Heat in the Hamptons

Chapter 36

Addison tilted her head back on the hospital bed after Noah had left. She was tired but couldn't find it in her to fall asleep.

Her thoughts were racing.

She could hear her heart rate increase on the monitor above her head as if it was a verbal acknowledgment of her anxiety.

All of her belongings were destroyed. Her clothes, her shoes, her pictures and memories, and her books. The first book she'd ever read on her own was ash, her favorite book with all her notes in the margins was soot, the Hungry with a Chance of Meatballs book her mom had given to her with the inscription was a part of the dirt now.

She felt the beginnings of a panic attack start to rise deep within her and she started to take breaths to calm herself down.

For a moment she pondered why she all of a sudden was panicking about the day's events, and why she had been so calm with Noah, but she realized that it was because of Noah. She could be strong for him because he was her rock now. He calmed and grounded her, but now that he'd left the hospital all her thoughts were spiraling.

Why was James so evil, and most importantly, how the fuck had she not seen this before?

Tears that had been brimming in her eyes finally breached the edge and fell down her temples.

What was she going to do? Clearly, she couldn't remain at Noah's with James right next door. She had almost no material possessions anymore, other than the few things she had taken from James' and the clothes Noah had bought her.

Addison picked up her phone from where it sat on the table beside her next to her cup of jello.

She punched her passcode in and dialed a number she had put off dialing since she'd found out James had cheated.

She took a shaky breath and held the phone to her ear. 

This was what defeat felt like. The echo of an outgoing call's ring, the moment of emptiness on the line when it's picked up, and Addison's mom answering on the other end.

When Noah walked back into the hospital room, he knew something was wrong. He could almost feel Addison's anxiety hanging around the room like he could pluck one of her thoughts out of the air.

She looked up at him with puffy eyes.

"What happened?" He asked as he strode across the room to stand next to her. How had she gone from comforting him earlier to looking like she had been sobbing the entire time he was gone?

Her bottom lip quivered a moment and she tried to take a breath to steady herself.

She shrugged, "Just everything that has happened is hitting me all at once." Noah placed one hand in her hair and another on her thigh, squeezing it slightly. Dread pooled within him, afraid she was going to regret everything that had happened between them. "I thought I was okay, but after you left it settled in that I have nothing. I don't have a home, almost all of my belongings are destroyed."

Noah's eyebrows knit together, "You know you always have a home with me."

She shook her head and gave him a sad smile, "I can't live next to him anymore, Noah."

It wasn't a question, it wasn't rhetorical, it was a fact. It was a statement. It was her goodbye, Noah feared.

"So we'll move back into the city early." Noah could feel himself start to panic, he had only told her hours ago that he loved her and she was about to leave him.

She drew another shaky breath, "I need to go home."

Her tone told him there wasn't any room for arguing. This was her decision.

He looked down at his hand that covered her thigh, her hand had set on it as they had talked, trying to comfort him.

He stared at the bandage covering it, and he knew that this was what was best for her. She did need to get away from James, from the Hamptons, from New York. Even if it meant getting away from him.

Noah met her eyes, "What does this mean for us?" His voice was sad, and for the first time, Addison realized what this conversation must've sounded like to Noah.

He thought she was leaving for good, leaving him.

Realization coursed through her and her eyes widened. "Noah, I still love you, this isn't goodbye. I just need to get away for a while, but I'll come back to you."

Noah was visibly relieved. The breath that he had been holding floated across her cheeks.

"Okay." He said with a smile.

Addison tried to squeeze his hand to reassure him, but with her injuries and bandages, she settled for a pat.

"I'll just be a few states away for a bit, but I'll come back eventually and maybe we can start over and have a relationship based on loving each other and not have James or Megan looming over us."

Noah nodded, "I wish we could just go back to the first night we met and start over from there."

Addison smiled, "But then we wouldn't know how much of a snake James is."

They both laughed.

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Authors Note:

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your patience, life has been insane lately and I just haven't been able to write as much as I would like!

I hope to get back to posting regularly. 

Thank you all so much for reading and for your continued support!

- Samantha