cassidy: wanted to check in after everything that happened last night
cassidy: and say sorry again, i really didn't realize that everything would blow up at you like that or i wouldn't have said anything
cassidy: you want me to bring you some kind of food product? i can buy it... which means it'll taste good and not like crap. no room for error if i just buy it.
there was only so long that noah could pretend that everything was fine. she drank and ranted to everyone but lafayette about how she was feeling and still there was a fire in her that she couldn’t put out. why the fuck would he lie about this for so long? the question looped in her mind until she had no choice but to just ask him. she didn’t bother to knock she just walked right in and immediately launched into an angry tirade, “ you know what’s bullshit about this whole thing is you know me well enough to know that i would have never started this whole god damn mess if i had known that you and mia were messin’ around. you lied and for what ? to make yourself feel better about being a piece of shit ? ” @lafayettepls
summary → noah is drunk in a park, lafayette picks her up and helps her get home, they build a fort in the library and have a little new years smooch. before falling asleep she confesses her feelings for him.
featuring → lafayette, breif mentions of mia, cecilya & finley
triggers → n/a
NOAH : SHE DIDN’T BOTHER TO WAIT AROUND FOR MIDNGHT TO STRIKE. as soon as she’d seen the catastrophic paint event she was ready to go. the ice cold russian air instantly sent a chill through to her bones, but determined to get home anyways, she’d walked maybe two blocks before stumbling across a playground in the middle of an apartment complex. swinging back and forth as she sent a picture to lafayette hoping that it’d help him locate her while she ran through the events of the night wondering how so much had managed to happen in a single afternoon. she’d promised to spend the night with mia and cecilya but that was before everything else happened. now she just wanted to cuddle with someone who hadn’t slept with her ex or seen her have a meltdown.
LAFAYETTE : SNOWFLAKES FELL AROUND HIM LIKE HE WAS IN A FUCKING HALLMARK MOVIE. feeling much to melancholy for his own good, the lean male was debating lighting another cigarette when his phone dinged in his pocket. since he'd elected to skip the official festivities, he hadn't been sure that she would even be thinking of him. yet her drunk texts simply brought a smile to his face and he was off in pursuit of her, cigarette forgotten on the snowy balcony. thankfully, he'd invested in some winter outerwear before this dance, slinging on his thick coat from the check near the front door and braving the snow with a disbelieving laugh. this was exactly what he'd wanted. an adventure, squinting at her picture clue and showing it to a few locals with broken russian about finding his new years' kiss. what a good sob story will do. his cheeks burned with the cold or maybe it was a blush as he thought about how she looked like something out of a fairytale right now. " hey there, stranger. " his voice echoed through the courtyard. " i'm looking for a new years kiss with this girl, she's got a thing for sharks and picking a fight with anyone and everyone. have you seen her ? "
NOAH : SHIVERING AGAINST THE CHAINS AS SHE LAYED OUT FLAT STARING UP AT THE STARS. staring up at those stars she may as well be back home in texas, the feel of tall grass prickling against her skin, crickets chirping and horses neighing. tears welling up in her eyes as a deep sense of homesickness washed over her. eyes blearing as she lost balance falling backwards in an awkward summersault but still somehow managing to land on her feet. hands thrown up in the air as if to say 'i stuck the landing’ while maniacal laughter bubbled up from her like a fountain. " i wanna wake up in texas. " she sang to herself letting her face tip back towards the sky again arms out stretched as she began to spin herself in a circle. then his voice broke through the silence like a choir of angels, " lafayette ! " she beamed barreling right into him totally forgetting the food smeared down her dress. " you found me. " sliding her arms around him a happy sigh leaving her lips. " and you’re so warm. " hugging him felt like needle pricks on her arms but she didn’t want to let him go. " thank you for coming to get me, i got yelled at and then i yelled and then i cried and then this girl poured alcohol on me so i punched that bitch in the face and and… " feeling a bit light headed so she trailed off. " can we go home now ? "
LAFAYETTE : SEEING HER SO WHIMSICAL HAD HIM COMPLETELY IGNORING THE MUSHY FEELING HER HUG LEFT HIM WITH. desperately trying to shove down the elated feeling of the way his name sounded coming from her lips as he tucked her close inside his impossibly large downy jacket. " i did indeed, i'll always come looking for you. i hoped you had figured that out from last time. " he joked, remembering prom with ease and the bathroom journey they had together. the protective part of him wanted to rip every single person who had irritated or distressed her to shreds, running his fingers through her tangled and sticky hair before leaning down to drop a kiss there anyways. as he licked frosty wine off his lips, laff laughed broadly at the image of her decking someone in the mouth, his gasps of air coming out in warm puffs. " of course we can go home, my little scrapper. " teasing her easily, he began to lead her out of the complex and towards the street. " i bet you're cold too, min flicka. we'll get you into some warm clothes when we get home, i'll even let you wear one of the sweaters i've made. they're super warm. " murmuring into her ear softly as he held her as close as possible, his nimble fingers rubbing circles on her skin to try and keep her warm. " you're freezing, how long have you been out here, my drunk baby ? "
NOAH : BRIGHT RED NOSE PRESSED INTO HIS CHEST, PARTIALLY BECAUSE SHE FELT LIKE HER FACE WAS ON THE VERGE OF FALLING OFF, PARTIALLY SO SHE COULD SECRETLY BREATHE HIM IN. everything about him felt like comfort; like wearing your favorite sweater, drinking a good cup of tea, reading a story that you’re begging to never end. " once is an anomaly, twice is a pattern, three times is a constant. " squinting up at him with a smile as he pressed a kiss to her head. stretching up onto the tips of her toes, well it was more like swaying and struggling to move with her arms basically trapped after he’d zipped them up together. huffing as her foot stamped. " kiss. " humming happily once his lips met hers. shuffling along content to be practically enmeshed with him. " well i don’t really know, i sort of lost my sense of time. everybody got splattered with red paint and i was like, wow this has got to be an act of god, who else would just slap her with a scarlet letter like that ? " it was divine retribution at it’s finest. " then i had to leave before mia tried to talk to me again. " it felt like her wet hair wanted to freeze to the top of her head so she couldn’t help but let a deep sigh as the bus pulled up for them seconds after they approached the stop. wiggling out of his jacket so they could at least get on the bus without looking ridiculous.
LAFAYETTE : ANOTHER LAUGH LEFT HIM AT HER WORDS, SCIENCE BRAIN COMING THROUGH FOR NOAH EVEN WHEN SHE WAS PLASTERED. " i do think that's a fair deduction, " he let a bit of his brains slip out for once, totally not trying to impress her as they waddled together towards civilization, " but you do know that you're manifesting another night of misery for me to be your knight and shining armor in ? i'm honored that you would go through such agony for me. " his lavish teasing session was cut short by her pouty demand of a kiss which he couldn't help but obey. pressing a soft kiss to her chilled pink lips with a smile. another laugh left him at her admittance of a lack of a time line as well as the recap of the shit show he missed out on by hiding away in the smoker's cove. " like carrie ? " he questioned incredulously, trying to hold back another laugh. " who deserved the scarlet letter tonight? " the gossip hound inside him ached to know exactly who had gotten on noah's bad side that the vindictive little brat was so gleeful to see dosed in red paint. as his brain caught up to her next words, he figured out exactly who it was. a look of slight horror in his eyes as he looked at drunk noah, " what did mia do that you want to see her covered in paint ? " resisting the urge to keep her close as she wiggled away from him, ever the gentleman lafayette made sure to help her onto the bus as to avoid any injuries or mishaps. speaking to the bus driver in broken russian, he led noah to a seat and keep an arm around her, deciding to let her carry the conversation for now.
NOAH : SKIPPING ALL THE WAY TO HER SEAT BEFORE COMFORTABLY TUCKING INTO HIS SIDE. one leg thrown over his lap she pressed a kiss to his jaw . though she’d never admit it , she’d go through a hundred nights of misery if it meant that she could spend more time like this. smiling until her cheeks hurt , sneaking secret touches , crashing into each other at full speed never even considering to touch the breaks . " that’s the movie - " she’d spent the entire walk trying to remember where she’d seen the scene before. " didn’t i tell you ? " she could have sworn she’d said something. sucking in a deep breath so she could get it all out, " well back when i was in high school , i was totally invisible but somehow , someway i ended up dating the all american guy . it was all perfect and wonderful blah blah but i found out he cheated . it sucked whatever , i hadn’t seen him in like six years but then he showed up here ! like what kind of twisted karma is that ? anyways, i lost my shit on him. after i was tellin’ mia all about how finley was the worst and she said - " clearing her throat so she could attempt to mimic mia’s accent which was really a feat considering she was barely keeping her own accent at bay , " i may have maybe kind of hooked up with him . " a disgruntled growl , " in her defense i never told her his name or that he was here but in my defense i didn’t know until tonight ! " her voice raised a bit and the driver yelled something in russian which made her whisper . " and now i’m mad at her and we can’t go back to your room because i was supposed to have a sleepover with her and cecilya but i’m not going . " arms crossed over her chest right as the shuttle came to a stop in front of their house . " thank you , " she twanged hopping down the stairs nearly slipping in the snow .
LAFAYETTE : A LOW RUMBLE REVERBERATED THROUGH HIS CHEST AS HER SOFT LIPS MET HIS JAW. his arm was thrown around her waist haphazardly as they smushed together on the bus bench, unable to keep his fingers out of her hair as she spoke her story. hazel eyes widening at her revelations, boozed brain struggling to remember that she had mentioned that in her drunk texts. " ah, " another muffled laugh was trapped behind his lips as she grew in volume and the driver scolded her, doing his best to keep her entertained and safe as they got off the bus. her slipping on the ice almost gave him a heart attack before they'd even managed to get in the doors. " be careful, " once they'd made it safely inside, noah had voiced the idea of camping out in the library. literally. so he sent her off to gather some sleeping bags from her nature freak of a brother while he waited at the entrance of the hallway.
NOAH : SOMEWHERE ON HER WAY TO COOPER’S ROOM SHE DITCHED HER SHOES. stopping by the bathroom first to shove her head under a sink to careless rise champagne from her hair. dripping water through her room while she changed into pajamas. barely remembering to grab her sleeping bag from under her bed before trudging back towards cooper’s room. this is so far. tempted to give up before she got to cooper’s room but spurred on by the promise of cuddles. peeking her head in the room to make sure her siblings was gone before collecting all of his camping gear. tents, lanterns, sleeping bags, and a backpack that was chalk full of who knows what. dropping all of it on the floor of the library hands on her hips proudly. putting together the tent while drunk off her ass was no small undertaking. after fumbling with it for a few minutes she’d set up their room for the night and started flinging bags inside.
LAFAYETTE : SHE'D ALMOST TAKEN SO LONG THAT HE'D THOUGHT SHE'D JUST DITCHED HIM FOR A WHILE. then he heard some rustling definitely in the library which led to him wandering through the shelves. it honestly felt like noah was trying to throw him for a loop when ever she saw him but seeing her pitch a tent like it was nothing had him impressed and something else but now wasn't the time for that. watching her crawl inside with what looked like a hiking pack after paying no mind to him, lafayette stripped of his ruined sweater and shorts before crawling in with her. blinking in disbelief at the lights she'd strung up and the layers of cushions and sleeping bags was astounding. " so this sin't your first time at this rodeo, " teasing her with a fake accent, " this is amazing, baby. " by now the male was sprawled out and laughing to himself at how special this was. he'd never done anything like this besides with auggie when they were kids, the nanny set up the fort for them though. it was different with noah after looking after her in the russian winter.
NOAH : ONCE SHE HAD THE TENT UP IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF MAKING THE MOST COMFORTABLE FORT ON EARTH. years of camping with her dad, the man who literally tore down her tent and made her rebuild it until it was up to his standards and later cooper, who wasn’t much better. gave her a muscle memory that even being drunk couldn’t erase. eyebrows raising as he crawled in without his clothes, “ i told you that outfit was bad luck. i bet you’ll think twice before you repeat an outfit again. ” her eyes rolled but a stupid smile was on her face as he attempted her accent i do not sound like that. “ you wouldn’t know a rodeo if a cow kicked you in the face. ” looking around the room with a shrug smug as always, “ but yeah i know, i kind of crushed this, it was a bit of struggle at first because woah does the world spin sometimes but my superior brain came through for me as always. ” flopping back onto the makeshift bed, “ how was your night ? i kept thinking i’d see you but you must have been busy. ” rolling onto her side as she stared into his eyes, “ i’m glad we’re finally getting a moment to talk. ” trapping his foot between hers, “ i thought you might have been avoiding me but then i thought, nooo why would he do that, sure there was that whole fight but that was like ages ago and it’s not like he likes me or anything like that. ” squinting up at him a teasing smile on her lips as if he would interrupt and say ‘ well actually ’ at any moment. unfazed when he doesn’t she continues, “ we don’t do feelings here and then you came and got me which confirmed that i was right, feelings ? they’re a myth. ”
LAFAYETTE : ROLLING HIS EYES AT HER COMMENT ABOUT HIS OUTFIT, LAFF JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD. " i mean if the shame of being an outfit repeater wasn't bad enough, the caviar smeared on the front was the nail in the coffin. " his nose wrinkled as the phantom smell of fish floated through his nose. the smile that crossed her lips just had him grinning like a fool in response, eyes wide at the idea of a cow kick to the head. " i feel like that would be a very bad experience. " he said in contemplation, wincing as the scene played out in his head. " thankfully her ego moved the conversation along like it was a life raft and there was nothing else keeping them afloat while together on this rapid ride of a night. lafayette desperately tried to steady his breathing as her gem colored eyes looked into his warm ones, chuckling to himself. " i had a decent night , having an emotional chat with mia was the highlight of my night besides being with you, of course. " humming and nudging her feet with his own, he continued. " i also talked with cecilya at the bar , for the most part i avoided everyone pretty expertly. i even missed out on the paint fiasco. " the last part was said with relative pride, knowing that he could get the full scoop from his roommate tomorrow. hearing her ramble about the feelings or lack of between them had him nearly giggling , the irony of the drunken statement practically sending him over the moon. " of course not, that's preposterous. why else would i track you down this cold russian night, for a simple quickie obviously. " reaching his hand out to tickle her easily, nimble fingers creeping like spiders along her side. " what else could i possibly be after ? " after a minute or two, laff moved himself closer to her with a quiet sigh of contentment. "i wouldn't have wanted the night to end any differently, noah. "
NOAH: LISTENING TO HOW CALM HIS NIGHT HAD BEEN SHE WISHED SHE’D SPENT IT WITH HIM INSTEAD. then again she had been with him at prom and things had still spiraled out of hand she just had someone to bring her back to earth instead of spinning out of orbit. " next time i want to go with you, that stupid letter was all ‘no boys as your date’ so i was trying to follow the rules, and i will say i’m kind of glad i did because i would not have been okay if i got splattered with paint but also it was so hard not to just kiss you all night. " if she wasn’t so drunk she might have some sort of filter, some barrier in her brain that’d be telling her to shut up, did she not learn nothing from her past heartbreaks. instead she stared into his ember eyes while her head spun with fantasies that she’d soon forget about. " obviously i’m just oh so irresistible - " laughter like ringing bells as she contorted away from his tickling as much as she could in the small space. heaving deep breaths a grin like crescent moon swallowing her entire face as she launched herself back into his arms. attacking his face with kisses only stopping when phone started to light up with fireworks. " happy new year. " she grinned kissing him again though she wasn’t ready to admit it she wouldn’t have wanted to end the night any other way. there was something about him that terrified her, not because she worried that things would end, because she worried they wouldn’t. that he would be someone that changed everything and she wasn’t sure if she wanted them to.
LAFAYETTE : HE WAS A LONER AT HEART, THAT'S WHY HE NEVER MANAGED TO COLLECT MORE THAN A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS. the playboy facade was just something that he'd created to keep from being labeled as a dud. being charming had the advantage of people fawning all over him and others being impressed by how much of a 'gentleman' he was. yet he always felt so alone. like no one would ever see him. then noah came along and forced him to see himself. catching her admission about kissing him, he raised a teasing eyebrow and chuckled easily. a finger curling around a couple strands of her brown hair as he quipped back. " it was quite hard for me to resist planting one on you all night too. " rolling his eyes as she got him right back with her irresistibility. though the smattering of kisses caught him off guard for half a second before his arms closed around her waist and he leaned into the affection with a slight smile and appreciative hum. brown eyes were shining with an undetermined emotion after their new years kiss, his heart doing an accursed flip in his chest. " happy new year, baby. " closing the space between them to kiss her again, his body flush to hers, legs tangled together. pulling away just enough to speak softly, " you should probably be going to bed, drunkie. " reaching down for one of the many blankets she'd brought and pulling it over the both of them. " i'm also hoping you have some water in that magical backpack of yours for the morning. "
NOAH: IT WAS STRANGE TO HER, BEING THIS WELL LIKED, SHE’D SPENT SO MANY YEARS OF HER LIFE BEING IGNORED. she had a hard time believing that any of these people were genuine, that she’d have them in her life after college, even cass, cecilya, mia maybe even lafayette would leave her one day. not that she could blame them for finding a better friend, or in his case, someone who could actually be what he wanted. if she accepted the loss of them before it happened then it wouldn’t hurt as bad when the reality of it hit, right ? wide eyed horror on her face,“ bed ? ” she huffed with a pout, i thought we were gonna have a quickie. she was about to open her mouth to protest about how she did not need to sleep because sleep is for the weak when he pulled the blanket over them. well it is so warm and cozy right here. i guess i could close my eyes for a second. " oh my backpack ! " eyes shooting open as she suddenly remembered that she’d stolen that from cooper’s room as well. " well if it’s his camping backpack there should be water in it, if it’s not, then there’s probably nothing but weird sex things in it. " she probably should have checked before taking it but here we are. " i guess we could sleep, not because i’m tired, you’re tired. just don’t put your finger in my belly button this time. " rolling into his chest to protect her stomach one arm draped around his middle. a yawn leaving her lips while she tried to fight back sleepy tears, " i’m not tired. " she said the words to herself knowing they weren’t true but she hoped that if she said it enough maybe it would be. another yawn and a discontented rumble reverberates through her chest, eyes heavy as boulders but she tried to stay awake anyways. wiggling even closer lips pressing a kiss to his collar bone as she sleepily muttered, " i love you. " then soft snores fill the air.
new years was a blur, it was hard for her to remember much of anything after that argument with finley, she has bits and pieces. she remembers being freezing at a park, she remembers feeling girlish and giddy when he came to get her but after that, nothing. well nothing but the morning after, the strange weight on her chest when she woke up in his arms, thinking to herself this isn’t how they do things. he’s never around the next morning. pure panic flooded her system so she ran. stumbling out of that tent before he could wake up. “ oh - ” stopping in her tracks when she saw him, she should have expected to run into him eventually, they’re all practically boarded up in a house together. “ hey laff. ” @lafayettepls
