this was a stupid idea. the car ride on the way here had been bad enough as it was, being sat in virtually complete silence for hours on end. noemi didn’t know how she was going to make it through the weekend with them and as it stood the only vague plan she had involved a lot of alcohol. she scanned her eyes around their bedroom for the long weekend, before she panned her gaze over to them. the silence was stiff and awkward  — and just not noemi, therefore she opted to fill it with a rather deadpan comment. “you’re sleeping on the floor.”

“i’m so afraid of saying something wrong, i’m in danger of saying nothing at all.”

turning up at someone’s door in the pouring rain? the biggest cliché there is and noemi hates herself for it; however, there’s no going back now given that she’s already knocked. she has to blink rainwater from her eyes to ensure the person that she expects to open the door does and eventually a wide smile forms on her lips. “ —hey stranger.”

“i know you’re mad at me right now, but i’m the one who’s here. let me be here. let me help. you can be angry later.”

“did you just... compliment me? what have you done?”

"what? no witty remark? nothing clever to say?”

“i’m just... going along to the 7/11 down the street.” of course, of all the people that noemi would bump into the the lobby of the hotel they were staying in it would be her ex. things had been tense between them while they’d been making their journey; all attempts at being civil for their friends pretty much thrown out of the window. however, she took a deep breath and decided to try again. “do you want anything? or did you want to come with? what are you even doing up, it’s late?”

“pippa, will you cut it out?” considering the two of them had been in bed together only a short while ago, noemi probably had little to be embarrassed about. however the way her cat lingers around their legs as they try to move through her apartment is ridiculous. “she’s needy,” she offers half-heartedly, bending down to pick the feline up. “i don’t know who she gets that from...” the laugh that follows her words is a little more tense that she’d like but she can’t help but force it out.