Re: [Outside the Rec Center.]
There was a connection between the episode and present reality in Holly's mind, right? He thought this was real, just like the woman in the show thought her morgue was real, but maybe none of it was real. Maybe it was all some weird universal warning label, and maybe he was just supposed to read it and wake up. Yeah, that sounded strange, but it was a lot less strange than what he was being told was apparently legitimately happening. Gramps was a vampire. His Gramps was a vampire. Now, Holly wasn't, like, completely stupid, right? He'd noticed that Gramps was kinda young for his age, but his dad had never said he was like, really, his dad. Holly had always assumed it was an honorary thing, and maybe he was a cousin or an uncle. And, being only 22, Holly had only realized that Gramps didn't seem to age much, like, 10 years earlier? But it was a decade, and maybe Gramps just looked really good for his age, all that teasing about Dorian Gray aside. Okay, look, even a witchy fountain of youth would make more sense than this.
The thoughts were ramble and tumble, and the dryer cycle didn't ever seem like it was going to let up. Noah was over there saying really sensible stuff, right? Stuff about living, and, normally, that was absolutely Holly. Okay, not the thing about living his life, but the thing about being able to convince himself of things, like that this was okay and didn't bother him, and like that things were going to go on fine. But, yeah, today had kinda been too much all at once, and his well-honed ability to quell and calm and be chill? Totally not in residence inside that Jeep.
He kinda thought the mom thing was for later. Noah had to go meet Bea, and Holly knew their time was too limited right now for visiting his mom. The Bea thing was important, especially since people in town had been greeting him more and more often, while asking about him being back in town. Which meant, you know, that Bea was going to hear about. So, yeah, that was why he didn't think anything of getting out of the car. The goal was to pace with the grass crunching underfoot, but he didn't make it there before Noah was pulling on his hand.
The grip at his nape was strong, firm, competent. Noah had good hands, and the thought flickered across the screen of Holly's mind. Okay, yeah, he breathed. He did, and he let Noah pull him close, for sure. There was no self-preservation present in the moment. He was a transparent pane of glass, and he couldn't figure out how to stand, much less how to pull the curtains to keep Noah out. So, right, his hands slid up between them and held onto Noah's jacket. Right, right, and he breathed.