The Silence Between Us

Snow-Ventures

Chapter 33:

"Does anyone want peppermint sticks or cookies with their hot chocolate?"

I love Mae's mom. Like seriously, she is the best person ever. Not only did she allow a whole bunch of crazy teenagers to play in the snow at her house like idiots, but she also supplied us with her amazing homemade hot chocolate. Yeah, that's right, homemade It doesn't get much better than that.

And now cookies? This woman I swear.

Almost all of us had showed up as soon as we could since we didn't want the snow to pile up before we even got here. It was now falling in thick globs, coating my hair and clothes in the white flakes. There was something so incredibly magical about feeling the soft snow fall, knowing it was transforming the world around you. It was delicate and fragile, and yet, so powerful.

According to Alex, the snow was sticking to the ground at a faster and faster rate, piling on top of the ground. I was getting a tad bit worried. Everyone else was here except for Noah. Was he even going to make it at all? He could've easily changed his mind and chose to stay with his mom instead of risking getting caught at Mae's house in the snow. Was I being selfish for wanting him here instead? Probably. I was a terrible friend.

"Alex." I tugged at the hem of his shirt to get his attention. He bent down to let me know that he was listening. "You think Noah will show up?"

He frowned, thinking for a moment. "Did he say he'd be here on the phone?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then you don't have anything to worry about." Alex slung an arm around me and pulled me closer to him, letting me know that he was there for me. He was always there for me. I let the comforting feeling blossom in my chest for a moment before I let the worry consume me again.

"But Alex..."

"Louisa," He cut me off, not letting me say another word about the matter. "He'll be here. You haven't known him for years like I have.

I nodded absent-mindedly, Alex's responses not satisfying enough to get my mind off of Noah. I found myself worrying instead. Did I overstep his boundaries?

There was a reason why I constantly second guessed myself when it came to Noah nowadays. The more time that passed, the more it felt like the argument with Noah seemed to be all my fault. I knew it wasn't, he was the one who started it anyways by kissing me completely with no warning or any signs. But I was the one who didn't just let him walk away and insisted on trying to explain things when I knew I should've just let things cool down. I was the one who blamed the argument on Noah for being upset about his mom's cancer. I still don't know why I did that. I regret saying it every second.

I always knew it was mostly my fault from the start. But when Noah didn't respond to me after the first couple of days, it really started to sink in. When a week passed, I wondered if it was even worth it anymore to attempt to reach out. Then two weeks passed, and I gave up entirely. The call from Mae's phone was my final attempt. And now that it worked, I couldn't stop thinking about what changed.

Why was Noah finally ready to talk to me? It seemed so sudden that now after that brief moment of absolute relief, I doubted that he would actually follow through with it at all.

Or maybe my natural tendency to worry and overthink everything was coming into play. Probably. Sounds like me.

"You still don't believe me, do you?" Alex's voice sounded next to me, calm, cool, collected. He was always collected and put together. The only times when I heard his voice shake with emotion was when he was alone with me or the times he's seen me bullied by Cora and Shawn. Otherwise, he was as solid as a rock, despite everything.