𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 , drew starkey

twenty-one

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。
—𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍, 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐀

—𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲

Arabella absently picked at her nails, her mind elsewhere as she sat in the passenger seat of Noah's car. She gazed out the window, lost in her thoughts. She fidgeted, her fingers tapping against the armrest as she waited for Noah to return.

"Did you see this?" Noah's chuckle cut through the silence, jolting Arabella out of her thoughts. She turned to him, finding him seated in the driver's seat, his eyes glued to his phone.

Arabella furrowed her brows in confusion as she leaned in to get a better look at Noah's phone. Her eyes widened as she saw a new article about her and Drew.

Despite seeing a flurry of articles recently, Arabella chose to remain silent. With Noah beside her, she dreaded the thought of having more drama into her life. Too many incidents had already tarnished her name, and she was determined not to add to the list.

"When was the last time you talked to him?" Noah chuckled, glancing at the article titled "All You Need To Know About Drew Starkey and Arabella Whitmore". "That time in the café?"

She forced a smile, trying to brush off the question. "Yeah, something like that," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Noah remained unaware of Arabella's past interactions with Drew, and she intended to keep it that way—not out of deceit, but to protect him. The less he knew the better it would be for his peace of mind.

"Why are people making it a movement of shipping you two after they saw a 15-second video of you guys in high school?" Noah's voice was laced with amusement, but Arabella could tell he was actually curious.

Arabella shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing. "Don't know, internets weird." she replied nonchalantly as she took a sip of her water.

She hoped Noah wouldn't dive deeper into the topic, she wanted to keep Drew in the past.

"You don't talk to him anymore, do you?" Noah's question caught Arabella off guard, causing her to slightly choke up on her water. She quickly composed herself, setting the glass down and meeting Noah's eyes.

"What? Of course not," she bluffed, her voice coming out more forcefully than she intended. She avoided Noah's gaze. She knew she wasn't being entirely truthful, but she couldn't bring herself to admit the truth.

Noahs face faltered for a moment before he regained his posture. "This time, if theres anything going on between you and him, you would tell me, right? It wouldn't be like last time?"

Arabella swallowed hard at his words. She knew exactly what he was referring to. In high school, after breaking up with Noah, it hadn't been long before she started dating Drew.

"I don't like how you keep accusing me of wanting him," Arabella defended, her voice tinged with frustration. "I chose you for a reason."

"But can you blame me?

"What do you mean?" Arabella laughed bitterly.

Noah pressed his lips into a thin line, suppressing a groan of frustration. "What you did back in high school... I don't want that to happen again."

Arabella scoffed in disbelief,"I was in high school, Noah," she retorted, her tone sharp. "I've changed."

"It's just—that night I came to your house to warn you about Drew. You seemed adamant about your decision to be with him." Noah said, mentioning to the night Noah showed up unannounced to her house to tell her that her and Drew wouldn't work out due to their different futures.

"If you're still bringing up what happened in high school it just shows how you haven't changed." Arabella spoke, furrowing her eyebrows.

Noah let out a sigh before speaking. "It's just that I want you to know that I'm in this relationship for the long run... not for it to end in a few months."

"And I am too," Arabella spoke softly. She reached out, gently resting her hand on his cheek. "You don't need to worry about anything."

Noah nodded at Arabella, but there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes. She could sense his hesitation, but didn't question it.

"Want to go back to my hotel?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Uh, actually, could you just take me to my apartment?" Arabella responded, her tone apologetic. "I told Madison that I would help her pick out an outfit for her press interviews."

"Yeah," Noah nodded, though Arabella could see the disappointment in his eyes. "Yeah, I can take you back."

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

"I don't understand, why does everyone hate Noah so much?" Madison asked, searching for a dress she could wear to her interviews.

"I'm always talking about boys, do you ever get annoyed with me?" Arabella groaned, sprawled out on the bed, her voice muffled by the pile of dresses surrounding her. She had been saying yes, no, and maybe to all the dresses Madison showed her.

"Trust me, I don't think we could ever. With the three of us being in good relationships, it's fun to hear some drama," Madison lightly chuckled. She shifted to face Arabella with a curious expression. "So tell me, what's wrong with Noah and what am I missing?"

"If I could give you a valid reason, I would," Arabella started, getting up from her place on the bed and now sitting upright."But I guess everyone thinks that he tried to ruin my relationship with Drew."

"What?" Madison exclaimed, dropping the dress from her hand and turning to Arabella with wide eyes.

"I know, it's crazy," Arabella replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "But... Noah and Drew have some sort of history, and it caused a lot of tension between them."

"Well shit, I mean Drew did have a crush on you all throughout high school..." Madison started. "All whilst you were dating Noah."

"I don't get the theory," Arabella sighed, lost in thought. She furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of everything. "Though one time he did come to my house at night to tell me that Drew and I wouldn't work out."

Madison, who had completely ditched trying to pick out a dress, sat on the floor. "Tell me everything," she said, popping open a coke can.

"There's not much to tell, really," Arabella admitted. "He just came over at night and tried to convince me that Drew and I wouldn't work out since we have different futures ahead of us."

"Honestly, I would hate him too. I don't fuck with home wreckers," Madison explained, taking a sip from the coke can. "Anyways, what did you say after that?"

"This is actually the funny part," Arabella giggled. "After he told me that Drew and I wouldn't work out, I heard my dad coming, and my dad did not like Noah at all. So I quickly covered his mouth and dragged Noah to the backyard so my dad wouldn't catch him. So I didn't say anything in the moment."

"Oh you know it's bad when Warren Whitmore doesn't like him."

Arabella rolled her eyes playfully before continuing. "Anyways, I took him to the backyard and basically told him off. I said he didn't know anything about Drew and I. I told him to leave, pretty harshly."

Madison's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Damn, if only you had told him that you guys would get back together 7 years later."

Arabella laughed softly, but there was an unknown feeling in her gut. She had always envisioned it would be her and Drew, not her and Noah.

It was a love she had never quite let go of, despite everything that had happened.

It's funny how things switched up.

Arabella shook her head to get the thoughts. She pushed the thoughts aside, she made her choice, she's with Noah. She needed to leave Drew in the past, where he belonged.

"Enough about me, we need to get you dolled and ready for press today."

©𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞