Ned paced his rooms, never had he felt so constricted in his own room. But, today, the walls seemed to be closing in on him. His room felt smaller and smaller as if the walls would implode leaving him in the hallway all too close to his parent's room. All his mind kept repeating was 'tell mom, get mom'. He knew she could help, but he also knew Moze didn't want his mom's help. It had only been one night though, she'd have to go home soon and he hoped she'd tell her parents. Her dad would probably kill Loomer. Her dad was a really big guy. He looked tough, but Ned had never seen him yell or anything.
"I think Bluebell finally likes me,"
Ned turned around to see Moze playing with his cat. The little guy had always hated her. It probably stemmed from how they used to try to put her in human clothes when they were younger. They thought they could teach the cat to act human after one too many episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Ned finally decided to just sit down on the end of his bed. He was going to wear a hole in his shoes if he paced any further. He watched Jen play with Bluebell. The way she rubbed his back and then he'd lift his tail while she petted it. Somewhere along the past few years she'd grown gentle. Something Ned felt like he had never really realized. Too much had changed in their relationship in the past year or two, but oddly enough being locked in a room with her felt normal. Like how they'd go to each others houses every day after school when they were kids and just play for hours until dinner.
Bluebell began to get antsy and jumped off the bed. "I guess he's bored," Ned sighed, as he watched the cat try to nudge the door open. Ned got up and let him out, "or maybe he wants lunch" Ned noticed the clock. It was just past noon.
"Whatever," Jen mumbled, lying back on the bed.
"It's pouring outside," Ned noticed, staring out the grey window. He hadn't noticed the time because it kind of seemed like the sun hadn't bothered coming out today.
"How appropriate," Jen muttered, turning on her side and curling into a ball.
"Are you cold?" Ned asked.
"I'm fine," she yawned.
"Don't go back to sleep on me. How about lunch?" He asked.
"I'm not really hungry," she shrugged.
"Do you want to go see if your parents are home? You could probably use a Doctor, Jen." Ned tried.
"They do Sunday brunch with my grandma. They wont be home for another hour." Moze answered.
"Well, do you want me to go bring you your own clothes?" Ned offered.
"Yea, maybe," Moze rolled onto her back.
"Is that a yes?" Ned asked, rolling his eyes. Girls..
"Yes, please." She nodded, curling back into a ball.
"I'll be back in a minute," Ned smiled, finally something he could actually do. He wondered if he should ask her what she specifically wanted, but he figured she'd just say 'whatever'. So, he tied his shoes in silence. Moze was normally super talkative, but Loomer had changed her last night. She wasn't playful Moze, she was a broken Jen, and Ned didn't like that. He needed to make things right.
"I'll be back in a minute," Ned said, closing the door behind him. He rushed down the stairs, hoping to avoid his parents. Crossing by the kitchen he peaked into the living room, thankfully they were watching TV together. He continued his sprint down the hallway and outside. Quickly he went next door, through the back gate, and in through the patio door. The Moselys always left the backdoor open during the day for him and Jen to go in and out through, Cookie too if he came over. The thought made Ned wonder briefly if he should call Cookie, but it didn't really seem like the time. This was not a situation that Cookie could high tech them out of.
Entering the house, Ned quickly went towards Jen's room. In twelve years, the Moselys hadn't missed a Sunday brunch, but he was still nervous about running into them and having to lie about what happened to their daughter.
Moze's room always made him smile. It was so girly. She had light pink walls and a white flowered bed with her stupid dog bear stuffed animal thing smiling up at him. Ned quickly grabbed one of her bags from the closet and stuffed in a pair of jeans and a pair of track pants in case she didn't feel like wearing jeans. He put the bag down on her bed, and went through the drawers for a shirt.
He smirked at all the old shirts that she no longer wore. She seemed to have recently traded in her tee shirts with smiling animals for tank tops and button downs. Not that he minded or anything, but he found looking at the old clothes kind of funny. Kind of like when he'd come across a pair of superman tidy whities among his boxers.
He grabbed a plain white shirt, figuring it would be simple enough, and tossed it into the bag. He looked around wondering what he'd missed before realizing that she probably would prefer to wear her own underwear over his and he guessed that she probably wore that bra thing full time now. He remembered how pissed she was when her mom bought it for her.
He quickly opened her top drawer and found socks. He grabbed some of those and put them in the bag. It was cold after all, and she might need a pair of shoes. He opened the second drawer and found neatly folded rows of matching underwear and bras. He hesitated a minute before pulling out a set and tossing them into his bag before he started thinking of Moze in ways that he knew he shouldn't be. He'd had a dream or two about her in the past, but he liked their relationship platonic.
Finally, he grabbed a pair of tennis shoes and zipped up the bag before racing out of the house ignoring the cracks of thunder around him. He ran through the rain and stopped in front of his own door to wipe the mud from his shoes. It really was pouring out. Between his house and Jen's he'd managed to get completely soaking wet. He would blow dry his hair if Moze wasn't over to make fun of him.
Deciding to just leave his shoes by the door, Ned raced back into his own room.
"Ned, do you want lunch?"
Crap, "No mom" he yelled back.
"Is Jennifer here, I can make you two sandwiches?" she asked. Ned thought about it for a second. That might actually be great. His mom was great.
"Peanut butter no jelly for me, grape for Moze?" He asked.
"Of course," she laughed.
"Thanks mom," Ned yelled before resuming his sprint through his room. He now had to get into dry clothes and get back downstairs to intercept the sandwiches from his mom before she came up to his room.
"Here, I didn't know what you wanted. I hope this is okay," Ned said, tossing the bag on the bed.
"Thanks," Moze said, rubbing her eyes. She winced not remembering the state of the left one, "Looks like you need to change too now."
"Yep," Ned nodded pulling a pair of basketball shorts from his closet and a shirt. He then went through his dresser for a dry pair of boxers and brought the clothes into his bathroom. He changed in record time and burst out of the bathroom to head downstairs. This was getting tiring.
"Sorry," He mumbled forgetting that Jen was there.
"It's fine," she said. She was dressed but she had flinched at the sound of the door flying open.
"I'm going to get us sandwiches," Ned explained before exiting his room again. Moze nodded. Ned nearly tripped as he raced down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"You must be hungry," his mom noted.
"Starved," He nodded, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge. He mom handed him the plate and he kissed her cheek, "you're the best."
"Tell Jennifer we say hi," His mom nodded back. Ned nodded before heading back upstairs.
He knocked on the door before entering. "You can come in," Moze answered. Ned opened the door. She was dressed in jeans and was putting his sweatshirt back over her own shirt.
"My mom made us lunch," Ned said, placing the plated on his desk and tossing Moze a water bottle.
"I really don't want to eat right now," Moze shook her head.
"You have to eat," Ned said, knowing this couldn't be good.
"I just feel ill," she shivered, not leaving his bed. Ned picked up her sandwich and handed it to her. She reluctantly took it and stared down at it for a moment before taking a small bite.
Ned smiled and picked up his own sandwich. He had finished it before Moze had taken a second bite, "I'll finish this later,"
"Fine," Ned conceded taking the sandwich from her and putting it back on the plate. When he turned around Moze was curled into a ball and half asleep.
"Well, good night, I guess," Ned shrugged, turning off the lights for her. He doubted she could sleep this off, but whatever she wanted to do he would let her.