Until My Heartbeat Stops

Insomnia

5 minutes.

5 minutes before Dixie is finally granted the courage mustered so deep inside of her to knock on Noah's door.

Again.

She didn't want to be "that girl." But to her surprise, her door was locked, perks of her forgetting her keys. She had just come back from the lobby, in hopes the amiable lady at the desk would have a spear for her but coming back empty-handed as the key was "out of stock." Whatever the hell that meant she had nowhere to sleep. Hence being in front of Noah's door-knocking gently trying not to wake him. Dixie found herself hoping for him not to answer but of course... he did.

"Well hello again."

He says sarcastically. "Hey so um.....funny story I kinda like I don't know forgot my keys and I went downstairs to see if you know they like had a spear and apparently they were out and so I have nowhere to—" Noah stops her ramble with his hand holding it in front of her face as an indication to politely "shut the fuck up." Noah smiled again and then...

He laughed.

Giggled.

He laughed as if she had said something funny as if the aftermath of her embarrassment was amusing. She frowned not being able to directly identify the communal part of her rant. Noah stopped laughing realizing he wasn't helping and then moved out of the doorframe gesturing for Dixie to walk in. She didn't think he would actually let her in, his actions were quite appealing to Dixie. He walked with her to his bedroom which had the same dimensions and layouts as dixies but was different. The bedroom was so full it was empty.

There are two bookshelves against the wall on the far end of the room. Stacked head to toe with books from medical school, though some seemed as though they could be there for pleasure reading. His bed was huge sitting in between the bookshelves nicely. The dark blue covers placed peacefully on top. There were a lot more pillows than she had initially anticipated.

"You can sleep on the bed."

He says with a loud whisper. Noah was standing way closer to Dixie than even she knew. Noah's breath could be heard through his words, she could feel the heat course down the back of her neck. "Okay," Dixie replied in the husky loud whisper Noah had asked in, with an attempt to meet his demeanor. Noah smiled and turned to walk out.

"Wait."

Dixie stopped him with the sound of her voice. He made no attempt to turn around but seemed to be intrigued by her enough to pay attention. "Where are you sleeping?" Dixie's voice softened, losing the husk and volume as she finished her sentence."I'm gonna sleep on the couch." "What no, this is your apartment I can sleep on the couch." A form of vulnerability releases in his features. "No you can sleep on the bed, I don't mind." "Well, I do." "Dixie I'm serious, it's okay I can sleep on the couch."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You 100% sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"No."

"Wait really!" "No look Dixie, it's okay, I promise." "Okay." Dixie smiled and turned back to the bed. She pulled herself under the covers and Noah watched in amusement. Noah turns off the lights. Partly because it was time for bed and partly because he didn't want Dixie to see his face at the moment. "Goodnight Noah." Noah smiled at the sound of her voice.

"Goodnight Dixie." And he shut the door.