Exit Wounds | Noah Sebastian

T W E N T Y E I G H T

"Hey, Laney, I was going to go for a walk.  Do you want to join me?"

I look apologetically at Sage, "Yes," I tell him, standing to meet him at the door.

Noah and I set out on the sidewalk and I slide sunglasses over my eyes, "I don't know how you do that, but I'm thankful."

"I don't know what you mean," he says with a cocky grin, "I spoke with a realtor, she sent over a link of houses to look at.  We can go over them tonight and start setting up appointments."

"Yes, tonight, right now I just want to be on this walk with you.  Overstimulated by your full house, how hot it is, and how many sirens I've heard since we've been outside."

"It's not too late, I could move back to Nashville," he says, bumping into me with his hip.

"I can't, the blog was set to post an hour ago," I joke, I set the blog to post automatically as we were getting off the plane.  I was nervous to check it, to see the reaction, so I was ignoring it.

Noah wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my head, we've walked around the block and we are back at the house now.  "Ready to go back in?"

"Yes, thank you," I reply, walking into the house with him.  No one is in the living room when we get back and the two of us head up to the bedroom.  Noah and I unpack our luggage silently, when we are done we sit at his desk and look through the houses the realtor sent over.

We talk about things like bedrooms and garages and yards.  He needs space for a studio, and I need space for an office.  We both want a yard, fenced in.  I want something with character, Noah wants something new and modern.  We pick out 10 houses, set up appointments, and talk about things we don't want.

"Are you hungry?" Noah shakes his head, "Of course you are.  Let's order food and hang out with the others, yeah?"

"Heyy!" I I cry, but I feel less crowded and overwhelmed, so I nod.  And if I'm being honest, I am hungry.  "Let me change into something comfy." 

I get dressed in soft shorts and Noah's old hoodie.  The one I stole five years ago, and slept in often when I was missing him a little too much.

"You still have that?" He asks, watching me change.

I followed his eyes down to the hoodie, "of course."

"I thought you would have thrown it out when I left," he frowned.

"You know I never resented you for choosing music, right?"

He shrugged, "I know you said it, but I don't think I ever believed it."

"I never had any ill feelings toward you, and especially now that you've come back to me it was the right decision, for both of us."

Noah bends down to kiss me, softly and slowly, "I'll always come back to you."

When we go downstairs, the others are joking with each other, and arguing over what to order for dinner.  I smile at the scene, I would get used to the chaos.

"I'm feeling like Chinese," I call to the group.  Nick high fives me as I join him on the couch.  Noah agrees with me.

"That's three votes for Chinese, we win," Nick says triumphantly.

"Ugh, fine, I'll put in the order," Jesse groans, "Delaney what is your order?"

"Szechuan chicken," I tell him, leaning into Noah a little on the couch.

The group argues for a long time on what to turn on, so long the food has arrived, and is getting cold.  They do finally agree on something, putting on an old dystopian while we eat. Noah and I stay downstairs long enough to eat and finish the movie, but the second it ends we go back upstairs.  I've had a long day, and I need to check my blog.