Star-Crossed ✔️

22

trying to get back on schedule
so here we are :-)
happy monday

- 22 -

For the next few weeks, Noah was glued to my side.

We didn't talk about it again. I didn't bring it up because I didn't want to see him cry again. My heart was aching with a delicate throb just knowing what Noah grew up with while I was off skipping into the sunset. But I had to be the very best distraction I could be for him.

He was in the sidelines, crowd, or backstage for every show. We slept together every night with his head in the crook of my elbow or his body pressed to my front. I reveled in the feeling of waking up to his warmth in the mornings; it was our own little secret in the safety of the bus. When we were put in a hotel in Pittsburg to get a break from the bus, I told Joey to book us one room. He didn't ask questions for once.

Oh, and we kissed a lot.

I don't know if it was because I had his full trust now or if he just didn't care about keeping our friendship boundaries anymore. But I fucking loved his mouth.

His wounds were healing nicely, the bruise around his eye faded to a dull yellow. The cuts on his lip and eyebrow were closed and scabbed up and when he went to the hospital, the x-rays showed no broken bones. It was a huge relief knowing it wasn't anything major.

Noah spoke with his sponsor for a long time. I played with his hair while they talked about what he should do about breaking his sobriety. I didn't tell him, but I secretly hoped he would stay with me. Even if going back home or maybe even going back to rehab was the answer, I was selfish. I'd never stop him from getting better though.

His sponsor, Jack, seemed to think it was good for him to stay on the tour since Noah was speaking so highly of me. I didn't know why. He ended up agreeing to meet up for lunch when he got back to Oakland and talking about it some more.

We were on our way to Missouri. I was so excited to see my sister, I could hardly wait. Lina was talking about everyone that wanted to see me, including our mom, but I didn't care about any of that. My sister was the most important person in my life. And Noah was excited to see her, too.

Speaking of Noah. I was currently on top of him.

I was holding myself up by my elbows and our mouths were hot together, his hand touching my chest. He released a breathy groan when I dropped my lower body down onto his, an unintentional step in the direction of maybe doing a little more than just kissing. Noah sucked on my bottom lip and he grabbed my ass in two handfuls, pulling me down again.

"Fuck," I muttered against his mouth when his jaw dropped open in pleasure. "You're so fucking hot."

He brought his hands to my chest and pushed me sideways, flipping with me so he was on top. I stared up at him in awe, just fascinated by the tight unrelenting hold he had on me without even trying. His curls fell over his eyes, just a bit, and his cheeks were flushed red.

Noah's hands were flat against my chest and he moved his hips a little, creating just enough friction to drive me crazy. I slid my own hands up and down his thighs while he kissed me again, basking in the taste of his tongue and the heat of his touch.

We were so rudely interrupted when my phone started ringing.

He pulled away breathlessly, but moved to my neck while I fumbled with answering the call while keeping my attention on his teeth grazing my skin. "Hello," I choked out.

"I wanted to run through how these next three weeks are gonna go," said Joey on the other end, but not even he could ruin how fucking hot I was feeling. I managed to reply halfheartedly, so he continued. "You've got two shows in the first week, three days apart. I cleared the VIP section at both of them like you requested for your family. After your shows I'll have a driver take you out to St. Charles and he'll be staying in a hotel nearby if you two need to go anywhere."