|
Noelle
It was too easy to match his bitter laugh with one of her own, since she knew good and well Lucas Hughes didn't need a lesson on the evils of her controlling father and vapid mother. He had plenty of front row treatment that he didn't deserve and she would probably never feel like she ever reached the end of her need to apologize to him. For so very many things. The reminder of how she had abandoned and betrayed him stung all too freshly, so much so that she almost missed the surprisingly kind gesture of him offering her a drink, her hands trying to work the tightness of such unfond memories out of her neck as she walked over. "Please, if you don't mind," she accepted gratefully, taking the full glass after he poured it. A series of long sips gave her the courage to keep the conversation going. Why stop now? They were already neck deep.
"Trust and believe, no one is more ashamed than I am that I didn't bank on us instead. When you hear about people having regrets...you never imagine it feeling like this." More of her talking out loud to herself than anything but it was something Lucas had the right to hear from her, to know that she knew. Besides, she was back to being a safe enough distance from him on her shelf seat that she didn't feel the need to revisit all her earlier oversharing about how much she still pined for him and how that would never change. If she sat on this nice little spot a nice span away across the nice tiny room, she would be just fine.
Of course a few beats later Noelle undid all her conditioning as the ever-present need to find out more about him flared up again and demanded attention. Clearly, he was still very much like the old Lucas she knew and loved but he was also very different. He had moved out of Nevada, he cut his hair, he obviously drank lots of wine, he stopped wearing glasses. Lucas Hughes in contacts might have been the most shocking revelation of all, though it seemed silly to bring it up. What was less shocking was that all the changes in his life just made her more fascinated with him than she'd originally been in high school, setting them both on the crash course of bantery bliss that started their relationship years before. Not to mention the wine was now doing more than its fair share, seeing as she had lost some of her filter and was just sitting there, sipping and staring at him like she had no fucks to give. Perhaps at this point she really didn't.
She set her glass down next to her but kept her fingers poised on the rim like she might pick it up again at any moment, caring less and less that she was making a study of him right then. "So I'm not allowed to ask about the apartment or the dog, but you didn't say anything about your life. What are you doing in New York? Aside from developing an interesting wine habit." That last part probably stuck to him good, both of them well aware that younger Lucas Hughes was definitely not a drinker.
__________________
he peeled off every vein I had, 'til there was nothing left
but a bloodless heart, still beating for him
❦ Janine ❦ || [ @FF.net ] [ @AO3.org ] [ @WP.com ]
|