Noah's POV
4 am
My eyes peel apart slowly as I'm met with a nearly pitch black room, the only sound being made coming from the sleeping body huddled into my side. I look down and see Veronica, her long dark hair draping around her face and sprawling onto my chest. She has her petite hand resting gently on my stomach, her other one beneath her. I can hear her breathing heavily as she's consumed by a deep tranquil slumber.
I've never looked at her as more than a friend, our relationship never once pushing the boundaries of platonic. I would be lying if I said I never caught quick glances of her in her purest of states, all walls down and beautifully content. She's always been a dazzling girl, her eyes the purest shade of ocean blue perfectly contrasting her naturally inky black hair. Her wide smile bright enough to illuminate the darkest of rooms, and contagious enough to make even the most cynical soul lighten up. She was always so happy, so full of innocence and contently boisterous.
She was never dealt the perfect hand in life, from her mom being absent in every aspect, to her father dying of cancer our senior year of high school she had been through far too many curveballs. She handled it all with so much grace. Which is why I wasn't surprised to see her put on her fakest of fronts in this situation. However, no matter how well she plastered toothy grins on her bruised face I could see straight through it all. I can see the storms that rage behind the curtain of her sapphire eyes. The other day when she let all her walls down momentarily with me was hard for me to deal with. I hadn't seen her seem so small in a long time, not since her dad passed away. I was thankful to had been the one to talk her down from the ledge.
It goes without saying that her bravery has always been her best attribute.
Regardless of how innocent our relationship has always been, my drunken self decided to tight walk that fragile line. I couldn't tell if I was proud of my bravery or bewildered at my stupidity.
I can't help but allow a red hot blush to pepper my face when I ponder over our kiss. The way she responded to my bold move, and how I didn't want to stop but ultimately had to.
I'm pulled from my thoughts by a light vibration erupting in my pocket, signaling that a text message just came through.
Carefully and slowly I bring my free hand up and around to my pocket to withdrawal the device. The screen lighting up instantly as I do so.
I'm drunk and horny ): wish you were here to help!
-Natalie
The small sentence making me roll my eyes at the desperation dripping from the sender. Natalie was someone I met a few years ago at a small club show we did in LA. She was and still is the kind of girl that's well known in the industry, and for all the wrong reasons. I met her at the bar, she was on her third drink and I was merely starting my first. She was adoring the smallest amount of clothes I've ever seen anyone wear in public, and a fuck ton of confidence. Needless to say it didn't take long before I took her to the back of our tour bus and had my way with her. To which she all but begged for. We've kept in touch for one reason and one reason only, at least on my end. I'd let her live in her own little fantasy world where I was hers and she was mine, regardless of how many times I told her that was not the case she ignored it so I couldn't be bother with correcting her. I haven't responded to a single text she's sent me since I've gotten here. And I wasn't going to start, not now not with Veronica sleeping next to me making me feel more content than I've ever felt with any other woman. She didn't need to drop her panties to make me feel something. Just looking at her caused my heart to swell and make me go weak at the knees. She's not the fiesty, smart mouthed girl she was before. She's a grown, vibrant, sensational woman despite all her woes.
I don't know what all these new found feelings are, and I wasn't up for exploring them to try to find out. Not yet at least, not while she's still figuring out what she's doing. She could wake up any day now and drop off the face of the earth with her good for nothing ex boyfriend.
There's no telling what the future may hold for her, let alone our relationship.
I let out a sigh as I clear the notification from my screen and place my phone down next to me.
—
Veronica's POV
I wake up to the sound of thick snoring and the feel of heavy arms draping over my midsection. For a moment my breath catches in my throat as I fear who I'm laying next to. It takes a moment before I recognize the tattooed arm of Noah, a small sigh of relief escaping my mouth. The heat radiating from his body keeping me warm, which I'm thankful for considering we managed to fall asleep on top of the blanket.
My head is hazy and pounding slightly, a clear indicator that there was more vodka running through my system than actual water. Hangovers hit you differently than when you're 18, a sad reality I'm faced with at the moment.
Slowly, I squirm my way out from underneath Noah's grasp causing him to stir ever so gently. Thankfully he still sleeps like a log, not even a house fire could wake him. I sit upright on the edge of the bed trying to regain some kind of composure to will myself onto my feet. It takes a moment of deep breathing and a few mental words of encouragement before I can stand up, Not so gracefully may I add.
I look down at Noah, making sure he was still sound asleep and when his peaceful face falls into my line of vision my mind is flooded with memories of last night. His hands on my body while our tongues explored each others mouths. The simple thought bringing back the tingling sensation in my center.
I blink away the thought, trying not to allow my eager mind think into it too deeply. We were both so inebriated last night it all had to be just a drunken mistake. One that I'm sure he won't even care to remember and as much as it crushes me, I'll pretend like it was blocked from my memory.
My life is complicated enough without adding misinterpreted actions to the mix. We have always been just friends and I can't allow my erratic and unhinged emotions to complicate things further. But it goes without saying that there was an undeniable spark between us, not just when we shared our momentary kiss but the entire night was filled with flirtatious remarks and more than friendly touches.
Or maybe my lonely mind was just reading into everything, perhaps he was just being the best friend that he always was to me and my sad self took it as much more.
I can't afford to play this mental back and forth with myself right now, so I push the thoughts back and slowly retreat from the room and make my way downstairs.
I can hear vague banter coming from the kitchen as I walk the narrow hall that leads into it. Upon entering I see Jolly and Folio standing next to each other as they lean against the counter clutching mugs of hot coffee. They exchange words amongst themselves lively, as if they didn't down an ungodly amount of liquor the night prior. Smiles etched on their faces as they throw their heads back in laughter.
"How the fuck are you guys even functioning right now" I ask with a bewildered tone as I walk closer to them to pour my own cup of coffee from the half full pot that is brewed.
"We're used to it. We party like this on the road and then have to play shows 10 hours later" Folio states matter of factly with a small shrug as he sips lightly on his hot beverage.
I just chuckle as I bring my own cup up to my lips, downing half the cup in two swift chugs. I guess the stereotype of being hard partying rockstars ring true for this group. Not that I'm surprised in the slightest if I'm being completely honest. Noah and Nick themselves were always up to no good, spending most of their high school careers living it up like aspiring rockstars.
"How the fuck are you drinking your coffee black?" Folio speaks up again, this time playing on the words I just spoke a moment ago, his face turned up in disgust.
"It's good for the soul" I say pointedly as I take another long dip out of my cup.
"And we're the crazy ones" jolly chimes in with a small scoff. His words causing me to audibly laugh before I roll my eyes.
"You guys are dramatic" I mumble at the pair who just bust out in a fit of laughter.
The room falls silent once the two settle down, the only sound being that of the large gulps we are all taking from our drinks. I take this time to study my two new acquaintances. The two men, much like the rest of the group, sport locks of deep brown hair. Most of folios raven hair is covered by a beanie that sits tightly upon his head, now that I think about it I don't think I've seen him not sport a hat once. His face is square at the chin and molds into a unique structure. The deep curvature of his hallow cheeks bones stand very bold under his olive complexion.
Jolly is older than his three counterparts his age showing slightly by the few deep lines that pepper the outter corners of his eyes, and the slightly white hairs that kiss the faint stubble on his face. He flaunts beautiful caramel tresses that fall into a long thick braid down his back. His face, while also squared off with muscle is softer than Folio's, his cheekbone gentle under his fair skin.
"So what's going on with you and Noah?" Folio asks nonchalantly after a few moments of silence.
His question causes me to raise my eyebrows in surprise, almost choking on the mouth full of coffee in my cheeks.
"What do you mean?" I ask back cautiously.
"Don't play coy Veronica. We all saw the fuck me eyes you guys kept giving each other" Folio states matter of factly as he brings his hands up to rest on his hips in a sassy manner. This statement catching me off guard, and causing my eyes to bulge out in surprise.
"Fuck me eyes? I'd hardly call it that. We have been friends since like forever. That's just how we are" I try to reason with him. Which is a true statement, we have always been very comfortable with each other and after so much time apart and maturing i wasn't surprised that our drunken interactions could be taken as something more.
"I think it's definitely more than that" jolly pipes up from beside Folio. His accent making his words come off stern as seriousness laces his tone.
I stand there with my mouth hung open briefly as I try to form the words that are sitting on the tip of my tongue. I can't have anyone's else's strewed version of last nights events cloud my already foggy judgement. There was no way anything other than innocent friendliness was involved last night, and as far as our kiss goes it was definitely just the vodka talking. He probably just felt sorry for me and the shitty situation I've found myself in. We are friends, we have always been just friends. I'm far too damaged for a soul as gentle and kind as Noah's. I would ruin him like I've managed to ruin everything else in my life.
"You guys are del-" I begin to speak but I'm cut off by the tall structure of Noah stepping through the threshold. His soft mocha hair going in every directions as it lays disheveled atop his head. Puffy bags hug the underside of his deep browns as he peers at myself and his two band mates.
"Hey" he speaks up meekly, exhaustion clear in his voice and he brings his large inked hands up to palm at his tired eyes.
The two men great their friend and emerge in small conversation with Noah as he enters the kitchen and gets himself a hot cup of Java. I let out a small sigh of relief, happy to avoid the topic that was sprung on me far too early in the morning. They begin discussing small details about a few local shows that they have coming up in a month or so, not being able to recall the minor details as my mind begins to wonder off as I stare at my friend. His eyes are half open as he speaks, a clear indicator that he didn't rest well last night. He removed his beige hoodie from himself at some point, leaving his upper half clad in a white shirt decorated with some anime show I'm sure he's infatuated with at the moment. His fully inked arms on display, the beautiful artwork is deep and bold against his cream skin.
"Oh by the way, I have a friend that wants to come down sometime this week and talk with us for his podcast if you'd be interested in that" I hear folio say to jolly and Noah, his statement pulling me from my thoughts.
"I'm down for sure. Gives me something to do while I wait to get back home" Noah agrees with a small shrug of his shoulders. I almost forgot that he has a whole other life on the other side of the country to get back to, and this little blissful bubble I was co-existing in with him would pop sooner rather than later.
"Awesome! I'll shoot him a text and figure out the day. By the way, man how much longer do you think it will take for them to get things figured out" Folio replies as he pulls his phone out to send his friend a text.
"Honestly I'm not sure. They've been working on the waterlines for like two weeks now, then once the leaks are fixed they have to fix the minor water damage but it's like one fucking thing after another" Noah rambles with a frustrated timbre. His hands coming up to wrack though his hair in distress.
"That blows dude. Hopefully you can get back soon" Folio replies sincerely
"I fucking hope so" Noah admits with a chuckle. His comment causing my heart to twitch in pain slightly. Any small sliver of hope that the last 12 hours meant something to him instantly crumbling at his words. Of course he was ready to go back to his glamorous life in California with all his famous friends and beautiful women that I'm sure throw themselves at him. As much as I have tried to fool myself I have to face the reality that he has formed a life separate from everything we once had, and I have no one to blame but myself. He was just being the person he always was by being kind to me, not wanting to kick me while I was down.
"Veronica! Are you good? You look pissed" Folio inquiries, making my thoughts fall as I look up at the three sets of eyes that are looking at me intently.
"Oh yeah sorry im good. Just zoned out for a second" I say flatly as I stare off into the distance behind the trio, not daring to make eye contact with any of them.
"You have some serious RBF" Folio jokes, causing a small smile to twitch at the ends of my mouth.
"It's a blessing and a curse" I joke back
——
I decided to give another update in honor of my bday today <3 hope you guys enjoy and I'll be updating some more in the next week or so!
-XX J