Marked for Love

by Hannah West

  “Oh.” Sara glanced back inside. “I was asleep.”

  Noelle deflated slightly. Oh. It wasn’t going quite as well as she had imagined.

  “Why -” Sara hesitated, and then she straightened. “Why are you here?”

  Noelle frowned but tried to keep it off of her face. She didn’t want Sara to misinterpret it, or something else. “I - wanted to see you. I wanted to talk to you.”

  Sara blinked, and then she reached out, touched Noelle’s shoulder, as if assuring herself that Noelle was real. Noelle absently wondered if there had been a time when Sara had seen people that didn’t exist. “Oh.”

  “Can I come in? Or do you want everyone to see your pyjamas?” Noelle couldn’t help a smile.

  Sara let out a short laugh and stepped back, letting Noelle come in. “Only you get to see them,” she teased, although the same light wasn’t in her eyes.

  As soon as the door was closed Noelle wrapped her arms around Sara, drawing her close in a tight hug.

  Sara seemed surprised, but her arms wrapped around Noelle, hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry,” Sara whispered, her face buried in Noelle’s neck.

  Noelle slid a hand up and down Sara’s back, feeling the muscles relax for what was likely the first time in a while. She breathed in and out, syncing their breaths. It was - oddly peaceful, more so than she had intended it to be. “It’s okay.”

  Sara hugged her closer, as if it was even possible. “I won’t - I won’t lie to you again.”

  “I know.” Noelle didn’t know, not really, but she was pretty sure. “I have a confession.”

  Sara pulled back, startled. She looked at Noelle, wary.

  “I lied. My favorite band isn’t CLAMP.”

  Sara let out a short, surprised laugh and hugged Noelle again. She wasn’t bad to normal, not her confident, scheming self that she had been before, but after the events of the past week, Noelle couldn’t blame her. “I deserved that,” Sara said, stroking Noelle’s face with a hand.

  Noelle leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “A bit.” She smiled at Sara, her arms around her middle now, holding her close. “I have the name and number of someone who can help us get a restraining order against Clark without asking questions.”

  Sara raised her eyebrows, startled.

  “Your secret will be safe.” Noelle smiled. It was her gift to her, an apology and a reaching out at the same time.

  “Will the restraining order keep him from coming after you?” Sara asked, her voice low.

  “I don’t know,” Noelle admitted. “If not, Riley’s got my back.” She winked, and Sara frowned. Noelle leaned in, kissing her again. “We’ll work it out.”

  Sara let out a shaky breath. She didn’t let go of Noelle, didn’t want it to end. “Are you sure?” Sara asked.

  Noelle felt more than just sure, felt Sara was asking more than that. There were insinuations, questions built underneath that. Was she willing to sign up for everything that their relationship entailed?

  She leaned in, kissed Sara, slow and sweet. “Yes.”

  THE END

  Epilogue

  “That goes over there,” Noelle told Riley.

  Riley sighed and lugged the box into the main bedroom. “If you want it out of the living room, move it yourself.”

  Noelle ignored him, surveying their new two-bedroom condo with her hands on her hips. Sara was at work, scheduled to be done any moment. Noelle had promised to have all of the boxes in their new place before Sara got home. “I did, by asking you to do it.”

  “Your jokes aren’t any better than they were years ago,” Riley informed her.

  “Neither are yours.” She smiled sweetly at him. He rolled his eyes, coming out of the bedroom.

  “I think that’s the last of them,” he said.

  Sara’s friend, Ariel, came out of the other bedroom from where she had been sorting the furniture boxes. “Are you sure you two want to put together the furniture yourself?” She raised her eyebrows.

  “We’ll make do.” Noelle in all honesty had no idea how to put together furniture. She had bought a furnished apartment, after all. But now they were moving into their own condo, and it had been her idea to put together the furniture together, to make the entire place theirs.

  It had taken months to find the right place, get it painted, ready for them to move in. The restraining order had gone through, Clark was nowhere to be seen, and she and Sara were stronger than ever.

  “Oi, be careful!” Noelle spotted Riley fiddling with the cabinets. “There’s nothing in there. The pizza is on the table.”

  “The table on the other side of the room.” He shook his head as if he was the most put-upon person in the history of movers. Noelle shook her head, rolled her eyes.

  “Child.”

  “Young’un.”

  “Grandpa.”

  “You two fight like you’re siblings,” Ariel said, shaking her head as she ate the second to last piece of pizza.

  “Take the last one,” Noelle advised Riley. “And the box. I don’t want the box.”

  Riley shook his head, laughed. “I will.” He smiled at her, and for a moment all the scorn was gone and he was a proud friend instead. “Do you two need anything else?”

  Noelle thought for a moment. The boxes were there, the furniture had been ordered, and Sara was having some of hers delivered to help make their new place more friendly. “I don’t think so.” She smiled, giving each of them a hug - even Riley, who patted her on the back. “Thanks.”

  “Any time,” Riley said, with Ariel echoing the sentiment.

  Noelle waved them both off - making sure that Riley took the pizza box - and then glanced at the clock. Sara would be home from work any moment. She went into the kitchen, wiping down the counters. Their kitchen stuff she could unpack, get the dishes where they needed to go - they didn’t need furniture for that, at least.

  She heard the door open and she smiled, looking up to see Sara entering, her eyes wide as she looked around at all Noelle had gotten to on her day off. Then Sara saw her, and her face broke into a smile. Sara didn’t say anything, just came forward and pulled Noelle into a hug, nearly crushing her.

  Noelle hugged her back. It was their first full day living together as a couple. After everything they had gone through, all of what they had fought through, they had made it and they were together and now they had their own space. They had their own living room, where they could have dinner together, or watch a movie after a bad day and cuddle on the sofa. They no longer had to travel to visit each other.

  “How was work?” Noelle asked when Sara pulled back, kissing her gently.

  Sara smiled. “Hardest day ever.”

  Noelle raised her eyebrows, a smile on her lips. “Oh?”

  “It was hard to focus.” She leaned forward, pressed her lips against Noelle’s. “When I knew I would come home to us - to our home - and get to see everything you did.”

  Noelle hugged her again, kissed her, for some reason feeling like she wanted to cry. “We need food,” she said instead.

  Sara laughed. “Let me change - did you unpack the clothes?”

  “We didn’t get that far.” Noelle grinned, kissing her. “But I can help you find them.”

  Sara raised her eyebrows, playful. “Oh?”

  Noelle giggled. “It might take a while.”

  Sara kissed her, arms around Noelle’s neck, drawing her close. “Then we’d better get started.”

  Noelle wasn’t going to argue with that.

  Hi Reader!

  Thank you for reading Marked for Love! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I love drawing on tropes from fan fiction and the soulmate ‘alternate universe’ is one of my favorites.

  If you enjoyed it, please help me help other readers find this book by writing a review and posting it on Goodreads/Amazon!

  You can get in touch with me at hannahwestbooks@gmail.com!

  sp; Hannah West, Marked for Love