NORA
Mouse's hands snaked out and he grabbed Nora by the waist, lifting her easily and depositing her on dry land. She stumbled, nearly collapsing when her feet touched the ground.
"Alright?" Mouse asked her, for what must have been the fifth time.
Nora nodded, "Alright," She confirmed, "You?"
Mouse looked amused, "Don't worry about me," He said, "Let's get our towels and head home, it looks like a storm is coming."
MOUSE
Mouse led Nora along the grassy side of Ben Buckler's, keeping one eye on the girl and one on his feet. Nora was clearly exhausted. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her whole body was trembling. If Mouse didn't know any better, he would say she was going into shock, but he had a feeling she was just cold and tired.
In the few hours that Mouse had met the girl, he was already growing attached to her. It was a sort of...pull toward her that he had never felt about anyone before. Like he needed to protect her and be there for her, like he needed to almost be her parent. And more than anything, he already wanted her to be happy. He hoped she was.
"Mouse?" Nora's voice drew Mouse out of his thoughts and he turned back to her.
"Yea, kiddo?"
"That was pretty unusual, wasn't it? The flash rip and stuff," Nora asked.
"Well, not really. It's not all that common, though, either," Mouse answered as best he could. He reached behind him and put his hand on her back, pulling her to walk beside him inside of behind him. He wanted to be able to keep a better eye on her.
"Are you alright?" He inquired again.
"Yes, Mouse. Just tired," She replied, just a hint of amused exasperation in her tone. She clearly was not all that bothered by his fretting.
The two reached the beach, and plodded up the sand, where Mouse spotted two guys standing beside his and Nora's towels with their arms crossed, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes. Of course Reidy and Jesse were the ones to see the two struggle in the surf.
"Hey, guys," Mouse greeted as he walked up to them.
"Hello," Reidy said, while Jesse just smirked at him.
"Nora, this is Reidy and that idiot right there is Jesse," Mouse introduced, sensing the young girl's confusion, "They're coworkers of mine."
"I feel demoted," Reidy said, sounding falsely hurt.
"And friends," Mouse added.
"Well it's nice to meet you, I'm Nora," Nora held out her hand and shook both Reidy and Jesse's outstretched hands.
"Likewise," Reidy said politely, "So you're the foreign exchange student Mouse has been so excited about?"
"I guess," She shrugged, a slight smile making the corners of her lips perk up a little bit. Mouse watched her closely, his eyes scanning her body for signs that she might collapse. The way her legs trembled slightly with even the task of standing up was making him a bit nervous. Out of the corner of his eye, Mouse could see Jesse tense, like he was also waiting for her to collapse. Reidy was clearly watching her, too.
"You two got caught in quite the flash rip," Reidy told her.
"You look exhausted," Jesse said.
"I am," Nora admitted, and even her voice lacked the emotion that Mouse had heard from her earlier.
"We should go home," Mouse took that as his chance to butt in before Reidy and Jesse kept him and Nora too long. He didn't want to have to carry her back.
Not that Nora wasn't light or anything. The girl was way too tiny for her own good, Mouse couldn't get over just how delicate she looked. But Mouse didn't want to cross any boundaries that she wouldn't want him to.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. We still on for tonight?" Reidy responded.
Mouse nodded, "Yep. See you at seven."
He leaned down and grabbed his and Nora's towels, handing Nora's to her and watching as she wrapped it around herself, starting to shiver slightly. He slung his own towel over his shoulder and put his hand on the small of her back again, leading her up the beach toward the stairs.
Nora stumbled beside him, struggling to keep pace. "Well," She said softly as the two climbed the stairs, "You don't get that in a wave pool."
Mouse burst out laughing.
NORA
Nora walked beside Mouse as he led the way back ho-to the apartment. She was exhausted from the treacherous swim, but also elated. A small part of her had enjoyed the danger and the raw power of the ocean. The other part of her thought she was going insane.
Mouse had his hand on her back, which she didn't mind. Already, she trusted him. She'd never formed a bond like that with anybody else, so it was confusing her that in a few hours, she could have formed one with Mouse.
The two walked through the back gate of the apartments and up to the porch. Mouse opened the sliding door, which was good, since Nora wasn't sure if she had the energy to even make it to her room.
"There's a bathroom right next to your room that's yours. I call it bathroom 2. You can shower, if you like, and then take a nap. I know you're drained," Mouse told her.
Nora nodded, she certainly was drained. "What's at seven tonight?" She asked Mouse, remembering what Reidy had asked her foreign exchange host.
"Oh, I'm having a barbecue and my colleagues are coming over. I thought it would be a good time for you to get to meet everyone," Mouse explained.
Nora felt dread and, strangely, excitement, bubble to the surface. She forced a genuine looking smile on her face and said, "Sounds fun!"
"It will be," Mouse confirmed.
Mouse walked into the kitchen, pulling open a cabinet, and Nora took off down the hall. She grabbed a new pair of clothes from her bag and her undergarments, and took off to the bathroom.
(}--|#!#|--{)
After Nora had taken a hot shower and napped for about three hours, she was ready for the barbecue. She put on a little bit of makeup, since she wasn't sure where Mouse worked. For all she knew, it could be the fanciest place in Bondi, or he could even be a lifeguard on the beach. But she doubted that life guarding was the case. It would be super cool if it was, though.
Nora walked out of her room at 6:30, at the exact same time Mouse came from the patio. He grunted as he slid the door closed.
"Hi," Nora said softly.
Mouse jumped and whirled around, his eyes wide, "You spooked me!"
"Sorry."
"That's alright. I'm just starting to prepare for the party. You can watch T.V. if you'd like."
"How can I help?" Nora asked.
Mouse looked surprised. "Uhh, can you grab the paper plates and plastic silverware? They should be in the bottom cabinet next to the Island."
"Sure!" Nora replied.
Mouse burst out laughing, "Shore?" He asked.
"Sure," Nora said again, this time a bit uncertainly.
"I can't get over your accent," Mouse told her with a grin, still chucking to himself.
Nora rolled her eyes playfully and then walked into the kitchen to grab the plastic utensils and the paper plates.
"How many do we need?" She asked, pulling out a stack of them and setting them on the counter, before grabbing a massive box of forks, knives, and spoons.
"A lot," Mouse replied, before making a strange grunting sound again.
Nora looked up to see him straining against the door to pull it closed. "Uh, do you need some help?" She asked.
Mouse shook his head, "I just need a bit of grease. Sometimes it gets stuck," He said, before walking away, presumably to retrieve his grease.
Nora watched him go, before turning back to her task. She decided to pull out all of the paper plates, since Mouse had said that they needed a lot and she didn't know how much that was. She also grabbed a pack of napkins, since she didn't know if she needed them or not but you could never use enough napkins.
A moment later, the front door opened and Mouse returned with a can in his hands. Nora watched as he began to put some of it on the slides of the sliding door, before she turned back to the task at hand.
She grabbed a large amount of the plastic cups from the cabinet as well, and set those out, and then pulled out a container of powdered lemonade and said, "Hey, Mouse? Should I make some lemonade?"
"That would be great, Nora. There are two two liter pitchers in the top cabinet above the sink."
"Okay."
Nora turned and eyed the cabinet above the sink. It was one of those tiny cabinets positioned at the ceiling, and she certainly wasn't going to be able to reach it by herself. She cast a look at Mouse, but he was busy fixing the reluctant door. She would have to improvise.
Nora grabbed one of the bar stools from the island and carried it over to the sink. Carefully, she climbed on top of it and hoped that it didn't spin in circles while she was standing on it. She opened the cabinet door and pulled out one of the pitchers, climbing down to place it on the counter.
Just as she got back onto the stool, the doorbell rang. "Come in!" Mouse hollered.
The door opened and a woman poked her head through. She had a narrow, tall face, and kind eyes that sparkled with light. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail at the top of her head, and she wore jean shorts and a tank top. "Hello, Mouse," She said.
"Hey Jules," Mouse responded, grinning at her before turning his attention back to the sliding door.
Jules closed the front door behind her and then looked to the kitchen, where Nora was perched atop the stool, her tongue poking out of her mouth in concentration as she struggled to pull a pitcher out of the cabinet. She let out a small cheer when she succeeded and then jumped neatly off the stool.
"Ah!" Nora gasped when she saw Jules staring at her.
Jules burst out into giggles, "Sorry," She said, "Didn't mean to startle you. I'm Jules."
Nora smiled at her, "Nora," She replied, "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise."
Nora held out her hand for a handshake, but Jules surprised her by pulling her into a hug. Nora hugged her back tightly. It felt...good. No one had hugged her for a long time. Too long.
"We're the only girls here," Jules pulled away from Nora and held her at arm's length, grinning, "So we've got to stick together."
Nora grinned back. It felt so nice to be wanted.