vi. EGG NOODLES, THE MUPPETS, AND TAYLOR SWIFT

wednesday, january 13th

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"DO YOU WANT TO LISTEN to some music?" Lula asked as she filled a pot up with water for the egg noodles.

  "You can pick something, I don't mind," he answered as he walked around her living, studying everything in it.

  Lula set the water on the stove so it could boil, and walked past Awsten to a shelf with a CD player and a record player.

  She crouched down, and Awsten looked away so he didn't get distracted by...

  No funny stuff, he reminded himself.

  Lula pulled a CD off the shelf and put it in the player. Taylor Swift's voice came through the speaker, and Awsten laughed.

  "Of course, you're a Swiftie."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Lula furrowed her brow as she set the 'Evermore' CD case back on the shelf.

  "Nothing, nothing." He shook his head.

  She went back to the kitchen to get the egg noodles out of the cupboard as the song continued playing. And when the next song started, "You booked the night train for a reason," she sang along.

  Awsten stopped pacing around the room. God, of course, she could sing. This girl was perfect.

  A smile spread across his face and he sunk down onto the couch, listening to her sing. His eyes fluttered shut as he thought about how this surely had to be a dream, it couldn't be real.

  He heard Lula pour the noodles into the water, and then her footsteps making their way towards the couch where he was sitting.

  "Man, you're asleep?" she joked. "More egg noodles for me then." She gasped. "Ooh, I still have an Arizona from last night. You wanna split it? It's a tall boy."

  "Nah, you can have it all." Awsten sent her a goofy grin, and there he was again, making her face all hot. They were inside this time, so she had no excuse.

  Thankfully, his eyes were still closed so he didn't see.

  She sat down on the couch next to him, and Taylor Swift continued to play. "Which Muppet movie do you wanna watch?" she asked.

  "Hmm...which one does he sing The Rainbow Connection?"

  "I dunno, I think the first one. But he also might sing it in the Jason Segel one. I love Jason Segel. Lemme Google it." She pulled out her phone, and mumbled as she looked it up, "Which muppet movie does Kermit sing Rainbow Connection...Uh, yeah, just The Muppet Movie. Lemme Google if it's in the Jason Segel one, cause I love Jason Segel."

  Another grin spread across Awsten's face as she searched for which movie they were going to watch. She was so fucking cute with her egg noodles, and her Taylor Swift, and her love for Jason Segel. There was no way he was awake right now.

  "Yeah, he does. Which one do you wanna watch?" She looked over at him, and he looked away, pretending he wasn't just admiring her.

  "Uh, you choose."

  "I mean, I love Jason Segel and all — Jesus, I've said that so many times. Uh, let's watch the original one though," she said. "For nostalgia or whatever."

  "Okay," he smiled.

  She pulled it up and then went to check on their dinner. She drained the pasta and she handed him a bowl. Lula grabbed her Arizona from the fridge, and they went back to the couch to start the movie.

  Awsten looked over at Lula again. She was watching with a big grin on her face, and he had to bite his lip to keep from breaking out in a grin himself.

  There was nowhere else he wanted to be right now.

By the time the movie was done, neither of them were tired. It was only around eight, and neither of them wanted Awsten to leave.

  "So you like Taylor Swift..." he began, "what other music do you like?"

  She shrugged. "I'm kind of getting into this band right now. They're called..." Waterparks, he wanted her to say. "The Brobecks."

  Dallon and Ryan. Oh, this was even better. "Oh yeah?" He tried to hide his smile.

  "Yeah, but they broke up. It's a shame, I really like them."

  "Yeah, I know The Brobecks. They are pretty good, and they're in a new band now."

  "They are?" she gasped. "What's it called?"

  Before he could even open his mouth, she had Spotify open. "I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME," he told her and she pulled their page.

  "Let's fucking go," she whispered. "I'm gonna be listening to this album tomorrow."

  "It's really good." Awsten's phone started to buzz, and when he pulled it out of his pocket he saw that Jasper was calling. "I gotta take this, sorry."

  He stepped out into the hall, and Lula opened Instagram. 'i dont know how but they found me' she typed into the search bar. The band didn't pop up, so she tried 'idkhow' and sure enough, there it was.

  He had stepped out of her apartment only a minute or so, but Awsten was back before she could hit follow.

  "I gotta go. I'm sorry," he apologized. "My buddy just called me. Needs help with something. I'm so sorry."

  "Nah, it's fine. Tell him I say hey."

  "Alright, I will," he nodded. "Hey, thanks for being chill about this. I usually wouldn't leave so abruptly, but..."

  "Yeah, yeah, I get it." She waved him off. "Go help him out."

  "Bye, Tallulah."

  "Get out of here, Awsten."

  After he left, she opened her phone back up and clicked the follow button on iDKHOW. The suggested accounts popped up like they usually do, and Lula would've usually clicked away, but one of the accounts caught her eye.

cowboys <3