The Tragedies of Chemistry

Chapter 20- A Moment Longer

Charlie's POV.

The next morning Noah woke me up before anybody else was awake.
"I want to show you something" He said. He gave me his sweater and together we went out on the balcony of his room and climbed onto the roof. The sky was a deep blue and shades of orange were just glazing the horizon.
"Why are we here?" I asked. "It's freezing."
"I know but I come out here every morning and today I didn't feel like coming out here alone. Today I wanted to share it with someone.. Not someone. You."
I looked at his silver green eyes that looked more green at the moment. All I did was form a smile.
"I don't want to depress you or start the morning off with a sad story but, when my brother died," He said, "I didn't know what to do. My parents were busy with their careers and didn't pay much attention to me. JJ practically raised me. Taught me how to ride a bike, pitch my first baseball, taught me through fractions, how to kiss a girl, he even taught me how to shave. He was the only family I ever knew and he.. he left me alone."
No tears were falling but I know how sometimes pain can dull you rather than bring out emotions. I locked my arm with his for comfort and he smiled at me.
"I was so angry at first because I didn't know why. I still don't. I didn't understand how he always looked so happy around me but was hurting inside. I hated that he didn't tell me what was wrong or that he was even thinking of doing something like that. But I hated myself for not noticing. And I think my parents did too. If they were distant before, now they felt even more like strangers. So I started to come up here before everyone else and watch the sunrise. JJ used to say 'It's a bad day, not a bad life Noah. The sun will still come up tomorrow.'"
My heart ached for the boy that missed his brother. I wished there was something I could've done to make him feel as if he wasn't so alone. But all I knew how to do was hold his hand.
"The night that he passed away, I never wanted the sun to come up. I didn't want to think that there were going to be days where he didn't exist anymore."
Tears pooled at my eyes and I rested my head against his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Noah. I don't want you to feel alone anymore." I croaked.
He pulled away and looked at me with nothing but peace on his face. "I don't. At least not now.  Not anymore."
He grazed his thumb against my cheek to wipe the tear and my heart soared. I hadn't cared so much about a boy. Not like this. If this was a crush, then I knew it was in full motion. And I knew that it wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.
"Thank you for bringing me here." I said.
"Thank you for coming, really. I mean it. I never felt like I could talk about JJ with anyone except Andy. And I know Andy would've hated if I woke her up this early."
We both laughed and my heart warmed.
"You've been nothing but a great friend to me." He added. My heart wilted but I wasn't going to let that bring down such a beautiful moment. Together we saw the sun rise and the day begin.
He helped me climb down the roof and I helped him clean up his house. Noah and Maya came downstairs and cooked French toast as they talked amongst themselves. I sat at the table with Andy drinking a cup of orange juice when she whispered, "How come you never told me you liked Noah?"
I swallowed. "Uh, because it's not true?"
"Of course it's true, I knew it was the moment I saw you lay eyes on him."
"What the heck? How?"
"Because I've never seen you look at anyone like that, ever. Not even Javier Manuel, the hot foreign exchange student of sophomore year. He had such a crush on you and you completely turned him down!"
"That's because I didn't know a word of Spanish!"
"Anyways, that's beside the point," She said, "The point is that I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him. I'm just sad that you didn't tell me."
"It's not that I didn't want to," I confessed, "It's just that I've seen the way you act around him. He means an awful lot to you. I didn't want you to think I was trying to take him away from you."
She waved it off, "You know me. I love a boys attention but what matters most is that my bestfriend is happy."
I groaned, "Oh god, you make it sound like we're dating."
"Well don't you want to be?"
"No! Yes! Maybe? I don't know." I said, "Everything is just too complicated right now."
We suddenly heard the door open and close. Noah turned back towards and asked, "Who's that?"
We heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen when a woman stepped out.
"Oh no," Andy whispered, "She's back."
"Hi mom!" Noah said, "What are you doing here so early?"
"I decided to get an early flight so I could surprise you and take you out to breakfast," She said as she put her luggage, "But I can see you already ate."
"My friends stayed here last night with me studying," He said.
"That's nice of all of you," She scanned the room and her eyes laid on Andy. "Andrea? Is that you?" Andy's eyes widened and she got up as fast as lightning, "Come on Maya and Charlie. I'll take you guys home. I think we should let Noah catch up with his mom."
Noah's face saddened as he watched me leave so soon but Andy rushed out the door before we could protest.