35.

35.

“You have got to be kidding me right now!” Caleb threw his hands up. “We have to go back and attend school in two days, for God’s sake!”
My heart dropped to my stomach, when the weight of Caleb’s words settled upon me. We have to go back.
I looked up to see Noah’s deflated expression mirroring my own, but, he quickly covered it up as soon as he realized I was watching him.
“You guys have to go back?” he asked nonchalantly, taking a seat in front of us.
“Um, yeah…?”Caleb replied. “We aren’t going to spend our lives here now, are we? Dude, we still have three and a half months of schooling left! Then, college applications and then, college itself. Lord, I am stressed now.”
Noah’s voice was small, quiet and strained when he spoke again. “Yeah…yeah, you are right. It’s just that, um…it was fun while it lasted. Thank you for visiting.”
I remained quiet, while Caleb looked around awkwardly.
“Hey, look, dude, don’t you dare start spilling tears now,” Caleb warned Noah, “or I swear to God…don’t blame me, if I start crying too.”
Caleb was not joking. He could be pretty emotional when he wanted to. I had seen him laugh while watching horror movies, but, I had seen the same Caleb cry while watching sad ones (which usually Soph, Mia and I forced him to watch.)
“Uh, guys,” I started awkwardly to diffuse the tense air, “we should think about getting Soph and Mia, right now.”
Noah cleared his throat, nodding. “Liam has gone to the market to buy necessary equipments.”
Caleb and I gave him a confused look.
“Necessary equipments required to break into the palace dungeons,” Noah explained.
“What?!” Caleb and I exclaimed together.
“Hey,” Caleb immediately protested, “why can’t you just go to the evil- I mean, to the queen and tell her that no one kidnapped you.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “And, you think she will just leave your friends like that?”
“Why not?” I asked. “That’s what they were charged for, right?”
Noah leaned forward in his seat, his expression grim. “She doesn’t want me back and she sure as hell doesn’t give a shit even if I was actually kidnapped. She knows that no matter what, I am always going to find my way back to that doomed palace. The thing is, now, that she knows about my and Chloe’s…” he cleared his throat, “…relationship…she wants Chloe. Locking your friends up, is a way to lure Chloe to the palace.”
I gulped, trying to let Noah’s words sink in. I didn’t mean them to, but, my fingers had started shaking. I had to curl them in a fist to compose and control myself.
Noah gave me a apologetic and guilty look, which only broke my heart further.
“I am sorry, Chloe…” he ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to- I mean, I never wanted this to happen…” he dejectedly let his head fall into his hands. I sat there, not knowing what to think or say. Caleb had an incomprehensible look on his face.
Suddenly, without warning, Noah’s fist collided with a nearby vase, and sent it flying across the room, making me jump with a yelp.
“Gosh darn!” Caleb exclaimed, placing a hand to his heart. “Calm down, dude.”
I took deep calming breaths, shooting Caleb a meaningful look. Thankfully, he took the hint, and walked out of the room warily.
I took a step towards Noah. “Noah, I-”
“I tried so hard to keep you out of this! But, nothing ever goes as planned!” he exclaimed in frustration, kicking at a broken vase piece. He turned to face me with gloomy, dismal eyes. “I-I never wanted to do this. I tried so hard to stay away…to keep reminding myself that my life was a living nightmare. But, every time, I pushed you away, I ended up getting more hurt than you.”
Suddenly all those times, when Noah used to disappear for days at end, came rushing back to me. All his confusing texts and warnings to stay away from him…he was not joking. God, he was not kidding all that time.
But, did this scare me?
Strangely, not at all.
Did I regret anything?
Heck, no!
And, would I go back and change anything?
No chance in hell.
I looked up to see Noah, still going on about how this was all his fault, how he messed up and how he should have tried harder than this to stay away. After a point, I stopped listening to him, tuning into my thoughts.
Noah didn’t get to decide what I wanted or what was good for me. It was my choice to make and these were my consequences to face. If I wanted to be with Noah, no queen of this world was going to stop me from doing that. Then, who was Noah to stop me? I loved Noah, and I wasn’t going to let anyone, not even Noah, ruin it for me.
Suddenly, my mind started reeling when I realized the direction my thoughts.
I l-loved Noah?
Oh my God…I actually loved him…
But, how- when-
I was snapped out of it when Noah started shaking me by my shoulders.
“Chloe! Chloe! Are you listening?” Noah was frantically speaking. “There’s still time. I will get your tickets booked for tonight. And, I will make sure Mia and Soph reach the airport on time. You all can then, leave. Change your mobile numbers-”
I stopped him mid sentence, by placing a finger on his lips. “Do you ever shut up?”
He was taken aback for a second, before his eyes narrowed. He grabbed my hand, shifting it away from his face. “Chloe, this is not a joke. Listen to me carefully…”
The only thing I did carefully was watch his lips as it moved in sync with his speech. Gosh, he was so beautiful. His lips were so beautiful, and…kissable and I just wanted to-
“Chloe, snap out of it!” Noah was shaking me again. “God, are you even listening to me?! I am talking about some serious stuff, which happens very rarely, mind you-”
“Noah?” I cut him off, staring into his mesmerizing dark eyes.
He responded with a bewildered expression. “Yeah?”
“Please shut up.”
His hands, which were on my shoulders, dropped to his sides in confusion. Then, he let out a nervous chuckle. “Okay, if you keep this up, I am going to think that you are drunk.”
I was not drunk. I had just come to a realization, a very scary one at that. And, I had no idea what to do about it. It was not helping at all that Noah chose this time to launch into his self deprecating rant. Whenever I heard the word, ‘sorry’ (which let me tell you, was in every other sentence Noah was uttering), I was getting closer to an immense headache.
Noah suddenly sighed. “I get it. This is all too much for you. You are overwhelmed, right now. I am sorry about-”
“God, you never shut up, do you?!” I finally exclaimed in exasperation. “Noah, just shut your mouth!”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “I think you should-”
This annoying SOB-
“Noah!” I cried out. “Shut your trap or I will do it for you!”
Noah’s eyes widened. “Chloe, what a-are you, um…you-”
This time I didn’t let any doubt or any reservation hold me back. I did what I had to do. I stormed towards him, grabbed his face in my hands and…kissed him.
I pulled him close by the collars of his shirt, as my lips touched his. After an unresponsive second, he steadied himself, and held me against him. His hands ran up my sides and held my head firmly, as his lips molded against mine. I loved how his lips felt against mine, and how they worked in sync with mine. In that moment, I forgot about the queen, the beach, Alice, about Soph and Mia, about Mia’s breakdown, about how the queen wanted to ruin me now or in short, about the impending doom awaiting me.
It was just Noah and me, and I loved that. But, alas, the happiest moments are short lived. Soon, breathing became a necessity.
I pulled away breathlessly, only realizing the implications of my actions now. What the-
What the hell did I just do?
I bit my lip in embarrassment, when I saw Noah staring at me wide eyed, his fingers going to his lips, as if he was making sure that what just happened was real.
“Um,” I averted my eyes. “I- I am…drunk. Yes, I am drunk!” I laughed, taking steps away from him. “Excuse my drunken behavior.”
“No, don’t,” Noah interjected. “Don’t make excuses.”
Ugh! It sounded like he was mad! Of course, he was mad! I just jumped him like a crazy hormonal teenage girl (which I totally was).
I pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I kid you not. I am drunk. Bye!”
I was about to turn around and make a dash for it, so that I could dig a hole and bury myself in it peacefully, when Noah’s fingers wrapped around my wrist.
“Do you really regret kissing me, that much?”
I froze at his question. He turned my face so that I was fully facing him, and looking into his eyes directly.
“Chloe, you don’t need to find excuses to justify kissing me,” he said, gazing at me intently. “You can do it anytime you want, anytime you feel like it. Heck, for all I care, do it every time I annoy you by speaking non-stop. Because what you just did was…”
“Was?” I breathed, urging him to continue.
“It was…” he trailed off, smirking.
This beach! He was doing this to rile me up! I could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.
“It was hot,” he brought up my hand to kiss my knuckles, “and sexy,” he leaned in to kiss the tip of my nose, making my eyes involuntarily close, “and so much more than my true mate, fork could ever give me.”
I- wait, what?!
I opened my eyes to see him looking at me with a straight face.
I pulled my hands away from his hold, looking around for the closest weapon. “You annoying little-”
“Hey! You are forgetting, nothing here is little!” Noah protested, through a laughing fit.
“I didn’t need to hear that!” Liam walked into the room, with a shopping bag in his hands.
It was then, looking at that bag, that I was jolted back to the harsh reality. It was time…to face the consequences.




A/N: Wow, this chapter took a whole different direction than what I had in mind…blame it on me getting carried away. Anyway, I hope you like it!
Here comes my rant: so, I went to the mall with my mom yesterday, and I was standing near the escalators, waiting for my mom to come from the restroom. Now, like most of the anti social teenagers, I was using my phone (okay, fine, I was pretending to use my phone) since standing there idly and watching people walk about, was boring and got awkward after a moment. So, I was so lost in this pretence of using my phone (tbh, I think I was looking at my face on the screen) that I didn’t realize, I had mindlessly started walking backwards. And, now, get this: I bumped...into a very hot guy (thank goodness! I mean, who wants to bump into old people? Not me!). And, that guy, grabbed my wrist to steady me, saying “watch it!” and I got all flustered, and dropped my phone (cue embarrassment). And, before I could bend down to pick it up, the guy did it for me, and I got double flustered…? And, then, my mom came back, and atarted giving the guy the stink eye (poor dude) like ‘why are near my daughter’ and shit, having no idea that it was her daughter who created all the mess in the first place. I quickly thanked the guy and managed to drag my mom away from there. End rant.
^this doesn’t make any sense, does it, lmao