#this took me forever. i finished the actual drawing ages ago but the stupid lettering took me WEEKS

[rissas]

what do i do without f1 to watch this sunday....

[that-is-where-they-wait]

That is Where They Wait Ch 14: The Letter

previous / next all chapters AO3 FFN

[so funny story I actually posted this on FFN and ao3 forever ago but not here. oops. but posting here is a hassle, in my defense. hope everyone is doing okay? also check the notes for some Haha Funny Jokes because I don't want to add them to the. actual post.]

Perhaps the way to answer the present is with the past.

The metal of the hinge was cool under his finger, intricate design branching onto the actual door. It should've been smooth, but instead it was rough and red.

Rust.

Kai frowned. Rusty metal was usually brittle — but the door hadn't come down, even when he and Karlof rammed into it repeatedly. That plan of ripping at its hinges and hoping it came down was starting to look flimsy.

Ech. Well, they had to keep trying and hope for the best. It wasn't like they could stay in the small, dark room much longer. Kai had cobbled together a makeshift flame with pieces of rope and cloth from his gi, but it would definitely not last much longer.

Plus, he was getting really antsy, and it'd be just plain stupid to be so isolated when they weren't safe. When he'd asked about Lloyd and found out he was, in fact, both inside the mansion and unaccounted for, he had been about ready to knock Karlof's helmet off of his head.

… In hindsight, maybe he'd been a little forceful.

But hey, in return, he'd informed Karlof about everything they knew on the mansion and the spirit so far. So he didn't feel too bad about it.

"Psst." He went over to where he'd left Karlof and poked. "We gotta go."

No response.

Ohhhh, perfect. The guy had to go and fall asleep on him. They'd already spent so much time staying put! He was itching to get moving again, and Lloyd and Skylor were still out there, who knew where! Not to mention, if the others woke up and noticed him missing … (It occurred to him, a little belatedly, that they might blame Jay for that. Another twinge of guilt. But he could apologize for that when they went back.)

But it had been an exhausting trek just to get here. Karlof had endured that, and no sleep to recharge afterwards …

Kai sighed, seating himself next to him. Yeah, they weren't going anywhere until Karlof finished his beauty sleep. But then there came the issue of having nothing to distract himself with. Already he could just feel himself tiredly debating whether to indulge the pessimistic trains of thought forming in his head in all their bleak glory.

Abruptly, something slammed against him. Okay, so it didn't slam into him, but it definitely felt that way, because oof! It was heavy. Kai squirmed briefly, but a moment later, he realized he shouldn't even bother. Instead, he hissed an irritated puff of air through his teeth and tried to pull an overly-cuddly Karlof off of him. Why in the name of the First Spinjitzu Master was he—

An exposed part of his bandaged arm made contact with Karlof's for a second, before Kai drew it away and grimaced at how cold it was.

… Oh.

The way Karlof's arm was draped on him, Kai couldn't reach his face with his hand. He settled for a drawn-out groan instead. Just because he was the human toaster … and now he couldn't move!

Oh well. If nothing else, he could totally hold it over Karlof's head later. Blackmail material or something. But what was he supposed to do now?

A bleary yawn escaped his mouth.

There was one idea.

Nope, he thought to himself immediately. No way, José, someone had to stay awake, and he'd already bailed out on that once. But the door was locked, and the whole day and the effects of staying up so long were finally catching up to him …

Kai tried to debate the point a little longer, but as it turned out, he was pretty tired. Too tired to properly argue with himself, and before he could, he'd already fallen asleep.

The tiny flame winked out and left the room engulfed in black.

Lloyd wrapped up a summary of the search he'd just gotten back from.

Considering that depressingly little had changed since the last time they'd looked, it didn't take very long. The ever-encroaching cocktail of panic and despair clawed at his guts and his chest, made his throat tight, and he could feel it radiating off of Jay and Cole near him, optimistic as they tried to remain. At least Skylor had gotten some work in on fixing her bow while they'd been gone, although she hopefully wouldn't be needing it anytime soon.

The light trickling from the windows had become thin, silvery moonlight and long, fragmented shadows streaking across the floor and cutting into each other. Cole glanced at everyone in the room and declared that it was probably about time they slept; both searches had taken quite a while, even with how much of the mansion was still closed off to them. It didn't seem likely that much more would happen that day.

Zane took in everything they said solemnly, then pulled something out from beside him.

"It's disheartening to know that the two of them are still missing. But perhaps I can offer something else to think about before we rest for tonight?"

On closer inspection, it appeared to be a faded eggplant-colored satchel.

"I found this on the mantle while you were investigating in the tunnels. I didn't want to look through it without you …"

"Can I?" Lloyd reached out, opening the bag and peering into it for a moment. Then, as the rest of them watched, he stuck his hand in and, one by one, set its contents onto the floor for better examination.

On the carpet, there currently sat a small black inkwell, a quill stand, a bound book, a faded set of folded purple clothes, an assortment of large and small weapons, and a few loose pieces of parchment with writing on them. Maybe it all belonged to the person that owned the place, ages ago?

Evidently, they were all wondering a similar thing.

Lloyd set aside the empty bag and stared at the various items he'd placed down. "Hm. They were carrying weapons …"

"Whose stuff is all this?" Skylor finally voiced the question.

"It likely dates back to the Serpentine war," Zane said. "The antiquity of all the items would fit."

"Well, then, we should find out, shouldn't we?" Jay grabbed the book, slowly teasing open the binding and riffling through the pages. Lloyd caught a glimpse of inky letters over paper lightly yellowed with time; all things considered, it was pretty well-preserved.

"Careful, Jay, that looks heavy. Wouldn't wanna pull a muscle lifting that thing." Cole's mouth twitched up in a smirk, Jay briefly peering over the book with narrow eyes.

"… I mishandle an empty packing crate one time."

"Yeah, well," Lloyd huffed. "You nearly dropped it right on my foot. I still get splinters from that crate when I'm not watching my step."

"Thanks, Lloyd!" Jay looked supremely offended. "I didn't ask!" Still a little sullen from the disappointing results of the day, Lloyd didn't bother sassing him back. He scoffed when he noticed Jay looking helplessly at Zane — they all knew full well that never worked, so when the nindroid minutely shook his head there was hardly any surprise.

"Silly zaptrap," Cole shook his head and tsked. "Once is all it takes on this team. You of all people should know better."

Jay hmphed and nearly went back to skimming the book he'd picked up, but his head popped up curiously when Skylor spoke.

"Isn't it kind of late? If we're going to look at anything, maybe we should read one of the loose sheets instead. I feel like trying to get into something that long when we need to sleep isn't the best idea. I want to stay in-the-know, but I'm not sure how much longer I can pay attention to anything right now …" She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. "Sorry."

Oh, right. It was usually Lloyd's job to be one of the voices of reason.

Looking around, he was certain that last sentence didn't pertain to just Skylor, though. The banter was being tossed rather lazily and there was a sluggishness to everyone's movements, even Zane's. As for himself, the temptation to just plonk onto the next piece of bedding he picked up while cleaning up the aftermath of the pillow-and-assorted-accessories fight and sleep on it right there had been overwhelming.

"It's quite alright," Zane reassured her. "You have a point, at that. Perhaps something like this would suffice for tonight?" He held up a messily rolled piece of paper, and pulled it open. Lloyd eyed it and nodded; seemed interesting enough. Most likely, they could learn a thing or two, discuss, and then go to bed without too much further ado.

"Looks good to me," Cole said. "Let's see about this person, then."

Zane's eyes fell to the paper for a few seconds before freezing, glowing ever so faintly brighter, and doing a funny skip between Lloyd and the paper before settling back on the paper. Lloyd frowned, unsure he liked the new furrow in Zane's brow.

"What is it, buddy?"

Zane coughed awkwardly. Amazing how even nindroids did that when they were nervous.

"This appears to be a letter addressed to Garmadon."

Lloyd's eyes widened, breath hitching. Abruptly his heart felt less like it was beating and more like it was trying to break itself out of his chest.

Dad.

It had been, safe to say, a little while since he'd thought about his father. The same father he'd gone through hell and back to finally have by his side, only to banish and then drown for good.

He'd kept himself good and busy, helping the team move base to the abandoned Temple of Airjitzu. Warded off the lingering pain from remembering, during the Day of the Departed, pretty well with dusting and heavy lifting and organizing what needed to be packed.

Lloyd had always done his best to draw strength from his father's memory. Like he'd told his mother during Day of the Departed: "Sometimes it feels like he's still with me."

It sure didn't feel like he was with Lloyd now.

"Lloyd?"

He blinked.

"Lloyd, you good?"

He looked over. Cole and the others were all watching him with concern, trying to gauge his reaction.

Quietly, he took a deep breath. He was supposed to have gotten past this. It wasn't supposed to still sting so much when he'd moved onto something healthier, more bittersweet than the more raw, consuming pain he'd known for a while.

Maybe the mansion's atmosphere was digging deeper than he'd thought, ripping open old wounds on top of slashing new ones.

"Yeah." Then, to ensure they couldn't press him about it, "Are you sure, Zane? Lemme see." Zane obliged, handing him the letter. Lloyd took it and held it up to the firelight, careful not to wrinkle the aged parchment, and skimmed it silently, feeling everyone's eyes still on him.

Having caught his reaction to Garmadon's name, they were probably a little surprised when he chuckled.

"What is it?" Skylor tilted her head. "What did they say?"

"It's just the first paragraph. Listen to this!" Clearing his throat, all too glad to focus on the letter, he read it, the ninja going from attentive listening to confused snickering as he did.

"My dearest friend, Garmadon, it seems fitting to start with the most important subject here—thanks a lot for letting me blunder into that whole mess, you absolute withered honeysuckle. I was delayed two whole days trying to firstly explain how I accidentally deposed a chieftess, and then restore some semblance of normalcy to the village. I don't," Lloyd had to catch his breath, barely managing to stop snickering long enough to finish the sentence, "I don't even know why we're still friends." "What in the world is this talking about?" Cole wheezed.

"Absolute withered honeysuckle," Jay mimicked, cracking up himself.

"Well. They were friends, we've learned that much," Skylor stated, desperately trying to regain a straight face.

"Absolute chums, from the sound of it. Just the best of buddies. Like you and me, huh, Cole?"

"If this whole 'accidentally deposed a chieftess' stuff is anything to go by," Cole said, still laughing, "they were even better."

"I wonder what they got up to if this was forty years ago." Zane set about tidying up the remaining letters and the bound book earlier held by Jay, probably figuring he might as well get it over with while they were all distracted. "Or who this was, to be so evidently close to Garmadon."

"Uh, am I the only one wondering what a honeysuckle is?"

Metaphorical crickets, much to Jay's chagrin.

"Just me? Okay."

A sigh. "They're flowers, Jay."

As the room got quiet enough to hear the crackling fireplace again, Lloyd went back to skimming the letter. The little smile that had lingered on his face fell flat again as he took in the words.

"What's the holdup?" Jay complained after a moment.

"Honestly, with the way this is written, if I read it verbatim you'd probably fall asleep," Lloyd muttered over the page. "Shut up and let me summarize."

"I … okay."

Lloyd squinted at the words. "This is an awful lot to take in. What's a … Shhh … Shuuuuravansha?"

"A what?" A confused chorus met his ears; evidently the rest of the room only knew about as much as he did.

"Maybe the word comes from the local language," Cole suggested. "I did hear a lot of the villagers speaking something I didn't recognize."

"Probably. Zane, you wouldn't happen to have that language in your databases or anything, would you?" Jay asked.

"I'm afraid not," Zane said apologetically. "What is the rest of the sentence, Lloyd? Perhaps the proper context will make it easier to guess."

"'I spoke with the Shuravansha and revised the contingency plans based on the information I got from them, as well as reports from you and our spies on the Serpentine's movement.' How do you even say that?"

"I guess the jury stays out on that one," Cole replied. "But I don't think that's a person. It says 'the Shuravansha'. I don't call Jay 'the Jay'; it'd be weird."

"So a group of some sort?" Jay suggested. "The word 'the' implies more than one."

"But it could be a title," Skylor pointed out. "Like 'the chief' or 'the sensei'."

"Either way, it reveals little about the nature of this Shuravansha," Zane said. "All that sentence gave us is that they had information about the Serpentine relevant to the author of this letter."

"Whatever it is, it's probably important," Lloyd muttered, rubbing his eyes and going back to the letter. "But maybe we'll find more clues about them later."

"Then we should remember it," Skylor muttered. "How do you spell that?"

He spelled it out and kept reading. The room went back to quiet anticipation, until Lloyd sputtered, squinted at something on the page, then looked up at them.

"What the heck, Cole?"

"Huh?" All eyes were now on a flabbergasted Cole. "Wh-what'd I do?!"

"I, it's not you, it's just — since when was the last master of earth a traitor?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what?" Jay piped up. "That's kinda a heavy accusation to just bandy around!"

"What is this coming from, Lloyd?" Zane asked.

"It literally says right there, 'Earth went traitor on us'! There's only one way to read that!"

Skylor was scribbling like mad.

"Wha—well, don't look at me!" Cole said. "I don't know anything about this!"

"Maybe that's not all there is to it." It was difficult to see Skylor's eyes behind the shades. "My father turned the Anacondrai and the other tribes against humans to start the whole war in the first place. Then he turned the elemental masters against themselves."

"Maybe that was the case here too. Is there anything else about the master of earth, Lloyd?" Zane spoke up.

"Full sentence is 'The Constrictai among them can burrow, and ever since Earth, the weasel, went traitor on us, we lost our best protection against that tactic.' So they're really still talking about the Serpentine."

"Hmm."

"Mmmaybe we should go back to the rest of the letter?" Jay said tentatively.

"I dunno. I kinda wanna hear about this." Cole curiously poked his head closer, wanting to get a look at the letter. Lloyd drew back and immediately felt bad when Cole regarded him a moment before scooting back, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

Right. It was late.

"I mean, there isn't anything else in the letter about them … just the one sentence."

"Fine. What's the rest of it say, then? We really don't have the rest of the night here."

He had a point. Lloyd was pretty ready to be done with the letter and get some rest, by now.

"Wait a sec," Jay said. "'Went traitor on us.' Who's 'us'?"

"Oh." Cole's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you actually have a point. Yeah, that sounds an awful lot like … they called him 'Earth', not his name."

"How do you know that's not his name? Maybe his mom had a weird taste in names."

"... I'm pretty sure that wasn't his name, Jay."

"The word 'us' does seem to suggest camaraderie," Zane mused. "Given that and their knowledge of elemental power, perhaps they were acquainted with the elemental masters, or worked alongside them in some manner."

"That makes sense," Lloyd agreed, not looking up from the paper he held. "Or maybe they even were a master!"

"There's nothing to confirm it yet …" Skylor pointed out. "I'll just write down that they probably knew about the elemental masters. I think that's a safe conclusion."

"Fair enough," Zane said. "I think we should hear the rest of the letter now, before it gets much later. Lloyd?"

"Okay, so. Basically, my dad sent this person, whoever they are, info about Serpentine movement in the area. There were more loose gangs causing trouble than anything, they were just harder to predict because they weren't associated with the Anacondrai commanders. But according to them, the Southern Woodlands were in too strategic a location to risk—"

"Southern Woodlands?" Jay interrupted.

"That's probably what this forest is called. The villagers called it that on our way here."

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing that from someone," Cole said.

"Anyway. Like I was saying." Lloyd coughed pointedly and continued. "The Woodlands were too risky to leave unprotected because the thick plant life would give the Serpentine a naturally-sheltered base to recover and hide in. And they didn't have a lot of time left because … wait." The loopy handwriting in thick black ink cut off abruptly near the middle of the page, the last sentence never to be finished. "It just cuts off mid-sentence."

"Why did I ever think I'd have an easy time of this." Skylor sounded disappointed. "There wouldn't happen to be a name or anything at the bottom, would there?"

Lloyd shook his head. Of course there wasn't; that'd be too easy for them, now, wouldn't it?

"So why didn't they have time, exactly?" Jay said.

"An abrupt end of that nature would suggest some kind of interruption, would it not?" Zane said. "They never had the chance to finish writing this letter."

"If this is from the same era as everything else we've been seeing, then there was a war on. I imagine that'd do it," Cole said.

"Okay, but there's no signs of a fight in this room," Jay pointed out.

"... Ah. That is. Also true."

If he were a little less tired, Lloyd would've chuckled at Cole being caught off-guard without even a witty defense.

"I wonder what they were expecting not to have a lot of time for …" Lloyd wondered. "There's no signs of a fight here, but it's super messy everywhere else, especially downstairs. Maybe something happened there."

"And maybe it's related to the spirit." Cole ran a hand through his thick, messy hair, eyes dark. "There's no way something like that came out of nowhere."

"Given what we know, it is still impossible to gauge exactly what took place in this mansion," Zane said. "It does seem likely that the Serpentine activity this person mentioned had something to do with it, though. The only way to know for sure would be to find more information"

"So we don't know that, either," Jay muttered. "Write that down as a solid 'maybe', I guess."

Skylor nodded. "Anything else I should put down?"

Lloyd shook his head, and Skylor gratefully flipped the notepad closed and set it aside. Her words had actually begun to slur together with tiredness, so even if there were, he wasn't about to put her through writing it.

"Well, if that's all, then." Cole yawned, again. "Let's call it a day. How long's it been?"

"My internal clock is completely frozen," Zane sighed. "And PIXAL says she can't start it up without any connection to the outside world. But according to my timer, it's been approximately 15 hours since Jay woke me and Cole up to inform us Kai was missing."

Yep. Definitely time to wind down.

The mood dipped briefly at the mention of Kai, but Cole determinedly moved on to the topic of keeping watch, and whether they should do it tonight.

Eventually they decided that it definitely needed to stay, but split it up into two equal shifts. Two of them weren't even options to be considered. Lloyd offered to take shift, but given that he'd gotten out of a tough scrape with the spirit earlier and gone on both search expeditions, everyone else refused to let him, arguing he needed the rest. That left just Cole and Jay, but Cole, having gone through the mansion both times, was tired too. Jay would have to keep watch first.

Then came sleeping arrangements, which also worked themselves out quickly enough. Zane, for whatever reason, stayed in a corner to recharge, Skylor was on one bed, and whoever wasn't on shift would be sharing a bed with Lloyd.

"Alright, Jay, don't do anything stupid this time," Cole ribbed Jay, who was shifting around burnt kindling and trying to keep the little bit of fire left alive.

Jay stuck his tongue out.

"You have sooo much faith in me. Come on, I've learned my lesson here."

"Your timer's working, right? Make sure to wake me in … four hours?"

"Four and a half," Jay corrected him. "And yeah, I will."

"Cool. Night." And with that, Cole left him to his current task: striking a match onto a pile of kindling and hoping for a fire big enough to last.

Soon enough, everyone had bid each other goodnight and settled down.

Lloyd pulled his blanket a little closer to himself, still feeling a residual chill seep into his bones. With nothing to keep preoccupied with, ugly thoughts about the mansion, the horrors of its obscure history, their current conditions, his own utter incompetence, the way he'd just let Karlof get lost, Kai came creeping in far too readily. He tried to push them away.

Not now. Couldn't think about all of those things now or he'd never rest. Even tired, falling asleep was a challenge with sore limbs and unceasing nerves scratching away at him and a bitter resentment towards it all beginning to sink into his bones.

Lloyd closed his eyes regardless, trying to empty his mind. He could faintly hear Jay's breathing under the familiar crackle of the flames that were only too reminiscent of their missing piece.

Shadows twisted and danced on the walls.

Exhaustion won out eventually.

[harrys-oh-anna]

The Morning After

Warnings. None, just fluff, a night at a bar and an affectionate Noah :’)

Tip: The picture above is Noah, facing you at the breakfast table. (I’m done...)

Plot: Your friend dragged you out to a bar and somehow you managed to spend the night with a very handsome guy. But what does the morning after hold for you two?

“No, no, don’t hide from me, darling.” He snickered, holding your hands to his chest.

“Yep, here we go. Well see, what do we have here? A very shy Y/N. What a nice view to look at this particular morning” he slowly let go of you as he beamed, taking a short glimpse of our lips.

“What do you think of breakfast?” he asked “I can cook the best breakfast in the whole wide world. Toast with fried eggs and bacon, sounds good?”

You nodded. “Do you have peanut butter as well?” a grin playing around your lips as you suddenly noticed how hungry you actually were.

“Yeah I do. So do you rather want some peanut butter toast?” he asked, his fingers lightly placing falling hair behind you ear.

“No, I need it for ‘The Elvis’.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing you noticed when you woke up this morning was the sound of the rain pounding against the window. You felt warm, totally secure and in peace. You heard low puffs of breathing and a radiant heat from behind you, which made you curl up in the sheets even more. You enjoyed the silence and the thunderstorm. It calmed you, knowing that the nature was drowning, while you were cosied up.You slowly opened your still heavy eyes, taking in your surroundings. The rain was hitting the window hard and the dimly lit room was soothing, It was a blank room in white and cream shades, being decorated with a few grey accents - and your clothes on the floor.

You had to smile, remembering last night as you slowly turned around to the snoring person laying sprawled out next to you. You put the covers upwards to your chin, hiding in them so the cold air of the room couldn’t get to you, as their heaviness comforted you even more. You were able to smell his Cologne on the bed sheets, as you inhaled deeply. He was sleeping peacefully with his mouth a tad open, snoring quietly. His face at total rest while his bare chest was raising steadily. It all felt so natural. You still can’t believe the actions of last night and how the night played out.

Your friend Janine came over to yours to held your weekly movie-night. Yet as she turned up your doorstep, not wearing her worn-out jumper and some joggers, but instead a nice dress and some heels, you knew that you wouldn’t get to watch your favourite rom-com on TV. You were just ten minutes into the film as she finally succeeded in persuading you to go out and about. You agreed reluctantly. Usually you would be watching at least two movies, while snacking and chatting along to it. Yet as she didn’t want to stop annoying you about how girls your age should get out of their flat on a Friday night, partying. That it has been months since you two went to a Karaoke Bar and how you two could still do a movie-night the next day. And that’s why you found yourself running down the busy night streets of LA, thirty minutes later. The pelting rain, which suddenly appeared after you left your apartment building, hitting hard on your face. You couldn’t stop yourself from thinking about how you actually preferred a night in, sipping a few glasses of the cheap red wine and sinning on these chocolate cookies. But instead you were cold, totally drenched from head to toe (you were sure your socks and knickers were soaked as well) and the Karaoke Bar wasn’t in sight at all.

Janine was rushing you through a small alley as a sign with the word “Bar” in bold red letters appeared. You didn’t have to think twice to seek some shelter in it, waiting for the rain to stop and to warm up a bit. Frankly, the outside of the bar didn’t look welcoming at all and you were sure you didn’t want to spend more time than needed inside, but it was better than standing outside for sure. Maybe the barkeeper could call you a cap, so you could finally head home and catch a few late-night episodes of the Friends re-run.

But except from entering a worn-down biker bar with some old men drinking beer, you were flashed with an interior that didn’t quite match the concrete façade altogether. The whole room was flooded with fairy-lights, while a dark brown wooden counter rested in the middle of the room and armchairs were spread around the whole place, inviting guests to sprawl themselves in. Your eyes beamed as you saw a big shelf reaching from one side of the room to the other, full of different kinds of books. You instantly fell in love with this place and weren’t that mad anymore to have left your cosy home.

Janine headed to the bar, ordering some drinks, while you settled down on an armchair in the very back of the room, listening to the banter of the people around you. You really enjoyed hearing them laugh and having fun. There even was a live band covering songs to which you sang along and the more your glass of alcohol emptied the more your inside heated up again.

You didn’t know how long you already were in here, but as your returned from your way to the bar desk, ordering another round for your table, you suddenly bumped into a strong broad shoulder. You never were a solid standing person and so the encounter threw you back a bit, making you fall onto the ground. But before you really touched it, your right hand was grabbed, and you were already pulled back up on your feet by the owner of said broad shoulder.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. Stupid me. Are you alright down there?” the boy in front of you asked. You opened your eyes, which you automatically closed as you were awaiting your bum to hit the ground. But instead of looking in some random boring face, you stared directly in a pair of warm and worried looking brown eyes, scanning your face for any hint of anger. You couldn’t move, you were paralyzed. This boy literally took your breath away. You could not believe the affect his eyes had on your mind.

“Is everything good?” he asked once again. You shook your head to get rid of the fog inside your head. You weren’t sure if your brain was working that slow because of the alcohol in your system or because he was just so handsome.

“No, I’m a little… No, I mean yes. Yes, I’m alright. Thanks for catching me. Sometimes I’m a bit clumsy.” You uttered, offering him a little smile, which he returned warm-hearted.

“Don’t worry. It was my fault, shouldn’t have turned over that fast. But I slipped earlier, and everyone saw, so jokes on me, right? The whole rain makes everything slippery, I guess.” He paused, smiling at you again. “I’m Noah, by the way.”

“Yeah, the rain is terrible. It totally drenched my friend and me. My clothes are still wet and - oh, I’m Y/N, Nice to – “

You stopped mid-sentence as you suddenly were aware that he didn’t let go of your hand since he pulled you up. And you didn’t let go either. You stared at your entwined hands for a moment, but quickly pulled yours back, while the heat of embarrassment was creeping up your cheeks, tinting them in a soft pink. Noah chuckled at your reaction as he pulled his one away as well, scratching the back of his head with it. The short conversation was followed by a bit of silence, in which both of you didn’t know what do or say. But as you decided to end this whole encounter with showing him another smile and already wanted to raise your hand to wave him goodbye, it seemed like he gained back his consciousness and eventually spoke up once more.

“I know it’s already late, but I wanted to fetch my friend Mark from this bar, he works here, but he just told me that he isn’t done yet. So if you’re free, I can get us a few drinks until his shift’s over and your clothes are dry again. But only if you want to, you know, like if you’re not busy or – “Noah rambled, eying his shoes as his cheeks flushed a light pink as well. You couldn’t believe how well the tint fitted his olive skin tone, making him even more adorable.  

“No! I’m not busy. My friend’s sitting over there, you can join us” you answered him relieved, pointing over to Janine, who was already watching curiously what was going on between you and the good-looking stranger. He showed you a wide grin, as he followed you to your booth.

A few hours later his friend’s shift has ended a long time ago and your clothes had been dry since forever as you were still glued on the armchairs, having fun. After he told you a bit about himself, you made up your mind that Noah was indeed a charming guy, with a big heart and with whom you could have a lot of fun. As the night dragged on you did also notice how he seemed to scoot over closer to you from time to time. At first, he was just sitting next to you, asking you some random questions about why you moved from the UK to the US and listened attentively to what you want to become once you have finished Uni. But as the amount of alcohol increased he started to loosen up a bit more and cracked silly jokes, which never failed to make you laugh out loud, almost spitting out your drink, while he worked on slinging his arm over the back of your chair, slowly wrapping his arm around your shoulder, pulling you a bit more into his side. Or how he “accidently” kept stroking your knee with his until it rested next to yours, touching it totally. But in the last hour he had grown even more confident and put his hand closer and closer to your thigh until he ended up with drawing little patterns on it absently while he was wrapped up into the playful discussion your best friend and Mark, who joined you as well, had going. Chuckling lowly on how serious both took the banter.

You would be lying if you said that it didn’t startled you at first. No one has ever been that forward with you after such a short amount of time  and the thought creeped into your head that he may was just an affectionate drunk and acted the same with his friends on a night out. Yet as he continued glancing over to you and taking in every single word you said, you caught your heart speeding faster and louder. You suddenly felt so enclosed with him, like you had known him for years. There was this kind of bond, something unknown pulling you closer to each other every worn on second and it felt good. Even if it was just for this moment.

As the bar owner finally called it a night, you felt disappointment and didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, fearing that you probably will never see him again. But as the four of you were walking down the street, Janine and Mark in front of Noah and you, his finger kept brushing against yours, sending little sparks whenever you fairly touched. You held your breath as you gathered all your courage. You intertwined your fingers with his, eying him sideways to take in his reaction. You already wanted to let go of it as the outer corners of your eyes saw how a smile spread on Noah’s face. He pulled your body   a bit back,slowing you down so the other two wouldn’t hear what he was about to say. He eyed you hopefully as he told you that his place was just a few minutes of a cab ride away and, if he remembers it correctly, he still had some hot chocolate left in his kitchen cabin. You both could sip on it , while he showed you his Vinyl Collection he told you earlier about. He also offered you his guest room to crash in, so you didn’t have to drive home late at night.

You eagerly nodded, agreeing on him as his eyes lit up. He tucked you under his arm, yelling to the other ones, that you two would be leaving. You promised Janine to text her as soon as you were at his home and to stay in contact with her just to make sure that he wasn’t a serial killer, who was keen on killing you, while Mark was pulling kissing faces into your direction, to which Noah, plastered with a lopsided grin, only shook his head to.

The cab ride was full of careful touches and giggly conversation, raging a fire in your belly for him as he didn’t stop to compliment you.

“You know, she’s the prettiest girl I have ever seen”, he told the cab driver as if you weren’t sitting right next to him, with your head rested on his shoulder, hiding your blushing cheeks, while he stroked his thumb over your still intertwined hands.

“She’s just … I don’t know … I’m speechless. And I swear her name’s the prettiest I’ve ever heard as well. Breath-taking. That’s the right word. She’s totally breath-taking.” He rambled on.

The cab driver just hummed, not really spending attention to what he was saying. But it didn’t matter, because you soaked in every word and somehow, he made you feel special and giddy at the same time. Needless to say, that you didn’t spent the night in his guest room, but instead in his master’s bedroom. Which takes you to where you are right now. In Noah’s king-sized bed, tucked underneath the heavy grey covers.

You watched him, as his browns frowned and a subtle pout appeared on his lips. Taking in every single detail of him to remember it for later. The longer you overserved him, how his lips moved in his sleep, how he seemed so calm and so perfect, the more insecure you became. What if he expected you to be gone before he wakes up? He was a good looking guy and he had for sure brought some other girls in here as well, you weren’t the only one. Suddenly you were unsure if you should leave or stay, you’ve never been one to make love with someone you’ve just met before and so you had absolutely no idea which was the right way to behave. What if he didn’t feel the same connection as you? Or what if he now, being sober, doesn’t see anything attractive in you? On the other hand wouldn’t it be even more strange to just leave? What if he catches you right in the act? Waking up right in the moment when you pull up your pants?

But before you could even make up your mind on what was the best thing to do, you heard him lowly mumbling as he lazily started to stretch out his long limbs and turned over onto his side body, facing you and wrapping his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his chest. Your heart stopped beating as his warm hand stroke your heated skin underneath his shirt you were wearing. He slowly fluttered his droopy eyes open, squinting to adjust to the light as they finally focus on you. He instantly flashed you a sleepy lopsided smile.

“Good morning” his voice was still raspy, but you didn’t mind at all. Not one bit.

“Good morning” you chirped back, your voice being muffled, since the blanket still covered half of your face.

“Are you still freezing? Thought last night’s actions should have warmed you up” he chuckled lowly, wiggling his eyebrows in a mocking way. But as he saw how your cheeks glowed up in a dark pink once again and your eyes refused to meet his, he couldn’t stop his chuckles. His name escaped your lips in a scolding tone, while you were trying to hide your face furthermore in the heavy duvet. Noah just hugged your body closer, as his eyes sparkled even more. The memories of what you two have done in his bed in the early morning hours flashed your mind as he kept trying to pull your hands down gently. You couldn’t help but join into his chuckles.

“No, no, don’t hide from me, darling.” He snickered, holding your hands to his chest.

“Yep, here we go. Well see, what do we have here? A very shy Y/N. What a nice view to look at this particular morning” he slowly let go of you as he beamed, taking a short glimpse of our lips.

You couldn’t resist but just smile widely from ear to ear as well, being totally unable to wipe it off your face anytime soon, you felt like a little child falling in love for the first time over again. But there was no help in sight. His long chocolate curls were hanging low into his face and you had to withdraw the need to stroke them softly out his gorgeous eyes, which stared so intensively into yours, spreading a warm fuzzy feeling in your belly.

“What do you think of breakfast?” he asked “I can cook the best breakfast in the whole wide world. Toast with fried eggs and bacon, sounds good?”

You nodded. “Do you have peanut butter as well?” a grin playing around your lips as you suddenly noticed how hungry you actually were.

“Yeah I do. So do you rather want some peanut butter toast?” he asked, his fingers lightly placing falling hair behind you ear.

“No, I need it for ‘The Elvis’.”

He kept his glance on you for a few more seconds, trying to understand if you were joking or not.

“The Elvis?” he asked, looking confused as ever.

“Yep, it’s my special treat for special days.” you explained, already thinking about hoe good it will feel to feed your tummy.

“Alright, but what is ‘The Elvis’?” he tried once more, still not knowing what about exactly you were so fond.

“Are you serious? You don’t know what ‘The Elvis’ is?” you looked him dead in the eye as he just shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head no.

“And I thought you were the American.” You fake gasped “Peanut butter and Bacon? Aka the best combination ever? Sweet meets salty! You need to try it!” you exclaimed, sitting up excitedly on the bed.

He watched you sternly for another second unsure if this really was something nice to eat, but as he saw how your lips were puckering, you both fitted in another giggle.

“That’s sounds so strange, I need to try it myself.” he told you before he got out of the bed, handing you over a big hoodie and some joggers to put atop of his big T-Shirt hanging long on your shoulder.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!”you reminded him proudly.

After he left the bedroom, you headed to the bathroom to brush your teeth. You heared him lowly humming along to a song on the radio as you passed a mirror in the hallway and took a sight of yourself in it. Even though the clothes were way too big, you liked the way you looked in them or rather drowned in. Totally wrapped up in Noah and Noah’s smell, you grinned like a Cheshire cat as you entered the bathroom.

While you were getting ready, Noah has started to prepare your breakfast. You didn’t miss the way he was eying you as you walked into the kitchen, propping yourself up on the counter across of where he was standing, peering into the pan where he scrambled some eggs. He also wore a big hoodie and some joggers, matching your look quite well. You drowned in the thought of how nice it would feel to cuddle him right here and right now. He seemed so fluffy and cuddly, with his tousled hair and observant look on you. You could get used to him, faster than you liked.

You were torn out of your imagination as Noah handed you a big pastel green cup with white dots on it and a dark brown liquid inside. It smelled incredible sweet and reminded you of your childhood as you took a sip. You hummed pleased as the warm chocolate taste was slowly spreading on your tongue. Noah watched you curiously.

“Promised you a hot chocolate last night and I keep my promises. Do you like it?”

“It tastes amazing. It’s the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had, it really is.” You told him as you took another sip of the warm liquid. You may as well never want to drink any other hot chocolate. It’s sweet but not too sweet and you could drown in it. Not like you would ever tell him, but no matter what he had poured into this cup, you would have devoured it.

“Lucky me, I feared you would instantly run off if you didn’t like it. I have no croissants though.” He was filling two plates with scrambled eggs and carried them to the kitchen table, so you both could sit down.

Two hours later your bellies were filled with delicious food and you had poured down your second cup of the sweet liquid, as you kept on talking. Everything just felt so at ease with him, so carefree. You hadn’t felt like this since a long time. Around him it wasn’t hard to be yourself. You forgot every worry on your mind.  He was everything you ever wanted. There was almost no topic, you couldn’t talk about. And he really seemed to care about your life. You spotted how he always crinkled his nose when you had an amusement story to tell about your daily life, which made him cackle or how his eyes travelled down to your lips when you were rambling on about some random things that happened to you recently. And you identified a special way of tenderness when he did it, leading your heart to almost burst. Right as he was telling you a story about how he once was bitten by dog but how he still loved them with all his heart, your mobile phone started ringing, bringing you both back into reality.

“Well, guess I have to leave. I promised my neighbour to go grocery shopping with her today. She’s pretty old and can’t do it on her own, so I need to help her out. She’s already waiting.” You explained, after you ended the phone call with the elderly woman, putting it back into your bag as you sat up from the table, quickly entering the bedroom to put on your last night’s clothes.

Noah’s feet were tapping nervously as he waited for you at his front door, leaning at the wall next to it. You both just stared at each other in silence, a tensed mood filling the room as no one knew how to say goodbye to each other. You two were far from dating or being friends but had shared something so personal last night, as you drifted into your own world, totally forgetting that it was still spinning outside. After a few more unsure eye shots, Noah just pulled you into an awkward side hug, slowly putting the hoodie he wore earlier over your head as he let go off you.

“You can wear it for your way home. You know, it’s still chilly out there and you seem to be always freezing. So yeah, you can keep it.”

You were surprised by his act of kindness and how he cared about you, being a bit speechless, but you gained your senses back quite quickly as butterflies started to explode in your belly. How could he be so affectionate and caring? You put your arms through the sleeves, rolling them up, so your hands weren’t hidden anymore.

“Thanks, I will bring it over to yours and leave it at your front door this week. Alright?” You stated.

“Nah. Really, keep it. I have hundreds of them folded in my closet and it looks better on you anyway.” He smirked a lopsided grin, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at his cheesy comment, while rolling your eyes. You were a bit sad, that he didn’t want it back, you would have tried to accidently meet him, when you were placing it. On the brightside you at least had a little reminder of him in which you could burry yourself into for those lonely nights.

You hugged him once again, this time squeezing him tighter than before and waved him goodbye as you stepped outside, rushing down the pathway of his house. However, before you could even make it halfway to his gate you heard him shouting out.

“Y/N?” you turned around and walked the path up to him again, meeting him at the front door where he was standing, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his joggers.

“What do you think about doing it the right way?” he broke through another short silence.

“The right way? What do you mean?” you frowned, not quite understanding where he was heading.

“Like taking you out on a proper date, really getting to know you and you really getting to know me. Usually I don’t do this whole thing. You know. This whole “one night and leave the morning after”. But you just overwhelmed me yesterday. How flustered you looked as you entered the bar in your wet clothes and how happy you turned when you saw the bookshelf. And suddenly you didn’t seem to longer care about the rain leaving you drenched. You just sang along to the songs and enjoyed where life has thrown you into. I just don’t know. You had me wrapped up. Yeah, so I would be really happy if you would like to go on a date with me.” He looked you seriously in the eyes, hoping you would understand what he means, hoping you were feeling the same way. His heart was beating rapidly.

“Wait, so you noticed me before you bumped into me?”

“Yeah.” He answered, looking a tad frustrated that this was the only thing you seemed to have heard.

“I’m still sorry for that, by the way. But I’m also glad it happened, not gonna lie. I had no idea on how to approach you at all. Feels like it was destiny.” He shrugged his shoulders, a heat creeping up his neck. “Well stop, scratch the destiny part. Sounds pretty stupid.” He frowned.

You stared at him blankly, before you broke into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. He just blinked, not being able to read your reaction, but you couldn’t help it. Somehow it was one of the cutest ways someone has ever asked you out and somehow you couldn’t get the picture out of your head how you met someone so lovely while almost falling on your bum.

“Believe me, you could have hit on me with one of these cheesy lines and I wouldn’t have turned you down.” You paused for a second, while grinning from ear to ear.

“If I had just realized this back then, I know like a ton.” A relieved smile broke onto his lips.

“Well, you need to give me a taster of them when we go on our date then. Don’t want to miss this unique experience.”

“Wait, Really? You want me to take you out on a date?” he beamed at you stunned.

“Yes. I really do.” You nodded at him assuring, as his eyes twinkled even more.

“How about Sunday morning? I can fetch you and we can go to this little French café. It serves the best croissants.” He suggested as you were already agreeing.

After you both were finally able to part, giggling like little teenager as you were exchanging phone numbers, you were eventually on your way back home, not believing how much changed in one night.

And as the sun slowly made its way from hiding behind the dark clouds, warming up your face, leaving the whole rain behind. You think about how you have never been more thankful for a rainy night in LA.

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A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind words about the PreView. I really poured my heart into it, and I do hope to meet your expectations! Lots of love out to you all. Spread kindess, spread positivity and enjoy life! -Anna