Afterwards

After getting food they’d ended up in Noah’s basement. It was his dad’s old man cave. His mother had never gotten around to getting rid of it once he was gone. It worked out well for the group though. The place was full of comfy sofas and chairs, and there was a giant TV, so they could watch endless movies and Netflix, which seemed to be all they ever did anymore. It was also one of the only places that felt safe anymore.
They’d settled into a kind of pattern when they were down there. Brooke and Stavo would lay across the biggest couch, Brooke curled up on Stavo’s chest. Emma, Audrey and Noah would sit on the carpeted floor right below them, despite having their choice of comfy recliners, making it easy for Brooke to ruffle Audrey or Noah’s hair, or grab Emma’s hand. The order on the floor was always the same. Audrey would sit between Noah and Emma, and she would swap her head between their shoulders as they both wrapped around her. This kind of closeness had become a normality for them. Maybe it was just another layer of safety, but it was nice to have a physical reminder that everything was okay now, that everyone was still there.
It was probably the safety of it all, Audrey decided, that was causing the lazy, dazed feeling that was currently holding her mind captive. Everything happening was dimmed, slowed, and hazed over in a thin coat of warmth, that kind of warmth that causes people to drift off into sleep without noticing.
She was curled up under one of the many blankets with Noah, her head on his shoulder. At some point during the movie he’d slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, nearly pulling her onto his lap. She hadn’t really minded. He was warm, and comfortable, and oh so safe. Emma had reached out and taken her hand around then, but was quickly distracted by Brooke. She wasn’t sure when or how she’d ended up fully wrapped up in Noah, but then again, she couldn’t even say how long the movie had been playing, or if it was the same one. It was all the fuzziness. She liked it too much. In that haze, she’d stopped thinking about what she was doing. That’s why she’d ended up with her arms around Noah’s waist, her legs tangled with his under the blanket, the movie sounds, even her other friends a distant distraction, long forgotten as she buried her face deeper into Noah’s neck. She could have fallen asleep right then and there.
Noah’s fingers brushing her face was a real, tangible distraction though, and she looked up to find his face inches away from hers, so close that his face was blurring out of focus.
She wasn’t thinking. If she had been, then she would have moved.
He wasn’t thinking either, or he would never have done anything.
Emma said something.
Audrey thought she heard her name.
She turned towards Emma, who was indeed talking to her. Brooke looked annoyed.
Everything came back into glaring focus.
The basement suddenly felt a lot colder.
After a few minutes of conversation with Emma, Audrey excused herself and headed upstairs to the bathroom. Stavo kicked Noah as soon as Audrey was out of earshot. “Not exactly subtle, but a nice try anyway.”
Noah blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“You were hitting on Audrey. You tried to kiss her. Honestly, it was pretty smooth dude, except that, well, rule number two of flirting was broken before you started.”
“Rule number two?”
“If you’re going for a kiss, make sure there’s no one around, or that everyone around you is too drunk to care.”
“I wasn’t even trying to kiss her,” Noah said nervously.
Brooke laughed. “Sure you weren’t. And I’m not the prettiest girl in Lakewood.”
“Technically that’s a debatable point-”
“Don’t sass me nerd boy,” Brooke quipped sternly, but she was smiling.
“Right.”
There was a paused before, “If that’s rule number two, what’s rule number one?”
Stavo shrugged. “If they say no, go home.”
The whole room fell silent. Brooke glanced over at Emma, who was staring off into space, a frown slowly spreading across her face. Brooke sighed quietly and struck up a conversation on a completely different topic, and the group slipped into comfortable conversation.
A minute later, Noah’s mom was calling them up, saying the pizza they’d ordered (despite the fact that they’d already eaten) was here. The four of them pulled themselves up off the floor, in slow, drowsy movements, and headed up the stairs.
When they reached the kitchen, the pizza was laying on the table, and Noah’s mom was fussing over Audrey.
“Your father’s out of town again?! I swear, that man is never here for more a few weeks. Well, you can stay here while he’s gone. Not like you were going back home tonight anyway, not when the pizza’s here.”
Audrey laughed. “Thanks anyways Leslie. It’s nice to know I’m welcome here like always.”
“Oh honey, I would adopt you if Howard would let me. You’re already basically my daughter. You might as well live here too, although I guess you kind of do. I feed you, put a roof over your head, give you a bed to sleep in, make sure you and Noah study, and I even do your laundry most weeks. And god knows I’d rather have you here than anywhere else, especially when your father’s gone. I don’t know what I’m going to do when you kids go off to college.”
“You’ll probably be happy to get rid of us,” Audrey said with a grin, grabbing a piece of pizza from one of the boxes. “You’ll spend way less money on food.”
“Oh, I’ll gladly be rid of you! You kids cause me so much trouble.” She stopped. “But seriously dear, you’re always welcome here, and I will miss you. It won’t be the same without you and Noah wandering around the house talking about your horror movies at random hours.” She seemed almost choked up, just at the thought.
Audrey blushed a bit, and focused intently on her pizza while mumbling a quick, “Thanks.”
Stavo grinned as Leslie bustled out of the room. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you blush, Jensen.”
“How can I not? Noah’s mom is just too adorable. I can’t deal with her. She’s like the perfect mom.”
Noah shrugged. “I wouldn’t say perfect…” Audrey turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “But she’s a pretty awesome mom, you know, as far as moms go.”
“Thanks dear!” Leslie’s voice chirped from just down the hall. Noah sighed as everyone else burst into laughter.
“She’s seriously got to stop eavesdropping on us…” he muttered to himself.
Brooke shrugged. “I think we’d all kill to have a mother like yours Noah. Just be glad you didn’t get one of ours: absent, surrounded by murder, drunk off her ass and out of my life…you’ve got it pretty damn good Foster.”
Emma giggled nervously. “When did this get to be a sympathy fest of sadness?” She grabbed another piece of pizza from the counter and turned to Audrey. “Have you seen Ms. Lang’s replacement yet?”