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Renee thought that after several years of friendship, she had a good sense of Andrew’s quirks and thought processes, but he still always managed to surprise her.
“Need to do some shopping?” She asked as they pulled up to the grocery store, her bags still in the back seat of the Maserati from Andrew picking her up from the airport thirty minutes earlier. She had flown in from DC to visit Andrew after his first month in Chicago playing pro after he graduated before she flew out on her first Peace Corps assignment.
“Yes.” Andrew said, turning the car off and climbing out.
Renee smiled and followed him out of the car. “Special occasion?”
“I’m making dinner tonight.” He said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, his mouth twitching minutely in the way she recognized as his attempt at hiding a smile. Most people wouldn’t notice it but Renee had always been good at picking out even the smallest of facial expressions. That was the hardest part of being away from her friend--he was very hard to read over text.
“What are we making?” She asked. He ignored her in favor of grabbing a basket off the stack as they walked in and heading directly to the cheese section in the corner of the store. She watched him peruse the collection of goat cheese for a solid two minutes in silence before deciding to switch topics. “How’s Neil?”
“Ask him yourself.” Andrew’s brow twitched.
“I have but it’s been a while.” She said as they moved long to the produce section. ‘Are you planning on going to see the season opener?”
“I have a game.” He said shortly, grabbing two bags of carrots and putting them in his basket.
“That’s unfortunate.” She said, “I believe Dan and Matt are planning on flying in to watch.”
“Good for them.”
She glanced down at the collection of items in the basket. Carrots, goat cheese and some fresh thyme. All the key things to make one of Renee’s favorite dishes “Are we making soup?”
“I'm making soup.” He said, turning down a new aisle to grab a box of chicken stock. “You’re going to be sitting at my kitchen table.”
“How courteous.” She hummed. “Was Neil disappointed when you said you couldn’t make it?”
He turned to look at her. “New job as a private detective?”
“No, just a friend.”
He sighed. The Andrew from when Renee first met him would’ve ignored her completely but over the years since then, he had opened up in leaps and bounds. Still tight lipped and holding all of his cards to his chest, but with the correct prodding at the correct time, she could get him to tell her what was on his mind. Usually it still worked best after a spar, but the canned soup aisle of the grocery store was good enough for her.
“He’s fine.” Andrew said.
“And are you?”
“I don’t remember you being quite this annoying.”
“Yes you do.” She grabbed another box of stock and added it to the basket. “Extra liquid helps the carrots blend together better.”
“Or this much of a backseat cook.”
“When do you see him next?”
“I am beginning to regret allowing you to stay here.”
“No you don’t.” Renee said and let herself smile again. “I know I said it when you picked me up but I am very glad to see you.”
He led them over to the self check out and Renee let the time pass in silence. Andrew would tell her what was on his mind when he wanted to. She could wait.
The silence lingered all the way back to the car and back onto the roads. They listened to the radio and Renee let the city pass. It had changed a lot in the decade since she had lived there but the bones were the same. She knew she would find a metaphor in there somewhere if she cared to look.
“He said he was fine with it.” Andrew said abruptly.
Renee nodded. “We both know that means he isn’t.”
“I can’t-” Andrew cut himself off and scowled out the window.
“Can’t help him if he won’t tell you.”
He tapped the side of his nose and stopped them for a red light.
Renee tilted her head, considering her next words carefully. That was one of the reasons she liked Andrew so much. He made her think and approach things differently than she might've before.
“I think it is worth telling him that.” She decided on eventually. “Neil has a tendency to martyr himself. Don’t let him.”
Andrew snorted. “I don’t control him.”
“Not any more than he controls you.” She replied. “Dogs and leashes.”
“The Peace Corp has changed you. Made you less peaceful.”
“All in a day's work.” Renee reached out and set her hand on Andrew’s arm. He didn’t shrug her off this time. “Just tell him that you are disappointed to miss it. It would go a long way.”
“You are making a lot of assumptions.”
“Not assumptions.” Renee said. “Just observations. I do know you quite well.”
Andrew made a small noise of concession as he turned them down another road and pulled into a private parking garage of an apartment building. Renee let her words sink in and watched Andrew roll them around in his brain.
They made it as far as the elevator before he let out the type of long suffering sigh only he was good at giving. Renee grinned as he spoke. “I’ll give him a call tomorrow.”
The evening went by smoothly after that, the two of them falling into their usual easier conversation topics. Renee watched him make dinner from the kitchen table in his apartment, scratching King behind the cat's ears until Andrew set a still steaming bowl in front of her.
Andrew would never say it outloud, but Renee knew as she ate the dinner that Andrew made for her that he was glad to see her. She smiled into her bowl and pressed one of his ankles to hers. He didn’t move away.