Technicolor Daze [Currently Being Edited]

twenty-seven.

Sunday, May 25th, 2014

The spot where Noah had been sleeping was empty when Theo woke up. After they arrived at Noah's the previous night, Noah wanted to drink a beer and smoke some cigarettes, hoping to drown the thoughts that were leaving him anxious. Theo had wanted to ask about the dream, but decided against it, seeing how Noah looked on edge. They went straight to bed once Noah had finished his beer.

Theo checked the time on his phone and saw that it was half-past nine. Where's Noah? He thought as he looked around in confusion. He got up with the sudden urge to pee and walked to the living room as he headed to the bathroom. As he crossed the living room, he noticed Noah smoking on the balcony. He went to the bathroom first before joining Noah on the balcony.

"Good morning," he said as he stood by the doorframe.

Noah turned around to look at Theo, "Mornin'."

"Have you been up long?" Theo asked. He noticed Noah was smoking a cigarette from his packet.

"Not too long. Just a few minutes before you. I bummed one of your cigarettes, by the way. I was all out of mine," Noah raised the cigarette to his lips to take a puff.

"That's fine," Theo didn't like smoking before having something to eat, so he just watched as Noah finished his cigarette, "Why are you up so early?"

Noah looked away as he took one last puff, before stubbing his cigarette out. He avoided looking at Theo when he answered. "I have a photoshoot at eleven," he said before exhaling the smoke.

Theo could tell by the way Noah's shoulders tensed up and by the slight shake in his hands that there was more to the story than Noah was letting Theo know. But he also didn't see the point in forcing Noah to talk about it if he didn't want to. 

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll be free all day so if you're free after the shoot, you can always come over," Theo offered. Whatever Noah was going through, he wanted to be the person who was there for him when Noah needed someone.

Noah looked at Theo, a conflicted expression on his face. It seemed like all he wanted to do was to stay with Theo, but underneath that strong desire was a hidden emotion that Theo couldn't quite read. It looked like a mixture of fear and guilt. He ended up nodding at Theo's invitation and saying, "I should start getting ready. I have to leave soon if I want to be there on time."

"Okay. I'll just have a shower and head out then if that's okay," Theo could tell that Noah wanted to be alone at that moment so he was going to give him space.

"Sure, you can go first. Could I bum another cigarette? I'll get you a pack to make up for all the cigarettes from yesterday and today," Noah said as he played with his fingers.

"It's fine. Take as many as you need. Do you have a towel by the way?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec," Noah walked into his room and grabbed a towel before joining Theo on the balcony again, "here you go."

"Thanks. I won't be long," Theo grabbed the towel and headed into the bathroom.

As he showered, he couldn't help but wonder what was going through Noah's mind. What was he actually going to do that day? Why were his hands shaking? Why was he chain-smoking? What did the text message he got on Friday night say?

Sadly, he didn't have the answer to any of those questions.

After rinsing his body and drying himself off, he headed out the bathroom and back into Noah's room, where he got dressed. He noticed Noah had left a pair of briefs on the bed for him, so he put those on before wearing the same clothes he'd worn the previous night. Noah was still smoking on the balcony once he was dressed.