His Words (bxb)

chapter four

Monday, September 14, 2020

✧noah✧

We finally cross the street and end up standing in front of Elijah's house. It's not too big, but it seems cozy, with different types of plants on the windowsills and the railing up the doorsteps.

"Can I put you down for a second? I need to get my keys from my pocket." As much as I don't want to, I nod my head and he gently puts my legs down on the ground as he reaches into his pockets looking for his keys. As soon as my legs touch the wooden planks of his porch, the exhaustion from earlier hits me again, as if the only thing keeping it away was Elijah's touch.

After a couple seconds, he fishes a key from his pocket and goes to unlock the door. He walks in and ushers me inside. He takes his shoes off, so I do the same and set them aside. I hear rattling in the kitchen and I look up quickly with wide eyes. I don't know why I expected the house to be empty... not that I wanted it to be.

"Elijah, sweetie is that you?" a soft voice calls out from the kitchen. Before Elijah can answer a head pokes around the corner and I see, who I imagine is, Elijah's mother for the first time. She looks quite youthful and her demeanour suggests the same. Her skin has no wrinkles and her hair shows no trace of losing its colour, but her smile also tells me she has a bubbly and fun personality. A small smile makes its way to my face as I remember my own mother.

Suddenly, her eyes meet mine and I panic for a second, not knowing what to say. I don't look my best at the moment and I hope I haven't given a bad first impression. Luckily, Elijah beats me to answering her.

"Mom, this is Noah," he gives her a weird look before turning to me and saying, "Noah, this is my mom." I turn to his mother and see her still staring at Elijah, quizzically and deep in thought before she has a sudden realisation. Her brows shoot up and her mouth goes to form an 'O' shape. She then turns to me with a small smile, but it looks quite sad. I turn back to Elijah and see him staring at his mother with a blank face. What was that all about?

"Hi, Noah. I'm Elijah's mother, you can just call me Amelie. It's so nice to have you over, darling," she introduces herself with a large smile and a caring look in her eyes.

I smile slightly and reply, "Thank you so much for having me, Amelie. I hope it isn't too much trouble."

She looks at me as if I have just said the most outrageous thing in the world. "Of course it isn't too much trouble, sweetheart! You can come over whenever. You're always welcome in our home," she replies with another smile. Does this woman ever stop smiling?

Elijah finally speaks up after staying silent this entire time. "Alright, we're both exhausted from training today so we're gonna go get some sleep. We'll figure out some sort of sleeping arrangement so you can go back to doing your thing, Mom. Do you need help with anything before we go?"

She gives him a grateful smile. "No, I was just cleaning up after dinner. You get some sleep, Lij. Have a good night, sweetie. Good night, Noah."

I miss my mother.

I wish her a good night before Elijah leads me up the stairs to what I imagine is his room. It looks quite plain and the walls are bare. All there is to see is a bed in the centre with a closet on one side and a small desk on the other and a few cardboard boxes in a corner. I imagine he hasn't had time to unpack everything and fully decorate yet.

"Do you like it? It's still quite empty now, but it'll start looking more Elijah-like in a couple days." I nod slowly, still observing the room. "Right, so where do you wanna sleep?" I turn around to face him.

"Anywhere is fine," I mumble. He stares at me for a moment before speaking again, though he sounds hesitant.

"Do you maybe wanna... share the bed? I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to, it's just that I don't want you sleeping on the floor, but also not on the couch downstairs since I want to be with you tonight, but if you—"