OH MY FUCKING GOD WE REACHED 1K READS LAST NIGHT
I am truly grateful for each and every one of you who has read my story so far, and your votes/comments/PMs never cease to make my day 🥺♥️

So kind of as a celebration, here's the next update, as a treat for you 😏

Chapter 17

My alarm woke me up at 6.15am. I had to get to college around 7.30, so I could help Professor Malik with something in the Botany wing. It would be an excellent chance to ask some of my burning questions about the plant physiology I had been curious about, so I pushed through my fatigue, parking my bike in the campus parking lot area around 7.40.

I hoped the Professor wasn't mad at me. Last I had checked in with him, only one other student had joined to help him. I rushed to the Botany wing nevertheless, knocking at the doors for greenhouse 4. When no one answered, I pushed the door anyway and walked in, finding the place eerily silent. Well then. I dropped my bag and coat on the bench, taking a chance to look around the greenery potted there. I recognised a few plants by their leaves, the easier ones to spot. There were no flowering plants on the right side, or at least none had flowers at this time. The left, however, was in full bloom. Pink peonies littered the rows upon rows of potted plants, all leading me to... fuck.

I gasped audibly, seeing him there, and Noah's face shot up, meeting my widened eyes. He had airpods on, that he removed and tucked in his pockets, before walking towards me.

"Hi," I squeaked, "You're here to help Professor Malik?"

I took a moment to take him in. Unlike me, Noah looked carefree, casual. I needed to stop worrying my lip and eating at the skin. He had no signs of restlessness on his face, while I was shivering in anticipation.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Noah narrowed his eyes at me.

Jesus, he was really, really mad at me.

"You know me, Noah." I sighed, running my hand through my hair and tying it in a bun. He didn't say anything, but looked away, staring at the ceiling. The sun was filtering through slowly, and his skin, cream and beautiful as it was, looked ethereal in the glow of the light.

"Look, I'm sorry," I pleaded, "I can explain..."

Fuck, this is hard.

"No, you can't explain, Brianna." Noah sat down, leaning against the shelves holding the supplies needed to tend to the place.

"Yes I can't," I conceded, sitting in front of him, "I can only tell you that I'm just trying to do the right thing."

Noah scoffed, still not looking at me, "The right thing? You look like shit and I am feeling very much like shit, so tell me, Brianna. The right thing for whom?"

My heart pinched.

This was too difficult, and I would probably have a stroke before I could make a decision. At the same time, I hated seeing Noah like this, jaw taut with anger, shoulders squared as if he was defending himself from the way I was hurting him. If in a battle, I wanted Noah and me to be on the same side, not on opposing ends. 

An uncomfortable silence fell on us. My eyes stayed on him, watching the smallest rise and fall of his chest, the-

"What happened to your hands?" Unthinkingly, I reached out to grab his hands and take a better look at the scabs on his knuckles. They looked fresh, barely a day or two old. Before I could have a good look, Noah shook me off, tucking his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

Men. 

I rolled my eyes, reaching out to hold his hands again. I hoped my eyes would communicate my sincerity and genuine concern for him. Noah's gaze was burning me as I held his wrists again, pulling his hands out of the pockets. He did not protest as I inspected the wounds, looking up ever so slightly to meet his eyes.

The anger was still present, but subdued by a certain softness that I only found in him around me. I was melting under the intensity of his gaze, so I pulled myself closer to him, sitting Indian style in the space between his legs. Gingerly, I touched one of the raw wounds, jolting when he hissed in pain.

"Sorry," I bit my lip, "How did this happen?"

"Doesn't matter," Noah took his hands away from mine again, but I couldn't give up the heat from his touch just yet. I reached out and entangled our fingers together, careful not to touch his wounds.

"You're infuriatingly confusing," Noah's throat was tight with emotion, and I ached to tell him what was really in my mind.

"I know I'm sorry," I said lamely.

Noah let out a frustrated sigh, prying his fingers from mine. Almost offended that he would break contact like that, I looked up, a sudden moment of clarity overcoming me.

"Noah?" I swallowed, trying not to overthink my decision. The moment of truth was here, and I was embracing it. "Kiss me?" 

Feeling brave, I allowed my hands to travel over his arms, feeling the firm muscle there, coming to a halt at his collarbones. Noah stared at me blankly, before sputtering out, "No."

My face fell, "But you said all I had to do was ask, right?"

Noah rolled his eyes, "You've had your chance, Brianna. More times than I can count. Clearly you and I don't want each other the same way. Let's just let it go."

My throat tightened. No, Noah Sterling could not leave me alone. Absolutely not. For all that chasing, he was not allowed to quit on me now, not when I was finally able to give in to my feelings.

"I know I fucked up," I said, feeling the stabbing pain in my chest increase tenfold, "but you have no idea how fucking miserable I've been all weekend! I cleaned my whole fucking room thrice. Even the drawer with the socks I don't enjoy wearing. I don't like... not having you around. I haven't rested since I let you go in the club, Noah and I can see you're slipping away from me even now, but I can't have that happening. I- I can't keep feeling this uneasiness and this restlessness, like the world is about to end right here, and my head will literally explode-"

Noah's lips were on mine, effectively cutting off my rambling, and sending me on a one-way ticket to hell. The rest of the world could spontaneously combust around us, and neither of us would have known, because for once, Noah and I were finally where we needed to be, instead of stupidly craving and pining for each other.

I was kissing Noah Sterling.

I was tasting the cherry off his lips, breathing in the heady scent that always left me dizzy. Noah kissed me gently, but firmly; surely but gingerly. And I wanted to scream at him to just kiss me the way I wanted him, the way I was dying to kiss him. Too soon, the kiss ended, and Noah leaned back ever so slightly so our lips weren't touching anymore.

A strange look overcame him, and my brows furrowed in confusion.

"You won't run away?" The huskiness of his voice was sending shivers down my spine and raising goosebumps on my skin. If I tried to speak, I knew my words would fail me - for I was a live wire, taut with a strange, but powerful current under my skin.

"I won't," I promised softly, and that was all the reassurance Noah needed. Closing the distance between us again, Noah's lips touched mine more urgently, like a dam being broken, like his world was ending and I was the only one present to fix everything. Little did he know he was saving my world from collapsing.

With new confidence, Noah reached out to pull me closer, resting his hands on my hips as we kissed, the warmth of his palms searing through my clothes. The muscles on his forearm were firm under my grip, and he moved my hand over his shoulder as we kissed, into his hair. An appreciative grunt poured out of his lips as I tugged at the roots, and I relished knowing that I was making Noah feel good. The peonies in the room could all simultaneously rot and die, Noah and I couldn't care less. Kissing Noah was hot, and I was hooked with just one taste.

"... more," He mumbled against my lips, voice hoarse and deep, sending vibrations straight to my core. Without even breaking our kiss, Noah and I were a tangle of limbs as we attempted to shuffle around, trying to get closer and closer still, till I was straddling him, pressed against his chest as he kissed me with the force of a tsunami. He wasted no time in trailing kisses down my jaw, sensuous, feathery kisses tantalizing my skin, as I felt the hardness of his chest under my fingertips.

The trigger had been pulled, and the explosion was creating ripples inside me, hanging me over the edge precariously.

"Noah...," His name rolled off my tongue breathlessly, before he captured my lips again, pushing his tongue through. Oh boy. He was good at this. Anyone else I had kissed soon felt incompetent, no one could compare to the way he was making me dizzy and so freely alive at the same time. Heat pooled deep inside me, and urged me to grab more and more of him, more than I could touch within the confines of our clothes.

"Bri.. we need to stop," Noah said between kisses, pecking me on the lips once, before giving me one last, hard kiss and then backing off.

I stayed put, breathless, pushing my hair off my face. Somewhere in between, Noah had pulled the hair tie and ruffled through my hair, an action I thoroughly enjoyed then. Now, as wisps of hair fell over my face, blocking my good view, I'd had enough of it. I looked around for my hair tie, finding it wrapped around Noah's wrist. I reached out to take it, but Noah withdrew his hand, "Finders, keepers."

Ugh.

"My hair is a mess," I complained, smoothening them out best as I could.

Noah gave me a quick kiss, leaving me chasing him as he haphazardly gathered my hair in a messy bunch and looped the tie around it. It rested lopsidedly on my neck, but I didn't have the heart to undo his craft and fix it. His eyes had come alive as he stared at me now, glittering in the sunlight.

"Did you read the email?"

"What email?" Still resting on Noah's lap, I pulled my phone out and checked my notifications. Of course, there was an email from Professor Malik that I hadn't read in the morning.

Hello Brianna,

I have come down with what I hope is only a strong bout of flu, and nothing serious. I suppose you do not need to come volunteer in the greenhouse tomorrow.

Best,

Malik.

For someone with a PhD, he sure did not have enough manners to leave an email at a decent hour when I could have checked it. This just went to prove my theory that education was nowhere linked to sensibility, and a lot of people were just colossal morons outside their areas of specialisations.

"Shit," I sighed, pushing the phone back into my pocket.

"Aw, were you really looking forward to spending a whole day transferring plants from one pot to another?" He rolled his eyes, acting nonchalant, as if his hand were not trailing down my back, gripping my hips and squeezing me, while the other traced my collarbones and tickled my neck.

"Actually, yes," I rolled my eyes too, 'We're planning on doing a tree plantation drive for the volunteering community soon, so I thought it would be nice to have some practice beforehand."

Noah chuckled, "Only you would want practice beforehand."

Huffing, I tried to wiggle off his lap, gasping when I very unintentionally happened to land right on his little friend, who was by no means little at all. Noah groaned, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as he recovered, while I kept myself frozen in place, unable to move anymore with his tight grip on my hips.

"You really need to get off me now," Noah said, making no effort to loosen his hold on me, "Unless you're looking for a quick fuck, because I can assure you, when I do fuck you it's going to take you a week only to recover."

"You're all bark,"I slapped him teasingly, even as mu cheeks heated up at the prospect of doing it with Noah.  Noah didn't look all that concerned, as he smirked, raising me off him so I could shuffle away. I sat all the way across him for good measure.

"What now?" The realisation that I was fucked, well, at least metaphorically, struck me as the endorphins slowly died down. It appeared that I had made my choice, even if I couldn't figure out how to break the news to Eleanor.

"Now I take you home with me." Noah winked, and well... who was I to disagree?