Keep Your Shirt On, Noah 3

(Cable) Tied To You

Noah opened his eyes slowly. His head was pounding, and his vision was slightly blurry. He slowly looked around the room, taking in the pale-yellow walls that the paint was peeling from, and the cold, burgundy pipes that went across the ceiling. There were indents in the wall that needed filling in and the floor was damp in some places, making the room even colder. Noah then looked in the corner of the room, where he saw Piper lying on Richelle's lap, while she sat up against the wall. They were both asleep, and Piper had Richelle's jacket on, which meant Richelle's arms were exposed for Noah to see. They were bruised from where she had been grabbed and it made him feel sick with guilt. Noah took a breath and tried to comprehend the whole situation, but he couldn't remember anything after hearing the girls shout his name.

Even though his body still ached, Noah attempted to crawl over to the girls. He leant forward, but his hands wouldn't come to help him. He fell on his chest straight away and had to turn his head to the side to stop himself faceplanting. He winded himself and coughed for air, at the same time as trying to work out what had just happened. He moved his hands to try and get himself up but realised that was the problem. His hands were tied together.

His coughing and struggling had awoken Richelle, and her eyes flicked open attentively. She had recharged and was ready to take on whoever or whatever it was that had awoken her. She looked down at Noah's body moving and sighed in relief, feeling the butterflies in her stomach coming back to life and fluttering. She watched him attempting to free his hands, and get himself up, but he was just grunting and hurting himself even more. 

Richelle cleared her throat, which got his attention, and he flicked his head up. They smiled at each other but he saw her trying to hold back laughter as she watched him wriggling about like a worm. "I'm trying, leave me alone," He light heartedly told her, and wincing, pushed himself up one more time. Noah fell onto his behind and exhaled, "God that hurt."

Richelle looked concerned, "Are you okay?"

Noah nodded, but the silence that followed gave him time to think. He sighed, "I'm so sorry. We should've just gone home."

Richelle shook her head, "It's not your fault."

He looked at her, angry at himself, "No, it is. You said it was dangerous."

Richelle sighed, "Noah, it is fine." Having him regretting things wasn't going to fix anything. They needed to focus on the present. Richelle tipped her head back and sighed, "I wish I'd brought my dance bag..."

Noah squinted, "Why? You want to practise pirouettes on this cement floor? You'll crack your head open."

Richelle stuck her tongue out, "No stupid. My phone is in there." Noah nodded. "There's also a lot of hair grips, scissors, and loads of stuff that would probably be useful." She pointed at him, "I'd be able to cut the cable ties on your wrists for a start."

Noah moved his wrists around again and now that he knew what it was keeping them together, he felt a little more in control of the situation. "It's fine." He took a breath and chuckled, "Hey Richelle?" She looked at him with interest, hoping he'd have an idea to get them out of here. Instead, Noah wiggled his shoulders and leant forward, showing his cable tied wrists as he sang, "Baby I've been tied to you..."  He laughed at himself, but Richelle remained unamused at the pun he had made. Tied to You wasn't even a song she wanted to think of right now, because it was a classic that The Next Step used for duet dances. 

Noah picked up on Richelle's silence and went back to serious conversation, "Do you even know where we are?" Noah looked around the room again, thinking that its appearance might actually be getting worse as time went on. Pieces of the wall were crumbling off and Noah could feel his jeans sticking to him because they were so damp.