

"He doesn't blame you, Bon, it ain't your fault. Coulda happened to any of us."

"Not you," Bon scoffed. "You an' Hannah always turnin' 'em down." Angus pulled at his collar. "Well I was jus' callin' to see if he was okay, if he made it back is all."

"Alright, thanks, Bon."

"He ain't mad at me?"

Angus could hear the fake pout in Bon's voice. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" The phone was held to Malcolm's ear who groaned into it.

"Mal? You got a bear on the phone with me?"

"I ain't mad, but my skull is split in two," Malcolm informed his friend. "I'd appreciate a little somthin' to alleviate the pain?" He looked at Angus who nodded and took the phone back.

"Alright, Bon, I think I'd better get him somethin', ya' know."

"Alright, I need a little somethin' for myself as well...Hannah there with ya'?"

"Nah, she stayed at my place. I'll be stayin' here for a bit lookin' after Mal, told her she could do whatever she wanted."

"Careful, Ang, don't want any wild parties when you're gone," Bon said. "You could miss 'em!" Angus made a noise acknowledging the humor. "Ah, my head's turned up the amp...I'll call you later then, yeah?"

"Goodbye." Angus hung up the phone and turned to see Malcolm staggering away from the couch to the nearest bathroom. He stood up immediately but stayed back when Malcolm held his hand up.

"You don't want to be here for this, Ang," Malcolm said. With that he closed the bathroom door.

Hannah washed her plate in the sink before sticking it in the dishwasher. She managed to find some fresh bread in the fridge and made some toast for breakfast, hoping maybe Angus and could get something to eat at Malcolm's place. Wanting to make sure he was alright, but figuring it best to give the two brothers some family time, she stayed behind. Along with staying behind however came boredom, and Angus' apartment wasn't exactly an amusement park. Before he left he told her he was taking her to dinner later, stuttering his response when she asked if he was taking her on a date. When Malcolm mustered a smirk and gave him a pat on the back, Angus excused himself to give his brother the attention he needed. Hannah could hear Malcolm laughing in the hallway. 

She took the locket off before she showered and put it right back on when she got out. The dull shine didn't need to be rusted by water, she thought. When she dried herself off and got ready for the day, she sat on the couch, staring at the carpet. Angus never specified what time he'd be back, and the minutes were ticking awfully slow. She thought about jumping on his bed, but she just made it. She thought about watching television, but he didn't have one. Her stomach rumbled again, not used to the access to food, and she stood up to go to the kitchen again. 

More toast was considered, but after finding some peanut butter, she preferred a small sandwich. There were some papers on the counter covering some ripped envelopes. Angus' name was addressed on every single one of them, and Hannah picked them up away from her sandwich so they wouldn't get something spilled on them.

Knowing they were Angus' mail, she would never go through them or read them on purpose. It was only when the light streamed through the window that she caught a few numbers on the top paper, all of them rather large. Numbers were all Travis cared about, but Hannah knew Angus couldn't have a gambling problem like he did. There were some words too, and after skimming it she caught 'notice', 'due', and 'evict', which have never sounded good in one sentence. 

She flipped it over, catching the date. It had been mailed a month ago, along with the rest of the stack. Mr. Nelson must have dropped these off the other night. The papers were quickly set down again, as if Angus suddenly opened the door. Going through his mail was not something she wanted to do, and whatever those numbers meant, it was his business.

She sat at the table, thinking over her sandwich. Angus hadn't been to a studio in a while she knew, but surely he still had money from the previous album, from the tour she had accompanied him on. There was nothing to worry about, if there was, Angus wouldn't be taking her out to dinner, or shopping for her clothes, or even housing her in the first place. He would have said something. Still, she couldn't help but remember his habit of keeping things to himself, which she herself had trouble with. Maybe, like he so very much wanted to help her, she could help him.

Brushing the crumbs off her lap she stood up to take the phone. Hoping she remembered correctly, she dialed a few numbers and waited for a reply. "Hello?"

"Hi, I was wondering if I could make a long distance call."

"Where to, Sweetie?"

"Oregon, the newspaper printing company."

A few minutes later and she was sitting there waiting for another reply. A female voice picked up."Yes?"

"Hi, this is Hannah from the weekly articles in the Oregonian, I don't know if you recall..." A few papers were shuffled on the other line. 

"Oh, yeah, we have your last submission just about to be published. Shall we mail you your check for it?"

"Uhhh..." Hannah looked towards the door, wondering how much time she had. "First, I have a small question. A few days ago, I left my house in Oregon, and I'll be staying here in Australia for a while."

"How long do you think?"

"I'm not sure, I've...had some personal issues come up and I came here to sort it all out, so...I don't know, maybe a few months?" Hannah scratched her neck, the bruise beginning to heal. "I was wondering if I could still submit my writing, and have it delivered to you by mail?"

The wait for this answer was the longest of them all. "It takes a long time for mail to deliver overseas, so you'd have to write several of them at once, send them over, and then write more, so we have enough to publish for a few weeks in case the mail gets lost, or some natural disaster comes, will that be alright?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, that'd be great, thank you."

"We'll pay you one week's amount for each article you send in, okay?" Hannah confirmed again. "Can you please tell me your new address so we know where to send it, or would you like to continue sending the money to your Oregon address?"

Hannah considered sending money to Travis at home which she knew he needed, but tossed the idea out of her mind. "I'll give you the new address, hold on..."

After telling her the street and Angus' apartment building, she thanked her again, and hung up. Now with a job of her own, she could give some money to her friend as well as make her own salary without giving any up for gambling or debts. Her stomach rumbled again and she let the locket fall back to her neck, unaware that she was fiddling with it. Maybe Angus would help her find her own place after she earned enough, which would take a long while, but would be worth helping out a friend and giving her a sense of independence. Another sandwich was made, bigger this time. Hoping Angus wouldn't mind her eating all his food, she took a banana too, promising to help buy more food as soon as she could afford it. This was someone she didn't mind using her money for, and the content feeling she had thinking about it was not something she was used to at all. Angus never forced her to pay for anything, and he would never take the money she earned for himself, and lose every cent.

Going out to dinner seemed like a bit of a celebration now. 

"You told her?" Malcolm asked, raising his head from the armrest to see his brother better. "You really told her?"

Angus shrugged as he paced back and forth. "Yeah, I told her last night."

"What'd she say?" Malcolm's headache seemed completely gone by the way his sentences flowed and his attitude picked up. "She still feel the same?"

The nod was all it took.

"Good God, 'bout time, eh?" Malcolm said resting his head back again. "Twenty long ass years."

Angus grinned to himself, listening to Malcolm's little monologue about how he knew the whole time and once again proved right to his little brother. "I get it, Mal, I get it. You're supposed to be sick an' I'd appreciate if you'd at least pretend to be."

"I ain't sick, just recoverin' from bein' sick." Angus rolled his eyes once Malcolm started tossing and turning, acting as if he was just admitted into intensive care. "You got those pills ready yet?"

"Oh, yeah." Angus produced the painkiller from his pocket and set it next to the glass of water he got for him a few minutes before. Malcolm made a face.

"It been there the whole time?"

"Uh, no."

Malcolm took it, complaining about how warm it was, then thanked Angus for his company and help. The glass of water took his attention, shimmering in his palm. He shook his head, knowing had this been his only choice last night, he wouldn't have felt like this now. "Ang...I need help."

"Have you thought about...what kind of help?" Angus asked. "I'm all for helpin' ya', Hannah, the boys..." Malcolm shook his head again, knowing the answer would scare his brother, but it needed to be said.

"Maybe professional help, Ang." He waited for his brother to comprehend what he heard.

"You mean...you mean like, rehab?"

"I'm not sayin' I need that now," Malcolm reassured not only his brother but himself as well. "I'll take all the help I can get without goin' to rehab, I'll tell you that. But..." The glass of water was set down and pushed away, the light shining on it too brightly for his hungover eyes. "If I don't help myself, an' I jus' keep gettin' worse...maybe then I'll have to."

Angus had never been to rehab, but he had heard of some friends that did. They always came back feeling like a million bucks, but sometimes it wasn't enough and they ended up right back in their old habits, worse than ever. Some came back almost too scared to regress, thinking they'd have to return to the cold building without their friends and families, and where the food wasn't their mothers' cooking. He couldn't imagine Malcolm loving it, but once rehab became the path he was on, there was no stopping him from taking his addiction by the neck and throwing it out of his life. Angus hoped, and knew deep down, that he could surely stop the problem from escalating any further, before rehab even became a possibility. "I understand," he finally said. "I...I don't want you to have to go."

"No one wants that, I sure as fuck don't wan that." He rubbed his temple with two fingers. "But, and this is only a but." Angus smiled. "if for some reason I don't pick myself back up, I want to get help before I end up in some old man's gutter."

"I'll help ya', Mal. I'll grab any glass you pick up an' drink it myself if that's what it takes." Malcolm raised a hand.

"Now now, hang on a minute." Angus laughed and sat down on the couch next to him, taking Malcolm's rejected water for himself. 

"I think I'll start right here."

"Go ahead." His headache beginning to dissipate, Malcolm sat up a little more. "So, is that why you're gonna ask her?"

Angus wiped his mouth. "Ask who?"

"If you both feel the same about each other," Malcolm said reminding him of their conversation not ten minutes ago. "then, you're gonna ask her?" Angus finally understood.

"Oh, yeah. That."

"When?"

"Tonight, if I can pick my nerves up off the floor." 

"You think she'll say yes?" Angus hadn't considered what her answer might be when he didn't even know how to phrase his own question.

"I don't know, I mean, I'd like her to."

"We both would, I'm all for it. But, you gotta remember. She jus' got out of an abusive household with a man, she might not want to think about that right now, despite bein' a terrific idea." Angus nodded. "Whatever she says, you go right along with it. You respect it, understand?"

"Of course, Mal, I won't force her into anything." He rubbed his wrist, now more nervous than ever. "I love her too much."

"Speakin' of which-" Angus sighed placing his face in his hand knowing exactly what Malcolm was going to get after him for. "You're sure askin' real quick, ya' know? After jus' tellin' her how you felt last night."

"I know, I know, I've thought about all that." Angus never for one second thought that his plan was the best or brightest, but he wasn't turning back. 

"Is this what you really want?"

"Of course, what, you think I'm askin' her to play a trick? That's an awful trick, Mal."

"I know, that's why I'm askin'." Malcolm smiled at him, amused by the nervous habits he adopted. "Before you make a life changin' decision, ya' gotta think about these things. Askin' her at dinner?"

"Yeah," Angus answered. "Yeah, dinner. Oh yeah, dinner!"

"Don't tell me you forgot!"

"No, I jus'-forgot I made the plans..."

"You forgot." Whether he forgot or not was not the issue here. The issue was that Angus had already showered and dressed that morning and the anxious sweat soaking through his shirt made him regret it. "You want to head home an' get ready for 'em?"

"Not right now, I need to get a hold of myself before skippin' off on a date." Malcolm stretched his leg out and rested it on Angus' head. "Thanks, Mal, you're a big help."

"Anytime. Let me know what she says, eh?"

When Angus finally did leave that evening, after Malcolm assured him his hangover was gone and that Phil would be there to play cards in an hour, he walked quicker than normal, thinking if he stood still for a second he'd fall over. His sweating had stopped but that wasn't to say it was gone forever. For now it had been replaced with a shaking of the hand, and a forgetfulness of the mind. Like Angus forgetting to press the floor button on the elevator and standing there for four minutes. Malcolm managed to find a luxury apartment down the street from his own and Angus was jealous at first that he hadn't an elevator in his. He wasn't jealous anymore, blaming the lift for his mistake, thinking stairs were much better. Making sure he didn't drop anything in Malcolm's apartment or his own floor where Hannah would find it, he checked his pocket. The little box was still there, one white hair stuck to its black surface. He brushed it off, and made sure its contents hadn't fallen out as well. The elevator door finally opened and he strode out, sticking the box back in his pocket. 

This was the beginning of a long night for Angus.