Chapter Thirty-Six
Noah
My eyes open and for a second I don’t know why I’m still in bed and not at school. Then I remember staying up all night trying to tape together Evie’s photo. Maybe it’s not too late to get to school?
Turning my head, I freeze when I notice someone lying beside me. A girl with dark hair sprinkled with paint.
Evie? What’s she doing here? And she’s sleeping in my bed?
Her head lies on my chest like it’s her pillow. Her eyes are shut and she’s wearing a smile on her face, like she’s dreaming about something wonderful.
I want to reach for my phone for the time, but I’m worried I’ll wake her. I still have no idea how she got here or why, but I’m not about to wake her from that dream.
My heart pounds as I watch her. I thought she was upset with me. But here she is lying on my chest like she wants to be close to me. Like we’re a real couple. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I caress her cheek with my finger, loving the way her soft, warm skin feels. I want to kiss that cheek, but I know she wouldn’t like it.
Her eyes slowly flutter open and she stares at me, her eyebrows furrowed, as if she has no idea where she is, either. But then it all must come back to her because her cheeks flush a little.
“Morning,” I say as I continue to stroke her cheek.
“Afternoon, actually,” she says. “I think it’s almost twelve.”
My eyes widen. I’ve never slept in this late, not even on the weekends. “You skipped school?”
She slowly sits up, brushing her fingers through her messy hair.
“Yeah. So did you. I, um…” Her gaze drops to the bed, then back to me.
“Chloe told me you stayed up all night trying to tape together the photo. Well, she didn’t exactly know what you were trying to tape together, but I figured that was it. ”
I nod, my gaze on the bed because I’m too ashamed to face her. “Yeah, I tried. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it. I failed you.”
She places her hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t fail me. Yes, I was upset that you shredded it, but I shouldn’t have treated you that way. You were just trying to help.”
“No. I have to stop being such a neat freak. Look what it’s done. Now you don’t have a gift for your dad.”
She bites her lip as she glances away.
“What?” I ask.
“That wasn’t the only copy of the photo. It was so important to my dad that he made many copies.”
I just stare at the spot before me, not believing her words. This has to be a joke, right?
“I didn’t know you were trying to tape it back together,” she says. “I would have stopped you. I’m sorry you stayed up all night. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer.”
I sigh. “I was so upset, I didn’t bother looking at my phone. I didn’t think you’d ever want to talk to me again.”
She takes my hands. “Noah, it means so much to me that you tried so hard to tape it back together. I don’t know many other guys who would do the same.”
I shrug. “I’m sure there are many.”
“I doubt it.” She squeezes my hands. “When Chloe told me why you were skipping school, I had to run over and thank you. And to apologize. That’s why I’m here. I…” She brushes her fingers through her hair. “It means a lot to me that you care.”
Shifting closer to her, I stare into her eyes. “Of course I care about you, Evie. You’re the most important person in my life, other than my family.”
She gapes at me with wide eyes.
I turn away from her. “But it doesn’t matter. You don’t…I mean…” I shake my head. “Forget it.”
She places her hand on my cheek, gently turning my face to hers.
“You’re the most important person in my life, too, Noah.
Other than my family, of course. I, um…I wanted to tell you something yesterday.
When I went to get the snacks? That was just an excuse because I was so nervous to tell you the truth about how I felt.
I ended things with Cam because I have feelings for you. ”
I just stare at her, my chest rising and falling heavily. She gazes back at me, her chest also heaving.
There’s a thick silence in the room.
I fling my arms around her, tugging her close to me.
“I’m so happy you told me, Evie,” I whisper in her ear, relief etched to every word.
“I have strong feelings for you. So strong I don’t know what to do with myself.
I want to be with you for real and not for a school project.
” I squeeze her close, but she pushes away from me. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “We can’t be together.”
“Why? You have feelings for me and I have feelings for you. My world lights up when you enter the room, when I think about you, when you’re just near me. Why are you pulling away?”
She throws her hands up. “Because we’d never work!
Look at what happened yesterday. You wanted to clean up my mess and you ruined something that meant so much to me.
You like everything neat and in order. I like messy.
You like everything to be calculated and precise.
I like spontaneity. How can we get along if we’re so different? ”
“Because we have feelings—”
“Feelings aren’t enough. This isn’t a fake marriage, Noah. This is real. And…” She groans and covers her face. “How do I even know if I like you? Maybe it’s the darn kiss that messed everything up.”
I’m quiet for a few seconds. “Something tells me you don’t paint portraits of just anyone because of a kiss.
It means something much deeper than that.
It’s not just a painting of some guy you kissed.
You delved deep into my soul like you truly saw me.
That’s something that goes way beyond a kiss between two hormonal teenagers. ”
Her hands drop and her eyes shoot to me. “What? You saw the…? You went through my stuff?”
I hold up my hands and tell her when and how I spotted that portrait. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what it meant. And then you went out with Cam and…” I puff up my cheeks. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
She tucks some hair behind her ear. “I painted it after our kiss. I didn’t know what I was doing—it was like something took control of me and I painted that.
I got so freaked out that I dumped it with other junk.
I guess…” She looks at me. “I guess my heart was trying to tell me something. And you’re right about me seeing you on a deeper level.
I had no idea why I did that, but I think I understand now.
I saw the real you, Noah. And like you said, I looked into your soul. ”
I take her hands. “Look, Evie, what we feel for each other is more than just teenage hormones. I want to spend every second with you. I miss you when we’re apart and can’t stop thinking about you. I want to tell you my thoughts and dreams. Evie, I want to share my life with you.”
She blinks at me, and I notice her eyes are a little glassy.
“I want that, too,” she whispers in a choked-up voice.
“And in a perfect world, maybe we could have that. But we’d just end up hurting each other.
I know it and you know it. You can’t stand messy me and I can’t stand neat freak you.
” She gestures to my to-do list hanging on the wall.
“I mean, I can’t stand that to-do list and you live by it every day. ”
I get to my feet, march over to the dry-erase board, snatch it off the wall, and toss it into the garbage.
Then I turn to Evie. “I don’t need that daily to-do list anymore.
And you know something?” I grab a few papers from my desk and scatter them around my room.
“I need to loosen up and not be so rigid all the time. It’s not the end of the world if my room is messy. Sometimes messy is good.”
She just stares at me. “W-what?”
I gather her in my arms. “You said yourself that I come alive when I’m singing on stage.
The real me comes out. All my life, I felt like I had to be perfect.
That everything needed to be neat and orderly.
But that’s not what’s important. You are, Evie.
And you like messy. And while I know it won’t be easy for me to let go of my obsession with order, I hope you’ll be patient with me. ”
Shaking her head, she slips out of my arms and paces my room. “You’re wrong. Having things clean and in order is very important. If I wouldn’t have been so messy and careless, you wouldn’t have shredded the photo. If I were neater and put everything in its place, nothing would get lost or damaged.”
I’m at her side again and interlock my fingers with hers. “Then let’s compromise. Meet each other halfway. I’ll try not to be such a neat freak and—”
“I’ll try to be more responsible and tidy.”
She smiles at me and I smile at her. Then her smile drops. “Do you really think we can do this, Noah? We’re still so different and we argue over the tiniest things…what if we hurt each other?”
I wrap my arms around her. “You’re my world and I swear I’ll never hurt you.” I trace her bottom lip with my finger. “You drive me up the wall, Evie Hastings,” I whisper in her ear. “But that’s what I love about you. You’ll always keep me on my toes and make my life interesting.”
She draws back, her mouth slightly wide. “You didn’t just say…”
I nod. “I love you. I know it’s too soon, but I think I’ve always loved you.
Or at least I cared about you. For years I thought you irritated me and I couldn’t stand being around you.
But now I realize we’ve always bickered because we felt something for each other, something we assumed was mutual dislike.
But it’s not dislike at all. You’re my soulmate, Evie. And I’ll love you the way you deserve.”
She brushes her fingers through my hair. “I think you might be right. We were determined to think of ourselves as enemies, and never even considered that it was so much deeper than that.” Her gaze drops to my lips. “I love you, too, Noah Barrington. And I’ll love you the way you deserve.”
I dip my head, she raises hers. It feels like forever until our lips touch, but once they do, we kiss like we’ve been waiting for this forever.
Which technically, we kind of have. I swing her in my arms, pulling her even closer and showing her how much she means to me.
She presses herself to me like she can’t get enough of me and kisses me right back, showing me just how important I am to her.
We fall on my bed, not letting go of each other, not even to catch our breaths.
When we finally pause for air, Evie smiles at me in such a sweet way that all I want to do is sprinkle her with all my love. “I’m so glad I married you,” she says.
I chuckle. “I’m the luckiest husband in the world.”
She pecks my lips. “And I’m the luckiest wife.”
“I’m luckier,” I say with a raised brow.
She frowns. “No, I’m luckier.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
I rub her nose with mine. “Is everything an argument with you?”
She laughs. “Better get used to it.”
I grin as I kiss her with as much love and passion as I can. “Oh, you bet I will.”