Space Between

Happy Hour

It's a little less crowded tonight at Midnight Rush. It is only 9 pm but it is also the happy hour of this local pub.Noah is obviously very happy that there are little people here. Again, he would hate it if his plan to have a few drinks with Ambrose and Rosie be ruined by some of the more aggressive people that might recognize him.He walks into the bar, shoving his hands deep in his pockets and his eyes scan around the room. Ambrose told him that he and Rosie left the house fifteen minutes earlier than they originally planned because their parents are having some neighbors in for football night and they'd rather not be there to greet them, because then it'll turn into a 40-minutes small talk of asking them when they're gonna find a spouse. If they weren't lying, then they should reach here by now. He finally spots them both sitting near the counters chatting to themselves.Ambrose sees him walking towards them from the corner of his eyes. He turns to him and shakes his head. "Somehow you are always on time but always late.""Not my fault."Ambrose scoffs before motioning to the bartender to get him a drink. The bartender looks up and instantly recognized him, his lips breaking into a smile. "Noah," he greets. "Finally got bored of going around the world?"Noah laughs, running his fingers through his hair. "Just a little bit, James." He says grabbing his extended hand, giving it a firm shake. Then he turns back to his friends."How are ya, Primrose?" He sits next to her.She shrugs, nodding. "I'm drowning in my assessments.""Oh no," Noah nudges her laughing. "Shouldn't have invited you here today."She crosses her hands frowning. "But this is the first time we went out for drinks."Noah laughs, remembering that this is her first year being able to legally drink, not that she was illegally drinking before, she's not that kind of person."Well," Noah grabs the glass of beer that Ambrose ordered to him. "To our little Primrose becoming an adult." He raised his glass in the air."To little Rosie." Ambrose raises his glass as well.Rosie grins widely before clinging all their glasses together, then taking a sip. The only other person that calls her Primrose was the grandpapa. She misses him calling her Primrose, and now hearing it again and again from Noah is weirdly sentimental and bittersweet.She looks at Noah, then moves her eyes to Ambrose. She never grew up with a sister, but she wouldn't trade her two big brothers for anything in this world. Noah catches her looking at him from the corner of his eyes and nudges her a little. She scoffs and turns back to her drink."I'm going out for a smoke, don't do anything stupid.""I just might leave with someone while you're out there."Noah turns to his right as the familiar voice. He turns back to his drinking chuckling, shaking his head at coincidence. He turns to the two. "Give me a moment." He says before making his way across the room.The woman across the room turns at the view of a shadow appearing on the floor approaching her. She immediately rolls her eyes when their eyes meet."Noah."He smiles. "Nice to see you again, Summer."She shakes her head, leaning her head on her hand on the table. "It's either we're really lucky," he takes her friend's seat who is now empty. "Or we are cursed."She bites down a mocking grin. "You just couldn't leave me alone, can you?""Please." He laughs at her taunting smile."I didn't expect to see you here so early in the night."He tilts his head. "It is happy hour.""Okay, well," she tucks her hair behind her ear. "I didn't think you'd need it."He leans back to his chair chuckling. "I don't. I just like it when it's early and quiet."She hums, leaning back as well. She knows that he probably doesn't want to get noticed. She only found out later on after they had stopped talking for months of how big of a deal he is. A part of her is glad that it ended when she found out, she would not have been able to handle his life.He clears his throat leaning forward to the table. He's been here with her once, that was the last few times they hung out before he left on tour. They sat here and she told him about her ten-year-old golden retriever, and he told her that he'd always wanted one but couldn't get one. She didn't realize it back then that the reason why he couldn't get one was that he was always on the road and never home long enough to be able to have a dog."I hope-"Before Summer can speak, Rosie walks towards their table, thinking that Noah went to the bathroom and then realizing that he's here."There you are." She taps on his shoulder. "We were looking for you."Noah touches the spot where her hand was, and he turns to her. She turns to Summer sitting alone and gives her a smile. "Hey," she leans down to hug her, and Summer hugs her back. "Haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while, how are you?""Yeah, I'm doing good." She nods. "Just been busy lately with the plan to expand Light in Summer, so I haven't really been out of my house or the restaurant much.""I heard from Ambrose. Congratulations!"Rosie slides in the booth with them, sitting next to Summer and in front of Noah. "Are you here on your own?""No, I'm here with Riley. She just wants a drink without the price and the crowd." She says and Rosie laughs. "Us, too." Rosie waves. "Do you wanna join us?" Summer presses her lips in a tight line and turns to Noah, who's awkwardly looking back at her. He doesn't mind spending a little time with Summer, of course. Summer is here with a stranger that Noah doesn't know, she's not sure whether his inner celebrity feels uncomfortable with that or not. "I mean, we're probably about to leave anyway.""Who says?"Riley appears from behind the booth. She sees Rosie and raises her hand to give her a greeting wave. Then her eyes move to the person sitting on her seat. She follows the mainstream media a little bit more than Summer, so when her eyes meet Noah's, she immediately recognizes him.Her head snaps to Summer, knowing as her housemate that they did go on a few dates before, and it ended with a simple text. Summer wasn't heartbroken, but Riley knew she was bothered by it for quite some time. Summer subtly shakes her head, telling her with her eyes to not say or do anything. "Oh," Riley gulps, thinking that Summer probably doesn't want to be around him now. "Right." She snaps her finger. "Yes, we are leaving." She points out. "We said we are going to leave after I finished my smoke."Rosie raises her eyebrows, trying to decode whatever Riley is doing. "We are going to leave after my smoke because we have," she motions to Summer to continue her lie, Summer doesn't get it. "We have that," She snaps her finger again, louder this time against the music in the background. "Oh," Summer finally catches on. "Yes." She nods. "We have," she scratches the back of her neck. "We have-""There you guys are." Ambrose appears behind Riley, making her jump slightly. "What is this gathering and why am I not invited?" He asks, resting his hand on Riley's shoulder.She turns to him, before brushing his hand away while staring at him dead in the eye."Always very cold." He shakes his head.  "Always to you, Price."Ambrose rolls his eyes scoffing, nudging her slightly before turning to the group. "What are you talking about?"Everyone turns to Summer all at once.She opens her mouth, but no words come out of it. She turns to Riley."Right," Riley sighs. "We, unfortunately, are on our way out. We have a thing."Ambrose turns to Riley. "Aw," he whines. "What thing?"Riley presses her lips tight and she stares at Ambrose. "A thing." She says. "A restaurant thing?"Ambrose nods understandingly. "Ah," he says. "I get that. Never-ending task." Everyone kind of just laugh along awkwardly before Summer stands up, slinging her bag to her shoulder to she can leave. "Which is why we should stay and forget about it for one more night!" Ambrose slams his hand on the table before turning to where the bar is. "James," he calls out. "A pint for all of us."James gives him a thumbs up and starts to pour out the drinks.Summer swallows down a deep sigh as she slowly sits back down to the booth. Rosie scoots her in a little deeper to make space for Riley as Ambrose sits next to Noah. She doesn't dare to turn to her right, knowing that she is now sitting right next to Noah. How does leaving for the night turns into her being literally sandwiched in the booth, sitting next to her kinda-maybe-friend and her almost-not-really-ex-boyfriend?Noah turns to his left, seeing Summer's eyes darting to Rosie and Riley, her hands tightly wrapped around each other pressed down on her thighs. He turns back to Ambrose, running his fingers through his hair. This is going to be an interesting night.

Author's note: Hope you guys are doing well! Still in tight lockdown and the fact that I haven't been out of the house for ages is driving me insane. Wish you guys have had a chance to breathe fresh air because i MISS IT. Anyways, till next time. Stay safe and stay well! :DD