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Chapter Nine

Opening my eyes just a crack, I glanced at the glaring blue screen of my phone to check the time.

02:24am.

That couldn't possibly have been our buzzer waking me up. Charlotte would have her key and Kris was away for the weekend, so it's not like he'd have been turning up unannounced.

I rolled over and closed my eyes then heard it again, loud and clear this time.

What the hell?

As I rolled out of bed I grabbed an empty prosecco bottle still in my waste bin from the other night and tiptoed into the hallway. The buzzer sounded again; longer this time, piercing through the quiet of the flat at this time of night.

Picking up the receiver, I didn't speak. The voice that came through the other end caught me off guard.

"Abigail? It's Noah. Can I come in?"

I gasped and fumbled with the receiver, almost dropping it before putting it back to my mouth to respond.

"Go away, Noah," I finally whispered. "I've got nothing to say to you. Goodnight."

I had barely hung up the receiver when the buzzer went again, and this time it didn't stop.

"Stop it, you'll wake the whole fucking house up," I hissed down the mouthpiece.

"I think I probably have already, I've been buzzing every flat to find yours."

"Well congratulations, you found me and now it's time to leave. Go back to Vanessa or whoever you've just been with."

"Abigail, please let me explain. I was trying to do something nice for you tonight. I didn't want to leave things the way I did, but I've got shit in my life that I can't control."

After a long pause, his voice was barely audible as he spoke again, sounding defeated.

"I'm so sorry," he sighed, "You're probably better off without me anyway."

As I heard the shuffle of his boots moving to leave, something beyond my control took over and I reached up to press the buzzer, clicking open the lock. A few seconds later there was a gentle knock at the flat door.

Opening it up to see Noah stood there looking like a lost child with his hands in his pockets, I didn't say a word as I let the door swing wide. Turning my back on him, I padded silently into the living room.

Hearing him quietly close the latch, I glanced through the open entrance to Charlotte's room. Her sheets were still immaculately made and there was no sign that she'd been home yet.

Following the direction of my eyes, Noah spoke quietly.

"I saw your flatmate getting on the night bus towards central London with a group of people. Looked like they were pretty set on keeping the party going."

"How did you know she's my flatmate?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"I know more than you think. I haven't been able to get you out of my head since you literally fell into my life the other day."

"Well, if you know that much then you would know that I hate being called Abigail," I snorted. "What's with that anyway, it's like you're doing it just to patronise me?"

"I'm not patronising you," he sighed. "I just think it's a beautiful name and it, I don't know, it just suits you. It's like, classy or something."

His usual cockiness had slipped and given way to a side of Noah I'd not seen in the short few days since meeting him. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him, standing awkwardly in the doorway while I sat on the sofa fiddling with the label on the bottle that I'd picked up as a makeshift weapon.