10 HOURS AWAY | A Novel

chapter 61 - stand up

10 Hours Away

When my phone went off, I was pulled out of my daydream. As I was very unpleased to be woken up so early, I still answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, sunshine!" Mia chirped.

"Why are you calling me so early?" I asked her, seemingly glowered.

"Because I am standing in front of your apartment and you won't open the door."

"You are? I haven't heard you knock."

"That's because you've been in a coma." she responded, referring to me being a heavy sleeper. "So are you going to let me in or not? I have bought you breakfast."

"I'm on my way!" I told her and hung up.

After I pushed the sheets off my body, I quickly took a pair of joggers and a hoodie to cover myself up. Once I was done, I rushed to the front door, greeted Mia, and smelled the food.

"I already know this breakfast is going to be delicious." I told her.

"Oh, it better be because I had to wait twenty minutes to order and another fifteen before I got all of it."

"I'm sure it was worth it." the smell was mouth-watering, so I didn't want to wait any longer. Quickly I grabbed two plates and put them on the dining table.

"Why did Dylan want to bring you to his place?" she asked me. Mia and I hadn't talked after I left them at the roller-rink.

"He wanted to show me a video."

"That sounds really vague."

"A video Noah made about me." I clarified.

"And that sounds really weird." Mia commented as she eyed me and unwrapped our sandwiches.

"I was surprised as well when Dylan told me."

"What did Noah show in the video?" she asked before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Short clips about me, him, us. He also included some shots of my birthday party."

"Oh, that's why he carried the camera!" Mia reacted. Her tone of speaking gave me the impression she finally understood why she had seen him walking around filming parts of the night. "Seems to me he made a short compilation of your time together."

"Now you make it sound like Noah made a long video, which it wasn't." I stated. "It looked like it wasn't even finished yet."

"You think he was still working on it?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. All I know is that he was putting something together." I explained. "But after I watched the video and went back to see Dylan, I also saw Noah and Ruby."

"No shit." Mia looked at me completely in shock. "Why were they there?"

"Ruby left her stuff at Noah's place."

"So they are serious?" she asked.

"It looks like it." I admitted, somehow defeated.

"Hey." Mia said, making sure I'd pay attention to her words. "Don't let him ruin your mood, Liz." her eyes showed me she was worried and I understood why. She didn't want me to be miserable because of him. Something I didn't want to be as well.

"Noah does that to me. You know I can't help it." I told her.

"I know." she whispered understandingly.