Re: [Outside the Rec Center.]
Okay, fair, yeah, and not being hurt was the beacon Holly tried to guide all his actions by. He'd been kinda failing since arriving here, but he blamed that entirely on Noah, right? He was still stinging from being misled, and it was only his crazy interest in this guy that kept him coming back. Crazy interest which we were absolutely not acknowledging to ourselves at present. Maybe Noah could feel it in there, pinging around Holly's skull, but Holly was really doing his best to pretend he didn't care. He had a very firm belief that saying something often enough made it real, which was, you know, total bullshit. As evidenced by sunbeams. Sunbeams, the inability to hold onto his glare, and the fact that he was already opening his mouth to make the suggestion that he would pick Noah up after school, you know, if Noah left his Jeep at the music store. It was a short walk from the store to the school, and Holly's mind was already grinding gears to convince himself that this was selfishly motivated. It would help to have something to drive, right?
But, you know, Gramps happened. Gramps happened, and Noah didn't contradict him, and Holly paced when he was agitated. He'd done it in his room, and in the motel room, and it was just something he did. It was kinda mindless, right? Like movement would help him keep from thinking about whatever had pushed him over the edge. He'd done it ever since he was a kid, and it was kinda the equivalent of rocking in a corner or pulling out hair, just, you know, less weird. But he could do it for hours at a time. He had done it for hours at a time in the past, exhaustion somehow held at bay by whatever made him overheat.
He didn't even realize he was going to impact with Noah's grip. The hands on the biceps caused Holly to look up, kinda dazed, and the world was buzzing painfully loud, and, you know, he nodded. He didn't tell Noah that holding onto his arms out here, in plain sight, was a bad idea. He didn't remind Noah that he, Noah, was going to meet Bea. He didn't express all the reasons why going for a drive in the daylight would draw attention to them. None of that. Holly nodded.