Patching Up

"Mmmf!" David exclaimed as Lil fumed at them, his lips still locked with Addie's. The two pulled apart awkwardly. He jumped to his feet, accidentally knocking Addie's towel with his arm and causing it to slip completely off her, landing in a heap on the floor.

"Shit! Sorry!" David exclaimed, covering his eyes and turning away. To his credit, he was only about half a second too late to avoid seeing everything.

Addie shrieked, curling into herself and turning away quickly. Shoving her hand behind her, she grabbed the towel again, and wrapped it around herself firmly. Oh god, today was just the worst. day. ever.

"Out," Lil growled at David, passing Addie a soda once she had herself covered again. "Boys," she grumbled, shaking her head. "Let's finish getting you fixed up."

"Ok! Ok ok ok ok!" David said as he was practically chased out of the room by Lil, "Jeez! It was an accident!"

The door slammed behind him and he finally opened his eyes. The entire time he had had them clenched shut, expecting a slap upside the head from the tall girl. When he saw that he was in the hallway and in the clear he exhaled in relief.

"Totally worth it." he muttered.

Addie hung her head and shook it. "I'm sorry, that's my fault. It was... " she gestured to her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Is that... gonna make it weird, for the rest of them?"

Lil sighed and gave her a Look. "Well I can call him back in if you want. But its okay - I'm not afraid to slap ya." She paused. "Unless that'd just make it worse."

At that, she cracked up. "No, I think I'll be okay." Still smiling, she handed Lil the needle.

David sat in the hall for another half hour, alternating between being giddy over his weird good fortune and worried over whether Addie was going to slap him when she came out. Finally the door opened and the two girls emerged, Addie fully bandaged and Lil looking... well, grumpy. But that wasn't unusual, so David chose to take it as a good sign.

"You alright?" he asked, tentatively, "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah, I think so." Addie gave Lil a hug with her good arm, then followed David down to the car. Once she was sitting in the passenger seat, little black box in her lap, she sighed. "So that was wonderfully mortifying, right?"

"Well *I* thought it was pretty awesome."

That was what David wanted to say. He even went so far as opening his mouth, but luckily no sound came out before he managed to shut it again and search for something more appropriate to respond with.

"It was definitely the high point of my evening."

He also didn't say that, although the thought did force itself in there immediately after he nixed the first one.

What he actually said was:

"It ummm... it was something alright. Are you okay?"

She smiled wanly. "Aside from the fact that I'm going to replay it in my head a million times tonight while berating myself for being an idiot, I'm good."

David had to suppress a smile as he started the truck's engine.

"You're not an idiot. It was an accident. Besides, it was just as much my fault. I'm really sorry about it. Lil just kinda... startled me. Are we... still cool?"

"I really hope so; I'm not in the habit of flashing dudes I don't like." Addie grinned wickedly.

David laughed and was about to put the car into gear when a wild thought crossed his mind. Before he could lose his nerve he acted on it, reaching over and cupping a hand behind her head to pull her face towards him. He leaned in quickly and pressed his lips against hers as his hand slid down to her upper arm.

Hopefully this time they wouldn't be interrupted.

Oh wow, this was really nice, though Addie. This was way better than practicing on her own hand, like she'd done more than once in the summer before she started high school. She'd been so worried about noses, noses banging together and who put their where and oh wow was that his tongue? Should she open her mouth, or --

There was a knock on the window.

David jumped back, knocking his head on the truck's window and biting his own tongue in the process.

"Ow! Fu..." he gasped, but he managed to catch himself when he saw the face of Lil's dad staring in through the passenger side window with a barely concealed smirk on his face.

"Oh for fuck's sake..." he muttered to himself under his breath as he rolled down the window.

"Hi Mr. Court..." he mumbled around his aching tongue.

"Hey kids!" the older man said, leaning in slightly, "I was just on my way out. You two okay out here?"

"Yep!" chimed in Addie, way too fast, while turning an attractive shade of red. "We were just leaving, right David?" She leaned forward, hoping her arms were adequately covering the small box in her lap.

"Yup!" David agreed, nodding enthusiastically and forcing a smile, "Just oun our way out also."

"Alright, well you kids be careful. Drive safe."

"Yes, sir." David nodded again and waved as he put the truck into gear and pulled out slowly. He could swear he heard a chuckle from outside as they pulled away.

After a few seconds, David cleared his throat.

"Soooooo.... yeah."

Addie giggled. Then snorted. Then laughed, a full-on belly laugh with tears streaming down her cheeks. It kept going and going, and she felt her back and sides spasming painfully, but she just kept laughing.

For a moment, David looked at her as though she'd gone insane. After all that had happened recently he guessed it wouldn't be that much of a stretch. But after a moment a grin began to appear on one side of his mouth and then spread to the other, and only seconds later he was laughing right beside her as they wound their way through the dark roads of Ashland.