A Love as Hard as This

Chapter 21

Richelle's Perspective:

I couldn't tell him where I was. If he knew, it would lead him to assume things. Things that I don't want him to assume.

"Noah, I can't tell you." I said. "I wasn't anywhere bad. Can you please just trust me?"

He was silent for what felt like a long time, but finally said, "yes."

I replied with a thank you. I expected him to go, but he stayed on my bed, staring at me. "Aren't you leaving?" I asked him.

"You look like you're lonely. And like you could use someone here." he explained.

I processed it, then went to grab my clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. I put on the grey t-shirt and black leggings that I slept in, not even removing my bra. I would take it off later, I just felt so uncomfortable without it. When I had brushed my teeth and hair and put my hair back up—I hated sleeping with it down—I stepped out.

I got into my bed, inhaling the familiar scents as I snuggled up beneath the covers. I waited for Noah to do something, but he stayed where he was on the edge of the bed. "You can join me, you know." I said.

He claimed in slowly, careful not to disturb my position, but then did something unexpected. He pulled me towards him and I melted up against his chest.

The last couple of nights, I haven't been able to fall asleep, not without terrible nightmares at least. But when Noah was here with me, I fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.

——————

I woke up snuggled against Noah still. Our legs had interlocked during the night and our arms were clutched tightly around each other, almost as if we were holding each other to survive. It was comforting. I felt so safe with him here.

He looked really adorable when he was sleeping. His hair was ruffled—something he would normally never allow—and there was a small bit of drool on the corner of his lip. I giggled softly to myself.

I kissed him lightly on the cheek to wake him up and his eyes opened, staring right at me. "Good morning," I said.

"Morning." he repeated. We looked at each other for a long time, just enjoying each other's company. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

I blushed but didn't say anything. I didn't think what he said was true, he was my boyfriend, he was supposed to say that. But I wasn't beautiful, especially in the morning with messy hair and no makeup.

I went to the bathroom and got changed again, only now noticing that Noah hadn't changed, and realizing that I needed to get him something. Going into the next room—my parent's room—was a terrible experience. I hadn't been in here in so long. I grabbed a plain shirt from my dad's closet and put it next to him on my bed.

"What's this?" he asked.

"My dad's. Put it on, you're not going to dance in the same clothes that you wore yesterday. That's disgusting, not to mention it would arouse a lot of suspicion about us." I answered.

He took his turn in the bathroom and came out clothed in the new shirt. It looked good on him, and thankfully didn't remind me too much about my dad.

I put my makeup on, sitting at my desk. A light eyeshadow, thin layer of eyeliner, and peach lip gloss. I didn't usually put on lip gloss when I was going to dance—it would get stuck in my hair—but it would probably dry by the time we got there.

Noah was pouring cereal in the kitchen when I went downstairs. We ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Not awkward in the least.

——————

When rehearsals finished that day, Emily popped her head out of the office and said, "Hey Nochelle! Can I see you in my office, please?"

We heard everyone muttering about the odd nickname as we walked in. "Hi, Emily." I said.

"Hi, guys." she responded. "I really just wanted to make sure that you guys are okay. That you're doing good balancing dance and your relationship, and that no drama is getting to you. You're—don't tell anyone else I said this—the two best dancers on this team. I don't want anything to happen to you two." Emily was acting weirdly kind. Especially to me. Maybe she was trying to be a big sister of some sort? That would make sense, she was Riley's big sister, she knew how to handle these things.

"Yeah, Emily. We're good." I said quietly, matching her tone.

"Okay. You can go now. Noah, stay a minute please." she said.

I looked at him questionably and shrugged, but walked out of the room.

Noah's Perspective:

"Noah, you know that Richelle's like a little sister to me. She's so special, and needs to be treated as such. She'd got a lot going on. So don't hurt her, okay? Please."

"I'd never hurt her, ever." I assured her. She waved me out as well. As soon as I joined the rest of A Troupe, I was met with many questions about the nickname Emily called Richelle and I. To be honest, I wanted to tell them. But I didn't, because I knew Richelle wouldn't want that. I knew she was at the side of the room, so I waited until everyone else left to talk to her.

But when I turned around to talk to her, she was gone already.