Chapter 18

I. Was. Floating.

Noah Sterling, the last person I could have seen myself with, had his hand on my thigh as we drove to his place, kissing me at every stoplight and carrying me on his shoulders all the way to the elevators. An old lady accompanied us in the elevator, smiling fondly at us, "Young love is so beautiful, you two look very cute together."

Bless old people.

I blushed, hiding my face in Noah's chest, as he kissed my head before answering, "Thank you, Jeanine."

"Always such a respectful little boy, Nunu. I'll see you on Friday for the potluck?"

I stifled a laugh. Nunu? That was a story I was dying to hear.

"Sure thing, I'll bring the wine." Noah responded, an easygoing smile on his face. Jeanine got off at the thirteenth floor, and Noah waited just long enough for the doors to close, before leaning in and kissing me again. No longer urgent and demanding, Noah was soft, and kissing him was like walking barefoot on clouds, like the insides of my body were slowly turning to jelly. His shirt was bunched up in my fists, and he used that to his advantage, pulling me out of the elevators as soon as the doors opened, never letting go of me for a second. Pressed against the doors of his house, I finally came up for air as he fumbled for his keys and unlocked the apartment.

What on earth was it about Noah's bed, making me fall asleep within a few seconds of laying there in his arms? My sleep was disturbed, and I woke up multiple times, finding Noah staring at me most of the time. My mind was hazy, but I was pretty sure he wasn't wearing a shirt. At least that much I could figure through half shut eyes. When I finally woke up, Noah was asleep next to me, an arm resting on me.

I checked my phone from the nightstand. Oh, it hadn't been that long, it was only 11.

I turned on my side carefully, getting comfortable to watch Noah sleep.

"You shouldn't perv on people while they're sleeping," Noah's eyes were still firmly shut, but there was a sly smile on his face as he was waking up from his slumber. His voice was rusty, and I wished I could record it and save it somewhere with me forever.

"I'm not perving," I shut my eyes again, snuggling into the pillow.

"Good, 'cause if you would have stared any longer, you would have fallen in love with me." he exhaled sharply, rolling over so he was half on top of me. It started with a lazy kiss on the exposed skin on my neck, before he was leaving more urgent, harder kisses under my jaw, reaching under my shirt to feel me up. I gasped in pleasure as he kissed a particularly sensitive area over my collarbone. A mischievous glint in his eye, Noah went back to attacking me with kisses there, sucking on the skin, biting it, and then licking it to soothe it.

That was sure to leave a mark, but I wasn't complaining.

I had never been too fond of hickeys, they just looked like an eye sore. Having Noah mark and scar me, however felt different. It was like he was branding me as his, and I loved every second of it.

Fuck. Noah was good at what he was going, and I was all but writhing under him, desperately waiting to feel his lips on mine. He didn't keep me waiting for long. Our lips crashed with a certain urgency, as if all of this morning hadn't been quite enough. What was bad breath anyway? I didn't care, and with his tongue in my mouth, fingers inching under my shirt, it didn't seem likely that Noah cared either. Or maybe he did and this was the last time I would be kissing him.

"Hop now," he pulled away from our kiss all too soon, tapping my calves, "We've got things to do."

I stared at him, confused, watching him pull his shirt on. Admittedly, I was sad to see him put it on, but I would never say that to his face. He already had an inflated ego, I wasn't going to add fuel to that. It would only bring me embarrassment anyway.

"What are we-" I paused to yawn, "what are we doing?"

"Well, I for one have to be somewhere at 1, and we still need to get some breakfast."

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled, so I agreed, "What are we eating?"

"I would say I want to eat you, but I think we'll have to manage with pancakes for now." Noah winked, leaving me flustered as he exited the room. I sat on the countertop as he made some messed up pancakes, dousing mine with syrup, just as I liked it.

"How would you know this now?" I asked incredulously, "I doubt Daniel told you about my pancake habits."

"Caramel coffee, cranberry juice, raspberry pops," he listed off his fingers, "I guessed you have a bit of a sweet tooth."

I laughed, happily eating a forkful of the sticky goodness. Noah took his without any syrups, only a handful of strawberries and a glass of milk. We didn't even make it to the dining area, finishing the pancakes as we made them. Stuffed, I lazed on Noah's couch as he flipped through the channels, settling comfortably into his arms. We ended up watching some useless soccer match from the European League, and while Noah appeared to be pumped, I was trying my hardest to understand the rules of the game.

When I asked Noah, he shrugged, "There's a ball, you're supposed to kick it in the net. Rest is background noise."

That was helpful.

Around noon, the bell rang, and Noah opened the door for a petite woman, who waltzed into the house like it was her own.

"Sasha, that's Brianna. Bri, this is Sasha. She takes care of the house."I waved at her politely before she disappeared into the rooms. I all but forgot about her presence until I heard her distinctly screaming, "Noah did you put your dirty shoes in the tub again?"

Noah winced, making me giggle. She came out of his room scathingly angry, hands on hips, eyebrows furrowed hard enough to give her a stroke, "How many times have I told you to put your shoes anywhere except the tub? Do you realise how hard it is to scrub out the mess! Next time I see your father, I'm definitely demanding a raise. I don't nearly get paid enough to put up with you, hijo."

Noah only scratched his neck in embarrassment, muttering some quick Spanish I didn't understand. Damn High School for teaching me French instead. It wasn't like I remembered much of French either, but I was really curious to know what he had said. She made a motion to hit him, before disappearing into the room again.

"Don't you have class today?"

"I have practice at 6, but I'm free otherwise. Do you have something in mind?"

"No," I eased myself into his arms again, enjoying the feeling of safety it gave me, "Just asking."

"What about your classes?"

"I had one that started around twenty minutes ago. I wasn't planning on attending anyway." I shrugged. Sophie had begged and begged and begged me to attend this class with her, but I was in the crappiest mood all weekend and made up my mind to avoid this lecture at all costs. Anyway, it was only going to be a discussion class about the upcoming full report we were writing, and so far all I had to present for myself was a blank document with a fancy font "Legal Aspects" heading pasted on top.

The hassle of attending class was not worth it, and skipping class was the easiest way out.

"So you're free the whole day?"

"Well not exactly. Ele's coming home for lunch so- fuck."

Eleanor was coming home for lunch so she could help me with River's room afterwards. I checked the time on Noah's phone. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Noah followed me as I marched into his room, grabbing my phone and belongings. I marched out and Noah followed, silently watching me as I grabbed my bag and coat. I would have to take the bus, perhaps, and if I timed myself right, I would reach home just a few seconds before Eleanor would show up, and I still had to make lunch and there was so much that had to do-

"Brianna, are you even listening to me?" His interruption startled me, breaking me from the impossibly fast train of thoughts I was reeling with.

I paused, taking a breath, "No I wasn't, sorry. You were saying something?"

Noah raised a brow, "You're running away."

"Well I told you Eleanor's coming home for lunch, and I completely forgot about it, and I have to go make something quickly,-"

"You're not listening, Bri," Noah tried again, reaching forward to fix the collar of my coat, "I was asking if you were running away from this- from us again?"

I melted. The hurt on his face looked so visibly haunting, that I vowed to myself to never harm this man intentionally. I would never forgive myself if I did.

Tracing the vein on his arm, I reached forward to entangle our fingers, reaching up to kiss him. My height was a hindrance we would have to deal with, and I ended up missing his lips, kissing the corner of his chin. Noah snickered before complying with my demand, leaving a lasting, amorous kiss.

"I'm not running away from this, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

I drew a cross over my heart, which reminded me suddenly of another issue.

"Where's my bra?"

Noah raised an eyebrow, "Well if you aren't wearing it, I seriously missed an opportunity all this time." I ignored his flirty wink, working rather hard to hide the smile on my face. Noah was a terrible tease, and I needed to learn how to control my face around him.

"I meant the one I left here last time."

"Well that's no longer yours so I'll keep it with me, thank you."

I stood there for a second, perplexed, "How on earth is it yours?"

"Finders keepers, Brianna," Noah rolled his eyes, "We learnt this in what, kindergarten? Catch up!" He stole a kiss before I had a chance to react, grabbing his keys and wallet, "Come on, let's drop you home."

***

All's well and good in Brianna's world... almost.

I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did please don't forget to vote/comment :)

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I M P O R T A N T

This is a PSA that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Globally, one in three women is presently or in future, a victim of domestic violence. Take a moment to let it sink in. One woman in Three. That's one too many.

A few wattpaders and I have come together to spread awareness about this, and you may have noticed that we're all changing our icons and profile headers to bring the issue to light.

If you're interested in joining us by changing your profile image and/or header for *one week* to spread awareness, PM me for the links and I'll share them with you :) Every single member counts.

Thank you,

Pari