Chapter Text
When Cody turns his phone on and stretches as he rises from the cramped airplane seat, a flood of texts come in. He ignores the ones from his parents, and Devon, and skips to the ones from Noel. His eyes skim the contents of the message and notices an apology, Noel's stuck working late tonight and won't be able to pick him up, but he said to call him when Cody arrives so he can call him an Uber to his apartment.
They've been playing video games together for almost a year now, having met on Fortnite, embarrassingly enough, and nurturing a true friendship out of a shared interest in the game. As time went on, they would let each other know their schedules and when they'd be on next, they'd talk about their personal lives, divulging painful details that they wouldn't even share with their close friends, then they exchanged social media, then phone numbers. They fell into a ritual of texting each other all day long about random, menial details of everyday life, and Noel quickly became his best friend.
Cody thinks on how crazy life is as the Uber chauffeurs him through Hollywood. His friends were stuck at work this week in gloomy, dreary Calgary while he got to enjoy beautiful Los Angeles. His mouth falls open at the sight of a real palm tree, and he feels lucky to know Noel.
His Uber driver was nice enough to help him unload his bag and collect his bearings, and Cody heads inside the apartment building, glancing around the lobby as he walks. In Calgary, this place would've been a total dump, but here, it had a certain charm to it. He rolled his suitcase behind him as he passed by the front desk, the girl sitting behind it smiling brightly at him.
"Cody?"
She called out, and he was so surprised to hear his name in a totally different part of the world that he almost didn't realize she was calling for him.
"Hi, sorry, didn't mean to spook you. I'm Aleena, I work the evening shift here usually. Noel told me you'd be here today, he left a key with me for you." Cody walked back towards her, his mind trying to process all this information that was just given to him at once.
"You're Noel's friend? It's really nice to meet you." he smiles, and extends his hand which she giggles before batting away and coming around the counter to squeeze him tightly.
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too. He showed me a picture of you and said you'd be coming from Canada! I've been on the edge of my seat my entire shift waiting to finally meet you, Noel talks about you all the time."
Shock must've been evident on Cody's face, as Aleena giggled again at his expression. She hands him a gold key, and points down the hall. "Elevators are down there, his apartment will be to your right when you get out. I'm here for another hour, call down if you need anything." She tapped him on the shoulder twice, and returned to her computer behind the desk. "Super good to meet you, Cody."
Cody smiles and nods, "You too, Aleena, thank you." before he continues again down the hallway, suitcase in tow.
He reaches Noel's apartment and turns the key before entering, taking the entire space in and smiling to himself. He always wondered what the rest of Noel's apartment looks like, only seeing certain portions of it from their frequent FaceTime's. He set his stuff down on the floor next to the door, and locked it shut behind him.
He slowly walked around the empty one bedroom, scanning every corner, thankful to get to have a peaceful, uninterrupted, self-guided tour of his new home for the next week. He runs his hands over the back of Noel's couch as he passes by it, turning his head to read the title of the book on the table next to it.
He reaches Noel's bedroom and stops at the doorway, taking it all in. It's that typical apartment off-white color, but its neatly maintained and clean looking with furniture he thought was almost too stylish for Noel. He wonders for a brief moment what Noel is like with people other than Cody, what the people of LA think of him, what girls think when they come over to his apartment. The part of Cody's psyche that always surfaces inappropriately lit up, signaling for Cody to wonder how many girls Noel's had over. He pushes the thought out just as fast as it came to him, and shuts the door before retreating to his bag.
He takes a long, hot shower, washing away the unseen grime and germs from the plane ride. A text tone pings out, but he's too busy shampooing to look. He brushes his teeth and gets dressed for the night before checking the time, 8:50 PM, and reading his missed text from Noel.
hey im sorry i couldnt get off work early today, i'll make it up to you. im on my way home now, should be there around 9
Cody panics for a second and rushes to finish getting ready, tousling his damp hair through his fingers for a final time as he hears the door click open. He feels fluttery and excited, this will be their first time meeting in person, and it's not like they haven't seen each other before, but this is different.
Cody exhales and takes one last look at himself before he steps out of the bathroom and makes his way into the main room, where he hears a soft clatter of Noel setting his keys down on the counter. This feels backwards, in a way, meeting like this. Cody swallows his nerves as he steps into the kitchen.
"Noel?"
The dark-haired man turns around and a beaming smile gets plastered across his face almost instantly. Cody lights up, and they embrace in a hug that was a year overdue. Cody's eyes are squeezed shut as they stand together, wrapped in each other's arms.
His hands on Cody’s shoulders, Noel pulls back, quickly scanning Cody up and down like he’s taking everything in.
“Wow, look at you," Noel starts, and Cody notes that his voice is somehow deeper in person. Cody's cheeks hurt from smiling. "Finally one of my friends is shorter than me."
Noel locks the door behind them and they walk toward the elevator, laughing and bantering like they've known each other their entire lives. Noel walks quickly, and Cody has to be conscious about his steps in order to keep up, but he doesn't mind.
They start off down the street towards the bar they're meeting Noel's friends, Spock and Cash, at, and Noel is pointing out different landmarks and cool places they can go later in the week, talking as quickly as he walks, overtly excited, which was unusual for him.
"So thiiiiiiiiis is Cody, what's up man, it's so good to meet you!" Spock beams, pulling him into a bear hug, with Cash following. "Noel never shuts the fuck up about you, dude. It's cool to finally get to see this mysterious Cody we hear so much about." Cody's cheeks are hot and he knows he's probably beet red. He wants these guys to like him.
"Not the first time I've heard that today, seems like you really rolled the red carpet out for me, didn't you, Noel?" He ribs, throwing a cheeky glance over at Noel. Noel smirks when their eyes meet, and he shrugs his shoulders.
"Fuck yeah, I did. Had to warn these fools." He laughs loudly and claps Cody on the back, shooting him a wink.
Cody, Cash, and Spock are about 5 or 6 drinks deep when Cody finds a second wind. They're seated in a booth, crying with laughter, when a bartender brings over a Gin and Tonic and sets it in front of Cody, explaining that a gentleman seated at the bar had sent it to him. The boys start riffing on Cody as he scans the bar and makes eye contact with a guy that’s built like an MMA fighter. He halfheartedly smiles and raises the glass towards the man before taking a sip.
"I'm gonna...go..bathroom." Cody slurs, standing and stumbling towards the back of the bar. He's about to walk down the hallway to the men’s room when the MMA fighter steps in front of him and puts a hand on his back.
"Hey," The man starts, and Cody blinks, frozen. "Did you like the gin and tonic? They're my favorite."
Cody nods and smiles brightly, too aware of the man touching him. "Yeah...I love gin...and tonics...thank you so much." His words stumble out of his mouth sloppily, the alcohol coursing through his veins taking full effect.
The man rubs circles into his back and Cody shoots a glance sideways towards his friends' table, hoping somebody's looking his way and can get him out of this dude's grasp before he pisses himself.
He makes eye contact with Noel, whose stare is unwavering as he takes a sip of his drink. He watches Cody, and as the man holding him bends down to his ear and whispers, "you want to get out of here?", Cody watches Noel avert his gaze. Cody puts his hands on the man’s chest and puts distance between them, "I'm sorry...my friends." and breaks away and slips off to the bathroom.
When he finishes peeing and yanks the door open, Noel is standing right outside the door, waiting for him. "Hey man, you ready to bounce?" Cody nods and throws an arm around his shoulder, allowing Noel to guide him through the bar and out onto the street, beginning their walk back to Noel's place.
Noel's got his arm wrapped around Cody's waist as they walk, holding the younger boy up. Noel angles his eyes downward and smirks, "somebody doesn't know how to handle their liquor." He teases.
Cody grumbles in response and ruffles Noel's hair, earning a "Hey, easy! This shit takes forever!" in return.
They walk in silence for a short while longer before Noel speaks again, "You were pretty popular tonight, you know that?" Cody laughs joyfully and his eyes squeeze shut as his whole body shakes against Noel.
"Of fucking course!" He half-yells to the empty street, "Only on vacation...nobody hits on me at home."
"Yes, they do. It's probably just not as obvious. People in LA can be...aggressive." Noel explains with a sigh.
"I guess that's a good thing, right?" Cody smirks and lets go of Noel as he regains some of his composure, "that I'm considered attractive in a city of beautiful people."
Noel scoffs at that and shakes his head. Cody notices and smiles playfully, "What?" he says, voice innocent. Noel stays silent and they continue their walk for a few moments without words.
Cody speaks up, "Tell me something about your life."
Noel catches his eye and chuckles, "Like what? Nothing is really interesting enough to know."
"I want to know everything about you, Noel". Cody offers, genuinely, and he understands that when Noel is caught off guard he tends to retreat inside his head, so it doesn't hurt his feelings when there's a long pause.
"You can ask me anything in the world." Noel replies, to which Cody simply hums and continues walking, with a pensive look on his face.
"There was so much I wanted to ask you," Cody starts, frustrated, "but now I can't remember." He lets out a childish grunt and curses. "There was so much that I wondered about."
Cody notices Noel's gait slowed for a moment, and he turned to look at his friend, who’s wearing his trademark smirk.
Dimples, Cody thinks.
Noel holds a sly expression as he cocks his head to the side, "What, you spend your free time thinking about me?" he questions, his tone playful.
"Lately, yes." Cody laughs, sheepishly, and combs his fingers through his locks. He's met with silence again, which was to be expected, plus Cody's blood alcohol content was high enough that he did not even skip a beat before jumping back into their previous topic.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Why?"
"Just answer, Noel." Cody sighs. "It's for the game."
"What game?"
"The game where whenever we want to know something about each other, we just ask right then and there and the other person answers, no thought, just your gut reaction." Cody explains.
Noel laughs, "Since when were we playing that game?"
"Since just right now, what's your favorite color?"
Noel's eyes roll and he wets his lips as he pretends to think, when Cody cuts him off. "No thinking about it, just answer, that means it's your true feelings." Noel laughs harder. "You sound like you're about to talk to me about my astrology or some shit." He rubs his face as his laugh dies down.
"Red. I'm going with my heart on this one. Final answer, red."
"What's something you're afraid of?"
Noel's eyes widen and he chuckles, "Um, probably like, heights, or spiders. Boring fears everybody has."
Cody looks to him as they walk. "What's a fear you have that not everybody has?"
"Big questions, there, Cody. You're going to have to smooth talk me before I spill my guts to you." Noel turns unexpectedly and approaches his apartment building, opening the door and stepping back to hold it open for Cody.
They enter the apartment and it's such a calming environment for Cody already, like his own little oasis in the middle of the craziest place he's ever been to. Noel throws him one of his hoodies and sweatpants and ignores the fact that Cody has an entire suitcase full of clothes.
Noel knocks softly on the door to the bathroom where Cody was changing, "Hey man, when you're done, come out on the balcony with me."
Cody plants himself in a shitty folding chair and watches as Noel pulls out a joint from a small wooden box and lets it hang between his lips as he roots around for a lighter. He pulls one out of his pocket and holds it up for Cody to see and winks, lighting up and smoothly exhaling a cloud of smoke.
He extends the joint out to Cody, who accepts it graciously and takes a hit. "You look so cool when you do it." Cody whispers, not wanting to be heard by the neighbors at 3:00 AM.
Noel smiles at him tiredly. Cody wasn't so drunk anymore, both of them just high and sleepy now, but neither made the move to retire to bed just yet.
They sit on the balcony smoking and whispering shit to each other until the sun comes up. Noel rubs his eyes and stands up. “I have to get ready for work in an hour. Man, today is really going to suck.” He laughs dejectedly and extends his hand to help Cody up. Cody reaches forward and lets Noel’s fingers wrap around his hand before he’s being pulled up.
”You can sleep in my bed since I’m just going to go to work. More comfortable than the couch.” Noel steps into the bathroom and turns the faucet on, grabbing his toothbrush.
Cody’s too tired from traveling and partying and smoking to even comprehend the other half of Noel’s sentence; he had him at ‘bed’.
He slips onto Noel’s mattress and pulls the covers up, facing away from the light shining from the bathroom, totally unaware of Noel’s eyes burning into his back.