AFTER I HAD SHOWERED, I found a t-shirt on the bed. It was a blue colored t-shirt with a collared neckline. Judging by the size and the smell of the t-shirt, it was Noah's.
I quickly threw it on and breathed in the familiar smell. It faintly felt like it was Noah who was wrapping me in his arms and I felt safe inside the t-shirt. There was no way in hell that I would be returning this piece of clothing. It was to stay with me.
When I emerged from the room, I found Noah humming to the song as he used an electric blender to whip the cream. I sauntered over to him and peeked over his shoulder to see the content of the bowl. The cream looked nearly done and the bread's smell was wafting in the kitchen.
Despite thinking that carrot cake wouldn't be as good as any other cake, the smell was working its way to prove me wrong. It smelled delicious and my mouth watered.
"I might like the cake, after all," I said jokingly because I knew I would definitely like the cake.
"Remove the might. You are absolutely going to like the cake," he said, echoing my thoughts.
The timer on the oven went off and I grabbed the glove. After pulling it on my hand, I took out the container from the over. Poking it with a knife, I checked if the batter had completely been baked or not. The knife went in and out smoothly and I set the container aside to let it cool down.
Noah was still humming the song as he finished the cream. He covered the bowl and crossed his arms. His gaze finally drifted to me and for a millisecond, I had the pleasure to see how his eyes widened when he realized I was wearing his shirt. I wouldn't say that the t-shirt looked good on me but it definitely did.
"Had fun?" I echoed his words, ones that he had said to me a while ago.
"Mhmm," he hummed. He grinned at me lazily, his head tilted slightly.
Despite the laugh that spilled past my lips and the confident stance I was practicing, my cheeks still tinted red.
The song on the speaker switched to a softer one and Noah smiled. His smile was the same as the one that had been on his face when he talked about his mom--fond and nostalgic.
"It's the song that I learned salsa on," he mentioned as he looked over at me, seeing me a little confused. "I have quite fond memories with this song."
"You learned salsa?" I repeated dumbly. I wasn't sure why it came as a surprise because I knew people were more than they met the eye. Nobody would look at me and think that this girl learned karate for over a year. But even then, knowing that I couldn't imagine Noah being someone who learned salsa.
"I did," he affirmed. "I quite miss it, sometimes."
"Well," I drawled, knowing I was about to regret what I said. "Let's dance, shall we?"
"Really?" he asked, not seeming to believe me. It astounded me that he thought of me as someone who couldn’t be gracefule and docile--although, he was right.
I rolled my eyes but extended my hand, anyways. I bowed a little as I did so. "Mr. Scott, would you give me, Miss. West, the honor to have a dance with you?"
"You are pulling my leg, aren't you?"
"No, but if you say no, I am definitely punching you in the face," I said jokingly.
"Shouldn't I be asking you to dance?"
"Don't be a sexist, Scott."
"Wait, shit," he stammered as his eye widened. "That's not what I meant. I am so sorry," he apologized and I smacked his arm.
"I know. Now, accept the fucking proposal, will you?" I said exasperatedly.
"Jeez, okay," he said, sounding a little wary and gave me his hand.
"Lead the way or dance or whatever."
It was no surprise that I regretted asking him to dance. I didn't have one left feet but many. I stepped on his toes twice in the span of ten seconds, which, I assumed had to be a record. Noah didn't scold me but his wince made me internally cringe. While he was a perfect gentleman who kept his hand on my waist and entwined the other one with mine, I slid my arm around his neck.
The skin to skin contact sent electricity coursing through me and the smile on my face wavered.
He twirled me and glided us smoothly. While his face was painted with a smile, I was internally dying from how horrible I was at the whole ordeal.
"Damn, I am really bad at this," I mumbled, controlling the urge to face-palm myself.
He laughed. His laugh was rough but it sounded beautiful to me regardless of that. "Title of your sex tape," he teased.
"Is that Brooklyn nine-nine reference?" I asked, my lips lifting up in a smile. The tension in my shoulders eased as he joked and I didn’t feel awkward anymore.
"Noine-noine," he cheered and I felt my heart beat a little louder.
"Noine-noine," I repeated and we both laughed.
By now, we had fallen into a more synced pattern. We were gently swaying to the music and I rested my head on his shoulder. My heart was beating rapidly but I felt at peace even though my body was anything but.
It felt nice to feel everything around me disappear, to just feel Noah and the music. To be in the moment and not to think about everything else.
"I got accepted into UCLA," I murmured, not sure if he had heard me because my voice was barely a whisper.
"What?" he asked as he pulled away to keep met at an arm's length. His voice was laced with amazement as he stared at me.
I wondered, for a second, if things between us got serious, what would it mean if I went into UCLA and he pursued his dreams in a university far away from where I was? But I didn't dwell on the thoughts because we were supposed to be having fun.
"Yeah, I got the email the day before yesterday," I told him and he squealed, a little less high pitched than Jay's squeal had been.
"That's amazing. This cake is going to be my treat. You are free to sit down and just watch Aliyah," he said and his voice bubbled with excitement. My heart felt a little more full as I heard the happiness lacing his voice.
"I do want to learn, though," I said as I made a move to the slab but Noah blocked my way with his hand.
"Nah, huh, you get a treat today," he mused as he gestured me to sit at the dining table.
I sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to let me do it. So I sat down on the chair and took my time to admire the house. There was a staircase right next to the dining table that led to the second floor. The railings were made of glass and I ran a finger along them because I had nothing better to do. In front of me, the hall stretched into a living room, partially curtailed by the wooden and glass panes.
But I soon got bored of admiring the house. As pretty as it was, it wasn't pretty the same wy Noah was.
Before my eyes drifted to him, I saw the mess we had made on the floor. While we had done the baking pretty neatly, we had definitely made a hell of a mess in the fight we had.
"Shouldn't you wear an apron?" I mused as I noticed the wet spots on his t-shirt that were, obviously, due to the fight we had today.
"We both should have worn it in the beginning but we didn't. Besides, I wouldn't have gotten to see you in my t-shirt if we had worn aprons, would I?" he teased and I chuckled. Getting to wear his t-shirt was definitely a plus of getting drenched.
"Mhmm, you are right about that," I agreed. He brushed his hair out of his eye and I was overcome with the need to do it for him. Since I had nothing to do, my imagination ran wild and all I could think about was sliding my fingers through his hair and tugging on his roots.
"The cake will be ready in a few," he told me, snapping me out of my thoughts and I flushed red as if he had read my mind.
My phone started buzzing in my pocket and I pulled it out to see it was Eve calling. I swiped to answer and held the phone to my ear. My eyebrows were furrowed in confusion because Eve never called. Unless she wanted something or she had something for me.
They were never good.
"Hello, darling sister," Eve drawled on the other end and her voice was sweet. Very sweet that did nothing to quell my suspicion.
"Hi, Evie," I said, using her nickname to annoy her.
"Why haven't you been replying to my messages?" she questioned.
"Sorry, I was a little busy," I said but I didn't mean it. She could have waited but she was annoying me now.
"Other than the bakery, you have no life, what are you even doing?"
"Ouch," I said, wincing internally. "Eve, if you want something., you are not going to get it this way. You know that, right?"
"Who said I wanted something from you?" she asked and I could imagine her leaning back in the couch, a smug smile on her face from the fact that she had outdone her sister. Eve loved doing it.
"Eve," I said slowly and carefully. But my eyes drifted to the figure who was placing two plates, each containing a slice of cake, on the table. I looked up to see Noah dropping two forks from his mouth and I pulled a face of disgust. "Noah, that's gross. Couldn't you have told me to get the forks? Or maybe made another round to the kitchen, which is literally one meter away from here, to get them?"
"I have already waited long enough to devour this delicacy. No more waiting. Besides, you were on the phone, still are," he said, reminding me that my sister was on the line.
"What did you do, Eve?"
"See for yourself, sister. Bye, bye," she said and before I could ask any more questions or chastise her, she hung up on me. All I could do was check her messages. She had sent me an image that I downloaded quickly.
My jaw fell open when I saw the image. My sister was going to get killed tonight.
"Is that you?" Noah, who had been hovering over me, asked as he squinted his eyes to get a look at my picture. A half-naked picture of me. Baby me. A picture that Eve had put upon her Instagram story. At least she had the decency to put it up for close friends.
She would have died a very painful death if she had put it up for everyone to see. Not that she wasn't going to die tonight any less painfully.
I was too angry at Eve to feel embarrassed by the fact that Noah was amused after seeing a picture of semi-naked me in a washing machine. Mom thought it would be cute if she put me inside a semi-automatic machine and clicked a picture. She had a knack for clicking pictures everywhere.
"You look adorable," Noah cooed, amusement dripping from his words and I looked at the text that Eve had posted on the story. 'She looks adorable (not). Don't you @ali.23?'
Eve was definitely going to regret this. Trying to bottle down my anger for later so that I could blow it up on Eve, I texted her a message.
you are not going to enjoy the aftermath, eve.
I was tempted to write a fuck you to her but I refrained because there was always a chance that she could show the message to Mom, who would turn against me in a second. I couldn't let the two team up or I would be fighting a losing battle.
At that instant, Jay decided it would be a good time to text me, hey, how's the date going? ;)
and lovely picture, sweetheart.
I hadn't realized but Noah had placed a hand on my shoulder as he leaned down to look closely at the picture. The realization that he had definitely read Jay's message and that he was so close to me that his breath blew softly on my ear made me swallow.
"Uhm," I stammered as I shifted a little in my seat. "Thanks, I guess?" I mumbled unsure whether to take his previous comment as an insult or a comment.
He laughed, moving away from me and I felt relieved that he didn't notice just how flushed I was.
He sat down in the chair beside me and handed me the fork--which I wiped on his t-shirt--as he dug into his slice of cake. "These have waited too much already. Now prepare your taste buds to have a foodgasm, Aliyah."
I didn't eat right away. I took my time to admire the perfect icing over the cake before I cut into it. My fork passed smoothly over it and I stabbed the piece with my fork. The cake was quick to melt in my mouth and I let out a soft moan that made Noah's eyes light up. He watched eagerly as he waited for me to say that the cake was amazing. I could see the I told you so hanging on the tip of his tongue.
"It's amazing," I said once I swallowed. The bread was soft and the icing was quite tasty. Without a doubt, I knew I needed to bake this again. And again.
"See?" he said enthusiastically as he turned to his plate again.
We both ate in silence.
"You have a little icing over your nose," I said once he wiped his lips with the napkin. I pointed to the part where he had the cream. He tried to follow my direction but missed it.
"Let me take care of that," I murmured as I eased away the napkin from his hand gently. I leaned over and wiped away the cream.
"There you go," I whispered.
But neither of us moved away from each other.
———
lmao they still didn't kiss. too long without a kiss? idk. but thanks for bearing with me hahaha.
i hope you stick around for the rest seven chapters!!! can't believe my first original fiction is going to be complete *sobs*
love x