I Guess I Have to Laugh

[Kevin Walsh]

It was 11:45 on New Year's Eve, and Kevin had just been kicked out of the bar for being too drunk and rowdy. However, for the first time in his life... he hadn't started a fight. Nor had he gone nihilistic and destructive; both the people and property contained in the Hog's Head were still completely intact.

This New Year, his biggest sin was being, well, deliriously happy. (Also shouting obnoxiously, slinging his arms around other patrons, spilling everything and falling over a lot. That's not the point.) He was in a good place for maybe the first time ever. He'd managed to defy everyone's expectations for him by holding down a job, a job he cared about. He paid bills and washed his clothes regularly and wore a proper winter coat. He'd even made peace with being a Walsh -- not by reconciling with his family the way Owen or Leo wanted him to, but by accepting that Sam, Mason, Heath and Ben were a better family than he ever could have asked for. He was loved and supported unconditionally (he got a loss-of-virginity cake, for God's sake) even though he'd been a selfish dick a lot of the time.

Kevin plopped down on the curb to wait for the Knight Bus to take him home, knowing there'd be someone there waiting up for him. He looked up to see someone come out of the bar, crouching down to make sure he was okay -- man, if they only knew how okay he was.

(ooc: anyone!)

[Amy Weatherson]

Glancing down at her watch, Amy noted it was quarter to 12 and figured she should probably rejoin Billie, Blaine and Claire inside O’Connor’s where they’d decided to ring in the New Year, preferably before midnight because she suspected Billie would kill her if she missed the big countdown. Amy had left her friends and housemates momentarily to get far enough from Hogsmeade’s magical concentration to get a mobile phone signal in order to ring her dad and wish him a Happy New Year. Now she strolled back up the path into the wizarding village, occupied with tucking her phone back into her bag so she didn’t immediately notice the familiar face sat on the curb near the Hog’s Head. She only looked up, in fact, when she heard the pub’s door creak open and the loud noise from inside filtered outside into the night air and it was then that she spotted Kevin sat where she’d been about to walk.

“Kevin!” the girl exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, hi, greetings! Wow, weird bumping into you now of all times. How are you? Are you good?” she asked in a quick babble, as though not quite able to settle on a question or sentiment before she grinned apologetically at this behavior and sat down gingerly on the curb beside him. “Sooo… any reason you’re ringing in the New Year on this pavement?” Amy asked lightly.

((ooc: Hope Amy’s ok? Thought he could round of his 2012 with finally making peace with her and vice versa?))

[Kevin Walsh]

"AMY WEATHERSON!" Kevin yelled at her from the pavement, waving before leaning back on his elbows (and thereby lying on a surface of extremely questionable cleanliness). "Shiiiit, is it almost time?" he looked at his watch, quickly realizing that it was almost midnight and he wouldn't have to ring in the New Year at home with Ben Patel and his all-night Breaking Bad marathon. "Ehhh, I may have thrown up in there a little," he said, gesturing to the Hog's Head with his thumb. Kevin felt calm and slightly sobered from both the cold winter air and the evacuation of his stomach contents. "I feel better now though. Like, great. Like, thing are going really good for me right now. I'm good. Are you good?"

"Anyway, I'm now banned from every bar except for O'Connor's," he sighed, throwing his hands up. He always avoided O'Connor's because too many of the regulars were people he'd burned bridges with, people he felt wouldn't want him around. But if even Amy could forgive him for everything he'd done...

[Amy Weatherson]

Amy's smile grew at Kevin's enthusiastic greeting, "The one and only," she inclined her head in assent at her name called out. "Yeah it's like quarter to 12," she checked her watch reflexively but then sighed softly, a rare sight to see, commenting to Kevin, "I like the whole enthusiasm of New Years, new beginnings, a time to reflect on the year past and stuff... but I hate the whole countdown thing. Alright, it's not the countdown itself because we all know Billie and I shout countdowns with the most enthusiasm ever, it's more the expectation to launch yourself at a randomer for a kiss, just because it's a new year."

"Oh, ohhhhh," her mouth made an 'o' of surprise, and then understanding, as Kevin explained that he'd vomited 'a little' in the Hog's Head. She was surprised, but not unpleasantly so, as he told her how great things were going for him. She fell silent whilst he talked but then slowly smiled, "I'm really glad things are going so well for you and you're good," the girl replied sincerely. "I'm doing well, I can't complain! It's been great living with Billie, Blaine and Claire and work is going well. I miss Quidditch terribly but that's just life," Amy admitted then with a sheepish laugh, "I'm meant to be in O'Connor's, that's where I was headed. Do you umm fancy a drink in there, my treat?" she offered hopefully.

[Kevin Walsh]

"I think you're over-thinking it, Ames. This is why alcohol exists. Like, no one else is paying attention anyway so if you don't kiss anyone who the fuck cares, and if you do it's probably not going to dramatically affect the course of your life or anything. Unless they have mouth herpes," Kevin commented helpfully. He tried to lean further back on the pavement, before his skull connected with the pointy toe of someone's boot. "Fuck," he muttered while rubbing at his head.

He stood up suddenly, stumbling over the curb and onto the street before righting himself. "Oh. Cool. I miss Quidditch too," Kevin agreed, unsure of what to say to Amy after all this time. They both seemed to be doing better, at least. "We could get a pickup game going sometime? I can get a few people on board but you'd have to ask Billie, Rhys, Bradley, Biermann and Coulson because I don't think any of them likes me very much," he said while counting off all of the good Quidditch players he could think of. She'd also probably have to remind him of this later, since he wasn't great at keeping his drunk promises.

"Come on, I can pay, it's the least I can do..." he said while rummaging in his pocket to find only two knuts and a crushed pack of gum. "Uh, never mind. Gum?" Kevin laughed, holding it out. "So what're'ya doing out here, then? Looking for one of the a toothless transients in the Hog's Head to be your midnight kiss?" he joked, good-naturedly enough for him.

[Amy Weatherson]

Amy smiled sheepishly as Kevin told her she was over-thinking it, "Yeah, over-thinking, sure. I tend to do that a lot, you might have noticed?" she posed the question lightly enough. "I just don't like people making a big deal out of it, like it's not important if you don't have some significant other to snog, life's about more than that, surely?" She absentmindedly rubbed her cold arms - she really should have worn her coat rather than just a cardigan, though she hadn't anticipated running into someone and stopping for a chat. "Umm hey, maybe don't lean back, it's not exactly clean," the brunette offered and then watched as he stumbled upright.

"Yeah?" Amy asked, getting to her feet too, a little more daintily than his stumble, and smiled warmly, "I'd really enjoy that, though I'm soooo out-of-practice. It would still be nice though," she agreed. "Billie will be in, Rhys too, Bradley terrifies me just a little and Biermann and Coulson are nice so they'll probably say yes. You're being ridiculous though, I can't speak for the others but I'm sure Billie likes you just fine!" she assured him, ever the optimist. "How about Caleb, do you talk to-... is he around-... are you guys still friendly? Maybe he'd want in," the girl said, making sure their was a casual tone to her words. She hadn't talked to Caleb in months. She missed hanging out with him a lot, truthfully.

She shook her head, "You're not an O'Connor regular, I assumed you didn't like it that much so you grace it with your presence and I will get the drinks in," she said firmly, well as firmly as someone like Amy could manage, as she absent-mindedly ran her heeled shoe along the line of the pavement. "Me? Oh no, umm I was just, I was just uh- I was phoning my dad, to wish him Happy New Year. He's away, in Morocco, with his girlfriend, partner, umm 'lady friend'? You can get mobile reception if you go down the lane," Amy explained, waving her hand vaguely at the direction she'd approached from. "No toothless transients on the horizon for me," she faux-assured him.

[Kevin Walsh]

"Yeah. I don't have anyone either. I was about to go home to watch six straight hours of Breaking Bad with a guy recovering from a werewolf transformation, so..." he trailed off before he noticing Amy rubbing her arms. "Hey, want my coat? I'm warm," he said before shrugging his coat off his shoulders and handing it to her. It was nicer than anything he wore when they were together, when he would routinely face sub-freezing temperatures by just piling on torn, dirty hoodies. Kevin was left wearing just a plaid button-down over his tee-shirt, but still felt warm from all the beer.

"How do you walk in those shoes?" he asked, though not being two sheets to the wind (like he was) probably helped. "Caleb? Yeah, we're friends again. It's cool. Is he avoiding you or something? Man, you know I love that guy but he's a fucking idiot sometimes," Kevin laughed. He often got frustrated with Caleb, who seemed to spend too much time thinking and feeling things. "Anyway, Bradley's not scary. He's just a dick," he added, almost... affectionately?

Kevin started walking the short distance to O'Connors, his trainers scuffing lightly against the pavement. "Oh. You and your dad are close, yeah? Is his girlfriend cool?"

[Amy Weatherson]

Amy couldn't help but chuckle with a shake of her head- for anyone else, living with a werewolf would seem odd but for Kevin it just seemed weirdly normal. "Do you enjoy spending your New Year's Eve like that or do you just fear the werewolf wrath if you say you don't want to?" she asked jokingly. Looking up in surprise as Kevin offered her his coat, she seemed visibly taken aback by this considerate gesture. She couldn't voice this, however, and ended up merely smiling warmly and murmuring a grateful, "Thank you," as she put it on, piping up, "You favour coats rather than hoodie layers now then? Not that I'm not grateful for this fact obviously, given that gesture."

"Oh don't you know? All girls attend a compulsory Walking In Heels 101 course when they turn 14," the brunette answered smoothly, keeping up the serious act before she met his gaze and then grinned, a grin which faltered as he talked of Caleb. "Oh, good, well I'm really glad you two made up, it was just silly for you to fall out," Amy commented. "No, no! He's not avoiding me, maybe I'm avoiding him unknowingly? I just haven't really talked to him for months, and now it's been so long I'm not sure how to umm get back to how we were, you know? I miss him... well all you guys, we all used to have fun hanging out I mean," she clarified. "I wouldn't say 'a fucking idiot'," Amy disagreed, even though Kevin was just joking, a fact she realised after she'd said it which made her blush in embarrassment then.

Following him up to O'Connor's she looked sideways at him, "Yeah we are. She's... well she's great, she's really nice and pretty and he really likes her so... I guess that's all that matters in the end? I just... I want him to... this sounds so silly but I want him to make sure he's found the right person because he deserves to be happy, so happy, after coping with Mum dying and raising me and giving me everything I could possibly want. We never talk about Mum," she paused, looking down at the pavement instead, "And whenever he mentions Julia, his girlfriend, he always looks guilty, as if he shouldn't be talking about her in front of me, as if he should lead a life of mourning and celibacy. Mum wouldn't have wanted that. I assume. I think he wants to propose to her, I can tell," Amy spoke with a small smile.

[Kevin Walsh]

Kevin laughed. "Nah, he's okay. He'd probably just eat my shoes or something," he replied while rubbing his nose. He looked over as she put on his coat. "Yeah yeah, it's a new Kevin innit? It pays bills and eats right and everything," he said. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal, but for someone as stubbornly resistant to change and inexorably drawn to misery as Kevin, every attempt at self-improvement seemed huge.

He didn't register Amy's embarrassment, a benefit to his drunkenness. "We should all hang out again. And I'm not just saying that. Look, me an' Caleb didn't talk for ages and we're fine now, so... let's just do the stuff we used to do and not think too much about it, y'know?" He wasn't sure if he was making sense, so he just kept walking along the curb, occasionally losing balance and ending up in the street.

Kevin shoved at the door to O'Connor's and held it open while looking for his ID in the mess of random crap that occupied his pockets. "Yeah? I hope it works out, man. I mean it. I don't think your Mum would have wanted that either," he said, trying his best to be nice and encouraging. "My Mum and Dad, together they were... really fucked up, you know? But then I see, like, Ben and Jenny and Grace and Sam being all functional and happy and shit. So maybe it's not some lie made up to sell cards and shitty Jennifer Aniston films. Maybe sometimes people can get over their baggage and issues and bullshit and make it work."

[Amy Weatherson]

She laughed with him, “Good, glad to hear he’d just cause minimal damage,” she agreed as she tucked her hands down his coat’s sleeves to keep them warm. “A new Kevin?” Amy asked, intrigued by this thought, “Well then. That’s… that’s… wow that’s really great, Kev, if you’re happy and you’re doing better then… that’s honestly great, I’m so glad,” she enthused, genuinely happy for him. ‘Why, oh why, couldn’t he have grown up and tried to get his crap together whilst we were still at Hogwarts and dating?’ was a thought that crossed her mind then, however, as happy as she was to see him so well now.

“Yeah, maybe,” Amy agreed vaguely with a small, tentative smile as Kevin talked of them all hanging out again. “Yeah, if you and Caleb can make up then I guess me and Caleb should be able to talk again despite everything. Well not even ‘despite everything’, nothing’s happened, we just… don’t hang out any more,” she realised this only then – there was absolutely no reason for her and Caleb not to talk anymore, they’d just drifted apart, and it was this that confused her more than anything.

Amy passed into O’Connor’s with him and smiled as she watched him digging around in his pockets, “Thanks, that’s really decent of you,” she spoke quietly and sincerely as he wished her Dad and Julia well. “I do too, hope it works out I mean. I think my Dad has spent too many years thinking he needs to be lonely, for my sake, and that I’d get upset if there was a woman around in his life, that I’d think he was trying to replace Mum. That’s not true. I mean, I didn’t even know Mum so… how could I miss it, if I never really had it? Besides Julia is like really perfect for him so… I just hope he sees that before it’s too late!” she concluded. Quieting then as she considered what he was saying about his own family, the girl nodded along in understanding, “Who would have thought it… Kevin Walsh being oddly sentimental and yet still his realistic, practical self all in one,” she commented, not unkindly, and continued to speak as she looked round for any sign of Billie, Blaine or Claire, “So how’s that working for you? I mean, did you and Elena ‘make it work’?”

[Kevin Walsh]

Kevin stood with his back against the door to prop it open, as the warm, inviting air from the pub drifted over him. He spotted Billie and Blaine enthusiastically singing and dancing with a whole crowd of randoms and had to laugh, wordlessly pointing Amy's friends out to her. He shrugged. "Elena? Not really. I like her a lot but I don't think she feels the same or wants to be my 'girlfriend' or that. I mean, whatever, we don't have to make a big thing about it. I'll live." He was fairly certain that Amy wanting to be with him had been a fluke, anyway.

He furrowed his eyebrows for a second, wondering if he should apologize or at least explain what was going on with him when he and Amy were dating, but every explanation felt like a weak excuse and he didn't want to do that. Instead, he made his way over to a table and flopped down, staring at a laminated beer menu.

[Amy Weatherson]

Amy looked over to where Kevin was pointing and instantly giggled, yeah that was about right for Billie and Blaine. She didn't want to interrupt their fun so instead she stuck by Kevin alone for the time being, listening carefully as he explained about him and Elena. "I think she likes you. Why shouldn't she want to be your girlfriend? It's not like you're repulsive in any way at all, you know? You're... appealing," she offered, just about restraining herself from adding 'now you seem to have got your crap together'. "You're just too scared to ask her, I'll bet. Besides what's the worst that could happen?" she argued logically, waiting expectantly for what she was sure would be him brushing everything under the carpet like it wasn't a big deal.

She followed him to a table then, letting out a little sigh, "I just want you to be happy, Kevin, and I think you might just really actually like Elena," Amy continued persistently- she was probably irritating him but whatever, she'd had a few drinks and felt like she should be more upfront with him now. Taking the laminated menu from his hands so he couldn't be distracted by it, "Look, take it from someone who wished you felt that way about them... do something about it if you do like her," she requested before looking down at the menu casually, like she hadn't just admitted just how much she'd liked him and wished he'd reciprocated it.

[Kevin Walsh]

(ooc: Want to open this up as a general NYE thread? Since it's probably almost midnight by now)

"Wow, non-repulsive, thanks for that," Kevin snorted, almost smiling a little bit. "I'm not scared," he assured both Amy and himself, "Just... realistic. She said we're not dating. Whatever. I'm not gonna get all pathetic on her, y'know?" He waved his hand around casually.

Without the menu to fiddle with or any chewed-up hoodie strings to gnaw on, Kevin picked up a questionable-looking straw from the table and put it between his teeth. "Jesus. I never didn't like you. You know that, right?" The alcohol was making him more forthcoming, even if his syntax was less-than-clear. "Feeling like shit felt more comfortable to me and fucking up felt like an inevitability, so I might as well just get it over with. Look, I really am sorry that you got pulled into my angsty emo kid bullshit. Because that's what it was."