#tmwis

“–shut up, your thighs are amazing. And if someone else told you they weren’t, they were missing out.”

Noam scowled at him for a bit, before averting her gaze as a small smile crept onto her face.

“So,” he continued, “Are you coming to Christmas? This is your official invitation.”

“Your entire family is going to be there.”

“Yeah, and…?”

“How many girls have you brought home for Christmas? We can’t just walk in like, ‘hey everyone I’ve only brought one person home for the holidays before, but this isn’t like that. This is Noam; she’s my friend.’”

He pulled her closer to him, their faces a few inches apart. “What title would you prefer?”

“…”

Casey invited Noam to his studio’s Christmas party–they’re just friends.

“You ever watch the stars like this?”

“…No, I can’t say I’ve ever watched stars in the middle of a campsite from the back of a pick up truck.”

“There’s something about the stars out here, it just…feels different, ya know?”

"We haven't talked much...since the hospital."

"No..."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine; getting better. I should be as good as I'll ever be in the next few weeks."

"How are you really?"

Noam sighed. "This was the most sudden it's ever been...and the worst in a long time. I'm used to sudden flares of pain and twitches here and there, but this--Gah! It's like I was back to being sixteen, when one fucking subtle movement would have me back, under the knife. It was stress this time? I know I'll be back to normal, my version of it anyway, but..."

"You can't help but feel frustrated?"

"Come on, pack your stuff, we're going."

It was Friday. Noam's shift was almost over and Casey was standing in the radiology waiting room, looking at her expectantly.

"Casey, what the hell?" Casey, she'd learned, was a lot of things and spontaneous was shaping up to be one of them.

"You finally have the weekend, so we're getting away from here."

"You're crazy."