Chapter 3

Noah woke a few hours later. Blinking the sunlight filtering through the window binds he turned over with the intention of staying in bed for a few more hours, but the smell of coffee worked its Pavlovian response on him and he tossed his blankets to the side. He let out a great big yawn and he stood and stretched. He changed into a new pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt and dashed downstairs, his stomach rumbling with hunger and anticipation of a delicious home-cooked meal.

"Ah, there you are," Horace Nixon said in way of greeting.

"Hi, dad," Noah replied still a little groggy. He sat on one of the stools that circled the kitchen bar counter. It was a familiar move, he'd sat there counts times doing homework. "Thanks," he said gratefully as Horace pushed a fresh mug of coffee in Noah's direction.

"I hope I remembered how you took it. Not a lot of cream or sugar," Horace said with amusement like he couldn't believe Noah would enjoy the coffee part of his coffee.

Noah cupped the mug in his palms and inhaled deeply, the rich, earthy aroma of the dark roast was a balm to his sleepiness. "Trust me after seeing how much sugary crap goes into the stuff I make at work this is the only way I can drink it. I actually want coffee in my coffee."

"I see your point," his dad said with a nod. "What are you in the mood for? Oatmeal? Eggs?..."

"Waffles."

"Waffles," Noah said at the same time as his mother. Nora Nixon walked into the kitchen smiled at her son as she moved towards her husband and stole a sip of coffee from his mug.

"Um, perfect, as always," she cooed, taking another, longer sip.

"I try," Horace said as his reached for a new mug. When he passed Nora they shared a quick kiss and embraced.

Noah watched the easiness between his parents but then looked away as he felt a stab of jealousy and warmth in the pit of his stomach. He was happy to see just how in love his parents were after twenty years of marriage and envious of how uncomplicated their lives seemed to be. Feeling disgusted at himself for the unpleasant thoughts he got up from his stool and left his parents to their own devices. He slid open the patio door and went about his old chore routine. He started by watering the vegetable garden before it got too warm out before switching to a watering can to take care of the plants dotted around the house.

Just as the watering-can emptied he heard his mother calling him back into the kitchen. Noah's mouth watered at the smell of sausage and he quickly washed his hands so he could dig into his breakfast.

"What time are you heading to the hospital?" His father asked.

"Don't know," Noah shrugged. "I'm waiting for HQ to give me the all clear. My IDs were deactivated when I left, so I don't have access to the building," Noah explained through a mouthful of perfect syrupy waffles. "I could get a call in a minute or in a few hours. Depends on who's available to process the paperwork."

"Rex can't get you in any sooner? I imagine he's eager to have his best friend by his side and would pull some strings to make that happen."

Noah swallowed thickly. He wasn't so sure about that. "Um, no. I haven't... we haven't spoken in the last few months. He doesn't exactly know that I'm here," Noah finished slowly, bracing for his parents' reaction.

There was a long beat of silence where Nora and Horace exchanged a look that Noah could read as surprise or disappointment. He wasn't sure which was worse. "Well, that is unexpected," Nora said delicately. "Rex was just telling us he was looking forward to spending time with you the next time you came home. He made it sound like you two had plans."

"Rex said that?"

"Well, his exact words were 'I can't wait to hang out with Noah again,' if that helps."

To Noah, it sounded like Rex was making a wish that they would see each other soon instead of having any definitive plans. "Uh, when did he say this?"

"Oh, uh, when was that, honey?" Nora asked focusing on cutting through her stack of waffles.

"Saturday night," Horace answered easily. "I made a pot roast."

"Oo, that's right. It was delicious."

"Saturday? You guys saw Rex on Saturday? You ate pot roast with Rex on Saturday?" Noah said, his volume increasing with incredulity.

"By George, I think he's got it," Nora said jokingly. Her smile fading as she looked up and saw the expression on her son's face. "You didn't know."

"No, I didn't know. How could I when he and I aren't even talking?"

"I get you're upset but watch your tone with your mother," his father interjected. Though there was a sternness in his warning there was also the warmth of understanding that Noah wasn't trying to be disrespectful.

Noah tamped down on his reply until he was sure he wouldn't say anything impertinent. His father was right, Noah was upset but it wasn't his mother's fault. When it came to Rex, Noah only had himself to blame. "I'm sorry, mom."

"Apology accepted," Nora replied, reaching over to her son and rubbing a hand over his back. "If I had known you didn't know about Rex and Caesar's visits I would have mentioned it a long time ago."

Noah's shoulders tightened as he fumed at the casual way his mother had added Caesar. Like it was no big deal. It shouldn't be a big deal. Noah hated that it felt like a big deal. Luckily, he was able to keep those thoughts to himself as he watched his mother's expression soften as she recalled the first time the Salazar brothers were in her home. It was a few Christmases ago. Noah had invited them to dinner. There has been tension between Rex and his older brother at the time. The evening had ended on a great note with Rex and Caesar agreeing to let the expectations of their past, something Rex currently couldn't remember, go and get to know each other as they the young men there were.

"They have been a great comfort to us," his mother continued. "It helps with the 'empty nest' syndrome we both get from time to time."

Noah heard the unspoken message to make the effort to contact his parents more often than he currently was, or wasn't as the case may be.

"How often?"

"How often, what?"

"How often do they come over?"

"Oh, uh, about once every ten or so days," his mom said, looking up as she did the mental math. "Though lately, it's been a lot longer than that."

"And sometimes they don't show up for weeks at a time," Horace added.

"That's true," Nora confirmed. "In fact, we were expecting Rex and Caesar to stop by last night, but you know, with Mr. Six's accident, we've had to reschedule."

"So you've spoken to Rex?"

"Why, yes," Nora confirmed, reaching for her coffee.

"You mother has made it her mission to involve them in family outings."

"What can I say? It's nice to have a teenager in the house to eat up all the food and watch TV at high intervals. You know, he's gotten your father into Spanish soaps. They often watch them together after dinner until it was time for Rex to head back to HQ."

Noah was stunned by the news. This was the first time he was hearing about how much time Rex had been staying at the house. His house. He felt anger flash through him. Why didn't they tell him about the visits before now? And how come Rex hadn't brought it up during their handful of phone conversations? He refused to believe it could have been a hard thing to mention. The answer, of course, was that their friendship was still recovering from their summer of love.

"Does he know I'm here?"

Nora frowned at the question. "How should I know?"

"Did you tell him I was home?" Noah rephrased.

"No," Horace interjected. "Rex called to apologize to us for not being able to stop by. He didn't stay on the line long enough for us to ask why. We assumed it was work-related, because most of the time, it is. We didn't know about Six until Bobo called us to let us know you would be coming home for a bit."

Though there weren't as many EVO attacks as there once had been there was still plenty of situations where Rex and Providence had to intervene. Noah imagined most of Rex's time was spent zooming all over the world getting to the locations where he was needed most.

Everyone jumped a little at the sound of Noah's phone going off. They all shared a nervous laugh as Noah dug into his shorts pocket for his phone. Thinking it was Bobo or even Rex, Noah didn't bother to check the caller ID so he was surprised to hear the swearing that came blasting over the line. It was Sebastian, Noah's closest friend from college. He swore. A lot. It was one of the things Noah liked about him. Noah excused himself from the table and hurriedly stepped out onto the patio to take the call.

"Bash?"

"Are you okay? Did you get home alright?" Sebastian asked, his deep voice full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm home."

"That's great, sweetie. Now, do you feel like you could let me know what the fuck is going on? I'd like to think I'm owed a bit more explanation than. 'Heading home. Don't worry. Be back soon.' Which you gotta admit is a pretty shitty text message. "

"What? I only had a few minutes to think of something."

"Yeah? Well, it's a good thing you're not minoring in English, oh wait, you are!" Sebastian snapped.

"Bash, you know I'm not a major like you, so you really can't blame me."

"And yet, here I am, blaming you."

Noah sighed but gave in and told Sebastian a little more detail about why he had to come home for a few days. He didn't mention Rex, but that didn't stop Sebastian from figuring out that Rex had something to do with it.

"Do you want me to come out there? I could be your moral support."

"Yeah, sure, Bash," Noah scoffed. "You just wanna meet Rex."

When Sebastian didn't even attempt to deny it, Noah laughed.

"Well, why not? Maybe you ought to try to see things from my very slim angle. You've been so secretive about this infamous mystery man of yours."

"Bash-" Noah tried to interrupt, but Sebastian just continued.

"-How could I not want to get up close and personal?"

Yeah, that's not happening any time soon, Noah thought with a grimace. He needed to get back on regular speaking terms with Rex first before he could even begin to think about introducing his friends to his... to Rex.

He thanked Sebastian for calling and checking in on him and that he'll call him later with an update. They hang up and Noah went back inside. The kitchen was empty, his parents having eaten their breakfast and cleaned up after themselves. He could hear them walking around upstairs as they continued with their day.

Someone had covered his breakfast with plastic wrap to keep his food sorta warm. Even though he didn't have much of an appetite anymore he didn't want to waste the food, especially after having requested it. He placed the plate into the microwave and refreshed his coffee while his waffles reheated, thinking about how he was going to deal with his return to Providence. It was going to be complicated because just thinking about it made him feel a torrent of sadness, worry, and giddiness at going back to HQ. He pulled out his phone, checking it for messages and finding none. The microwave beeped at him and wincing at how hot the plate had become Noah walked into the living room to watch TV while he ate.

Sure enough, there were four episodes of El Amor De La Pasion El Amor on the DVR with the lastest two not having been watched yet. It was true. Rex visits my parents on a semi-regular basis. He figured his parents weren't making it up when they mentioned it, but hearing about it and seeing proof of it was... shocking? Upsetting. Suddenly the waffles didn't taste as good anymore. Maybe it was due to Noah's sour mood or more likely it was because they were in the microwave too long and were now rubbery. Either way, Noah pushed his plate away from him on the coffee table.

Deciding there was no way to save his waffles Noah goes back into the kitchen and scrapped the soggy mess into the trash can before rising the worst of the sticky sweet syrup off the plate and placing it into the dishwasher to be washed later. He wondered if Rex had done the same thing during one of his visits. Rex had recently been in his house. He had eaten one of his dad's home cooked meals and sharing quality time with his parents while Noah was on the other side of the country heating up a hot pocket for dinner with only his perpetually growing pile of school work for companionship.

Bitter and upset, that's how Noah felt. Bitter that Rex got to spend time here and upset that his parents got to see Rex more times than Noah got to. He sat on his favorite stool and took a moment to feel sorry for himself. It was a long moment. But eventually, he thought of why he was even home and that put things back into perspective for him. So what if Rex and Caesar stopped by? Knowing the Salazar brothers and his parents stayed in touch was a good thing. A great thing. Noah should be glad they got along. Noah was glad someone was there for Rex. He actually was, despite the jealousy of that person not being him.

Which brought up the question if he was the right person to be there for Rex. Bobo and his mother seemed to think so. Noah was that person for Rex once. But he was pretty sure he had burned down that bridge on that last night when he walked out. He told himself over and over again that he was only holding up his side of the deal they made. That didn't stop Noah from wanting to be that person still. Only time and Rex would show him if he would ever be that person again.