Room69, Alyssa, Amy, Bella and Alli
Noah sat outside on the balcony of Adam's house. Inside, there was a party going on, but he opted not to sit in there with them. Instead, he was sitting in the cold night, steadily getting more and more drunk as the night wore on.
***
Alyssa slid off Chris's lap and pointed at Noah through the glass sliding door. "Is he alright?"
Adam shrugged. "I don't know... he took it pretty hard."
"Took what hard?" Pete asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
"You're gross," Alyssa commented.
"Oh come on, he said it, I just... changed the tone when I said it!" Pete retorted.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Moron."
"Bitch."
"Bite me."
"Don't want to get rabies," Pete countered.
They all looked up as Bella and Alli waltzed in.
"Aw hell, speaking of rabies," Alyssa muttered. She went over and sat on Chris's lap again.
"Good to see you too, Alyssa," Bella said. She looked out at Noah. "He still hasn't said anything?"
"Nope, just leave him alone," Chris said.
"You know I can't do that," Bella replied, and went over and opened the door. They watched her take the seat next to Noah.
Alli groaned. "She sees it as her chance to get him back."
"As long as no one touches my man!" Amy exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Adam's neck and kissing him.
"Or mine," Alyssa put in.
Alli smiled and settled into the seat with Pete, who grinned broadly. "Women love me," he said.
"And then leave you," Alli replied.
"What? Never!"
***
Bella reached for a glass of kero, as she watched Noah intently. He looked up at her, then continued to look over the balcony, lost in thoughts.
"You miss her?" Bella asked.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Noah turned to face Bella for the first time. "It may be hard for you to understand, but I was in love with her."
"Noah... you hate me, don't you?"
"You think?"
"But why? We used to be friends and now..."
"You cheated on me. You were rude to AJ. You're rude to Lys. Shall I go on?"
"But... look, it's me. That's who I am."
"A bitch."
"Yeah, no! Look, Noah... I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry you lost her, and I'm sorry I hurt you. But I didn't know what I wanted at the time."
"And now you do?"
"No... I still don't. But the point is, Noah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all this shit that's happened between us. I hate that we're like this together, we're so distant, when we used to be so close. I know I screwed up, ok, I know! But, please, don't I deserve another chance?" Bella looked genuinely hurt and sorry.
Noah shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. All I know is that I can't... I can't think about this now. All I can think about is her. And I wonder if she's missing me at least half as much as I miss her."
Bella nodded and hugged him. "I'm not going to pressure you... but look..."
"Please... just don't."
She stood up. "I'm sorry." Bella turned and went back into the house.
***
Amy looked up at Bella with a look of half disgust, half curiousity. "Is he alright?" she asked.
"He's... he's... I think he really needs a good friend right now."
"And that wouldn't be you," Alyssa said quietly.
"Alyssa, shut up! Honestly, for the first time, I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about him. He needs someone, someone who's always been there," Bella exclaimed.
Pete, Adam and Chris all looked at each other. "It'd be one of us," Chris said.
"Probably you," Adam said to Pete.
"Why not all of you?" Alli asked. "He needs to know he's got friends around him..."
Pete, Adam and Chris left to go outside.
***
Noah barely raised his eyes as Pete, Adam and Chris came outside. Pete jumped up and sat on the railing of the balcony, while Adam took the seat next to him, and Chris sat on the ground.
"You ok, man?" Adam asked.
"Yeah."
"Really?" Pete pressed.
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?" Chris joined in.
"Yeah."
"Are you gay?" Pete tried again.
"Ye... no!" Noah looked up.
"Well, at least I got a different answer. You need to talk?" Pete said.
"I miss her. That's all. What we had... it was too good to just get... we didn't even get a real goodbye. It was just, yeah I wake up and she's gone. How is that supposed to make me feel?"
"Mate, you'll see her again."
"And if I don't? What am I meant to do? Sit here, hoping she's at least thinking about me? And what if she's not? What if... I don't know, she's forgotten about me, and I haven't forgotten her? She's... she's where she belongs geographically, but not really." Noah took a deep breath. "It was a bad idea to get involved with an Aussie, wasn't it?"
"It wasn't the wisest... but no one knew this was going to happen," Adam offered.
"I miss her. That's all."