All The Lonely People

Chapter Seven

Noah and I walked towards the house that Alex told us to go to. I was full of nerves. I didn't know what to expect. Noah interrupted my thoughts.

"Did you hear what those girls said when they thought we couldn't hear them, Bear?" He said with a smile on his lips. His soft lips. NO STOP IT, I told myself.

"I did." I responded simply.

"Annnndd?" He said, obviously trying to annoy me.

"Noah---" I started, sounding patronizing.

"Oh common! It was---"

"For the love of all that is Pete. Stop. Talking. Now" I said slowly with my teeth gritted. Noah pressed his lips together tightly with a small smirk on his face.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. We approached the house's porch and I knocked on the door. We heard a deadbolt unlocking. The door opened a crack and through the one crack I could see one eye. The one eye I knew so well. A perfect, brilliant green eye. Shining in the sun. The door widened just enough for us to get through the door. I looked behind the door to see the person I'd been missing. The person who carried a half of my heart.

He was here.

Alex's eyes brightened with his smile. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into him, which caught me off guard. Then he kissed me. I was so sudden but I didn't stop him. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him back. All that was going through my head was his name. Alex, Alex, Alex. I heard Noah clear his throat behind us. Alex broke away, leaving me breathless, and looked surprised to see Noah standing in his living room.

"Oh hi, yeah I'm here. I know, I know it's weird that I just teleported here. I definitely didn't drive Bear here." He said. He looked like making a joke was the only thing that could begin to make him feel better about Alex just kissing me. His eyes bore into Alex's with a look of protection. Alex glared back at him with the same protectiveness in his eyes.

"You aren't supposed to be here." He spoke for the first time since we got there with a groan in his voice. "Only Darcy is."

"Oh, sorry for the inconvenience." Noah said with a growl in his throat. I realized that my arms were still around Alex. I pulled my arms back, my cheeks flushed.

"Alex, what the heck is going on?" I asked. Both guys' eyes turned to me and both of them softened. My cheeks went a deeper shade of red.

"Ok, so I need to tell you guys something and I need you both to sit down." Alex said, still looking at me. He gestured to the sofa in the corner of the room I hadn't noticed before. Noah and I walked over to the sofa. I sat down first, closest to the window on the wall. Noah sat by me and rested his arm behind my back. He was so close that our legs were touching. Alex saw this and frowned. He started pacing as if to contemplate how to tell us something.

"So, I'll just get straight to the point. I'm an undercover CIA agent." My eyes widened, looking at the beautiful eighteen year old boy in disbelief. I knew it was true, but how? Noah's hand rose to the small of my back as if to keep me steady.

"You're. Eighteen?" I said the first thing that popped into my head. He looked nervous.

"See, I had to go into a high school and pretend I was younger than I actually am. I'm actually---" he gulped, yes actual gulpage, "twenty-two." I always knew there was something different about it, but also now that I truly thought about it, he never directly told me his age.

I felt like I was going to pass out but Noah was there to steady me. Alex went on with his story.

"I was assigned to Florida and to go undercover because it was believed that our country's most notorious art thieves live there. We knew they were in the area near your school so I posed as a teenager. I lived with my parents, who were CIA before they retired. I went to high school during the day. I needed to follow a subject. It was you and Darcy, Noah. I was to follow you because your parents are art thieves."

Truth. I gasped. Noah laughed.

"You aren't serious." He laughed. "This is the world's most well executed joke. I'll give you that at least." He laughed again, but it sounded hollow. Alex's face was stone. "You're not kidding." Noah said, looking to me for confirmation that this was a big joke that I was in on.

"Nope."

Noah's face went back to looking like he would kill Alex. "Go on---" He said. Alex did just that.

"Noah, your parents are always traveling, yes?" Noah nodded as an answer to this question. "But you can never say just where they are? They are old fashioned and don't carry cell phones? They never talk about their work?" Alex said this all retorecally but Noah still nodded. "About a month into the operation, I saw that you and Darcy were friends. I had all of my classes with Darcy so I got close to her, hoping to get close to you, Noah. I was trying to get her to be a CIA agent as we don't have anyone like her. She is literally a human lie detector. The problem with that," he paused and breathed in", is that I fell deeply in love with her. It was hard to get close to you while we were dating." He paused to look at us to see if Noah and I were following what he was saying.

"Eight months into the operation, I was going overtime. I was behind on my deadline. That was when I was found out by your parents, Noah. I had to break up with Darcy so I wouldn't put her in danger and then I had to leave quickly. But of course, your parents found out about Darcy." He ran his hand through his blonde hair. "You were being targeted, Darcy. I had to find a way to get you safe, so I left a riddle I knew you could figure out. I was waiting for you in New York when I found out I was being followed, so I left that note in the church, and tried to get Noah's parents' goons off of my trail. So I came here. A safe place for now. I need you two to stay with me now, or you'll most likely be killed." He said darkly.

Noah was staring at Alex. His mouth was ajar.

"Ok, so let me get this straight, you are a CIA agent. My parents are evil. My parents' goons were shooting at me and Darcy three days ago. We might die. Oh and you are four years older than both of us but 'oh it's ok i'll just date an eighteen year old who's best friend obviously likes her.'" Noah said it in mockery of Alex's voice. But I barely noticed. I just gasped. He liked me.

Noah Bladen said it outloud. And I couldn't help but feel the same way about him. But I loved Alex. Right? My head started to hurt and I felt a pounding headache on the verge of breaking through. There was too much information in my head. Too much too fast. I cried out and stood up. But I stood too fast, the world around me was spinning.

"Darce?" I heard Noah's concerned voice.

Then I started falling. Everything went black. The last thing I remembered was the hard, warm arms of Noah catching me before I hit the ground.