Chapter two.

Noah woke up the next morning with a small pain in his arm. Cody had rolled over during the middle of the night and was now sleeping on Noah's hand, sending pin needles up his entire arm. Noah carefully moved his hand from under Cody and went into the small kitchen to get breakfast. It was a slightly cloudy Saturday, mist had already settled around outside, promising rain later in the afternoon. Noah sighed; glad he was taking a day off today. Fixing himself an extra strong cup of coffee, he wondered what he would do for the rest of the day. It would be easy enough just to sit around and be lazy-something Noah was very good at doing. But then he though of Cody. The brunette was still curled up in bed, breathing lightly and letting out a loud snore every so often.

Dumping the rest of his coffee into the sink, Noah walked back into the bedroom. He lightly shook Cody for a minute, and then after that didn't work he shook him a little less lightly.

"Newh..gr awry. I'mph slephy." Cody mumble in response to the shaking.

"Care to speak English?"

"Noah, go away. I'm sleepy. Better?" Cody sat up straight to give Noah an irritated look.

"Yes, though a little less attitude would be highly appreciated. Now get up and get dressed. We're going to be leaving soon." Noah had already started to change cloths as he said this.

"No, Noah. I don't feel too good. I think I'm sick. You can just go." Cody rolled over in bed and covered himself up with the blanket.

'You never feel good anymore, Cody. Can't you tell I'm just trying to help your sorry ass out?' Noah thought with a mixture of annoyance and pity.

Noah was fed up with Cody. One month was just too much. He wanted his Cody back. The fun, bubbly, endearingly annoying boy. Not this depressed, junk food, stranger who shared Noah's house. Noah truly felt sad for Cody and considering his record for pity and concern, that was saying a lot. Damn it he would make Cody happy if he had to dress up as a clown and sing show tunes…ok maybe he didn't love Cody that much-no, this wasn't a time for sarcasm. If doing that would make Cody even giggle he would go to the costume store right now.

With that in mind, Noah draped Cody over his shoulder and walked to the closet with him, which wasn't an easy task considering Noah's muscle mass.

"Noah! Put me down! I told you I'm not feeling well."

"Listen honey, you're going to stand up and get dressed even if I have to do it myself!"

Cody blushed at his remark. Noah was glad that he could still make him blush. The boy was just so easy to tease sometimes.

"Fine. I'll get dressed. Where are we even going?" Cody asked, stripping of his shirt. Even with his slight weigh gain Noah would still see the slim curve of Cody's hips that was only slightly less defined.

"The mall." Noah said, still eyeing him as he slipped on baggy jeans and a big t-shirt.

"Why the mall?"

"Because, I think we need to do a little clothes shopping."

"Noah, you hate shopping for clothes." Cody replied, giving Noah a strange look.

"I said 'need' not 'want'. Come on Cody, it'll be good for you to get out of the house for a while. You haven't been out of the house for nearly a month! Not since-"Noah broke off at the look on Cody's face.

Noah knew he had gone a little far. He was acting like Cody didn't know what he was doing to himself. He was talking to Cody like he was still a kid. Cody was a grow man now. Noah was cursing his mouth when Cody grabbed his arm; a little to roughly.

"Come on. Let's go to the mall. Maybe they're selling cotton candy." Cody managed a small smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes but it was a start. Noah followed him out the door, hoping that the day would go well.

XXXX

The two teens were walking passed endless shops and bumping into other mall goers. One would make a comment about the people around them every now and then; either earning himself a laugh or a fake scolding. The smaller of the two kept trying to grab the other's hand, only to have him shift away slightly and awkwardly.

"Noah, come on! Just hold my hand, please? It's cold." Cody whined to his date.

"And come off as a whore? Please honey, I don't just give people my hands willy nilly." Noah said, his voice dripping with his normal amount of sarcasm.

"Nooooaaaah. Come on. It's a date. It's not like I'm asking you to wear handcuffs and get on the bed!"

"Now that I actually wouldn't mind." Noah smirked at Cody's blush and slid his hand around Cody's waist.

"Ffffaaagggoots!" Some boy yelled at the two from a far, getting high fives from his friends around him.

"You didn't seem to mind that too much last nigh." Noah replied, not missing a beat or looking up at the rude boy.

The boy stuttered badly as his 'friends' kept on telling him he got owned by a fruity. You never wanted to insult someone who was known for his sarcasm. It was now Cody who was backing away from Noah; the young teen was still not used to the hateful comments. Noah, noticing Cody's worried face, decided to do something to cheer him up. Noah would be the first to admit that Cody was making the cynic go soft.

"Wait right here for a minuet, 'fruity'." Noah sat Cody down on a mall bench as he walked off to the food court.

Cody wasn't good a waiting and was fidgety within a few moments of Noah being gone. He played on his phone a little and tried not to attract attention to himself-scared that people saw the scene that took place a few minuets ago. He was about to get up and look for Noah when he saw him walking towards him again, with something pink and blue in his hand.

"Here." He held out the cotton candy to the sugar obsessed teen. Cody smiled at Noah and then made a greedy reach for the fluffy treat.

"Mphank youmf, Newfa!" Cody said with cotton candy slowly dissolving in his mouth.

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