Just The Two Of Us

Imagination

~Noah~

Tell her.

Tell her.

Tell her.

Noah... you can't keep your feelings inside. You have to let her know how you really feel.

Mess with her feelings. Do it! She did it to you for years! Now's the time for revenge! TELL HER!

TELL HER! (not for those reasons, BUT STILL TELL HER!)

"Although," I finally said to her, after arguing with myself in my head, "I can't say that I entirely regret it."

Dammit, Noah! Why did you have to word it so weirdly?

"Really?" Lilly asked in a sly tone.

See? Girls like guys who are mysterious, who play hard to get.

I looked up at her. As soon as I made eye contact, every single thought that I had over the last couple days came flooding back: the memories of the kiss from junior year versus the thoughts that she was still with her boyfriend and I couldn't be with her; the thoughts that she was my best friend's little sister and that would just be stepping over too many boundaries versus how happy she was to see me; the thoughts that she was just happy to see a friend that she hadn't seen in a little while versus how disappointed she sounded before during that conversation.

The most upfront thoughts, though, were the ones I knew I should never have been having. The thoughts similar to the ones that I had, sitting on that piano bench with her. The ones where I imagined rushing up to her, cupping her face in my hands, and pressing my lips against hers. The ones where I imagined her running her hands through my hair as I pulled her ever closer to me.

The ones that went even further. To me leaning in even farther, constantly deepening the kiss, more passionate by the second. As I lifted my hand from where it was resting against her waist, up to the collar of her jacket. When slowly slid her jacket off and she started tugging at the edge of my t-shirt. When she laid a delicate hand across my chest.

It was at that moment when I realized that it had gone too far.

I completely pulled myself out of those thoughts and suddenly realized how long I had actually been standing there, just simply staring at her.

"Uh, I—sorry, I'll leave, I, um... sorry," I mumbled as I quickly ran out. I shut the door and paused, leaning back against the door. I shut my eyes, letting the realization of what I just did wash over me.

You.

Are.

A.

Dumbass.

"So?" I heard an abnormally excited Dylan ask. When I opened my eyes, I saw him standing down at the end of the hallway, peeking his head out from the kitchen.

I just shook my head.

His face fell. "She said no?" His expression of disappointment suddenly morphed into one of confusion. "She said no?"

"No," I said as I pushed off from the door. I ambled into the kitchen and plopped myself down into one of the chairs. I rested my head in my hands, pressing my palms to my eyes.

"W-w-wait, I-I'm confused," he stammered. He walked over and placed his hands on the table. "'No' as in she said no, 'no' as in she didn't say no, or—"

"'No' as in I didn't ask her, Dylan!" I snapped, moving my hands from my face. I nearly slammed them on the table before I caught myself. "I couldn't do it, I'm sorry," I apologized, running a troubled hand through my hair. I finally looked up at Dylan.

He closed his eyes and his hands balled into fists. "Dammit, Noah!" he practically shouted. "YOU CAN'T—" He caught himself, glancing down the hallway towards Lilly's door. "You can't do that! I told you!" he harshly whispered. "You can't just play with her heart like that!"

"Well, she seemed pretty fine when I was talking to her!" I stood up, matching his tone. "Look, Dylan, if she had feelings for me, she would've told me. I just overstepped my boundaries and got my hopes up. I was in no place to do what I did."

"Okay, but you didn't even try!"

"Why do you care so much? She's eighteen years old, she doesn't need her brother making all her decisions for her!"

Dylan opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again. He sighed, but he didn't look any less calmer. "You're right, and I've been trying to ease up on her, but I'm also not making all her decisions for her. Sometimes, though, she needs some guidance. I thought that maybe you two would be a good fit together since you've both obviously been dreaming about each other since freshman year—don't even try to deny it!" he interrupted himself as soon as I opened my mouth to say otherwise.

"Fine, if it makes you feel any better, after all that happened, I told her how I felt... vaguely," I tried explaining.

Dylan completely stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean 'vaguely'?"

"I mean I told her that I didn't completely regret doing what I did."

"After you already told her that you didn't have feelings for her?" he asked after pausing for a moment.

I thought about what he said, and only then did it sink in.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"Oh my god... What the hell is wrong with you?! Why on earth would you do that? You should know—"

"Guys?"

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A/N: Hey guys!!! So what do you think so far? I'm trying to get on a more consistent schedule, but I honestly think that I might just upload a bunch of chapters right now, purely because I missed so many before. Well, we'll see what happens!

Also, 5 DAYS TILL SET IT OFF!!!

Idk if I said this in the last AN, but I don't actually have at Set It Off merch, so I have no clue what I'm going to wear. I'm debating wearing a Waterparks shirt or and IDKHow shirt, but I also don't want to be that one weirdo that wears a different band's shirt to a concert, so I might just not wear a band shirt at all. Lmk what you guys think or what you've done in situations like this?? (It's not much of a situation, but y'all get what I mean)

Until the next chapter! Bye!

{Posted on 6/29/19}