***Iris***
We sat in silence as we drove for what felt like hours down the highway before I finally decided to speak up.
"Where are we going?" I asked, watching as yet another green and white town sign passed us by.
"Just for a drive. I've found that sometimes it's easier to talk when the mind is busy." I chuckled at his Shakespearean words.
Another moment of quiet conversation passed. It was hard to go forth talking about anything, when words of forgiveness hung heavily on my tongue.
"Look, I'm sorry about before. I just..." The words were cut off by my unknown explanation.
"I just-I didn't see a point in it." The words visibly stung him as they came out of my mouth. "No, no that's not what I mean. I'm sorry. What I mean is I didn't see anything coming from it." I could tell that I was digging myself a deeper hole. "Come on, you know what I mean. You're like this crazy talented musician and what am I? I'm this nobody from a place where nobody knows." I had spent weeks on going over what I would say to Noah if I ever saw him again, and this is what I could come up with...
"What would have been the harm in one date?" He asked. I could tell that there was more that he wanted to say, but he cut himself off before he had got the chance.
"I-I just. I didn't want a one-night stand. I've never been that girl" The truth came out before I could stop myself.
With pause he parked the car on the side of the road, putting it in park before turning to look at me. I liked it much better when he was driving. I couldn't think clearly with him looking at me like that.
"Is that what you thought it would have been? Just a meaningless one-night stand?"
My eyebrows furrowed. "What else could it have been?" I asked.
He leaned in close, close enough for his cool minty breath to hit my face. "How could we ever know if it was never given a chance." His eyes flicked to my lips, mine to his, but before anything was pushed further, we both turned away, looking out the side windows.
He got out of the car, at first, I wasn't sure if he was irritated and blowing off some steam, but to my surprise he opened the door, a small smile on his face as he motioned me to get out. Confused, I looked around, remarking on the russet-colored covered bridge a few feet away.
"Come on," He took my hand, the small, charismatic smile still on his face.
We walked over to the bridge, the creaking from the wood echoing from underneath our feet. My eyes were fixated on our enveloped hand, the comfort that I was receiving from his cool grasp as he led me down the bridge, then shifting to my feet as the wood beneath me squeaked.
"Don't worry. You're not gonna fall through." He told me. I wondered if he knew how unsteady most of Vermont's roads, constructions, and equipment were due to their age.
"Besides, the slim chance you do fall. I promise I'll catch you." He joked. smoothly slipping his hand around my waist as he stood beside me, looking down. My breath escaped me as I felt the soft, comforting touch he offered. Never before had I felt like this with any man before, so openly honest, so safe.
"You know. I don't know much about you." I stated, as I moved away from him.
"What do you wanna know?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.
I unintentionally looked to the curious medallion around his neck. "Everything." His lips pursed together before his smile returned.
Once again, he held out his hand out for me to take, leading me on the small bike trail that passed the bridge.
"Well, for starters, I'm from Greenbriar, Ohio." He told me.
"Hmm. I've never heard of it." I replied, then again, I didn't know much about the state of Ohio, or really any other states outside of the New England area, only what I had remembered from school, and what I had seen online.
"Not a lot of people have. It's a small town near Clevland."
"Was it nice there?" I asked, curious to how his upbringing was compared to mine.
"It was for a time. Growing up, it was just my mother and I. We didn't have much, but she always made sure I had enough." He answered.
"Any siblings." I asked, unaware of the effect that the seemingly simple question would have on him. His face sunk as he turned sorrowful.
"I'm-I'm sorry." I apologized, not necessarily understanding the grievance. Maybe he thought I was being too nosy. Maybe I was. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to know everything I could about him. He was after all, the most intriguing man that I had ever come across.
"No-no. I-it's okay." he mustered.
A moment of awkward silence passed between us as we walked along the trail. I admired the foliage that surrounded us on both sides, as the leaves of various trees signaled the changing of the seasons. Red, yellow, orange, brown, the rainbow of Autumn. It was beautiful, my favorite time of the year. The enchanting scene was only highlighted by the mysterious man next to me.
"Clara. Her name was Clara." He disclosed.
We both stopped walked, his head remained tilted toward the ground, while I waited for him to go on, realizing that it was a touchy subject.
"She passed away when she was seven, scarlet fever." The pain in his voice was evident as he talked about his sister.
"I'm sorry. I-I didn't know."
"It-it's okay. It's kinda nice to finally talk about it." He went on.
I was afraid to push it, to cause him more sorrow, but it was he who said that he felt comfort in talking about his hardships.
"Scarlet fever? I thought that died down a while ago. Don't they have antibiotics for that now?" He smiled sadly, before answering.
"Yes. Yes, they do. She was one of the rare cases, where the medicine... it didn't work." He answered.
"I'm sorry." I told him, afraid that I had pushed for too much. I was just trying to comfort him, but I guess I wasn't really that good at it.
"I was twelve when it happened. The man of the house." He tried and failed to make light of the situation.
"Anyways that's enough about me for now. What about you?" He asked, changing the topic.
"Um. I'm from Lowell, Vermont. Currently in my senior year of high school, but I'm pretty sure you know all of that." I chuckled.
"Okay. What else?" He asked. What else? What else? There wasn't much of to me, not much that I could say without scaring him off.
The end of the circular path had come to an end, and his car was now seen in the near distance.
"Do you have any siblings?" He asked.
I thought of Carson, not wanting to even bring him up. Technically we could still be considered step siblings until the divorce was finalized. But due to how he had been these past few weeks, and even before then when he would constantly torment me, the last thing that I wanted to consider him was family.
"I have, I used to have a stepbrother. My dad and stepmom are getting a divorce." I explained.
"Oh- I'm sorry. That must be hard. Are you two close?" He asked, and I let out a dry laugh.
"No. Definitely not. He's literally my high school bully. I'm glad they're getting a divorce." I laughed. His faced turned stern again, his jaw clenching.
"What's his name?" He asked, randomly.
I wasn't going to answer, I didn't want to think about him anymore, especially because of how perverted and douchey he was lately. I couldn't believe I missed the constant name calling and shoving that he used to inflict.
"Carson." I muttered. He tilted his head, as if making a mental note of the name, before leading me back to the car.
The car ride was once again noiseless. The only sound was the blood pumping in my ears from my accelerated heartbeat when Noah decided to put his hand in mine, relaxing it against the center console, the other still directing the steering wheel.
As the sky began to shift to a dark blue, I saw that we were still going deeper into the pitt of Vermont, away from the Northern County.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see." He gently squeezed my hand in reassurance.
We passed many farms, fields, buildings, and people before we stopped again. The last town sign we hit was Killington, a place that I had never been before. We stopped in front of an unfamiliar restaurant, parking in front of its wide building.
"I thought you said this wasn't a date." I brought up.
"Trust me little dove, this is not what I consider a date." He said, with a smirk.
"Hope you like sushi."
"I-I've actually never had it before." This made his smile drop. "But I love trying new things." I added, returning the smirk.
He got out of the car, it should have been impossible how fast he made it to my side of the car, just to help me out.
I looked down at the outfit I had worn to school.; a simple light grey tank top and ripped black jeans, with a black flannel and boots, with one of my favorite moon necklaces hanging around my neck. My hair remained flat down the length of my back, but I know that because of the cool October wind it was more than likely a messy mop. I wondered whether or not I was underdressed.
"You look amazing." Noah told me, as if reading my mind. I blushed at his comment, walking into the building as he held the door.
Inside their were people from all different variants, some old and young, some families scattered about, a couple here or there, and one group of rowdy teenagers in the corner.
I was amazed to see the chefs, most of them looking like they were from a Japanese heritage, cooking the food in front of the guests, a burst of flame erupted here or there.
"Wow." I said, admiring the Japanese artwork that scattered the red and black room. On the roof was a paper mâché sculpture of a dragon hanging from the center of the ceiling. Along the walls, various artwork of Samari, coy fish, dragons, and trees amongst waves of water. Each was beautiful, representing the unique culture.
"Tsui te rai te kudasai." A petite lady said as she came up to us. I didn't understand what she had said, but Noah took my hand, following her as she led us to a table.
"When you're ready. We will take your order, and the chef will make your order." Her accent was thick, but clear as she turned away and left.
"Anything look good?" he asked, as I gazed at the menu. Unsure to what most of this was. The only time that I went out anywhere was with Ginger, and we would usually go to some fast food joint, or if we were feeling fancy would go to the Chinese buffet a few towns over.
"I-umm... I don't know much about this stuff." I confessed.
"That's alright. Here, let me see. He said, reviewing the menu. "Do you want me to pick some for you to try?" He asked, and I nodded.
He called the lady from before back over. "Let's see, we'll get the sushi dinner, and for the appetizer, the shrimp." He answered, before she left.
"Figured it'll give you a chance to try a little bit of everything." He responded.
"I hate to admit it, but I never knew that Vermont had a place like this. I mean I really don't get out that much, but like... I honestly thought the majority of Vermont was the same. It's not very diverse." I went on.
He nodded in understanding. "There's more diversity here than most think. You just gotta look for it." His comment made me raise my eyebrow.
"You've been to Vermont before?" I asked, sipping on my Green Tea.
"Yeah, a couple times actually. I've been a little bit of everywhere, I guess. You know with touring and gigs and everything."
"Must be nice. I mean travelling all over the country, on the road. It must be a dream."
He nodded. "It is. It's amazing actually. But after a while it gets a little lonely." My head tilted.
"But you have the other members of the band." He shook his head, gulping down his Coca-Cola.
"It's not the same."
I was about to ask him what he meant, but before I could the Chef came over in front of us, behind the grill and shelves, already prepping our food.
Our attention shifted elsewhere. Watching as the chef put on his show of talent with knives and flame. It was mesmerizing. Something that I had never experienced before.
When all was said and done, the deliciously decorated food in front of us, I graciously said my thanks. Which I wasn't all that she if he understood or not, seems how whenever he had said anything while cooking it was in his native tongue.
"This looks delicious." I praised.
"Arigatou, soshite kanojo wa anata ga hijou ni saino ga aru to ii masu." Noah blurted. Both the chef and I looked at him with wide eyes. The Chef bowed, handing us an extra serving of salmon before retreating.
I looked to Noah, my mouth agape. "What? I visited Japan for a little bit too." He chuckled, amused with my reaction.
We were halfway down with our meal when I finally decided that sushi just wasn't my thing. Thankfully, there was a few options which I really did enjoy. The Alaskan and California rolls being a couple of them.
"I'm glad you found some you liked, but I'm pretty sure those weren't actually invented in Japan." He laughed.
"I wanna know more about you." He exclaimed, sitting back in his chair as he studied me. It was like he was trying to decipher some sort of puzzle. "Well, this will be one puzzle that he would never figure out." I thought.
"I-I have a part time job at a diner. Coco's Cafe." I blurted out, not knowing what else to say.
"Really? Well, maybe, I'll have to come and grab a bite sometime, you can point me to what's good." He commented.
What he said reembarked on a question that I had let completely slip my mind. "Noah. What are you doing here? Don't you guys have to hit the road soon?" The question rekindled the sadness that I carried from these past weeks.
He finished his drink before he answered, leaning forward, and placing one of his large, tattooed hands on my knee. "Actually, last night was our last show of the tour. We're free for the next few months overall. Figured we'd spend our downtime in Vermont." I could push back the smile that made its way to my face, from the possibility that I might be able to run into him on the street in town.
"Why did you choose here?" I questioned.
"There's something really special here." His dark eyes boar through me as he answered.
I gulped the last of my drink, wishing that it could have been something much stronger. Regardless, it did not dull the burning sensation in my throat as I swallowed my nervousness for what had to have been the hundredth time in the last few hours.
"He's going to be the death of me." I thought.
Oh, if only I knew.