Wrapping my robe around me, I padded quietly to the front door and pressed the buzzer to let Noah into the house. Watching his shape move silently up the stairs, I stepped to one side before closing the door behind him.
When we reached my room, the silence was hanging over us; heavy and laden with unspoken emotion. Removing his boots and jacket, he climbed onto the bed and sat up against the headboard, his frame almost taking up the whole space. Without saying a word, he gestured for me to come over as he held an arm out expectantly.
Maybe I should have been more annoyed with him for his caveman-like behaviour earlier that afternoon. But the sight of him sitting there, wordlessly asking for my forgiveness, was too much. Letting out a sigh, I climbed onto the bed between his legs and laid my head back on his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.
"How's your face?" he whispered.
"Okay," I murmured. "A bit bruised, but nothing too bad."
"Abi, I really didn't mean to catch you like that, it was an accident. You know I would never hurt a woman in that way, especially not you, right?"
"I know."
After a couple of minutes had passed, Noah broke the silence once more.
"Why was he here?" he asked, his voice trembling. "After everything he's done why was he here, in your flat, looking all cosy with you?"
"He just showed up," I shrugged. "We were friends for a long time, you know? Even after the way he treated me, I still care about him in some weird way."
"Care about him in the same way you care about me?"
"Not at all." I replied, shaking my head against his chest. "He did a lot of things to hurt me, Noah, but he was there for me during one of the most terrible parts of my life. He only just found out about the car accident. He was worried so he came to check I was okay."
"And did you tell him you're okay?" Noah replied. "Did you tell him I'm here to look after you now, to treat you the way you deserve?"
"Yes, I told him," I sighed.
"What did you say?"
"Don't worry, I told him I'd met someone new and in no way would me and him ever be like that again."
Noah's chest rose heavily under my head as he inhaled deeply.
"Good," he whispered, placing a lingering kiss on the top of my head.
Pulling myself up to face him, I smiled gently at the sight of his perfect but troubled features glowing in the low light of my bedside lamp.
"Just so you know, I'm going to go back and see my mum this weekend, okay?"
Nodding gently, Noah cupped my face in his hands as he softly placed his lips against my forehead. "Okay," he whispered.
"Are you staying here tonight?" I continued.
Noah cocked his head slightly, seeming unsure of whether he was welcome. "If you'll let me?"
"Of course," I smiled, "But I really need to get some sleep. I've got a nine o'clock lecture in the morning. Some of us still have uni, you know?"
Letting out a small chuckle, Noah held his hands up innocently.
"I'm good with sleep," he smiled. "You sleep, I'll just lay here and watch you..."
"You're bordering on stalking again there," I laughed. "Talking of which, did you secretly have my phone number all this time?"
"I may have got it from your friend that first night at The Lock," he smirked. "You know, the guy with the bleached hair?"
"From Kris?" I gasped, "So, why has it taken you so long to bloody use it?"
Noah's dimple popped in the lamplight as he smiled, looking pleased with himself. "I told you, I like it old school. I wanted to be able to woo you the old fashioned way."
I couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter. "Woo me?"
"You know what I mean," Noah replied, laughing as an almost unnoticeable pink tinge crept across his face.
His forehead was warm as I ran my fingers over it and through his hair, studying the way the different blonde tones complemented each other as the strands moved.
"Well," I smiled, "I'm glad you wooed me, but I'm more glad about the fact I've finally managed to get your number."
"Me too, especially if it means late night booty calls," Noah smirked.
Quickly ruffling his hair out of place, I rolled off the bed to remove my robe, revealing only my silk pyjama vest and shorts underneath.
"There will be no such thing tonight, Mr Hartnett," I said in a stern tone. "You may be a college dropout, but I've got a shitload of work to catch up on after a month away. So be quiet and go to sleep."
"That might be tricky," he murmured, as he removed his jeans and T-shirt and climbed under the duvet in only his black Calvins.
Climbing in next to him, I reached to switch off the bedside lamp. "Tricky or not," I whispered, "I'm afraid them's the rules for tonight."
As he pulled me in close to his chest he swept my hair to the side, exposing the back of my neck to his lips. Placing a line of gentle kisses down from my hairline to my shoulder, my skin prickled under his warm breath against my skin.
"Rules is rules, I guess," he whispered in my ear. "Sweet dreams, Abigail."
Turning my head to place one last kiss on his lips, I almost backed down on my decision to just sleep. But my mind and body were exhausted after the day's events. And the bottle of wine.
"Night, Noah," I whispered, before closing my eyes and losing myself to the rhythm of our breaths in perfect unison and his heart beating steadily against my back.
When I woke up the next morning, Noah had gone. Snapping my eyes wide open, I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and checked the time. It was only ten past seven, and one solitary message was flashing up on my home screen.
'Couldn't sleep next to you like that, had to go home and relieve myself. N.x'
'PS. Joke - got breakfast meeting with the label in East London so early start. Call you later? x'
'Looking forward to it x' I replied, before dragging myself out of bed to get showered and ready for a full day of classes.
I couldn't concentrate on any of my lessons, I just kept thinking about Noah. I wanted to text him so many times, but managed to stop myself. If he liked it 'old school' then I would try my best to keep it that way. After all, not many guys say they will call you later these days, or so I've heard. According to Charlotte and Kris, most guys nowadays will 'slide into your DMs', or something like that, before even thinking to pick up the phone and call.
The image of Noah as an old fashioned gent made me smile to myself, as the sound of Dan's voice talking about breathing exercises for singers faded into the background. I could just picture him, wearing his sharp designer suit with his hair pushed back and a Trilby hat in his hand. There was definitely something... gentlemanly... about the way he was.
I had never opened a door for myself when Noah was with me. He always walked around the side of the car to escort me out. And, on the rare occasions we'd been out together, he had never once let me pay for anything. As I sat there thinking about how his parents must have raised him to be a well-mannered man, the thought of him having no contact with them made my heart sink. If this really was The Ambition's big chance at fame and fortune, how must he feel not being able to share it with the people supposed to care about him the most?
As Dan called my name, I looked up blankly at him. Casting my eyes quickly over to Kris I silently pleaded for any kind of hint about what he had asked me, but got nothing except a wide-eyed look in return.
"Abi, are you with us today?" Dan asked, his voice firm.
"Uh, yeah, sorry Dan. I just get a bit dozy every now and then, I think it's still side effect. You know, from the accident..."
I felt awful for lying so shamelessly, but I just couldn't be bothered to face the full force of Dan's sass in front of the whole class. As my eyes caught Kris' once again, he sat pursing his lips at me with one eyebrow raised.
"Really?" he mouthed, silently.
I slowly shrugged in response, unable to stop my mouth from twitching into a smirk. Shaking his head and smiling to himself, Kris turned his attention back to his notes.
While I turned my attention back to my daydream of Noah - now in full character as some kind of dashing Nineteen-Fifties advertising executive - and waited impatiently for three o'clock to roll around so I could get out of there and see him again.