Quicker Apologies (Total Drama, Noco)

33- Back in a House

"Are you sure?" Riley asked Cody from the other side of the table. Cody just nodded in response, still in a way upset with himself for making this decision.

"Yeah, my mum's probably worried anyway, and i'm not even really the one who killed Sierra so I won't be in much trouble," Cody replied while eating a biscuit. He sure was wrong though; he wouldn't be in jail, but boy did he have a lot of court meetings.

"Okay, you sure you're alright with Noah, too?" Cody was now utterly confused. She was his sister, Cody was just his lame old boyfriend he had saved.

"Yeah, I-I mean I miss him, obviously. I'm better now though, I think," Cody lied between the gap in his teeth. He wasn't okay, he knew it. Everytime he looked at that pillow and would accidentally smell Noah's scent of raspberry shampoo he used, he cried. He couldn't get himself to stop crying, he needed Noah. If you asked Cody a year ago, while the two were still dating, if Cody thought he needed Noah, he'd laugh and call you a cliché. And so would Noah.

"Owen is picking me up in a bit, he was in town for a trip with Izzy. I should get packing though, thank you so much for letting me stay. I'm really sorry about Noah, i-if I could go back and change it I would," Cody said in a squeak. He was honest this time though, if he could go back and trade what happened to Noah to happen to himself, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Cody gave Riley another hug before walking over to his temporary room, and looked for his bag. He grabbed the jumpers and jeans he had thrown on the floor these past few days and shoved them in the same ripped up bag he wore the year he met Noah in school.

As he grabbed the last few tops he'd worn, he found some of Noah's old clothes. One in particular stook out to the brunette, it was the jacket he'd bought Noah the day he came back from that show he was on a while ago. Cody picked it up and began to fold it how Noah had taught him, he never actually did fold his clothes though. It still smelt like his cologne and normal smell he'd have that Cody could never name, but always enjoyed.

Owen eventually pulled up and Cody had all his clothes packed and Beau on a leash. He gave Riley and her family one last thank you and hug before walking out to Owen's car. Owen's eyes were red, like he'd been crying and hadn't slept in days, and if that were true Cody couldn't blame him.

"Hey buddy, Izzy's real excited to see you," Owen said to Cody. Cody just felt sad, the fact that he got Noah into this mess and he couldn't get him out was tearing him apart. Sure, Noah was the one to suggest him going along, but Cody let him. He should've known after crashing their car this was a bad idea.

"I'm excited to see her too, I guess," Cody said while buckling his seat belt. It was something he felt like he didn't deserve to have the ability to do, similar to breathing. If he could do anything, Noah should be doing it too, right now. But he can't, because Cody didn't chase after his boyfriend and he's dead now.

"What's that in your pocket?" Owen asked while pointing to Cody's jeans before looking back at the road. Cody dug around in his pockets, not sure what Owen meant until he pulled out one specific item. It was a polaroid of him in Noah with his nephew. At that moment, Cody realized that not just that polaroid, but every photograph of him and Noah were just memories now, not previous dates or days they could relive. Just memories.

"A picture of me, Noah, and his nephew," Cody said in a sniffle. His vision began to go blurry as tears started forming in his eyes. Why was he even going back home? Not home, his home was Noah, where he was headed was a place he dreaded ever returning to.

"Well look at the bright side, you can live with me and Izzy now!" Owen cheerfully said. Cody furrowed his eyebrows as the happy-go-lucky boy missed the point.

"On the down side, I never get to see my boyfriend again! He's fucking dead, and i'm wanted for murder basically all over Canada! All I wanted to do was make a band, get rich, move into a mansion with Noah, get married, and have a nice life," Cody threw his hands in the air and leaned against the car door. Owen frowned and looked away from the smaller boy and back to the road.

Cody couldn't lie, he did feel bad for Owen as well. It wasn't like Cody was trying to be the centre of attention or felt like his pain was worse, he just felt too upset to notice anyone else's. He wasn't selfish, just sad and scared.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how upset you must be, are you okay?" Cody asked Owen. The blonde began to force a smile and nod, it was obvious he wanted to bawl. He did lose his best friend after all.

"I'm pretty sad, yeah, but i'm trying not to be too upset about it. I miss him a lot, but I try to tell myself that you guys just moved away, even after you told me the news, just so I wouldn't cry too much," Owen said in a shrug.

He walked down the empty street. It was early in the morning, around 4AM or so, all the traffic lights were red, all the street lights were on, and all the cars were in driveways as their drivers lied in bed. Besides two boys, who were sitting at the bridge that went over a river as they sipped lemonade and giggled with their fingers intertwined.

"What!? No, Spider-man is totally cooler than fucking Peeta from Hunger Games!" The brunette shouted between giggles while the darker boy watched from his best friend's thigh.

"Sure, but which one is more realistic?" The sarcastic boy asked while tracing circles in the more giggly boy's hand.

"Spider-man! Do you really want me to believe some sociopaths made some messed up game where their citizens die once a year, besides one, annualy and that just changes because a girl outsmarted them is more believable than a guy getting bit by a radioactive spider and getting powers?" He talked with his hands almost triple the amount of times a tide in the river would crash.

"To be fair, neither are realistic," the boy laying down monotonally commented from the smaller's lap.

"Well just saying, Peter Parker is totally cooler than Peeta the baker boy," the boy with his legs dangling over one-hundred feet in the air mentioned. The moment felt perfect. Cody bent down in an uncomfortable position to kiss the boy in his lap's soft lips, but before he could-

"Ew! Cody had a wet dream, Big O!" Izzy called out from above Cody's head.

"What? No I did not!" Cody shouted defensively.

"What-ever, anyway, some random number called you claiming to be part of the law or something," Cody froze in shock. What the hell could this be about? Cody isn't even a murder! He didn't want to throw his dead boyfriend under the bus but it was Noah who killed Sierra, not Cody.

He quickly picked up the phone and rang the number who had recently called. A lot of big and hopefully unimportant words were said, other than the fact that today Cody had to go to the police station to get interrogated. The following week he needed to go to court because he needed to testify that Noah's parents shouldn't get sued by Sierra's, and Cody needed to prove it was an act of self-defense so they were innocent.