In a Heartbeat

Chapter 14: Two Broken Souls Heal Together

*Aria POV*

I woke up, staring in front of me to see a flawless face, Noah. My savior. I drank in the features of his face, his perfect, pink lips, his chiseled jawline with a slight stubble, his—

He groaned and I felt a hand on my lower back pulling me closer to him.

I found the closeness comforting, yet pretty awkward. His breaths started staggering, quick and deep. His eyebrows furrowed. It seemed as if he was overwhelmed by something. Scared that I had caused it, I slowly began to pull away from his grasp, but he kept firm.

"Don't leave. Please don't leave Aria." he whimpered. I scooted closer to him and placed my head on his chest, which rose and fell with every inhale and exhale. He buried his face in my hair and deeply inhaled my scent, which seemed to calm him down.

"Aria?"

"Mmph"

"Sing to me please. Your voice, just the sound of it, is amazing. I'm sure adding rhythm would create the most beautiful melody." he murmured.

Tears blotted my eyes once again. They ran down my cheek and onto his shirt. Instantly realizing something was wrong due to the wet feeling, Noah snapped upright, looked at me, and cradled me in his arms as we rocked back and forth again. "Shit. Shit. I am sorry. You can leave if you really want. No one is forcing you to stay here with me. But please sing to me later."

I growled at him, the memories of my parents fogging my vision, not liking the fact that he was practically asking for his death.

My dad was an amazing singer. He passed his gift to me. We sung choruses together. We sang pieces and duos. There was never a moment with him where no singing was involved.

My eyes started stinging. I felt lightheaded. I got up from the bed to go outside, hoping that the fresh air will help. Noah ran after me, holding me by my elbows while I shook him off. I stumbled out of the room, down the hall, and I opened one of the windows. I took deep breaths, feeling guilty for hurting Noah when all he was doing was protecting me.

I turn around and rush into his waiting open arms. I sobbed against his chest. I was a mess.

I finally decided it was time I told him my story. I owed him that much at least.

"Noah I— I— "

"It's okay love, tell me later" he soothingly whispered back.

"No. I want to tell you now. I need to tell you now."

He nodded his head, took my hand in his, and led us to the couches in the living room.

He sat down and tapped the seat next to him for me to join him. I sat down cross-legged, faced him, and closed my eyes. I figured that by now he would have guessed that I am a werewolf.

"My parents and his parents were friends from the start. When I was born, I was introduced to him. I was like his little sister. We would play together, eat together, and basically do everything together. At school, he was always overprotective and used to shoo away all the boys." I smiled at the memory.

I took a breath of air and continued, my voice faltering, "I had always loved singing. My dad and I used to do duos and all together. But then, umm... when I was 15, my parents and I were on our way home and we got into a car accident," I hiccuped, "I was singing with my dad and my mom was telling us to stop. To let him focus on driving, but we continued because it was our thing. He turned back and smiled at me, and due to the rain, the car swerved. His family was also in the car with us. We lost traction on the road and two up-coming cars collided into us. Then a fourth car came and was added to the wreck. My parents— umm... they umm... died on impact and his brother— oh god. It's my fault— he uh flew out the windshield and died."