Under Control.

chapter ten.

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No one had actually been expecting for Nora to show up to the party, let alone the party after the party.

Everyone had been letting her quietly do her own thing until she was feeling back up to the cacophony again. Fab had made her a funny little sculpture to hang in her weird fishbowl dining room and dropped it off with one of his very many excuses to have lunch; Albert had taken to popping up at random times just to say hi, or for a break, or to offer her some trouble — just in case she was in need of any. And Julian had been positively saintly with patience all the while, even though he had been absolutely desperate to hear what Nora thought of the demos ever since he'd left the CD at her place, last week.

So, the omni-present hum inside of himself that was shaped just like her and all of the feelings he can't yet name considered, when Nora does finally turn up, Julian is the first one to notice. Because, of course he is.

She's looking lighter again, he thinks. More sunshine, less dark clouds.

Nora walks right up to him, and Julian can't tell if it's because they've made eye-contact, or if she meant it that way all along. But either way, the room parts like the red sea to make way for her, and she's smiling. Not only that, but she's smiling at him. And so at some point, because he can't help it, Julian starts smiling too.

'Hey,' he says, sounding casual, even though there's something about being too close to her that knocks him off balance. 'You want a drink?'

'Uh, yeah. Yeah, thanks,' she answers him cheerily and then, like nothing was ever the matter and no time has past between them, she's following him into the kitchen.

There's something like a sense of deja vu about it all, but Julian was trying not to think too much about that.

'Yeah, somewhere.' The rest of the thought dies on his tongue — you look happy, he wants to say. It suits you — how do I make it stay? 'You got good news or something?'

'Fab around?' She queries nonchalantly between sips of the beer he's just handed her, but Julian can tell there's something more she's not saying.

'Yeah, somewhere.' The rest of his thought dies on his tongue, though. You look happy, he wants to say. It suits you — how do I make it stay?

'You got good news or something?'

'Kinda, yeah,' There's a moment then where Nora stops to think, but before too long she's bubbling over, and it's all Julian can do to keep up. 'My boss — she found out about the show. Or, I'd been planning this underground exhibition thing,' Julian nods — he knows about this. 'Yeah, well, she found out. And for some reason, she wants me to run it as, like, a legit thing out of a satellite gallery downtown.'

Nora finishes and her eyes are wide. She's buzzing. Julian has never seen her like this, and, he thinks, it's a good thing, too. Because Nora like this? All sunshine and wonder? It's intoxicating.

'That's fuckin' cool, man.' He says, and he means it. 'I mean — that's a good thing, right? Because you kind of look like you're happy about it.'

Nora beams, and so Julian does as well.

'Yeah, I think it is.' There's still the waver of a question in her voice, but for the most part, she's happy. And so they stay like that for a minute — just quiet and happy and at ease, together — and then Nora looks at Julian just so, and before he can help it, his heart is doing that thing it does around her, again.

'Jules?' Nora's voice sounds to him now like her face had looked to him in the steamy heat of his car all those afternoons ago. Julian doesn't say anything, can't — doesn't trust himself enough to try at sounds, just yet. His head is fuzzy and it's mostly from the beer, but it's a bit from Nora, too. And so he just tilts his head and grins at her in response, and then he waits.