Chapter 34

Seeing Noah with a goofy smile, shooting pink plastic bows at me the next morning was incredibly hard, especially when my mind was moving in 250 directions and all of them ended with him on my bed. Ugh, the remnants of the dream were nothing short of trouble for me, and I was glad Noah would be away from me for most of the week.

That did not stop me from making out with him in the car, in the greenhouse and even in the locker room when I got the chance, and it wasn't like Noah was complaining. He did however, surprisingly, exhibit more self control than I did, which was a good thing because I knew that the moment we tried to take this further I would freeze up.

"You know," he mumbled against my lips, "you should come with me."

"To Seattle?" I leaned in to kiss him one last time before letting go finally. We'd been trying to let go since the past five minutes, coming back for small kisses and ended up staying for 'just one minute' till we were now both late for class. While Noah paced the room, I used my phone to fix my lipstick, cursing the red for not being transfer proof. It was all over my chin, and I made a note to avoid lipstick as much as I could if this was going to be the case around Noah.

"Yeah, it's going to be a boring weekend, honestly. It's just some relatives I have to meet with my dad."

I raised a brow, "You want me to travel with your dad?"

Noah laughed, picking up his bag, "Right, that's an awful idea. You'd eat him alive."

I didn't disagree. We entered the stream of milling students inconspicuously, parting at the end of the hallway with a kiss on the cheek. Noah had an hour's work in the lab remaining for the day, so I picked up a book to read and found a comfortable spot in the gardens. The weather was cooling and I wanted to get as much of the sun as I could before I restricted myself in closed rooms till February. Noah thought I was being very dramatic with my aversion to the cold, it was actually one of his favorite seasons. We'd settled on a bargain, if I could take him grocery shopping today, he got a free pass any one day during the winters to take me outdoors.

Noah met me again at the car park, smelling strongly of bleach.

"Ready to shop?"

"Not at all," he rolled his eyes, backing the car out of the parking lot. We were in his Mercedes today, because I'd told him I was buying the month's essentials and I needed space to put all of that in. His convertible wouldn't cut it. The Target we'd be going to wasn't too far from campus, and I was finishing typing a text to Sophie as I instructed Noah to grab a cart.

You would think he'd be physically incapable of messing that up, no?

As he pushed the cart to the left, it kept drifting to the right, frustrating him in a matter of seconds. I shook my head and picked another one with more sane wheels, heading in.

First things, cleaning supplies.

I allowed Noah to pick the right detergent between the three that I liked. Usually I just went with whatever had some kind of offer running on it. As long as it went easy on my pocket. Proudly, Noah presented a small box of blue detergent to me, satisfied with his choice.

"That would last me like a week. You need the bigger bags from down here." I grabbed the correct size while Noah sheepishly returned the small box to it's spot. Feeling bad, I picked an easier task. Toothpaste should be easy enough. River, Nathan and I used different brands, so we should be good.

Noah's eyes didn't even glance around the aisle before zeroing on the single tube packs and presenting them to me. I put two of them in the cart, pointing out that one had a 'savings' pack with two tubes at a lower price.

"Do you need the second one now?"

"I will need it eventually, and if I purchase it in singular packs I'd be spending more in the longer run." Noah got a pretty good grasp of the concept as we picked out cereal and packed foods. I let him pick the pasta shapes since I didn't care much about them, and he had a fun time watching my face every time he was about to make an outlandish choice.

"Just kidding!" He'd laugh before handing me the correct product. I wasn't going to lie, I liked being domestic with Noah. It was shaking my dream off slightly, and for that I was grateful. We had fun in the candy aisle as I gave him a budget of $20 and let him pick my candy stash for the month.

"How do you choose?" His frustration was adorable, and I pulled his cheeks, smiling widely at this beautiful boy in front of me. I really couldn't believe he was all mine.

It couldn't be, could it? I pinched myself when he wasn't looking, just to give myself a wake up call. This was real. This was so real, it had me almost shaking.

Goofing around, Noah chucked three bars of chocolates at me, "That's twenty dollars."

Oh boy, we've got a lot of learning to do about budgeting.

"Why would you pick the more expensive ones, if you're on a budget?"

"Because they're the only nice ones!" He defended his choice, making my eyes widen. I set those bars back, picking up the staples. Skittles, Maltesers, any candy or chocolate that came in smaller units. Peanut butter M&Ms just to piss River off. I'd picked a decent amount off the aisle within the amount, "You wouldn't survive a day on the streets, Sterling." I laughed before turning the aisle, seeing where to go next.

"Lucky me, I wouldn't ever end on the streets," he ruffled my hair, grabbing the list off my hands, "We're only left with frozen foods. It's there," he pointed to the large row of freezers before taking off.

Nathan had warned me to not come home unless I had chicken nuggets, so I grabbed a packet first before picking out peas and other things. As I paced down the aisle, cross checking everything on my list, I heard a loud, "Oh my God, Noah?" Noah looked just as shocked as I was to see the blonde woman saunter towards us, flipping her hair and wrapping him in a hug.

"Hi Jen," Noah was visibly nervous as he stepped back from the hug, letting me get a clear view of the woman from my nightmares. Jennifer Paxton was nothing short of stunning. Her skin was clear, makeup was flawless and she was walking in pencil heels in fucking Target like it was a runway and she owned the way her eyeliner flicked off the side and the highlight of her cheeks was blinding me and I have never felt so small in my life. Even being in the same room as her made me feel inadequate, so I wondered just how Noah decided to let go of this and then want me instead.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you at Target of all places," Her hand was firm on his shoulder, and I wanted to rip it off, but I stayed in my place instead, reminding myself that my insecurities were not her fault or problem.

"Well, Bri needed to shop so here we are," Noah smiled tightly, then introducing us.

"Oh, you're Brianna? I've heard so much about you!" she extended a delicate hand for me to shake. Fuck even her handshakes are one of those I'm too rich to do a proper handshake types.

"Can't say the same," My snarky reply came out before I had a chance to stop myself. Fuck Bri, where does your brain go when you need it?

"Well, Noah's very closed off about his personal life, you see? He only tells very few people what's going on." Ugh, did she have to make me feel worse?

"Anyway," she continued, "I'm glad I bumped into you here. I was so bummed when Noah said you couldn't come to my Halloween party! It's the biggest and the best in Seattle, I've already made sure it's going to be the spookiest night in all of America."

A Halloween party? Is that what Noah was going to Seattle for? I looked over at Noah who had guilt written all over his face.

Oh fuck. Noah had lied to me. Again.

Jennifer yapped a little more before leaving, hugging Noah for a second longer than she should have. Or maybe I was too mad to be rational anymore.

"Look, I just-"

"Don't even." I stopped Noah's explanation, unable to find the energy to create a scene in the middle of fucking Target, "We're done shopping. Let's go home." I veered the cart towards checkout, mechanically putting the items for scanning and bagging them. Noah reached out and picked the bags before I could and I let him, knowing I'd be too weak to carry them on my own. We'd forgotten to pick coffee and a few other things but those could wait.

There was pin drop silence as we drove back to my apartment, giving me deja vu. Noah tried to hold my hand but I was in no mood of such warmth. You could call me dramatic or petty if you must, but I had been upset we couldn't do Halloween together and he'd grumbled and complained about his dad planning things at the last minute.

"Is your dad even going to Seattle?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

Noah stayed silent for a minute. I sighed as the quietness of the car gave me my answer.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

Noah turned the intersection slowly, appearing as if he was paying more attention to the road than usual. Of all days, today he wanted to be a model citizen and drive with all the caution?

His sealed lips answered me again. He was never going to tell me. He wasn't ever going to tell me that he missed Halloween with me so he could go halfway across the fucking continent to celebrate it with his ex girlfriend and he thought he could weasel his way out of this?

My rage was seething, simmering under my skin as he parked the car. I stormed out before he had a chance to open the door, heading upstairs in a hurry. He could carry all the bags himself.

The most courtesy I extended was leaving the door open, but that was all. If there was one thing Noah would find out about me, is that I was a petty bitch and I had my eyes set on an argument. 

***

We're nearing the end. Like, we're kind of close. I wonder how things will turn out from here. 

Also, my story is mainly dedicated to a few lovely people I have known here for the longest time, but... it is just as much dedicated to you! If you want a chapter dedicated to you, just let me know by dropping the chapter number here! (or you can tell me what happened in that chapter, because we all forget chapter numbers sometimes lol) 

All the way from Chapter 1 to 34, whatever you want :)