Friends

ix. Phone Calls

translations at the end

Noodle stood in her room, incessantly fixing her hair or adjusting part of her outfit. She was nervous, to say the least.
'This is not a date, I shouldn't be nervous.' she scolded herself inwardly. 'He has a girlfriend, and you don't like him.' Noodle sighed and dropped her head in her hands.
'You don't like him. You don't like him.' she tried telling herself over and over.
Noodle composed herself, and stood in front of the mirror. She was wearing a pair of vintage high waisted jeans, an over-sized yellow tshirt with a black long sleeve shirt under it, and a pair of yellow converses. She looked her reflection in the eye.
"Kangaesuginaide," she told herself. "Kitto umaku ikuyo."
With those last words, Noodle gave herself a reassuring huff and exited her room.
*
"Yes, Janny, I'm sorry darlin' bu' I've got a really important thing I've gotta do t'day - no, I'm not jus' blowin' ya off- no, I'm not goin' off to shag some other burd behind ya back-" 2D was sitting on the red faux leather couch downstairs, holding his phone up to his ear to argue with his girlfriend.
Noodle crept down the stairs behind him, and stopped just around the corner to eavesdrop.
"Jan I'm sorry, we'll go t' the movies another nigh' I swear," he tried to promise, but the voice on the other end wasn't having it.
"I already told you, I'm goin' dress shopping wiff Noodle fo' her friend's wedding- yes, I told you about i'!"
Jannette's stubbornness was beginning to irritate 2D; he was reaching his wit's end.
"Please babe, jus' believe me."
There was a moment of silence before 2D let out a heavy relieved sigh.
"Thank you. I'll keep up wiff you t'day... Uh huh... Alright darlin', bye." he ended the conversation and violently pressed the 'end call' button, nearly throwing his phone across the room.
"Bloody burd thinks she's got control over me life," he mumbled angrily to himself.
"Sounds like she needs a talking to," came Noodle's voice from behind him. 2D spun around, not knowing what to expect, but then smiled when he saw his lovely friend behind him.
"Oh, Noodle! Sorry ya had t' hear tha', heheh." He scratched the back of his head. "She can be a bit of a pain sometimes,"
Noodle nodded. "Itchi shimasu." she said. "I told you, Toochi. I don't like her." 2D shrugged his shoulders. The air was awkward, and he felt that he needed to direct the conversation away from his girlfriend before feelings got involved.
"Are ya ready t' head out?" 2D asked, and gestured to the door. Noodle smiled and nodded, giving 2D butterflies as he smiled back.
'Damn that smile,' he cursed in his mind.
2D opened the door for Noodle, and followed her out as he closed it behind himself.
"Do Russ and Mudz know were leavin'?" he asked, suddenly realizing the two would assume the worst if they woke up and found the two of them no where.
"Hai. I texted Papa this morning and told him where we were going, so he knows. He'll tell Murdoc-san if he gets too curious, which I doubt."
Noodle stopped at in front of the Stylo, turning to face 2D and raising her eyebrow.
"Wha'?" he said with a paranoid hint to his voice, causing him to raise his hands to his chest insecurely. "'Ave I got somefin' on me face?" Noodle giggled and covered her mouth with one of her hands, earning a smile back from 2D.
"Iie, I was just wondering... who is driving?"
2D immediately made a b-line for the driver's seat and threw himself in to it, fastening the seat belt as well.
"Luv you know I would never let ya drive."
Noodle pouted as she sat in the passenger seat next to 2D and mumbled something in Japanese.
"What was fat Noodz?" 2D teased, smirking as he backed up and began their day.
"I saaaid, do you even know where we're going?"
2D shrugged. "I figured ya'd tell me where t' go as we went. Yer usually pretty good abou' directions 'n stuff."
Noodle chuckled and leaned the side of her head on the window.
"Just drive like you are going to ASDA, and then take a left. It should be five minutes from the turn, the store is called 'Lulu's'." she directed him as she gazed out the window at the passing trees and rural landscape. 2D nodded his silent affirmation. He dared a sideways glance out of the corner of his eye at his companion and felt his heart melt.
'She looks so peaceful,' he thought to himself, returning his focus back on the road.
The two drove in silence for several more minutes before 2D's phone began to ring.
"It's Jannette," Noodle said monotonously, holding up his phone.
"Shit," 2D grumbled. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. 'Not now you blonde!' "Put i' on speaker fo' me, luv." Noodle complied and held the phone close to his face.
"'Ello Jan," 2D greeted, curling his lip. Noodle held a hand over her mouth to keep herself from giggling. This caused 2D to smirk.
"Hey baby, I was just calling to make sure everything was alright!" the voice on the other end said.
'We li'erally jus' got off the telly twenty minutes ago...' 2D bit back his annoyed comment to try to give a more pleasant one.
"Yes da'lin', everythin' is fine."
"Good, good, I'm glad. It's just that I know you didn't want to go, so I was just calling to see if anything had changed or if
you could make it tonight-"
'Fuckin' A, Jannette.' 2D cursed at his girlfriend's words as he felt the air in the car grow heavy with tension. He glanced at Noodle again, who had her back to him and was facing out the window. If not for the reflection of her face, he would not have seen the hurt expression she wore.
"I-I don' know wha' you're talkin' abou', luv. You know I've been excited abou' this for a while," 2D tried to subtly hint to Noodle that he actually had been looking forward to this, that Jannette was just being a jealous girlfriend and she had nothing to worry about, but the vibes coming off of her didn't change.
"I've gotta go anyway, Jan. Traffic's bad 'n I don' wan' t' worry Noodle. Have a good day, luv," 2D hung up the phone before she could say anything else to further upset his partner.
The car was silent, save the radio, for another five minutes before Noodle spoke up.
"Ē to, Stu, you do not have to do this with me today-"
"No Noodz! I really do wan' to," 2D cut Noodle off mid sentence, causing her to recoil.
"Sorry- sorry, I'm sorry. It's jus'- Jannette gets a li'l crazy at times," he began to try to explain. "She's been wantin' to go to see the new Ben Affleck movie tha' came out, so I told her I'd take 'er t' see it, bu' then you asked if I wanted t' go shoppin' wiff you 'n I been lookin' forward to this since you asked me abou' the wedding-"
"Hontou?" This time it was Noodle who interrupted 2D. At this moment, they had reached a stop sign. 2D looked over at Noodle's face as the car was stopped, and studied her expression. Her dark green eyes glittered ever so slightly with hope, cheeks were tinted a rosy pink, and lips were parted a centimeter. 2D's breath hitched in his throat as he noticed every detail about her face, before snapping his head back face forward so he could continue driving.
"Y-yeah, I mean yeah, why not?"
Unbeknownst to him, Noodle was glowing over at 2D with the widest smile she had worn in a while.

kangaesuginaide - don't think too hard
kitto umaku ikuyo- it will be okay
itchi shimasu- i agree
hai- yes
iie- no
ASDA- UK equivalent of Walmart (not japanese but it's helpful to know lol)
ē to- you know
hontou- really(?)

A/N: a little shorter than usual sorry y'all! it just felt right to start and end where I did :-) regardless I hope you enjoyed! Please comment any thoughts/vote it means a lot!