Big thanks, as always, to amiva0402 , brightyeolie , and jueka1 for their comments last chapter!
And sorry I left you hanging at the end of the last one ;D
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"Lexi? Lexi! Lexi, open your eyes for me."
The voice continued to call to me, a gentle shake of my body going along with it.
Eventually my eyelids turned red and I begrudgingly blinked them open to find a familiar face blocking the sun from my eyes. Hair the colour of midnight, onyx eyes, and a warm smile.
"There you go... slowly does it," he said, helping me up to a seated position.
"W-what happened?" I asked, glancing around. I was still on the road, Noah's car parked haphazardly on the middle of the road, and he was crouching beside me. "You should move that," I groaned, rubbing my throbbing head.
"You fainted, I think. One minute you were running, and the next—"
"Wait..." I shook my head, looking back into his concerned gaze once more. "How come you weren't home already?"
A light pink tinged his cheeks as he slowly removed his hand from my back, aware that I could finally keep myself steady as I righted myself. "I, ah... I knew you weren't fine when you said you were. I wasn't sure if you were sick or if there was something troubling you but... I maybe, kind of, sort of... followed you back to make sure you made it safely. I thought for sure you'd notice me but you never did..."
My brows furrowed as my gaze searched his face, trying to unpack everything he said. But lucky for him, my head panged with pain once more, distracting me from studying his expressions and reading into his actions further. My hand shot to my head.
"We should get you inside," he said, "Or maybe to a doctor?"
"I don't need a doctor," I waved my hand. "I'm probably just ill. We didn't get much sleep last night, too busy talking about the party. I just... need a shower, some more water, and then to lay down for a bit."
Pressing his lips together, he moved out of his crouching position, crossing his legs.
"But we should get off the road," I then added.
"I will get off the road if you agree to something for me," Noah countered.
"What?" I asked with a slight roll of my eyes—though I winced a little at the movement.
To my dismay, it didn't go unnoticed. Concern flickered across his face once more, but then he shook it, seeming to understand I didn't want to talk about it. "Let me buy you some breakfast."
"Breakfast?" I repeated, starting to feel convinced that maybe I had actually knocked myself out and in some messed up dream—or nightmare. Because why was I dreaming about Noah when it should be Sara, of the two?
He nodded slowly. "I think some food could help. I assume you haven't eaten yet?"
I shook my head and regretted it instantly, swaying a little.
Then Noah flashed me a grin. "Great!" Pushing himself to his feet, he held his hands out to me to help me up.
But I merely glared at them and then propped myself upright. Though as my body went vertical, my vision clouded black again for a moment, causing me to stumble. And Noah's arms shot around me again.
"Easy does it," he said, leading me towards his car and helping me into the passenger seat.
Then, once he was sure I was in, he closed the door, rounded the vehicle, and climbed into the driver's side.
"What's for breakfast?" I grumbled as the car started to move.
"Maccas. Breakfast of champions."
"No... that's definitely some brand that uses that slogan... and if my head wasn't so foggy I'd be able to tell you it."
"Considering I'm the only reliable one right now, we're going to say I win this argument."
"That's not how—"
"Shhhh," he grinned my way before turning his attention to the road.
As I also looked forward at the car, blinking at my surroundings, I finally actually had a thought pop to my mind—one that wasn't the stirring memories of the train tracks. "When did you start your shift?"
"Not long after I picked you up from the party. I work from midnight to seven, every second Saturday. It's good money alongside uni," he said with a shrug.
"What are you studying?" I asked, feeling obligated to ask a little bit about him considering he was shouting me a meal and kind of saved me from becoming roadkill.
The corners of his lips turned up, but the light wasn't in his eyes as he responded with, "Engineering."
"Ah," I said, adding sarcastically onto the end, "Must make your parents proud."
"Yup," he said, though his hands clenched tightly on the wheel. "But I'm far too tired to talk about that, so let's not."
Then my brows knotted together. "Shouldn't you be heading home to sleep?"
He shrugged. "I still have to eat."
"Yeah but—"
"Lexi... You fainted on the road in front of me. I'm making sure you get something into your system in the hopes it doesn't happen again this morning, even if this food isn't too nutritious. You won't let me take you to a doctor so—"
"But... When did you last sleep?"
Smirking, he said, "I had a nap before I took you guys to the party."
"You must be wrecked," I replied, leaning against the window of the car, enjoying the feeling of the cool class against my forehead.
"You look worse."
"Two insults in one day. So kind of you Noah."
"I didn't mean—"
I waved my hand at him as I closed my eyes, corners of my mouth turning up. "Don't sweat it."
We drove in silence for a little longer, me with my eyes shut the whole time. But as the vehicle came to a slow crawl and the window wound down, I finally flickered my eyes open to see we were approaching the drive thru.
"Any requests?" he asked.
"Bacon and Egg McMuffin and a hashbrown."
He nodded, pulling up to the speaker. He placed an order for me—with an added juice—then one for him, and next we knew we pulled up in the carpark and were unwrapping out breakfast.
To my dismay, Noah was right. Food was certainly something I needed. I only had two drinks the night before, but I also hadn't partied much in the past six months, so it was a bit of a shock to the system. The alcohol, tied with a lack of food, mixed with little sleep, on top of being frazzled and running... yeah, it's no wonder I fainted.
As I popped the final bite into my mouth, I heaved a sigh, finally feeling content with potentially knowing my problem—it was just exhaustion. Nothing had actually triggered me. Surely.
"So," Noah said when he too finished his meal, wiping his hands clean on a napkin. "Want to tell me what has you so worked up?"
"What makes you think—"
"No girl in her right mind goes to a sleepover, gets little to no sleep, then goes for a jog while her friends are still sleeping despite potentially having a hangover."
Crap... how did he see all that? But I just smirked in response as I cocked an eyebrow, saying, "And what would you know about girls, Noah Hashimoto?" Because distraction was the best way to avoid conversations you weren't ready to have.
That familiar pink tinge took hold of his face as his eyes flickered away momentarily, before he said, "I'd know a thing or two."
Shaking my head, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Mr Playboy Noah," I laughed.
"Playboy?"
I shrugged. "Do you not still change girlfriends every week?"
"What are you... Oh. Are you referring to primary school?"
I nodded.
Then he shook his head. "I only had two girlfriends in high school."
That caused me to move back in my seat, eyes going over him as I assessed him. "Who are you and what have you done with Noah?"
He gave me a wistful smile before turning to look out the window. "A lot changed since you left, Lexi. And you barely knew me then anyway."
"I guess this is true," I mumbled, looking down in my lap and feeling a little guilty for judging him. Callie had to like him for some reason, right? Perhaps it was because he was different...
"And... look, I know you said I'm the last person on your list—"
"I didn't say last. I just said there's many above you."
A small smile tainted his expression for a moment, before his gaze turned serious once more. "Anyway, I was going to say... My offer still stands. If you need someone to talk to."
"I'm fine, Noah," I said, though I knew my tone said otherwise. The exhaustion, the despair, tainted my voice.
But he wasn't ready to back down yet. "I heard you lost someone recently," he said.
"Who told you—"
"Sara. Who was told by Callie."
Shrugging, I looked forward, away from that familiar look of pity.
"Is that why you're—"
I shook my head, feeling the familiar sting in my eyes. But before I could hold the tears back, one escaped, shamelessly rolling down my cheek. I turned my head as I wiped it away. "Surprisingly," I croaked, clearing my throat before I spoke again, "As much as I miss the woman who was my step-mother... She's not the one I was having nightmares about last night," I confessed.
"Nightmares?" was all he asked in response.
Shrugging, I looked to my lap. "I don't know what's brought them on."
"Do you... want to tell me about them?"
"What good will that do?"
He shrugged. "I mean, I'm no counsellor, but I do know sometimes we feel better when someone else can help us carry our burdens."
His words were oddly familiar—ones that Jess said when she finally coaxed my confession about my relationship with Mia out of me. But I didn't know Noah... sure, Callie thought he was great. Sure, he looked after my sister when everyone else seemed too scared of her. And sure, he followed me back to his house knowing I wasn't okay but not wanting to push me too far but... He had his own things going on. So I said, "It's okay. I've already taken up enough of your time this morning."
"I don't mind listening."
"You must be tired," I tried again.
"Lexi—"
"This is enough, Noah," I said, lifting my watery stare to him. "What you've done for me so far is enough. You don't need to do more. Besides, I was out running to forget the memories that resurfaced in my nightmare and knocking my head on the ground had been the only thing that made them stopped. However, if I talk to you about them then I have to relive them. And I just don't want to do it again today."
He took one deep unsteady breath as his eyes searched my face while I held his stare, willing him to give up. Yet rather than dropping it, he tried once more with an even softer, "Lexi... You can't overcome things by trying to shove them into boxes hoping if you put a lid on it then it will go away. It's still in the box as much as you try to hide it."
I went quiet for an immeasurable amount of time, mulling over his abstract statement, thinking about how I even could describe it to someone... because the reality was, I had only spoken to three people about how much Callie's accident traumatised me: my therapist, Jess, and dad. And one of them was gone, the other was back in Melbourne, and dad was too busy grieving...
But he continued to sit their, brows turned down, expression soft, patiently waiting.
So after a deep breath, I did as he suggested and confessed it all. I told the fourth person everything I remembered from what happened that day—sparing the topic of mine and Callie's fight, of course, and my memory's focus on the lunchtime talks that came before because I didn't need to make Callie's life awkward as a result of this—the blame I feel, the stark imagery of my sister's mangled leg...
But as I finally got the last work out, I felt lighter.
My head was clearer.
And I felt a little free.
Noah didn't say anything the whole time I had spoken. But his eyes had stayed on me, a touch of understanding clouding his gaze as he nodded along while I had spoken.
"Thank you," I whispered after a few moments of stillness passed in the car.
"Th— I didn't even say anything," he quickly blurted. He then took a deep breath though, gathering his thoughts before he added, "I don't know what to say to help other than 'that sucks Lexi and I'm sorry you carry that all with you.'"
Shrugging, I confessed, "It was nice to have someone to listen." I hated admitting he was right... but sometimes, even if the other person can't fix your problems, knowing someone else knew what was troubling you was just enough to lessen the pain.
He gave me a small smile before he said, "Always here if you need someone."
I returned the smile and said back, "Likewise."
In response, Noah pulled out his phone, checking the time. "If we're lucky... You might still be able to slip back into bed before the girls notice you're gone. Unless you want to talk more?"
I shook my head. "Some more sleep would be good."
"I agree with you one hundred percent."
So he put his car into gear and we headed back to his place.
As we walked into the house—everyone, including his parents, still seemingly dead to the world—I stopped him on the stairs up to the rooms.
"Thanks again," I whispered.
He shook his head and said back, "Don't thank me for being a decent human being, Lexi. What was I going to do? Leave you on the road?"
Rolling my eyes, I said, "You didn't have to get me breakfast."
"Yeah well... A girl's got to eat, right?"
I breathed a slight laugh, eyes dancing over his face again.
Callie insisted that she and Flynn are just friends and the kiss was just practice...
It looked like more but...
If Noah really is the one in her heart, I think I could support this.
"Noah..."
"Lexi?" The corners of his lips flickered up.
C'mon Lexi... think of something smooth to help Callie out a bit.
"I just want to say, beyond what you did for me just now... Coming back and seeing how you are with my sister... I really appreciate that too."
His brows pulled together. "What do you mean?"
Shrugging, I said, "You treat her like she's a normal person. And you're really kind... and it's something she needs."
His lips pressed together and something indistinguishable swirled in his gaze. "Well she is a normal person."
Nodding, I said, "I just..."
She has to tell him herself... don't give away too much, my conscience warned.
"Just... please keep being kind to her. I'm trying to boost her confidence now that I'm back, so the more people who see her for the beautiful person she is, the better."
But Noah simply shrugged. "I mean... being nice to her is essential if I want my sister off my back, to be fair. Because Callie keeps Sara busy so she's not getting in my business. But also... Your sister is a kind person, even if she scares most people with that attitude of hers." He let out a chuckle. "But she's always been nothing but nice to me so... I believe in treating people how they treat you."
"Thanks," I said back, then turned to head up the stairs.
"But Lexi?"
I craned my head back to glance at him.
"If you... I can try a little harder with her if that's what you want."
I'd be lying if I said his phrasing confused me, but the inner workings of the male mind was never something I ever quite understood. So I did all I could. I nodded, and said, "That would be great."
We bid each other 'good morning' and went to our respective rooms.
Sara and Callie were just as I left them two hours ago: Callie's mouth slightly parted, wrapped around her blanket on the mattress on the floor.
And Sara peacefully hugged her pillow, her eyes gently closed against her cheeks, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
I grabbed a clean set of clothes and forwarded down to the bathroom for a quick rinse. Then, dressed and washed, once I entered the room once more, I grabbed my own blanket from Sara's bed, pulling it onto the mattress on the floor by Callie.
And even though I knew she'd hate me for it when she woke up, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.
Aww sweet.
Do we have a ship for Lexi at all, I wonder? Let me know...
Also, a couple of bits of awesome news:
1) I am officially far enough ahead that I will survive the rest of school term. And this means if I do manage to write any more chapters, I can then give you two in a week.
2) One of my short stories won the Aim to Engage competition run by Wattpad Ambassaders and it's going to be published on WattpadAnthology's account. I'll leave the story in a link in the in-line comment in case you're interested in reading it... but I'm also starting to think it would make a good novel idea... >.> Maybe for a future one.
MEME
I didn't make this meme, but it made me think of you guys: