Her Abyss | Completed

Thirteen

Mom came back around again. She claimed that the California air made her sick and that my father should finish his business here soon. She wanted to go back to Scotland and he would follow her to the ends of the Earth.

Noah overheard this and spent even longer hours along the sandy coast with his friends. He was eleven years younger than me and still had seven years to cope with their bullshit.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn't protect him from New York so he would have to learn how to defend himself. My cold exterior became useful when it came to the abruptness in which we moved cities, states, and countries. Because even though it was still complete bullshit, it only sparked my fire to go to Juilliard even more.

So when Noah came home a little after dark, Dad lost his shit. He grabbed my brother by his shirt and sat him at the kitchen table.

"You think you can do whatever you want Noah? That's not how this works here. You're supposed to be back by six and no later. What time is it right now?" His voice carried over the entire house.

The next thing he did was slam the palm of his hand against the table and raised his already loud voice to a much more pissed off and further enraged one,
"Answer me when I'm talking to you goddamnit!"

Noah didn't do well with yelling. He just stared at the wall ahead, stone cold. In fact, I'd never seen my brother so pale before. The rest of the words my father decided to say were only to get a reaction out of my already, trembling brother and when he didn't get what he wanted, it was bad.

So I scooped Noah up and grabbed his shoes and farted out of the front door. He was silent and still shaking like a wet dog. No matter how many times I asked him what was wrong, he remained this way.

That was when London pulled up in her truck and proved herself to be more of an angel than I originally thought. Because as I drove, she sat in the backseat and managed to win my brother over with an endless supply of American candies and I stole glances at them as I drove us to her house.

She didn't live far from us, only a few houses down along the coast. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to get Noah curled up against the game room floor breathing lightly as he slept. He was in between us and I caressed his beautiful soft brown hair. The movie was some cartoon that was complete rubbish and London teased me lightly about how I resembled the main character.

We laid on our sides facing each other and even though Noah was bundled up in between us, it was still intimate. The manner in which her beautiful eyes fell upon mine with a gaze that seemed to say so many things at once. It was one of my favorite ways to spend time with her, memorizing everything that wasn't there yesterday in those greenish-brown eyes.

London pursed her lips, "What am I going to do when you leave me?"

The pessimist in me had already answered this question but I didn't want to hear it so I pushed it to the back of my mind. The pain that filled my chest when I thought about not touching London's hair or the dips of her waist or the warmth of her mouth against mine was absolutely surreal.

We had a few weeks left before I needed to be on campus and it was ever so odd to imagine myself walking the streets of New York. Where the people didn't smile at you, didn't strike up conversations, and didn't light up the entire world like London did.

So, maybe she only lit up mine.

"I don't know American, I don't know." I studied her features, how unreadable they were and for some reason I held my breath as she stared at me.

Finally, a grin covered her cherry coloured lips and London leaned into me, "They're gonna love you out there, the same way that you're loved down here."

I raised a brow, "And who loves me down here? Besides the obvious American?"

She blushed but didn't look away from me. Her hair was spilling over her shoulders and I was simply too far to tuck a few strands behind her ear. London parted her lips slowly, "Well Owen adores you and so does Lance. And me? I think you're pretty decent Victoria."

I let my mouth fall open in awe. Ever so carefully I crawled over Noah and gently straddled my girlfriend's waist. I leaned down towards her mouth and whispered, "There's no way in hell that you think I'm just decent American."

London kept a straight phase and her features bored into mine, "Does that hurt your pessimistic ego?"

And then I was laughing lightly, resting my forehead against hers, "Yes it does. Now kiss me like I'm decent and nothing more."

London pulled me close to her until there was no longer any space between us. The warmth of her palms against my face didn't make me feel like I was decent at all. When we were together, I felt like I was on top of the world. Her lips moved against mine painfully slow as if she was trying to savor every moment and I let her take control.

She flipped us over to where her body was on top of mine and I was so tempted to unbutton her shirt and run my fingertips across her bare skin. Noah kept our kiss somewhat PG because knowing us, things could escalate just that quickly.

I pulled away from her breathlessly, "You do not think I'm decent."

London grinned at me and pressed her lips against my cheek, "You're right. I think you're more than just decent and I love the way I feel when you're around."

My heart desperately thumped beneath my chest and I knew what she wasn't saying. Three short words that would make me consider staying even more. Because the thought of staying here with London seemed more appealing as the days carried on.

"You are such a tease American."