August in the Fall (A "Lab Partners" Fanfiction) *COMPLETED*

Fall

"I'm home!" I called as I stepped through the front door. Shutting the door behind me, I put my house key on the hook beside the door, and took off my shoes. Exhaling, I threw my bag down and the couch, then plopped down next to it. The soccer drills were never ending today. After running the laps that  Biest told me to, I had jogged up towards the team. It seemed that because I was late, Biest was going to punish the whole team. He made is run twice as hard, practice defense until it was,as he said,  "Damn near perfect." Then, there was the scrimmages. The scrimmages. My bones had never hurt so bad. I closed my eyes and lifted my head towards the ceiling. 

I felt the couch sink beside me, and I opened my eyes to see Jordan smiling at me. "Hey there, Noah." He greeted. "Soccer rough again?" He asked. I didn't answer him. Jordan chuckled. "I'm taking your vow of silence as a hard yes." I didn't answer him.  He put his hand in my shoulder and sighed. "You'll pull through, Noah. You always do." With that, he stood up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen. "Your Dad should be home from work soon." He said, opening one of the cupboards. "What do you want for dinner?"

I sat up, and leaned over to my backpack, rummaging through it for my phone. "I dunno." I muttered. I pulled out my phone from its side pocket. "Lemon chicken?" Cupboard doors creaked open and slammed closed. 

"Shoot.." Jordan whispered. "Sorry kiddo." He paused. "We're fresh out of lemon juice. I could go down to the store and pick up some up, but dinner will be late." I turned on my phone, and strolled through Tumblr for something to take my mind off soccer. Biest ran us hard. Flynn judged every move I made and even tripped me when I tried to pass the ball to one of the other players. To top it all off, August was there. I don't even care about what Flynn did. It's the fact that August was there that set me on edge. I had tried extra hard to seem impressive. Did he think I was impressive? He probably wasn't even watching.. Maybe I was overthinking things. Maybe my anxiety was making another unwanted appearance. Whatever the case, I was freaking out. When Nick gets home, I'll have to- "Noah?" Dad asked, touching my hand. I hadn't even realized that he had been in front of me.

I looked at my phone. The screen was black. It took me a moment to realize that my phone had died in my hands. I gasped and looked at Jordan. "I'm fine!" I told him. Grabbing my bag, I stood up and slung it over my shoulder. "I just got caught up in my own thoughts. I think it's be best if I, uh, go take a shower." Dad looked at me skeptically,  but nodded.  

"Alright..." He said quietly as I walked past him. Then, as I shut my bedroom door behind me, he called, "I'm just going to go to the store and pick up the lemon juice for the dinner you wanted. I'll be back in fifteen minutes!" I yelled back that I understood, and set my bag in the middle of my bedroom floor. Leaving it there, I went over to the outlet by my bed, and plugged my phone in to the ckharger closest to my bed. Nick was probably hanging out with Damien again. I estimated I had the room to myself for another two hours before he came in. Sighing, I got up and gathered my clothes, going into the bathroom for my shower. 

Shutting the bathroom door, I stripped of my clothes, and turned on the hot water. Once it was to my liking, I stepped inside. The warm water ran over my face, and I felt myself beginning to relax. I exhaled, and put my head deeper into the water. Soccer... Flynn... August... I couldn't stop thinking. Did August really see Flynn tormenting me? Did Flynn know that August was there? Was he really there to begin with? I can't be having a panic attack now. Nick was normally the only one to help me get through my attacks. My Dads didn't know about them. I focused on my breathing for a few seconds more, then switched off the shower. I stepped out, and dried myself off, putting in my clothes. 

I headed off to my room, towel still in my hand. Sitting on my bed, I set down the towel, and picked up my phone from the nightstand. Turing on the screen, I looked at the battery.  It had a little juice now. What I also noticed, was I had a text message from a number I didn't know.