Stay With Me

“Rhi, is that you?” Noah called as I slammed the front door.

“Who else would it be?” I called back dumping my bag on the floor and kicking off my shoes.

“Someone’s snappy tonight.” He laughed throwing me a beer.

“You would be too if you had to design five shirts by Friday for a band you only met today.” I replied plopping down on the couch. Noah opened his mouth to reply but I cut him off by holding my hand up. “I know what you’re going to say. Just save it, okay?”

“In that case, I’ll just cook myself dinner then.”

“What?” I asked cracking open my can.

“I was going to ask what you wanted for dinner, but never mind then.” He sighed and turned toward the kitchen.

“Wait!” I called after him, jumping up from my spot on the couch. “I want pizza,” I whined giving him my best puppy dog face.

“Don’t do that. You know I can’t say no to that face!”

“Exactly,” I grinned triumphantly.

“You’re evil,” Noah glared at me before turning and walking into the kitchen. I followed behind him quickly to make sure he was actually going to call for pizza. “What type do you want?”

“Pepperoni!” He grabbed the phone off its stand and dialled the number for the local pizza place.

Within 10 minutes we were lounging in front of the TV, drinking beer and eating our pizza. Noah had some movie playing but I wasn’t really paying all that much attention. My brain would not stop, all I was thinking about was the designs and how the deadline for the 5 shirts was Friday. All that was going through my mind was work, work and work.

“You seem distracted,” Noah stated, pausing the movie. I hadn’t even noticed but we’d already eaten the whole pizza and drunk a 6 pack.

“Hmmm?”

“I said, you seem distracted,” He repeated.

“Oh, yeah,” I replied. “I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“Work,” I shrugged.

“Well, you need to stop thinking about work for once. Every day you come home from the office and you’re just like some sort of zombie,” Noah scolded as he turned to sit facing me on the couch. “You need to let loose, live a little.”

“C’mon No, you know I can’t.”

“Yes, you can and you’re going to!” He said as he stood up from his place on the couch and pulled me up with him.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going out,” Noah grinned as he dragged me up the stairs. “Now, go and shower and get changed.” He pushed me toward my bedroom and disappeared into his.

With a sigh I opened the door to my room and headed toward my bathroom. I took my time in the shower in the hopes that it would make tonight go faster; except I didn’t think that would happen. With a sigh I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower; now to find clothes. Oh, joy. Eventually I decided on a pair of skinny jeans, a purple strapless top, black heels and my favourite blazer. Noah was already waiting downstairs when I emerged from my room.

“Finally! Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright,” I sighed locking the door behind me as we made our way down the driveway. “You called a taxi?”

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m not drinking tonight,” Noah shrugged and pulled me into the cab. Noah rattled off the address to club we were going to as the driver pulled out of our driveway.

Thankfully wherever Noah was taking me was an all ages club, otherwise there was no way I’d be getting in tonight. I’m pretty sure I’m the only 19 year old girl in the whole of the US that didn’t have a fake ID. It was mostly because I wasn’t that much of a drinker, especially since our parents were killed by a drunk driver. Ever since that night I always worried about Noah when he went out drinking, most nights were sleepless because he wasn’t home and I didn’t know where he was. Eventually Noah realised that his partying was affecting me, so one night he just stopped. He stayed home and we spent the night curled up on the couch watching old family videos and remembering all the things we loved about our parents.

“Rhi, we’re here,” Noah said waving his hand in front of my face.

“Sorry, I zoned out,” I forced a smile and got out of the cab.

“I noticed, what’s wrong?” He asked stopping me before we got to the front door of the club.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” I sighed. Noah just stood there and stared at me waiting for me to give him the real answer. “Fine, fine, stop looking at me like that. I was thinking about Mom and Dad.”

“Oh, Rhi, come here,” Noah stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. “I can stay sober tonight if you want. I don’t have to drink if you don’t want me to.”

“No, it’s okay. Let’s go inside,” I smiled pulling away and dragging him to the door of the club. The music was so loud when we stepped through the door that I could feel it vibrating through my whole body. The place was packed.

“Grab a table, I’ll get drinks.”

“Orange juice please,” I replied and weaved my way through the mass of bodies in search of a table. I finally found one beside the bar in the back corner of the club where it was a little quieter. I waved Noah over when I saw that he was done at the bar.

“Your orange juice,” He grinned and placed it on the table in front of me.

“Why, thank you,” I grinned back. “Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“You know I love you, right?” I asked staring at my juice.

“Yeah, I love you too. Why do you ask?”

“No reason, I just can’t remember the last time I told you,” I shrugged taking a sip of my drink. “Is there vodka in this?”

“Maybe,” he chuckled. “I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” I said downing my drink. “Can you get me another?” Noah nodded and kissed my forehead before wandering off. I sat staring off into space waiting for Noah to come back.

“Is this seat taken?” A voice asked from behind me bringing me back to reality.

“Not at all,” I grinned recognising who it was. “Take a seat.”