AN: Because this fandom is in desperate need of more than just Zach/Cammie fics. Not that I have anything against Zammie, it's just...this fandom needs more variety in it. Plus, I've had this idea in my head for quite some time, but never got around to finishing it until now.

Disclaimer: I am not Ally Carter, so none of these awesome characters are mine, I'm simply just borrowing them.

Coping

She stares at the boy standing before her, trying to come up with the courage to talk to him. She's known him most of her life and is pretty comfortable around him. He's one of the few people that she can be herself around. She's not the rich, snobby and stuck-up politician's daughter that everyone expects her to be around him.

She can just be Macey instead of Macey Mchenry - Senators daughter. Or Macey Mchenry - stuck up, snobby, rich, Gallagher Girl.

But she can't bring herself to walk up to Preston. For once, she doesn't know what to say or what she should say either. She doesn't know how Preston feels, nor does she know how to comfort him. He's just lost his father under rather shocking circumstances to him, after all.

And she's conflicted.

In a way, she feels for Preston - he's her friend (and maybe more) who just lost his father because of a world he knows nothing about. But a small part of her thinks that Samuel Winters got what he deserved. She's almost certain that he was the one who led her and Cammie to that ambush in Boston.

Why else would their schedules have led them to that roof?

She sort of hates Samuel too but at the same time, she tolerated him because he was friends with her father. That's mostly why she's here at Samuel Winter's memorial service because her family and Preston's are friends.

At first, she wasn't going to show up because she hates memorial services and funerals. In the end, her mother had forced her to come and show respect because it's the 'proper' thing to do.

Now she's standing on an outside patio after following Preston from the service. He's slouching on the edge of a fountain – something he wouldn't have done in public since he wasn't expected of him.

She's leaning against a pillar a few feet away, staring at him. She's wishing that something would just come to her and she can say something to him. But she can't. It doesn't matter because he breaks the silence.

"Are you going to stand in the shadows all day, staring at me?" Preston asks, not looking up at her. "Or are you actually going to talk to me?"

Macey slowly moves away from the pillar, a bit taken aback but trying not to show it.

How did he see me? She can't help but wonder.

Preston gave a small one-sided, sad smile – so different from his normal, wide one that usually reached his ears. "I heard you following me," he clarifies.

Macey glances down at her feet and silently curses the heels her mother told her to wear. Sure, she was used to heels, fancy dress, suits and the like – but she still hated them. They weren't her type but she enjoyed keeping up the façade so she wore them with no complaints.

"I know it's a stupid question," Macey says. "But how are you?"

She makes her way towards the fountain and takes a seat beside him.

Preston places his head in his hands and lets out a sighs. After a moment, he glances up at her. "I don't even know. I can't find the right words."

Macey gently places a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to continue if he wants to.

"It's just…all this stuff with the circle or whatever has me all conflicted and confused," he finally admits. "I get why you don't like him and I get that he was probably involved in a lot of shady activities, but he was still my father."

"And that's who you'll always remember him as. None of that changes that he was your father," Macey tells him. "Don't let anything taint that."

"It's hard not to."

Macey sighs. She wishes she could understand and know what to say, but she doesn't.

"I guess I'm still processing everything that happened," Preston tells her.

"Just take it one day at a time," is her best piece of advice. Its crap advice, she knows that. But what else can she say?

All she can do for him at the moment is be his rock, his shoulder to lean on and his friend.

He nods.

They sit in silence for a few moments, an unspoken gesture that they'll always be there for the other passing between them. Macey knows it'll be a while before Preston's back to his old self or as close to his old self as he could ever be again. She's sure they'll both be a bit different after everything that's happened.

After a while, he reluctantly stands up, straightens out his suit and holds out a hand for her. "I'm sure our mother's are looking for us by now."

She doesn't need to but she takes it anyway and he pulls her into a standing position. "Yeah, we should probably get back before they send out a search party."

She's almost certain Preston's mother might actually do that if he disappears for long periods of time given the circumstances. If it were any other situation, she might actually laugh at the thought, but she's seen how distraught Mrs. Winter's looked when she heard the news.

"Let's get back inside."

Macey links her arm with Preston's and together, they walk away from the patio and back towards the sliding glass today which will lead them back towards the service.

Together, they'll get through this.