Things had shifted.
There was no going back.
Not for her, anyway.
They made it through the first episode and got up from the couch to wash dishes together. “They can’t really be serious about expecting people to go on these weird dates and get fully engaged without seeing each other’s faces, can they?” Theo asked while he scrubbed one of the bowls. “That’s crazy.”
Audrey slowly reached over and turned off the water to stare pointedly at him, the bowl she was drying abandoned in her hands. She blinked and said nothing, only continuing to stare.
Even when his face went beet red, still she said nothing.
“Well, I wasn’t going to, uh…I-I-mean, I—” he finally sputtered. “It’s not like I was—”
“Uh-huh. Tell me more about your exact plans in regard to that mask.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’d dearly love to know.”
The red crept up to the tips of his ears and slunk down along his neck, and he rubbed the back of it awkwardly. “Okay, so I wasn’t really planning on anything, much less keeping it on for this long. I didn’t really know what I was going to do, I only knew I—”
She snorted and turned the water back on, rinsing the bowl he’d left in the sink and plucking it away to dry and stack next to the other one. “I’m just giving you a hard time.” She grinned impishly up at him.
He buried his face in a wide palm. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Never.”
“Guess I shouldn’t pull that tiramisu out of the bag, then?”
“Tiramisu?!” she cried. “You brought dessert too?”
After dessert (and only a slight protest from Theo, who insisted that he should probably leave so she could do some of her homework before Audrey shut him down), she shoved him back onto the couch and played another episode, situating herself comfortably beneath his arm. They talked through the contestants and agreed on which ones were the biggest assholes, and she laughed when Theo got riled up about how much he hated the star fuckboy on the show while they watched him gaslight multiple women. As the show went on, they moved closer and closer, until eventually Theo was sprawled out along the small loveseat with Audrey tugged tightly against his chest, her head tucked under his chin and his warm, strong arms firmly wrapped around her, as if he never wanted to let her go.
But two episodes were apparently all he had in him, and sometime around the beginning of the third, he fell deeply asleep.
His breathing slowed, and Audrey lowered the volume and snuggled up to his chest. His lips were slightly parted, his face completely soft and lax, and he was so far gone, he didn’t even move when she brushed some of his long, shaggy hair away from his eyes so she could see them properly again.
She didn’t think she’d ever tire of looking at him now.
She was just about to close her eyes and nap with him when her phone buzzed in her leggings pocket. She pulled it out and lowered the brightness so it wouldn’t wake Theo while she read the message.
Violet| Hey, is your cryptid still there, or has he run away yet?
Audrey suppressed a snort. Her roommate was probably wanting to know if she could come back or not.
Audrey| He’s still here
Audrey| He fell asleep on the couch, actually
Audrey| Want me to wake him up and kick him out?
Violet| NO
Violet| OH MY GOD DON’T MOVE
Violet| I want to see him
Violet| Think I can sneak in?
She bit her lip.
Audrey| He might freak if he hears you
