Love Lies A' Bleeding

Chapter 6: Never-Fading Flower

Half an hour passed six; I heard a car blowing its horn from outside my house. I quickly donned my sneakers on and went outside. I stepped out the door, the cold September wind hitting me hard that for a moment I had to stop.

Noah was leaning on his black BMW, smiling my all-time favorite smile.

“Hey,” he greeted me as I slowly walked towards him.

“What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?” I inquired, knowing my heart was doing a somersault inside my chest.

“Yeah, thanks for dropping by, Noah,” he said to himself as he stood up straight to greet me.

I probably looked surprise that he laughed.

“Hey, relax. I’m just kidding. I asked a few people,” he said. “Wait, you look cold.”

“I’m fine. It’s just the wind.”

He gave me a nod. Then, to my surprise, he draped his jacket on my shoulders.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

He paused to stare at me. “Hey, don’t worry, you look great. Not exactly someone who looks like she crammed to wear her sneakers on on her way out the door,” he teased.

I looked at my shoes. The untied shoelace suddenly made me smile. “Of course. You must think highly of me to realize I never go out looking like rug,” I said, feeling the softness of Noah’s jacket enveloping my body. I couldn’t deny that it felt good.

He laughed and shook his head. Then, as I was bending down to tie my shoelace, he stopped my arms. I blushed, feeling the warmth of his fingertips slowly creeping up my skin

“Let me do it for you,” he said. As he did so, he asked, “What time is your father coming home?”

“Nine. Why?”

He stood upright.  Then going to his car, he opened the passenger door. “Hop in.”

I could feel my heart racing. I tried to search Noah’s face for clues. I didn’t want to think of any possibility, but my mind was playing tricks on me.

Probably reading the look on my face, he said, “Don’t worry. We’re just going for a short ride. I promise we’ll be back here before nine.”

I didn’t know what possessed me at the time, but I followed him and hopped in the car. Though as soon as my body hit the leather upholstery, the realization started to pour down on me. I shook my head. “Hey wait, I have to call my dad first, and my phone’s back in my room, and—omigosh—I forgot to lock the front door! He’d kill me if—!” I panicked, starting to open the door.

“I’ll lock it for you, okay? Just stay there. And you can use my phone to call your dad.” Without another word, he left the car to go and lock the front door.

I just stared at his unbelievable calmness. I was too stunned to even move a muscle.

When he was back in the car, he offered me his phone. “You can call your dad now.”

I shook my head. “Are you sure it’s going to be just a short ride?”

“Trust me.”

“All right, then. I guess I won’t be needing to make a call.” I knew my dad would be more surprised to accept a phone call from an unrecognized number than to find me gone from the house.

Then, he was grinning. Before I knew it, we had already taken off my father’s drive. I realized Noah was a careful driver—I praised myself for noticing it, because really, I had been too busy staring at the way the muscles in his hands moved as he gripped the steering wheel—which made him more appealing to my taste. I hate traffic signals, but Noah seemed to be at ease with them. He would slow down and wait patiently for the light to turn green, like no other man I knew would. As if I knew that many.