comfort {complete}

12

"Noah!"

Lois and I are sitting on the steps outside of the school; she's smoking, I'm writing rapidly and grammatically-incorrectly on my phone. The cigarette is dangling between two fingers now as she stands and waves wildly to a tall dark-haired boy.

"Lois!" he exclaims, just as happily.

"OMG," she begins, pulling him down on the step in between us. He smiles warmly at me but doesn't try to shake my hand or anything, thank God. "So this is my new bestie, Stephanie from Full House, except her hair is disappointingly brown."

"I'm sorry," I tell her genuinely.

"I bet." She hooks her arm through Noah's and squeals. "Goodness, bro, you've missed so much. Mom stopped screwing that guy from her office."

"Oh, good."

"Yep, and Dad's employed again."

"Better."

"Yeah, so we've been great without you, you can leave."

They're looking at each other, smilingly, both waiting to see if she'll say "JK" and pull him to her car. She does, eventually, and takes me, too. She tells her brother to go ahead of us, then grabs my hand as we walk and says, "You okay with him? I know it's kinda rough for you and boys..."

"It's fine," I assure her, smiling to reinforce just how fine it is.

She stares at me like she doesn't believe me but she smiles when she sees Noah, and all's forgiven.

a/n: unedited but whatever.