Blue looks around her musky and cluttered room. It looks exactly like how I left it, she thinks. Sniffing, she smells the room. It smells the same too. Mom must have been spraying my perfume around while I was away, she thinks lightly. From downstairs she can faintly hear pots and utensils clanking together as Maura attempts to teach Noah how to cook lasagna. Blue is guessing that it won't go too well.
Suddenly there is a soft knock behind Blue. Turning around she finds Ronan leaning against the open door frame with his knuckles against the wood. He wears possibly the most ripped jeans Blue thinks she has ever seen in her entire life, and a fading black tee. As Blue is briefly examining him she stops at the top of his head. She licks her lips as a sudden smile starts to form upon her face.
"What?" Ronan questions at seeing her smile.
Blue let's out a tiny laugh. "You need to shave your head again is all," She says with a grin.
"What?" He says again. Confused he reaches his hand up to feel his head.
"When we first met it was all neatly shaven and there was hardly any hair at all, but it doesn't look like you've even touched it since then," She says giggling.
Ronan raises an eyebrow. "Okay cool so I'll get Adam to shave my head sometime. Anything else weird and obscure that you'd like to mention?" He says with an eye roll.
"Well you also have a hickey on your neck," She says while turning around to unpack her suitcase.
"What?!" Ronan says urgently while rushing to Blue's nightstand to look in the mirror. And sure enough on the right side of Ronan's neck there lays a nice dark spot of love.
"I bet that's gong to be hard to explain," Blue says mockingly.
Sighing in frustration Ronan says,"There's nothing to explain, no one is going to ask."
"Unless you've got a couple of turtle necks than I bet you a ten that your wrong," Blue says seriously.
"I don't own any and you're on," He challenges her.
Smirking Blue says, "You should never bet a Sargent Ronan, we're always right."
Ronan rolls his eyes and leans against her nightstand. "Noah and you would already know, Gansey is too nice to ask, and naturally I would assume that Adam isn't going to ask where I got this hickey from," He says confidently.
"Well you're right about all of that Ronan," Blue confesses. "But you're in my house now, and I have plenty of nosey cousins and relatives who are going to love asking you about it."
Ronan curses under his breath. "Your family is too nice to pry like that," he says, feigning confidence.
"You're in a house full of psychics, there is no privacy, not really," She says with less enjoyment now.
Ronan watches his friend carefully. He sees how she goes from mocking and happy to sentimental and....regretful?
"You're not happy to be back, are you?" Ronan says more than asks.
Turning to face him she looks at him angrily. "Of course I am," she snaps. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I'm not gonna go through that with you Blue. Not when you and I already know what's going on. We can talk about that shit later if you want but right now I'm here to ask you about Barrington," He states firmly.
Blue looks at him quizzingly, "What about him?"
Ronan rubs the back of his head, "What do you think of him?"
"I've told you," Blue says annoyed. "I thinks he's just your average senior."
"Really?" Ronan says with a raised eyebrow. "That's it? Have you ever noticed anything strange about him? Has he ever done anything that you thought was wrong?"
Blue scrunches up her face. "He has some intense mood swings, but he's never really done anything wrong," She explains.
"That it?" He asks punishingly.
Blue purses her lips. "Why are you asking all of this Ronan?" She asks with a sigh.
Ronan sighs as well and bites his cheek. "Damn Gansey is gonna be pissed at me when he finds out," He mumbles to himself. Now a little louder he says, "Since we've always been honest with each other, maggot, I'll say screw your feelings and tell you what's up."
"Please do," Blue says and crosses her arms.
"Well Gansey and Adam and I have been trying to figure out what's been bugging at Noah. And we think that Barrington Whelk has the answers," Ronan says plainly.
Blue licks her lips. "Why do you think that he knows?"
"When you were talking about Whelk the other day at lunch he just shut down. Remember what Noah said, 'I had a friend named Barrington once.' After that I asked him if it was one in the same and he just ran away," Ronan explains as best he can.
"So you think," Blue says slowly. "that Barrington Whelk knew Noah once upon a time and they were friends?"
"Seems logical enough," Ronan says.
"You sounded like Gansey when you said that," She mumbles.
"That's because I was quoting him," Ronan says with a chuckle.
Blue smiles at that. Then remembers what they are really talking about. "Look Ronan, even if you guys are right about this, then what?" She asks.
"We find out what Barrington knows about Noah," Ronan says calmly.
Blue bites her lip. That's not much of a plan, she thinks. But if it's for Noah.... "What do you want me to do?" Blue questions.
"I have no clue," Ronan states with a casual shrug.
"What?!" Blue says incredulously. "You've done all at this explaining for me and you don't even know what you want me to do about it all?"
Ronan scratches at a stain on his shirt. "Look I'm just the messenger okay. Gansey and Adam are the ones with the plans."
Blue groans, "Fine then I'll talk to them later."
"Great sounds good, but uh if you talk to Gansey, don't mention how I'm the one who told you about this," Ronan practically begs.
Blue rolls her eyes. "Why? You afraid of your king?" She says mockingly.
"Damn straight," Ronan replies as he walks out of the room.
Blue smiles at his back before turning to her suitcase and beginning to unpack while she thinks over everything Ronan has just told her. Let's think logically about this Blue, she thinks to herself. The first day Noah ever freaked out was on the roof of the school and he said that it was because he had recognized someone he used to know... Then the day he fainted was outside the auditorium with Ronan, Gansey, Adam, Neeve, Barrington, and myself. That could just have been a coincidence that Barrington was there. But then the other day at lunch Noah did say that he used to know someone named named Barrington, which isn't really a common name.... Maybe it really is Whelk who Noah is afraid of then. Whelk has always been a strange dude and I don't think that I've ever seen him around Noah since he fainted. Blue groans in annoyance. I'll just talk to Barribgton after break and we can sort all of this out and be done with it. "Maybe then I can get back to focusing on my research," She sighs.
Suddenly a voice yells up the stairs, "Blue come set the table!" The voice is none other than Blue's own mother, Maura.
"Coming!" Blue calls back. Quickly she leaves her room and closes the door. Walking towards the stairs she catches Adam in the hallway, who is also heading to the kitchen. "Hey what are you doing up here? I thought you guys were sleeping in the living room?" Blue asks him in light confusion.
Adam smiles sheepishly. "We are, but Persephone wanted me to come up and check out her room in the attic so I'm just heading downstairs now," He says.
Blue smiles at the thought of a giggling Persephone trying to drag the five foot seven teenage boy up to her room to see all of her strange artifacts and crafts. "Do you think she likes you then?" Blue asks him.
"Yeah I think so, and I like her too. Persephone just seems so, so..." Adam struggles to find he words but cannot so he shrugs his shoulders and smiles.
"I agree," Blue laughs. There are just no words to describe that woman.
Together they clomp down the stairs and over to the kitchen. Before they even reach the doorway the enriching smells of a nice home cooked meal reaches their nostrils.
"That smells good. Noah are you the one cooking that up?" Blue asks the giddy little teenage boy.
Blushing, the still smiling Noah replies, "Yes but Ms. Maura is helping."
"Call me Maura honey, none of that Miss business," Blue's mother chirps.
Blue smiles. "I hope that you aren't just cooking lasagna though. There are some vegetables coming out too right?" Blue teasingly asks her mother.
Maura rolls her eyes. "There's asparagus on the stove just for you," She teases back at her daughter.
"Thank you!" Blue says, thanking her mother dramatically.
Maura rolls her eyes. "Set the table would you?" She asks her daughter.
Blue nods and goes to the cupboard to grab enough plates for everyone. Then she looks over at their small kitchen table and decides that it won't be big enough for everyone to eat at.
"Why don't we all just sit and eat in the living room?" Blue suggest.
"Good idea," A suddenly appearing Calla declares and pats Blue on the back as she walks to grab three wine glasses from the cabinet. Blue nods and just lays the plates on the counter for people to grab and make their meal buffet style. Next she grabs the knives and forks and so on. Once everything is set out she grabs a plate and says, "Well guys, let's eat."
As soon as everyone has acquired their food and drinks they manage to make their way into the living room. As they all look around they realize once again that there is not enough seating for everyone. So quicker than the teens could blink the three lovely women race to the couch and take their seats. Next Blue goes to sit on the love seat in the corner of the room, Gansey follows and sits besides her. Noah smiles and sits on the carpet at their feet so he can lean against their seat. Then finally Ronan takes the large armchair that lays across from the love seat. Adam follows him and sits on the arm of the large chair to lean against Ronan's side. Awkwardly, they all begin to silently eat.
Everyone shifts around for a while and wonders who is going to break the unbearable silence first. Until finally Maura speaks up. "Well how was the drive down?" She asks.
"It was nice, not to much traffic," Gansey responds politely.
"Ronan was annoying," Noah mumbles, just loud enough to be heard.
Calla laughs. "I bet. He looks like a bit of an instigator," Calla says almost challengingly, while looking straight at Ronan. He stares straight back at her and doesn't respond.
Maura coughs. "How was he annoying dear?" She asks Noah.
"He plays really bad music," Noah says pouting over his plate.
They all laugh. Ronan just smiles smugly and shakes his head. "You know you love it," He replies haughtily.
"I was gonna jump out the car if I herd that stupid squash song one more time," Adam says with a loud groan.
Ronan looks at him and deadpans. "And to think that I was going to make you a mix tape," He tells his boyfriend seriously.
"Oh dear God no," Adam groans dramatically.
Blue laughs. "As you can see, we had an interesting car ride down. How were things down here?" She asks the three women.
"Fine." "Lonely." "Uneventful." Maura, Persephone, and Calla reply respectively.
Blue nods. "Sounds about right."
"And how has school been?" Calla asks knowingly.
"Rich people suck," Is all Blue says, smiling cheekily.
A chorus of "Hey!" And "boo you"s can be heard from three of the boys in the room.
"I agree Blue, rich people blow," Adam says as equally sassy.
"You wish," Ronan slyly whispers into Adam's ear so that only he can hear. Adam's face turns stark red as he blushes intensely. To hide his face he leans over onto Ronan and briefly buries his face into Ronan's side.
"I resent these accusations," Gansey says with a huff, completely oblivious to his two friend's actions. Blue laughs and pats his leg.
"Just accept it honey," She happily tells him.
The three women look at each other evenly. "Well Blue, your friends certainly seem interesting," Maura concludes.
"I like um," Persephone declares happily.
"They're strange alright," Calla states.
Awkwardly the boys all shift around and wonder how to respond to that. "I think so too," Blue says in a form of understanding and thanks. Because Blue now knows that her family has evaluated them, and concluded that they belong in their lives. Meanwhile the boys have no idea how to take the news that they have just been given and so they stare at their plates in confusion.
"Is that all a good thing?" Gansey whispers to Blue.
Smiling she replies, "Don't worry about it." Gansey stares at her and wonders if that means he should really be worrying about it.
"Well who wants music? I know I do," Persephone suddenly declares. Getting up she walk to the back of the room were an old record player lays dormant. Humming to herself she turns it on and makes it play a soothing song to fill the background and keep silence at bay. Gracefully she then flops back down on her seat at the couch and unconsciously hums the song while drinking her wine.
Everyone laughs and settles back into the more comfortable setting. The music lightly plays in the background as everyone settles down into there seats and simply enjoys one another's company. They have become so familiar with one another so quickly that it comes as a shock to Gansey when he realizes that Blue is leaning her side against his, and he is leaning against her. Noah stays snuggled against their feet on the ground and gently lays his plate besides him on the floor. Adam falls further back into his and Ronan's seat so that he is practically in Ronan's lap at this point. Smiling slightly, Ronan brings his arm up and around Adam's shoulders. The three psychics lean into each other and pleasantly watch everyone.
******pleasant time skip********
It is late at night now. The moon is shining brightly over the back yard where Blue sits in an old lawn chair. Silently she looks around the yard and thinks, not about what she should be thinking about though. She doesn't think of Orla, or Barrington Whelk, or her father, or even how she is home for the first time in months and it feels wonderful. Instead she thinks of how Noah once asked her and Adam to play frisbee with him, and they told him that they would do it some other time. We'll have to do that as soon as we get back to school, she thinks to herself.
"Hey Jane, are you good?" A sudden voice calls from the doorway.
Blue turns around in her seat to spot Gansey at the door. Look at him, I bet he wouldn't seem out of place anywhere, Blue thinks as she casually observes how he stands in the doorway. He looks as magnificent and handsome as always. His hair only slightly ruffled, his shirt only slightly wrinkled, his pants only slightly creased, and his smile only slightly dorky, but still incredibly stunning.
"Yeah I'm good. What have you been up to?" Blue asks him and pats the seat besides her as an invitation to sit down.
Smiling he walks over and replies, "Placing bets with Noah on Calla and Ronan's arm wrestling match." Gently he sits down on the lawn chair besides Blue.
Blue snorts. "Who won?" She asks.
"Hard to say, I think that Ronan was winning but then it got interrupted by Persephone spilling her drink all over Adam by accident," Gansey says with a light chuckle.
Blue laughs softly. "Ronan was probably gong to win then. Persephone would do anything for Calla, even spilling a drink on a new friend," She explains.
"I'd believe that, those women seem incredibly close," Gansey says honestly.
Blue smiles and leans back on the chair. Looking up at the stars she wonders why they don't hang out more and just relax under the stars. Maybe because of the school's curfew, Blue thinks bitterly, or maybe because going out at night at that school could get me attacked again, or maybe because I'm never usually around at night since I always sneak into town for research. Maybe because we're all too energetic to just lay down and do nothing but look around.
Blue suddenly hears a series of small creaks and then a soft presence laying down at her side. Gansey has laid down next to her in the lawn chair so that he to may just look up at the stars.
"They're pretty tonight," Gansey mumbles.
"They always are," Blue says contently. Together they lay side by side without saying a word. They simply stay with one another and hear their hearts beat, the crickets chirping annoyingly, the sound of their breathing, the strange noises of amusement and slightly too much wine from inside the house, and all the other sounds that accompany a brilliant night under the stars with a close friend.
I may not be able to just watch the stars with everyone, but maybe Gansey and I can do it together sometimes. It would be a nice activity for us, right? Blue questions herself.
"Hey Jane?" Gansey suddenly whispers into the night sky.
"Yes Gansey?" She asks just as quietly.
"Can we do this more often? Just lay and stare at the stars together?" He asks, even more quiet than he was before.
Blue blinks in surprise at his question, and then smiles,"Yeah Gansey, I think that we could."
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Well y'all that was the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and continue to keep reading, voting, and commenting! Thank you so much for being you!
~Stranger