Patch gently shook me by the shoulder to rouse me from my deep slumber in the Jeep.
"Wake up puker" He said with a small laugh
"Wha…what…where are we?" I asked groggily
"Home, Angel"
I let out a yawn and stretched in my seat, undoing all the knots and kinks sleeping upright in a car had created.
"You're quite the snorer there Angel" Patch said with an irritating smirk
"I do not snore" I said, flopping back into my seat.
"Yeah right you don't snore. You sounded like a giant power drill"
"I did not, you're a liar"
"So are you technically. You acted like you loved gory horror films, and see how you ended up puking in the bathroom after 50 minutes"
"I didn't say that I loved horror films"
"Your behaviour implied it"
"My behaviour implied nothing" I said heatedly
Patch shrugged his shoulders "Anyway it was rather entertaining, you throwing up. Have to say Nora, you do turn the most pleasant shade of green when nauseas"
I rolled my eyes at him and said nothing. My throat felt dry, I needed water.
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I turned to open the car door only to discover that it was locked.
"Oh" said Patch immediately unlocking it "I didn't want you to fall out and roll down the highway. I know how prone to accidents you are"
I threw him a dirty look and got out of the car. Taking my keys out of my coat pocket and opening the front door, I turned to find Patch standing directly behind me.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
I threw Patch a questionable glance "Excuse me?" I asked
"I don't feel comfortable leaving you home alone with a heavy bout of movie sickness"
"I gave a small smile "I'll be fine Patch"
"You say that, but I've noticed Nora that a lot of the time that we're together, you tend to say one thing, but end up meaning the total opposite"
"No, really Patch I'll be fine, you can go home"
Patch gave a scoff "Yeah I can really believe that because you look the absolute perfect picture of health, don't you?"
"Don't you get all sarcastic on me"
Patch gave an impish grin "I'll be as sarcastic as I like, now get inside. You look like you're about to keel over"
Before I could protest, Patch nudged me inside and closed the door behind him. Standing in the dimly lit hallway I folded my arms and gave Patch a deep frown.
"You love invading other people's personal space don't you?"
"Not really, habit I suppose. Do you want something to settle your stomach?"
"My stomach is fine"
"There we go again with the reverse psychology" Patch said, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated fashion "I'll make you some peppermint tea" he said making his way to the kitchen.
"I don't want peppermint tea!" I said following after him
"Don't worry Nora; I'll make it extra strong"
"Patch!"
Patch stopped what he was doing and looked up at me with a playful smile on his face.
"I was only messing with you Nora; it's so fun riling you up. I mean it's the only fun I can with you without removing your clothes"
"I'm glad you find so much joy in aggravating me" I said sternly
"You need to loosen up a bit. You're way to uptight for a 16 year old"
"16 and ¾ thank you very much. I am not uptight, you're just extremely immature. You act like a child!"
Patch gasped in fake shock "How dare you?!" he said "I am not a child!"
He threw a spoon on the floor and began jumping up and down in the manner of a two year old toddler having a tantrum. Against my better judgement, I had to admit the scene was rather funny and I couldn't help but begin to laugh at the sight before me.
"Alright! Alright! You've made your point. Now stop before you scuff the floor with your shoes"
Patch immediately stopped and returned to his usual cool composed albeit with a fox smirk.
My eye caught the blinking time on the microwave; it was only 8:50.
"Are you staying or leaving?" I asked
"I think I'm going to stay"
"Well in that case I suppose we could do the biology homework coach set us"
"Are you serious?"
"What?"
"It's Friday night, I never do homework on a Friday night"
"You never do any work full stop"
"Ouch"
"I'm just telling you how it is" I reasoned, folding my arms "I'm going upstairs to change"
"Into something more comfortable I hope"
I gave Patch a scowl so fierce, Vee would've been proud
"Kidding" Patch said "But would you like me to help you out of that dress?" He added
"What do you think?"
"You seriously wouldn't want to know what I was thinking"
"Why?" I asked stupidly
Patch gave me a look which said 'are you seriously asking?'
"Oh" I said pretending to know what he meant, even though I was only half sure. I mean it was impossible for someone to think about that 24/7, wasn't it?
"Yeah, well, I'm heading upstairs I'll be down in a few minutes" I said leaving the kitchen and beginning to climb the stairs to my room
"I'll be waiting"
"And don't touch anything" I called down to him as an after thought. Patch didn't reply but I heard him laughing from the kitchen, what was so funny?
***
Returning back down to the kitchen several minutes later, I was surprised to find Patch perched on one of the wooden stools by the kitchen island. He was looking through a leather bound book, which I eventually realised to be a photo album.
"I thought I told you not to touch anything?" I asked irritated
"I thought you meant in the kitchen" Patch said looking up "I found this in the living room" He flipped the photo album back a few pages and held it up with an evil grin.
"Would you like to tell me who this little red headed girl dressed as a Christmas elf is?"
I clasped my hand to my mouth "Oh my God…give that back!" I made a lunge for the album but Patch was took quick for me and held it out of my reach.
"You were rather a cute kid, Nora" He said, continuing to look through the photos "Your hair though…" Patch shook his head sadly
"What was wrong with my hair?"
"You looked like a troll doll" Patch said, trying to hide the laughter that was threatening to come out
"I did not" I said, leaning over Patch's shoulder to see the picture he was referring to.
The photograph, I had to admit wasn't the most flattering, but I was only 5 and had never heard of conditioner.
"I like this photo though" He went back a few more pages.
The photo he pointed to was at my aunt's wedding last year in which I was a bridesmaid. The dress, luckily for me, had been very pretty, the colour being a soft lavender. In the photo, I was posed in the middle with my mum and dad.
I felt a lump appear in my throat as I gazed at the picture featuring my father.
"When was the picture taken Nora?" Patch asked.
I didn't reply, silent tears which had refused to stop, had begun to stream down my face, landing on my chest.
"Nora?" Patch turned around and seemed to be startled by my current position. Looking back down to the photo, I saw Patch mentally slap himself at the realisation as to why I was so upset.
"Oh Angel, I'm so sorry"
He slipped his arms around my shoulders and held me in a warm embrace, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. Breathing in his scent, the gloom which had suddenly engulfed me, seemed to slowly disappear, leaving me relaxed and comforted.
