Nochelle Oneshots

Broken Part 2

Richelle's Perspective:

"Riche," Noah says.

I look up and see those eyes that I can't get out of my head. "No." I say harshly, curling up into a ball with my head down. I hear mumbling between Noah and Jacquie, and eventually, I hear her leave. Good. But I don't want Noah here either.

He sits beside me, but I don't uncurl myself. I don't want to see him. "Richelle," he says, his tone pleading. But I'm not having it.

I snap my head up to see him. "What, Noah?!" I yell.

"You saw what happened, didn't you?" He asks.

Really, Noah? Is he actually kidding right now? Why else would I be sitting here crying?

He sees my face expression at his words, and figures out the answer himself. "I-I..."

"You what, Noah? Are you going to come up with some elaborate story about how she kissed you and you didn't kiss her, and try to defend yourself? Huh?" I shriek.

"No, I wasn't going to do that." He says gently. "I was going to explain."

"Well, go on then. But it won't make anything better."

Noah's Perspective:

I can see that she's so, so hurt by this. I've never, ever seen her in this state before. Her makeup's smudged and her eyes are glossy, and tears are slowly running down her cheeks. She's curled up with her legs in front of her, and her arms clasped together over top of them so tight that it looks like the only thing that's holding her together. All I want to do is comfort her, but I know that I can't. Because I'm the one who put her through this pain.

Sure, Jacquie kissed me, but I didn't know what was happening. When I realized she was kissing me, I should've pushed her away, but I didn't. This is all my fault.

It isn't helping me to stall, so I'd better just start at the beginning. "Well, it just started as a normal rehearsal, but I could tell that something wasn't right, I just didn't know what. As we started to rub through the dance, she got more and more passionate with her movements, until the moment you walked in. She took me off guard, and kissed me. At first, I didn't know what was happening, then I started to grasp it, then I pulled away."

"How long we're you kissing, Noah?" She asks.

I answer honestly, because I know that's what's best right now. "About 4 seconds."

She tenses, and I bet it's because she's reliving that awful moment. I feel so bad for her, I know that if I was in her position, I would be devastated right now.

"But, Richelle," I say. "It didn't mean anything. The only one that I would ever want to kiss is you, I was thinking of you our whole duet practice, and how excited I was to see you—I read your text before we started. I love you."

"Noah...I can't, I just can't, I can't stop picturing you with her. You hurt me, Noah, this hurt me, more than you could ever know. And I just don't know what to do about it."

"Don't do this to yourself, okay, Riche. Please." I say, almost begging at this point.

"I don't know how to stop doing this to myself, Noah! I never would've imagined that this would've ever happened, but it has, and you can't fix it just by explaining!" She yells.

"I know, Richelle. I'm so, so sorry."

"That's not enough for me." With that, she rushes out, leaving me worrying about her, and us.

Richelle's Perspective:

I can't believe that everything that just happened, happened. Collapsing on my bed, I just start thinking. What does this mean for our relationship? Are we really going to be over after all this time? Do I forgive him? Can I forgive him? I don't know. I don't know at all.

I just keep reliving that one moment, and I can't stop. Even though he apologized, I can't see it any other way. And I just can't trust him. So...do I want us to work?

Tears start running down my face again as I think about the answer. I do want us to work, so, so baldly, but I don't know if we can. I don't know if I can trust him anymore, and I don't know a way for him to earn my trust back.

Suddenly, I hear a knock on my bedroom door. "Richelle, please. You have to listen to me right now." Noah begs.

I want to listen to him, but how can I?
"Noah—"

"Richelle, listen to me, please." I slowly nod, because, deep down, I know that things can't get any worse. And maybe, just maybe, this will do something to change my feelings.

"What happened was a complete mistake. On my part too, I should've never let her kiss me. I'm so sorry, but I'm not going to let it wreck us, okay? I'm not giving up. I'm going to get you to trust me again, and I'm going to do whatever it takes. I'm going to fight for you, because I love you."

Wow. I didn't expect that to come out of his mouth. I'm crying again, but this time, it's happy tears. I simply say "okay," because I'm unsure about saying anything else.

"Okay? You'll let me try?"

"Yes. I'll let you try."

His eyes light up, I can tell this is the reaction he wanted. "I love you too, you know that, right?" I say. "That's the only reason I'm even considering letting you try."

"I don't care if that's the only reason. That's enough."

Author's Note:
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, but I think it's okay. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading my book, love you all!