Present Perfect(73)

He yanked on my arm one last time, causing me to fall against him. He pinned my hands behind me and started kissing my neck again. I kept struggling, but he had a strong hold on me. We didn’t draw attention from anyone around us. They were either drunk, high, or hooking up.

All of a sudden my hands were freed, dropping to my side, and I saw Matt stumbling backwards away from me.

“Shit! What are you doing, dude?!” Matt yelled.

I looked up and saw Noah standing there with a handful of Matt’s shirt.

“She doesn’t want to go with you, dickhead.”

Noah’s eyes were concentrated on me. They were warm and caring while his entire body was tense with anger.

Matt shrugged out of Noah’s grip. “I’m her boyfriend.”

“I don’t give a f*ck who you are. She’s not going anywhere with you,” Noah snarled.

“Fuck you, dude. Come on, Stick.”

Matt reached for my arm. I stepped aside at the same time Noah grabbed his shirt, spun him around, landing blows to his stomach and then jaw. Matt stumbled and fell into the crowd of people standing behind him. Quickly grabbing my arm, Noah weaved us through the house and out the door.

Once we reached the front yard, I jerked my arm free and stopped walking. “Noah? What are you doing here?”

When I first saw him, I wasn’t sure he was real. Between the song playing and being drunk, I thought I was hallucinating.

He turned to face me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” I shook my head. “It’s cold, put this on.”

He slipped off his jacket and held it open for me. I slipped my arms through the sleeves and he wrapped it around me. I felt warm and comforted. It smelled like Noah, like an orange.

“I’ll go back and get your coat later,” he said.

“How did you know where I was?” I was in a daze. What were the chances of Noah showing up when I needed him, while our song blasted through the speakers?

“I didn’t. I had just walked in and saw you. Brooke came up here for a bachelorette party with some of her girlfriends.”

Oh my god, he asked Brooke to marry him.

I couldn’t say anything. I hadn’t been in contact with him for six months. You would think news like that wouldn’t impact me that much now, but it did. Our time apart hadn’t lessened my feelings for him in the slightest. Tears started falling from my eyes. Immediately I brushed passed him, walking quickly in the direction of my dorm.

Noah yelled after me. “Tweet!”

I was continuously wiping tears away. I hadn’t heard him call me that in so long. I started picking up speed until I was jogging across campus. I could hear Noah behind me. I picked up more speed until I was in an all-out run. I made a sharp right to cut across the grass in the courtyard. I got half way across when my left foot landed wrong, twisted, and caused me to crash to the ground.

I rolled over and sat up. As I rubbed my ankle, I started to cry harder, partly because of the pain in my ankle and partly because of the pain in my heart. Noah jogged up and fell to his knees next to me.

“Are you okay?” he said, trying to catch his breath.

“Just leave me alone, Noah.”

“I’m not leaving you alone out here. Why did you run from me?”

I struggled to stand up as best I could and tried to take a few steps. I winced in pain as I put the slightest pressure on my ankle. Noah got up and reached for my arm, but I jerked it away. I tried to take another step before falling into a heap on the ground.

“Would you let me help you?” He knelt down beside me.

“Noah, just go back to your fiancé.” The word caught in my throat like a cotton ball.

“Is that why you ran from me?” I didn’t answer. I just continued to rub my ankle and cry. “Tweet, she’s here for a friend. It’s not Brooke’s bachelorette party. I haven’t asked anyone to marry me.”

I wasn’t looking at him, but I could feel his smile. The bastard.

“Then why are you here?”

“Travis goes here and has been asking me to come up. Brooke didn’t want to drive all this way alone. I figured it would be safer for her if I came, and…”

“How boyfriendy of you.” I couldn’t help how snide that sounded.

“…and I was hoping to see you.”

I lifted my gaze up and looked into his beautiful light blue eyes that I have missed so much I ache. He examined my face for a long moment. “God, I’ve missed you. You have no idea how much,” he whispered.

Moving in closer, he cupped my face in his hands, running his thumbs along my cheeks and wiped away my tears. “I hate when you cry, Tweet.” I gave him a shy smile. “Let me take care of you.”

He stood and extended his hand to me. When I placed my hand in his an electric jolt sped through my body. Not one thing had changed in six months. He still affected me just as much as he always did. Noah pulled me to a standing position. When I put a little weight on the ankle, there was pain.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

Biting down on my bottom lip, I just shook my head. The next thing I knew Noah picked me up, cradling me in his arms. My breathing started to accelerate and warmth traveled to every inch of my body. I had missed the feeling of his protective arms around me.

“Won’t Brooke be mad if she finds out you carried me all the way back to my dorm?”