Nochelle - Our Stories

4. A. M.

~Post TNS~

Noah feels his heart lurch to a stop and thump a mile a minute at the same time. He sits upright in their bed and finds Richelle's spot to be empty — but also warm, which means she's gotten up not long ago.

On any other day, it would be normal but for him to wake up alone, but the room is still dark and the clock by their bedside table indicates that it's currently 4:37AM — which is way too early, even for Richelle. Call it boyfriend instincts or incredible intuition, but Noah knows something's wrong. And as he hears soft mumbling down the hall, followed by sniffles and muted whimpers — his heart breaks. All of a sudden sleep seems unimportant because something's wrong, and something's hurting Richelle. He's straight out of bed, not even feeling the coolness of the floor against his bare feet as he quickly pads down the hall, flicking on a lamp on the way.

"How long will it be?"

Richelle's cuddled onto the couch with her phone in one hand, the other clutching a wad of tissues as she folds her legs up, tucking her feet under herself. Noah's moving forward in an instant, grabbing a throw blanket and laying it over her legs.

As she's alerted to Noah's presence, Richelle looks up. He notices that her eyes are puffy, cheeks wet and he feels his heart shatter into a million pieces—and god he loves her so much. She manages a small smile as Noah immediately wraps his arms around her, softly stroking her hair as she continues talking to whoever's on the phone.

"Okay..." she sniffs and Noah feels a shiver flow through her body, which causes him to draw her closer into his arms so that her cheek is resting against his chest. "Th—thanks Mich, I—I'll try and be there soon."

Noah has no idea what's happening, but he knows it must be extremely important and serious if her older sister was calling her so early in the morning. His mind is racing with worst-case scenarios and he starts panicking. Something happened and Richelle's not okay, which means Noah isn't okay and he needs to do everything in his power to fix it.

But now isn't the time to panic — Richelle needs him.

They've been dating for over three years now, and Richelle just moved in to Noah's place in New York, which truly marks a huge moment in their relationship. He's never been happier, living with someone else.

Richelle's hung up the phone and is staring at it in her hands, her body stiff and frozen in place as Noah continues to rub her back in a soothing, comforting motion. The room is silent, but he can practically hear the gears turning in Richelle's head, the anxiety building up in her.

By now, he's become familiar with every expression, gesture, nervous tic and reaction. And right now, she's displaying a mix of emotions that Noah hasn't seen before all at once. He's seen anxiety, talked her through panic attacks and held her as she's cried; he's seen happiness in many forms, her adorable dorky excitement when they're alone and she's not trying to impress anyone; he's seen her as hotheaded as it gets and he's seen pure unadulterated affection. But right now, her face is blank and unmoving.

Cautiously but affectionately, Noah reaches to tilt her chin towards him, and when her eyes land on his, he swears he sees a slight glimmer, a reflection of the dim orange lamp lighting the room. And for a moment, her eyes soften.

Then, she breaks.

A sob breaks the silence and all of a sudden, her face is pressed into his chest. The shock lasts all of one second and Noah welcomes her whole form into his arms, her legs coming up on to his lap until she's as small as he's ever seen her and cradled in his arms.

Noah rakes his hand through her tangled hair, and runs a thumb along her bare forearm as he feels her shake in his arms. Her face is buried in his now soaked t-shirt and her sobs are intensifying, as she's now gasping into him, clutching onto to his bicep like he's the only thing that can ground her in the world spinning around.