10 HOURS AWAY | A Novel

chapter 10 - calm after the storm

10 Hours Away

"Noah?" I waited for him to reply. "Noah?" I said once more.

His eyes met mine and then he stood up from the ground. I nibbled on my bottom lip as I got anxious about his presence.

"Hey." he said.

"How did you get in?" I asked him.

Noah shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I pressed on random buttons and someone let me in." he told me.

"Oh." I muttered.

"I wanted to know if you made it home safely." he almost stepped towards me, but he stopped himself.

"I am, now." I said.

"Good." he breathed out.

We were looking at each other, but I didn't want to say anything else. I wanted to go inside and fall asleep peacefully. However, it was clear he wasn't willing to leave since he stayed in place. I wanted him to step aside, so I could enter my apartment without giving him a second glance.

"Did you have fun tonight?" he asked.

For a second I asked myself if he knew he should've treated me better than he did. I wondered if he knew I was frustrated with him for being close to a different girl.

"I did. Dylan is great company and I enjoyed talking to him." I said quickly, leaving him out of the sentence. It irritated me I was pretending to be all right.

"Good." he said. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long." Noah apologized.

It surprised me he said sorry. I didn't think he would. But it wasn't going to change anything.

"No worries. I'm sure you had to take care of something else." I waved him off carelessly. "Or someone else." I whispered softly – I bet he didn't hear me.

"Yeah." he spoke weakly.

When I stepped closer to my front door, he stepped away – giving me full access to my own apartment. I shot him a quick smile before I unlocked the door and turned the knob around.

"Thank you for tonight, Noah." I said, even if I didn't mean it. The lie felt off my lips so effortlessly, it baffled me.

I almost shut the door behind me because I was ready to leave him in the hallway, but he decided to speak up. I immediately stopped in my tracks. My eyes were sealed once I listened to his words.

"Text me, okay?"

Perhaps I was wrong, but it sounded as if he begged me to keep in touch. Like he was afraid I wouldn't send him a text after tonight.

Sadly, as much as I wanted to ask him why I needed to text him, there was not one part of my body that had the strength to do so.

All of this didn't add up to me. Why would he come to my home, see if I made it, and then ask me to text him? I could be overreacting, but I didn't think he should be here when there was someone he had committed himself to.

"Okay. Goodnight, Noah." was everything I said before I shut the door. I didn't want to wait for him to reply. There was no desire to talk more.

I let my jacket fall on the ground and started to undress in the middle of the living room. I flicked the bathroom light on and threw my clothes in the hamper.

Once I started at my own reflection, I had no idea for how long I kept looking at myself because I was too busy with the thoughts that roamed through my mind. It puzzled me why I was so offended by him leaving me behind at the book launch. Dylan was nice, but I wanted to spend time with Noah.