A Boy Called Noah

Chapter Forty-One

Noah James

Noah's heart beats in an irregular rhythm but he refrains from telling Jess in fear of her maybe being put on bed-arrest. His cane bothers him a bit more tonight than it would on any other night, slowing him down to an unnecessarily slow pace. In his mind's eye at least.  

He passes by Jess and she stops him by gently gripping his arm, "Woah, where are you going in such a hurry?" Her smile reaches deep into her eyes with joy and Noah marvels for a moment how beautiful his mother is. He looks her outfit over and goodnaturedly wolf whistles, "Damn, mom. You look great." She laughs and waves a dismissing hand, "Aw, you have to say that but thank you anyway." 

"Hey, big bro..." Noah's entire demeanor changes as he turns to look at Yvette, "Hi, Yvette. When did you get back?" She drags a single long-nailed finger down his chest, "About twenty minutes ago. Why, did you miss me?" Noah gently eases her hand away and smiles at her, "Honestly? I did." She seems taken aback for a moment and blinks her eyes a few times in utter surprise.

Noah smiles and limps down the hall towards the stairs and is pleasantly surprised when an arm and shoulder ease in under his left arm socket. Yvette carefully helps him down the stairs and quickly and frighteningly silent leaves him be. 

The tension he hadn't even realized was present ease from his aching body and he slowly makes his way to the aroma filled kitchen. "Vera...?" Noah blinks his eyes in surprise when he finds Vick standing behind the stove with a frilly pink apron tied around his waist. "Vick?" The surprise is evident in his voice. Vick turns around with a massive grin spread across his face, "Hey, Noah." Noah looks incredulously between Vick and the massively prepared feast, "You... you did this? Since when do you cook?" Vick barks out loud bursts of laughter and gestures for his brother to sit down, "Thalia has kinda been teaching me how to cook..." 

Noah lifts his eyebrows in surprise and sends his brother a cheeky grin, "Thalia, huh?" Vick turns around and narrows his eyes at his brother, " Why are you saying it like that?" Noah shrugs his shoulders in mock ignorance, "Like what?" Vick jokingly takes a step forward, "Why you lit-" the doorbell cuts him off and Noah jumps up as best he can. 

Vick quickly helps him to his feet and hands him his cane. Noah gratefully smiles at his brother and limps to the door as fast as he can but Yvette still beats him to it. 

Her back is to him but he can practically smell the venom dripping from her words, "Who the hell are you?" "Um, I'm Thea. Noah said we could come over. I'm sorry but I fear I don't know your name?" Yvette snorts and steps more into the doorway, "Damn straight you don't know my name. I'm Noah's stepsister, Yv-" 

"Yvette! Let them come in, it's freezing out." Noah turns around to see Jess standing at the bottom of the stairs. Yvette huffs and steps out of Thea and Thalia's way. 

Noah's breath catches in his throat as Thea enters. Her long tanned legs are gloriously on display and her torso is snuggly fit into a cream blouse. Light makeup highlights her features and her hair hangs loosely down her back. 

He breathes out a shaky breath, unfortunately, a coughing fit pushes out of his chest and he leans over onto his cane to try and catch his breath. Jess is the first to reach him and she places her hand under his collarbone and gently eases him into a standing position. She places one of his arms over her shoulder and assists him to the living room, where she gently lays him down across one of the many long couches. 

"Better?" She continues gently rubbing his chest until he nods his head in confirmation. She eases herself from her seat on the floor. He gulps in one last big breath, "Thanks, I'll be okay now." 

He glances around the room and his eyes land on a panic-stricken Thea. Her eyes are wide and bloodshot from the tears running down her face. He slowly sits upright and opens his arms wide, "Come here." She shakes her head furiously, "No, I can't hurt you. I don't want to." Noah's smile wavers for a second then returns more gently, "You won't hurt me. I promise." 

She looks unconvinced but makes her way to him none the less. She sits down on the floor next to his sofa and gently lays her hand onto his heaving chest, "See? I'm okay." She softly smiles and wipes a stray tear from her cheek, "I'm sorry."