“Are you seriously ignoring this?” Alec asked from behind her. “You?”
Noah stopped what she was doing. She set the bag on the nearby counter and paused, looking down at her hands. She didn’t want to face him. Not yet.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked, her voice croaking like she was some kind of amphibian.
“That you love me too,” he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “because I know you do. You can pretend you don’t, but I know you. I know you do.”
“And what good is that going to do?” She whirled around, throwing her hands out. Tears crept back into her eyes which should have been impossible because how could she still be able to cry? But she didn’t care. “Do you see what happened to you? You’re bleeding profusely. Your ribs are probably cracked. I wouldn’t be surprised if you broke your fingers. That is not love! That’s… that’s…”
“That’s not you,” he said. His voice was rough but gentle, an odd contradiction that somehow put Noah at ease. Except, she didn’t want to be at ease. She wanted to be angry and guilty and shamed. She wanted to be confronted with the fact that this was her fault because if she wasn’t… she wouldn’t know how to be. “You didn’t do this to me. This isn’t your fault.”
“I –“
But Alec didn’t seem to care. He walked to her, even though each step he took caused him to wince.
“None of this is your fault.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.
The second she was pressed against him, she burst into tears again. Noah couldn’t help but think that this was a pathetic show of emotion she could do without. She didn’t want to be that girl, a crying fool who couldn’t get hold of her emotions. And yet, she couldn’t stop them if she wanted to. And she didn’t want to.
“It’s okay,” Alec murmured into her hair. “It’s okay now.”
At that moment, the door burst open, and police offers swarmed inside. They were there for the next hour and a half, taking statements and collecting evidence. They even had medical personal with them so all three individuals could be checked over. Noah was worried she might have had a concussion from where Aaron hit her so hard, her head hit the floor, but it would seem she passed that test with flying colors. Aaron was still breathing and was arrested. Alec had to have a splint for his hand, but besides his bruised ribs and some scratches, he was going to be okay as well.
That was when she started crying again. It wasn’t seeing Aaron arrested and knowing it was finally over, it wasn’t getting the news that her injuries were all superficial and would heal in time. She had been so worried about Alec, about him losing his hockey career by protecting her that to know that wasn’t the case caused her to burst into tears.
“I got her,” Alec told the officers, who seemed startled by the unexpected outburst. “She’ll be fine. Just emotional, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
They nodded, finishing hitting down their notes before flipping their notebooks shut and heading out the door.
The apartment was still a mess. Noah had a lot to clean up. This was her fault, and she wanted to make it right. She just didn’t know how. She could never repay Alec what he potentially sacrificed for her. She could never repay Lily for offering Noah a place to stay when Noah had nowhere else to go, even though they hadn’t been talking to each other for years.
“Can we finish talking about what we were talking about?” Alec asked, taking Noah’s hand in his and gently tugging her to the couch.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Noah said, glancing down at their hands. She didn’t deserve his tenderness. Not after everything that had happened. “I think I should clean up this mess, and then I think I should go.”
Alec breathed in and then breathed out. A small trickle of blood rolled down the skin between his nose and his lips. Before Noah could stop herself, she used her free hand to wipe the blood away. Another injury he sustained for her.
“Why are you denying your feelings for me?” Alec asked, cocking his head to the side. “Are you still that damn stubborn that you can’t just tell me you love me even though we both know it’s true?”
“You are so freaking arrogant, Alec Sinclair,” Noah growled before she could stop herself. “Why do you think I’m in love with you?” She could feel her frustration with him bubble to the surface, the fact that he wasn’t taking her feelings seriously. “What possibly gave you that impression?”
“Well, besides the fact that I am a pretty awesome guy,” he said, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before dropping his gaze to her, “I’m a good hockey player.” He stuck up a finger. “I’m fun to be around.” He stuck up another. “I’m good in the sack.” He grinned, as though he just made a joke and thought it was funny. “And I’d make a good boyfriend.”
“Do you even know how to be a boyfriend?” Noah asked, though her lips were doing the strangest thing by curling up just slightly. How she could possibly want to smile after everything, she had no idea, but here she was, the beginnings of one starting and staying on her face.
“I know how to be your boyfriend,” he said.
Noah closed her eyes and shook her head. As much as she didn’t want it to, her smile only widened. Her cheeks pinched – not because of any bruises or injuries – though when Aaron backhanded her, she knew that that would bruise – but because she was happy. Because she was smiling. To feel that after everything that had happened… it
