Summary: Seth isn’t answering his door and Audrey walks in to find him asleep.
After Audrey locks herself out of her apartment for the second time in a week, Seth suggests they swap keys (after giving her grief for just how many times she’s managed to lock herself out since moving in, of course). She’s only been in her apartment for two months, and she can’t believe she’s already managed to get locked out five times. Locksmiths are far more expensive in L.A. than in Iowa, she learns the hard way.
So when Seth suggests they swap keys so she doesn’t have to keep paying to have her door unlocked, she readily agrees. He gives her his spare key and adds hers to his keychain, a thin, cracked piece of plastic with a peeling logo that she can’t make out.
“In case of an emergency. Or if Rocket breaks in again and I’m not home,” he says with a grin, “You can hang out at my place.”
“Or I can chase him into your apartment,” Audrey teases him.
Seth chuckles. “If he eats all of my chips, I’m holding you responsible for replacing them.”
Audrey hasn’t locked herself out today, but Seth has offered to drive her to the set, and isn’t answering her texts or calls.
“Seth!”
She knocks on his door, glancing impatiently at her phone. If they don’t leave soon, they’re going to hit noon-hour traffic.
“Seth!”
She knocks harder, frowning when he still doesn’t answer. Her fingers run over the faded Hollywood keychain her parents once gave her that she can’t bring herself to replace, and she hesitates when they brush over Seth’s spare key. It’s not exactly an emergency, but…she doesn’t want to be late. And she’s just making sure he’s fine, she tells herself. That’s a reasonable explanation. Right?
Audrey tries his door, but it’s locked, so she eases the key in, turning it quietly.
“Seth?”
His apartment is dim, the midday sun filtering in through the blinds. Audrey closes the door behind her, glancing around. His bedroom door is shut, his bathroom light off. She’s about to say his name again when she sees him, and comes to a dead stop.
He’s sprawled out on his couch, one of his arms hanging off the edge, the other resting against a pillow. Audrey swallows hard as she takes him in. He’s clad in nothing but a pair of boxers, his chest rising and falling slowly with his even breaths.
She’s standing in front of him before she knows it, her feet seeming to move of their own accord. Her mouth opens to say his name, but he looks so peaceful (okay, and damn does he look good, and it’s distracting) that nothing comes out.
Seth fidgets slightly in his sleep, bringing the pillow across his chest and curling his arm around it, and her thoughts drift to how it would feel to have him hold her like that. She’s hugged him enough times now to know how solid his chest is and that he always feels so warm. Cuddling against him would probably be even better, she thinks.
He shifts again, rolling to his side, and it shakes her out of her thoughts. Before she can say anything, his brow furrows and then his eyes open. He blinks sleepily, his eyes clearing and then widening when he registers that she’s in his apartment. Staring at him, Audrey realizes, and feels her cheeks heat up.
“I…you didn’t answer…” she explains, fidgeting with her keys and glancing away from him.
“Oh. Right. I’m giving you a ride,” he mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.
When she looks back, he’s pushing himself upright. He’s flushed and not looking at her as he scrubs his hand over his face. She wonders what (or who) he was dreaming about, an unreasonable surge of jealousy rolling through her.
“Just let me get dressed,” he says as he stands, yawning.
“Sure. I’ll just…wait outside,” Audrey answers, cheeks still warm, and hears him chuckle.
“I’m just getting dressed, Iowa. Give me thirty seconds.”
Seth flips his bedroom light on, his door half cracked, and she can see him pull his jeans on and tug a t-shirt over his head. Audrey finds herself watching him again, then jerks her eyes away.
What is wrong with her? She’s acting like she’s never seen him half-dressed before. They’ve gone to the beach together. He’d fixed her leaking shower head once and gotten drenched and stripped out of his wet shirt and sweatpants so he didn’t drip water all over her apartment when he went to change. He’s answered his door shirtless a handful of times.
You’re being ridiculous, she tells herself.
When Seth walks back out, running his hand through his hair, she’s composed herself enough to tease him about his mid-morning nap. “You getting old?”
Seth laughs as he grabs his keys and they head outside. “Technically, yes. But I also had a late slot last night and didn’t get home until three.”
“How’d it go?” she asks as she climbs into his car.
Seth shrugs as he pulls away from the curb. “It was a Tuesday night. Slow. Not a big crowd.”
“Bummer,” she says, then, “Hey, I have tomorrow night off. Aren’t you trying out a new comedy club?”
“Yeah, in Burbank.”
“What time?”
Seth glances over at her. “I’m not sure yet. Why?”
Audrey rolls her eyes, poking his shoulder playfully. “Because I want to come. I could bring Chazz. And Teja if Markus doesn’t require her to do something ridiculous.”
“Really?” he asks.
“Yes, really. I want to see you,” she answers, smiling at the way his face lights up a little.
They pull into the lot, Seth putting the car in park as she unbuckles her seat belt. The sunlight hits his face, highlighting the strands of blonde in his hair, and Audrey can’t help but lean in and press her lips to his cheek. He turns at the same time she leans in, and she sucks in a breath as the corner of her mouth nearly brushes his.
“Thanks for the ride,” she murmurs when she pulls back.
Seth’s eyes are bright as he looks at her, an almost shy smile on his face. “You’re welcome. Do you need a ride home?”
She’d been planning on calling a Dryve, but Seth is always preferable to a random driver.
“If you don’t mind,” she says, grabbing her bag.
“I never mind, Iowa. You’re better company than the people I usually drive.”
He climbs out and opens her door for her, and Audrey grins as he bows playfully. People are trickling into the lot, but she finds she doesn’t really care as she suddenly wraps him into a hug. Seth lets out a quiet noise of surprise before hugging her back.
“Is this because I was shirtless this morning when you broke into my apartment?” he asks into her hair, and Audrey snorts out a laugh.
“No. This is because I want to. And I didn’t break in. You gave me a key, remember?”
“Hmm,” he says, squeezing her briefly before letting her go.
“I don’t remember telling you that you could come in and check me out while I was sleeping though,” Seth teases her, and she blushes in spite of herself.
“Yeah, well…I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you were dreaming about.”
A flush of pink spreads across his cheeks as he sheepishly runs his hand over the back of his neck. “It was nothing. Just a dream,” he says with a shrug, and now she’s even more curious, because he’s studiously not looking at her again.
“I’ll see you later, Iowa,” Seth says with another one of those almost shy smiles as he shuts her door.
As he drives off and she heads into the studio, greeting Teja and shaking her head at Markus’ disinterested half-wave, Audrey wonders if she can convince Seth to tell her what he was dreaming about if she asks him on the drive home.