SKAM- William & Noora

Part 10:The Past

William was practically drowning in relief. His hand was clenched tightly in Noora's and her head was resting on his shoulder. Every time the plane jostled, her grip would tighten and she'd whisper "I'm safe" under her breath. Thinking back to the airport and how scared he was that he might not be able to find her in time, the sight of her brown over-sized sweater and shimmering blonde locks that she nervously played with, was enough to weaken his knees.

After the hug, he'd gone straight home, took a heated shower, shaved, packed his bag and after calling his Dad, was on the next flight out, back to London. He'd spent two weeks tying up loose ends, spending the majority of his time in the office. His heart was empty, for once it wasn't filled with rage or hatred and that was all because of Noora. He'd left her behind without even letting her know about his return and he was sure this would come back to bite his ass in the near future. His dad was surprised, to say the least, seeing him living out his life in the four walls of his office with take out food containers filling up the dustbins. 

To be honest, even William was surprised. He'd never known what determination and focus was. After Amalie died, he seemed to drift through life. He grew  thick skin, concentrated on studies enough to make the pass grade and partied hard. The motions of everyday was no longer exciting, but monotonous. Chilling with the Penetrators, fucking girls and picking up fights was a poor attempt at trying to get back the old William. He knew was becoming jaded and a cynical bastard but he genuinely couldn't or rather, didn't give a fuck.

That's exactly who he'd become when Noora had left. A raging, hateful, vile piece of shit. And look where that had gotten him. Losing his best friend, his girlfriend, his....everything because of his own stupidity. The signs were all there, right in  front of his fucking eyes. But did he acknowledge them? No. He ignored them. Ignored Noora. Carelessly put aside her worries. Became so engrossed in proving himself to his father that he didn't think twice about jeopardizing his love life. The one person who was there beside him through it all, accepted him for the mess that he was, he set aside like a mindless object. 

Fuck! Some would say he even deserved whatever happened to him and William would agree. 100%. But that didn't make Noora feel better. No self-pity could take back the hurt she'd had to suffer at his hands. The fragility to his Noora that came as a by-product to his assholery would never be able to justify that. So he needed to show her how he felt. Grovel at her feet to give him a second chance. It's a miracle she hasn't run out of them yet, where he was concerned, at least.      

He was a firm believer of "Actions speak louder than words" and knew it was the only way he'd have even a minuscule chance at winning her back. But for that he couldn't have work shadowing his every step, reminding him of his urgency, the ticking bomb, back in London and for that explicit reason he'd rushed back to manage his workload so he could get a week or two off. Since he was being groomed to take over the Company, but after a few years, so the pressure wasn't too great, but he still couldn't allow the Board or their clients to doubt his ability to take the reins when his Father decides to step down. 

It was another one of those nights where he had finished a meeting or two over Skype, skipped lunch and looked over a few proposals. Met with a few clients for a conference and by midnight was almost asleep on his feet. He had just come back from a dinner with a potential investor along with his dad and had stepped inside his office to grab a few files before he left for home. The call, though it was an unknown number and from Oslo to boot, seemed to ring louder as if the urgency of the caller was barely restrained. 

Pressing the 'Accept' button he was bombarded with Eva's panicking voice. Calming her down, he finally asked her what happened. It was exactly 30 minutes later that he was sitting in a cab rushing towards the airport while simultaneously trying to call Noora. He'd already let his Dad know that he had to leave immediately for New York and that he wouldn't be available for the next few weeks.

As the sights and scenes of London passed by in a rush, William couldn't help but remember Noora's defeated face every time she spoke of her childhood. She'd get stiff and unresponsive as if the mere thought of travelling back to the past was too much and that only further ruined their image in his mind. Even though he never knew how normal parents were supposed to behave, at least he still knew what Love was. Amalie had shown him how to love, everyday that she was alive. Her toothy grin and those adorable pigtails that would bounce as she ran across the garden with him chasing behind her would always be his most cherished memory. 

She was his favorite person. But then again, he knew he was lucky to get a sibling as awesome as her, whereas Noora never had. She lived and breathed in an unloved mausoleum for the most impressionable 15 years of her life. She never had siblings or pets, to her love was as strange and foreign as not knowing Noora, was too him. And just for that, he needed to be there, beside her, to just hold her hand as she faced her demons. He wasn't going into this expecting something in return, William just wanted to be there to protect her, to give her the strength. He owed her that much, if not more.

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As the pilot announced their arrival at New York, he woke up from the light sleep he was taking to see, Noora staring out of the window, a smile on her face. Their hands were still entangled, but the nervousness and the fear that normally accompanied her parents was no longer present. Instead, her face looked...content.

Noora was amazed at the sights below her. The clouds so puffy and white, the block like image of the Big Apple below, she couldn't help but feel excited. She'd forgotten the wanderlust. The almost drug-like euphoria that new places gave her. Having known nothing but new and strange places since 15, the chance of visiting somewhere new awoke in her the forgotten feeling of curiosity.

She was jerked out of her wanderlust by a gentle squeezing of her right hand. She turned to the person beside her. Who she still couldn't believe was there. Seemed too good to be true. Noora was used to being alone, having to fight the world alone, and most of the time, she was fine with it. She had to be. If her parents had taught her one thing it was to never depend on someone. It seemed like a very depressing motto for a young teenager to have, but she didn't know anything other than that. She had trust issues a mile wide, but she tried her level best to never presume. She took care to understand their stories, to dredge up every bit of sympathy she could for them. But she never opened up. Eskild was perhaps the first person she had ever opened up to and that made him special.

He was her rock. His friendship meant the world to her. And she'd never anticipated or even hoped to find anyone who would matter to her as much as he did. But then came William. And all her preconceptions flew out the window. His moody, complex and guarded self called to her in a way she was not prepared for. But she went with the flow. At every step of their relationship, she made some questionable decisions, but never once did she doubt his love for her. That's why it hurt her so much and so hard that he let her go so easily after London.

Now, she abhorred to think of herself as one of those mind-playing, clingy girlfriends who needed their boyfriend's approval to self-validate, but after all that had happened, their history, she couldn't help but keep alive a tiny sliver of hope and trust that he would come back. But when the days turned into weeks, weeks into months she let go off that stupid hope and to have all that she had sat in her room and begged to be given back to her, for days on end, so suddenly thrust into her face, was a shock to her system. She had decided to let her mind play this leg of their...whatever this was, because her heart was already a lost cause. 

So, she gently took out her hand from his hold that momentarily tightened when he learned what she trying to do, but loosened nonetheless.

 A smile that conveyed her gratefulness at having him here spread across her face and she leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, whispering a heartfelt "Thank you" that seemed say more than she was capable of saying at that moment. Her courage was rejuvenated and maybe, just maybe, William had something to do with it. 

 A/N: In honor of the release of the last season of SKAM and also in complete disgust of the decision to break up Noorhelm I have to continue this. Noorhelm deserves better.