There was a knock at the door. Leonardo opened it only to see Mia standing there with Oven mitts adorning her hands. "Hey…" she said solemnly.
"Hey, come in, come in. Is that…macaroni and cheese?" Leonarod asked curiously.
"Yes, it is. But…I should tell you that this burned a little bit on the edges." Edward admitted.
"Why? Weren't you watching it?" Leonardo said moving away from the door and taking it to the stove where six other casseroles sat.
"Yeah…yeah we watched it." Mia said which would have been fine if Edward hadn't said no at the exact same moment. "Don't tell the truth!" Mia whispered with wide eyes.
"Oh sorry, I mean yeah…we…yeah." Edward said. Leonardo studied Edward, he looked a little strange right now but he wasn't going to question it.
"I see you have many other casseroles. Sorry, we wouldn't have made it had we known." Mia said.
"It's fine Mia, we'll eat this don't worry. Noelle didn't eat anything yesterday I expect her to devour this stuff later today. I've been working on it a little. Do you want something? There's a chicken casserole over there, green bean casserole, some kind of sweet potato casserole, cheddar potato casserole…thing. I even think there's some ham over there." Leonardo said.
"We're fine, really. We're here for you." Edward said putting his hands on Leonardo's shoulders. Edward looked at him for a moment. "How are you doing, really? And where is Noelle?"
"She's taking a shower and I'm fine, seriously I am. Yesterday was pretty traumatizing for a while because I mean, I was unexpectedly woken up, Noelle's father was already dead and all the events unfolded before 12:00 noon. But really, I'm okay now. I've got it together and Noelle's doing…well I can't believe how much better she feels today. Here, come sit down…disregard the explosion of wedding gown in the middle of the floor." Leonardo said patting the edge of the couch.
"That is so beautiful! I can't believe she actually made this!" Mia said. Leonardo couldn't help but laugh.
"Ask Noelle about it…she hates this gown….she thinks it looks like a cupcake. Anyway, yesterday was really rough and we didn't sleep much last night. It was actually very therapeutic for her last night…she sewed on this cupcake of a dress and told me so many stories of her dad. Of course she alternated between crying and telling me all about it. I really, enjoyed listening to her talk. Today has been better, when she comes out here I'm going to make her eat something. Like I said she hasn't eaten at all." Noelle emerged with black wet hair piled on top her head. If Noelle had known Edward and Mia were in the house she may have put on a longer robe.
"Hey…hey you two." Noelle said.
"Noelle…" Mia got up from the couch and went over to her, wrapping her arms around Noelle's terry cloth covered shoulders. "I'm so sorry Noelle." She didn't cry, yesterday she would have…but today she didn't. Mia didn't really know what else to say.
"We brought you macaroni and cheese." Edward said.
"Oh, thanks you guys. You know what…I'm starving." Mia let go of Noelle so she could get something to eat. "Leonardo, do you want something?" Noelle asked walking over to the stove to check everything out.
"No, that's okay, but you come sit down. I'll get it for you. What do you want?" Leonardo asked jumping up from the couch.
"You know, I am tired. I will let you get it for me and to answer your question I'll take some of everything." Noelle answered.
"I love the gown Noelle, it's beautiful!" Mia said mainly just to see what kind of reaction she would get. Noelle rolled her eyes.
"It looks like a cupcake, a giant white cupcake. Look how poofy it is! It won't even fit through a door. That thing is a disaster…but thanks." Noelle couldn't help but smile. Max came to greet Edward. It didn't take Leonardo long to bring her a plate of assorted things from the stove.
"Thank you…you're so good to me." Noelle said taking the fork and the plate from Leonardo. She was anxious to dive into this delicious food.
"Hey Edward, do you mind helping in the bedroom a minute? I need to move that chest near the closet to the foot of the bed." Leonardo asked of him.
"Sure, sure I don't mind." Edward said hopping up from the couch. He followed Leonardo into the back bedroom. "So, are you really okay?" Edward wondered.
"I am…I really am. I just freaked out yesterday. God it…it all happened so fast and Noelle was so…wrecked. Last night was really hard but we had a wonderful morning and she's been so strong today. I expect tomorrow to be a rough day since it's the funeral but you know we'll get through this. It's going to be okay." Leonardo said getting on one end of the chest.
"Did…Noelle seriously wear that to bed with you last night?" Edward asked eyeing the beautiful black satin on Leonardo's bed. He should have never asked that. For god's sake there was just an unexpected death to deal with! Leonardo looked at Edward as they shifted the chest toward the middle of the floor.
"She did…despite her fragility that overcame her last night…she was still terribly hard to resist…she looks…undeniably beautiful in that." Leonardo said.
"Edward shook his head. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I am….so, so sorry I should have never asked you something like that…this isn't the time or the place or…I'm so sorry Leonardo but my head is spinning right now and…me and Mia took a shower this morning….together….and….something else happened after that." Edward confessed. Leonardo dropped the chest in the middle of the floor.
"It sounds like you need to talk to me about this. I hear panic and wreckless ambition in your voice." Leonardo said. "Come here sit down." Leonardo said patting the chest beside him. Edward looked to Leonardo with nervous eyes.
"This isn't about me Leonardo…this is about you right now. You're going through a hard time." Edward said.
"It's okay Edward…really it's okay, now come on. Talk to me." Leonardo encouraged him.
"I know what you're thinking…and no…we didn't go all the way….wait…seriously why do you want to listen to me right now!? Leonardo, he died! He's gone, man! How can you do this!? How do you have the heart to listen to me?" Edward said frantically.
"Calm down! I told you…me and Noelle spent the better part of last night crying every last tear we could possibly cry for her father. But you can't dwell on it forever…it's life Edward…its life. You grieve and you go on. That's what we did last night. She's moving on so I'm going to move on with her. Now that I've given you my speech…talk to me." Leonardo had to put his arm around Edward.
"Alright…alright. You're…you're great Leonardo. So…have you ever done this before?" Edward whispered something to Leonardo and then looked at him mortified. As usual, Leonardo had nothing but calm and comfort in his eyes. He smiled.
"Yeah…and Edward…as you already know…iftfeels great…but..I felt so guilty because I had no idea how to give her the same. I mean I had NO idea at all. Didn't even know where to start." Leonardo confessed. Edward smiled.
"Mia taught me…and I can…teach you too. Leonardo…" Edward lowered the sound of his voice. "I can't stop thinking about the way she tasted. She was so….OH MY GOD! LEONARDO I SHOULD NOT BE TALKING TO YOU ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW! TELL ME TO SHUT THE HELL UP! TELL ME I'M AN ASS FOR TALKING TO YOU ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!" Edward yelled getting up from the chest. Leonardo didn't say anything for a moment, he just let Edward lose control.
"This is why you burnt our macaroni and cheese isn't it? You weren't watching the macaroni! You had your tongue…" Edward slapped his hand over Leonardo's mouth.
"Sssssshhhhhhh!!!" Edward hissed. Meanwhile, in the living room Mia had fixed Noelle a second plate of food.
"So…are you ready for the funeral tomorrow? I know that's a horrible question to ask." Mia said.
"You know…I am…I'm going to cry, I know I will but I want this to be over. I want it all to end and for life to go back to normal. I want us to reschedule our trip to the mountains and go and have a wonderful time. I want the funeral to be over, in fact I can't wait for it to be over." Noelle said. "I'm exhausted Mia…emotionally I'm exhausted and I need to recover."