10 HOURS AWAY | A Novel

chapter 42 - homesick

10 Hours Away

"Liz?" I heard Isaac behind me.

Being startled by my friend, I turned around to face him. I hadn't anticipated him to hear the phone call between Noah and me. He had been sleeping soundlessly on my couch the entire time.

Watchfully, Isaac stepped forward. "Did you just?"

"Tell Noah that I love him?"

Isaac nodded.

"I suppose I did?"

"Have you ever told someone-"

"No." I cut him off. "I have never told someone I love them."

I found myself breathing at full tilt. I watched my hands quiver – my phone was shaking in my right hand, too. I had no idea what was going on, but I was thankful for having Isaac with me.

"Let me hold it." Isaac said as he disconnected my tight grip around my iPhone.

"Why am I suddenly overwhelmed with emotions, Isaac?" I asked as my vision started to get blurry. Out of nowhere, my eyes began to water while I was standing across my friend.

A smile highlighted his face. "Because you just told Noah you love him. That's a big deal, Liz." he spoke. "Especially for you."

"I-I.." I couldn't help but be speechless at this point.

"It's okay." Isaac affirmed kindly. "There's nothing more beautiful than being in love and saying it to someone." he added.

Just by the way he said those words for me to hear, I knew Isaac had once felt like I did. He knew what it was like to express his feelings and how much adrenaline would flood through you once you had been vulnerable. But this was the first time someone told me they were in love with me. And this was the first time the feeling was mutual.

"It's adorable that you're shaking, Liz." Isaac said as he held my hands in his.

"Don't make fun of me, Isaac." I told him. A tear slipped down the corner of my eye.

"Awh, you're crying, too." he wiped the single tear away effortlessly.

"You're not helping." my breathing was still an issue I had to work on but I figured telling someone you love them and receiving the words back, was destined to make an impact on my emotional state.

"Sit down with me, Liz." Isaac instructed as he pulled two chairs away from the dining table. I sat down, like he said I needed to do, and watched him pour me a glass of water. "Drink this and then we will talk."

Within seconds, I had emptied the glass. I put it on the dining table and focused on Isaac. He took my hands in his again and brushed his thumbs gently against my hands.

"First, I want you to calm down, Liz."

"I am calm." I said, but my voice was beyond shaky.

"Don't lie to me." Isaac warned me with a sympathetic smile. "Calm down." he told me once more. "Breathe in, breathe out."

I did what he asked me to do. Slowly but surely, my breathing was steady and the frequent tears stopped sliding down my cheeks.

"Now, tell me, what happened on the phone?"

"Well," I started. "Noah wanted me to call him, so I did. And then he told me he's flying back to California tonight."

"He left you?!" Isaac raised his voice in disbelief.

"No, he didn't!" I responded in Noah's defense. "He didn't leave me, Isaac."

"Then why is he going to California?"