Chapter Text
After a little searching she managed to locate the towels and threw two in the general direction of the sofa.
"If you want any popcorn, you should help clean that up," she called, and went back into the kitchen, not bothering to look whether they'd followed her advice - the exclaimed insults were replaced with more normal levels of speech, but she couldn't hear what they were saying, so she assumed they had.
When she brought two bowls of popcorn back into the room, the towels had been lumped in a pile next to the sofa and they were talking in hushed tones. When they heard her footsteps they looked up; she could recognise their guilty expressions well enough. After a quick scan of the room to make sure nothing was broken, she shrugged it off, and when Mikey walked back in the discomfort vanished as if it had never been there.
Maybe I was just imagining things, she thought to herself, and settled down on the far side of the sofa.
Mouth came and sat down next to her as Chunk put a DVD in - they were only talking about what DVD to watch, I bet - and when she didn't acknowledge him he leaned towards her.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.
She turned to look at him, confused. "Of course. Why?"
He shrugged as he settled into his seat, his thigh bumping hers and staying there. "I just wanted to make sure."
She eyed him bemusedly as the start-credits began, then turned her attention to the film. Top Gun - it would forever be a classic. She sent an approving smile at Chunk, and he beamed at her.
About three quarters the way through the movie, there was a knock on the door.
All five of their heads snapped around to stare at it, and then they all leapt to their feet, making for the kitchen, as they had discussed.
"Wait," Mikey whispered, pausing to listen over the noise of the TV, "I hear keys."
They stopped, and when the door swung open it revealed only Brand, who lugged a bright pink suitcase through the door.
"What are you all staring at?" He asked defensively, thinking they were looking at the suitcase. "I swear it's Andy's."
"Whipped," Chunk muttered, though the remark was empty of smugness, as if it had been automatic.
"Who wants pizza?" Mikey asked, breaking the silence. They all nodded.
Lacey, adrenaline pumping through her veins from the unexpected intrusion, went out onto the veranda to greet Stef and Andy, and see if they wanted help with their bags.
"I think we're good," Stef said as she shut the door of Brand's old car. "How is everyone?"
"We're okay. It gave us a fright when Brand came in," Lacey smiled thinly. "I think we all forgot you were coming back today. Or were just on edge."
"We all are," Andy said, swapping a bag into her other hand so she could take Lacey's hand and squeeze it. "But we're going to stick together, right?"
"We'll make it through," Stef added as she made towards the house.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to be sitting next to the phone all night, so we'll be fine," Andy said.
Lacey didn't find that reassuring at all - it was just confirmation that Andy was feeling the pressure too - but she just shrugged and gestures to the house. "After you, then."
When she got back she half-expected her spot to be taken already with the three extra people in the room, but she found that Mouth had stretched out across the space. As soon as he saw her, he straightened up and patted her spot in a clear signal.
She hoped the heat in her face didn't show as she took the seat, and she thanked him for saving it for her.
"It's better than sitting next to Stef," he said casually, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.
She turned her head to look at him. "Why?"
"She just likes annoying me," he replied, glancing sidelong at Lacey.
"Am I not as annoying?" Lacey asked.
"Not when you're not ignoring what I say." Mouth shrugged.
She frowned at him and looked away. "I'm not the kind of girl you can control like that."
"No," he agreed, "you're not. Which is kinda why I invited you tonight."
She cut her eyes up to his, to be greeted with a triumphant grin. She didn't really know what to make of it.
"I'm not even going to reply to that," she said eventually.
"You just did," he pointed out.
She was suddenly aware of Chunk, Stef and Andy's presence, and consciously unclenched her hands again. Data was fiddling with some kind of bottle next to the bags, and Brand was in the kitchen with Mikey, making sure he didn't accidentally burn the pizza (as she had been told was a frequent occurrence).
"Not another word," she warned Mouth quietly.
The resulting silence was stifling, and before Chunk could say anything to break it the timer went off. Eager to escape, Lacey got up and went to help Mikey and Brand with the pizza.
Once they had all filled their plates, they settled down again in front of the TV, all squashed onto one sofa and two chairs; Data and Mikey were too late to claim a seat, and ended up sitting on cushions on the floor.
They finished Top Gun - Andy asking questions about the previous plot of the movie before they were even able to resume it - and Lacey offered to help clear up the plates again. She'd become hyper aware of Mouth's jeans against hers, and because of the squash his arm resulted in being pressed against hers. She knew it wouldn't be such a big deal if she didn't make a big deal out of it, but it kept distracting her from the movie.
Out in the kitchen, Andy and Stef joined her, suggesting that they wash up the plates. Stef found some rubber gloves in the cupboard under the sink and ran the hot water into the washing up bowl.
"Okay, so, I couldn't help but notice," Stef began, "that you and Mouth are pretty close. Is that new, or..?"
Lacey trained her eyes on the bowl she was drying. "It's nothing," she said firmly - half to herself and half to Stef.
"Don't let him hear you say that," said Andy, placing the plate she had been drying onto the growing pile.
"It's the truth," Lacey insisted.
"Chick, the fact that you're defending it so much tells me it's not nothing, and you know it." Stef handed Lacey another plate with a raised eyebrow. "You don't have to tell us if you really don't want to."
Lacey recognised that the girls were too fired up to to listen to her denials, and instead changed the subject.
"So, how is university?"
"Boring," Andy said. "Too many boys trying to," she made air quote, "'have a good time'."
"Even when they know you've got a boyfriend," Stef added, rolling her eyes.
Lacey looked at Andy and tilted her head at Stef in question, mouthing: she has a boyfriend? Andy nodded and lifted a shoulder.
"The parties are awesome, though," Stef carried on, passing Andy a glass. "One if the rich guys bought a huge speaker and they bring it to every one."
There was a muffled shout and then talking from the living room, and Lacey heard her name.
"Sounds great," Lacey said to Stef distractedly.
"Lacey," Mikey said, appearing in the doorway. "you need to come in here."
"Now," she heard Brand add.
Her stomach twisted at Mikey's unimpressed expression, and she slowly walked into the living room, both girls behind her swapping confused glances.
She understood what was going on when she saw Mouth on his knees in the middle of the floor, her bag in front of him. One piece of paper was clutched in his hand, the other in Brand's.
"What the hell is this?" Mouth demanded, getting to his feet.