Bittersweet // Complete

26.

Chapter 26

When Noah returned to the room, he looked visibly confused to see me sprawled on the carpeted floor instead, texting away with my legs raised in the air.

"Your bed was making me drowsy," I complained, bringing my legs back on the ground. Noah took off his shirt and pants, taking a seat against the bed.

"What were we talking about?"

"LSATs," I prompted him.

Noah rolled his eyes, "My dad wanted me to take over the Sterling name, you know? And I majorly let him down by taking another profession."

"But if your heart's not in it, you would never make a good lawyer."

Noah laughed bitterly, "I took every mock LSAT paper there is last year. Never scored below a 176."

I only knew this from watching Suits that it was so perfectly close to a perfect score, "Damn. Why not law then?"

"Remember, I told you my mom never fought for my custody?" I nodded, "She never told me, I just found out when I was clearing out some of my dad's old files. She had deleted some incriminating evidence for one of my father's clients, as per his request. And my dad threatened to sue her to the ground if she ever tried to take his bloodline away from him."

I sat up straight, horrified. I mean, I knew William Sterling was a hard asshole anyway, but this was outrageous.

"I had to do anything to get away from that man, the more I worked for him the more I realised how shady his entire history is. I couldn't continue that anymore."

Noah's fists were clenched as he tried to shake off the anger I could see on his face. Feeling a surge of sympathy, I reached out to hold his hand, but he surprised me by pulling me closer, until he was resting his head on my shoulder.

"I hate that all of this was happening right under my nose, but I was too mad to care. I was so absorbed in my hate for her that I never saw him for the monster he was."

"It's not your fault," I comforted him, rubbing small circles on his back. Noah took some time, breathing in deeply before exhaling sharply. His nose was pressed on my shoulder till his breathing calmed down. He sat straighter, pulling me closer to him, "I've never told anyone else about this."

"You can count on me to keep a secret," I kissed his cheek. Seeing him distressed was making my heart sink, so I pressed another kiss on his cheek, glad to see the frown on his face disappear.

Feeling brave, I released my hand from his, shuffling around till I was straddling him. Noah let out an appreciative hum when I hugged him tight, his grip on my waist pulling me closer and closer still as he calmed his anger down slowly. I dropped kisses on his forehead and his nose occasionally when he looked up, whispered sweet nothings to him, rubbed his back. The guilt he felt for his mother was weighing heavily on him, and I could feel the tension roll off of him in waves.

He took a while before he sighed, relaxing his tense muscles, and I could see what a world of difference it made to him. Even small little things like his jaw loosening up showed me just how mad he was; the difference was stark. Hoisting me by the waist, he stood up, moving to the bed, "Enough about sad things, I think I can see my happy ending after all."

My heart was ready to burst. Even if the statement was heavy, and I was sure Noah didn't mean it with the full weight of his words, I was happy, for now. Noah all but threw us on the softness of the bed, making me bounce once before settling in finally into the softness of the sheets. Damn rich people and their silky soft sheets. He was half on top of me, but I didn't mind it at all. His warmth was welcome, his touch was appreciated, his kisses were addictive.