Aubrey's Playground

:101:

Came out of hiding." Aubrey said as he smiled from ear to ear.

"It's a special occasion," Noah replied matching his smile then pulled one another into a tight hug. "You look... happy." He noted with a smile as he leaned against the hood of the car next to Aubrey and pulled the blunt that was neatly tucked behind his ear and carefully lit it

Aubrey looked himself over, "it's not obvious though?..." he asked creasing his thick eyebrows

Noah softly laughed at Aubrey's behavior, "very, Mark said you were in a... trance," he teased him with a smile

"A trance!?..." Aubrey frowned harder "what!?"

Noah shrugged, "Oliver said you might have met your match... especially if you're thinking about bringing her with you... that's a big deal," silence fell between them as he blew a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth, then handed Aubrey the blunt. 

"I met her at a weird time, I wasn't going to deal with anyone because I knew I wasn't going to be in NY forever, I also told Nebby I wasn't adding any other women, but Lori happened," Aubrey paused and inhaled, then blew a stream of smoke, "she knew I was a Dom before I even thought to confess,"

"She pays attention to you..."

"I couldn't let her disappear," Aubrey continued, "the way I handled Nebby was wrong but we've already done our damage to one another, which was why I let her go, Robyn is... Robyn which was why I had to let her go. The Twins are left."

"You think you'll be happy here with her?"

"I don't want to be in New York anymore, I don't want that company," Aubrey confessed again then looked down at his feet, Noah remained silent and looked at his childhood friend, the way his voice cracked, he grew concerned, he knew Aubrey wasn't complaining out of boredom the way he normally did.

"You told her?"

"She's somewhat aware."

She coming with you?"

"Haven't gotten that far yet."

"So you're stalling?"

"Don't want to hear no..."

"If she pays attention to you then she already knows. Don't bullshit her."

"40, not now." Aubrey pleaded. Noah's eyebrows creased as he stared at Aubrey, who refused to make eye contact, he sighed but didn't want to ruin their moment so he backed off. The last time Aubrey saw Noah they were rushing him to the hospital fearing his death would approach sooner than later, a moment that almost broke Aubrey completely, while he mourned his father and took over his business all he had were FaceTime calls and constant text messages to keep him updated on his health. The men lapsed into silence as they stood and smoked.

"You made the decision about Robyn & Nebby because of Lori?" Noah asked thinking of a different approach to handle his best friend, their friendship had years of growth and it wasn't the first time he had to push Aubrey to do something he should have already handled, he adjusted the gold frames of his glasses on his face and looked at Aubrey before handing him the blunt.

"Had to."

"But you did it?..."

"Yeah."

"And you sat in that decision. If you had to make it again, would you?"

"Yeah. Robyn and I will probably never be on good terms again, Nebby either... but a lot of it was my fault and I understand that." Aubrey confessed, Noah had a right to question his decision considering his and Robyn's past. "I made that call because I'm responsible for Lori's safety and just because I'm not with Robyn doesn't mean I don't care about her safety either." he continued as he squinted his eyes blocking the sun to look over the spacious entrance of his new home. "I should have protected Robyn five years ago but throughout that time I fucked up and she fucked me over... there was nothing left to save, when she decided to focus on her family I should have cut it off then, but if keeping Robyn safe was our last interaction then so be it, she can hate me if she wants I pray she can get through that, but my hands were tied and I had no choice."