Prompt ~ A cocky main character is sent into the real world. He is shocked to find that the fans of his book not only like the villain more, but favor his sidekick over him.

Wordcount ~ 4637

fandombeforeblood0 :) 

~~~

Darkness.

All Noah saw was darkness. His mind gained consciousness and he opened his eyes. The room was incredibly bright. He must've forgotten to shut the blinds before climbing into bed with his girlfriend. 

As he slowly woke up, he realized that several things were off. The walls were stark white, not the faded grey he'd recently painted them. He was laying in a twin bed, not a king. And there was something attached to his arm.

He wasn't in his bed, or his room, or even his apartment. He was in the hospital.

Noah immediately sat pin-straight. How had he ended up in the hospital? He hadn't had anything to drink last night, had he? He squinted as he tried to remember the events of the previous evening. He had come home from work - he was an intern at a marketing firm - eaten a pizza with his girlfriend, watched a movie, and gone to bed. No crazy parties, no dangerous tricks, and certainly no alcohol. So what had happened?

Scanning his surroundings, he noticed a small remote on the rail of the hospital bed. A pager. He unhooked it and planted his thumb on the button. He anxiously waited for a nurse to come to his aid.

Within a few minutes, a young, lean woman with short blonde hair and a clipboard strode into the room. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a pen before looking up. Immediately, her eyes widened.

"Gretchen?" she asked. "What on earth happened to you?"

Noah blanched. "What? I'm not Gretchen! I'm Noah."

The nurse narrowed her eyes at him before dropping her gaze to the paper on the clipboard. "I admitted Gretchen Matthews to this room last night," she stated slowly.

The lost boy dragged his hand across his face and through his dark hair. "Listen, I'm just as confused as you are. I went to bed at my apartment and woke up here."

After opening her mouth and closing it a few times, the nurse adjusted her stance and stood rigidly. "Alright, I'm going to go get a few tests. Clearly you're under the influence of something, sir."

Noah wanted to stop her, but she was already spinning on her heels and rushing out of the room. He was positive that he hadn't done anything extraordinary the night before. It was just another peaceful day with the love of his life.

Hopefully, Rebecca wasn't worried about him, he thought. Although he didn't know where he was or why he was there, he didn't seem to be in any danger. His girlfriend had no reason to be concerned but, knowing her, she probably was.

The image of his girlfriend drifted to the forefront of his mind and suddenly a feeling of calm washed over Noah. He had been friends with Rebecca since they were ten years old, and at the ripe age of twenty-one, he finally got the courage to ask her out. Now, it was over a year later and they were still going strong. He loved her so much and didn't know what he would do without her. 

The tip-tap of footsteps on linoleum brought Noah out of his thoughts. He looked over to see the nurse returning with a plastic cup and a needle.

She set the things on the tray beside him. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need you to answer them honestly, alright?"

He shifted in the small bed so he could look at her. "Sure," he said.

"Name?"

"Noah James Ryan."

She wrote on the paper on her clipboard. "Date of birth?"

"June twelfth, 1997." He smiled half-heartedly. "Tomorrow's my birthday, in fact."

More scribbling. "So that would make you twenty-two?"

He nodded. "Yes, almost twenty-three."

"And where do you live?"

"Boston," Noah answered.

The pen froze. "You live in Boston?" the nurse asked him.

He looked at her. "Yes," he said hesitantly. "Why?"

"We're in California." 

Noah was beyond confused. Not only did he have no recollection of how he ended up in a hospital, but he was also in a hospital across the country, in a state he'd never visited. "Are you messing with me?" he asked. "Is this some kind of joke?"

The nurse shook her head, her collarbone length waves bouncing against her face. She set down her clipboard and looked Noah dead in the eye. "You're one thousand percent sure you didn't take any sort of drugs recently?"

"Yes!" he confirmed. "I haven't even had alcohol since Valentine's day!"

She gave him a look of scrutiny before standing up and walking around to the other side of the bed. Slowly, she pulled the IV out of his forearm and pushed the cart closer to the wall. "Come on, get up," she instructed.

He pulled the sheets off of him and stood up. Suddenly, he was hyper-aware of his attire. He expected to be dressed in a paper-thin hospital gown. Instead, he was wearing blue jeans and a white tee-shirt - a bland but standard outfit you could usually spot him in on his days off.

The nurse's eyes drank in his clothing before meeting his with a look of pure confusion. "What..."

Noah lifted up his hands in surrender. "I don't know either, lady."

She blinked, shook her head, and walked out of the room. With no other option, Noah scurried behind her.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

The nurse glanced at him over her shoulder. "My apartment," she answered slowly.

Noah wanted to make a comment about how they had only just met and he didn't know whether to trust her, or that she was mid-shift at the hospital, but he decided the circumstances were a little unusual. He followed the nurse down the hallway and to an elevator, which they stood in awkwardly quiet as it descended.

"So," he trailed.

Her hazel eyes locked onto his own blue ones. "Yes?"

He tucked his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to your home and I don't even know your name, sunshine," he commented wryly.

She rolled her eyes. "It's Taylor," she stated. "Or Nurse Williams if you're my RA."

Noah's lips curled up in the tiniest of smiles. "So she's sarcastic," he teased. "I thought you were stone cold."

"If you came into a hospital room expecting to find a wrinkly old woman who's wet the bed and see a healthy young guy instead, I don't think cracking jokes would be your first reaction either," she pointed out.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Taylor and Noah walked out into the lobby of the hospital, which was generally empty.

"I'm going to go clock out, okay? Wait here."

Noah nodded and plopped down on one of the chairs in the waiting room. Taylor rushed off behind the front desk, and he watched her have a vivid conversation with an older looking woman. He couldn't help but chuckle at her excentric hand gestures.

After a few minutes of squabbling, his companion returned. "We're all set to go," she told him.

He stood from his chair and walked with her out of the hospital. They wandered through a maze of vehicles before finding a steel grey Toyota near the back. Taylor climbed into the driver's side while Noah opened up the passenger's door and sat on the plush seat.

His nurse companion started the engine and took off, weaving through the parking lot until she was driving down the main road.

"Was it hard to get out of work?" Noah asked her after she'd been driving a few minutes.

She shrugged. "I've been working here for a while now and have never left work early or been late for a shift. I explained we had a personal problem and they let me go for the rest of the day."

"That's good, I'm glad I didn't cause too much trouble."

"Well," she mumbled, "don't jinx anything."

With that, they sat in silence for the remainder of the car ride, both of them lost in thought.

After about thirty minutes, Taylor parked her car behind a very tall apartment building. They both got out of the vehicle and Noah followed the blonde inside.

They stepped inside an elevator and patiently waited for it to take them up to the fourth floor. Once it arrived, they walked down the hall to the last door on the right, which Taylor unlocked. 

"So this is my humble abode," she stated. "Do you need something to eat or drink?"

"Just some water, thanks," Noah said.

She nodded and walked over to the cupboard. "So what's your story?" she asked, grabbing a glass.

After a slight hesitation, he began to tell her a summary of his life, from the very beginning. "I grew up in Boston. My dad was pretty well-off, so I was a bit spoiled. I met my best friend in kindergarten. To this day he's one of the only people I can get advice from. We met this girl in fifth grade and expanded our small circle. Over the years, I started to like her. We all went to college together, and my last year I told the girl I loved her. We've been dating ever since."

Sure, it wasn't the most detailed explanation, nor was it entirely accurate. It was the glorified, less embarrassing version. 

She handed him the filled glass. "What did you go to college for?"

"Business," he responded, before taking a sip.

She furrowed her eyebrows and walked over to the living room. Crouching in front of a bookshelf, she ran her finger along the spines of the paperbacks. "Where is it?" she murmured to herself.

Noah frowned and set down his water on the counter. He tentatively joined her. "What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Yes!" she cheered. "I found it. Here, have you ever read this?"

She handed him a book titled A Two-Way Street. He frowned, not recognizing the cover, and turned it over in his hands. He scanned the synopsis of the back of the book.

Noah Ryan has a problem. He's in love with his best friend. He and Rebecca Smith had been attached at the hip since fifth grade. They did just about everything together. Now, a senior in college, Noah couldn't look at her for more than a minute without being lost in her dreamy eyes. Deciding he can't handle the torture anymore, he decides to come knocking on her door and confess his harbored feelings. Will she feel the same, or will their relationship be forever changed?

Noah's lips parted. "Where did you get this?" he asked, rereading the summary.

"Barnes and Noble," Taylor said. "Weirdly similar, right?"

He slowly nodded, opening the book and skimming the words inside. "Identical," he murmured.

"It came out about a year ago," she told him. "It's a New York Times bestseller. The author went on a million interviews. Social media raved about it for months."

He slammed the book shut and looked at the front cover. Reading the author's name, he didn't recognize it whatsoever. "I don't know who this is," he said, pointing at the name. "How does this lady know all of this?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea, but at least it's something." She sat criss-cross and looked into Noah's eyes.

"I don't suppose this person has a public phone number," he said sadly.

"No," Taylor agreed, "but she probably has an Instagram. Let me grab my phone."

She hopped up and rushed over to the kitchen counter. Noah gradually stood and walked over to the couch.

They sat down next to each other, her tapping on her phone and him thumbing through the book.

"Here, look," she said, holding her phone so he could read the screen. "Author of A Two-Way Street, Creator of Noah Ryan and Rebecca Smith." 

Noah read the description twice more before ripping his gaze from the book and looking into Taylor's hazel eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked quietly.

She bit her lip. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Maybe...is there anyone from Boston that you can call?"

He nodded, trying to ignore his thoughts and focus on the present. "Yeah, my girlfriend. Can I use your phone?"

She passed her cell phone to him and he quickly dialed the digits he had memorized years ago. Pressing it to his ear, he heard the phone ring once before an automated voice delivered a message.

"We're sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is no longer in use. Please try again."

Noah stared at the screen. After checking the number several times, he still couldn't find a mistake. "It's not a real number," he stated. "It's...fake."

Taylor gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she told him quietly.

He looked over at her. "I'm fake," he said. "This is all fake. I'm not real. I'm just some made-up character in a stupid book. Everything I've ever known is literally fiction."

"You may be a book character, Noah, but this is not fake. This is real life."

After looking into her eyes for several moments, he sighed and stared into the floor. "Can I take you up on that offer for something to eat?" he asked, his voice hollow.

Taylor cleared her throat. "Yeah, is scrambled eggs alright?"

He nodded. "That'd be perfect, thank you."

She gently rubbed her thumb on his shoulder before standing up and walking over to the kitchen. "Feel free to turn on the T.V," she told him.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to relax. Deciding to do what he did best - ignore his problems until they consumed him - he reached onto the coffee table and grabbed the remote. Powering the television on, he slumped into the arm of the couch and tried to focus on the screen.

Settling on a channel playing old 90's reruns, Noah had just about forgotten what was troubling him. Then, a commercial began.

The screen showed the back profile of a man standing in a bland hallway, in front of a door numbered 28. A bouquet of tulips was in his right hand and his left hand ran through his chocolate brown hair. A voice sounded out.

"Just take a deep breath, dude. She's your best friend. If nothing else, you can laugh at yourself later. Just knock on the door."

He held the flowers in front of his chest and raised his other hand in a fist. "Just...knock."

His knuckles wrapped against the wooden door. It swung open, revealing an eerily familiar face to Noah. He had dirty blond hair, green eyes, and tanned skin. He was about two inches taller than the other guy and infinitely stronger.

"Who is it, Adam?" a feminine voice called. Suddenly, a petite, black-haired girl appeared behind the blond and her arms snaked around his waist. "Oh, hey, Noah. What are the flowers for?"

The bouquet dropped to the floor in slow motion, and the guy booked it down the hallway. As soon as he turned the corner, the screen flashed black.

"A Two-Way Street, coming to theaters near you this summer."

Another commercial began to play, but Noah's heart was still racing. That was the worst night of his life, and they were using it to advertise a movie.

When his best friend, Jake, finally convinced Noah to confess his feelings to Rebecca, he had already been nervous. When he knocked on the door and her date answered it, he felt like the most stupid person on the planet. He didn't talk to Rebecca for a week because he was so embarrassed, but he kept seeing her around with Adam, a guy she met in her English class. Every time, his stomach dropped.

"Hey, are you alright?" Taylor's voice jarred him out of his thoughts and she handed him a plate.

He accepted the food and began to eat. "They're making it a movie," he explained, his voice barely audible.

She sat down next to him. "I saw."

"I hate that guy," he told her. "He almost ruined my relationship with one of my best friends."

"A lot of people wish Rebecca ended up with Adam," Taylor commented.

Noah whipped his head around so fast he almost got whiplash. "What?" he exclaimed.

She winced. "Er, sorry, that was stupid of me to say."

He narrowed his icy blue eyes. "No, what do you mean? Why would anyone want him to get with Rebecca?"

Taylor tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, they think he's less of a player. You had several girlfriends, he'd only had one. He was more responsible, too, and got into college with scholarships instead of his inheritance."

Noah scowled. "They don't know the full story, apparently, because that guy's a class-A jerk."

"If it makes you feel any better, most people's favorite character is Jake," she said hesitantly.

He leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. "For a nurse, you are really bad at making people feel better."

"Low blow, Noah."

He let out a breath and stared up at the ceiling. "You're telling me that not only do people think Adam should have ended up with my girlfriend instead of me, but also that most people prefer my best friend over me in my own book?"

Taylor chuckled nervously. "It doesn't sound the best when you put it like that," she admitted.

"Not in the slightest," Noah grumbled. He sat up and forked some of his eggs into his mouth. They sat in silence for a while as he finished up his meal. When he was done, he set the plate on the coffee table and turned to face Taylor more directly. "So far we've discovered I'm a made-up book character that most people rank third to my best friend and my antagonist. What's next?"

The nurse tapped her fingers against her knees. "I have no clue if I'm being completely honest. This is my first time meeting someone from an alternate universe."

"Funny."

"I try." She looked over at him. "Maybe we should go to Boston," she suggested after a moment.

Noah scrunched up his eyebrows. "That sounds expensive."

"Well, it would be worth it if we could get you back home," Taylor explained.

Sighing, he shook his head. "I think that today has been far too overwhelming for the both of us. Maybe we should relax for today and figure out a plan tomorrow."

She looked hesitant but slowly nodded. "Alright. Have you ever wanted to do anything in Cali?"

"I've always wanted to come to a Californian beach," he offered.

"Well, you're in luck. My favorite beach is ten minutes down the road. Come on, let's get going."

~~~

"Are you serious?" Noah looked at Taylor, shocked.

She giggled. "Completely serious. I drank half my body weight in vodka, started a cha-cha line, and skinny-dipped in the pool."

He threw his head back with laughter. "Wow, you are quite the party animal, huh?"

She looked down at her feet, which were buried in powdery white sand. "I was, back in high school. Then, senior year rolled around and I had to put all of my focus into getting scholarships for college. And all through college, I was focused on making sure I didn't fail any classes. So I guess it's been a while."

Noah gave her a half-smile before laying down on his towel and looking up at the blue sky. "What's stopped you from living life to the fullest now that you're graduated?"

She sent him a dry look. "I'm a nurse," she drawled. "If I got blackout drunk every weekend, I would be quite the hypocrite."

"Alcohol isn't the only key to happiness," he countered. "I used to think that, but it's really not true. I'd much rather have a movie night with my girlfriend or play video games with my best friend than go out on the town for a few rounds."

Her face flushed red. "I don't have a boyfriend or a best friend. It's kind of just me."

Noah sat up and turned to face her. "Well, we're friends now, so you're wrong."

Her hazel eyes lit up and her lips turned up in a smile. "You know, you really aren't as bad as I thought you were."

He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Go on," he urged.

"Well," Taylor said, drawing patterns in the sand with her pointer finger, "the character Noah Ryan seemed cocky and arrogant. He thought he deserved Rebecca because he knew her longer. He thought the world should bow down to him because he was rich."

His cerulean blue eyes locked with hers. "Maybe he just pretends to act that way so that he doesn't get hurt."

Her lips parted and she froze. "That doesn't make sense," she finally blurted. "The author made you cocky so that Rebecca could be your humble counterpart and balance you out."

"What if she shielded my real emotions with cockiness and none of the readers figured out that it was just a mask?" he pointed out.

Taylor pushed her blonde waves out of her face. "Then I would feel very sorry for liking Jake better than you," she stated in a light-hearted tone.

Noah chuckled. "As you should," he teased.

They both looked out on the ocean, reflecting on their revelations.

~~~

After several hours at the beach, a lunch break at a local diner, a shopping adventure, and a trip to the movie theater, Taylor and Noah finally paraded back into the nurse's cozy apartment, smiles on their faces. They both collapsed on the couch, exhausted from the day's events.

"I'm going to be honest with you; that was the most fun day I've had in a very long time," Taylor declared.

Noah smirked. "I bring out the best in people."

She lightly nudged his arm. "Here come's Mr. Cocky again," she joked.

"Don't worry, he's not staying for long." He smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "Today was pretty awesome, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." Taylor cleared her throat. "So, about tomorrow..." she began.

He held up his hand. "We'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow, yeah? No point in stressing about the future."

She nodded. "Right."

They sat in silence for a while before Noah finally broke it. "Do you have a guest room I can sleep in?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. You turning in for the night?"

He nodded and stood up, stretching his arms. "Yeah, I think so."

Taylor got up as well and led him down a short hallway. "This room is all yours," she said. "Never been used, in fact."

"I rate it five stars," he teased, walking in.

She smiled. "Thank goodness, I was so worried."

Noah chuckled. "Well, I'm going to go to bed, alright?"

She looked up. "Yeah, um, before you go, I just wanted to say thank you."

"For?" he prompted, scrunching up his eyebrows.

"For reminding me to live, not just survive. For reminding me it's okay to take things slow. For reminding me to stay light-hearted whenever possible. And for a lot more."

He smiled. "You're very welcome," he told her. "And thank you for giving me an opportunity to be myself again."

"Of course." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his body. He did the same, encasing her small frame with his arms. They hugged for a long moment before pulling away.

"Goodnight, sunshine," Noah said, a smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

Taylor waved. "Goodnight, Noah."

~~~

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Groaning, Taylor smacked her hand down on her alarm clock. Another day, another shift at the hospital. 

Yawning, she sat up and stretched her arms above her head. She'd had a really weird dream, and it freaked her out a little. After thinking about the bizarre series of events a moment longer, she got out of bed and shuffled out to the kitchen. She popped two pieces of bread in the toaster and turned on the coffee maker.

While her breakfast made itself, she decided to watch a little television. Perching on the edge of her couch, she surfed through a few channels. Clicking on one of her go-to's, she leaned back into the plush cushions.

A scene faded out and commercials began to play. Normally, Taylor would have been frustrated at having an interruption in a T.V. show, but the commercial playing intrigued her.

A brown-haired man stood in front of a wooden door with a bouquet of roses. A deep voice began to speak, rambling on about how he didn't have to be nervous. After a while, the man knocked on the door. The handle turned and the door opened, revealing a tall blond guy.

The two men had a stare-off until they were jarred out of their thoughts by a voice. "Adam," a girl called, "who is it?"

Then, said girl walked up behind the blond and gave him a hug from behind. "Oh, hey, Noah," she said when she noticed the brunet.

Taylor blinked. Noah? He was a character from one of her favorite books, who she dreamt about meeting just the night before! 

The toaster made a popping sound, and she hopped up to go get her breakfast. She buttered up the toast and began to munch on it as she doctored up her coffee and pondered over her dream.

After she ate, she went to her room to get dressed for work. As she passed her guest room, a weird feeling rushed through her veins. For a reason unknown to her, she opened up the door and peeked inside the room. Even though she hadn't been in there since she first moved in, the sheets were slightly rustled.

Taylor frowned. Maybe it wasn't all just a dream...

~~~

"Baby," a feminine voice crooned, "it's time to get up."

Noah rubbed his palms against his eyes. Memories flashed through his head. Waking up in a hospital. Meeting Taylor, an uptight nurse. Learning he was a book character. Realizing everyone thought he was a cocky jerk. Deciding not to put on that image for the public anymore. Going to bed. And now...where was he?

He sat upright and immediately crashed into something. "Ouch!" he hissed.

He was face to face with Rebecca, his girlfriend. "Are you alright?" she questioned, holding her nose.

Noah looked around. He was back in his bedroom, in his apartment in Boston. "I - I'm fine. Is your nose alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it." She shifted her weight so that she was no longer straddling his waist and was instead laying on her side next to him. "Were you having a nightmare?"

He frowned. "What's the date?"

"It's the eleventh," she said slowly. "The day before your birthday."

Noah tangled his hands in his hair. No time had passed since he last remembered being in this room, but the memories of his time with Taylor felt so vivid. Was it a dream? Was it a time warp? What had happened?

"Baby, are you sure you're okay?" Rebecca asked, squeezing his hand with hers.

He took in a deep breath and nodded. "I'm fine," he decided.

He wasn't sure if what had happened was real or not, but he would be sure to take all of the lessons he learned and apply them. He was a firm believer that everything happened for a reason.

Looking over at Rebecca, a smile graced his lips. He'd missed her so much. He rolled over so he was laying on top of her. "I love you," he murmured, kissing her red nose.

She smiled. "I love you too, Noah."

He buried his head into her neck and sighed with content. He was home.