𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.
We sat on the couch watching The Vampire Diaries (my choice to Noah's dismay), and one of his tattooed arms were wrapped around my shoulders as I shovelled popcorn into my mouth while watching the show intently.
A loud ding rang from my phone—a message from my dad.
"Can you pause the show?" I asked Noah. He nodded, and he unraveled his arm from around me so he could lean slightly to grab the remote from the coffee table next to him along with his monster so he could take a drink.
I clicked on the message and read it.
The message:
"Y/N, your mother is in the hospital again. This may be the end of her fight. I'm sorry." My heart sank. My mother has been fighting cancer for most of her life; she recently felt a lot better, which gave me a sort of relief as I moved away with Noah to live in Virginia.
I sucked in a sharp breath, and Noah read the message as I began to tear up my lip, quivering a bit.
"I'm so sorry, my love." Noah said it in a somber tone. I began to cry at his words. He patted his lap as a silent way of telling me to sit on his lap. I did so and immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck as I sobbed. Noah ran his fingers through my hair and rubbed my back to comfort me. I felt helpless since I was so far away from my mother that I wasn't able to say goodbye, hold her hand, hug my father, or comfort my sister and my little brother. Even if I was able to get back to her, it would be too late.
Noah picked up my tear-stained face, cupping my face in his hand and brushing my stray hairs out of my face and the tears from my eyes with his free hand.
"Tell you what," he said. "How about we get you cleaned up and then get out of this place?"
"And do what?" I choked, trying to catch my breath.
"Anything." He stated. "Go for a walk, get frozen yogurt, go to the movies, go shopping, whatever you want to do." I smiled slightly, then Noah picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bathroom, setting me on the counter. I crossed my legs and spun around to see myself in the mirror. I looked awful, mascara running down my face along with dried tears. I laughed a little,
"Are you sure I can't just go out like this?" I said it jokingly.
"It's up to you, babe, but if I know you at all, I expected you'd want to clean up a bit." Noah said it with a smirk.
I decided to take a shower and chose an outfit of an oversized t-shirt and shorts since it was decently warm outside. I did my hair in french braids, then fixed my mascara and the rest of my makeup.
"There's my pretty girl." Noah said it with a smile once I came back out of the shower. "So, where are we going?"
I picked up my phone and sat on the couch next to Noah.
"I was thinking," I began, though I was focused on tying my shoes. "Maybe we could go get some frozen yogurt; afterwards, we can go to the movies." "Oo! After the movies, we could go eat somewhere."
"Sounds great. Eat where?" Noah asked.
"Hmmm, you choose. I'll eat anywhere."
"How about Chipotle?" He suggested.
"Eh, I was thinking something more pasta-related." I said.
Noah laughed a little. "How about the olive garden?"
"Hmmm, pizza hut is better." I stated it with a smile.
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Noah said it happily.
We headed over to the nearest Sweet Frog to get some frozen yogurt. Noah's hand was placed on my thigh as he drove while we talked and listened to music.
I got every topping I could find and a mixture of some of my favorite flavors of yogurt. Noah stuck some gummy bears and other gummies on top of his yogurt, which was a peculiar combination of flavors, yet when I tried some, it wasn't all that bad.
Next, we went to the movies like we planned; we went to see Scream 6 since it was the only horror movie playing; the other options were Barbie and a movie called Elemental, which Noah didn't care much to watch. Mine and Noah's hands were together in a ball while I ate my M&Ms and drank my coke while Noah ate his milk duds and Pepsi.
Like we planned, lastly we went to the pizza hut and got dinner. The lady who took us to our table recognized Noah almost immediately; she had tattoos on her neck and a sleeve on one of her arms, as well as a bunch of piercings lining her ears. She asked Noah for a picture, which he agreed to. She was quick to serve us and was very nice.
While we waited for our food, we talked. I stared into Noah's loving coffee brown and talked about my mother. I tried my best not to cry, but my eyes watered, and a single tear escaped, and I wiped it away. Noah and I shared a pizza, and afterwards Noah gave me some quarters so I could try the claw machine in the lobby. I failed, and Noah tried and won me a small penguin plushy.
We hadn't planned this, but we decided to go for a walk at the nearby bridge before heading back home. We walked hand in hand, and at the end of the bridge walk, Noah gave me a tight hug and kissed me on the forehead, then on the lips.
"I love you, Y/N." He told me lovingly.
"I love you too, Noah." I replied with a smile.
