The Princess And The Criminal

19

NOAH

I groaned as I flushed the toilet, watching my puke swirl around before disappearing. As soon as Sawyer left, the cake we had enjoyed the previous night had immediately come back out.

I had felt too full, and an irrational fear of never fitting into my favorite halter top had choked me till I was leaning over the toilet and heaving.

My eating habits had always been sporadic, even before I was on ridiculous diets to fit in 'sexy' dresses for pageants.

I would either eat too much at a specific given time or live off snacks for almost a week.

My mother had a similar eating routine and she never took my concerns seriously. That had eventually removed the concerns from my mind all together.

Morgan is a great friend, but her parents were a different ball game and she had her own shit to deal with as well. She had only brought up my eating habits once during high school and after it had turned into an insult match between us never brought it up again.

I had texted Cedrick before my nausea had dragged me to the bathroom and waited for him to arrive after cleaning up and feeding Rascal.

He was holding a bottle of wine that I winced at.

"Not a wine fan?" He frowned while entering the apartment.

I chuckled awkwardly. "Oh... it's not that. I just feel a bit sick is all."

Cedrick blinked but smiled. "I see."

"Marley broke into the apartment, Sawyer and I found him on my bed." I sighed sitting beside Cedrick on the couch.

Cedrick frowned and rubbed his chest. "And he didn't attack you? He just left?"

I hummed. "He said my father was going to try something and that he would offer protection to us."

Cedrick sighed, deep in thought. "I find it hard to believe he has changed, I mean I remember his first relationship and how broken the girl was when she broke up with him. He's emotionally abusive and aggressively possessive..."

I frowned. "You can be our cynical voice of reason then. I'm tired of bending to my parent's will. I had to block them because I almost took a call from my mom."

Cedrick smiled sadly. "It's a force of habit. Don't beat yourself up about it."

I nodded. "Are you still in their house?"

"Ah right I wanted to tell you, I left a few days ago. Got a nice appartement a few blocks down. My dad said I have to cut my vacation short. Duty calls."

I smiled sadly. "How short?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry. I'll be leaving in three weeks."

I nodded. "Any progress with Caesar?"

He blushed. "Yeah he took me out on a date. I'm not sure we can be anything serious given that I live so far away. Caesar seems to love his life here."

"Already dreaming of moving away" I teased watching his face turn even redder.

"Don't be shy, it's good to know you like him so much. Don't assume for him though. Tell him you're leaving soon and let him decide what he wants to do about it."

Cedrick groaned and slumped on the couch.

We turned the conversation to even lighter topics before eventually playing a game on Forrest's playstation.

"We both suck." Cedrick laughed when his car crashed. The third time in two minutes.

"Forrest is going to kill us if we mess with any of his saved stuff."