A Boy Called Noah

Chapter Forty-Three

Noah James

"I'm gonna kill him..." Noah's breaths puff out in uneven spurts but he pays it no mind. He turns to face Thea and his anger quickly crumbles into a look of desperate apology, "Guys, I'm so sorry. We don't know why he's like that. He discriminates against anyone who isn't exactly like him." Thea lightly smiles and waves the apology off, "It's fine. You guys don't have to be sorry. You weren't the ones who said it. 

Vick nudges Noah and gestures to Thea, "Go have some alone time. I'll keep him busy." Noah wants to decline but his brother's certain face makes him nods his head thankfully instead, "Thanks, V." 

Thea's fingers are laced between his, making Noah's heart beat faster by the second. He leads her toward their grand staircase in the middle of the great entry hall and releases her hand to use the railing for extra support. Two steps up he feels a soft hand gently easing behind his back. Thea's shoulder eases under his left arm and she helps him support his weight upstairs.

Both are huffing out-breaths by the time that they reach the top. Thea is the first to speak, "How in the world do you climb those stairs alone?" Noah breezes out a laugh and wipes a drop of sweat from his forehead, "You get used to it at a point." She laughs and leans down to her feet. She tenderly rubs the bridge of her one foot. Noah looks down at the uncomfortable looking shoes, "Take them off." 

Thea looks at him puzzled, "What?" Noah laughs at her startled expression, "The shoes, I mean, take them off. They look uncomfortable." She laughs and leans down to undo the straps of both shoes. The moment that she eases both her feet into the thick red rug, clear tension eases from her shoulders, "That feels so much better." 

Noah laughs again and gestures for her to follow him. His cane makes a dull thump on the hall rug as he walks and Thea silently follows him. He can practically feel her sympathy burn a hole in his back. He despises sympathy but refrains from mentioning that piece of information to her.

He gently knocks his door open with his cane and limps in without assistance. His right knee and hip throb in protest to being used without support and he stumbles the rest of the way to his bed. Thea looks at him worried but doesn't say anything. He coughs out a few breaths and merely points to a stereo stationed in the corner of the room, "Just push play." 

'Don't you wait on me, I'll shoot you down

Keep your eyes closed, your ear to the ground
Pick up in the middle of the night
Kill the silence, I can't bear to speak
Head for the heart, does it break
Words may fall, the body remains
And every map is blank When my words head for the cracks

Will you have my back
We were good children
Darling, let it out I hold my breath, don't like to move
When the night comes, who will you be
Even the dead cannot be...'

The music washes over Noah's senses and he closes his eyes to let the lyrics tweak deep into his mind. 

'When my words head for the clouds

Will you have my back
We were good children
Darling, let it outWell, I am I am, I am I am a goddamn believer'

The bed lightly dips next to him but he doesn't sit up or even open his eyes. Thea's head lay next to his and when he opens his eyes he stares directly at her relaxed face. She doesn't smile, unlike she normally would. He weakly lifts his one hand and gently eases a single curl from her face. Her eyes slowly open to stare at him and a small, almost sad smile graces her lips. He smiles back at her and for once doesn't allow the silence to suffocate or bother him. 

Finally, he pulls his hand away from her soft cheek and lowers it onto the bed on the other side of her head, "Alive?" She smiles again, "Alive." That is their promise. One single word...alive. It's like their 'okay' but not. An unexplainable term to those not a part of it.