Drown in You

41. Can I tell you a secret?

Part of me expected the door to Noah's apartment to be a time portal to 5 years ago, to the party at his beach house. But when I knocked, the door swung open to reveal a much more classy engagement. It was almost unrecognizable from the last time I'd been inside, all the clutter gone and replaced with luxurious decorations. Elaborate flower arrangements framed tables filled with hors d'oeuvres and flutes of champagne, and classical music played softly in the background. It was a far cry from the drunken teenage rager of the past.

"Will!" I was greeted warmly by Jonah, Kate, and a few other faces, both familiar and not. "Good to see you. You here alone?"

"Yup, just me." I tried to sound pleasant in my reply, although it didn't escape my notice that nearly everyone else had a plus one.

"This is my boyfriend, Marco," Kate said, gesturing to the man beside her. "Marco, Will."

Marco smiled and extended a hand. "A pleasure. I'm surprised we haven't met before. Are you new?"

"Yep, just joined a little before the start of filming," I said.

"You remember Paul right?" Kate cut in. "He had to quit unexpectedly around the start of filming, so Will hopped on to replace him."

Marco nodded in understanding. "Gotcha, well good to meet ya kid. Can I expect to see you again in LA?"

I hesitated, unsure how to answer, but Kate interjected. "He's still on a temp contract."

It truly hit me then for the first time that this whole thing was coming to an end soon. Of course I had known all along that it was a temporary thing, just for the duration of filming, but now that filming was over, it felt like the blink of an eye.

I realized everyone was staring at me, so I let out a laugh, hoping they couldn't hear the nervousness in it. "Time flies, huh?"

Everyone laughed along with me in agreement, and before I knew it the conversation had shifted away from me as they began to reminisce and retell funny stories.

Kate gave me a knowing look and took a step closer to me. "I can put in a word with Jerry, if you want," she whispered.

My eyes widened. "Really?"

"Of course," she nodded. "You're a good addition to the team. And I can tell how much you help Noah. He's been... better lately, I think."

Hearing this, I felt a rush of mixed feelings. The possibility of leaving everything behind and going to LA, further than I've ever traveled, was daunting but enticing. The idea of leaving Cal was strange— our relationship was so fucked up but he was also the only person who'd been consistently in my life for the last 4 years. But there was no love there, not real love. Only codependency.

But maybe I could find real love, and maybe even real happiness, with a fresh start. I wondered if what I was feeling could be described as hope; it had been so long since I felt it that it seemed foreign, and dangerous.

"Thank you," I finally said, realizing an uncomfortable amount of time had passed since Kate spoke and everyone was waiting for me to reply. "Really."

Kate grinned. "No problem, kid."

Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands landing hard on my shoulders. I whirled around, the "fight" part of my fight or flight activated, only to be met with a very drunk Noah.

"Wiiiiill," he slurred." You're finally here."

His hand searched for mine, and when he finally found it, he intertwined our fingers and looked up at me with red cheeks and a stupid smile. "I was waiting for you."