Problem With My Boyfriend

Chapter 5

Oliver

The exhaustion that I was able to suppress, started to set in as I made my way home from work. My drive consisted of thoughts about Noel and how I couldn't wait to see her.

After parking the car, I linger for a few moments before getting out. She can usually be seen through the kitchen window and I sometimes find myself admiring her from afar, like I am now.

Noel starts making dinner around this time and almost always has music playing. She'll dance around the kitchen with a giant smile on her face and the sight never fails to give me butterflies.

The only problem was that things seemed to be different today. She looked tense and deep in thought. This instantly bothered me.

Finally getting out of the car, I decided to greet her extra cheerfully because I genuinely missed her a ton and wanted to perk her up.

I enter through the front door and make my way to her cooking by the island. She looks in my direction and snaps out of her little daze.

"Noel! I haven't seen you in forever. I missed you! It's been such an exhausting day."

She starts to giggle, as I dramatically make my way towards her. Oh, boy. I've missed her laugh and just everything about her, really.

I'm instantly thrown off by her cold cheek, as soon as I go to kiss her. Is she hurt?

My facial expressions must've reflected my thoughts because she begins to question me, "Is something wrong? Why do you look so upset?" Shouldn't I be asking her that?

I bring up my concerns and her body immediately goes rigid within my grasp. Which in turn, alerts me. Something's definitely wrong.

"Pfft. Oh, yeah! Everything's fine. The kitchen was getting really hot with the cooking, and I decided to rest my face in the fridge for a moment. Haha." My eyes immediately narrow in response. What kind of explanation is that?

This girl could not create a believable excuse for the life of her. And quite frankly, I was alright with that. If I wasn't so concerned about her, we probably would've laughed about it. I plead with her to let me know if anything changes and get ready to help with dinner.

After taking a quick shower and slipping on some clothes, I head in the direction of the kitchen.

"What are you making tonight?"

"I was thinking lasagne. The pasta is cooked and sitting on the counter. The meat and sauce are almost done. Could you grab the cheese?"

"Sure."

The lasagne doesn't take too long to bake and we quickly start eating. Noel takes longer than usual to finish and the suspicions I had of something being wrong with her mouth, are confirmed. Is this going to be a repeat of how we met?

I don't bring it up for now because making her feel even more uncomfortable will not help with things. We both head in different directions to get ready for bed.

I get a few hours of sleep, before I wake up and decide to grab a glass of water. As I pass by Noel's room, I hear quiet sobbing and immediately stop in my tracks.

Lingering outside her door before gently knocking, to not spook her. The weeping quickly ceases to almost inaudible sniffling, and I take it as my chance to enter.

She would've appeared to have been asleep, with her body under the covers, if the sounds of her crying didn't give her away.

Making my way to sit beside her on the bed, I ask why she's crying. I had a feeling that I knew what was wrong.

Instead of getting a reply, I'm met with silence. So, I try again.

"Elle, I know you're awake. If you don't want to talk right now, can I at least hug you?"

She meekly replies with an, "Okay."

We stay there for a moment until I feel her body relax. I know she isn't asleep because she's still sniffling.

"Can we take the covers off your head? It's probably really hot in there. We don't want you baking like a potato. And hugging you through the blanket feels like I'm cuddling a big sack of potatoes."

I hear her give off a soft chuckle, but she shakes her head in refusal.

"I'm okay. Go back to bed. Sorry, for waking you up."

"How can I leave you and sleep peacefully, when I know you're upset about something? And don't apologize, I just woke up to grab a glass of water, which I think we both need. I'll be right back."

I quickly fill two glasses with water and make my way back to her room. She's still completely under the covers. I set the glasses on her bed stand.

"C'mon, you can't stay under there forever."

I start to pull the blanket off her head, only for her to retaliate and pull it back down. There's a brief game of tug-of-war, with me ultimately succeeding.

I thought she was reluctant to show her face because of the swelling that was already apparent during dinner. What I didn't expect, was to see a massive bruise covering her jaw.

"Noel! What in the world happened to you?"

"That new employee that was creating a disturbance with one of my friends. And ended up punching me in the face after I intervened. I'm fine though. The bruise will fade in a few days and my boss gave me some time off." How can she brush it off that easily?

"I don't know about you, but that's not my definition of 'fine.' Your mouth could've sustained substantial damage, especially with a hit that hard. The bruise will get better, but a tooth won't heal on its own."

"Can we have this conversation tomorrow morning? Right now's not a great time." She was right.

"Alright, take something to help with the pain. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you more."

I kiss her on the head and make my way out of the room.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

A/N: Hi! I wrote this a while back, but didn't post it because it's unedited. It's still unedited, but I'm posting it anyway. This was kind of a sadder chapter, if you can even call it that. I'm not really happy with it. On a different note, I did a double update! Woot woot! I don't think anyone actually cares, but oh well. 😅 My second update's on my other short stories book. That update is titled, "Isla." It's more lighthearted, so if you still wanna read my writing, you can check that out? Thank you, to anyone who's read either of my works! I really appreciate it! Y'all are too kind!! 🥺🥰
Completed: 01/18/2022