“I’m trying to think if it’s even worth discussing the place over in New Salem tomorrow,” Olivia was saying as she spooned vegetables onto their plates at her kitchen counter. “I don’t know if we even have a shot at it. And it’s pricey.”

Noah nodded as he poured a glass of milk for Mia, who was sitting in one of the mismatched kitchen chairs, out of a booster seat for the second night in a row. He was listening to Liv, but about a third of his mind was somewhere else tonight, drifting between the shift he’d just worked at the House of Pizza and a vague nothingness that was more comforting than it should be.

“We might want to lean more toward the option to rent space in a commercial kitchen and make it some kind of a takeout or retail thing rather than another café. The Limerick building was a…” Liv took a breath as she brought the food over to the table. “It was a fucking miracle,” she finished. “And I don’t think we’re going to get another situation like that. But if we’re meeting with Jude, then we may as well consider all of them. Have you had a chance to talk about it with Andrew at all yet?”

Noah nearly spilled the milk as he put the cap back on. “No,” he said. 

Olivia looked at him, a slight frown on her face now. “When did you guys last talk?” she asked. “I’m trying to remember exactly what his plan was for this meeting. I know he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it out here.”

“Um, we texted for a moment the other day.” Noah said. “He got the new job, but we really only talked about the Limerick for a few minutes before he had to go.”

Olivia’s frown deepened, and Noah realized what was happening before she even had to say it. It had been three weeks since Andrew left. So when was the last time he and Andrew had a conversation? A real one, not just a few texts tossed back and forth over the course of a day. His heart sank as he realized it had been a week. A whole week with nothing beyond occasional check ins. He pulled out his phone, then realized he didn’t know what he’d say.

And if he didn’t know what to say, he might as well go all out. Noah wasn’t going to lose Andrew again, not with only an hour between them.

“Liv,” he said, setting Mia’s milk on the table in front of her. “Do you mind if I put mine in the fridge? I need to go. I’ll be back tomorrow morning, I promise. I’m not going to miss the meeting.”

She nodded with a soft smile and he went over and kissed her cheek. Then he kissed Mia on the head before hurrying out the door.

—–

Andrew was swamped with this new job, but he needed to take some time to sort out Limerick things as well. There wasn’t much, mainly because it was a lot harder to do this kind of work for a building that had burned down. There was no marketing to do, but there were certainly potential marketing plans to be drawn up. Three separate ones, in fact, to go with all three of their current potential options. And he wanted to get these at least partially done so he could send them to Liv for their meeting back in New Winslow tomorrow.

He was sitting at the kitchen table with a mostly forgotten glass of red wine and his notes spread around him, music playing on Cleo’s very nice speakers as he worked. It was a small kitchen, cozy in its own right. And it was nice to work on these things again. He’d barely gotten a chance to even think about the Limerick since he’d started this new job. Though, no matter how cozy it was, sitting in here somehow made him feel lonely, even with Cleo watching a movie in the living room right across the hall.

He took out his mobile and glanced at the screen, tempted yet again to message Noah. He knew Noah would be happy to hear from him, but it felt a little weird. Like maybe he was being too clingy now that he was out. If he was living this far away, then maybe he should get used to being more independent. They’d talked about Limerick work this week, but not much else. He was so busy settling into the job and he knew Noah was working extra hours in New Winslow too, on top of figuring out the Limerick. But maybe they could get together soon.

Or maybe a phone call, if that impossible dream wasn’t going to happen.

Andrew rubbed his eyes, then looked down at the paper in front of him. This one detailed potential ideas for a storefront that they’d found near New Winslow. It was too expensive. They’d never get it, but he’d do his best to set up the plan anyway. About thirty minutes in, as he contemplated what he knew were useless considerations over floor plans, there was a knock at the door. 

No one knocked on that door. Not once since he’d moved in had anyone stopped by. Cleo came out of the living room and looked in at him, eyebrows raised. Andrew shook his head, and she headed toward the door. She peeked out the door viewer, then laughed and opened it. 

And all of Andrew’s worries about his job, his work, everything, disappeared as Noah stepped onto the welcome mat, a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. He hugged Cleo, then smiled uncertainly in at Andrew. “Hi.”

Andrew got up and walked over, surprised by how his hands were shaking. He took the flowers, a small spray of purple, and set them on the side table before throwing his arms around Noah.

“I missed you,” he whispered into Noah’s shoulder. 

He wasn’t sure if Noah heard him at first, but then Noah held him even tighter. Andrew knew Cleo was still there and he should let Noah in and then all talk about what the hell he was doing here, but he was going to be selfish and just hold on to this moment for as long as possible. 

When he finally let go, he looked up at Noah. Noah looked tired, he always looked tired. But the happiness radiating off of him made Andrew feel almost unworthy of that look. “It’s been too long,” Noah said. “I didn’t realize how long it had been, and I didn’t want to let it fade.”

Without a word, Andrew went back in, leaning up to kiss Noah. The door was still somewhat ajar and Noah was still wearing his jacket and old backpack. Andrew should really let him all the way in first. But he was going to stay selfish, just for a moment longer. 

Finally, he steered Noah further into the little flat, closing the door behind him. “Um, welcome,” Andrew said, suddenly flustered as though he hadn’t just had his hands over every part of Noah that was moderately appropriate in semipublic. “This is our flat? Me and Cleo, I mean.”

Noah looked around the small hallway, with the rooms leading off of it. Like the rest of the unit, it was small, old, and cozy. “I like it,” he said, leaning in to inspect the wainscoting on the wall beside Andrew. 

Andrew watched him run his fingers over the wood and resisted the urge to drag Noah straight back to his tiny bedroom. Instead, he motioned toward the living room, which contained the ancient, squashy couch and a very nice telly. “Living room,” he said.

Cleo went in to pause the movie, some comedy she’d kept on low while Andrew was working. He gestured into the kitchen doorway. “Kitchen,” he said. “And some Limerick things I was working on when you arrived.”

Noah stepped into the kitchen and glanced at the notebooks on the table. “The New Salem place,” he said as he read the first page. “Me and Liv were talking about that one tonight. It’s-”

“Utterly impossible,” Andrew finished. “Not a chance in hell we’d get it if we tried.”

“But you still made all this?” Noah asked, flipping through the pages.

“I wanted to be prepared.”

Noah turned and smiled at him in a way that filled Andrew with emotions he couldn’t name if he was at gunpoint. Then he looked around the kitchen. Andrew did the same and immediately noticed the glass of wine on the table, half-finished from earlier. Noah obviously saw it too, but he didn’t say anything and Andrew didn’t expect him to. “Come on,” Andrew said, leading him back out.

“Cleo’s room,” he said, motioning toward the larger bedroom, where the door was open to reveal an entire bed full of clean laundry waiting to be folded. “She saved me from finding housemates at my age, she gets the big room.”

Cleo laughed from the living room and Andrew grinned at Noah. “Bathroom,” he said, motioning to the closed door. “Quite exciting. And here’s my room. Be nice, I just moved in.”

The room was about the same size as the one he’d had at their house in New Winslow. No, wait. Andrew tried to correct himself. It wasn’t their house, it was Liv’s apartment in the duplex she shared with Noah. Andrew had nothing to do with it. But even as he thought it, he didn’t believe it.

Noah looked around the space with that same look Andrew recognized from right after he’d moved into the Limerick. The one he’d dealt with by impulsively kissing Noah for the first time in a decade. Like he was lost, even here right in front of Andrew. “You have a life out here again.”

“Yeah, I suppose I do.” Andrew said. “I want you to stay part of that.”

“You sure?” Noah said, glancing at the framed artwork above the bed that Andrew had bought and hung up two days earlier. “There’s better options who live closer and aren’t…”

He stopped and took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry for barging in on you,” he said. “What if you had someone over?”

“Yes, what if Cleo and I finally succumbed to our burning lust for one another?”

Noah laughed slightly. “No, I mean it,” he insisted. “I don’t want to interfere unless you want me here.”

Andrew took both of Noah’s hands, looking up at him. “I just told you I do,” he said. “Noah, I make my own decisions. And if you’ll have me, I want you to stay in my life. I know who you are and I want you. Just you, just as you are, in whatever way we can. Understand?”

Noah nodded, letting go of one of Andrew’s hands in order to wipe his eyes. “You have nothing to prove to me,” Andrew said. “And if you did, I think you bloody well proved it by driving into Boston on a Friday night. How was that ride, anyway?”

“Horrible,” Noah admitted with a laugh. “Fucking awful. And I know I’m going to get a parking ticket.”

“Cleo gets one a week,” Andrew said. “She budgets for them.”

“The man who can get to work on public transit has a lot of opinions on my car!” Cleo called in from the living room.

Andrew gently turned Noah’s head so he was facing him again. “Stay the night?” he asked. “I’ll pay for the ticket.”

Noah nodded. “I need to leave early though,” he said. “We’re meeting with Jude to go over the potential Limerick options tomorrow morning. It’s a little outside his usual practice, but he offered to help.”

Even the mention of Jude didn’t hurt Andrew. Hell, if Noah mentioned some lingering feelings for Jude, he wasn’t even sure he’d get jealous. Not when Noah was so securely in his life again. “I’ll go too.”

“We’re meeting in New Winslow,” Noah said. “Are you sure?”

“I want to be there,” Andrew said. “Stay tonight, I’ll help you get the boot off your car in the morning.”

Noah’s eyes widened. “Would they really do that?” he asked.

“Ask Cleo, she’d know.”

“Get fucked!” Cleo called in.

“Stop eavesdropping!”

“I can’t, our apartment’s too small.”

Andrew turned back to Noah and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Noah smiled, that haunted look finally leaving his face somewhat as he leaned down and kissed Andrew.

————————

Are you enjoying New Winslow? Please consider supporting the serial with a monthly Patreon or a one time Ko-fi donation. It’ll help me support Enfield Arts and write even more!

———–

CONTINUE TO EPISODE 55

———–