CHAPTER 12
BELLA
My head is full of fog as I roll over in bed, my eyes squinting against the harsh morning light peeking through the gap in the curtains.
Blinking away the sleep in my eyes, I scan my surroundings. The room is unfamiliar to me yet somehow familiar.
I’ve never been in this room before but for some reason I’m comfortable here.
The walls are a deep shade of grey, making the room appear dark despite the light spilling in. There’s a white dresser against the wall beside the only closed door in the room that matches the nightstand beside the bed. The sheets are silk and softer than anything I’ve felt before.
On the other side of the nightstand there’s an armchair tucked into the corner, and I have to blink several times to clear the bleariness from my sleep-ridden eyes as they land on the large form curled into it.
Surely not.
“Noah?” His name comes out a hoarse whisper, and I clear my throat before opening my mouth to try again, snapping it closed again when he begins to shift.
“Hmm?” A low grumble comes from beneath the… fluffy blanket? Could be a rug, I’m not quite sure.
“Did you sleep there all night?” I ask, moving into a sitting position and tucking my tangled hair behind my ears.
One bare arm appears from beneath the blanket-rug before a mop of dark blonde waves and a sleepy grin follows. “Of course I did, Bells.”
“Why?” I’m hit with guilt as I take in the way his huge body is curled up on the tiny chair. There’s no way that was comfortable. In fact, I have absolutely no idea how he even managed to get himself into that position.
As if he heard my internal thought, Noah unfolds his long legs from the chair, stretching them out in front of him as he leans back and lets out a yawn.
“You said you didn’t want to be alone,” he says like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
My cheeks heat as the events of the night before begin to play out in my head.
Oh God.
I was an emotional wreck.
I practically collapsed in his arms and cried the moment I walked in the door.
He carried me to his bathroom and drew me a bath.
He sat on the floor outside the door.
I must seem like a total headcase.
“How’re you feeling?” Noah’s voice breaks through the cloud of self-loathing I was quickly suffocating under.
I sigh. “A little embarrassed, but better. Thank you for letting me stay here. And thank you for staying with me, you didn’t need to do that.”
Noah’s forehead creases. “First of all, you have nothing to be embarrassed about, do you understand me? Secondly, you do not need to thank me. You are always, have always been welcome here. And third, I’m well aware that I didn’t need to do that, but I wanted to.
I wouldn’t have been anywhere else, Bells. ”
My cheeks heat even farther, and I look down at my chipped nail polish as shame begins to eat away at me.
I don’t deserve his kindness.
I’ve done everything in my power to avoid him for months because it was easier to stay away than have to answer to Justin. I spent so much time being mad at him for having an opinion on my relationship when he was right all along.
From the very beginning all Noah has done is look out for me and what did I give him in return? The cold shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Noah,” I say, my bottom lip beginning to tremble as I look up at him.
This man is somebody that has been a permanent fixture in my life since I was a child. He’s the only person second to my brother who has ever protected me. The person that has known me in all stages of life and seen the dark side of my childhood.
I should have trusted his judgement, but instead I cast him aside.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he says, coming to sit on the end of the bed and I cross my legs to give him more room.
“I do. I should have listened to you from the beginning.”
Noah shakes his head, his hand reaching out to grasp mine.
I let him take it. “You never need to apologise for wanting to see the good in someone, Bella. It’s a part of who you are.
Did I know that you deserved better than that prick?
Sure. But I could have handled it differently.
And although it wasn’t my place to meddle with your love life, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.
I’m so fucking sorry it didn’t work out that way. ”
A laugh leaves me despite the tears rolling down my cheeks. “You told me so, right?”
“Nope,” Noah says, standing from the bed. “We’re not doing that.”
My eyes follow him as he moves across the bedroom to the window, pulling the curtains back to let the morning light in fully.
“Here’s what we are going to do.” He turns back to me. “I’m going to make breakfast and while you eat, I will grab your bag from the car so that you have some clean clothes to wear on our ride.”
I sit up straighter, my brows drawn. “Our ride?”
“Yup.” Noah nods once.
I shake my head. “I have to get to the café.” Picking up my phone, I check the time, my eyes widening when I see that the café should have opened an hour ago.
“Shit.” I throw the comforter off me. “I’m late.”
Jumping out of the bed, I rush around the room searching for… I don’t know what. Any clothes I managed to take with me are still in my car.
Noah steps in front of me, halting my frantic movement. “It’s handled, Bells.”
“What?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “It’s handled. I called Liv and she called Summer. She’s holding down the fort for the day.”
I blink up at him, completely bewildered. He called Liv, she called Summer and it’s handled.
“When did you do that?” I ask, not remembering seeing him make any calls.
Noah checks the time on his phone. “Around two hours ago.”
I do the calculations in my head, my eyes widening. “You called Liv at five-thirty in the morning?”
Noah waves me off. “She was awake. Don’t worry.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. “How do you know she was awake? She has a newborn.”
He matches my stance, the muscles in his arms flexing as he does. “Exactly.”
I open my mouth to argue back before snapping it shut again. He has a point there. And even if he didn’t, I know him well enough to know that I’d never win this argument.
When Noah realises I’ve got no comeback, he smirks and tousles my hair. The action is so juvenile, yet so Noah and I can’t help the laugh that leaves me as I roll my eyes and shrug him off.
“Fine. You win. Now, what’re you making for breakfast?”
***
I stare down at the plate of food on the breakfast bar in front of me and bite back a laugh. If Noah told me right now that the chicken these eggs came from had personally offended him, I’d believe him. And don’t even get me started on the almost-black bacon.
My eyes move between him and the charred food and back again. His face remains expressionless and completely clueless as he loads up his own plate and takes a seat opposite me.
Lips twitching, I watch as he loads up his fork with eggs and bacon before shovelling it into his mouth. His jaw works once, twice, before his top lip curls in disgust and wide eyes fly up to mine.
I can’t control the laughter that bursts out of me at the horrified expression on his face as he reaches for a napkin and hurriedly spits the food into it.
“Jesus fuck, that’s disgusting.” Noah rushes to the sink, turns on the faucet and catches the water with his mouth, rinsing and spitting repeatedly.
Between gasps, I ask, “So, like… did the food do something to piss you off, or…” I let the question hang in the air, my stomach aching from my laughing fit.
Noah throws a dirty look over his shoulder before quickly continuing to rinse and spit.
“Was it the chicken or the pig?” I ask, my head getting hotter the longer I try to control my hysterics.
Noah mumbles something incoherent as water spills from the side of his mouth and I lean over the counter. “What was that?”
Reaching for a kitchen towel, Noah wipes his face and spins around, his eyes narrowed in my direction. The redness in his cheeks only makes me laugh harder as he points a finger in my direction. “Stop laughing.”
“I-I’m sorry,” I stutter. “But how did you think that was going to taste good?”
Noah scratches at the light scruff dusting his jaw and shrugs. “Well, Bells. When you live alone, you don’t make breakfast all that often.”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “Oh, please. You probably have a different breakfast guest to cook for every morning.”
Noah’s face goes from offended from my teasing to smug in a second as he swaggers over to the island. “Oh, honey. When I have early morning guests, the last thing I’m doing is cooking for them.”
The switch between the friendly Noah I’ve known my whole life to flirty Noah I’ve only ever seen firsthand once before causes my head to spin and my throat to dry up.
I quickly push back in my chair and stand, flustered by his comment in a way that a woman less than twenty-four hours out of a relationship has no business being.
“You’re disgusting. I’m going to get dressed. ”
The chuckle that follows me out of the room lets me know that he knew exactly what he was doing in that moment.
He was getting payback.