𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐧

          ❛      pretty  sure  i  supplied  you  with  a  great  night  to  remember  .  that  should  be  reason  enough  to  want  to  see  me  again  .     ❜         kai  laughed  ,  the  thought  of  the  trouble  they  got  into  .  trouble  enough  to  lead  them  into  spending  a  good  chunk  of  their  night  and  some  of  their  morning  in  a  holding  cell  .  then  again  ,  the  𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓  trouble  was  the  trouble  you  didn't  get  caught  doing  . . .  unless  the  cop  was  asking  for  it  .  then  sometimes  ,  you  gotta  get  arrested  if  it  means  getting  the  point  across  .              ❛      be  honest  ,  did  you  go  all  the  purge  mode  and  lock  us  in  here  to  spend  some  time  with  me  ?  or  better  yet  ,     ❜          he  continued  ,           ❛      to  get  your  revenge  !      ❜          kai  was  clearly  joking  around  .  if  they  had  to  be  𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊  in  this  stupid  building  then  why  not  chit  chat  with  his  favorite  jail  cell  buddy  ?

"it is certainly a night that i'll never forget," noel responded with a laugh. all things considered, their night in jail was hardly the worst thing either of them had experienced. but it still wasn't something noel was looking to repeat, certainly not on american soil. nor was it something he was entirely keen to talk about - but kai seemed to think differently. "as much as i do love your company, i would've just asked if i wanted to spend time with you," he smiled. "how do i know you aren't the one responsible for this?"

"hello hollis," he smiled, though it was very clearly forced. or at least, uncomfortable. "i'm good, how about you?"

WAS PETER KIDDING HIMSELF ? his sense of repose could probably be attributed to his disdain for conspiracies, his insistence that things were more often coincidental than not. or perhaps he simply believed what he wanted to — that everything was normal, and nothing could truly be wrong. ghosts and hauntings were only a thing in the movies, and floods and weather-related lockdowns were entirely plausible for a place like oregon. something like that. perhaps he was just naive. peter raised his eyebrows at noel's suggestion. ten years ago, he would've had the exact same thought. but a jaded, worn down peter could only look at the other like he was crazy. " i kinda just wanna go to sleep, wait this thing out, " he started, straightening his posture with a tired stretch. he let out a labored breath of air. " but that's boring, isn't it. what'd you have in mind ? "

thankfully noel didn't have the chance to ask if peter was being serious - he could already feel the judgment building up inside. they were staring their potential doom in the face and peter wanted to sleep? he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around the idea. "i don't know," he admitted with a sigh, "we could break into the headmasters office? or we could just get really, really drunk."

the  effects  of  drugs  and  alcohol  really  had  seemed  to  get  her  through  this  evening  .  the  momentary  comfort  from  an  ex  ,  the  interactions  with  people  who  should  have  stayed  strangers  ...  all  of  it  only  showed  her  more  that  she  should  have  never  came  .  "  the  most  out  of  it  ?  i  don't  know  ,  kinda  enjoying  the  least  ...  just  continuing  to  get  fucked  up  so  at  least  if  the  plan  is  to  kill  us  ...  i'll  go  out  pretty  easy  .  " 

"yeah, i'd much rather be doing something than just sitting around waiting for the end," noel explained with a shrug. he'd never been one for just sitting around - which probably had something to do with his fifth grade adhd diagnosis. "getting fucked up definitely falls under the making the most of the situation category," he chuckled.

"something like that," noel responded with a laugh, "do you have anything you've been dying to do?" he arched an eyebrow. could his word choice have been better? absolutely. would he dwell on it? no ! he likely didn't even notice his poor choice in words. "i could definitely be more buzzed," he admitted.

caffeine was just one of noel's many vices, though it was hardly the worst thing on that list. but that was something he made a point of not dwelling on. he didn't like to dwell. and yet, it felt like that's all he'd done since he'd gotten back to town. though that shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. just like he shouldn't have been surprised to see malcolm, and yet, there he was. but he liked to think he hid it well, a wide grin appearing across his face as he leaned on the counter. "well of course."

            kai  had  fallen  off  the  face  of  the  earth  in  a  lot  of  ways  ,  at  least  to  all  of  those  that  he  used  to  know  from  the  good  ole  town  of  lincoln  city  ,  oregon  .  not  even  his  parents  knew  where  he'd  ran  off  to  and  he  made  𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍  that  they  wouldn't  figure  it  out  .  that  being  said  ,  as  kai  walked  over  to  the  other  male  .  a  hand  coming  out  to  smack  him  on  the  shoulder  .  noel  wasn't  really  someone  kai  was  all  too  close  to  in  high  school  .  they  knew  each  other  but  that  was  pretty  much  it  .  yet  ,  noel  was  probably  one  of  the  few  people  that  kai  had  𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘  seen  in  person  in  the  last  ten  years  .  the  two  coincidentally  running  into  each  other  along  their  journeys  and  spending  a  random  day  of  chaos  that  ended  in  them  both  sitting  in  a  jail  cell  .  kai  assumed  that'd  be  the  last  time  he'd  have  a  run  in  with  anyone  else  from  quote  unquote  ,          (     home     )         but  after  this  whole  message  and  reunion  thing  . . .  things  were  apparently  𝐍𝐎𝐓  going  according  to  plan  .         ❛     you  know  if  you  really  missed  me  all  you  had  to  do  was  call  .  didn't  have  to  come  all  the  way  here  to  look  for  me  .     ❜         the  male  joked  ,  that  being  clear  in  his  tone  . 

if it had been anyone else standing in front of noel, he would've feigned a smile and looked for a way out of the conversation. curiosity may have brought him home but that hardly meant he was looking to reunite with past acquaintances. but he'd already had his reunion with kai. they'd already had their reunion - and it made for a hell of a story. a night of drunken shenanigans that ended in a jail cell. "who said i was here to see you?" he laughed, "the last time i saw you i spent the night in jail."

"all the way from portland? you must be exhausted after such a long journey," noel's response was unnecessarily steeped in sarcasm. maybe he was just tired from his actually long journey, or maybe he was building up a defense mechanism to mask his worries about the reunion. either way, the smile on his face was clearly forced. "maybe you should turn in for the night, get your beauty sleep."