The Stepbrother - Noah Centineo (COMPLETED)

I have never met anyone quite like you.

Arielle's PoV

"You're pretty cut up." I began to dab the blood away from his cheeks. What even led to this? How is it that he's here and in this state. I've never seen him this bad after my other times of cleaning him up.
"I got jumped after you left." He finally spoke up after what felt like forever of silence.
"By Jude?" I asked and he nodded.

I bit down on my bottom lip, taking a closer look at the three cuts on his face. One on the eyebrow, that never seemed to stop bleeding, one on his perfectly plump lips and another on his right cheek. He's lucky they're not too deep. The eyebrow one will definitely scar though. That's when the images of Jude smashing Noah's precious little face into the wall popped into my head, making me feel sick to the stomach. That was awful to watch. I hated every single second.

"You believe me, right?" My voice was quiet as I looked through the cupboard for the first aid kit. I know it's in here somewhere.
He stayed silent so I turned around to look at him. His hands were in his lap as he sat on the breakfast bar stool, picking at the skin around his nails.
"Noah." I gulped. Maybe I should just stop talking. It will make all of this a hell of a lot easier.
"You believe me... that I didn't sleep with Jude." I stepped closer to him. His eyes stayed locked down to his hands.
"I'll admit that I was seeing him. But that was way before I liked you." I have to tell him everything that happened between Jude and I otherwise I'm not too sure if he'll believe me or not.
"It wasn't too long after I met you and Kelly that I met Jude. He was actually really sweet at first, never sent me any sort of red flags. Just before Christmas we went out-" I started but Noah cut me off.
"You went on a date with him?" He tensed.
"Will you just listen to me." I sighed. He didn't say anything other than small 'mhm'.
"Then after that he was so persistent that we went back to his because he had the house to himself. Me being stupid, I didn't think anything of it so we went back to his. We were there all for about five minutes until he tried it on with me." The thought alone sent goosebumps down my spine.
"Did- did he touch you?" Noah's voice was full of worry and anger towards Jude.
"No." I shook my head.
"Although he probably would have done if I didn't know any sort of self defence." I turned away from Noah's shocked stare to pour myself a drink.
"I'm going to fucking kill him." He stood up from the stool but I placed the glass back down on the counter top and stopped him.
"Don't." I shook my head.
"Just stop." I sighed.
"Violence can't always be your solution." He sat back down on the stool and I went back to looking for the first aid kit. Ahhh found it.

"I swear to you, if I ever see his face again, he's done for." Noah looked at me sternly as I opened up the box.
"Why were you even hanging out with him tonight anyway? With her?" I asked, talking about Ellie.
"I needed a distraction." He shrugged his shoulders.
"And your idea of a distraction is drugs and slags?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"I didn't do anything with her if that's what you're hinting at." He huffed, running a hand through his hair. Gross, he really needs a shower to wash all the blood out of it. He may even have a small cut on his head somewhere.
"What were you doing at the club, thought you didn't like that type of thing." Now it was his turn to question me.
"I needed a distraction." I mocked his previous word, soaking a flannel with some rubbing alcohol. He's going to hate this part.

Noah winced, pulling back as I placed the antiseptic flannel against his face cuts, making sure I had cleaned them properly. The last thing he wants is for them to become infected. He's going to have a fun time explaining this to our parents in the morning.
I then moved to his knuckles, wiping them clean from blood and wrapping them in some bandage. The cuts on them weren't so deep so they'll hopefully heal in no time.

"You may want to wash your hair." I told him as I put everything away, taking a sip from my glass of water.
"How am I supposed to do that now?" He asked, holding up his bandaged hands up at me. Good point.
"Just lean over the sink quickly." I sighed. I'm tired and I'd really like my bed. I'm still pretty angry at Noah for what he did tonight.

He jumped down off of the stool, slowly making his way over to me. Just as I went to put the tap on, he placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. 
"I'm sorry, okay?" His eyes darted between my own.
"I have never met anyone quite like you." He spoke softly.
"I've never had to deal with a breakup that wasn't on my terms, especially not with someone who I love and care about so much." He brought a hand up to my cheek, caressing it gently with his thumb. I nearly melted into his touch but I had to stop myself. This is exactly what we need to not be doing yet here we are.
"I thought you hate me." I'm being childish, I know.
"You know I didn't mean that." He sighed, his eyes never leaving my own.
"Just like you didn't mean it when you repetitively said it earlier." He tucked my hair behind my ear. Who's to say I didn't mean it? No. That's mean. Of course I didn't mean it and he clearly knows that.
"I just don't know how I'm going to cope, knowing that I can't touch you. Knowing that I can't kiss you, hold you." He mumbled.
"But I'm just going to have to learn, you've made up your mind and I know you won't change it because I know how much your dad means to you. I have enough respect for the man to let him have his happiness so I'm willing to sacrifice mine too." His words stung a little but it's exactly what I said to him. I have hurt him badly but it's what needs to be done.
"I love you, Arielle. I'll love you for as long as I live. This is going to be hard but I promise to give you space." He slowly removed his hand from my cheek, sliding it down my arm before stopping at my hand.

'You know, sometimes the best way to stay close to someone you love is just by being friends, even if it hurts'. Williams words rang through my head.

"Please don't give me space." My voice cracked. Noah furrowed his eyebrows, obviously confused.
"What do you want then, baby?" I want you goddamnit, I want you.
"Can we be friends?" I laced my fingers with his own.
"Friends? We're not five, Arielle." He laughed a little.
"No, I just... I don't want to lose you." I spoke weakly.
"Lose me? You could never lose me." He shook his head.
"We literally live in the same house." I know he's trying to make me laugh but I just can't. I need to know that we won't go back to hating each other.
"Noah-" I sighed.
"I don't want things to be awkward between us." I pursed my lips.
"I'll try my hardest, I promise you." He nodded his head, leaning forward and pecking my nose.

Man, all I want to do right now is pull our lips together and scream to the world that he's mine but I can't.

I hate myself for doing this to us.