𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚊𝚢 𝙳𝚒𝚎 | The Goonies

Chapter Fourteen | Lies

After a little searching she managed to locate the towels and threw two in the general direction of the sofa.

"If you want any popcorn, you should help clean that up," she called, and went back into the kitchen, not bothering to look whether they'd followed her advice - the exclaimed insults were replaced with more normal levels of speech, but she couldn't hear what they were saying, so she assumed they had.

When she brought two bowls of popcorn back into the room, the towels had been lumped in a pile next to the sofa and they were talking in hushed tones. When they heard her footsteps they looked up; she could recognise their guilty expressions well enough. After a quick scan of the room to make sure nothing was broken, she shrugged it off, and when Mikey walked back in the discomfort vanished as if it had never been there.

Maybe I was just imagining things, she thought to herself, and settled down on the far side of the sofa.

Mouth came and sat down next to her as Chunk put a DVD in - they were only talking about what DVD to watch, I bet - and when she didn't acknowledge him he leaned towards her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

She turned to look at him, confused. "Of course. Why?"

He shrugged as he settled into his seat, his thigh bumping hers and staying there. "I just wanted to make sure."

She eyed him bemusedly as the start-credits began, then turned her attention to the film. Top Gun - it would forever be a classic. She sent an approving smile at Chunk, and he beamed at her.

About three quarters the way through the movie, there was a knock on the door.

All five of their heads snapped around to stare at it, and then they all leapt to their feet, making for the kitchen, as they had discussed.

"Wait," Mikey whispered, pausing to listen over the noise of the TV, "I hear keys."

They stopped, and when the door swung open it revealed only Brand, who lugged a bright pink suitcase through the door.

"What are you all staring at?" He asked defensively, thinking they were looking at the suitcase. "I swear it's Andy's."

"Whipped," Chunk muttered, though the remark was empty of smugness, as if it had been automatic.

"Who wants pizza?" Mikey asked, breaking the silence. They all nodded.

Lacey, adrenaline pumping through her veins from the unexpected intrusion, went out onto the veranda to greet Stef and Andy, and see if they wanted help with their bags.

"I think we're good," Stef said as she shut the door of Brand's old ##. "How is everyone?"

"We're okay. It gave us a fright when Brand came in," Lacey smiled thinly. "I think we all forgot you were coming back today. Or were just on edge."

"We all are," Andy said, swapping a bag into her other hand so she could take Lacey's hand and squeeze it. "But we're going to stick together, right?"

"We'll make it through," Stef added as she made towards the house.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to be sitting next to the phone all night, so we'll be fine," Andy said.

Lacey didn't find that reassuring at all - it was just confirmation that Andy was feeling the pressure too - but she just shrugged and gestures to the house. "After you, then."

When she got back she half-expected her spot to be taken already with the three extra people in the room, but she found that Mouth had stretched out across the space. As soon as he saw her, he straightened up and patted her spot in a clear signal.