The Cliche Ch. 02: The First Night

The Cliche Chapter Two: The First Night

After throwing his bags into the trunk and climbing into the front seat next to Cole, Noah turned around and looked at me.

"Hey loser," he smirked. I rolled my eyes, but leaned forward and put my hand on his shoulder in a greeting.

"Hey yourself." I dared myself to stay grounded as I stared into his dark eyes. His lips smoothed out from a smirk into a smile. He glanced down at my hand and reached up to cover it with his own before turning forwards again. He kept his hand covering mine for a moment longer than I expected, giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing it.

"Alright, are you hungry?" Cole asked. "Do you want to stop for some food on the way home?"

I saw Noah nod his head. "Yes, please! I'm famished."

While the boys conversed about which restaurants were in the area, I stayed quiet and listened. I'd missed Noah, sure, but I also missed listening to the boys when they were together. It was like the world had gone from upside down to right-side-up. When Cole and Noah were around each other, the room got brighter and warmer. I felt incredibly humbled to exist in their space.

"How does pizza sound?" Cole caught my eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Perfect," I responded with a smile.

20 minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of an Italian-esque restaurant, one of the older ones with a Tuscany theme and black bar railings against the stucco. The three of us got out of the car and Noah walked over to the driver's side to envelope Cole in a hug. There was mutual sounds of "It's good to see ya, man," and then Noah turned to face me.

I felt my heart skip a beat. I had no time to think before his arms were around me and he pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and squeezed warmly. His body was barely touching mine, just the top of our chests and shoulders, but I still burned inside. Part of me wanted to lean into him; I refrained, conscious of the other person in my periphery, and instead loosened my arms. To my surprise, Noah held on a fraction of a second longer than I anticipated. I hesitated, unsure if I should tighten my arms again or stay still. But that millisecond of a hesitation was too long and Noah pulled back to look at me.

"It's good to see you too," he grinned.

I mumbled some iteration of "You too," as he turned to catch up with Cole, already a few strides ahead of us. I watched as the they walked together.

Yeah... I was properly fucked.

Dinner was highlighted with story-telling and chuckles. We sat at a booth, with Cole and myself on one side and Noah on the other. Noah delighted us with anecdotes of the last few dates he'd been on, and I in-turn, had updated him on the latest drama in the friend group. Since Noah had previously lived in the same city as us, we weren't the only ones around here that he knew. The three of us discussed the plans for the weekend, which included a group dinner with additional friends the following evening.

After we ate our dinner, we got back on the road. On the drive, I listened to the boys talk. There was a childlike and carefree air about them when they were together that tugged at my heart. Regardless of how I felt about both of them romantically, I loved them with my whole heart.

Upon arriving at home, Cole and I separated from Noah so that he could take a shower and "wash the airport off" of himself. Noah knew our home like the back of his hand, which is why I was surprised when he hollered from down the hallway:

"Can I get a hand finding an extra towel?"

Cole had scurried off to the other bathroom a few minutes previous, so I walked down the hall to where Noah was standing outside of the bathroom door, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sooo... I dropped my towel into the shower and need a new one," he chuckled.

I leaned around the corner of the bathroom, peeking around the door. Sure enough, there was a sopping wet towel on the floor of the bathtub/shower combo. I looked at Noah and shook my head with a grin.

"Can't take you anywhere, can I?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

I took two steps to the left and opened a small door. "All the extra towels are in here." I turned my head and started, realizing Noah had followed me and now stood approximately three inches away from me, his shoulder barely brushing mine. He noticed my quick jump.

"Damn, I promise I don't bite." Noah quipped, raising a brow at me. "Unless you want me to."

I knew he was joking, but my heartbeat quickened as I looked up at him. His dark eyes twinkled and I felt his presence start to swallow me whole. I was in danger and so I did the only thing I could think of. I fixed him with a look and said, "In your dreams."

Knowing that a cheeky remark from me wasn't necessarily my normal way of responding, he arched a brow, holding my gaze. It felt like a dare, like he was baiting me into looking away, or moving closer. It was the longest--and shortest--five seconds of my life as we stared at each other. Everything stopped for the moment; all that existed was his dark eyes locked onto mine. His body was so close to me that if I leaned forward slightly, we would be touching.

God I want to touch you so bad.

The sound of a door opening and shutting jolted me back to the present. I blinked and looked away from Noah, my gaze finding the towel I was holding. I held it out to him, avoiding his eyes as he reached out and took it out of my hands.

"Let me know if you need anything else," I said quickly, dashing away before he could answer.

What the hell was that?

I felt silly and stupid, scared and intrigued. Why had he held eye contact for so long? Was it long for him, or was that normal? Did he notice the electricity of being so close to one another, or was that my imagination?

The questions swirled in my head for hours, as the evening turned into night and the three of us gathered in the living room. Noah, freshly showered, had changed into gray shorts and a black t-shirt. His hair was damp, strands sticking to his forehead. I very much ignored the warmth in my stomach as I saw his lean frame wander from the hallway over to the couch. He sat next to Cole, diagonal from me. We spent the next few hours talking and half-watching whatever was on the TV in the background. Stories from years previous got re-told, with new exaggerations and insights. Emotions were high and light, centered on the humorous, occasionally with a serious nature. Cole discussed his experiences with family health concerns, and I shared some updates related to my work in the financial world. Noah listened to each of us with intentionality in his face. Even though I could feel faint flutters in my stomach when he would turn his attention to me, I was good at ignoring them. Regardless of how I felt about the man, I never wanted to lose sight of the friendship.

By the time 1am rolled around, my eyes couldn't stay open a minute longer and my mouth stretched wider with each yawn.

"Alright. I'm beat," I finally admitted, sitting up.

Noah and Cole looked over at me and began to laugh.

"Jesus, you look like death," Cole squeaked. Noah nodded his agreement with the statement.

I fixed him with a look and grabbed the pillow from my lap to throw it at Cole. He yelped as it narrowly missed his face. I grabbed the second pillow next to me and mimed throwing it at Noah, shooting him a look that said I dare you to say something. Noah lifted his arms, palms facing me in a gesture of surrender. I saw that damn twinkle in his eyes and threw the pillow anyway.

"Hey, what did I do?" he protested. I ignored him and stood up.

"Gentlemen." I tilted my head towards the pair, signaling my leave, and started walking towards the bedroom. Behind me, I heard a chorus of "goodnight."