Exit Wounds | Noah Sebastian

T W E N T Y F I V E

Noah is quiet on the ride to my hotel. I don't know why he wanted to drive me back here. I didn't think we had anything else to say. Maybe he just wanted to torture me, riding in silence like this. He pulls up to my hotel and puts the car in park, but he still doesn't say anything. I gather my things and go to open the door.

Noah grabs my elbow, halting me, "can I come in?"

I didn't think that was a good idea at all, "sure."

Noah and I walk side by side to my room, he waits patiently while I unlock the door. My room is still clean and housekeeping had made my bed and given me new towels.

"I love you, Delaney," he says finally. I look at him for a long time, emotion burns the back of my throat as I fight to keep tears from spilling over.

"N-no Noah, you can't, and we don't and-," I stumble over my words.

"Damnit, Delaney," he growls in frustration. "I know you feel the same about me, you're just scared. I get it, ok? I'm scared too, but don't tell me we don't and we can't, because I would do anything for you." I stay quiet, mulling over his words, searching his eyes through the mist in mine. "Tell me what you want, Laney," he says softly, then adds, "I'll quit my job, I'll move back to Nashville." I'm shaking my head at him before he can finish. "Say something, whatever you want, it's yours Delaney."

"I- I," I stutter. I notice that he's said my full name several times and doesn't say my name in the way I don't really hate anymore. Noah's eyes are shining like mine, with tears we refuse to let drop. I want nothing more than to give him what he wants. Because there's nothing more I want than him, I've loved him for five years and that's why no one else ever measured up.

"Say it, Delaney," he does say my name with that note of disdain this time.

"Let me think!" I let out a frustrated growl.

"No!"

"No, if I thought you needed time to think about your feelings for me I'd give you time and space, but you know how you feel about me you are just searching for an excuse to push me away," Noah says forcefully, stalking over to me, crowding me.

"Stop that! Stop telling me how I feel!"

"I'm not telling you how you feel, I'm just not going to let you hide from your feelings!" We are yelling at each other now in my hotel room. "You are so stubborn."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"I am not."

"Yes, Delaney, you are."

I didn't have time to prepare myself as his lips crash down on mine, searing me from the inside out. His fingers weave through the strands of my hair, angling my face up to him and deepening the kiss. The earth shifts under my feet, and I dig my fingers into Noah's waist to keep me centered. I was drunk on him, the way he tasted bitter like the hoppy beer from dinner and the mint gum he had been chewing on the way over. Noah pulls away abruptly, searching my face. I hadn't felt his lips on mine in five years and it felt like coming home.

"I -, I," I'm really fucking scared.

"Say it, Laney," he demands, there's no tears in his eyes now, only love for me.

"I love you, Noah."

Noah's eyes flutter closed as he pulls me to his chest, his arms envelop me and he kisses the top on my head. My arms wrap securely around his waist, gripping him tightly. I can't breathe like this, but I don't care.

Silently, Noah pushes his hands up and under Nick's shirt. Fuck, I was still wearing Nick's shirt. His fingertips leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. He pulls back to look me in the eye while he pulls the shirt off.