Through the Screen

Chapter 99

noah flinches slightly as his teeth tear the already bitten flesh of his lower lip, and his fingers tighten

around the soft material of the jacket in his hands as he quietly approaches a completely oblivious abel.

noah watches as abel 's legs bob up and down impatiently, his eyes fixed on the cloudless sky and his

forehead a mess of uncountable curls.

when noah is three feet away, and his shoes scruff against a dry patch of mud, is when abel breaks

free from his trance, his cheeks blooming a soft pink and his rosy lips pursed as he looks at noah ;

coffee eyes drowning in spoonfuls of concern.

"a-are you okay?" abel asks hurriedly, his voice small as he gets off the bench and quickly rushes to

noah, both his hands involuntarily gripping noah's arms, before he lets go and steps back, the blush on

his cheeks dripping down slowly towards the collar of his shirt and staining his neck.

"i'm fine," noah answers, staring at abel for a moment before holding out the jacket in his hands, and

abel just furrows his eyebrows for a moment.

"it's cold and you're clearly not wearing enough clothes," noah rolls his eyes, and abel flushes, thanking

him quietly before pulling the sleeves over his arms and letting the heavy fabric sit on his shoulders—

the faint scent of noah, the smallest spray of his cologne, the unmistakable trace of mint makes abel

feel more at home than he actually does in the apartment.

his body grows warmer, cheeks grow pinker, and his eyes almost drop shut because he has been

desperately longing for comfort since whatever happened between him and noah. he feels slightly

pathetic for being this comforted by a simple article of clothing, but the way noah's jacket seems to hug Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

him carefully—he refuses to think about it too much as he submerges more of himself into the lone

piece of cloth.

"are you okay? i'm sorry i said too much," noah breaks the silence after a while, his glassy eyes

shielded with his thick black rimmed glasses, and his dark hair branching all over his forehead and abel

just looks at him worriedly before breathing out a sigh, a small puff of mist forming in front of his mouth

at the gesture.

"no you didn't, it's okay, i'm okay," abel reassures him and noah nods half heartedly, moving his gaze

back to the boy in front of him. the tip of his nose is tinted pink, his mouth is curled into a small smile

and his eyes are staring back at noah with so many emotions that noah has to look away.

he can't physically stop himself from being close to abel right now—even though he is so mad at him,

and he is so hurt, and he is so confused and angry and anxious—he still wants to hold abel and he

wants abel to tell him that he won't actually do something like that, something that would forbid noah

from ever trying to build a relationship with him again because its too late.

he shakes the thought out of his head and pushes his hair off his forehead, eyes drifting from abel to

the dewy grass beneath their feet, and from the green fence of the park, back to abel again.

there are so many silences between them—abel 's mistake, noah's insecurity, adrian, noah breaking

down on the phone, noah's mother—and abel doesn't know which one to break. he watches noah

instead, his soft pink lips roughly bitten and his soft blue eyes harshly guarded, and his soft pale hands

mercilessly shaking.

"noah?" abel breaks one of the silences, but he doesn't know which one. noah looks at him, his

movements traced with fear and his eyes filled with worry and abel wants to step forward and hold

noah close to him and tell him that he doesn't need to worry about abel, but he isn't very sure if noah

would appreciate that so he stays where he is, pressing his heels firmly into the grass to stop himself

from leaping forward.

"um, cookies?" abel pushes the tupperware container towards noah and his heart almost glues itself

back into place once the smallest and the warmest smile breaks through his lips and he shakes his

head fondly before stepping forward.

"idiot," noah mutters before slowly sliding his arms around abel 's waist and locking them tightly in

place to hold the younger boy as close as possible, and abel just gasps slightly at the spontaneity, the

tupperware box falling on the soft bed of grass underneath. his arms wrap around noah's shoulders

and his forehead nestles into the crook of noah's neck, and when noah tightens his grip just a little,

abel breaks down into the littlest sob, his fingers clutching noah's sweater tightly.

"i'm glad you're okay," noah mumbles into the bush of curls on abel 's head and abel steps as close to

noah as possible, his head moving further against noah's neck as he nuzzles his face into the soft skin.

"i'm sorry, i'm so sorry, please forgive me," abel cries pathetically, and noah doesn't reply, he just

loosens his grip slightly and attempts to take a step back but abel doesn't cooperate, shaking his head

violently against noah's sweater and pulling him back.

"abel—"

"please i love you, i didn't mean to—"he hiccups, and noah involuntarily rubs his palms softly against

abel 's back. "i didn't mean to hurt you noah, i really didn't, and i can't live without you please don't

leave me,"