| Amelia |
Ever since we dropped Leila at Sophie's place, there was nothing but silence.
I took in a deep breath, my hands tightening on the steering wheel of their own volition. Seriously, it was so silent, I could've heard a pin drop in there.
Nervously, I licked my lips and carefully glanced in Noah's direction. Contrary to my condition, he seemed completely at ease - comfortable, even. His head rested on the seat behind him as he gazed outside, seemingly lost in thought and not minding the silence that I perceived as a sign on discomfort.
Well, if he's not troubled by it...
I eased a bit, relaxing into my seat and loosening my stiffened spine. Still, I looked his way again to check if he noticed.
He hadn't.
And yet, I couldn't quite tear my gaze away.
Bruised, battered, injured, wounded...and despite all that, absolutely mesmerising. Maybe even more than usual.
Blood seemed to fail to tarnish the angelic halo that surrounded him; I was even starting to believe that blood magnified it, reminded me that he had struggles of his own that he kept buried deep inside - ones that sometimes, resurfaced in the form of the cuts that he had right this moment, sprawled all across his skin.
He wasn't perfect. And that made him all the more addicting.
"You're going to crash the car."
I yelped when he spoke up suddenly, slowly turning his head in my direction. In an almost bored manner, he gestured towards the wheel and then the road ahead.
My eyes widened and I immediately looked away. "Oh-"
"If you're going to stare at someone like a statue, at least make sure you don't kill him in the process, yeah?"
I pursed my lips. I think I liked the silence better. "Mhm, sorry."
I zipped my lips up after that, choosing to shut up till we reached his place. Noah was - as I had noticed before - more on the edge than usual. And I was in no way eager to tip him over it.
To make sure there wouldn't be any other opportunity for us to talk, I decided to turn on the radio. Songs cheer anyone up, right?
"No."
He uttered the word blankly like it was an order, and to my utmost dismay, my hand decided to obey even before my brain could.
I let out an exasperated sigh. "I just thought-"
"No music."
Blank and final, once again. At this point, I had to physically bite my lips in order to stop a bilious curse from escaping. Be good, Amelia, he's not-
"And christ, can you stop holding the wheel so tight? You're going to get it all greasy and dirty-"
"Oh my god!" I finally yelled, widening my eyes at him and staring in disbelief at his pettiness and arrogance. "It's just a car, calm down."
He laughed, humourlessly and mockingly, breaking his stoicism as well. "Just a car? Please, do you even know how much it costs?"
"More than my entire bank's worth," I brought back his insult from earlier, tightening my hold on the wheel (admittedly, just to spite him even more). "Yeah, I know."
I turned my head in the other direction - rather harshly - and focused my eyes on the road. Did he really need to act like that? Even while I was being mostly patient with him? While I was trying to help him?
I knew he was Noah Carter, and I knew that I placed much, much beneath him when it came to wealth and power. But I for sure needed no reminder of that, and I definitely hadn't signed up to assist him for it to end in humiliation.
Minutes passed before I heard him sigh. "I didn't mean it like that, you know-"
"It's okay."
I cut him off, not wanting to hear any more of it - at least for now. I decided to stay silent - absolutely silent - until we reached his place, and then be on my own way. I had had enough eye twitching for the day.
But glancing at him, my attention was once again drawn involuntarily to the bruises on his skin and the red on his shirt.
I bit my lip, something twisting in my gut against my best efforts to shut him out. Stupid, stupid, stupid- "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?"
"Yes." He answered immediately, his tone emanating finality. There was no room for discussion.
But my persistent self just couldn't keep quiet. "I'm just saying, it might be better-"
"Look, this isn't my first time." His tone was harsh, and I knew then that I should've shut up when I had the chance. "If it wasn't for Chase, I would be doing all this by myself right now, no big deal."
Here we go again. "Fine."
My hold tightened on the steering wheel - admittedly, to piss him off just a tiny bit - and I drove faster, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. What was I thinking, trying to offer him help when he clearly didn't want it?
Surprisingly, he stayed silent the remainder of the ride till we reached the front of his mansion, one that I knew quite well by now. Being extremely careful (I never was quite the expert at parallel parking), I brought the car to a halt and sighed. "We're he-"
"I'm sorry."
A low, almost inaudible mumble - so low, I thought I had imagined it for a second. But when I turned my head in astonishment, he averted his eyes and ruffled his hair.
"I didn't mean to make you feel bad."
My traitorous heart clenched inside my chest as I settled myself back into my seat without even realising it.
I didn't quite know what to say. This was the first time - ever - that Noah had uttered the word 'sorry' to me, and now that I'd heard it, I truly didn't know how to respond.Suddenly nervous, I lowered my head and began playing with my fingertips.
What now?
"Amelia?"
There was something so sonorous, so pleasing about the way he said my name, that I couldn't help but raise my head and look at him.
As soon as our eyes met, I knew I wouldn't dare to avert them until he did his.
"Look, I..." A chill ran down my spine when I felt him hold my fiddly fingers gently, completely stopping their anxious movements. He noticed? "I'm just angry at everything right now."
Subconsciously, I felt myself lean closer to the gear stick between us, as did he.
The distance between us suddenly insignificant, I watched his eyes go lower, down my face till he reached the end of it, and then slowly back up again.
I imagined his hold on my fingers tightening.
"But I shouldn't be snapping at you..."
"I..." I was stumped. I didn't know what to say, or what to do, except stare. And the longer I did that, the more the turmoil inside me made itself dominant. This was new, uncharted territory - and I knew better than to traverse it.
I backed away, retreating my hand from his grip.
"It's okay," I replied meekly, nodding my head. "I understand."
He seemed to stare at me for a few more seconds - probably chuckling at my foolish nervousness, I was being such an idiot - before resting his head back onto his seat.
Not liking his silence (and not wanting to come to terms with the brewing in my stomach), I decided to lighten up the mood. "On the bright side, there's not a single scratch on this car."
"Now that's surprising." I felt better when he chuckled, but the feeling perished when he winced in pain immediately afterward.
"We should get you inside." I grabbed the keys and stepped out of my seat, walking to his side of the car and opening the gate for him. "Come on."
Noah tugged his body up from the seat, but retreated instantly because of the pain even that caused and placed his hand on his rib. A troubled, shallow breath escaped him.
I forwarded my hand to him. "Here, let me-"
"I don't need help fucking standing."
There it was again. That iron wall between us, that cold demeanour of his that always stood in the way.
I sighed, watching as he managed to pull his legs out the car but then halted, as if gathering the strength to be able to stand. His shoulders were tense, his entire body seemed exhausted. What should I do? He clearly wouldn't be able to do this on his own - at least not without hurting himself more in the process - but also wouldn't accept help when given it.
But I also couldn't just stand there, watching him struggle.
Cursing underneath my breath, I bent myself and took hold of his arm, helping him up.
"What are you doing?"
"You want to get inside this century, right?" I raised my brow, hiding my tension from him and dismissing his protests. "I'm helping, even if you don't want it. So get over yourself."
Surprisingly, he ceased his objections - perhaps because his agony had managed to outweigh even his stubbornness. Slowly, I placed his arm over my shoulder and pulled him up.
"Fuck," he cursed once he was fully standing, leaning into my support and curling his body over his ribs. I bent with him under the weight of his muscles but managed to hold my own.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," he panted, trying to straighten himself up a bit. "Just give me a minute."
I nodded, trying to adjust myself to support him better. Once we made sure he was comfortable, I slowly began guiding us to the front door, trying my best not to hurt him in the process.
The uniformed watchman stationed at the gate didn't seem to mind as we crossed him and went inside the house - didn't even question Noah's bloody state, as if he was used to this sort of thing happening every now and then.
The house was dark save a few soft lights lit up here and there.
"Should I call Agatha?" I asked, raising my head to look up at him.
Noah grunted, shaking his head. "No, she'll be asleep. I don't want to wake her."
"Well then," I sighed, already tired when I looked at the daunting stairs ahead of us. This should be nice. "Let's get started."
Noah noticed my dread immediately, causing him to chuckle. "Aw c'mon sweetheart, it shouldn't take too much time."
"Easy for you to say." I mumbled, readjusting his arm on my shoulder for what seemed like the fifth time already. "God, do you have to be so heavy?"
"HEY, it's muscle." He feigned an offended voice, and the playful smile on his face made me throw a glare his way.
"Shut up." I rolled my eyes, placing my other hand around his waist, in order to guide him.
And maybe just a tiny bit because of those muscles...
God, I needed to get a grip on myself. First the car, now this...what was going on with me? I was here as support till Chase came through with the doctor. Yet here I was, taking in a sharp breath every time his head got just a bit too close to mine. Why was I so on edge?
I needed sleep, that's what it was.
It took us a good five minutes to reach the top of the grand staircase, after which Noah led me to his room - forgetting, perhaps, that I had been there quite a few times now.
By the time we reached it, I was the one panting for breath. "Are we there yet?"
"Oh stop complaining, I'm the one who's bleeding here." he rolled his eyes, pushing the door open and leading me inside to his surprisingly neat, tidied up room.
He disconnected his arm from around me, slowly limping to his desk.
Was it wrong that I missed the warmth?
"We can go to the bathroom." He opened up a few drawers and began pulling stuff out in an almost practiced sort of manner. God, how many times had this thing happened? "Lesser mess, I don't want Agatha on my ass tomorrow."
I nodded, taking in the pristine, sophisticated vibe of the room and then the messy, wounded presence of Noah in it, blood dripping slowly down his form, staining the carpet beneath us.
A chuckle, followed by the clicking of his fingers in front of my face. "You're staring in that creepy way of yours again, sweetheart."
I blinked, shaking my head. My lips pursed when I saw that cocky smirk plastered on his. "Sorry, I forgot peasants weren't supposed to make eye contact with the King."
I smiled inwardly at my response. I never was too good at the whole 'snapping back' thing, but I guess constantly bickering with Noah since the beginning of the year had somewhat sharpened my skills.
But to my utmost annoyance, his smirk only widened at the edges.
He moved closer to me, covering the distance between us. "You know, peasants are also supposed to kneel." I couldn't possibly stop those shivers down my back when he bent to the level of my ear. "You wanna kneel in front of me, sweetheart?"
I inhaled sharply, knowing this was going to end with me in tiny, nervous, flustered pieces. He was too good at this game. A flirty line here, a scathing touch there...and before I knew it, I would be prisoner.
Not today.
I backed away. "You wanna think about maybe not flooding the room with your blood?"
His smile widened but he conceded nonetheless, raising his arms in defeat. "Fine, come on."
I breathed in a sigh of relief as he guided me to the bathroom that was linked to his bedroom. With my arm around him as support, we sat him down on the closed toilet seat - he did so with another painful hiss and something stirred inside me once again.
"Okay," I looked around, eyeing the first aid kit that he had brought with him from his desk. "What now?"
A simple, point-blank command was what I got as a response:
"Undress me."
-
Some note to end on, right?
Buuut anyway, thank you so much for reading today's chapter! I hope you liked it, and I hope you're excited about the next one just as much as I am about writing it.
Do let me know your thoughts. What do you think is going to happen next? What are your predictions for the next chapter?
I'd love to know what you think.
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Until next time,
Kiara❤️