AFTER THE ORDER is placed, despite all of Noel's weak protests, I'm grinning. 

     He's practically folded into himself, the exasperation on his face growing stronger the longer I look at him. It's been a couple minutes of this. Him obviously avoiding my stare, and of me obviously staring. There's this bizarre cognitive dissonance in his six-year-old temper tantrum and the sleek, black tie loose around his neck, and I can't help but laugh.

     "Why are you laughing?" he asks, eyes fixated on the screen.

     "Why do you always hang around here if you hate it so much?" I counter. Despite the mocking undertones, I can't help the curiosity itching under my words.

     He's more questions than answers, despite the fact that I'm clearly a joy to be around, but whatever.

    His expression softens just a smidgen. "Because Cleopatra's here."

    I tilt my head, and something inside of me warms at the change. "Yeah, but why don't you take her home? Instead of barging in here at all hours of the night. Unless, seeing me naked was your plan the entire time!" 

     When his gaze slides over to meet mine, narrowed and unimpressed, I'm beaming.

     "It's complicated," he admits with a sigh, threading a hand through his dark hair. "Cleopatra has to stay here. That's the way things have to be for now."

     The insatiable curiosity that always seems to get me into more trouble than I can get out of wants me to press him further, and for a moment I open my mouth to ask more, but then it's shut again. His closed-off expression tells me it's the end of that conversation, and for some inexplicable reason, I don't want him to leave just yet.

    I reassure myself it's only because he needs to be introduced into the wonderful world of Moo Shu pork. And not because I keep wondering how soft his hair really is.

    "Mysterious. If you were trying not to turn me on, try harder."

     He opens his mouth to rebuke, a telling pinch of his brows, but I cut him off with a swift lift to my feet.

     "All right, I'm putting you on Bachelor duty. I expect a full report when I come back. I'm serious here." I hold a threatening finger to further my point. "The importance is in the details."

     He bristles. "I'm not watching your garbage show or eating your garbage food."

     I shoot him a cheeky grin, grabbing my jacket from the chair I'd left it crumpled up on. "Keep an eye on Katrina, she's the crier."

     As the door almost closes shut, I hear Noel mutter some sort of response under his breath. A soft smile involuntarily curves on my face. A part of me realizes that I'm probably going to be scolded later for teasing him so much, and I have absolute faith this will get back to Natalya, but there's a little bounce in my too-quick steps back home, and I'm not entirely sure it's because of the food I'm carrying.

     Although the food does help. My wallet is crying a little bit- a lot a bit honestly, but I reassure myself that I'm being a good person, and therefore it's justified. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing this for Noel.

    So it's okay.

     And the extra wontons are also justified because they're extra wontons. They're always justified. Because they're wontons.

    A laugh that sounds suspiciously like a cackle escapes my lips when I step through the door, plastic bags brimming with a plethora of noodle-meat combinations in hand, and Noel's eyes widen to saucers.

    "Are you ready for your mind to be blown?" A devious grin spreads across my face.

    "You do realize that there's only two of us. And that I'm not hungry. So really, that's all for you." He looks seriously concerned. "You're going to die." 

    My grin never falters as I dump myself next to him on the couch and drop the straining plastic bags onto the steel and glass coffee table. The delicious aroma has been teasing me the entire walk home, and my stomach growls as I begin not-so carefully hauling the boxes from the bag.

     There's no time for grace when there's take out.

     "Updates."

     "What?"

     "Updates," I repeat, nodding to the TV, grabbing the aluminum containers. "I asked for details."

     There's a beat of silence, and I'm expecting another crass comment about my apparent garbage taste in television when I glance up at him, but all I get is a sigh.

    "The girls all got upset because that one blonde woman apparently stole him away from the group date, which is ridiculous, they're on a competitive dating show. Then he had some rehearsed television moment with Meghan. Also, Katrina cried," he mumbles, albeit a tad begrudgingly, eyes refusing to stray from the screen.

     A colossal smile lights up my face. "Wow, is Monday going to be our Bachelor date night now?"

     "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves."

    I laugh, opening up the last aluminum container and releasing a delicious waft of pork goodness into the air. I can feel myself salivate. "All right," I say, rubbing my hands together with wide, excited eyes. "What do you want to start with?"

    "I said I'm not hungry." His cool exterior is as thick as ever.

    "Come on," I whine, pouting slightly. "Just try it, is all I ask. Pick something, whatever you want. Let me show you the way of my people."

     He arches a brow.

     "It would be rude of you to refuse. Come on, rich boy," I say, scooping up a delicious helping of Moo Shu pork on my chopsticks and slowly meandering it through the air, closer to his mouth.

     Noel pulls back, a disturbed mark on his face. "Aren't you going to get some dishes?"

    I shoot him a look. "Dude, they already come in dishes. That's what the containers are for. Why would I make more work for myself when the ways of Bamboo Buddha China House have already fixed this problem for me? That's why there's literally no downside to take out."

     "Except increasing your risk of colorectal cancer."

    I beam. "That's half the fun!"

     My answer doesn't seem to reassure his doubts at all as he continues to shoot me a wary stare, mouth pressed together and uninviting of the pork noodle I've got compiled on my chopsticks.

     And I don't even know how, at this point, because I'm two seconds away of going straight up Neanderthal on everything in front of me.

    When I hum and bring it closer, he turns his head like a toddler. The added airplane noises also produce similar results. Trains aren't any more tempting. My shoulders slump, a little defeated when the car yields absolutely nothing.

     "Noel! Try it!"

     "I'm not hungry."

    "One bite! Don't be a baby!"

     "Don't call me a baby. And still no. Stop with the train. Don't choo-choo at me. No. I refuse."

     My eyes sharpen. "Don't make me get physical."

    "Don't touch me." He returns my challenging stare

     A small noise of surprise erupts from Noel as I lunge for him with one hand, pushing him down, the other still tightly grasping the chopsticks. It's one of the only talents I can speak of, the maternal genetics channelling all the ancestry I have, but it's coming in handy. He's caught off guard by my sudden attack, and so goes down easily with wide eyes and flailing limbs.

     Taking advantage of his weakened state, I jump into his lap to pin him down, earning another guttural sound of concern. His glasses are slightly off-kilter. A smirk carves into my face.

    I dangle the noodles above him. "Say ah!"

     "Get off me," he mumbles, turning his head and fixing his glasses. "I'm telling Mark."

     "I'm telling Mark," I mimic him in a mocking falsetto. "Come on little boy, eat the Moo Shu pork and I promise I won't touch you for the rest of the night."

     His jaw flexes, arms still somehow crossed over his chest. "I'm not a little boy. And don't mock me, what are you, a fifth-grader?"

    I grin, pulling my elbows closer together, shimmying closer to him. "Do these look like they belong to a fifth-grader?"

     Something deep in my belly tightens when Noel's eyes not so inconspicuously drift down to the dip in my v-neck, and it appears he's barely recognized the action himself until it's too late, his eyes are snapping back to mine. I laugh, dangling the noodles closer to his mouth.

    "If you eat the tasty noodles, maybe I'll even give you a reward." 

    He turns his head. "Get off me, I'm serious."

     There's a beat of quiet, both of us stubbornly refusing to budge from our positions, and then a sigh spills from my lips. I pout and my shoulders fall slightly.

    "Please? Just try it. And I promise I'll leave you alone for the rest of the night. I'll even brush Cleo."

     There's a pause. "Cleopatra."

    "I will brush Cleopatra."

     There's another moment, and then, slowly, he turns his head back towards me. For a moment I'm shocked, when he ever so slightly parts his lips open, pointedly staring in the other direction.

     "Ah," he deadpans.

     With a wide grin, too-pleased than I honestly should be with myself, I drop the noodles into his mouth. Then he's thoughtfully chewing, still refusing to meet my eye.

     "And?" I prompt, leaning in. "The verdict?"

     He swallows, and when his eyes lock with mine, a shiver crawls down my spine. I'm suddenly more aware of the position we're in, with Noel's back pressing into the couch and my body hovering over him, unconsciously leaned in more than I'd expected.

     His dark eyes are burning into me, and they're closer than I've ever seen them, magnified even further by his glasses. There's flecks of green and light brown, swirling with something I can't quite pin-point, and I swallow.

     "It's... good." Noel meets my gaze.

     I nod, slowly. "That's... good."

     There's quiet, and I'm expecting him to roll his eyes, shove me off, do something, anything, but he doesn't. He does nothing, and I'm frozen, unable to do anything either.

     He parts his lips to say something, and there's a sharp intake of breath at the back of my throat.

     "Guys?"

     My eyes widen and immediately I shoot up, arms flailing and heartbeat thudding in my ears. My reliable lack of hand-eye coordination has me tumbling off the side of the couch and catching the edge of the coffee table on the side of my head, a piercing pain blossoming on my scalp.

     "Um, hey Mark," Noel says while fixing his glasses, but his voice sounds a fraction off, and his eyes widen when then land on me. "Christ, are you okay?"

     "I'm fine!" I blurt out, voice a few octaves higher than usual, protectively rubbing my head with a wince. My cheeks burn. "I'm totally okay! It's, uh, hey Mark!"

     Mark appears, a boyish grin gracing his face, and a pizza box in his hand. I'm still a little disoriented, a ball tight in the pit of my stomach, but his face doesn't appear suspicious, which is a good sign.

     My pulse is still thudding in my ears.

     "Hey guys, what're you up to? I thought I'd bring pizza- I texted you, but I guess you didn't get it."

     I suck my teeth. "I was just- Chinese food. I was making him try Chinese food. That's all that was happening." Despite the fact that I'm trying to sound as normal as possible, even I can hear the slight upticks of panic in my voice.

     "She forced me," Noel agrees, a little too quickly, and I shoot him a glare.

     Mark shrugs, not the least bit suspicious. "Guess we'll be eating pretty well tonight."

     "Cool!" I chirp, maybe a little too eager. "I forgot something in my room, so I'm going to go grab that!"

     I can't meet Noel's gaze as I jump to my feet and smooth down my hair. Despite the lack of questions from Mark, I still don't feel entirely comfortable, especially because I don't even know if I can explain what happened to myself.

     Mostly because there would be nothing to explain, because nothing happened.

     My lack of sexual contact in more time than I'd like to admit is tricking my mind, I reassure myself while bolting towards my room. I'm sure Noel's feelings for me don't fall outside the circle of annoyed, irritated, or exasperated.

     I just need to get laid.

     Like, yesterday.

     As I push my door open, I stifle a laugh when I hear Noel's voice.

     "Hey Mark, do you think I look like a magician?"