"Wake up, Noah!"
I shot up, hitting my head against the wall. What the hell was going on? Well, the sun was out, meaning it was daytime. And where was Cody? He fell asleep in my arms.
After regaining consciousness, I saw Izzy standing in front of me. She had this psychotic grin on her face. I picked up my phone to check the time. It was still morning, but it was way too damn early for this shit.
"What the hell, Iz?" I groaned. "What are you doing here?"
"First of all, nice tent," said Izzy. "Second, we're all in the living room. Izzy was wondering where you were."
"Well, Izzy does not need to worry," I grumbled, getting dressed. "Tell her that Noah was robbed of the best sleep he's ever gonna get. Best dream included."
Izzy looked at me, batting her eyelashes. She wanted to know the dream in question. Well, fat chance, Iz. Not happening.
I walked out of my room looking like shit. Gwen had brought Trent over as well. I kept forgetting they were married, living together, and expecting a child. I waved as I walked over to the coffee maker.
"Can I have some?" Cody asked.
"Pot's warm," I replied. "Once I'm done, sure."
"No, I want some of yours."
"Cody, I can't have milk or cream in my coffee. You take one sip of my coffee and you're going to spit it out."
Cody groaned loudly. I turned around, eyeing my stupid little boyfriend. When I fully rotated my body, Cody was giving me puppy eyes.
"Really?" I groaned. "Cody, goddammit. No! I'm not-"
After shutting my eyes tight, I opened one. Cody's pupils had dilated to the size of the sun. How did he do that?!
"Please, Noah?"
"Argh!" I exclaimed. "Fine, you can have one sip, but don't say I didn't warn you."
I finished making a cup of black coffee, slowly handing it to Cody. He smiled and took a small sip. Quick as a flash, he spit it back out.
"What did I fucking tell you?"
He got back up, shoving the cup in my hands. I looked over at Owen, who had a set of whiteboards and markers. Were we going to play a game? Once Cody got himself a cup of coffee more to his liking, he sat down beside me.
"Whatcha got there?" I asked.
"Izzy wanted to play a spin on the Newlywed Game," Owen exclaimed. "I bought six whiteboards from the dollar store. Here, I'll hand them out. I asked Gwen to make cards for the game."
Owen handed out small whiteboards to everyone in the room. Gwen shuffled her cards, filled with questions we had to answer similarly. She handed the pile to Trent, who took the top card off the deck.
"Here we go," he chuckled. "So, we have to have the same answers. Okay, for this question, we have to pick one person from each couple. I'll go, and I'm also setting Noah and Owen up."
"Alright," I sighed. "Ready, big guy?"
"Set," Owen replied, determination in his voice.
"What's something you do while sleeping that makes your partner want to take the guest room?" Trent read.
What was something I did that made Cody want to sleep in Krystal's room? That was a tough one, given that five things came to mind. I thought about last night and getting busted by Cody's mom. I snickered and wrote down 'I'm a screamer'. Right away, I could tell by Cody's eyes that our answers did not match.
"Everyone got it?" Trent asked. "Owen? Izzy? You guys wanna go first? Izzy, what's something Owen does in his sleep that makes you want to take the guest room?"
"Easy," Izzy gloated. "Izzy says Owen is a loud snorer."
Owen flipped his board around. He had the same answer as Izzy. They exclaimed and hugged each other. I felt my leg shaking; I wasn't confident.
"Trent, you and Gwen go," said Cody. "I wanna save the best for last."
"Oh, really?" Gwen teased. "The big thing Trent does in his sleep is he's a kicker."
"Oh," Trent kept his voice low. "I said I stole all the blankets."
"Well, that's true, too," Gwen chuckled. "Cody and Noah, humour us."
I turned my board around. I smiled with pride until I looked over to Cody. He sighed and rolled his eyes. If Cody didn't think I was a screamer, I didn't know what he wrote.
"In your sleep, Noah?" Cody exclaimed. "You don't orgasm in your sleep! Fucking hell, I wrote 'Doesn't know when to stop passing gas.' Take that, sucker."
"In my sleep, Cody?" I droned.
Owen burst out laughing. Yeah, I bet that was real funny to him. I had no idea what the hell Cody was talking about. If it was something I did in my sleep, I must've had no clue I was doing it.
"If you guys think Owen's bad, try sharing a bed with this one," Cody droned, pointing at me. "It's only when he's asleep. This may sound familiar to some, but that shit can peel the varnish off a locker."
I had to admit, Cody using one of my own comments against me was kind of funny. Of course, Owen found it funny. So far, he and Izzy had a point. You know, since Cody decided to stoop that low. Izzy pulled a card from the top of the deck, reading it and snickering.
"Since Trent, Owen, and Noah went," she said, "Gwen, Cody, and I can answer this one. What's a habit you wish your partner could kick in the bedroom?"
I laughed uproariously. This was going to be easy. The big habit I wished Cody could kick was being indecisive about topping. I'd usually give him a few minutes, offer to be the bottom, and he'd want me to top instead.
"Gwen?" Izzy asked.
"I wrote down 'nearly breaking my back'," Gwen laughed. "Not metaphorically."
Trent turned his whiteboard around. He had written down the same answer, word for word. So far, Cody and I had zero points. We had to get one point, man.
"Cody?"
"Easy money," Cody sounded proud. "My indecisiveness on who tops. I think Noah called me out on it a few days ago."
"Booyah!" I exclaimed, turning my board around.
Finally, we were on the board. I pulled Cody in for a hug, kissing him hard as well. I was curious to see if Owen and Izzy matched up. They had a strong start, so it would be strange for them to fall so soon.
"I wrote down 'kicking me in the kiwis'," Owen turned his whiteboard around.
Izzy let out a soft sigh. I assumed they didn't match up this time. That was what I thought until she squealed and flipped her board around. Well, one point for each of us. I took the top card this time. It was a fill in the blank.
"For this one, we have to each guess our partner's answer," I said. "It's the same question. However, if I were to write down how Cody would answer, he's have to write down how I would answer."
Everyone nodded. I read the question in my head again. I vaguely remember how Cody and I answered a similar question. I bit my tongue before reading the card aloud.
"What was your partner called in college? The format is their first name, a fitting nickname, and their last name."
After Trent's bachelor party, there was no way Cody wasn't nicknamed Iron Lungs. I remember Cody entering a horror movie screaming contest in college and won. I was worried Cody wouldn't remember my nickname in college.
"I guess we'll start," said Cody. "I hope I'm remembering this right. Were you Noah 'The Stallion' Sterecra?"
I was amazed that Cody got it right. It was no surprise that I got the nickname from sleeping around. I turned my whiteboard around, showing my answer. It was a valid guess; I was too nervous to look at Cody.
"From the screaming contest in college and the headbanging contest at the Underground Hawk, I'm guessing you were Cody 'Iron Lungs' Anderson."
Cody squealed excitedly. His voice was so high-pitched, he could break glass. Must have been those iron lungs. I turned to Owen and Izzy. There was no way they could screw that up.
"Simple and to the point, but Owen 'Big O' Waterflower!"
"Izzy 'Hannibal' Connelly!"
They were both correct. Gee, I wonder how Izzy got the nickname Hannibal. Then, Cody turned to Gwen and Trent. They were both nervous. Gwen bit her bottom lip before speaking.
"I'm gonna guess Gwen 'Dirty Bird' Ingrid?" Trent didn't sound certain.
"You got it," Gwen cheered. "They called me that after I entered a muddy obstacle course and won. Now Trent... I'm going to say you were... fuck, you were a music major. I know this!"
Did Gwen not write anything down? I peeked over at her whiteboard. It was completely blank. For some reason, I started to feel bad for her. And, to be honest, a little awkward.
"It was Cats you did that one year, right?" Gwen started jumbling her words. "No, I got it. Trent 'T-Bird' Cooper?"
"Well, Gwen. I had a lot of nicknames," Trent laughed. "T-Bird was one of them. I also would've accepted Ram or Mistoffelees."
"It was Cats!" Gwen exclaimed in frustration. "But you also did Heathers."
Months had passed with very few word from anyone about Sierra taking the matter to court. I couldn't get through Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, or New Year's without worrying about Cody's life. The good news was over those months, Krystal's health suddenly skyrocketed, and she found a nice place to live alone, but still close to us.
I left my room after staying awake for 20 consecutive hours working on my novel. My wall was covered with character sheets and different conflicts. I was quick to realize I was home alone. As I walked to the fridge, Cody had left a note saying he was at therapy. The sound of keys jingling caught my attention.
When the door opened, I saw Cody walk in sans cast. He must've made a pit stop at the hospital to get it removed. I was happy he was walking again. However, Cody didn't look so happy.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked. "You're walking. Coco, please tell me what's up."
"It's nothing," Cody sighed.
He walked out to the balcony and stared into the city, hair caught in the cold winter air. Not hearing from Sierra was nice, but I knew there was something more. Was it Krystal?
"I'll leave you alone," I called. "Please talk to me if you need anything."
I had no idea what happened to Cody. Since he wouldn't talk to me, I tried making him lunch as a means to cheer him up. After a few minutes, I made a stack of mini sandwiches and put them on the coffee table. Nothing was happening, so I sat down on the couch to read.
I ate three sandwiches I originally made for Cody. He still hadn't come in. I got distracted from my book by an odd smell. Not a pleasant one. It was coming from outside. As I got up, I moved the curtains back to see Cody smoking a cigarette.
"Cody?"
"Agh!" he yelped, dropping his cigarette into the snow. "Don't scare me like that."
"What happened?" I asked. "You just came back from therapy, and you just lit a cigarette?"
"I'm hopeless, Noah," he sighed. "I had to get you, Emma, and my mom involved in my whole Sierra fiasco because I can't fend her off myself."
"No, we got involved because we care about you. Sierra drove me nuts during World Tour, your mom loves you more than you know, and you may not have known Emma for very long, but you know she was more than happy to help."
"Why do I even bother thinking I can quit smoking myself?" Cody's eyes filled with tears.
"Hey, don't say that," I said. "Quitting something like this isn't easy. That's why you have help. This is not something you should face alone. Here, toss me one."
Cody stared at the carton, cocking an eyebrow. He looked back at me and handed me his lighter. I stuck the cigarette between my teeth and lit up. I looked back at Cody, who lit a new cigarette.
"It's kind of odd, but I helped an old friend in high school kick the same habit," I said. "Alls I had to do was stick by his side. He eventually quit at the beginning of my senior year."
"That's awesome," Cody said with a smile. "Did he return the favour?"
"Yup," I chuckled. "He cheated on me."
"Oh, fuck. That was your ex?" his smile quickly turned upside-down. "What a dick."
"I'll help you quit, Cody. Just promise you won't cheat on me?"
"Noah, I made that promise since you asked me to be your boyfriend. Of course I won't cheat. One moment, let me go chuck the carton. This cigarette? Last one. I swear."
I nodded as Cody briefly went inside. He came back outside wearing a pair of fuzzy slippers I got him for Christmas. I smiled at him. Even though Cody wanted to quit smoking, he looked like kind of a badass with a cigarette in his mouth. The slippers made him look a bit less menacing, but oh, well.
"We should probably get you back on those recordings," I said.
"Few months ago, I was doing well enough that Dawn said I could listen to a new recording every week," said Cody. "Now that I smoked a cigarette, I have to go back to every night. I'm really frustrated, man. I went three months without smoking."
"Hey, relapse is always going to happen. You're not alone."
I put an arm around Cody as we looked at the sky. I heard the sound of keys jingling in Cody's pocket. He reached in to unlock his car. Before leaving, he put his cigarette in the ashtray.
"I'm going to visit my mom," he said. "You want to come with?"
"Sure," I smiled and nodded, kissing the top of Cody's head.