Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Four
Bless Your Delusional Heart
I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. I stretched out of my arms and neck, my whole body feeling sore as I had fallen asleep in my car.
I was parked in front of the forest that led to the dock and lake. I must've closed my eyes for a few minutes and then dozed off.
I grabbed my phone from the cup holder and opened it to see the time that read 10:23pm. I had a few missed calls and texts from Ezra and Charlie as well, along with one from Luke.
I sighed as I turned the keys in the ignition but when I put the car on Reverse, it would not move. A beeping sound rang through my ears and thats when I looked to the gas meter to see that my car had absolutely no gas in it.
I groaned and rested my head down on the steering wheel, not in the fucking mood for this to be happening right now.
After a few minutes, I picked up my phone and dialled Ezra's number but he didn't pick up so I called Charlie.
"Tiffany, God. Where the hell are you? We texted you hours ago." Charlie spoke quickly, fret evident in his tone. "Are you okay? Where are you?"
"Relax, Charlie," I sighed, my voice soft and tired. "I'm sorry, my phone was turned off. Can you pick me up? My car doesn't have any gas in it." I excused saying my phone was off because I didn't want to admit I had fallen asleep in my car. That just sounded pathetic.
"What?" Charlie sputtered, confused. "How did that happen? But yeah, I will. Where are you?"
I sighed as I looked around outside but it was dark so I couldn't make much out. I also didn't know where we were near because I only knew the way to this place because of Noah. It was quite far off and in the middle of nowhere so really, I was lost and had no idea where I was.
"I'm... I'm at the forest, lake place." I sighed, running a hand down my face because I knew Charlie would have no idea what I'm talking about. I didn't know how to explain where I was because I came here because I knew where the dock spot was; I wasn't good with directions.
"The what? Where is that?" Yup, I was right. He had no idea.
"Okay," I nodded, thinking quickly. "Ask Noah to give you the address to the dock. He'll know where I'm talking about. Then GPS it and come pick me up, please, before I get eaten by bears or something."
Charlie sighed, pausing for a moment before speaking, "Okay. I'll call Noah and ask for the address. You're okay though, right?"
I chuckled weakly, "Yes, Charlie. I'm fine."
Twenty minutes later, I was starting to get a little anxious because Charlie still hadn't shown up. I sighed as I leaned my head against the window and stared into the dark night sky. It was honestly very creepy and eerie because I had bad slender-man vibes but I couldn't do anything so I remained calm.
Not soon after that, bright headlights shone down the empty road as a familiar car pulled up next to mine.
I squinted my eyes as I tried to see better but it was still dark - however, what I did know was that that was definetly not my brother's car.
When the car door opened and Noah came into vision, I sighed as I grabbed my phone, backpack, and car keys before getting out of my car and walking over to Noah's.
"Hey," he exhaled, a small smile on his lips as I walked over to him.
I stayed quiet, walking past him to go to the passenger side and getting in. Noah looked at me for a moment before he sighed and reversed his car, starting to drive.
"What are you doing here? I called Charlie." I finally spoke, looking at him with a straight face.
"Charlie called me for the address because he had no idea where you were. I offered to pick you up. The GPS wouldn't be too reliable on these far-out roads and it was easier since I knew the way already."
Noah kept glancing at me as he spoke but I stared straight ahead, out the window.
I nodded when he finished explaining. "Well, thanks."
"Mhm," he mumbled softly.
After a short while, Noah pulled the car up into a random, empty parking lot in front of some grocery store that was closed seeing as it was almost 11 at night on a weeknight.
"What the hell? Why are we here?" I looked at Noah, my eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "If you were going to drop me off in a random parking lot you may as well have left me at the dock."
Noah grinned a little, "Relax, sunshine. I stopped here so we could talk without the risk of you getting out of the car and leaving if I tried to talk when we got back to your place."
I gave Noah a flat look, clenching my jaw in annoyance. "I want to go home."
Noah shrugged nonchalantly, "Bummer. Can't always get what we want, can we?"
"What do you want, Noah?" I sighed, tilting my head. My tone was clearly uninterested and tired, not in the mood for this and Noah knew that very well.
"First of all, why are you acting like... like the first time we met?" He quirked an eyebrow, his face becoming serious and no longer grinning. He had a sad look in his eyes as he peered at me. "What did I do now?"
"Nothing." I responded curtly. "I'm not acting like anything. I've barley spoken to you."
"Exactly," Noah proclaimed, raising his eyebrows. "I thought we were okay."
"We are." I muttered dully. Noah knowing me better at this point, I knew he wouldn't be convinced.
"Clearly not," he scoffed. "You're being... all distant and weird again. I don't like it." He frowned as he looked at me with his eyes narrowed like he was trying to figure out what was going on in my head.
"I didn't think you noticed," I muttered under my breath, dropping my gaze to my lap.
"What?" Noah mumbled, not hearing me since I was aiming for him not to in the first place. "Tiffany, can you tell me what I did so I can fix it?" He was becoming impatient and maybe even a little annoyed.
I looked at Noah with a blank face, "You didn't do anything, Noah. I just want to go home so can we or should I call an Uber?"
Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair, starting to get frustrated, "Don't make this difficult, sunshine. Just tell me what I did and why you're being distant because I'm tired of it already."
I clenched my fists, starting to get more annoyed and angry. "I haven't been talking to you, huh?" I scoffed and shook my head, "You haven't been talking to me, Ace. You wouldn't have noticed my distant manner or would be having this conversation with me if you were occupied with Red like you have been lately."
Noah face contorted into a confused one.
I didn't wait for him to respond as I grabbed my phone since I didn't care enough about my backpack or car keys that were currently useless. I opened the car door and got out, starting to walk in a random direction, not sure where I was going to go but knowing I didn't want to be stuck in that secluded space with Noah any longer.
"Tiffany, stop!" Noah exasperated from behind me. I heard his car door shut before his footsteps caught up to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt and stopping me.
"What?!" I snapped, turning around to face him. I pulled my arm out of his grasp, "I do not want to have this conversation with you. Not now or any time in the future."
Noah clenched and then unclenched his fists, exhaling through his noes. He was very annoyed and frustrated at me now. "You always do this - you find some stupid reason to be mad at me and distance yourself and you don't even bother to fucking tell me why."
"Oh I apologize for not thinking you would care because you don't," I snapped back, both of us growing more angry.
Noah ran a hand down his face, "Are you fucking joking? I don't care? If I didn't care would I be having this argument with you right now? Or what about last time in the school parking lot?"
Funny, all our arguments like this happened in empty parking lots.
I narrowed my eyes, "What do you want from me, Noah? Maybe I would see that you care if you hadn't gone silent on me in the first place?" He had been occupied with Amy and didn't bother talking to me once because he was busy with her. How was any of this my fault?
Noah chuckled dryly, "She's new to the school and doesn't know anyone! Not to mention that you haven't been around at all so I'm sorry for not talking to you!"
"You know what?" I flared, giving him a emotionless smile. "I don't care. I don't care if you don't talk to me or if you're... busy sucking on redheads face. I do not care."
"Really?" Noah narrowed his eyes, his voice going low, a dispassionate grin making its way onto his face. "I don't believe you. I think you do care."
I scoffed and made a move to leave, "Please. You're too full of yourself."
Noah's hand swiftly swooped over and landed on my waist as he pulled me towards him, stopping me from walking away from him. "Don't leave now, sunshine. We've got a good brawl going on here." My breath hitched in my throat.
I clenched my jaw for a moment as I narrowed my eyes at Noah, "Isn't Amanda waiting for you?"
Noah quirked an eyebrow, suddenly the annoyance and frustration gone and amusement taking over his features. "I don't know and I don't care about Amy. I've only got my eyes for one girl who I happen to be looking at right now."
My heart was pounding so hard I felt like I could physically feel it hammering against my chest. Noah hand that was resting on my one hip somehow snaked around me so his arm was around the back of my waist, causing me to be pressed up against him.
I licked my lips that were starting to feel dry, "Wouldn't want to keep her waiting, it's not very nice." Our eyes were locked and everything around us seemed to be as still as a tomb.
Noah's lip twitched upward. He reached up with his free hand and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, his eyes not leaving mine for a second. "Admit it, sunshine. You're jealous."
I was afraid to breath in this moment. I was afraid if I moved even an inch, Noah's lips would be on mine because that's how close we were standing right now.
"Me, jealous of Amanda? Bless your delusional heart, Ace." I said softly, my voice not much above a whisper.
It was so quiet and empty, I could hear the crickets chirping into the night.
Noah's heartbeat that I could feel because his chest was pressed against mine, was faster than normal. He grinned, "If you're not jealous, why can't you say her name?"
I narrowed my eyes, "I'm not sure what you mean. Guess I didn't give her as much importance as you did to bother to learn her name."
Noah's eyes were sparkling with emotions I couldn't recognize, he seemed amused. "You're the only one who's important to me, sunshine," he exhaled.
I bit my lip which caused Noah's eyes to briefly dart down to my mouth before returning to lock with my eyes. "I wouldn't care if I wasn't," I retorted softly, voice calm and even.
Noah chuckled breathily, his warm breath hitting my face. "Funny because you seem quite jealous to me."
"And you seem jealous of Leo and Luke, to me too." I responded, grinning just like he was.
Noah blinked, his tongue subconsciously leaving his mouth to lick his bottom lip, "So what if I was?"
"So nothing," I exhaled. "It wouldn't mean anything."
"So, say I got with Amy," Noah spoke smoothly, exaggerating her name. "You wouldn't care, right? Because it doesn't mean anything to you."
I blinked, tilting my head a little, "Sure. Doesn't mean anything." My voice was firm and confident which was surprising because my body felt numb and heart was practically hammering against my chest.
Noah exhaled a breath before softly saying, "Not sure I believe you, sunshine."
"Then don't." I stated firmly. "I don't care."
"I think you do, though," Noah exhaled, his free hand raising to cup my face as his thumb started to stroke my cheek.
I ignored the heat ignited on my skin from his touch, "I don't care."
"Would you care if I kissed you right now?" Noah asked, voice even, calm, low, and soft like it had been this whole time. He looked at me like he was in space watching the earth rotate, amused and captivated.
My breath felt like it got trapped, suddenly not remembering how to breathe. My grin dropped, face going straight. "It wouldn't mean anything." I was baffled by where he turned the conversation but remained calm, not wanting him to see he had an affect on me.
"It wouldn't?" he raised his eyebrows.
"No, it w-"
And then I was cut off by Noah swiftly leaning down to place his lips on top of mine to kiss me.