His Words (bxb)

chapter twenty-seven

Friday, October 16, 2020

✧noah✧

Walking into the pool facility after three weeks of not doing so definitely felt weird. Elijah insisted on picking me up and going together, but I wanted to face this one by myself.

I take a deep breath and extend my shaky arms to open the door. Immediately, the humidity and the smell of chlorine bombards my senses and it feels familiar. I set my stuff down and look around for Elijah to find him warming up with a couple other kids on the other side of the pool. He doesn't seem to notice me.

I make my way over to where Coach Mike is writing the set on the whiteboard. The largest smile anyone has shown me in a while makes its way to his face. "Noah, bud, how are you doing? It's been so long, we missed you here," he says as I approach him.

"I'm doing much better now, thank you. I missed it here, too," I reply shyly, not knowing what else to say.

"I tried going to see you at the hospital but they wouldn't let me. I wanted to make time to visit again, but it's been a little busy with training this smelly lot, planning for the meet and testifying in court-"

"Testifying?" I ask, completely shocked. No one has told me anything about the case since I was transferred to the psych ward.

Coach has a guilty look on his face as he says, "I think it's best to ask Amelie about that one... She is your legal guardian now, right?"

"No, actually. I was put in a foster home with this lovely couple," I explain. Coach finally asks the question I was hoping to avoid.

"How come Amelie didn't? We all assumed she would considering you and Elijah are really close friends?" he says with genuine curiosity. I don't blame the man. I catch myself picking at the skin on my fingers again and put them in my pockets to avoid harming myself.

"Um, with Elijah being my boyfriend, Amelie wasn't allowed to be the one to take me in... actually," I respond nervously. The silence that follows doesn't make it any better. I finally look up to find Coach staring at me, then turning to where Elijah is warming up and staring at him for a moment, before turning back to me.

"I'm sorry, Noah," he starts and I get nervous, "but those are the least two compatible names to make a ship name with. How do you even- Nojah? Eloah? Nelijah?" A large sigh of relief escapes my body and my whole body releases tension at my coach's words. Soon, both of us are laughing our asses off.

When the laughter dies down, Coach Mike looks at me with a more serious look. "Why didn't you tell me, Noah? I mean, you told me about the eating and the sleeping, but why didn't you- Actually, no," he cuts himself off immediately. "It was all there, I was just too blind and careless to see it. You shouldn't have to tell me, I should have been able to see through all your bullshit stories about tripping down the stairs and bumping into doorknobs. So, I guess I owe you an apology, Noah. For not being a good enough adult in your life and not helping you when you were crying out for it," he says in a solemn and apologetic tone.

Again, I am left in an awkward position. "Don't blame yourself, Coach. You were one of the few people who knew that I was dealing with any issues at all and you really were there for me and pushing me to do better and be better when no one else was," I say with a shaky voice as I try not to cry. "Thank you, Coach."

"If you ever need anything, Noah, I am here. I know you also have Amelie and your foster parents for support now, but that doesn't mean that I am here for you any less, yeah?" I nod my head. I see Coach hesitate as he approaches me to give me a hug, but I don't try to convince myself that I'm fine with it. Instead, Coach just gives me a pat on the shoulder and a large smile. "I can see your boyfriend is getting a little nervous. You should start warming up with the rest, we get in the water in ten. We're tapering this week and next, so just... take it easy and don't push yourself too hard. You'll get back into it in a week or two," he assures me and I nod. I am about to make my way back to where the rest of the squad is doing their pre-water before coach adds, "I have my eyes on you and Elijah. No funny business, eh?" I blush as I make my way over to my peers.