❝He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.❞ -Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
There was a tension in the air that no one except Richard and I could explain. The others felt the shift in mood, but decided not to comment on it. The only reassurance I got was Noah's subtle squeezing of my hand, letting me know he's here for me.
"So, Diana, where are you going to school in the fall?" Mabel asks me.
"NYU," I reply. "I'm really excited for it."
"That's far away from LA," Richard notes passive aggressively. "How's long distance going to work?"
Mabel elbows her husband, not even trying to be subtle. "Not right now, mon amour."
But Richard ignored his wife's suggestion and all the adults begin to argue, except Chris who was eating his soup peacefully. Rachel was telling Richard to bud out of our relationship, Mabel was defending Richard while also telling him that Noah will be fine in LA and Richard's calling Rachel "naive" and "blind" for supporting mine and Noah's relationship. Noah jumps into the conversation at this point, arguing with his father.
Cam pipes up, "what are we talking about?"
Reina shoves Cam's little head, "be quiet. They're talking about Noah and Diana."
"What about them?" Cam asks, turning to Harley.
"They love each other," Harley whispers to him, but I could still hear them over the bickering of Rachel and Richard. "Like your dad and Mabel. He doesn't want them together, though."
"He's your dad, too," Reina corrects Harley lightly. Harley's eyes narrow slightly, but she doesn't say anything else. "Diana makes Noah happy so shouldn't it be okay that they love each other?"
Harley shakes her head at the little girl, "it's not that simple, sweetheart."
"This soup is delicious, kids," Chris says to Noah and I, ignoring the fights amongst the family. "You can really taste the spices."
Noah doesn't answer him as he was too busy yelling at his dad, "who gave you the right to suddenly monitor my every move? You've barely made any effort to be apart of my life! It's always me going to you! Do you even care about me? Or Harley?"
Harley takes the twins' hands, one in each of hers and ushers them upstairs, shutting the door to her bedroom behind them. Despite the current situation, it was nice to see this side of Harley.
"I love Diana, I really do," Mabel says as if I'm not sitting right in front of them. "But maybe your dad's right, Noah. You worked hard for that scholarship and it should be your priority."
"Don't talk to me like you know me," Noah snaps coldly.
"Noah, babe, it's okay," I murmur to him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Maybe I should just go..."
"No," Rachel insists. "Please stay, Diana. I don't want our first time meeting to be ruined by this conversation."
"A little late for that," Noah comments dryly.
Richard turns to me, "it's nothing against you personally, Diana. You seem like a great girl; you know how to look out for yourself, but I'm looking out for my son. You need to understand this."
"You have no right," Noah seethes. I had never seen him so angry before. "I can't believe I thought we could have a nice family dinner. I guess that's impossible with you as my dad."
For the first time tonight, Richard faltered. All the adults fell silent; even Chris stopped eating his soup.
"You don't mean that, Noah," I tell him softly, grabbing his arm so his attention turned to me. "Richard's just looking out for you. I don't agree with him at all, but I understand where he's coming from. Don't you?"
Noah's eyes still flared with a certain rage. "I'm going to take a walk."
Noah abruptly left the dinner table, leaving me alone with four adults and the most awkward silence hanging in the air. We hear the front door slam shut and we know Noah's left the house.
Without saying goodbye, I rush out the front door in search of Noah. I notice grey rain clouds above, and realize that it's going to start raining soon. All I had on was a pair of jeans and a thin top, so I had to find him fast. Just as I suspected, I feel the first drops of rain on my face, then proceed to see the water make the sidewalk beneath my feet turn a darker shade.
Luckily, he hadn't run off. He was walking slowly towards the park near his house, kicking every pebble along the sidewalk. I catch up to him quickly, reaching for his hand and tugging him towards me.
Noah turns to face me, and the sight of his bloodshot eyes and trailing tears left me heartbroken. The rain began to poor harder now, masking his tears. I caress his face and feel him lean into my touch, as though nothing else mattered. I pull him close and his arms instinctively wrap around me as the rain continued to fall from the sky.
We stayed there for a minute in silence, before he said, "I love you."
I pull away a little with a sad smile, "I love you, too."
At this point, we were drenched from the rainstorm, but it didn't even bother me. All that mattered was the boy standing in front of me.
"About what my father said..." Noah trails off hesitantly.
"What about it?"
"You don't...you're not going to break up with me, are you?" He asks sadly.
I shake my head profusely, shocked that he even thought that could be an option for me. "You are not getting rid of me that easily."
He smiles a little with relief, "I was just scared you actually believed what he was saying. You are a lot of things, love, but you are not a distraction."
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. Every kiss, every touch, every phrase from Noah felt like a gift. I was convinced that the world existed for the sole purpose of being seen by his eyes.
He pulls away from the kiss, looking a little dazed, "I have to admit, that was pretty distracting."
I laughed, the annoyance and sadness from dinner being washed away by the rain. I step back and let my head hang loose, my face pointing towards the sky. I spread my arms and embrace the feeling of rain kissing my body. I hear Noah laugh as he mirrors my stance, loving the feeling of rain on our skin. I would miss sharing moments like these with Noah.
"Nothing like rain on a warm day to make you forget all the bad shit in life," Noah says.
I couldn't agree more.
It was true that wet clothing was quite possibly the most uncomfortable thing in the world, but there was also something so nice about not caring that you were drenched in water from head to toe. It was also nice to have someone to share it all with.
"We have to get back, your parents are going to start worrying about us," I tell him, pulling him back to his house.
Noah intertwines our fingers, swinging our arms as we walk. "This was not how today was supposed to go."
"I know," I murmur. "At least my parents love you."
Noah cracks a smile at that as we walk through his front door, "I would hope so. I jumped out of your second floor window for you."
The adults were all still sitting at the dinner table, now void of dishes aside from some glasses of what I assume to be wine. All of their eyes snap up to us. Rachel looked relieved, Mabel looked stressed, Richard looked pissed and Chris looked like he wanted to get the Hell out of here.
I'm relating to Chris right now.
A/N: laying fully clothed in rain is the most therapeutic thing in the world. It's just *chef's kiss*
All while listening to a coming-of-age movie soundtrack? Unmatched energy.
Sorry for the late update but with everything happening, im sure life has been chaotic for everyone. hope everyone is doing well, staying happy and healthy both mentally and physically xx