by Holly Bourne
I turned on the mute button. I’d heard enough. I flipped open my slightly soggy mobile and, sure enough, I had eight missed calls from my mother and two voicemail messages. I jabbed in my home number.
Mum answered on the first ring.
“Poppy?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
“Oh, thank goodness. We were getting worried. I’ve rung about ten million times. Why didn’t you pick up? Where are you? Are you safe?”
I sighed and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry I didn’t pick up, my phone was on silent. I’m okay though, I promise. I’m at a friend’s house. I think I’m going to have to stay here until the rain stops.”
Mum went quiet on the other end. “Which friend’s house?”
I swallowed. “Noah’s.”
More silence.
“I see.”
“We met Lizzie and the others for a drink and then the rain started. We came here because it’s closer.”
More silence.
“Okay then. Well, try to get home tonight. I suppose if it stays really bad you’re going to have to stay over.”
That shocked me. The thought hadn’t occurred to me.
“Are you sure you’re okay with that, Mum?”
“You’re seventeen now, Poppy. You’re sensible. I trust you. Try and get home, but I promise I won’t freak out if you can’t get here. But please keep your phone nearby and stay in touch.”
“Okay.”
“Speak to you soon.”
I hung up.
Staying the night with Noah. Ha. Just after we’d decided to slow things down. There was another huge crack as more thunder announced itself. At this rate I was going to have to stay two nights.
The shower was still running, so I decided to ring and check my friends were alright.
I rang Lizzie first, of course.
“The world is ending,” she said, without bothering to say hello.
“No it’s not. It’s just a storm. Did you get home okay?”
“Only just. I think I’m still drunk.”
“What happened?”
“Well, Ruth dragged Will off soon after you left, so we stayed for another round with Johnno’s mates. Then we looked at the sky and it looked like Armageddon, so we all ran home. I don’t really remember much more. That game Noah taught us is lethal! Anyway, are you alright?”
I looked at the TV. Jennie was now standing in water up to the top of her wellies.
“I’m alright. Got pretty wet but I’m at Noah’s now. I don’t have a clue how I’m going to get home.”
Lizzie squealed. “You’re going to have to stay the night.”
I felt a bit nervous. “Perhaps.”
Another squeal. I held the phone away from my ear. “Calm down, Lizzie. The rain might stop.”
“Yeah, right. Have you not looked out the window?”
“It might,” I insisted.
“Well, make sure you tell me everything.”
“Of course.”
“I’m going to go watch the news. I bet you college is cancelled tomorrow.”
“You reckon?”
“Yeah. It’s probably underwater by now.”
“It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?”
“Not for me. I live on top of a hill. Gravity is keeping me safe from harm.”
“Well, lucky you.”
We spoke for a few more minutes. Lizzie said she’d heard from Amanda and that she was fine. And Amanda had apparently spoken to Ruth and she was fine too.
There was nobody left to call.
I lay back on the sofa, my legs over the armrest. I closed my eyes and listened to the rain hitting the roof. Hard. I was scared. I didn’t know if I was ready to sleep next to Noah yet. I didn’t quite trust myself. My heart started thumping and I had to squeeze my eyes shut and do my breathing exercises until it calmed down again.
I was interrupted by Noah emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of steam.
“All clean,” he announced.
I sat up but almost had to lie down again. He was still wet and wearing only a towel. It was wrapped low around his body, exposing what can only be described as a truly beautiful chest. My heart started thumping faster.
“What?” Noah asked, as I sat there staring. I didn’t trust myself to go anywhere near him. He looked too fantastic.
“Umm,” I said, blushing. Again. “Let’s just say that if you’re serious about this ‘taking things slowly’ thing, then maybe you shouldn’t walk out of the shower looking like that.” I threw my arm in his direction.
Noah grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
He twirled. “Am I that irresistible?”
“Shut up.”
He walked towards me, still dripping.
I covered my eyes with my hands. “I can’t see you.”
Then he jumped on me and pinned me to the sofa.
Having exposure to that much of his skin was like giving an alcoholic a massive beer. Noah, now on top of me, kissed me gently on the mouth and my mouth responded. Without meaning to, I found myself stroking his wet chest. More thunder erupted above us and his towel dropped lower. He stopped kissing me.
“So this taking-it-slow thing…”
“We’re not doing very well, are we?”
“Not really.”
“Well, I was doing fine until you came out deliberately all wet and naked…” He opened his mouth to protest. “Oh, come on. You did it on purpose.”
His open mouth turned into another heart-stopping mischievous grin. “Okay. Maybe.”
I sat myself up and tried not to look at his rippling torso. “I didn’t take you for the six-pack type. Aren’t you supposed to be malnourished-looking when you’re in a band?”
Noah shrugged. “I have a lot of spare time.”
“It shows.”
He grinned again.
“Go and put it away now.”
And Noah padded off to the bedroom.
He emerged fully clothed and made more cups of tea. As the kettle was boiling, he switched the heating on and I felt it drift up from the floor.
“You actually have underfloor heating?”
He nodded.
“Your parents really are loaded, aren’t they?”
“Yep.”
I took a cup of tea from him. We sat drinking for a moment in silent contentment.
“I still can’t believe you have underfloor heating.”
“I would rather have parents that cared about me. Like yours.”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
I shifted towards him so I could rest my head on his shoulder. He, in turn, rested his head on my head and we stared at the muted television screen.
“You might have to stay over,” he said, watching Jennie wade through Middletown High Street.
“I know. I rang Mum and she said I could.”
He looked surprised. “Really?”
I nodded. Noah raised an eyebrow.
“I think she would rather risk me losing my innocence than my life.”
“Makes sense.”
“There will be no losing of innocence though, will there?”
His smirk faded and he looked serious. “I suppose not. No.” He exhaled heavily. “Damn though. It’s going to be hard to behave myself if you’re lying in bed next to me.”
“Maybe I should sleep on the sofa?”
“Ahh, man. Really?” He was stroking my legs, his hand getting a little higher each time.
“Well, if you’re not going to behave yourself then I’m going to have to.”
Noah pulled my chin towards him and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. “Well, if exerting some self-control is the price I have to pay to ensure I get to wake up next to you tomorrow morning, then I guess I can deal with it.”
I kissed him back.
“You mean it?”
“I mean it.”
We spent the rest of the evening cuddled up, watching the news updates. I had never felt so relaxed around a guy
before. Everything seemed comfortable and natural. Our bodies fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw and conversation flowed without awkwardness. Noah told me a bit about his childhood. About how all he had ever wanted to do was play the guitar. His dad had helped teach him, and they would sit together in the garage for hours, strumming along with each other. Once, his father told him how he’d wanted to be a rock star when he was younger but had given it up when he started his Business Studies degree. Before he knew it, he had a suit, a wife and a mortgage. Noah said it was the only time his father had ever opened up to him. And on that day, he’d promised himself he would never give up something he loved just because life got in the way.
In between talking and munching on some sandwiches Noah whipped up, we would cuddle or kiss. We would take the piss out of each other or play-fight. I hated to admit it to myself, but I’d started to think I’d been wrong about love. That night was everything Hollywood had promised and more. Sometimes when I was talking, or saying something stupid and blushing, I would catch Noah looking at me, his eyes wide and searching. And he would be smiling to himself. And I knew he was enjoying me – me just being me. That was the thing, I couldn’t pretend around Noah. My personality just kept tumbling out. But nothing I said or did put him off. In fact, it seemed to enrapture him even more. And it was the same with me. There were times when he was talking that I would tune out and just look at him. The way his mouth moved, the dimples that formed on his cheeks when he smiled in a particular way. The habit he had of scratching his ear when he was talking about something that made him sad or uncomfortable. I was obsessed with every tiny eccentricity his body had, and everything he said or did just reaffirmed the dawning knowledge that I was completely falling for him. I knew it didn’t make sense. I still barely knew him. And I knew I was being a massive hypocrite. Yet I couldn’t shake off this sense that we were meant to find each other. That we were each other’s matches.
By about 11 p.m., the storm still showed no signs of abating. We could hear the rain attacking the roof as I rang my mum to say I was staying over. She told me to be careful and I cringed a little, hoping she didn’t mean what I thought she meant. When I hung up, Noah was standing.
“Right, gorgeous. Bedtime.” He offered me a hand to pull me off the sofa.
I made my voice go sulky. “But I’m not tired yet.”
“But it’s past your bedtime.”
“How do you know my bedtime?”
Noah picked me up in one effortless swoop, and carried me to the bedroom. I screamed and giggled.
“Come on. Time for bed.”
He flopped me down onto his big double bed and held his body over me. “Hmm,” he said, looking at me beneath him. “This is going to be harder than I thought.” And he lowered himself down to kiss me. “Much, much harder than I thought.”
I used all the physical and mental strength I had to push him off and got to my feet.
“I’m going to brush my teeth. It’s past my bedtime, remember?”
I locked myself in the bathroom and got myself ready for bed. I tried to brush my teeth as adequately as I could using my finger. I splashed some water on my face and returned to the bedroom.
Noah was already under the duvet.
“Well, this is weird,” I said as I climbed in next to him.
I curled up on my side facing him, one arm supporting my head.
“You sleepy?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Me neither.”
I was very aware of how close our bodies were. It felt much more intimate now we were in a bed, lying down.
“Come here,” he said, and pulled me to him. He didn’t kiss me, just held my body and stared at me, his eyes soft. He was only wearing his boxers, and being able to feel so much of his skin was almost too much. He stroked my hair and then kissed me gently on the cheek.
“You’re not backing out of this taking-things-slowly thing, are you?” I whispered.
He stroked my cheek on the spot where he’d just kissed it and shook his head. “No. It’s probably for the best. It’s tough though. It’s taking all my mental energy not to dry hump you right now.”
I giggled. “Wow. And they say romance is dead.”
“It’s not. And I’m determined to prove it to you.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Noah turned over and flicked off his bedside light, casting us into darkness.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep a wink with you next to me,” he said.
I yawned. Not meaning to. “Well, I’ve got to get some sleep. I’ve got stupid college tomorrow.”
I felt an electric shock shoot down my leg and I realized Noah had put one hand on my waist under his oversized shirt.
“Are you sure you need to sleep in this?”
“Careful now,” I said. “It’s not too late for me to exile myself to the sofa.”
He didn’t let go. “Sorry. I just can’t stop touching you. It’s like a compulsion.”
“That’s a new one. Did you make that line up by yourself?”
“It’s true…”
My eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark and I could just about make out Noah’s features. The whites of his eyes were shining. “I don’t mean it just in a…sexual way, Poppy,” he said. “Well obviously, yes, I fancy the hell out of you. But it’s something more than that.”
I lay there silently. My heart began pounding with the anticipation of what he was going to say next. I was so scared it was going to be “I love you”, the words I’d been thinking all evening. Those three daunting words that would change everything, make us even more serious, and make me an utter hypocrite. But I was so much more frightened that he wasn’t about to say them. That would be worse.
“The thing is…this is going to sound soppy, but it’s like my life didn’t make sense until I met you. I know we’ve only just got together, but already my life seems divided into pre-Poppy and post-Poppy. And I just, well, I love every little thing about you. And the truth is…” He stopped for a second and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I love you, Poppy Lawson.”
The words sank into my heart, filling my body with a golden glow. I opened my mouth to speak, but Noah interrupted me.
“Sorry. I know it’s probably far too soon. And I know you don’t believe in all this… You don’t have to say it back. There’s no pressure. I just wanted to say it anyway. In fact, I’ve wanted to say it all day…but—”
It was my turn to interrupt. “Noah? Stop babbling.”
He stopped.
I took a deep breath and sought out his face in the dark. “I love you too.”
The moment the words spilled out of my mouth, I knew I meant them. I was in love. In love with Noah. I had no idea how it had happened or why. But the fact that I loved him was the only thing in my life I was certain about in that moment.
Noah was quiet.
“Do you mean that?”
I nodded. “I really do.”
He let out a huge breath. “Really really?”
I smiled. “Yes!”
“I was so scared you weren’t going to say it back.”
“Well I have.”
“But we only just started going out.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t believe in love.”
“I didn’t. But I do now. I so do now.”
And we both started laughing. Manically, at the joy and relief of it all. He pulled me right into him and I lay in the nook of his underarm, both of us smiling uncontrollably and bursting into giggles every minute or so.
Old Poppy would’ve been yelling at the television, chucking popcorn at us on the screen, saying it was ridiculous – ludicrous, even – to say “I love you” so soon. I had changed beyond recognition, become everything I’d ever hated, and yet I was so, so happy I didn’t care.
Noah was lying on his back.
“I think it’s fair to say I am the happiest guy in the entire world right now.”
&nb
sp; “Well, that can’t be a bad thing.”
He turned onto his side, unearthing me so I was on my side too. Our faces were almost touching.
“I love you,” he said again.
“And I love you.”
“But I really really bloody love you.”
“And I really really bloody love you.”
And we stayed like that for hours, repeating the words and laughing with joy until sleep eventually found us both. And then we slept soundly together, entwined in each other’s arms, while the storm continued to rage outside.
It was taking all of Rain’s mental energy for him not to lose his temper. He felt sick, physically sick, and couldn’t shake off the sense that this whole thing couldn’t be real. It wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen.
He read the updated news reports in horror. His hand was permanently glued to his mouse and he unconsciously clicked every five seconds to reload the internet page. It had already gone too far. He assumed someone must’ve been killed by now, someone always died in floods. If only Dr. Beaumont had just DONE something.
She sat next to him, also attached to her computer, but she didn’t seem stressed. In fact, she was almost chilled. She was leaning back, wearing that sick, sadistic smile.
“It’s all kicking off now,” she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
He didn’t trust himself to speak so he just nodded and bit his tongue.
“Fascinating, isn’t it?” She was oblivious to his mood. “I bet you never dreamed of seeing a connection like this in training. You can know the theory, hypothesize the consequences, but it’s just not the same as seeing it played out in real life.”
More silence.
“And this case is just so intriguing. You know, I think their bodies might have adapted to fit each other? Can you believe it? I’ve never had the chance to monitor something like this, right from the beginning and watch it build. The match is extraordinary. We’re going to have to completely rewrite most of the training course. And there’s still so much to learn, to see…”
