Midnight Love || ✔️

11:53 pm

xvi || sixteen

Noah's PoV

ELLA LAUGHED at a joke Noah said, the sound of her laugh like the finest music in his ears.

How was it that this girl who was a mere stranger a few months ago had come to mean so much to him? He used to be able to live a day without her occupying a significant portion of his brain, but now he could not imagine not thinking about her everyday. Not thinking about the way she tied her hair in a bun when she was working, or wearing her glasses only during tests and assessments in class. How she wore a necklace but always tucked it into her shirt, a secret for only her to know. He thought  about the way she looked away from people, dodging eye contact like one might dodge the It person in a game of tag. He thought about how she started being able to look him in the eye. And he especially thought about the way her lips felt pressed to his cheek.

How it might feel if they pressed onto his lips.

Noah shot a glance at Ella, and saw her leaning her head back on the seat, eyes closed and mouth in a smile. He loved seeing her happy. Noah's heart broke, he felt in pain, when he remembered how sad and broken she was when she and Jessica stopped being friends. Jessica was a horrible friend and he was glad that Ella wasn't in that toxic friendship anymore, but he had wanted to do everything in his power to make her happy again.

So he introduced her to his friends.

Noah knew that it would take her time to get used to new people, but he had hoped that she would find someone in the group. And since they'd been pestering him about bringing her to meet them, it felt perfect.

He loved his friends, and really liked Ella, and when he saw how seamlessly these two parts of his life got together, he felt like he was on cloud nine. He was glad that she felt comfortable around them, that they embraced her and she opened up a little to them. He saw that she got close to Kelsi, and he only hoped that their friendship continued, for it made Ella very happy.

He also hoped that even if things don't work out between them—for whatever reason—she would at least still have friends, someone to be there for her. To talk to her.

Noah noticed that Ella didn't talk about her feelings, but instead bottled them up. It was not her fault, she didn't have anyone to talk to. He knew how that feels, and it killed him that she was feeling that way. He wanted to do everything he could to make her happy, to ease her pain.

Noah thought he might be falling in love with her.

The thought wasn't a surprise to him. It felt like acknowledging something he already knew. The revelation didn't jar him. He knew he was probably going to end up in this position at some point. How could one not fall in love with Ella? She was perfect, smart and strong and beautiful and flawed. She made him happy and he could only hope that he did the same to her.

They were driving back from Ophelia's swim meet, the girl won every race she was in. Noah swore she was a fish in a past life. "Did you have fun today?" he asked, glancing at Ella before refocusing his attention to the road.

Ella turned her head towards him and smiled, "Yes."

"I'm glad."

After a few moments of silence, in which Noah could feel Ella's gaze on him, she said, "Hey, Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you introduce me to your friends? Was it because you felt sorry for me or some—"

"No," he interrupted her before her thoughts could spiral. "I didn't do it because I felt sorry for you. I don't feel sorry for you. I care about you, and I wanted to make you happy. I thought that maybe introducing you to the others would cheer you up. But I don't want you to feel like they're my friends or whatever, you're part of the group now. They're your friends too," he realized he was babbling and stopped, looked at her, and smiled. "I wanted to make you happy."

Ella shook her head with a small smile. "You're adorable," and after a slight pause, "And thank you for the introduction. I'm lucky to have you all as friends now, as hard as it was to accept."

"It'll get easier with time," his rose Ella slightly at the end, turning his reassuring statement into a question.

"It will."

The rest of the way was spent with them talking and enjoying the warm day. It was already November, the leaves long have changed into browns and reds and oranges and yellows, falling down from the trees like the tears of a heartbroken heart. It hadn't snowed yet though, and Noah was glad. He really didn't want to start wearing his heavy winter jacket and boots.

When Noah finally parked in Ella's driveway, a silence descended on the two. The memory of the last time they'd sat in the car in her driveway came to them both. Noah's mind was whirling, an idea taking root in his brain. They'd almost kissed twice, he told her that he cared for her, he thought she might return the feelings. And he was been thinking about this often. When they'd be eating lunch in the cafeteria or outside on lovely days, he thought about how it would feel like if she sat across from him on a dinner table in a real restaurant, eating deliciously cooked food. He thought it would feel amazing, like a dream that he didn't want to end.

"Do want to go on a date with me?" he blurted out.

Okay, he did not mean to ask her like that. He was going to slowly confess his feelings, give her a compliment, talk. But he ruined it by blurting it out awkwardly.

Great.

To top it off, he couldn't look at her and instead faced straight ahead, as if her metal garage door was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

"Yes," she whispered. Noah's eyes widen and snapped to look at her. She was smiling, and her nose turned red.

Noah noticed that while people usually blush with their cheeks, Ella's nose tip turned red. Like Rudolf. He found it beyond adorable.

"Really?"

She looked up at him with a smile, that slowly turned into a grin as she met his eyes. Her eyes, light hazel, a mixture of greens and yellows and brown, twinkling in the late afternoon sun, almost set him loose and he had to anchor himself to the present or else lose himself in the depth of her eyes.

"Yeah. I would love to go out on a date with you."

Noah couldn't stop the grin that overtook his face and laughed. "It'll be the best date you've ever been on, I promise."

Ella laughed. "It better be."

"Okay, how about next Saturday? God, I wish we didn't have school," he said. He was already thinking of ideas for their day. It had to be special, nothing generic. He would make her feel seen, and appreciated. Loved. But not too much or else he would scare her away.

God, these were the kinds of problems he loved to have.

"Okay, Mr. Romance, I'll leave you to your planning. Talk to you later?" she asked.

Noah nodded eagerly. "Of course."

Noah made sure she got into her house alright before he drove off, the sun setting and his car driving towards it, like the light—Ella—at the end of his dark tunnel.