Color Blind

Chapter Twenty-Five

AN: Soundgarden's 'Black Hole Sun'. Come on, it's a staple.

* * *

Nancy was out the door on Monday morning long before Cole woke up. He didn't really like it when she was gone. First of all, he was now alone with his thoughts, and they weren't good ones.

Remember how it felt? You won't get that feeling again anytime soon, no matter what you do. You could find a sex goddess and you still wouldn't come close to that feeling.

Ugh. He hadn't needed that mental image. There were limits, for fuck's sake, as to what he would or would not do. Sex...too much touching. No.

The other problem with Nancy being gone was that he was reminded that he was a guest here. A long-term guest, apparently, but a guest all the same. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't stay here forever, but getting a job...ordering a coffee was a problem. Hell, walking down the street earned him dirty looks and mothers tugging their children out of his path.

This must be how Frankenstein's monster felt.

He flopped back on the bed and picked up his sketchbook. Nancy had been flipping through it last night and she'd said they were good. He wasn't sure if he should believe her or not, though. Wasn't she sort of obligated to say they were good? It was like if she sang in the shower or something. He would have to say she was good.

Thank God she didn't do that.

Still, though...maybe he'd start trying to sell them off. Now that he couldn't mooch off of Sean, he had to find some way of making money. Who knew, maybe some underground art collector would take a shine to them. Lousy books got published all the time, right? And Andy Warhol made money on what should have been copyright infringement.

Tomorrow. Today he wanted to see if there was anything to make for dinner and maybe surprise Nancy. It would keep his mind off of things for a little while, at least.

* * *

Nancy came home to what smelled like...spaghetti sauce? Maybe. She didn't know that they had spaghetti sauce.

For that matter, when had she started thinking of this arrangement as 'they' instead of 'her'? Cole was not a permanent resident. Well, he could be, she guessed, if he wanted to, but...oh, never mind.

"Cole? Where are you?"

"Kitchen." He sounded distracted. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

She was about to find out.

She went in, prepared to dodge a flying pan, and found a sight she had not been expecting.

Cole. No gloves. Sleeves pushed up. Is he making spaghetti sauce?

He was indeed making spaghetti sauce. She had to admit, it smelled good. She never would have pegged him as a chef. A cute chef...no! Stop right there. She was not going to take that train of thought any farther.

"Are you making dinner?" He nodded and dodged a hot bubble. It smacked against the ceiling and Nancy cringed. "I didn't know spaghetti sauce was this dangerous."

"Pot cooks quick."

She peeked around him and squeaked.

"You've got it on high, that's why!"

"That's high?"

"Yeah."

"Nance, you've got the thing on backwards."

"I got used to it?"

He sighed.

"Go shower, I can handle this."

* * *

Nancy actually had a little bit of warm water left when she got out and dried off. That had to be a new record for shortest shower in...a year? Two years? Somewhere around there.

Cole was still prodding the sauce when she got back. She wondered where he'd gotten it. She knew they didn't have spaghetti sauce, because she'd used it when he was...unwell.

"Where'd that come from?"

"I found a cookbook and made it. Y-you don't mind, do you?"

She might have to kidnap him if this was how life was going to be.

"No, I don't mind."

There was a snapping sound and another bubble of sauce few up to the ceiling. Cole blew his hair out of his eyes and blinked.

"Twenty seven."

"Twenty seven pops?"

"Yeah."

Oh, boy. They were going to be a bitch to get off the ceiling.

* * *

Nancy was pleasantly surprised that dinner tasted fine. Delicious, actually. It had been a while since she made anything but brownies. Mm...brownies. She'd have to make some soon.

They were sitting on the hide-a-bed, curled up against opposite corners, when Cole suddenly spoke. He'd been quiet all day. Nancy was a little worried about him, actually.

"Nance?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I was thinking...um...if you'd pick up a newspaper or something next time you're out, I could look for a job and...um...be out of your hair and...yeah."

"You don't have to move out." she said quietly. "You can! Don't get me wrong, you're not being kidnapped or anything. It's just...I kinda like having you around and if you don't want to move..."

Stop right there. First of all, that's not a safe idea. Second of all, you sound like a clingy moron.

"I don't have to move?"

"If you don't want to, I don't mind if you stay."

Just stop talking. Stop it right now.

She'd never noticed how fascinating the wall colour was. What was it again? Off-white? Hmm.

"I-I'd like that."

She snuck a look at him. He was also staring at the wall. Good. She wasn't the only one who liked the colour, then.

"Okay."

"If it's really okay with you. I don't wanna..."

"It's fine! It's all fine."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Silence reigned. Nancy got bored of the wall and looked at the window. Rain. Again. How interesting.

"I have to get some homework done." she said, suddenly grateful for that stupid worksheet. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I should...do dishes. Yeah."

She went to her room and dug out her biology worksheet. She really couldn't concentrate on it. What had she done? She wasn't going to regret this, was she?

Well, it's my own fault if it happens again.