A Love as Hard as This

Chapter 11

Richelle's Perspective:

I opened my eyes and closed them right away. It was so bright, I guess Noah forgot to close the blinds last night. Last night. Oh no. That's why I was so warm.

I was so scared that I cuddled up to Noah. I shouldn't have done it, I should've just not slept all night. I led Noah on last night, once again. Why do I keep doing this? It's only hurting high of us more.

I know that I shouldn't be comfortable right now. I shouldn't be loving this, but I am. I love being so close to him. I love having his arms around me. I love looking at his sleeping face.

His face scrunches slightly as he stirs, and a small smirk grows on his face. He's probably thinking about the same thing that I am. Noah met my gaze, and we stared at each other for a little while. But his expression was much different than mine.

"Noah, stop looking at me like that." I said.

"I can't." he said, smirking again.

"And why's that?"

"Because." he said, not giving me an answer.

"Just stop, Noah." I replied, trying to move out of his grasp and get up. I got up, but he kept his hand on my waist. I turned to him and Tim's him to let go. Even though I liked his have there.

"Alright." He sounded defeated. Maybe he was hoping for a different response. He shouldn't have, he should've known that he wouldn't get one.

He walked ahead of me to the kitchen and the got the bowls, cereal, and milk out. He put a lot of milk in one of them, and not as much in the other. I liked me cereal soggy, and he liked it crunchy.

"So, are you excited for the first day?" he asked as we both started eating.

"Of course." I said, matter-of-factly. "It's A Troupe. And first days are always the best."

"Yeah, they are."

We are the rest of our cereal in silence. It was half-awkward, half-comfortable. Not an ideal situation with my best friend, but not terrible.

When I was finished, I put my bowl in the sink and grabbed my dance bag from the counter. I went to the bathroom and changed into my dance cloths quickly. I came back to the kitchen and Noah was changed as well, so I said, "Do you want to leave now?"

"Sure."

However, as soon as I got my coat on, I remembered that I left my dance bag on the counter. "Noah? Can you quickly grab my dance bag for me? It's on the counter."

The only reason I asked him was because he didn't have his coat on yet. But he nodded quickly, and went to get it with no reluctance. It was kind of sweet.

"Thanks." I said, getting out of the door. Then I discovered I couldn't move. We had both went through the door at the exact same time. And we were both stuck.

"Sorry," we said in unison. There was a small, small part of me that liked the position we were in, but I willed it to shush when he moved away.

Noah got into the driver's side of his truck and I put my bag in the seat, but when I tried to get up into it, I couldn't reach. The worst time to be small.

"Need help?" he asked, holding out his arm.

"Yes, please." I said reluctantly. I hated asking for help, but I needed it now.

I grabbed onto his hand for help, but he pulled me in with so much force that I landed on top of him. I felt his eyes on me right away and looked up to see his face inches away from mine.

Our eyes made contact and I could feel his breath on me. He leaned closer. Closer. Closer.

And then the alarm on his phone went off, signaling that we were going to be late for rehearsals.

"We—uh, we should probably go." I stuttered, backing up and getting off him. "We don't want to be late for rehearsals."