Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 35

LIGHT

It was now June, meaning four months without Harry had passed before Noah knew it.

The saying that time heals all wounds wasn't entirely accurate. Time certainly dulled the ache, but it never fully went away.

Noah missed Harry, of course she did, but after four months without a single word from him, she was slowly getting used to life without him. Well, maybe "getting used to" wasn't the right phrase to use. She was learning to live without him.

It was apparent to Noah that moping around forever wasn't going to make anything better. She hated feeling like a burden to her friends by being upset all the time, so she slowly tried to bring her usual joyous self back. Slowly but surely, it was kind of working. Noah still wasn't completely who she used to be, but at least she was in a better place than before.

On one Saturday night, Noah was sitting on the couch in her living room, finding ways to occupy herself on her laptop while a certain playlist made by a certain somebody played in the background. She wasn't sure why she was torturing herself with the playlist, but it somehow calmed her to listen to a playlist full of songs that made Harry think of her.

The first time that Noah listened to the playlist after Harry left, she found herself crying with nearly every song. She could hardly handle imagining Harry sitting in his living room, working out in the gym, or going on a run around his neighborhood as he listened to music, getting reminded of Noah by certain songs that came on.

Harry was so much more romantic than he led on. Probably even more romantic than he even thought. Now that Noah knew that Harry loved her, all of the songs on the playlist carried a lot more weight than before.

"You Make Loving Fun" by Fleetwood Mac, "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner, "Love Of My Life" by Queen, and so many other songs showed Harry's true feelings of pure adoration for Noah.

The playlist reminded Noah of just how much she missed Harry.

As the months went by, though, the playlist got easier and easier to listen to. It still reminded her of Harry and made her miss him, but she also found it to be a way to stay connected to him. The playlist was a direct look inside of his brain, so she listened to it whenever she wanted to feel closer to him.

That was exactly why she was listening to it on that exact Saturday night.

Colette walked out of her room, finishing fastening her earring onto her ear as her heels clicked across the floor. Once she saw Noah on the couch, she asked, "you sure you don't want to come out with us? Last chance to change your mind."

A slight smile formed on Noah's lips as she glanced up from her laptop at Colette and responded with, "yeah, I'm sure. I have to be up early to help Faye with her booth in the morning anyway."

The somewhat disappointed sigh was obvious just before Colette said, "we don't have to stay out too late. Besides, Deon's friend, Isaiah, is going to be there. I think you'd really like him."

For the past month, Colette had been trying to get Noah to take that step to move forward by going on a date with someone else. Of course, Noah wanted no part of that, and she made it obvious every time it was brought up. Noah was beginning to get kind of offended, to be honest, because she was literally in love with Harry and Colette was acting as if their relationship was easy to move on from only four months later.

"I already told you I'm not interested in seeing anyone, Colette."

Colette's shoulders slumped as she released another sigh, subsequently saying, "I think it would be helpful for you to get out a bit, babe. That's all. Besides, you don't even have to be pressured to talk with him or anything. Just come out and have some fun with us for a bit."