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Kissing in the Rain: Words

 “I really, truly want to. But I’m going out of town for the next week. And then I’m starting shooting so I don’t know yet what my schedule will be like. Can I call you when I get back?”

“Yeah. No, yeah, of course,” Henry says. Idiot. “Cool beans.”

“Yeppers.”

“Ha ha.” Henry shuts his eyes and wills himself to a future where he isn’t having this conversation anymore. “Well. I’ll let you off the hook, I guess. Not that you were on my hook. I’m not a pirate. Arrgh.

Audrey laughs politely and Henry decides he’s just going to crawl into a hole and die after she hangs up.

“It was nice hearing your voice again, Henry,” she says just before she hangs up. “I missed you.”

When Audrey gets back from her trip, she calls Henry for a raincheck on that tea date. She can tell he’s walking the dogs by the sound of passing traffic and barking in the background when he answers.

“No, no, no, stop, you know better,” he says. A beat passes. “Sorry. Dogs. Tea. Yes. Great. I’d love to. When’s a good time for you?”

“Tomorrow? Late notice, I know, I just have prep for the rest of the week and – “

“Tomorrow works,” Henry answers promptly.

“Great,” she says. “Great.”

Audrey hangs up and groans because suddenly she has a closet full of nothing to wear.

Tea is great. Henry orders a tea latte that isn’t chai (he didn’t realize that was a thing) and Audrey shows up five minutes late after a text about parking troubles. They talk – and for once, the words don’t trip on their way out of his mouth.

Audrey tells him about the wedding that brought her out of town, her brother’s recent obsession with a Battlestar Galactica board game, her sister’s summer plans, a time she accidentally rear ended Jennifer Lawrence in a parking lot last year (Jennifer was totally cool about it, apparently.) Henry tells her about his volunteer work with a local animal shelter, his uncle’s show at the Magic Castle, and he does a quick torn napkin trick at the table for her after some wheedling to demonstrate his magic skills.

Tea turns into plans for a Netflix marathon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer because it’s been too long since either of them watched it, and when Henry opens the door and places a hand on the small of her back briefly, it feels, well, right.

One month, three tea dates, two Netflix marathons, a group outing to an outdoor summer screening of My Fair Lady, and zero kisses later, Audrey decides maybe she’s making all this up in her head.

“Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words,” Eliza Doolittle sings on a giant screen in the Hollywood Cemetary.

Audrey gives a subtle toast to her namesake and takes a drink from the cider that Henry brought. She catches Henry’s eye during the “Without You” number.

“I always knew Eliza Doolittle was my homegirl,” Audrey mumbles to him, pulling at the throw blanket they’re sharing. “I’ve always liked her way better than Holly Golightly.”

“Cold?” Henry asks as she leans super platonically into him.

“No,” Audrey says, in a stupid mixture of bravery and fuck-it-she-doesn’t-care-anymore. “You’re more comfortable than the cemetery ground.”

“Do you ever think it’s weird we’re all watching movies right next to all these dead people?”

“When I die, I hope they throw a party like this one on my grave,” Audrey answers, tucking Henry’s arm around her. She catches Lily’s eye as she does it, Lily shoots her a Is this what I think it is? look. Audrey tries to convey a shrug with her eyes.

“Audrey, do you have something in your eye?”

“What? No.”

I’ve grown accustomed… to her face,” Rex Harrison sings. Audrey looks up at Henry and sees him lightly singing along. She also suddenly feels his thumb drawing light circles on her arm.

The movie ends, and they pack up and leave without exchanging words.

The next day, Henry decides he’s done with words.

Kissing in the Rain - Ep. 12: Audrey & Henry
Follow the Kissing in the Rain Fan Canon Transmedia Experiment
Episode 12 Prompt: inbetween