Out of My League

Chapter 19 (Izzy)

I hadn't known him for long, but still, I'd never seen Noah act so cold towards anyone.

Then again, I can't completely blame him; if my mom just showed up out of the blue and wanted to talk, I'm sure I'd act the same way.

I'd expected, in the car, for Noah to revert to the boy I'm dating, the one who makes me laugh and is always smiling, but instead, I'm met with the same, cold one that he'd been minutes before.

It's almost like he needs to thaw out.

When we get to his house, still, nothing.

He makes dinner completely emotionless, despite my best attempts to get him to talk.

I have no choice, but to stop him from cooking to give him a hug, wrapping my arms tightly around his middle and resting my head on his chest until he has no choice but to hug me back.

Luckily, the exchange doesn't take long; he's hugging me back in under a minute.

"What's wrong?" I ask, my voice muffled by his shirt, "You can talk to me."

It's obvious what's wrong, but there has to be more to it than what's out in the open.

When he takes a deep breath in and releases it, my arms open up and close back around him. The exhaled breath ruffles my hair.

"I'm sorry," he says, quietly, "I don't mean to be upset with you. You didn't cause this."

"You're not acting like you're upset with me," I say, my voice still muffled, "And you better not be because if you were, I'd be offended."

I'd meant it as a playful joke, the thing that always makes the two of us laugh, but if he's laughing, he doesn't show it externally.

Instead, he says, "Everything just seems crazy, you know? Like what I'd believed for years might've been a lie."

"It'll be okay," I say - the only genuine response I can come up with, though I'm sure it sounds stereotypical and not genuine.

He doesn't say anything in return, but, putting a hand under each of my armpits, lifts me onto the kitchen counter so we're eye level with each other.

He looks so anguished, I feel like there's nothing I wouldn't do to take it all away. I'd face my own mom again if I was promised Noah's happiness forever.

"Why'd you tell her you'd do it a different day?" I ask, genuinely curious, "If you want to know as bad as you're acting like you do, you should've just talked to them tonight."

"Because I promised my evening to you," he says, easily, "And I wasn't going to break that promise."

"You could've broken the promise, Noah. I wouldn't have minded."

"Nope," he pops the 'p,' "When I make a promise, I don't break it so," he leans forward and presses a quick kiss to my mouth, "Let's have a good night. No more talk of my parents, of my situation, none of it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," he steps back, allowing me to hop off of the counter, "We're celebrating tonight."

"Celebrating? What are we celebrating?"

"The fact that I have you," he raises his cup of water, smiling as I scramble for my own and 'clink' it against his, "Because if I didn't, who knows what monster I would've become this evening."

"I didn't do anything."

"You did enough," he takes a small sip of his drink, "Just like you always have and, hopefully, you always will."