Noah Flynn

The Confession

"So, Charles," Noah said.

"What about him?" Aurora asked. They had been sitting in silence, face to face yet completely apart, for a whole five minutes. And Noah the genius decided to break the silence by asking her about a guy, which somehow always ended up with the both of them at each others throats. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her cool when he asked whatever atrocity he was going to ask.

"You gonna go out with him?"

That was it? He just asked her if she was going to date him? No insults, no "he's a player" speech, no prohibiting it. Just a question.

Aurora shrugged. "Yeah, I might. He's a sweet guy. You don't see many of those often." She didn't intend for her words to be shady, but Noah got the message.

"You know, just because he called you doesn't mean he's a good guy. It might just mean he's a really good player. Makes you think he's nice, that he's thoughtful, and maybe waits like a week to make out with you. But in the end, after the make out he's long gone hustling some other girl," Noah concluded. He kept his eyes on the ground, not staring her in the eyes, which just made the words he just said even worse.

Anger swelled in Aurora's chest. She was tired of Noah finding bad things in every single guy who talked to her. She was tired of Noah keeping guys away, and trying to control her love life when he had no right. And she was tired of Noah acting as if she were a stupid little girl who couldn't protect herself from guys. No man was going to make her do something she didn't want to, and she could take care of her freaking self. Why Noah Flynn wouldn't wrap his head around that, she didn't know, but she was tired of it.

"You know what? I don't give a shit. So what if he's a player hiding behind phone calls and thoughtful words. What if he's just in it for the make out? I can manage. If he really is a player I should be able to get the experience and learn from it. Besides, he also might not be a player, and giving him a chance could change my life completely. What if he ends up being the right guy, and we date? Either way, I have every right to give it a freaking shot and see where it goes. If it turns out bad, well boo hoo, at least I tried. And I'll learn something from it. And if it turns out good, I'll see where it goes. But in order for that to happen I have to give it a shot. And you, Noah Flynn, have no right to take that shot away from me," she huffed.

Noah chuckled, and he slid closer to her. "I'm just trying to keep you from getting hurt. You don't know how they talk about you, the things they say." He clenched his fist. "None of them have good intentions. And as long as I can threaten them away from you, no harm will come to you. When will you understand that I'm doing this for your own good?"

Aurora was fuming now. He was ridiculous. How dare he claim that all he was doing was just to protect her. What a fucked up mindset that guy had. She stood up and looked down at him, stomping her foot. "Oh cut the crap. This isn't for my own good. Just so you know, all that you're doing is making my so called 'naivety' worse. If you keep me from going on dates and talking to guys, I won't ever live the experiences and-"

"Get hurt. If you don't go on dates and talk to guys you won't get hurt. It's simple," he interrupted.

"No its not you idiot. Eventually I'll go on a date. Once you leave for college and aren't around any more I'll start dating guys. And if things go wrong, it'll be thanks to you for not letting me learn early on how to tell if a guy has bad intentions or not. It'll be your fault that I can't distinguish a good guy from a bad guy. Because thanks to you, I can't experience shit!"

Noah got up too, and the small power she had by looking down at him disappeared. He was now looming over her. Damn it. Why did he have to be so freaking tall? He was like some sort of tree.