Stuck in the in-between.

The Pre-Game.

"It's causal babe," I said reapplying my mascara and peeping my head around the doorway into the bedroom where he was taking off his tie"

"I know that," he said not knowing I was looking at him. I shook my head and chuckled a little. I put down my mascara and fixed my hair a little. I took a step back to look at my outfit one last time. I was wearing a light pinkish purple flowy romper that hugged all the right places. I wore brown wedges. I grabbed my gold hoop earrings and walked out of the bathroom shutting the light.

"Stupid shoe, no no stupid foot," Noah said trying to cram his foot into his shoe. I looked at him and instantly felt terrible.

"Here," I said squatting down. "It's just the wrong foot," I said looking up at him as I switched his shoe to the right foot.

"We don't have to go if you're uncomfortable or nervous," I said standing up.

"No I'm fine," Noah said standing up and looking at my outfit.

"You look amazing," he said biting his lip. " Do a little turn" he said smiling.

"Would you stop, we are going to be late," I said turning around and walking out the bedroom and grabbing my purse. Noah grabbed the keys and we walked out the front door and locked the door behind us.

~

"1905, right there," I said pointing to a tiny little house on the left-hand side. Noah pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. He turned off the car and looked at me.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" I said looking into his crystal blue eyes. "We can say that I got sick or that the dog went missing"

"We don't have a dog." He said raising an eyebrow.

"They don't know that," I said smiling at him.

"Babe it will be fine, if it makes you feel better we'll only stay an hour or so." He said putting his hand on my thigh.

"Ok, I love you," I said closing my eyes and smiling.

"Hey," he said lifting my head. I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"It will be fine," he said leaning in for a kiss. I leaned in to kiss him back. My forehead rested on his forehead.

"I love you too, let's go," he said opening his door. He walked around to my side of the door and opened it for me. We walked up to their front door and rang the doorbell. Spanky their dog was barking up a storm. I looked at Noah.

"That's Spanky, he's actually very cute," I said turning back around to face the door. We could hear the lock of the door turn and then it opened. A.J's dad was the one to open it.

"Victoria!!" He said smiling. "Come in, come in," he said motioning for me to come inside the house. He hugged me and took a step back to look at me " You look great!" He said looking up at Noah.

"Thank you, Andrew," I said smiling at him and lifting my bag up over my shoulder.

"Noah, right?" Andrew said putting out his hand for a handshake.

"Yes sir," Noah said grabbing his hand firmly and shaking it.

"You look like you're into, football," Andrew said to Noah letting go of his hand.

"Yes sir played every year until I tore my ACL in college," Noah said putting his hand on my waist.

"Tough injury but good man," Andrew said. "Well come on the misses is probably waiting for us." We walked into the kitchen where Jeniffer, A.J's mom was putting the final few garnishes on the plate. She turned around when she heard our heavy footsteps coming towards her.

"There she is!" She said reaching out to hug me. I hugged her back and smiled. "Oh and Noah such a handsome man" letting go of me and reaching out to hug him.

"Everything smells so great," Noah said hugging her back.

"I made Victoria favorite," she said looking at me. "Rolled Chicken and potatoes."

"Aw you didn't have to do that," I said looking at all the food she had prepared for us.

"Well A.J reminded me that it was your favorite so it felt appropriate," she said grabbing the dishes with the food.

"Please come sit, let's go eat before all this food gets cold," she said walking into the dining room. I looked at Noah and raised an eyebrow. We grabbed the few extra things off the counter and followed her into the dining room.

"A.J come on down they are here" Jeniffer yelled up the stairs. "He's been super focused on school, he's been doing online classes for now and then he'll transfer into Mercy this fall.

"Victoria that's where you went right?"Andrew said and I sat down next to Noah.

"Um yes, I did for my undergrad."

"I remember A.J telling me how nice it was when you two were still......well you know and then I brought it up to him when he was looking for schools. He figured he'd get a head start to make up for the lost time."

"It's a great school," I said pushing my hair behind my ears.

"Did you go there to Noah?" Andrew asked.

"No, actually I graduated from Stanford," Noah said taking a sip of his water.

"Stanford!" both Andrew and Jeniffer said in perfect harmony.

"Yeah, I was a biology major too. Just like Victoria. Eventually I switched majors, but luckily met Victoria before I did." Noah said looking at me with a smile. We heard a voice echoing from the stairwell.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just finishing a test," A.J said shuffling down the steps. He turned into the dining room and we immediately locked eyes. His jaw dropped just a little to not make it noticeable, but I knew that look.

"Glad you could join us," Jeniffer said motioning him to sit down.

"Let's eat!" Andrew said filling up his plate with food. A.J walked over to where Noah and I were sitting.

"A.J," he said putting out his hand to shake Noahs

"Noah," Noah said standing up and shaking his hand. I looked up at both of them and then back down at my plate. This was gonna be some night.