Under Control.

chapter forty six.

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When it rains, it pours. And when it rains inside Nora's apartment, it floods.

She's fairly sure it all has something to do with her untoward neighbours setting off the sprinkler system. But, she doesn't want to say that to Julian, who she knows hates her place and her building and her neighbours, too. And she doesn't want to say it to Cat, who agrees with him, or to Albert, who thought it all first. So instead, she tells Fab.

She calls him in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday and asks him to help her get her wrecked furniture out onto the street. And, he does. And he brings sushi and he doesn't ask questions and they have a nice time, all things considered, on an otherwise terrible day.

Or, almost they do.

'I thought you would have moved in with Jules by now.' Fab says it out of nowhere, chopsticks halfway to his mouth, and he sees Nora flinch at the mention of it which he takes the wrong way. 'Not, like — having your own space is cool, I get that. You two seem like you're in a good place. Why fuck with it? Makes sense — smart.'

'No, no,' Nora smiles, and it's a sad little grimace that she can't help. 'It's not like that. He just hasn't asked — and he doesn't have to, it's fine. But, that's why.'

Fab is surprised, and so much so that he basically can't hide it. Because, he knows for a fact that Julian has been meaning to ask Nora to move in with him. And up until just now, he'd thought that he had. Fabrizio had assumed, like everyone, that Jules had asked Nora, but that she'd said no. And all of those realisations and some nervousness aside are written across Fab's ruminating face, and Nora can see it.

'It's not a big deal,' Nora doesn't want this to turn into something, because the truth is that things between her and Julian right now are good. And as well as that, she assumes that Julian has his reasons, so, she hasn't brought it up. And she doesn't want anyone else to bring it up, either. 'Things are good, right now. Really good. I'm happy, I think he's happy—'

'He is.' Fab cuts Nora off then, because he needs her to know. 'He is happy, Nora.'

With Nora, Julian is happy. He is different and he's good because he wants to be, and everyone can see it. None of them quite understand how the two of them managed to find their way back to each other, but they're all so glad that they did, because everything's been a disaster of late but it's a thrill too, and Nora is in the eye of it with them.

'He loves you so fuckin' much.'

Fab takes a sip of beer and relaxes back onto Nora's bare floor, eyeing her all the while. They love her — they all do. But still, they love Julian more. And despite everything, they want good things for him most of all.

'I know that,'

And Nora knows that, too. But she loves Julian more than she even knew it was possible to love another person. And so beyond everything, it's him that matters to her more than any of the rest of them.

'I love him, too.'

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'You asked her yet?'

Albert has been chain-smoking for hours, partly out of spite, because no one will let him escape outside and his fingertips are bleeding and they've all been cooped up in their rehearsal space for so long now that he's lost track of time. And so, naturally — and partly for his own amusement — Al decides to take his frustrations out on Julian.

'What?' Julian is fraying at the edges, so stressed that he doesn't even know what he's stressed about anymore, and the look on his face as he turns to Albert is pure darkness, even if just for a flash. 'Who?'