A Mighty Need

The world began to right itself again in Audrey’s eyes after the initial call to Noel on Friday night. They didn’t talk for too long because both were exhausted; Audrey needed to head to sleep after the long day she’d had and Noel needed to head back to sleep because he’d only gone to bed less than four hours before the phone call. The next morning, Audrey was in a more chipper mood as she ordered room service for breakfast, calling up to Austin’s room for him to come join her. He seemed to pick up on the mood change and asked if she was high. She evaded answering at first, but then simply replied with having talked to Noel the night before. In midst of eating their food, her cell phone rang and saw that it was Noel calling. She answered it immediately and excused herself from the cottage’s small kitchen and stepped into the bedroom to talk to him in private.

It was just after seven at night for him while it was just after eleven in the morning for her. His day was nearing its close and hers was just beginning.

“It’s morning still for you, right?” he inquired.

“For the next forty-five minutes, anyway.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Better than I have in a while.”

“Same here.”

Audrey smiled and sat down on the bed. “What’d you do today?”

“Nothing really. Painted a little, went to lunch with my mum who sends her love and then did a bit of shopping.”

“Clothing or food?”

Noel smirked. “Both.”

“How did I guess?” Audrey snickered and played with the hem of her tank top. They exchanged further small talk and pleasantries for the next twenty minutes before they got to the meat of the conversation.

“You said you’re flying back to Philadelphia tomorrow, right? I can’t remember if that’s what you’d said. I was a bit tired when you called.”

“Yeah, sorry about that again.”

“Don’t be sorry about calling me, not ever.”

“Yeah,” she responded. “Our flight leaves LAX at ten-thirty tomorrow morning, local time. We won’t get in until after nine at night.”

“Where’s your layover?”

“Chicago.”

“Well, I still want you to call when you get in; when you land and when you get to the parking garage of your building,” he reiterated from the night before. “I want to know you got in safely.”

“I know. I will.”

“Good.”

A short while thereafter, Noel and Audrey’s phone call ended with casual goodbyes but also with exchanges of ‘I love you’, which was so wonderful to hear once again. Because it was her last full day in LA until August when What Girls Do wrapped filming with a wrap party she had already been invited to, Audrey decided she was going to hit the beach. Audrey changed into a bikini and was immediately self-conscious about it because it was the first time she had ever worn one. Her body was finally where she was happy with it but she was not used to not having her stomach completely covered. She wore a small sun dress over the bikini and a pair of sandals on her feet. After donning a pair of sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, Audrey had Austin call for a car to drive them to the beach in Santa Monica. They brought towels from the hotel and carried them to the beach after they were dropped off. They set the towels down on the hot sand and squinted from the sun despite the sunglasses on their feet.

Because they had no way to safely leave their cell phones lying around while they both headed into the water, they chose to take turns and watch each other’s belongings. Austin took a dip first; going out far enough to lose his footing and be knocked over by a smallish wave about to lap at the shore. Audrey took his picture as he walked back toward her and sent it to their mother’s cell phone to let both their parents know all was going well and would be heading home the following day.

Nearly thirty-three years old and, no matter how far or how long Audrey went away, her parents still liked to keep tabs to make sure she was safe and doing okay.

Austin took over at their towels, taking Audrey’s phone with her as she stood up and took her sun dress off but left the sandals on because she knew very well that the sand was hotter than Hades. She sauntered up to the water’s edge and dipped her toes in and smiled, realizing the water didn’t feel ice cold. Beaches on the northern half of the US seemed to still maintain a cooler temp on the shoreline, no matter the time of year. Maybe it was because Los Angeles was lower end, since Audrey had no problem walking right into the awaiting water. There was still an element of coolness. It was the ocean after all. At one point, while wading in the water at waist-level she saw a tiny jellyfish floating around a few feet away and she squealed, thrashing away from it. Audrey looked back at Austin who looked busy with his phone and she smirked before dropping her entire body quickly under the surface of the water; popping back up a moment after.

Pushing her wet hair back off her face, Audrey walked back out of the water and back toward Austin and her towel. They had both applied plenty of sunscreen before leaving Chateau Marmont but Audrey sensed she would still find sunburned areas on her skin by the end of the day. It always happened to her, every summer, no matter what she did or how carefully she thought she applied protection to her skin. She was naturally fair-skinned so she burned easily. Lying out in the sun the way they were, she could feel her skin getting warmer and warmer. When she sensed it was getting to be a bit much, Audrey turned to Austin and suggested they head up to the pier and grab some lunch.

They stood up and shook out their towels. Audrey put her sun dress back on and they carried their things up to the pier. When they saw there was a store called Pier Gear that sold beach towels, they mentally smacked their heads. Audrey ducked in to buy a bag so they could put their hotel towels before they sat down at a table and bought some food from the Harbor Grill, two shops over. After eating, they ducked into The Coffee Bean. Audrey ordered herself a Pure Vanilla Ice Blended drink while Austin ordered an Iced White Chocolate Latte. They walked around afterward, playing a few games you’d typically find at a carnival and riding the Ferris wheel.

By late afternoon, Austin called for car service again to take them back to the hotel. Again, since it was their last full day, and because Audrey was in such an improved mood, she wanted to make the rest of it. She went back to the cottage to shower while Austin went up to his hotel room to do the same; them meeting in the hotel lobby shortly after. They grabbed a car back toward Paramount Studios but instead went to Hollywood Forever Cemetery located just behind the studios. They acted like complete tourists, taking photos of the headstones of dead celebrities, like Douglas Fairbanks as well as Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone. From there, they had the hired car drop them off along Hollywood Boulevard where they walked the Walk of Fame, past the Kodak Theatre and the Hard Rock Café. They stopped at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre; tired from the day already.

That night they headed back to the hotel, grabbing dinner at Bar Marmont before packing up their shit for when they left the next morning. Austin rejoined his sister in the cottage where they watched a movie in the living room before he once again went back to his room for the night. Audrey sent off a goodnight text to Noel when she was turning in for the night, knowing not to bother him again with an actual call. It would’ve been early Sunday morning for him and she didn’t want to wake him out of a deep sleep two days in a row.

Settling back into bed with the covers pushed down and only the bed sheet wrapped around her, Audrey peered into the darkness of the bedroom and let her mind wander. She thought over the events of the last month and how happy she was that June was coming to a close.

She couldn’t wait for July, so she could start fresh.



On Sunday morning, Audrey and Austin used the hotel’s chauffeur service to take them to LAX. The driver pulled up to Terminal 4, throwing on the four way flashers before and putting the car in park before getting out to help the siblings remove their luggage from the trunk and hand set on the curb. From there, Audrey and Austin used the Curbside Check-In for their luggage and to get their tickets. From there, they headed inside to the terminal and went through security.

While they waited for their flight, they sat in the Starbucks near gate 44, each with a latte in their hands. Austin was playing some sort of game on his iPad while Audrey checked her texts messages. There was one from Noel sent very early in the morning. Well, early for Los Angeles, anyway. The time stamp said it was three in the morning for Audrey, but it would’ve been eleven in the morning for Noel in London.

The message was sweet and simple, too.

Don’t forget to call when you land and get to your building.
Miss you much.
XOXO,
Noel

Audrey smiled. She and Austin finished their drinks and made their way to their gate minutes before boarding, and before long they were seated in first class, heading to their layover in Chicago.



At five after nine, Eastern Standard Time, the siblings Woods were making their way off their connecting flight from the Windy City and, from there, through the terminal to head to baggage claim. Audrey dug through her purse and pulled her phone out. It was just after two in the morning in London but Audrey knew Noel wouldn’t mind her calling so late, especially since he expressly asked her to. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey, we just landed like a second ago,” Audrey spoke.

“How was the flight?” Noel inquired, breathlessly.

“Boring,” she smirked. Then, “Why do you sound out of breath?”

“I had to run to the phone. I forgot where I put it and didn’t want your call to go to voicemail.”

“Okay, well, Austin and I are gonna get our suitcases from baggage claim and then head back to my car in the car park. I’ll get back to my condo about twenty to thirty minutes after that.”

“Alright. Call me when you do.”

“Okay.” Then, “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Aud.”

Audrey smiled and hung up. After reaching baggage claim and waiting by the conveyor belt to bring forth their suitcases, Audrey and Austin left the airport and found her car where she’d left it a week prior. Audrey paid the fee for parking in the A-East Terminal garage for eight days which came to $160, which was pretty much chump change to her these days, while Austin just sighed at the amount.

“We should’ve had dad drop us off or taken a cab. It would’ve been cheaper,” he remarked.

Audrey just shrugged it off.

The brother and sister duo drove away from the airport and merged onto the Delaware Expressway, heading toward the city. After approximately nine minutes, Audrey exited the expressway and turned left onto South Broad Street which she drove north up for about ten minutes before reaching her condominium. Pulling into her designated parking spot, she turned off the engine and removed the key and then grabbed her phone.

“Who are you calling?” Austin asked.

“Noel. He said he wanted me to call when we got to the garage so he knew I got in safely.”

“Wasn’t a call when we landed enough?” Austin hopped out with his Burberry messenger bag soon slung over his shoulder as he went toward the trunk. Audrey followed suit, opening the trunk with the press of a button on her key ring.

“Something could’ve happened en route,” she replied. “And any excuse to talk to each other at this point is a welcomed affair, okay?”

Austin just smiled and grabbed their bags out of the trunk and set them on the ground. He waited there, while she called Noel.

“You home?” came Noel’s question.

“Yes, we’re home; in the garage. We just got our shit from the trunk.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you got home safe and sound.”

“Do you want me to call you again when we’re actually home or do you want me to just wait to call you again tomorrow? It’s got to be getting late for you.”

“You know I’m a night owl,” he snickered on his end. “If you want to call me again, I won’t say no.”

“Alright, then, let us actually get inside the condo and settled in a bit and I’ll call you back so we can have a proper conversation before you fall asleep tonight.”

“Sounds good to me.” Then, he added, “I love you.”

Audrey grinned. “I love you, too.”

When she pocketed her phone again and picked her suitcases up, Austin narrowed his eyes teasingly at her, and then nudged her arm with his elbow. “I’m glad you two are talking again.”

“Me, too.”

To the elevators off the garage the siblings went; riding it all the way up to Audrey’s floor. Their luggage was considerably heavier coming home than it had been heading to LA because of the things they’d bought during their stay in the City of Angels. Once off the elevator, they dragged the suitcases behind them, growing a bit weary as their traveling was catching up with them. More so for Audrey who had been on the go, non-stop since mid-May, or so it seemed. She just couldn’t wait to get inside her condo and sleep in her own bed and see her cat and talk to Noel.

When they approached the door, Audrey stopped in her tracks and just stared at the knob.

“Whoa, don’t stop so suddenly,” Austin commented from behind her. “I almost ran into—”

“The door’s open, Austin.”

“What?” Austin peered around her and, sure enough, the door was ajar. “Maybe dad forgot to shut it all the way before he left after taking care of Rhiannon.”

“Or maybe I’m being burglarized.” She shot her little brother a nervous look. She didn’t even consider that, whether or not it was their father’s fault or if she was indeed being robbed, that her cat could’ve escaped out the door, if the feline hadn’t already.

Pushing the door open slightly, Audrey began to step inside before Austin pushed her aside.

“No, wait, let me go first.”

She smirked. “My knight in shining armor,” she teased despite the bundle of nerves beginning to build in the pit of her stomach.

Audrey walked inside behind Austin, shutting the door behind them. Before either could get very far into the entrance hall, they both stopped again; looking up toward the ceiling to find ribbon hanging down in front of their faces. Those strands of ribbon weren’t hanging there from out of nowhere or anything like that. They were attached to balloons that were collected at the ceiling in a multitude of helium-filled, colored latex.

Eyeing them all equal parts curiosity and suspicion, Audrey moved ahead of Austin, following the trail of balloons as they continued further into the condo and suddenly seemed to be everywhere in the living room along with about a half dozen bouquets of roses and sunflowers.

And there, in the center of all of it, was Noel.

Audrey’s breath got caught in her throat as he smiled simply back at her.

“Surprise,” he said, a bit wary of what her reaction would be.

Hit with a sudden tidal wave of emotion, Audrey dropped her suitcases on the floor and both her laptop carrying case and her purse slide slowly and carefully to the floor as well. In one, swift move, she swallowed back the lump of air in her throat and scurried up to Noel, throwing her arms around his neck and holding onto him for dear life.

Noel’s arms were around her waist in an instant as he buried his face in her shoulder, reveling in the scent of her skin and hair; a scent he’d gone without for too long.

“Well, hello,” Austin greeted with a laugh.

Noel peered up from Audrey’s shoulder and smiled. “Hi, Austin.”

“I’m just gonna go to my room, I think,” the younger man said, dragging his suitcases to the second bedroom without a second thought to give the couple their privacy.

Noel pressed his face back down to Audrey’s shoulder as he heard the sounds of her muffled crying. “I’m so fucking sorry I was such an asshole,” he was finally able to say to her in person. He rubbed his hands along her back and then just held her tighter. “You really deserve better than me.”

“No,” Audrey mumbled. “You’re the best there is,” she insisted, lifting her head and craning back to look at him, all teary-eyed. She wiped some of the tears away and smiled. “I’m sorry I was a bitch and stormed off. I should’ve stayed. We should’ve let the fight cool down and made amends the next morning.”

“We shouldn't have fought to begin with. It was such a stupid fight.”

“The stupidest,” she agreed with a laugh. “There was absolutely no reason to have not spoken to each for that long.”

“Agreed.” Noel brushed some of her hair from her face, studied every contour for a moment, and then leaned in to kiss her; sweetly at first but then rather fervently from all the kisses he’d missed.

When they came up for air, tears stung Audrey’s eyes again. “The next time we fight or argue or have a spat of any kind, we’re not allowed to walk out like I did. And the last thing we say to each other before bed or going anywhere separately is ‘I love you’ because if that had been the last time I saw you, for whatever reason, I couldn’t have lived with myself over how it would’ve ended.”

“I like that,” Noel nodded. “If you were in an accident and died and I never got the chance to say ‘I love you’ again, or vice versa, it’d feel like I’d died.”

Audrey ran her hands over Noel’s shoulders and up the sides of his face before pressing the tip of her nose to the tip of his. She closed her eyes and kissed him. “God, I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“I love you the most.”

Noel snickered. “Don’t fight me over who loves whom better.”

Audrey smiled and opened her eyes again. “When did you get here?”

The two of them walked over to the couch and sat down as Audrey glanced up at the balloons again, suspended from the ceiling while the aroma of roses and sunflowers filled the air.

“It was last minute, just like when I came here for Thanksgiving. I caught a flight out of Heathrow around twelve-thirty. Just under eight hours later, here I was.”

“The balloons…and the flowers…”

“Yeah,” Noel chuckled. “It’s amazing what you can order online.”

“Did you blow up all these balloons by yourself?”

“Fuck no. I ordered them from the florist that delivered the flowers.”

Audrey fell silent, just looking at it all, and so amazed by the romance in all of it. He wasn’t usually so over-the-top cheesy when it came to romance and she wasn’t sure she was the cheesy romantic type, but this was certainly something she could love. If the condo had been filled with nothing but flowers, then she might feel weird about it, but the balloons balanced it out and screamed more of the goofy Noel she knew and loved. She hated clowns but he was the only clown she could and would ever accept and prefer.

Glancing at him, she smiled again. “Did you see my dad at all when you got here?”

“No, but there were signs he was here. I checked on Rhiannon’s food and water dish in the laundry room when I arrived and they were both freshly filled. I might’ve missed him by a couple hours.”

“He probably stopped by after he and my mom got out of church.” Then she found herself confused. “How’d you get in?”

Noel looked at her like she was a bit of an idiot child. “I used my key, silly.” Digging into his pants pocket, he retrieved the key and flashed it at her.

Audrey stared at the key for a moment and then up at Noel, finding herself overcome with a few different emotions all at once. “Noel…”

“Yeah?”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to throw me over your shoulder, take me to my bedroom and fuck me blind,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Can you do that for me?”

Noel grinned from ear to ear at her after letting out a short laugh. He nodded, “Yeah, I can definitely do that for you.”

Standing up, Noel bent at the knees and grabbed Audrey by the waist and shoved her up over his shoulder so that his arm wrapped around her ass. Carefully, he walked off with her toward the master bedroom and kicked the door shut with the heel of his foot before tossing her ungracefully onto the bed. In haste, they peeled their clothes off like it was life or death. Noel climbed up over her on the bed and they wasted no time with foreplay. He pushed himself deep into her without notice and she welcomed the abruptness of the gesture with open arms. She was just so happy to be with him at all and all the frustrations they had left in them they were both prepared to fuck away, and fuck they did.

The sex was laced with loving intimacy, but it was primarily basic, animal instinct. It was rough, it was wild and it was no holds barred.

When they were both equally spent in bed, they gathered their wits about them, caught their breaths for a few minutes and then slinked off toward her master bath where Audrey ran a shower and they fucked like bunnies once again.

“Make-up sex at its finest,” Audrey quipped as they lay naked, side by side on the bathroom floor after a post-shower third round.

“I agree wholeheartedly.”

They were sharing a joint as well from the stash Audrey kept hidden in the drawer of her dressing table where she stored her cosmetics. She took a hit off it and passed it to Noel; closing her eyes as she released the smoke from her lips. It was the only form of smoking she ever took part in and was usually used to help calm her nerves when she was stressed out about anything.

“I love you,” she muttered lazily. “Have I said that yet?”

“I think we both have, a few times.” Noel took a hit and passed it back to Audrey. “Not the only thing we’ve done a few times already.”

“How are you not, like…asleep? It’s gotta be much later for you now.”

“Yeah, like about maybe four in the morning for me or summat, I think.”

“You wanna go to bed?”

Noel gave a noncommittal shrug. “Meh,” he muttered. “That requires getting up.”

“What if there was an incentive?”

“Oh yeah? Like what exactly?”

Audrey turned her head, taking a drag and holding it in. She rolled over and leaned over Noel before pressing her lips to his and blowing the smoke into his mouth. “Round four,” she whispered as the last plume of smoke escaped from between both their lips.

Winking at him, Audrey stood up and staggered for a moment; her knees a bit weak from the sexcapades they’d taken part in. Bringing the joint with her, she wandered back into her bedroom, with Noel quick to clamor to his feet and follow after her. He stood behind her, pressed against her backside as he snatched the blunt from between her fingers and took another hit and returned the favor when he turned her around and kissed her, allowing the smoke to pass from his mouth into hers. Since there wasn’t much left to the joint, he licked the palm of his hand and pressed the joint into the wet spot to smother it before moving to set it down on the bedside table.

Shoving Noel back onto the bed, Audrey climbed up over him this time around and smiled down at him when he firmly grasped her hips. Biting her bottom lip she connected with him once more, building up a slower pace at first. She arched backward, bracing herself by holding onto his thighs as she rocked back and forth, and moved up and down. Noel swirled his hips slightly in just the way she liked; that made her coo and purr like a kitten. The more feverish they got with their ministrations, the slicker the sheen of sweat appeared on their skin. For Austin’s sake, they tried to keep their cries and murmurs as quiet as possible, but the moment of orgasm was never very controlled, so Audrey leaned back forward and covered her mouth with Noel’s to muffle the sounds she emitted when she felt her body begin to shake and quake. Noel arrived a moment or two later, bucking up as that delicious white hot heat shot up his spine, and then tingled forth in every direction.

After collapsing happily down onto him, Audrey wrapped herself around him like a vice, not wanting to let go, and he was just as happy to keep her like that.

“I’m gonna say it again,” she whispered.

“Okay,” he replied, knowing what she meant.

“I love you.”

“I know,” he smirked. “I’m very lovable.”

Audrey leaned her head up and slapped his chest playfully. “Dumbass.”

Noel scrunched his nose at her and smirked. “I love you more.”

Rolling her eyes, Audrey smiled and kissed him. “Sleep?”

“Yes, please.”