***Iris***
I had been the last one to wake up when morning hit. Ginger, on the other side of the tour bus, on one of the farthest beds, sitting next to Matteo, Griffin and Bec sitting at the table across from me, while Noah was sitting on the bed next to me, his legs sprawled out on the bed.
Groggily, I sat up, embarrassed to be the last one awake. "Morning, little dove." Noah said, his eyes fixated on the paper in his hands. "Who still reads the newspaper?" I asked myself, getting up off of the bed.
I stretched my arms up, yawning as I woke up. Noah looked at me, scanning me up and down, making me blush as I realized I had been wearing his clothes.
"Coffee?" Bec asked, as he prepared three cups that were in front of him.
"Yes please. Milk and sugar." I added as he poured the cup full of the morning brew.
"Ginger, what about you?" He asked.
"Yes. The same. Thank you." She said, coming to the front of the bus, Matteo hot on her trail. She was now wearing the dress that she had been wearing yesterday, but it was now free of muck and dirt.
"We took the liberty of washing your clothes for you." Noah said, now sitting up on the edge of the bed in front of me, handing me a familiar black garment.
"Thank you." I told him, noticing quickly just how close we really were as I stood in front of him, while he sat up on the bed, his head almost now level with mine as he looked at me. God, the way that his eyes roamed over me drove me crazy. I could feel his cool minty breath as he looked at me, and subconsciously my eyes travelled to his lips. The attraction that I felt towards him was surreal, the cobwebbed butterflies in my stomach were fluttering like never before.
Someone cleared their throat from beside us, and I looked up to see his hand extended, a fresh cup of coffee in his hands.
"Thank you." I muttered, bringing the cup of my lips, my eyes travelling back to Noah from above the brim.
When the cup was empty, and I was fully dressed I got out of the bathroom, surprised to find Noah waiting for me right outside.
"Iris. I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a minute." He said, leaning against the door. I couldn't help by notice how perfect he looked, with his black tee that tightly covered the muscle underneath, the black pants that hung closely at his hips, and the plain black leather jacket that he wore.
We walked outside, away from everyone, and onto the unoccupied grounds of the park. concession stands, vendor tents and the stage were all still set up, but not a soul was in sight. It was deafening quiet, the only noise coming from the birds in the trees above and the rustling of chipmunk's and squirrels from the grassy floor.
"So, what did you wanna talk to me about?" I asked, as we climbed up onto the stage, swinging my legs over to hang off of it, while Noah followed. He looked like he was contemplating what to say as he ran his hand through his dark hair.
"Look, I-I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime?" His question caught me off guard. Never in a million years would I think that someone like him would want to go out with me. Surely, I must have heard him wrong.
"Oh-um. Uh." I searched for words that weren't there. I didn't know what to think.
"I-I've actually gotta go back to Vermont today." I told him, even though the last thing that I wanted was to go back. I didn't have much to go back to except for a shitty school, an abusive stepbrother, a self-absorbed father, and a dead-end job.
His face fell as I went on. I wanted nothing more than to go out with him, stay with him. There was no one from my hometown that was even remotely in the league of this God-like man. That could be why I never had any past relationships before. I never really found much interest in anyone, that was before now. No one that I had ever met could ever be compared to Noah.
The momentary thought of being with him was just that, a temporary fantasy. It wasn't anything that I could dwell on. It wasn't anything that was possible. He was an up-and-coming rock singer, a crazy hot talented musician. What was I? A nobody from a small town in Vermont with bigger hopes and dreams than she could carry.
"What if you didn't have to go back?" He asked me. I snapped my head to him in bewilderment. I just met him how could he even suggest anything like that?
"I-I mean, not right now. Of course." He added.
Never before had I remembered feeling any type of desire to purse an actual relationship, nor had I recall feeling this type of attraction towards anyone in my entire life. He was God-like compared to everyone else back in my hometown, incomparable. He was cut from an entirely different cloth.
"What of me?" I was a small-town girl from Vermont that was finishing her last year of high school with family baggage and a dead-end job. I was nobody. I couldn't see any reason to why someone like him would even consider being with someone like me for a minute.
For a moment my mind weaved in the impossible scenario of me being with him, even for a night. Something told me that it would be undoubtedly unforgettable. "But what would come of it?" I wondered. By morning he would be off performing in another state, or across the country, for all I knew. Where would I be? Back to my pathetic life of filled with oppression and hopelessness. My path led to nowhere. His led everywhere.
The impossibly scenario was wiped of my mind. It was exactly what it sounded like, a temporary fantasy. It was too good to ever be true.
"Thank you for the offer, Noah. And thank you for everything you did for us last night, really I'm grateful, but I have to get back home." I told him, pushing myself up off the stage.
Despite my words I knew that I wasn't going home, not really. I had to go back to where I was from, where my so-called life was, but it wasn't my home, just somewhere that I lived. I didn't belong there. I never have, and I never would. Maybe one day I would find the place where I was meant to be, but today wasn't that day.
It was uncalled for, the overloading emotion that was coming from inside me as I saw Noah's sullen face, how his eyes dropped to the floor when I finished speaking, his jaw clenching in disappointment. I barely knew this man but seeing him upset made my heart ache.
The walk back to the bus was still. The only noise coming from the birds in the trees overhead, the rustling of the chipmunks on the grassy floor, and the crunching beneath our boots from the gravel pathway, the only indication that Noah was still with me.
When we made our way back into the bus all heads snapped to us. "We've gotta go." I forced out, feeling the strained tension between Noah and I. Mine and Ginger's eyes snapped to the clock, it was already half past noon. If we left now, we would just make it back before dark. I wanted nothing more to stay as long as possible, but I couldn't. We had school tomorrow, and if I missed a day and my parents were called, I knew that my life would be hell for weeks after.
Both Matteo and Ginger's face fell as she nodded her head in acknowledgement. Guilt waved over me as I saw my best friend's smile deplete. But we couldn't stay in dreamland forever. As much as I wished we could.
The bus fell silent, despite the many people occupying it. A heavy tension was in the air, restrained words caught in everyone's throat. I packed my things silently, not being able to look over at Noah who was only a foot away, handing me things that had fallen out of my bag from the night before. I wanted to look at him, to take in every perfect detail of his face before I left, because I knew that more than likely I would never see him again. But I couldn't. I knew that if I did, if I saw his pained expression again my heart would surely fall out of my chest.
Ginger and I, said our goodbyes to the group of men, drawing the words out longer than necessary when it came to the two men who we were most discouraged to leave.
I finally looked up at Noah before we opened the bus door, knowing very well that I would never forgive myself if I didn't. The look in his eyes, the clenching of his jaw, it was too much. I wish I knew what he was really thinking, feeling. I wish I knew the reason to why I was feeling such an emotional connection to him. I wondered if he was feeling it to. I guess I would never know.
"Thank you for everything, Noah." I told him, before offering him a quick hug. Still silent, he wrapped his arms around me tightly, bringing me close. I loved the feeling, the smell of his cologne that engulfed my senses. After a few moments I didn't think that he was going to let me go. Part of me wished that he wouldn't. But because this was reality and not just some figment of my imagination, he did. The cold that I felt when his arms left me was unbearable, sickening.
We headed back to the car, neither of us risking a glance back to the men behind us. I looked to the passenger side, recalling all too clearly how my body had been trapped under the putrid form of another's the night before. How clearly, I had remembered the relief that came from his body being pulled away, as Noah knocked him to the ground.
Glancing to Ginger, seeing that she too was looking to that cursed spot on the ground a few feet away, I knew that she too was replaying the events from the night before.
"I'll drive." I whispered; my voice sounded pitiful as the words broke.
Wordlessly we got in, staring ahead of us. With a deep sigh I mustered the strength to start the ignition. With every inch, every mile, every minute that we drove I felt my heart straining, tugging at the strings. The lump in my throat didn't go away, the smile didn't return to Ginger's face.
We had one of the craziest, greatest, most terrifying night of our lives. The car ride should have been filled with joy and laughter, and maybe a few tears as we recalled what had happened. But as my eyes were set on the road, Ginger's out the window, words were the last thing on our mind.
Forgetting that we had The Black Doves album in our car, I turned on the radio, instantly met with Noah's angelic voice. I swallowed the lump, grabbing the steering wheel a little tighter as we went down the road. In a flash Ginger turned off the music, bringing back the sodden atmosphere in the car.
My mind stayed on Noah hours after we left and remained that way even after the Welcome sign of Lowell, Vermont made its way in our rearview.
I thought about the events from last night, how he saved me. I thought about all of those times that I would lie in my room at night when my dark thoughts became overpowering and the depression set in. How, I would find comfort in his voice. How I wouldn't feel so alone as I drifted off to sleep listening to their lyrics of strength.
I wondered if he knew that he was my hero, long before I had ever met him.