The rays of light had begun to shine through the small curtains as the sun started to rise from its rest. The bright lights casted an orange hew across the room and across my closed eyelids. I could not keep my body from shifting away from the light and further into the warmth of the comforter.
I dreaded waking up in the mornings, it was a much more difficult task than most people thought it to be. My body felt like it was being weighed down by sacks of bricks, slowly dragging me to the dark embrace of my captor.
I curled further into the bed and squeezed my eyes shut. This should have been a dream. I should have awoken from this nightmare hours ago. Although, I was not that lucky. This was not a dream, and I was reminded so by the sound of the bedroom door creaking open.
The sound of footsteps echoed beside me and I tried to lay as still as I possibly could.
I felt my heart begin to beat faster with every step that I heard, which was now directly beside me.
I laid completely still beneath the large blanket that shielded me from Noah's preying eyes.
My body failed me when I twitched when Noah placed his hand on my lower body, beginning to rub up and down slowly. He chuckled and pulled back the sheets, exposing my frail body.
"Good morning, sweetheart." He greeted happily as I remained curled up into a small ball. "I made you some breakfast, I thought you'd be hungry." You are right, I would be hungry if I was home. But I could not even begin to fathom the idea of him making me breakfast in bed.
"C'mon and get up, I don't want this getting cold." Noah urged again and set the food down onto the nightstand beside me.
I peeked up from the pillow and glanced at the food. It was some of my favourite breakfast food, and of course he would somehow know exactly what I liked. I uncurled my body and pulled myself up into a sitting position against the headboard of the bed.
My eyes burned as they began to adjust to the bright lights that had now filled into the room.
"I hope soon you'll be able to get yourself up and maybe make breakfast for me every once in awhile." Noah smiled down at me and placed the tray of food onto my lap.
My focus shifted from him and onto the plate of food that was hovering above my lap. Yeah, make you breakfast and poison you. I bitterly grabbed the fork and started eating the eggs. They were scrambled, the only way that I would ever eat eggs. There was also some burnt bacon, toast, and some tea on the side.
"I find it weird that you like your bacon burnt, but anything for you my sweetheart." Noah leaned in and kissed the top of my head.
"I find it weird that you know every aspect about me." I grumbled. "Do you even know what brand of tampons I use?" I found myself shooting out that last sentence before I could stop myself.
My eyes immediately widened and drifted up towards Noah, who had not moved from his stance beside me.
"Do you need a reminder from our conversation yesterday already? I am more than willingly to show you how to behave, whether that be physically or mentally." Noah warned calmly, his face not displaying any sort of emotion except for the small twitch under his left eye.
I had made a mental note that he did that often when he was trying to control his anger, whether it be involuntary or not.
"No." I responded and casted my gaze towards my food.
"Good. If another smart-ass remark comes out of that pretty mouth of yours, you'll regret it. And for both of our sakes, I hope that it doesn't come down to that." Noah stepped away from me and sat down on the couch beside the bed.
I gulped harshly and picked some more at my food, no longer feeling famished.
"I have a few plans for us today," Noah's demeanour seemed to have changed within a few seconds, once again sending me into a spiral of confusion. "I thought that we could do some baking, I know that you enjoy that. And then maybe watch a few movies?" His voice was cheerful, very contrast to the previous threat he had uttered at me a few moments ago.
I nodded solemnly. "That sounds like fun." I fought back the urge to grimace when I said those words.
Noah nodded but said nothing, allowing me to eat in silence.
I ate at my food slowly, chewing particularly slow. I did not like being watched while I ate.
A few moments of silence passed and I decided to speak up. "I-" I cleared my throat and took a small sip of my tea, washing away the bitter taste of the bacon with the sweet peppermint tea.
"I wanted to apologize for yesterday." I nearly choked as those words left my lips. I glanced up again to see Noah's eyes fixed on mine. His brows were pulled together in concentration and his head cocked to the side.
"For?" He suddenly spoke up.
"I'm getting there." I forced myself to keep my voice calm.
Noah chuckled as he sat back against the couch, making himself comfortable. His shirt strained across his chest and arms as he did so.
I swallowed hard and averted my eyes from him. "You've done all of this, just for me and I was being so rude yesterday." I gritted my teeth. "I guess this was just so much of a shock to me. Nobody has ever gone this far for me." I forced myself to look back at Noah.
His eyes were focused on mine and his brows were raised in surprise. "Nobody?"
My breathing hitched for a moment. "I-," I struggled. "No, no one has ever-."
"What about James?" Noah asked and my eyes widened further before squinting back at him.
"James? We were just friends, that's it." I started to say. "We were all a big group of friends." I finished, now noticing that I said were. As in past tense. I shook off the thought, my mind drifting over to what Noah had said, of course he would know about James.
Noah tutted and sat up straight. "Are you lying to me?"
I shook my head and balled up my fists. "We are only friends."
Noah adjusted himself on the couch before he stood up. I watched as he walked over to the small dresser next to his side of the bed. He pulled out a small key from his pants and slipped it inside the hole. His eyes never left mine as he did so.
I watched him curiously as he pulled out a phone. My phone. That is right, he had taken it from me while I was unconscious. Now that I knew he took it away, maybe I could get it back and call for help. Unless he had taken the SIM card out.
Noah turned fully towards me now and extended his arm out towards me. "Password."
I opened and closed my mouth as I looked up at him in confusion. What was he playing at here?
"Four-four-five-five." I said, not stuttering once.
Noah looked down at the screen and punched in the numbers. "Try again." He gritted as he looked back at me.
I clamped my mouth back shut and looked away briefly. I did not particularly want him to go through my phone. However, it was not like he did not already know everything about me. I still felt as if he was invading my privacy by doing this. Not like he has not already.
"What's your password, Jessica?" Noah said again, this time firmer.
"Why are you trying to unlock my phone? What's even the point-"
"Give me the fucking password, Jessica!" I flinched at Noah's outburst and closed my eyes.
"Seven-five-two-two." I whispered, glancing down at my empty plate.
"Good. Was that so hard?" Noah clicked through my phone as I clenched my jaw and tightened my balled up fists. I could feel my nails digging painfully into my skin.
"Let's see here," Noah scrolled through my contacts and messages, reading over everything. "Ah, here we are. James." My eyes flashed with worry as I caught his gaze for a brief moment.
James and I did not speak very often, but when we did we would talk for hours. I bit my lip and watched Noah's body language carefully.
"We should hangout soon, I miss you." Noah read off James' and I's message.
I cringed and shut my eyes. "We only-"
"School has me busy as fuck. I would love to see you again, I miss you too." Noah continued to read off my phone.
I watched as his jaw tightened and his brows pulled together.
"Noah-"
"Does that mean it's a date?" Noah hissed.
I opened my mouth to speak.
I knew that no matter how hard I tried to explain to him he would not believe what I said. Was there something between James and I? I had no idea. We were supposed to meet up for coffee sometime next week. I had a feeling that was not going to happen. However, there was always some awkward tension between us. Danielle and Jacob would always poke fun at us, saying that we were like two elementary children who had crushes on each other, but were too shy to admit. Maybe we were just too scared of going any further and ruining our friendship. I knew part of me felt like that.
It was a shame that our school schedules became so crazy and it was harder for us all to hangout. We used to basically live at each others houses when we were all in high school. But times change, and it became harder to see each other.
I frowned at the thought.
"Would that be a bad thing, if it was a date?" Noah angrily bit out, his eyes locked onto mine now.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, feeling tears prick at my eyes.
Those texts were personal, and they were supposed to make me feel happy. I was finally able to see my friend, whom I might have liked. Who even knows anymore. These past twenty-four hours had made me question a lot of things about my life. But hearing those words come out of his mouth, it made me feel sick to my stomach.
"it's a date." Noah threw my phone onto the bed as he finished prying into my messages.
I watched as my phone clicked off and bounce a few times before landing on the sheets.
I knew there were more he could read, but something told me he was too angry to continue. He knew my password now, and he could go into my phone anytime he wanted.
I looked away from him, not being able to see him so angry. My body began to tense up and a cold sweat ran down my neck.
"You're a liar!" Noah suddenly screamed at me.
I jumped at his reaction and before I knew it, I watched in shock as he dove over the side of the bed and towards me. Noah's hand flew over my lap and pushed the tray of food off of it. It landed on the floor next to the bed with a crash. I did not even have time to calculate his moves before his hands caught my shoulders and slammed me back against the headboard. My mouth flew open in surprise and I let out a strangled noise from my throat. My head bumped against the wooden frame and I squeezed my eyes shut as the pain flooded the back of my head.
Noah's heavy body landed on my legs, while his were spread apart on either side of mine. He had me pinned by my shoulders and my legs. I had no where to go again. The familiarity of being pinned down by him washed over me and I felt like I was going to puke.
"Don't lie to me!" Noah's eyes were set ablaze with rage, while mine held pure fear.
"I'm not! We never dated! We never did anything!" I cried out in desperation, twisting my head away from him.
Noah took this as an opportunity to bring his head closer to me. "You were planning on it!" His voice nearly deafened me at this distance.
"No!" I cried in frustration. I had to get out of this situation. "We haven't seen each other in months!"
I felt my legs begin to prickle with pins and needles as he pressed further into me.
"Why did you say it was a date then!" Noah tightened his grip on my shoulders and I was beginning to feel faint. "You are supposed to be mine and mine only! He could never treat you the way that I could! He would never make you happy!" Noah cried in desperation, spewing out more of his crazy talk.
My eyes widened as he rambled on. My brain tried to process the words that he was saying and come up with an answer that would not get me killed.
I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. "Exactly! You said it yourself, he could never make me happy like you can." I turned my head towards him. "I'm here with you, aren't I? I just finished trying to apologize to you for my behaviour yesterday. I told you I was just confused and shocked, that's it." Those words hurt my heart to say, but I had no choice. "I want you, not him. He can't give me what you can." I moved my hands slowly up to his face, he allowed me.
I had to get him to trust me somehow. I needed to fill his sick little mind up with all the lies that would make him believe I truly liked him.
I watched as Noah's eyes softened slightly and he gave a small smile. His brows relaxed as I cupped his face, like a mother would when she consoled her child.
Feeding into his fantasy seemed to have an effect on him. I made a mental note of that.
"Y-you're telling the truth, aren't you?" Noah whispered, his eyes meeting mine.
His mood had changed once again.
I nodded weakly. "I am."
Noah let out a deep breath and smiled. "I'm sorry, I just get so protective over you. I know how many sick guys are out there and I need to protect you from all of them." Oh the irony.
I forced a smile. "I know."
I felt Noah shift on top of me. He had not moved and my legs had fully gone numb now.
"Do you mind getting off me? You're kind of crushing me." I half-laughed and looked up at him.
Noah looked at me a little longer and tilted his head to the side. I watched as his eyes drifted down towards my mouth and I felt my breathing hitch. No. He was not going to kiss me. Was he? I tried to mask the frightened look that grew upon my face and watched as he moved in closer.
"What-"
Noah's lips met mine and I froze. I wanted so badly to push him away, but that would just blow my act too soon. I could not let that happen. Instead, I decided to kiss him back. As much as I did not want to, I did.
His lips were oddly soft as I moved mine against his, feeling his tongue poke at my bottom lip. I begrudgingly allowed him access and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture that I was kissing someone else and that I was far, far away from here.
The kiss ended as quick as it started as Noah pulled away. His tongue poked out and licked over his lips as a smirk grew across his face. "I've been wanting to do that since I saw you."
I looked away from him, forcing myself not to gag at his words. "You're still crushing me." I changed the subject before I threw up all over him.
"Oh, right." Noah chuckled and pushed himself off me and the bed. He stood up and glanced beside him. The tray of food had spilt all over the floor and he tutted. "I'll clean this up. You go shower, and then we can watch a movie or something." He smiled down at me.
I nodded and rolled to the other side of the bed and walked towards the bathroom. However, I was smarter this time and made sure to grab some clothing before I went into the bathroom. I peered back over my shoulder at him, watching for a moment as he picked up the mess beside the bed.
My eyes drifted down to the ground as I slowly closed the door.
This was a nightmare that I wanted to escape.
I had to.
Author note:
Heyyy everyone! This chapter took way too long to write and I'm sorry if it was a little dry, I had to put some filler in there and explain some more backstory. I think I know which direction I want this story to go in, but I will probably end up changing my mind at some point.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please vote and comment! Thank you all so much and I also hope you guys like the new cover! I thought this one looked better than the previous. :)
Chapter status: unedited