Solid Ground

Seven.

He was silent for a few seconds but I could still see and hear him moving around our kitchen. The cabinets were opened and shut a few times before I saw him walking back out towards me with no coffee in hands but I could smell it starting to brew.

I watched him closely as he walked back over towards me with no readable expression on his face. He messed with his hair a little bit and played with the ties on his sweats but said nothing until he was sitting back down next to me.

"Noah?" I said quietly, waiting for his response.

"Aspen?" He finally said.

I cocked my heads sideways, knowing full well that he heard my question but not sure at all what exactly his feelings were about it.

He leaned over and whispered in my ear. "This is me not talking about it." He set back and smiled at me, grabbing my feet again and pulling them over his own legs.

I did nothing but smile, grateful that he understood where I was. Maybe we could talk about it later or when Cassandra called but for the moment we were in and the time we had together, I just wanted it to be about us. There was no reason to bring up the past when unnecessary.

I mouthed back to him. "Thank you."

Now all I was worried about was who was going to get back up and get the coffee when it was done.

That was a worry I could deal with any day.

***

We spent the day inside our apartment, ignoring the outside world and everything that came with it for as long as we possibly could. When dinnertime came, Noah decided to order us take out and picked a movie to watch so we would not have to go anywhere.

"Don't be greedy, baby." He reached for the fortune cookie that I had just grabbed out of the bag. "You already had one."

"The fortune was awful, Noah." I said, pulling away from him quickly as I tried to unwrap the cookie in hopes that I would get a better fortune this time around. "You can have the cookie, just let me see the fortune!" I screeched, trying to scoot backwards but he was much stronger than me.

"Aspen, drop it." His body hovered over my own. We were on the carpet in our living room, covered in blankets and pillows with the movie playing quietly in the background. We kept the lamps on but turned off the overhead lights off during the day and just had not turned them back on since the sun went down.

I threw my arms over my head and wrapped my legs around his body, doing my best to keep him from grabbing it from me before I could take the fortune out of it.

I was laughing uncontrollably while also attempting to unwrap this damn thing without even looking at it.

His hands were reaching for mine while the rest of his body was trapped between my legs. "Trouble?" I giggled. He just shook his head and I could feel his body relax, leaning back a little bit as he dropped his hands next to my head. I watched his smile turn into a smirk.

"Two can play that game, baby." He winked and then his hands quickly disappeared from near my head about the same time I got the fortune cookie unwrapped. Now I just had to get the fortune out. I felt his hands on my stomach and I screeched. "Shhh, we have neighbors."

"Noah, I have a fortune to read!" I said between laughter.

He started to say something as I felt his hand move up under my shirt. However, he was cut off when his phone started to ring.

My body froze and I could feel my skin go cold. 

Do you know that feeling when everything in your universe stops? When even the best moment fades to black because something comes along that takes your breath away? 

That was this moment. 

I knew what that phone call was.

"Don't answer it."

"Aspen." He looked down at me, a whole different expression crossed his features now. Concern.

I had no idea what it was that came over me but I started to cry. Maybe it was the fact that my life was just getting to where it should have been all along or maybe it was because I thought this day would never come. I had no idea what I was feeling or why, I just knew that the second he answered that phone, something was going to change. "Please don't answer it." I begged.

"Baby, I'm so sorry." He had to. We both knew that. I just wasn't ready to believe it.

He slowly moved from his position above me but I stayed frozen. He looked back at me, knowing that no matter what I said or how much we ignored it, it was still happening.

I didn't even watch as he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He said quietly. I could feel him staring at me as he listened to the voice on the other side of the phone. "Yeah." He continued to mumble, here and there, sometimes letting out frustrated breaths that seemed incoherent. "Okay." He said, over and over. "She's right here." He finally said. "Maybe try her tomorrow." Even though I could only hear one side of this conversation, I could tell most of what was being discussed. That was Cassandra's attempt to talk to me so I appreciated Noah backing me up. "Okay, thanks Cass." He said his goodbyes and then the room went silent.

I sat up and wiped my now very wet eyes. "How long?" It was the only words I could form.

He looked down at me at my place on the floor and took a deep breath. All I needed to know what sketched into his facial features. "Three weeks."

Three weeks before my brother was up for parole. Three weeks before everything I had escaped from could possibly be out on the streets again. Three weeks before every memory started to creep back into my mind on a daily basis. Three weeks.

That would not be long enough. Truly, I don't think any amount of time would be long enough.