Querencia; a place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.
C H A P T E R S I X T Y - T H R E E
Sydney's POV
It had been a week since we got back from my parent's, and it had been absolute hell. All of us had classes back to back, and with our internships and assignment flying our days without us noticing, it was hard to stay sane. But the only thing I was holding onto was the fact that I had my date tomorrow with Noah. I smiled to myself as I arranged my clothes in my closet because Noah's obsession with cleanliness had rubbed off on me.
Right on the cue, my phone rang, and I saw his name on the screen. "Hey," I greeted, plopping down on my bed.
"Hey, I have some bad news," he said, and I heard him sigh softly.
I mirrored his action, letting out a sigh as well. "Why do I feel like this is about our date tomorrow?" I guessed because everything else had already gone wrong and that was the only one left.
"My boss wants me in tomorrow too," he said, sounding as upset as I felt.
"It's a Saturday!" I attempted to reason with him.
"I know, and that's exactly what I told him, and he said if you wanna work here, stop differentiating between weekdays and weekends. I tried to explain, but I couldn't argue much compared to the post he holds against mine," he explained. "I'm really sorry, Syd."
"But you just joined," I said, even though I knew that it made no sense at all.
"Which is exactly why I can't afford to spoil my impression," he tried to present his point, and the frown on my face disappeared when I understood what he was trying to say.
"Yeah, I understand. Don't worry about it, we'll just reschedule the date," I told him, waving it off seeing as I also had a lot of work to catch up with.
I heard him let out a light laugh. "Thank you so much; you're the best. Also, I'm gonna be home in a few minutes, are you coming to the apartment tonight?"
I smiled a little at his compliment. "No, I have way too many things to complete, and if I don't do them, I might actually end up failing," I told him, stifling out a laugh because, at this point, I wasn't being dramatic. There was actually work in that amount, and it sucked.
"You're right. Even I have so many video lectures I need to get through because I missed a lot of classes because of this job. Alright, I gotta go, take care, and I love you. So much," he said, and suddenly my stomach had turned into a butterfly garden.
"I love you more," I said, biting the side of my lower lip.
"That's not possible, baby," he replied and cut the call. I chuckled at his response, only if he knew.
I had left the door unlocked for Scarlett, but when it opened, I found myself face to face with Jay. "Hey," I said as he came up to me and gave me a swift hug.
"Hey, Scarlett is staying with her parents for this weekend, and I'm just dropping off some of her things she told me to," he said, answering the question that I was going to ask him and I nodded in response.
"So, all set for the date tomorrow?" Jay asked me, keeping the bag on Scarlett's bed.
My lips stretched into a small smile unwillingly. "It got cancelled. It turns out Noah's boss doesn't believe in weekends," I said, clicking my tongue.
"Wow, sounds like a complete hardass," he said, referring to Noah's boss and not bothering to have any filter. "Hey, how did meeting your parents go? I never got a chance to ask you!"
"It went fine, actually. My mom always liked Noah, my dad was a little iffy because of the whole overdose incident, but Noah definitely managed to impress him as well," I said, describing our two-day trip in a sentence.
"Nice. So does that mean we can add your parents to the list of people who can tolerate Noah Parker?" he joked and I laughed lightly. This was the only way that Jay and Noah knew to express their love for each other.
"Oh, Gavin was also visiting so we met him as well," I said, playing with the strand of my hair that seemed to be left out from my ponytail.
"So, you're telling me the first time Noah goes to meet your parents; your ex is there to steal his thunder? This is gold," Jay laughed, the sound of which spend across my room in a span of two seconds.
"Shut up," I told him, jokingly and threw the little softball I had in my hand at him. He caught it with minimum effort.
"So, how many punches did he throw?"
"In his mind, probably a hundred. In reality, none, surprisingly. Gavin managed to impress Noah," I told him, smirking a little.
Jay had a shocked expression on his face, but before he could reply, his phone rang, and I saw that it was Noah calling. The only reason Noah would call him when he was about to reach home would be because he probably forgot his keys.
"Keys," Jordan and I looked at each other and said in unison as he picked the call and put it on speaker.
"Hey bro," Jay greeted him.
"Hey, where the hell are you? I forgot my keys," Noah said and immediately after, Jay and I chuckled not so silently and shook our heads disbelievingly. "Was that Sydney I just heard laughing?"
"Yeah, I came here to drop off some of Scarlett's things. We were just talking about you, and your new best friend, Gavin," Jay teased him purposely, and I slapped his shoulder.
I could picture the exact expression that Noah would have on his face right now. "Oh, fuck off," came his reply, and Jay just laughed even more. "Okay, get here quick, I'm standing outside. Oh, and take your phone off speaker and pass it to Sydney," he said.
"Didn't you just talk to her?" Jay asked him.
"Yes and I did, and I wanna talk again and if you're done expressing your concern, can you just give her the phone?" he whined, sounding very tired. I took the phone as Jay extended his arm.
"Hey, everything okay?" I asked, concerned.
I heard him laugh a little. "Yes, I just forgot to tell you that I miss you so I thought I'd say it now. I miss you so much, precious," he admitted from the other side of the line, and my heart melted.
A smile instantly adorned my face as a knee jerk reaction. "You're so cute," I whispered.
"I know," he said, and I knew he had a smirk on his face. "Okay, now quick tell me you miss me too so I can go attend my video lectures peacefully."
"But I don't lie," I teased, and I could mentally picture him rolling his eyes at me. "I miss you just as much, Noah," I whispered, turning the other way when I saw Jay smirking at me.
"Yay, okay now tell my idiot best friend to hurry his way over here. I need food," he cried on the phone, and I giggled at how silly he could be. I cut the call and handed the phone back to Jay.
"He's exhausted and hungry; you should hurry," I said to Jay jokingly.
"Whoops, gotta go," he said, waving me on his way out.
I exhaled a breath of relief as I sat down on my bed, thinking about how much life had changed since college. About how I had expected myself to sit in the corner of a class, along with the possibility of having probably two friends and how the reality for the first time had managed to make itself better than my expectations.
Noah and I had rescheduled our date to Wednesday since it was the only day that he was free and the single day the date I was planning was possible. It was Monday, and I hadn't seen Noah rightly since the past three days. We had exchanged texts and calls, but that was pretty much it. I hadn't seen anyone lately because everyone had a very hectic schedule which unwillingly, everyone had accepted.
I could've just called him, but I wanted to see him because I was missing him—a lot. I walked towards the cafe, assuming Noah would be there since his classes had finished but as I was walking in, Matt was exiting the cafe and I couldn't see anyone else from my group in the cafe.
"Hey," Matt said as he walked up to me.
"Hiii, have you seen Noah?" I asked, hoping he would know.
Matt looked at me with an amused look on his face. "He just asked me the same question a few minutes ago, but Jay called him right after, telling him to come to the field," he informed, and I nodded.
We started walking towards the field together, catching up on what had been going on in the past week in both of our lives. "So, Noah and Gavin are best friends, huh?" he asked, smirking at me.
"Let me guess, Scarlett?" I said, assuming who might've told him.
"Who else can it be? So, how did it happen?" Matt asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Well, it--" I started to explain but stopped as I saw running towards us and a smile instantly found residence on my face.
"Hey," Noah whispered, looking at me, his breath huffing lightly.
"Oh, hey, Noah. We were just talking about you and your new boyfriend; Gavin," Matt said, teasingly and Noah gave me a pointed look. I zipped my mouth with my hand, indicating that I hadn't said anything about this to Matt. "Very handsome, good choice," Matt continued.
In a moment, Noah's somewhat annoyed expression transformed into a devilish smirk which made him look even hotter. He bumped his fist on Matt's shoulder jokingly. "That's so strange because that's exactly what I said to Will when he was checking out a guy from the team in the locker room," Noah smiled at him innocently.
I raised my eyebrows, very impressed with his response. Matt, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled about it. "Very funny," he replied, sarcastically and Noah just smirked at him.
"I try," Noah retorted, feigning sweetness in his tone.
"Wait, Will's in the team?" I asked, not recalling knowing of this.
"He's a substitute," both the boys replied in unison.
"I'm gonna go talk to Ally," Matt suddenly said, as he saw her standing not too far from us and talking to Chase and Jay.
"Wait, why are you in your uniform? I thought you didn't have practice today," I asked, my smile growing fainter every second.
Noah scratched the back of his neck and looked at me nervously. "Coach scheduled practice sessions for all the days until finals," he said, maintaining the level os his voice to a bare minimum. So, that effectively cancelled the date, once again.
My shoulders slumped on hearing his statement, and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. I pulled my hand from his grip. "Great, that's exactly what I needed to hear," I commented sarcastically, raising my eyebrows and looking away from him.
"Syd, I'm sorry. I completely neglected the possibility of this happening even though I should have seen it coming," he tried to apologize, taking my hand in his and I scoffed at him.
"Yeah, you should have," I said, letting the blame fall on him. My mood already wasn't in the best state today, and then this happened. Thank you, life.
"Parker, on the field, right now!" Noah's coach roared from the field. His grumpy voice reaching and almost destroying my eardrums. I looked at him with a scowl, but his attention was focused on Noah's face who was looking at me.
I pulled my hand from him once again. "Go, your wife needs you," I jeered, a frown accompanying my words.
"Syd, just be there at my apartment tonight, please," he requested, ignoring his Coach's orders.
"I have to study," I sighed, my mood was terrible, and I didn't want to fight with him at all.
"PARKER, I said, on the field!" his coach screamed again, and I rolled my eyes, mentally hitting him with the football that he was holding.
"Please, I need you. Please, just be there, okay?" I nodded because I didn't have it in me to refuse. He handed me his keys.
I paid him a small smile. "I'll be there, don't worry. Now go, before he comes here and bites my head off," I said, referring to the coach. Noah cracked a smile at my contempt and kissed my cheek before he ran towards the field.
I headed to his apartment after studying for about an hour and a half at my dorm since his practice is usually for two hours. I unlocked the door and hung the keys. I walked into his room, and I very hopelessly wanted to wear something that smelled of him so I opened his closet, knowing that he wouldn't mind. When I was trying to get his hoodie from the hanger, something on his closet door caught my attention. There was a picture of his mom that had always been there but what amazed me was that there were two new pictures below it, which were printed and stuck with scotch tape.
The first one was of me; it was on the beach that we always go to. I had his denim jacket on, and only one side of my face was visible since I was trying to remove a strand of my hair from my face while watching the sunset. The sky was a beautiful mix of twilight shades. I hadn't even realized when he had taken that picture.
The second one was of both of us. We had just woken up in the morning, and Noah had both of his arms around me, his head resting near the nape of my neck, courtesy of the spooning position we were caught up in. We both had lazy smiles on our faces, and a few strands Noah's hair loosely fell onto his forehead. I distinctly remember taking that picture because right after Noah had taken it to himself to explain the benefits of morning sex to me for fifteen whole minutes.
I smiled to myself like a complete fool, falling more in love with this absolutely beautiful boy. And I just felt more guilty about being rude to him on the field. I was glad he convinced me to come over. I quickly changed into his hoodie and some of my pyjama shorts, knowing full well that he would make me spend the night here itself.
Just as I sat down on the couch, I heard someone shuffling with the doorknob, and Noah walked in. He was wearing a simple black Nike t-shirt with some shorts, and his hair was still wet, from the shower he must've taken after practice. He kept his bag down and walked towards me. God, he smelled so good. How the hell was my mind supposed to concentrate on anything at all if this boy smelled this good all the frickin' time!
"I'm so sorry, Sydney," he said, placing his hands on my thighs and my skin tingled on contact with his. "I swear, I didn't know this was gonna happen."
"I'm sorry, too. For talking to you like a complete bitch on the field," I told him, and he chuckled at me. I stood up to drink water, and he turned around as I stood near the kitchen counter.
"That's not what you call being bitchy. You should see Scarlett after you cancel plans with her, that's real scary," he snorted lightly, tilting his head sideways.
I raised my eyebrows at him. "Hey, careful, that's my roommate you're talking about," I reminded him, and he raised his hands in surrender.
"Can you get me a bottle of water as well?" he requested, letting his head fall back on the couch and closing his eyes as he sighed exasperatedly.
I passed him a bottle of water. "Jay made some pasta, and I'm guessing you haven't eaten anything all day, so I'm gonna heat this for you," I said, walking back to the kitchen. It was so surprising how Jay hated cooking, but from the past two months, he'd developed a habit of cooking most of the times. "Wow, I'd make a perfect wife," I complimented myself jokingly.
"No, you'd make a perfect Noah Parker's wife," he winked at me as he improvised my statement and I knew that my cheeks had reddened because I hadn't expected him to hear it.
"Why are you so far? Can you please come here?" Noah asked, stretching his arms out, his voice evidently bringing out how tired he really was.
"Just a minute, let this get heated," I said, signally towards the pasta.
"Hey, babe, this might come as a shock to you, but after a long, hard day, pasta isn't what I'm yearning for when I finally get back home. What I want is my girl, in my arms. So, before I carry you from the kitchen myself, can you get your cute little ass back here?" he said, smiling up at me kindly. I switched off the stove because he wasn't the least bit interested in food.
My dumb heart, obviously, couldn't stop all of its somersaults the moment Noah said those words. I bit my lower lip sheepishly, and he pulled me to him as I neared the couch and engulfed me in his arms. God, I didn't want anything else but this for the rest of my life.
"Tell me what's bothering you," he asked me directly, placing a soft kiss on my temple.
"Nothing," I said, pathetically lying.
"See, you can lie but you and I both know that I'll make you say it somehow, so you can spend time in making excuses, but it's all gonna be a waste," he said, shrugging his shoulders lightly.
"It's very silly."
The room was filled with the light sound of his laughter. "I think that ship has sailed long ago, baby. You don't have to worry about silly with me."
"Chris called," I said, looking down and not meeting his gaze. "His application at Cambridge went through, and he has an interview. And I know Chris, he'll barely say one sentence, and they'll be impressed. He'll get in very easily, Chris is good with people."
"You are, too. But that's amazing, right?"
"It is but he joins next semester and he's gonna be halfway across the world, you know?" I stated, sheepishly. "I mean, I barely get to see him once in eight months when he lives in another state. I might not see him for like two years or something if he goes to the UK," I complained, frowning.
"That might be true. But you know that Cambridge is gonna be perfect for him, he deserves it. Besides, you never know, just because he's far, he might miss his family more and visit more often, like the whole distance brings you closer hypothesis," Noah suggested, and I looked at him, amused for how creative he was.
"He might visit and realize I'm just some dumb American who doesn't know all the fancy British slang and he'll keep saying bollocks instead of shit," I said, making no sense at all and Noah just laughed at me.
"I think Chris is the kind of person who'll think Cambridge students are dumb and he'll make sure they learn all the American slang," Noah disagreed, but in the best way and I chuckled faintly. "Besides, he's spent seventeen years with your annoying ass, I don't think that's the kind of thing you could forget even if you moved planets," he said, clearly not wasting any opportunity to tease me.
"Gee, Noah, that's so kind of you," I retorted sarcastically, and he bowed his head a little and ran his hand through his hair. Tiny droplets of water splashed at me as he did that. "Why don't you go find someone less annoying to go on a date with, then? Abigail, perhaps?" I put on a fake smile, not letting go of the chance either.
"Okay, that's not even a little bit funny," he gave me a pointed look at the mention of her name, and I giggled.
"I beg to differ."
He smirked as I said that. "Oh, you're gonna be begging for a lot more when we're done with the date."
"You sound very sure of yourself. Who said the offer of the date still stands?"
"No one needs to say it. Noah Parker's irresistible to the world."
"With the exception of Sydney Lewis," I smirked at him. " Have you ever been on a proper date, though?"
His lips moved to one side, a scowl taking residence on his face. "No, have you?"
"Yes, loads of times," I said, very absent-mindedly.
Noah looked at me, confused for a second and then annoyance took over that beautiful face of his. "That bitch, Gavin, of course. I'm gonna make sure my one date is better than all of his!"
That's what this stupid boy of mine didn't realize. He wouldn't have to make sure because my date with him would be ten times better than any other because it would be with him. I loved him so much; I couldn't care less about the rest.
"Why do you always compare yourself to him?"
"Because," he paused, placed a swift kiss on my nose and continued. "Noah Parker is the guy who is best, at everything," he was so comfortable talking about himself in the third person, it was entertaining.
"Really? The Noah Parker I know is also the guy who gushes at the TV every time Blair and Chuck kiss. He's also the guy who's had a crush on Bambi since he was seven and still cries every time he watches the movie," I smiled at him smugly, and he gave me a challenging look.
"That mouth of yours is running exceptionally well today," he responded, raising his eyebrows at me.
I smiled at him, complacently. "It's always this efficient, thank you very much," I declared.
"Really? Then it's a shame if we don't put it to better use," Noah whispered huskily, bringing his face dangerously closer to mine. His minty breath fanned my face, and his lips curled up into a triumphant smile. Before I had a moment to comprehend what was happening, he gently put his index finger under my chin, closing the gaps between our lips.
His fingers rested on my neck, and his thumb caressed my cheek as he kissed me. My fingers tugged on his hair as his tongue entered my mouth, revealing its dominance without wasting a second. A myriad of sparks flew around in my body and swirls of unadulterated glee rose up from my stomach so severely, it clouded my mind, making me unable to think about anything else but how good he was at kissing.
Our makeup session was cut short as the door opened, I quickly got up as I was on top of Noah and closed my eyes, groaning about whoever was at the door.
"Wow, something's going on here," Scarlett said smugly as she entered with Jay. I loved her to death, but god, she had the worst timing in the world.
"Which will clearly stop if you don't get out of here," Noah responded, gritting his teeth. He seemed just as annoyed as me, even more so.
"Then, good, because you've stolen all my roommate's time," Scarlett retorted, and Noah rolled his eyes at her, not at all happy about the situation. I had only seen Scarlett for about five minutes a day or so in the past few days.
Noah ran both of his hands through his hair, pushing it backwards. "Scar, I haven't seen her properly in more than a week, can you please do this sometime else?"
"Well, I haven't either, so just deal with it."
"Jordan, I think your girl is in love with mine," Noah said, frowning at Scarlett and I slapped his arm. She seemed the least unbothered about this.
Jay chuckled at Noah's comment. "The whole world is in love with her," he said, improvising Noah's statement and I just shook my head at all three of them. "Besides, Scarlett's right, this is sort of important."
"What's going on, guys?" I asked, as Noah and I sat on the couch, and the two of them stood across us.
"Guys, we have something we need to tell you," Scarlett said, inhaling a deep breath as she looked at excitedly.
Author's Note: (PLEASE READ)
Hey guys! I hope everyone's safe and alright! Here's another chapter, please don't forget to comment your thoughts! I didn't intend for it to be this long, but the more, the better, yeah?
Also, we only have THREE more chapters to go! Wow, I'm really emo right now :(
So, guys, if this book had made you smile a little bit, can you please go vote for it in the Fiction Awards 2020?
Best Romantic Arc- Noah and Sydney ( then, Book name and tag the author)
Best Protagonist- Noah Parker (then, Book name and tag the author)
You can only vote till 3RD MAY, after that, nothing counts! You just have to mention it as an inline comment! It'll take you like 10 seconds, and it would mean the world to me!
Keep yourself safe and hold onto your sanitizers! See you at the next one! ( The gif is Me @ quarantine)
love, faye x