𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝐧𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

0:5

I'd given my heart away before and I watched it leave me in one way or another. I couldn't endure another loss. Especially now that I was living in London and ready to put the past behind me.

But Noel was sitting across from me, smiling, sending happiness to course through my body and made me feel euphoric. He had me intrigued and I was drawn to him, there was undoubtedly a spark between us.

We talked for another half hour or so about things like our favorite bands, the most influential books we've read, and the irrevocability of time. I'd never had this kind of immersed conversation with anyone before. It was like I'd found my equal that shares the same outlook on life, or rather the perspective I aimed to have.

"What do you want to do with your degree?" he asked.

"I'm not entirely sure yet. I just know that I love to write about any and everything," I shrugged my shoulders. "Lately I guess I've been into poetry."

"Sounds like you're driven about your pursuit. You'll have to let me see your work sometime."

I shook my head. "It's not good enough to show anyone."

"You have to get over that. You know, criticism can be a good thing."

"I'm just not quite ready for that yet."

"Okay, all right. I'll let you off the hook. For now." He glanced at me over the rim of his mug and I saw a smile touch the corner of his lips.

We talked awhile longer until we finished our drinks before they became too cold and I happily devoured my slice of coffee cake. Noel had his phone sitting out on the table and it lit up when he received a text message. His eyes darted at the screen to read the message before he quickly cleared it from the notifications and locked his screen. His smile noticeably faded a bit, a certain look of crossness passing over his face.

"About ready to head out?" I asked, as he gazed intently outside of the window, his chin resting in his hand.

He looked over at me and fixed his posture. "Yeah, of course."

We both got up from the hard wooden chairs and gathered our belongings, before walking outside. When we left, I could feel all the eyes in the room following us out as we slipped into the sunshine. The sun felt nice and warm against my skin from being inside for a few hours. We walked side by side and I saw Noel clean the lenses of a pair of thick round-rimmed black sunglasses with the end of his shirt, before putting them on his face.

"Do you live anywhere nearby? I could walk you home, if you'd like," he asked in his delightful voice.

"A few blocks over, if you don't mind the walk or exercise in cubans." I teased, secretly hoping he wouldn't change his mind about walking with me.

"Are you joking? I could run a marathon in these babies, you just watch!" He proceeded to do a little jog in front of me on the sidewalk, making a few pedestrians turn and stare.

I laughed as I watched him put on a show for everyone passing by. "Careful now," I yelled after him, "you wouldn't want to sprain your ankle before the big runaway show!"

I faintly heard him say "oh right," before beginning to take catwalk strides in the direction back towards me. I stood there laughing at the sheer length he went through to play along with my joke. I didn't even care about the people looking at us like we were out of our minds.

When Noel got to where I was standing, he just laughed along with me and effortlessly bent down to lift me up and spin me around like a child. I threw my head back in laughter and wrapped my arms around his neck, the tips of my fingers brushing against his feathered hair.

He delicately placed me down again and calmly said, "See? Anything is possible in vintage footwear. It's the power of the cubans."

"They truly must possess so much power, you've managed to prove me wrong!" I said as I smoothed out my dress with my hands. He sure made it hard for me not to take a likeness to him.

The afternoon sun soon faded into the early evening, leaving light colors of purple and pink in the sky and a brisk breeze was in the air when we arrived at my doorstep. I had completely lost myself in the time I spent with Noel, to the point where time didn't bear any meaning. A large part of me didn't want this day to end.

"Thanks for going through the effort of walking me home. You didn't have to do it at all."

"That's nonsense! I had such a wonderful time with you today, it's the least I could do. I rather enjoy being in your company," he explained bluntly, sliding his sunglasses down his face to reveal his electrifying eyes once again. A tantalizing grin played on his lips.

My heart fluttered at his words. It had been such a long time since I had an actual crush on someone that this feeling was almost unfamiliar to me. "Well thanks again, I enjoy being around you too. We still have that art museum thing - I'm holding you to it!"

He let out a soft laugh, momentarily glancing down at the ground and then back up at me with a hopeful expression. "I'll be there, I'll be there. Text you later, yeah?" He motioned his head to the side as if to tell me to come closer as he invitingly held his arms open for a hug.

I smiled and moved in to hug him, snaking my arms around his torso underneath his jacket, feeling the warmth he radiated. His embrace felt homely as he held me in his arms. It felt like we had hugged each other for a few moments too long, but as I pulled away he rubbed my back comfortingly.

"See you, Noel," I said through the various emotions that had overtaken me, walking towards the door to unlock it.

He put up a hand so as to say goodbye and smiled with such a genuine warmth that for a moment I could almost feel it on my skin. After he disappeared around the corner, I was left dancing on a cloud.