CHAPTER LXXV
not by choice
NEW YORK, USA — 2024
AFTER MAY HAD SUGGESTED TO FIND A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE, herself, Peter and Noah had found themselves standing inside of Happy's apartment, alongside with Hugo.
Happy's apartment was quite bland and spacious to say the least. It had no colour and looked very modern-looking. But, it didn't really matter as it was only going to be a temporary home for the three.
As May rushed to turn the beeping alarms off, Noah glanced around the entire apartment, giving a slight nod of hesitant approval.
Only moments later, Happy panted as he leaned against the doorframe that led into his apartment. He held a small plant pot in his hand, a bag in the other.
"Welcome to the spiritual oasis!" He welcomed. "You like Donkey Kong Jr.?"
"Spiritual oasis, my ass." Noah whispered.
"Excuse me?" Happy uttered. "This is much better than being harassed by random people."
Noah rolled his sea green eyes to the sky, a small frown planted on his lips. He shook his head from side-to-side as May and Peter went to settle down their bags, Happy helping them.
With Noah standing by the front door, Hugo had finally made his way into the apartment as well. He approached Noah, placing some bags by his side with an assuring smile.
"Hey, don't worry. You won't be in here for too long." He attempted to comfort Noah. "Besides, if you need anything, just call me anytime."
Noah looked to the side with a sarcastic smile. He then slightly nodded his head in response, his bags still in hand.
"Very sweet,"
"Mhm." Hugo snickered. "I'll call you soon."
And with those words, he turned around and left the apartment, closing the front door behind himself.
Noah then wandered towards the other three, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. As he approached the group, they were all discussing random things, more specifically where they would all be sleeping for now.
"Okay, May, first bedroom you see upstairs." Happy told. "And Peter, you're on the couch."
Once finding out where she was going to be sleeping for the next few nights, May excused herself to unpack her bags upstairs in her temporary bedroom.
Noah scrunched his nose up ever so slightly, his eyebrows furrowing a little as he glared at Happy, waving his hands right in front of his face.
"Am I invisible?" He muttered. "What about me?"
Happy turned around to face Noah, giving him a very salty smile as he pointed at the couch, which was sat nearby in the living room.
"Yeah, uh, you're sleeping on the couch with Peter." He stated. "I got my eye on you two though, you gotta keep it kid-friendly in here."
Noah and Peter both groaned at that sentence. Really? Keep it 'kid friendly'? It's not like they were going to do anything extreme whilst alone. Besides, they were almost adults now, they could do whatever they pleased.
"So, I can't even kiss Noah?" Peter uttered.
"Nope. No kissing. No hugging. No nothing."
A few hours had passed on by, the sky now a navy blue colour as stars twinkled in the clouds, the only thing illuminating the entirety of the city being very dim lampposts.
Noah was on the couch, laying down on his side as he attempted to fall asleep. But, he just couldn't. No matter what position he was in, no matter how comfortable he was, he just couldn't fall asleep.
Continuously tossing and turning every few moments, he eventually paused after hearing some footsteps enter the living room.
"Noah?"
Just by hearing the voice, Noah knew that it was Peter. He let out a quiet groan, turning around in order to lay down on his back as he placed his arm over his eyes.
"Mm?" He mumbled.
"Why aren't you asleep?" Peter asked.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" Noah muttered in slight irritation. "Why aren't you asleep, Peter?"
Peter huffed underneath his breath, gently shaking his head from side-to-side as he began to approach Noah.
"What is keeping you awake?" He avoided the question. "Is there something on your mind?"
Noah immediately shook his head in response, his features and shoulders slightly tense as he did so.
"Nothing,"
With those words, Peter looked down at Noah, attempting to pull his arm away from his eyes.
"You know that you can tell me anything." He assured.
Once Peter had pulled Noah's arm away, Noah looked up at him with a slight frown. Maybe there was something on his mind and he didn't want to tell Peter or anyone else. He pressed his lips into a thin line, allowing a deep breath to escape from his lips.
"Look, I'll tell you tomorrow, 'kay?" He made up a firm excuse, hoping that Peter would just forget about it by tomorrow.
Peter frowned, but eventually accepted what Noah had said anyway. He slowly nodded his head, leaning down in order to plant a quick and soft kiss onto Noah's lips.
After the short kiss, Peter pulled away, a warm smile dancing on his lips. Noah let out a breathy snicker, placing his arm back over his eyes.
"I love you."
"Eh, I love you more." Noah hummed.
"Lies." Peter chuckled. "I love you way more,"
"Shut up-"
Before Noah could even finish his sentence off, Happy, who was sleeping on a chair in the living room, had surprisingly awoken from his slumber.
"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled out of pure annoyance. "Wrap it up!"
Almost immediately, Peter and Noah almost jumped out of their skin, forgetting that Happy had even decided to sleep in the living room.
"You both love each other. We get it. Go to sleep." Happy continued. "Oh, and no snogging. I need my eight hours."
"Have you been listening this whole time?" Peter murmured out of embarrassment.
"Uh, not by choice."
AUTHORS NOTE — hi, so i'm really sorry about not updating this fic for almost a month - i was really unmotivated and shit so yeah !