Arcadia [h.s.]

Chapter 6

Sometimes I wanna be your lover, sometimes I wanna be your friend.
-
Arcadia

Noel was to meet at Harry's place tonight. However, it was kind of hard to decipher what "tonight" meant to him when he sent that text. She should have texted him back for clarification but it would have been way too embarrassing for her to respond hours later with Hey, by tonight, did you mean like 9 or 12? She embarrassed herself in front of him enough times already.

Then, Noel, like the intellectual genius that she was, remembered that he had told her he was free on weeknights after 10. Only she would overthink a question he'd already given her an answer to.

Because she didn't have a reason to wear a dress today, she was excited to be able to wear something sexier. It was a black lace bustier top that was see-through except where the cups were settled. She paired it with matching lace underwear that weren't really all that special but it matched. After convincing herself that she looked hot, she nodded to no one and put on a pair of tight jeans and a navy blue cardigan.

The walk to Harry's place was really short, maybe about five minutes since the block was quite long. His apartment complex was bigger than hers as it housed more people, but she could tell the flats would definitely be smaller.

This was confirmed when he buzzed her in and made her way into the entry which was the living room. The living room was a quaint space, unlike her modern condo. The floorboards were dark with an L-shaped grey couch sitting above it in front of a wooden coffee table. On the wall, hung a television which had something playing but was muted. Noel was pretty sure it was some sort of cartoon.

Connected to the living room was a kitchen, divided by a single counter. She didn't really get to see beyond the confines of the counter but it wasn't like that mattered anyway. What would that tell her about him?

"Is your roommate here?" She muttered, avoiding saying Reid's name. Something was off about that guy. She definitely liked his friend Amari better.

"No," Harry muttered, placing a hand around Noel's back to walk her to the bedroom. She jumped slightly but instantly got used to the feeling.

They entered a short hallway with one bedroom on the left side and she glanced in it to see it quite messy but at the same time lonely and dark. There was a bathroom across from that one, and then what she assumed to be Harry's room was at the end of the hallway facing them. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

"You have a key to your room, why?" Noel asked, tilting her head as they walked into his bedroom. It was vastly different from Reid's and cleaner. The floors were still a dark wood like the rest of the house, a medium-sized bed covered in white blankets. There was a small television propped on the dresser and a desk that faced the outside view of the window, with some books on it. Below the desk were photography supplies and a camera bag.

"Because I can," he shrugged, closing his door and locking it again.

"But, that's weird," she stated as if it were obvious, "aren't you supposed to trust your roommate not to steal from you or something?"

"Did you come here to interrogate me or let me have my way with you?" He asked her from behind, causing Noel to smile and turn around.

She walked closer to him and reached up to place her hands on his shoulders. Noel smiled and leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek before going flat on her feet again.