Urgent Boy Venting Who: Avery and Noah Where: Out When: Morning
The weather had changed quite drastically since Avery walked home from the barn dance the evening before. There was a distinct chill in the air, and it didn't take a genius to realize it was likely going to storm. The wind had picked up, the sky was gray and cloudy. Before leaving the house, Avery pulled on a hoodie on over her long sleeved t-shirt. Then she grabbed on of the cute, knit hats she bought a while back and slid one down over her ears, just to keep them warm. Then she left the house to meet Noah.
She hadn't slept well the night before and spent most of the time in bed, staring at the ceiling and rotating between various emotions. Hurt and anger, really, though mostly anger. It was always easier to be angry than let the pain really sink in. And Finn had given her plenty to be angry about. She thought about just staying in bed all day, hiding beneath the blankets and ignoring the outside world. But deep down, Avery just wanted to have a friend around. Darcy wasn't an option for that. Her cousin would likely snicker about it, or tell Avery she deserved it. She couldn't talk to Lochlan because… well, no. She supposed Fiona could make her feel better, but at the moment, Avery didn't want anyone trying to cheer her up. She just wanted to talk and vent and maybe forget about crap for a while. And Noah was good for that. Avery knew he wouldn't pat her head and bullshit her.
She hurried through the streets toward the theater. There were a few shops they could duck into if it got bad, and the library wasn't too far away either. Rubbing her hands together, she caught sight of Noah up ahead and then quickened her pace some. At that moment, she half expected it to start snowing. The dome was full of surprises lately.
Noah had left early from Darcy's room the way he always did when he slept over. So Avery wouldn't run into him in the morning. Not that he was sure it would make a whole lot of difference this morning seeing as Darcy and he hadn't exactly been quiet last night. He was tired but the cold air and the memory of his very good conversation with Darcy kept him fully awake. He'd showered and dressed for school at his place, making sure to wear layers, the topmost being a dark chocolate suede jacket that he knew could withstand even the coldest temperatures. And with the erratic weather in the dome lately, he wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't be having snowball fights at some point in the near future.
He hadn't been waiting long at the theater when he saw Avery and he turned off the stupid grin he'd been wearing. It wouldn't do to be upbeat and happy when she'd had the night from hell by her own admission. He wasn't sure what had soured her evening but he hoped it wasn't anything truly major. Secret plans to behead him at the family dinner later on. No, that wouldn't have her feeling bad. More maybe amused or concerned. He decided not to think on it anymore and let her tell him. "Hey," he said once she got close.
Avery managed a small smile and gave him a little wave, low by her stomach. "Hey," she greeted in return. "Crappy weather, huh? You look like you're all set though. Stylin' jacket." Avery's smile came a little easier and she slipped her hands into her hoodie pockets. "You sure you don't mind blowing off school for a little bit? Who are you going to copy notes off of if you're with me?"
Noah glanced down at his jacket and nodded. "I kept a pretty big secret for a council member for this jacket. If he'd known he was going to get eaten by a wolf though shortly after, he might not have been so generous." He had no remorse for not feeling bad the guy was gone. The man had been an evil bastard. He knew he shouldn't be skipping school. He needed his education to do what he eventually wanted to do. But this newfound thing where there were friends and they needed him? Yeah, it had a larger pull at the moment. "I don't mind, nope. And I'll copy off of whoever you copy off of. Then I'm assured of at least halfway decent notes," he said with a bit of a smile. He'd let her lead in to why she'd asked him to skip with her.
She made a face at the mention of man eating wolves. It was just a reminder of how close she had come to losing her brother. Then Avery smiled a little and nodded. "I promise halfway decent notes." It was the least she could do, since he was missing school with her. Then she nudged him a bit with her elbow all he could fall into step beside her. It was chilly, but she wanted to walk a bit. Avery thought about jumping right into why she was feeling like crap, but she hesitated, finding that maybe she was embarrassed. But not many girls would want to admit their boyfriend had been with them out of pity, or whatever. Instead, Avery licked her lips, then smiled faintly. "So, hey, here's a thought...between friends of course, but when you stay the night with Darcy, give me a head's up. The walls are kind of thin."
Noah began walking at her side, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and nodded his thanks about the notes. He followed wherever she felt like going, wondering what was going through her mind. He watched the side of her face intently for some sign that maybe he should be talking or asking questions instead of waiting on her. That was before she spoke and then immediately his face turned bright red. He laughed, he couldn't help it. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Your cousin is amazing. he thought but that was probably the most creepy thing he could possibly say and the very last thing Avery would want to hear. He laughed again because her delivery of that information had been amusing too.
"No you're not," Avery shot back, but there was humor in her eyes when she glanced at him. "Just let me know next time so I can get earmuffs, or stay at Fiona's. Or at least try to deafen myself." It was slightly embarrassing to bring it up, but it was a nice feeling that she felt comfortable enough with Noah to do it. Maybe it had just been worse the night before, because nobody wanted to hear a happy couple after breaking up with someone. Add to that the fact that one half of the loud-in-bed happy couple had been Darcy who, no, Avery did not find amazing. Avery breathed in, blinking a bit against the wind. "Finn and I broke up last night. It was like… the perfect shitty way to end an already shitty day."
"Oh believe me. I'm sorry you heard it." And he was pretty mortified about that because he was usually so very quiet. Is that why you asked me to meet you? Because we kept you up? he wanted to ask. Concerned that was the case and he'd caused her shitty night. But he held his tongue because she was talking about something else now. Something the very much would have caused a worse night than simply having to overhear people in the next room. "Wow. I'm taking it that wasn't a mutually decided thing?" he asked tentatively. He didn't want to be too nosy though he was curious to know why the breakup would've taken place. If it had to do with Finn's lack of talking and mostly wanting the making out stuff.
If Avery hadn't been in a crappy mood the night before, she might have pounded on the wall to tell Darcy and Noah to quiet down. All in good fun, of course, because she would have loved to make them uncomfortable at her interruption. Avery drew a hand out from her hoodie to push some of her hair back where it was whipping her in the face. "I don't know, actually. I broke up with him... I think. Basically, he told me he liked his friend Audrey, but he hadn't planned on saying anything to me unless she chose him to be with him over Liam. So... from what I understood, he was only going to dump me if he could be with her. Oh! Yeah, and he was only with me in the first place because he said it made me happy. So there's that." Maybe she could have dealt with the Audrey thing okay, but it was beyond humiliating, and painful, to know Finn hadn't really wanted her in the first place.
Noah listened thoughtfully as she recounted what had happened between her and the lumberjack. He wrinkled his nose, not liking it at all that the guy would tell Avery any of that. It was pretty damned insensitive and, while he didn't know girls very well, he did know that insensitivity translated to every single person the same way. Of course, he did know that he was only hearing Avery's side but he didn't know Finn and he barely knew Audrey though he liked her. So he was pretty biased on Avery's behalf. "What a jerk," he said before he thought better of it. "That seems like an awfully random bunch of unpleasantness to dump on the girl you're seeing since it doesn't sound like Audrey's made up her mind yet."
"Well, I sort of got it out of him," Avery admitted, thankful that she was still feeling angry. If she started feeling hurt again, she might feel like crying, and Avery didn't cry in front of people. "But I didn't want him sticking with me just because he couldn't have Audrey. I don't want to be second best to anyone, you know? And it kind of sucks, because I just met Audrey the other night when I was leaving Finn's, and she seemed nice. Finn said she had feelings for Liam, but I guess she decided she wanted my boyfriend too. So whatever." Avery exhaled slowly and glanced up at the sky, wondering when it was going to rain. "I feel like a big, freaking idiot."
Noah gave a little shiver, wishing he'd had the foresight to find a hat or a hoodie before he'd left home. "Yeah," he agreed with her about not wanting to be second best. He did know what she meant and it did suck. He still didn't like it even if Avery had weaseled it out of the guy but he couldn't really fault Finn. But sometimes how you felt sucked for other people. He knew that for a fact thanks to how he felt about Sylvia which didn't sit well with Darcy. Still, he was Avery's friend, he'd be supportive. "You're really not an idiot for having feelings, Avery. Considering you didn't know any of this was happening - and why would you? - you pretty much did what you're supposed to do when you like someone." Though, in hindsight, the fact Finn had only wanted to make out and not do a lot of talking seemed like a red flag. But even Noah couldn't have picked up on that one ahead of time because everyone had their own style.
She completely understood that people couldn't help how they felt. She just didn't like feeling like she had been lied to. Then again, maybe it was her own fault for not getting it earlier. Finn liked kissing her, but he never seemed interested in anything else. He had never contacted her to go out, he never looked at her the way Lochlan looked at Lily, and Avery wanted that for herself. She breathed in through her nose and then bit her lip briefly. "Yeah, I guess. I guess I should have known it was only one sided, so maybe it's my own fault. I'm just..." Despite the chill in the air, Avery felt her cheeks flush hotly. "This is probably TMI through and through, but we sort of... you know... did that. And barely two days later, he tells me he likes Audrey. So I think that's what makes it worse. I kind of feel used."
Noah shot her a quick glance at her TMI, not because he was shocked about it but because it made the whole situation seem even shittier. No wonder Avery had had such a bad night. He knew how he felt after he and Darcy had slept together and if he'd found out shortly afterward that she liked someone else, that would have been such a low blow. He could commiserate with Avery on that one. "I think you have every right to feel that way because that's exactly what it sounds like. I'm not even going to play devil's advocate on that. That's messed up. I'm surprised you're not pissed." Or maybe she was but her face was frozen. He knew his was getting there, his words coming out a tiny bit strange.
"I am pissed," Avery said with a soft laugh. "Super pissed. Like, wanting to go find Finn and junk punch him." She wouldn't do it, but it was nice to fantasize. A very teeny, tiny part of her felt guilty about the thought. Because she had liked Finn. She just couldn't understand how he could seem so oblivious to how crappy he had been to her. It just reaffirmed her belief that he hadn't cared about her at all. Avery motioned ahead and shivered. "Want to go hide in the library for a while? At least it's warm in the there. I promise not to bitch your ear off."
Noah couldn't help but grin a little as he mouthed the words, "junk punch." He unconsciously brought his hands closer to himself in his pockets as though needing to protect his own. That sounded very pissed to him. "Remind me to never piss you off," he said, a bit of a laugh in his tone. Noah wondered what the guy had been thinking about having sex with Avery if he had feelings for someone else. Maybe Finn had been hoping he could move past those feelings but it had failed spectacularly. He felt terrible for Avery, sympathizing probably way more than he should have thanks to recent developments with Darcy. He pushed his lower lip out a little and nodded over at her. "I'm good with the library. I'm good with you bitching my ear off too if you want to. I'm completely biased in your favor."
"Never piss me off," Avery reminded him with a brief smile. She felt a little bit better, just being able to get a few things off of her chest. She could see the library up ahead, and her feet seemed to more a bit faster on instinct. God, she missed the sunshine and warm weather already. "It's awesome having someone bias in my corner," she said. "But I totally want you to tell me if I'm in the wrong with anything. I've been trying to think about the whole thing, to figure out what I did wrong. I had a lot of time to go over every detail, thanks to the lack of sleep." She shot him a pointed look, though her lips twitched. "I really wanted to like, pinpoint some major flaw I had that turned him off, rather than realizing I just wasn't good enough."
Noah chuckled lightly, the sound lost in the wind. "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." He picked up the pace with her, grateful for the extra movement as it warmed him a little. He caught her look and returned it with one that was very sheepish. He thought a moment about all of what she'd told him about her relationship or whatever it was with Finn. "I can't see that you did anything wrong, Avery. I don't think it's that you weren't good enough either. It was that you weren't Audrey." Because Avery had some pretty great things going for her and if she got passed over for someone else, it wasn't because of her. It was because of the one doing the passing over. "I mean, unless you junk punched him at some other point. Then I might say he probably thought better of putting himself in that situation again," he continued wryly, moving to hold the door to the library open for her.
She wasn't Audrey. That still made her feel bad, knowing there was someone else out there who was more special to Finn than herself. But that was life, right? And maybe someday she would meet a guy who would think she was special. Maybe. With a soft laugh, Avery shook her head and stepped into the library, sighing happily as the warmth of the building engulfed her. There were some tables in the back, and she doubted she and Noah would be scolded for being too loud. "No junk punching. It's fine. I just... needed to vent some. I'll get over it soon enough. I don't need a boyfriend to survive. I'd ask you how things are going between you and your girlfriend, but your girlfriend is my cousin, and I'm not sure I could stomach hearing about how great Darcy is."
"No, I get it. I kind of had a bit of time there where I felt the same way when I found out about Liam," he said, trying not to put too much emphasis on this because it hadn't ended the same way for him as it had for her. "Sometimes you have to get it out there. Saves you from going completely neurotic." Which was something he'd overheard, not his own advice really but she didn't need to know that. He was pretty sure Avery could survive but he also knew how much it fed the soul to have someone else share life with you. Noah didn't have feelings for her like that but he suddenly could see why a guy might end up where Finn did with wanting to make Avery happy. She invited you to like and care about her just by being herself. "Oh well, then just say the requisite, ‘I'm happy you're happy.' I won't hold it against you if you don't want to hear about it given what you've just been through."
Avery supposed he had a point. Repression wasn't terribly healthy. She also knew if she didn't get it off her chest, she would probably get angrier and really lose her shit. "I'm happy you're happy." She shot Noah a look before grinning. "Do you think this is going to be weird, being my friend while you're dating Darcy? Like, I don't think she would be happy knowing you skipped school to hang out with me." And God, she didn't want Darcy turning into mega-bitch again. Avery was growing increasingly irritated with her cousin, and she was beginning to fantasize more about grabbing a pillow and beating Darcy with it.
Noah settled into a chair at one of the back tables. They had the place mostly to themselves, probably thanks to the weather. "Gee, thanks!" he said with a matching grin. "I don't think it will be weird for me. I mean, unless Darcy really does get upset that I skipped to give you moral support. She can't begrudge you that though, can she? It's not like we're not in public, keeping our hands to ourselves." Though he supposed Avery knew Darcy better than he did. "Do you think she'd be really unhappy?" What he actually wanted to ask was What is Darcy like with other people? Because she'd mentioned something about being different with different people.
"She can begrudge me anything she wants," Avery said as she slipped into a chair across from Noah. "I'm pretty sure any bad crap that befalls me will only make her happy." Which was a depressing thought, and a little hurtful, but she had no reason to believe otherwise anymore. Darcy hated her. Leaning forward, Avery folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on them, smiling a little. "I don't think she would be unhappy with you. But you've got to know she probably wouldn't like us being friends." Though Avery hoped that didn't deter Noah from doing it anyway.
Noah frowned at what Avery was saying. "Why would the bad stuff happening to you make Darcy happy?" That sounded rather vindictive and he hadn't seen anything like that in Darcy when he'd been with her or when they'd talked. He tried to think back on things she'd said about Avery and mostly only came up with her being unsure if Noah wouldn't rather be with Avery. "She knows we're friends though and she hasn't expressed a whole lot of negativity about that to me." He was trying to understand this all because it sounded like a third family member who thought wildly unfavorable things about Darcy. Noah was always of the mind that it can't be that only one person is right and the rest of the world is wrong, it's the one person who is usually wrong. But seriously. Darcy wasn't awful.
"Then maybe she's okay with it," Avery said after a brief moment of thought. "But Darcy hates me. She dislikes most of us, but me more than others. So, no, I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow figured I put Finn off or something. Or told me I deserved it because I told you about Liam." Pausing, Avery sighed and then shook her head. "I don't want to bad mouth Darcy to you. But I've tried to be her friend, more than once, and she doesn't want it to happen. That's life. No one is allowed to make a mistake around her without it being the end of the world."
Noah did remember Darcy saying she hated her family now that he thought back further. It was why he'd brought her the change of name request form he'd snagged from one of the council offices when Darcy had found him reading. But he hadn't believed she meant it as much as Avery was making it sound. "Darcy did mention she wasn't fond of her family but she's never sounded like she literally hates you. And you telling me about Liam worked out okay in the end, well except for Liam I guess. Why would she… ?" He trailed off, not sure he wanted answers anymore. He had formed his own opinions on both Avery and Darcy. He thought both of them were great in different ways. He was dangerously close to deciding to change his opinion of one or the other based on this conversation and he really didn't want to do that. So he closed his mouth.
"It's nothing important," Avery said. "It's just animosity between us. She likes you, so I'm sure Darcy treats you differently. I told you before that she was loyal, and she is if she likes you." Leaning back in her chair, Avery reached up to pull her hat off. Then she tried to smooth some of her hair back. "I'm glad you both are happy. Really. Honestly, even if we fight, I'm happy that Darcy has someone to make her happy. Maybe that's all she really needs." Avery had come to terms that she and Darcy would never be friends. But they were still cousins, so they had to at least be civil to one another.
Noah made a mental note not to bring up things with Darcy that Avery told him unless they were of a nature similar to the Liam thing. Especially not their apparent mutual dislike of each other. That sounded like it might make Darcy mad and get Avery in the hot seat again. He hadn't realized Darcy was so volatile. Or maybe she wasn't. Maybe Avery was just overly sensitive. He really didn't know either one of them well enough yet to know. "I can't imagine why she doesn't like you. You're pretty easy to like," he said honestly, because that seemed like the safest ground to tread out of all of what she'd said.
Avery couldn't help but laugh, although she quickly covered her mouth to keep from disturbing whoever might be nearby. "Well, yeah, because I'm delightful," Avery teased one she dropped her hand. "I don't know, Noah, sometimes you click with someone, and sometimes you don't. You're easy to like too, by the way. Obviously. And it was nice of you to ditch school with me just to listen to me complain about getting dumped. I feel a bit better just being able to talk about it. So...No urgent boy questions, but urgent boy venting, I guess."
Noah smiled a bit and then chuckled as she covered her mouth. "Delightful. Yes, that's definitely a word I'd use," he said though his expression said it so was not masculine to say ‘delightful.' He nodded. "You're right. Sometimes the clicking seems random but it's nice nonetheless," he said, thinking about how random it felt that he and Darcy had ended up together but he really liked her. "I don't mind ditching if it helps. I'm sure if Darcy ever dumps me, you'll listen to my urgent girl venting. Right?" He began unzipping his jacket then, feeling warm through and through finally.
It was nice, yes. Avery had no romantic interest in Noah, but it was probably telling that she found it easier to be herself around him than she ever had with Finn. "Absolutely. My ears are always open to girl venting, even if it doesn't revolve around being dumped. I can promise that anything you tell me, even if it's about Darcy, will stay between us." Because Noah was her friend, and Darcy wasn't. And if Darcy wanted Avery out of her life, Avery didn't feel like she owed her anything.
"Thank you," he said. "And I can assure you that nothing you say to me about Darcy gets back to her either. Unless it's something like the Liam thing and then… yeah I'll need to talk to her about that stuff but I'll try not to let her know it came from you." That was the right thing to do, right? He liked that she was willing to be his friend and that she didn't seem to think there was something wrong with him for liking Darcy even if she didn't. He was pretty sure he could trust her not to tell if he vented to her but he had nothing to say really yet. Things were really good between them at the moment. He was just dreading dinner. "Tell me the truth. Is this dinner we're supposed to be having because the family doesn't trust me or because they don't trust Darcy's judgment?"
Rubbing her hands together under the table to try and warm them up some more, Avery smiled before laughing softly in her throat. "I don't know that it's either," Avery said. "I think they just want to meet you. Then they'll decide if they don't trust you. I know it sounds intimidating, and I guess it sort of is, since it's a lot of us all at once. Personally if I were you, I'd rather just have a dinner with Patrick, since he's the one who's weirdly protective of us. We love each other, but I think we're all dysfunctional in our own way." Avery smirked. "You'll fit right in."
Noah was sitting on his hands, finding it the best way to warm them. It was so ridiculous to have this kind of weather in Delphi and at this time of year but then everything going on seemed ridiculous lately. "Oh good to know you think I'm dysfunctional," he said and stuck his tongue out playfully at her. "Gee, way to make a guy feel good about himself. But yeah, maybe I'll make it out alive. I'm most nervous of Patrick and your brother though. All things considered."
Lifting a brow with mild confusion, Avery tilted her head and studied him for a moment, wondering what Darcy had told Noah about their family already. "Well, for one, you're dating Darcy, so clearly you have some dysfunctional tendencies. Two, you might need to be nervous of Patrick, because he's this sort of stoic father figure. He'll probably intimidate you, but I can't say if it'll be on purpose or not. He's probably the only one really taking this seriously. Maybe Eily. But Lochlan? Really, the only thing you need to worry about when it comes to my brother is what kind of lame jokes he ends up making to try and break the awkwardness of the whole thing. I wouldn't be shocked if he showed up in his underwear, just to be funny. Lochlan isn't going to be hard on you unless you give him reason to be."
Noah's face warmed slightly as he smiled about dating Darcy meaning he had dysfunctional tendencies. "She and I function well together so far," he replied and then realized that had a second connotation and turned pink. "I mean…" he stopped and shook his head. "Yeah that's the sort of thing that cannot come out of my mouth at dinner." He listened to the rest of what she had to say about her family and nodded, half grinning at the fact she thought her brother might show up in his underwear. Because that wouldn't be awkward. No. "I guess I'm worried too because there have been a couple times Darcy has mentioned family members making her feel bad about herself and I kind of don't want to be the butt of that myself." He let it go without explaining that the werewolves still made him most nervous.
Avery caught the double meaning, even if Noah hadn't meant it as a double meaning. Her lips twitched briefly, deciding not to tease him too much about it. "See, that's something that would make my brother laugh. Patrick? I don't know, probably not." She sighed softly and reached up to brush her hair back from her face again. "Seriously, Noah, I don't know that any of our family tries to make Darcy feel bad about herself. She's been, like... so abrasive toward most of our family for so long that she probably just automatically takes anything they say to her in the worst way possible." Avery tried not to get frustrated over that. She still couldn't understand how Darcy could be such a bitch to people and then claim to be some kind of victim if they fought back against it. "I'm really not trying to paint a negative picture of her. I'm just telling you the truth. My family is not going to make you feel bad about yourself. They certainly wouldn't do it purposely, or in a malicious manner. I promise."
Noah tried not to look mortified over his faux pas and move on to what she was saying. "I'm guessing playing to your brother wouldn't be a smart move if Patrick is the most protective. Got it." He mulled over that, still feeling nervous about all of this but grateful Avery was taking the time to kind of give him the Cliff's Notes version of her family beforehand since she wasn't planning on being there herself. "No, I guess it's just tough to hear that Darcy has that side of her without wanting to defend her for it being not true. Because I haven't seen it. I guess it's still the honeymoon stage and that's good to know so I can prepare in case she stops being on her best behavior." His tone was wry as he spoke, hoping that it would never be the case that Darcy turned out to be what her family thought she was. "I'll take your word for it that I'll be safe and leave the O'Reilly dinner alive. If I don't, I'm coming to haunt you!"
"Well, she likes you," Avery pointed out, as if that explained everything. "She doesn't like us, so we get a different version of Darcy than you do. Maybe my family has their moments, where they can be harsh, or annoying. I'm not placing them on a pedestal at all, but they're not as bad as Darcy thinks. They're protective, because we all lost so much already. But if they were really trying to control our lives, they wouldn't have let Darcy and I live on our own. They wouldn't have invited you to a dinner to get to know you. I don't agree with everything they say, or do, but I know they're not saying, or doing them, to hurt us. Darcy automatically assumes the worst in us, and so it's like... we're doomed from the start. Maybe someday she'll change. Who knows. You'll see for yourself, I guess." Avery laughed again and quickly quieted herself down. Library and all. "Dude, come haunt me! Because if you die, I go back to being lonely!"
Noah nodded his understanding of what she was saying. He wasn't sure what to say to it all because it was confusing to think there were two such opposite sides of the beautiful girl he really liked. He sighed softly and sat back in his seat. "Thank you for relieving my mind mostly about your family. I'm still nervous as hell that something dumb is going to come out of my mouth but at least I don't feel so much like they're gunning for me anymore." Because that was truly intimidating to walk into. He still wasn't sure how he was going to manage it. The idea of walking into a room and sitting down to a meal, knowing he was under such scrutiny was weighing heavily on his mind. It was going to be so awkward, wasn't it?
"It's understandable to be nervous," Avery said. "I would be too, if I were in your shoes. But you should be nervous because you want to make a good impression, not because you're afraid that my family is going to kill you. Darcy should be trying to make you feel comfortable with it, not freak you out more. I'm probably going to be there, so if things start to go downhill, I'll create a diversion. I'll do something insanely loud and stupid, and while everyone is wondering when I cracked and went insane, you can run out without being seen." She grinned and nudged him under the table. "Seriously, don't let it worry you too much, okay? It's going to be fine."
"Oh believe me. I'm nervous for reasons more than that!" What if they disapproved of his long hair or of the fact he wanted to be in politics? What if they didn't like that he lived alone and could possibly have Darcy over without supervision? What if the things he said made him sound like he'd cracked and gone insane? He wanted the O'Reillys to like him and to see that he could be a good thing for Darcy. And that had seemed a lot less impossible before he'd been made aware of what Darcy could be like with her family. What must they be expecting him to be if she really was that way with them? "You'll be there? I thought you were skipping?" He tried not to sound overly hopeful about the prospect of having someone else on his side at that table.
Avery shrugged. "Well, to be honest, I was going to skip because I thought if I skipped, Darcy would get pissy and skip whatever dinner I would have to invite Finn too. But now that's not happening, so why not? I could go for you and be, like, moral support or something." She would be going for Noah, not Darcy. And to see her family, of course. And pray things didn't get too weird. They all had their issues, and it would just be Noah's luck that personal crap imploded once everyone was in the same room.
Noah nodded, realizing that the rivalry didn't end with Darcy. Avery kind of worked her way around her cousin too. Which he supposed made sense but it also had him feeling more confused than ever about girls. At least, though, he didn't have to worry about either one of them turning on him unless he did something purposely horrible. Which he wouldn't. "It'd be good to have a friendly face at the table but I don't want you to have to go if it's going to make you unhappy." He left it off, that she might dislike going because it was about boyfriend girlfriend stuff when she didn't have a boyfriend now. But she couldn't have missed the implication. He didn't want her to have to sit through that and have it poke at her incessantly throughout the meal.
Avery probably would have felt differently if Darcy wasn't so difficult to get along with it. But Darcy had made her feelings about Avery more than clear, so Avery was going to deal with it the way she felt she needed to. Avery knew what Noah was getting at, and her smile waned a little before she shrugged. "I'll be fine. Honestly, I'll get over Finn soon enough. Being angry helps push the process along much faster than if I were just heartbroken. Besides, he's not the only guy left in the dome. I'm not worried about dying an old maid," Avery joked before glancing down at the table top. "I'll be there as your appointed friendly face."
Noah watched the light fade a bit from her as she caught on to what he had been saying. He hadn't wanted to bring it up again but he really wanted her to know that she didn't have to go through with that for him. But she seemed not to mind too much even though he didn't believe her entirely that she would be fine. "No, there are some pretty great guys in here," he reassured even though he didn't really know. What was a great guy anyway? Well, at least one that wouldn't go along with dating her and sleeping with her just to make her happy, he hoped. He reached out one still-chilly hand and rested it on her forearm for a moment before withdrawing it. "You're a good friend, Avery O'Reilly. Thank you."
She wasn't too worried about finding another guy. She didn't actively seek out boyfriends, obviously, seeing as how Finn had been her first. And it hadn't lasted very long at all. And Avery didn't really wanted to meet another nice guy, because she would continually be wondering if he was really a jerk too. Avery smiled at Noah again and shrugged. "You're welcome. You're a good friend too, for hanging with me for a bit. I know it's not as exciting as history and English. Though we are in a library, so if you have that crazy urge to study, you've got books all around!"
Noah wasn't sure if that was Avery's way of saying she was done venting now and that he could get back to everything. In some part he thought he should hang out with her a bit more so that it didn't seem like he listened and then left. She couldn't be feeling all that great still and he didn't want to leave her to that yet unless she wanted to be alone. He glanced at his backpack which he'd stuck on the chair beside him. "No crazy urges, no. Are you staying for a bit or are you skipping the whole day?" he asked, debating on whether or not he ought to at some point attempt to go to a class since he'd been skipping all week to find Sylvia. It was almost strange not to have that objective on his mind when he woke up every morning. He was glad she was okay though.
Avery thought that over for a moment. "I think I may just go home and nap for a while. You know, catch up on my sleep." Her look turned pointed, though she smiled at him. "Plus, the weather is getting really crappy, so it's probably better we don't get stuck in the library. I'd invite you to come over and hang with me at home, but if Darcy found out, she would probably try to scalp me."
Noah nodded, he was finally warm but he saw the merit in not getting stuck in the library. "True enough and maybe a nap would be good considering you were kept up half the night by noisy neighbors," he said with a faint grin. "I'm thinking I'll head to school and hope Darcy didn't notice I was gone. Want company on your walk back home?" He'd like to make sure she got back safe considering the weather and since Avery and Darcy lived across the street from the high school, it wasn't out of his way any to do that either.
"Sure." Avery pushed back from the table and stood, stretching once and sighing, because they would have to go back out into the cold. Was it too much to wish for underground tunnels if the dome was going to screw them all over by giving them this kind of weather? "You could always tell Darcy you overslept," she suggested, sliding her hands into her hoodie pockets.
Noah stood as Avery did, slinging his backpack over his shoulder again. He wished for gloves before he went back out. He'd have to look through the house to see if his previous caretakers had left behind anything like that. He chuckled at Avery's suggestion. "You think she'd believe that?" he asked, since he'd been in Darcy's bed until an hour ago. He wouldn't lie to Darcy anyway but he found the thought of telling her that and seeing the expression on her face amusing.
"Well, I don't know. I guess if you snuck out this morning and went home, it's conceivable that you fell asleep before getting ready for school, right? You guys had a long, loud, night so I guess it could have happened. Or, you could just hope that she doesn't ask and everything's fine. Which will probably happen as long as you two don't have any morning classes together." Avery walked with Noah and stepped outside into the winds. "I kind of hope she'll just be okay with us being friends. I don't want to have to sneak around to talk to you."
Noah followed Avery outside, hunching his neck down into the collar of his jacket and chuckled at the image of himself falling asleep while getting ready for school. That was almost exactly what had happened this morning. He'd been having such late nights and not a lot of sleep except for the morning he and Darcy had skipped first period to sleep in together. "I'm never living that down, am I?" he asked with another chuckle. "I hope she'll be okay with it too. I don't like sneaking around. Feels too much like lying and that shouldn't have to happen."
"It shouldn't," Avery said. She didn't bother pointing out that there was something wrong there if it did have to happen. Given that Darcy was her cousin, it probably wasn't Avery's place to say anything. "Just be honest with her. Nothing bad is going on between us. If we lie about it, then she's going to think there's a reason. Besides, she'll just get angry with me, not you." It would be Avery's fault, most likely, if the two of them tried to hide their friendship. Avery just didn't want to have to deal with that particular argument, that's all.
"I have an honesty only policy with people I like," he said which was true. He went out of his way not to lie or to get into situations that might force him to later on. "So far Darcy hasn't had a problem with us being friends so I don't think it'll ever come to sneaking around. Besides, how does one sneak in a small town like this?" he asked with a breath of a laugh that puffed out in the air around him. "I really don't want to be a cause for more problems between you two. I like you both." He didn't feel he needed to clarify with Avery that he liked them differently. That seemed obvious to him.
"I know that. We have a pinky swear honesty allegiance, remember?" No lies. Which was nice. She should have made Finn adhere to the same rule. "Don't worry about Darcy. If she has a problem with it, I'll deal with her. I'll find a random guy to suck face with in front of her, just so she'll see that I'm not out to snatch you away." She wouldn't do that, even if she did like Noah that way. She and Darcy didn't get along, but Darcy was still her cousin, and whether Darcy believed it or not, Avery did love her. Avery glanced at Noah. "It'll be fine."
"I do remember, yes!" he said with a smile. He hadn't ever actually had a problem with people lying to him. Other than some of the people he worked with and he had expected that anyway. That was the way of politics often. What he'd had the problem with was missing out on friends and family and he hoped that it really didn't come to Darcy disliking his friendship with Avery enough to make him choose between keeping a friend or sneaking around. "I think I might pay to see you grab a random guy and suck face with him. Right now, even." He elbowed her lightly, teasing her.
Laughing, Avery nudged him back. "That would make me a prostitute, I think! But maybe someday. If I need to. I mean, it would be such a hardship, having to kiss some hot guy, but I'll do it if it helps." She shivered once, wishing the sun were back out. She didn't want Darcy to force Noah into choosing either, because it would suck to lose a friend just because her cousin was insecure. "Keep your eye out for any eligible men, okay? Send them my way if you find any."
Noah hadn't thought of it that way but boy her mind worked fast. "No, no prostituting my friends. Sorry. I take the offer back. But I'd watch for free. What about that guy?" he asked, pointing subtly toward a tall, gangly fellow with a shock of blue hair and sparkling facial piercings coming in their direction. "He could be hot, right?" Though he was snickering under his breath imagining Avery with the guy who could use her as an elbow rest and wore more jewelry than she did. "Plus I'm sure he'd be even more likely to concern your family than I do. They might forget about dinner with me altogether!"
"Hey, guys with piercings are definitely hot," Avery protested. "Although I would probably been a step stool to kiss him, so that's probably a bad idea. And… that may be more piercings than I could handle." Hey, she liked the blue hair, though! "I would bring him to dinner simply to make things easier on you though. But I doubt he's free with such short notice," she joked. "Patrick would have an aneurysm the minute he opened the door!"
Noah wrinkled his nose. Not into piercings at all except ears and maybe tiny nose rings. "I could give you a leg up if you wanted," he said as the guy passed them with a look of interest shot toward Avery. "And I do believe you were just checked out," he whispered with a breath of a laugh once they were a few feet away. He turned his thoughts back to dinner then. "That would be very good of you. But I can't have you sacrificing Patrick's health." He was grinning though.
Avery fell silent until Mr. Blue Hair passed by. Then she shot Noah a look. "Oh, please. I think he was wondering how a dwarf got into the dome." Because that dude had been tall! Still, she glanced back over her shoulder, just to have a peek herself, because hey, it was nice that she could do that now without feeling guilty. She grinned at Noah then. "Screw Patrick's health! This is about keeping you alive!"
Noah laughed, he couldn't help it. "A dwarf. I mean, you're short but… well, I guess I could see it," he teased. She was after all a good half a foot shorter than even Noah. His eyes widened with amusement. "Well then you better go get him before he gets away. Run, girl!" He laughed again, glancing over his shoulder to see where Mr. Blue Hair was at this point.
"No!" Laughing, Avery pushed at Noah's arm, but glanced behind her as well to make sure Blue Hair was far enough away as not to hear them. "If I want to give my family a heart attack, I'll find him. I doubt it'll be very hard. Ask around for the tall dude with blue hair and a face full of metal." Lochlan would find it great fun, she was sure. But she doubted Patrick would find the humor in it.
Noah's shoulders shook with laughter that only came out in puffs of air through his nose. "Okay, okay, not him or not yet or whatever." He smiled over at her. "I have a feeling, Avery O'Reilly, that you could give people a heart attack all on your own if you wanted." Which he meant as a compliment, feeling a twinge of something like disappointment when he saw the high school up ahead.
Not him, no. But maybe someone, someday. Avery wasn't going to push it. Avery grinned and slid her hands back into her hoodie pockets. "Yeah, you're probably right about that. Amazing how well you know me after a couple of days. I try to keep people out of the hospital, though." Avery slowed a bit as the high school came into view. This is probably where she would head off home, and he would go to class, like she probably should have. But she couldn't find the motivation to do it. "Take notes for me, okay?"
"Oh, I don't know. I just heard that ‘junk punch' statement and had a mini heart attack from that alone so." He chuckled and glanced over at her with a look of healthy respect on his face. He knew she could hold her own. Or at least, he figured she could from the way she talked. "I'm definitely glad I'm on your good side for the moment." He gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow, something more friendly than not hugging her goodbye but not as familiar as that. "You got it. Get some rest."
"For the moment," Avery said jokingly. She nudged him back and then turned to start toward her house. "I'll catch you later!" She had felt like crap waking up, but now she was definitely in a better mood. Hopefully it would stay that way, despite the weather.