“I even broke down and ate jelly beans, and you know Ihatejelly beans.”
Tears start to brim my eyes. “You set the bar really high, Noah. You know that, right?”
Noah’s eyes widen and it looks like he might cry too. “You made it easy, Auddie.” We share a sad smile before he adds, “I lost my best friend seven years ago, and I want her back.”
Tears fall from my eyes and he hugs me against him.
“I’m right here, Noah.”
Seventeen: Noah
Come Back, Be Here - Taylor Swift
Tonight feels so natural to me, just the two of us. Like no time has passed at all. After a dinner filled with heavy conversation, we fall onto the couch to play Mario Kart, laughing like idiots the whole time. It’s nice to be able to have fun after shedding our emotional baggage together.
Hearing what Paul put her through broke my heart. But the way she smiled at me, the way her eyes twinkled, let me know that she’s okay and she’s healing.
Audrey and I have only played Mario Kart one-on-one a few times in our lives, but it’s fun to see how competitive we are with one another when Connor isn’t around.
And damn, does she kick my ass real good.
When Audrey yawns for the first time, she frowns and tries to blink it away. By the seventh yawn … I laugh, putting my controller down. “Go to bed.”
She gives me a coy smile. “I don’t want to.”
“Auddie, you’re exhausted. I’m not an idiot.”
“Yeah, but …”
She wants to be here with me.
“What if you go get ready for bed and when you’re all tucked in I can keep you company. Maybe tell you a bedtime story or something?”
Her cheeks turn red as she stands up. “Sure—Give me five minutes.”
I grab her hand and fix my eyes on her. “Stay in my bed again tonight.” She raises an eyebrow at me, so I add, “I’ll stay on the couch or in the other room. I just want two nights of Auddie smell on my pillow.”
Her blush deepens as she chews on her lip. “Okay.”
Once she’s shut herself in the bathroom, I go to my room to grab myself some pajama pants. When she comes back into the room, my eyes land on her body; she’s wearing a shirt I recognize.
“Stealing my clothes?” I tease.
She crosses her arms over her chest, trying to hide the logo from my high school baseball league, as if I haven’t already seen it. “I uh, forgot pj’s …”
“Liar.” I can’t hide the smile growing on my face at the idea of her wearing my shirt.
She pulls the covers over her body and sighs. “I love this shirt, okay?”
“I don’t blame you, I love it too. Especially on you.”
“Oh, shut up!” She giggles.
I turn my back to her to change out of the shirt I was wearing all day and put on a new one, before getting onto the bed beside her.
Audrey turns off the lamp beside her. “You can get under the blanket if you want … it’s your bed, after all.”
I slowly pull the blanket over me, staring up at the ceiling.
