Noah
When I woke up in the morning I still felt like I didn't get any sleep. My head felt fuzzy, my throat was dry and my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds! My phone alarm woke me up. I wanted to press snooze and fall back asleep, but I have to work at Daisy's later and I want to go see Anthony before I do that.
As I discreetly slid out of Alek's bed, I looked down at my body, just now realizing I had absolutely no clothes on. Then I remembered what we did in bed last night. . . I don't know what came over me. God, he put his tongue inside— I shook my head and rubbed my eyes.
I was determined to get out of here without waking Alek. One, because he looks so handsome when he sleeps and two, I don't want him to see how upset I am. From slipping into little space, to the car almost killing us, to me being embarrassingly needy in the middle of the night.
I'm embarrassed, confused and a little bit scared.
People don't try to run you off a road unless you have a problem with them.
Going behind Alek's back isn't something I want to do, but I don't feel like I have a choice. I love him, but I don't want to be in a relationship where I'm going to get hurt again. Yes, Adam hurt me, but not to the point I thought I could lose my life.
I want to trust Alek to protect me, but I just don't know. I need to know the truth and I need to make myself be strong. I can't keep slipping into little space and I need to learn to talk about my feelings. . . And what if I died without having Mr. Snuggles? Then he would be stuck in this world without me. I not only need to protect myself, but Mr. Snuggles too. And Mr. Lion and Mrs. Cuddles.
Okay, getting sidetracked.
I finished putting on my clothes from last night and snuck out of the room. It was really really hard not to kiss him before I left, but I kept telling myself I was mad at him, even though after last night it was hard to be mad. Not the car thing, the late night um. . . Activities. I called Anthony and asked if he would pick me up and thankfully he said yes. I didn't want to get the 'I told you so' from Chris because that would probably make me cry. Sometimes I really hate being so emotional.
I waited on the street a short ways away from Alek's house. I didn't want him to see me standing outside then he'd question me and it wouldn't be good.
I really regret not bringing my sweater from home too.
I was happy I didn't have to wait too long for Anthony to show up and when he did, I practically sprinted to his truck and blasted the heat as high as it could go.
"Thank you for picking me up!" I smiled.
"It's no problem, Noah. Why didn't you want Chris to get you? You two are best friends."
"Um, I didn't want him to make fun of me or make me feel bad. . . Something happened last night and it was really scary." I frowned.
"Did he hurt you?" Anthony asked angrily, slamming the breaks of the truck. I flew forwards, but used my arm to stop my face from hitting the dash.
"Do you really have to keep doing that?" I glared.
"Answer me, did he hurt you?"
"No! He didn't, but someone almost did. After dinner, the date was perfect by the way, but after dinner some car started following us and they were going like really fast, then we almost got hit by a different car when he ran a red light, but we didn't. . . Then I went into little space and I woke up in the middle of the night and I almost had um sex with him and it was amazing and now I left without telling him and he's probably going to be sad and now I'm sad and I don't know what to do and—"
"Jesus Noah, take a breath." Anthony cut in sternly. "So someone chased you guys and clearly you got away. He didn't say who it was or if he knew them?"
I shook my head no and crossed my legs up on the seat.
"I also was little so I don't know, I didn't really pay attention to all that." I shrugged. "I'm surprised I didn't wake up being little, but I'm happy it went away otherwise I would probably still be there right now. I'm just not ready to face him yet. I need to know the truth and I don't want to be lied to." I sighed.
"Is the offer still on the table of you helping me?" I asked meekly. "You don't have to if you don't want to. . . I'm sure I can—"
"Of course I'll help you. You know you're my friend too, Noah. My little kitten may be hard headed, but he loves you too. I can't keep this from Chris so you have to tell him, or I will. I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but I don't know what we're re going to find. It'll be better for you to have more support anyways. Secrets are one thing I refuse to keep in my marriage."
"What if he's disappointed in me though? Or he makes me feel bad about my choices? I. . . I love Alek and Chrissy can't see why. What if he stops being my friend if I stay with him?"
"I'll never stop being your friend."
I screamed.
"Chris?!"
"Kitten? What the hell are you doing down there? And how did you get in my truck? When did you even have the time to sneak in here?" Anthony asked, his face contorted into one of confusion just as mine.
"I heard you on the phone and I wanted to see what you were doing! I was bored!"
"Why wouldn't you just ask to come?!" Anthony snapped. "You almost gave me a fucking heart attack!"
"I thought it would be funny! I didn't think you guys were going to talk about all this! And Noah, do you really feel that way about me? Am I really that bad of a friend?" He asked himself.
When I turned my head to look at Chris who was sitting on the floor of the truck, it looked like he was about to cry.
"Don't cry because if you do, I'm going to cry too." I furrowed my brows together in a frown.
"I can't help it! I'm such a horrible person! I should be there for you, helping you, not making you feel like this!" He yelled. "I'm the world's biggest asshole. I'm so sorry. I'll try to give him a chance, but if we find out he's done something super fucked up, we're having another talk, alright?"
"Okay. You promise you'll give him a chance this time? I can't lose either of you. I love you both so much and it will break my heart if I lose you. I just. . . I really want to be loved by someone other than a friend too. Like a romantic way and I need your support." I sniffled.
"I promise. My asshole era is done and gone." He lunged forwards between mine and Anthony's seats and threw his arms around me. The whole top half of him was basically on my lap!
"Chris, c—can't br. . . Breathe."
"Sorry! Sorry!" He pulled back and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "We're good?"
"Yes Chrissy, we're good. Just don't break your promise again. I hate when promises are broken."
"I know. I'm sorry again. . . I'm just protective over you. I let Adam hurt you for so long and was completely oblivious to it. I'm not going to be like that this time. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt again."
"I get it, but Alek is different. Yes, me might be hiding something but he's not the type of person to hurt me physically. He's kind, attentive, he knows how to treat me, he's okay with me being little. . . He even wants to be my daddy." I blushed. "I never thought I would find someone who would accept me for who I am. He wants to take care of me, Chris."
I suddenly got the urge to text Alek and tell him I had to leave so I did. I don't want to make him worry. I'd feel really bad if he was worried about me.
"Okay, I believe you. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him. At least you didn't have a crazy ass ex attempt to murder you and steal your husband's company." Chris laughed.
"Kitten, I thought we weren't going to talk about that." Anthony glowered.
"What? It's not like he's going to come after me or anything. And no, I don't feel bad about saying that because he was a fucking psycho and can go choke on a big fat dick. Actually, nevermind that. He might enjoy it." Chris frowned. "I hope he has an eternity of eating the world's hottest peppers while getting stun by a thousand jellyfish in hell. That shit stings."
Anthony shook his head with a slight chuckle. "Kitten get in your seat and put your seatbelt on. You too, Noah."
"The only good thing about that day was you peeing on me. It was hot, but it burned like a bitch."
"Chris, you're so weird!" I giggled.
"Don't knock it til you try it." He smirked.
"No that's not for me. No thank you." I blushed.
"How about we get back to what's important here." Anthony started. "If you really want to know, we should start with Julian. He knows Alek probably better than most of us. If he can't help, I have other ways but we'll start there. How does that sound?"
I nodded. "Okay. If you're sure he won't tell Alek."
"I'll make sure he doesn't. Come on, well stop by their place now."
On the way we stopped and got Starbucks because it's Chris's favorite and he complained that he couldn't live without it, so of course we had to stop. I got a yummy pink drink out of it though! We also got some breakfast and drinks for Julian and Fox too.
Fox and Julian's house is huge just like Chris's and Alek's too. They're big and beautiful, elegant and just an absolute dream to live in.
I won't ever get there though if I'm a bar manager or a flower shop worker all my life, but that's okay. I like living in my apartments. Less space is better for me, I just wish I could afford things like this. I try not to get jealous but every one of them are so successful, I guess I'm envious of them.
Out of everyone's homes, Fox and Julian's is by far the most fun looking. There's so many colors and paintings and cool furniture! My favorite is the big staircase when you walk in. The entire thing is made of diamonds! Whether they're real or fake, I don't know but they're so pretty, especially when the sun from the skylight shines down on them, it reflects like a rainbow!
When we walked through the front door, Fox was walking into the living room, wearing his silk pajamas and a coffee mug in hand.
He didn't notice us at first, but out of nowhere he backed up and took a double take; rubbing his eyes as if making sure we were real.
"Um, hello?" He said tiredly.
"Who are you talking— Oh shit, Why are you all here?" Julian asked, appearing butt naked from the kitchen. He held his hand over his privates and pulled Fox against him.
"I see you two had some fun." Chris looked at them with an arched brow.
"Yes, and I'm tired as fuck." Fox huffed.
"Quiet now, you don't want to be tied up again, do you?" Julian said in a loud whisper, purposely loud enough for us all to hear.
"Don't tempt me with a good time, Master." Fox let his head fall back against Julian's chest; lifting his chin to kiss the corner of his jaw.
"Well I'm going to change, you four to the living room then we'll talk." Julian walked past us like it was no big deal to be naked and made his way upstairs.
We all took a seat in the living room and waited for Julian. It was only a few minutes, but was more than enough time for me to get inside my head.
"Alright so tell me, why are you all here so early? What's going on?" Julian asked, placing his arm around Fox.
"Do you want to speak Noah, or me?" Anthony questioned.
"Um. . . You, please."
"Last night Noah went on a date with Alek, they had someone tail them. Noah went into little space but doesn't think Alek told him who. We think he's keeping something from us and want to know what. I know you two are pretty close so I thought we'd make you our first stop."
"Shit." Julian muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"So you know something." Anthony cut in.
"It's not my place to tell you."
"Yeah well Alek is putting Noah in danger and won't even tell us what's going on!" Chris yelled, making me jump.
"He stole money from his brother and escaped back here!" Fox blurted.
"Fox!" Julian sneered.
"His brother? Stole money?" I repeated. "Why would he steal? I. . . I didn't even know he had a brother." I frowned.
"Am I in love with a criminal?" I asked myself.
"Dammit, Fox. Look what you've done. No, Alek is not a criminal. Some shit happened that he couldn't control and that's all I can tell you. All I'm saying is once you find out the truth, don't be scared of him." Julian said, looking at me so deeply I felt it in my soul.
"What could he have done to make me feel scared of him? It's not like he's killed anyone before." I laughed, but when I saw Julian's face, my smile dropped.
"Why are you looking like that? Did he hurt someone? Julian, is he a murderer?" My lip was quivering, my vision was blurred with tears and my heart, my heart hurt.
"Anything he did was protection for himself. Jesus,
you guys are going to get me into so much shit. You didn't get any of this info from me, you understand?" Julian looked at each of us and man can he look scary when he's mad.
"You three can see your way out." Julian grumbled, pushing Fox's hand off of him as he stormed out of the room.
"He couldn't have done that, could he? Alek isn't a murderer. I know he isn't." I cried.
"Fox, can you tell us anything else?" Chris asked.
"I can't say anything. Do you know how mad Master Reyes is going to be at me if I tell you any more than what I just did? It's not our place, please don't put us in this position." He sighed. "I'm sorry but you guys have to leave. We'll talk later, but I need to go speak with him."
Fox got up and ran after Julian, leaving the three of us in a shell shocked state.
Does he not trust me? Why would he steal from his brother? How do I even talk to him about these things. I can't just go up to him and be like hey, I heard you murdered someone and stole money from your long lost brother.
"Come on Noah, let's go. We'll drop you off at home and I'm going to look into this a bit more." Anthony said.
Chris held out his hand to help me up and he pulled me in for a big hug.
"We'll figure this out, don't worry." He reassured.
I hope he's right.
I nodded and the three of us went back to the truck.
The entire drive was silent, none of us in the mood to speak which was more than fine by me.
After they dropped me off, I sat down on the steps for a few minutes to get some air.
"Hello, beautiful."
My head whipped up and there he was. Aleksander Knight. I'm am definitely not ready to see his face.
"Hi." I muttered quietly. "Why are you dressed so. . . Fancy?"
"Just felt like dressing up today. How are you doing, love? Quite the night we had last night, yes?"
"I'm fine. I was just going to go inside and have a nap."
"How would you feel about going out with me? We can go have lunch together."
"I'm really not feeling great." I answered, avoiding his eyes.
"Come on, love. I insist."
My head snapped up at the one word that came out of his mouth.
"Love?" I repeated.
"Yes, is there a problem with that?"
"Um no, I guess not?" I shrugged. "Okay fine, we can have lunch, but I need a nap after. I'm really tired."
"Don't you worry that pretty head of yours. I'll have you home before you know it." He smirked and held his hand out for me.
I kept my hand in his as we walked towards a black car. He opened up the back door and let me in first, joining me in the back a few moments later.
"Why aren't we in your car?"
"Didn't feel like driving today, I hope that's alright, love." He smiled, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles softly.
"That's fine." I blushed, ignoring the goosebumps that rushed up my arm.
Alek kept his hand in mine the entire drive, but it was oddly quiet until the car finally came to a stop.
When Alek helped me out of the car, my brows furrowed together in confusion.
"Why are we at a fancy place?"
"What, don't like eating rich? Come on, love. I've got the money and I want to treat you." He grinned seductively, eyeing my body like a piece of candy.
"I'm not really presentable for a place like this." I crossed my arms over my body and pushed my glasses up awkwardly. Didn't we just have this talk too? I hate fancy places.
"You won't have to worry about anyone else, I happened to rent the entire restaurant so it's just us, baby."
"Um. . . What do you mean you rented the whole—"
"Come on now, don't want to let the food go cold."
"A-Alright." I stammered, hesitantly walking towards the door with him.
True to his word when we got inside, the restaurant was empty. There was a table set up in the center of the dining area with two silver platters sitting on top of it. There was even candles lit on the surrounding tables and the restaurant lights were dimmed, creating a more romantic atmosphere.
"What is all this about? I thought you might still be at home sleeping."
"No, woke up quite early. You were the first thing on my mind when I woke. I had to come and see you, love. I missed you."
"You just saw me a few hours ago." I giggled.
"I can't resist seeing that gorgeous face. I feel like I don't tell you that often enough. You're very beautiful. Pretty, if you may." He smirked, leaning back in his chair.
I know I'm mad at him, but when he acts like this, all my worries slip away.
"Thank you, daddy." I flushed bright pink and took a big sip of my water.
I know I keep telling myself I'm not ready to call him that, but it just slips out so easily. It's really confusing, but I can't take it back now. Maybe I should just accept the fact I want to call him daddy in every possible way and deal with the consequences later. The only thing at risk with me saying that is my heart because saying that makes everything so much more real for me.
Alek on the other hand, choked on his whiskey or whatever it was and started coughing aggressively.
"What did you say?"
"I— I didn't think you would be so surprised. I'm sorry, it just kind of came out. With you calling me love, I don't know I just felt comfortable saying it."
"ty seksual'nyy malysh."
"Huh?" I blushed.
"I said you are sexy, baby. Damn, call me that any time you want."
"You're so strange today." I stated. "Oh! That's a really pretty ring!"
"This old thing?" He looked down at the Royal Blue gem. The band of the ring was silver - worn out in the most beautiful way. It looked like it was something that's been around for generations.
"It was my father's." He answered swiftly.
"I thought you didn't know your parents?"
"I took it when I was in Russia. A keepsake, I suppose. Anyways, enough chatter. We've got a delicious meal here and I am starving."
The food was quite good, not really my preference, but it was nice to not have anyone else around to judge me. Or spill hot pasta on me.
I was almost done my food when I noticed the time in the clock hanging from the wall across from me.
"Oh my god! I forgot I was supposed to work today, I have to go!" I jumped up and ran for the exit.
"I'll call you later, I'm sorry!" I ran out the door and thankfully Daisy's wasn't very far from the restaurant. I got there fifteen minutes of running later and was a complete mess by the time I got through the door.
"I'm so sorry I'm late! I had a really long day and an even longer night. I'll make up my time, I promise!"
"It's just me in here Noah, relax." Nali grinned. "I covered for you, don't worry."
"Thank you, you're the best!" I sighed in relief. "I've been working myself crazy all week and my days are all jumbled and there's just a lot going on."
"Don't worry about it, you've covered me how many times. Look, I got today covered. You look like you need some sleep." She smiled softly. "And you should also think about coming here once a week. With you working full-time at that bar, you need to give yourself some time to rest."
"I don't need any days off, Nali. I'm okay."
"Just promise me you'll think about it. And you're still going home today, I don't care what you say. I will lock you out of here if I have to." She gave me a challenging look.
"Oh my god fine, you win. I'll go home today, but you're doing nothing tomorrow besides sitting at that counter, deal?"
"If that means you're going home to sleep then yes, you have a deal."
"It's only official with a pinkie promise." I held out my pinkie and smiled.
She didn't argue with me finally so I gave her a hug and went outside. I waited a few minutes for an Uber to pick me up then went back to my apartment. It was so difficult not to fall asleep. I know the minute I step inside I'm going to sleep all night and I can't wait!
When I pulled up and got out, there was Alek yet again.
This time though, he was wearing normal casual clothes and he even had his own car.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
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