"Loving you never was an option – it was a necessity."

Noah

Sitting at the countertop, I watch everyone doing their usual things. Dad, sipping on his coffee as he reads the newspaper, Mum, taking out the perfect sourdough from the oven and Lotte, staring at the sourdough longing for it to reach her stomach. 

“Where is Alexa?” Mum asks as she proudly places another successful sourdough on the table along with some mashed avocados and cherry tomatoes.

“Taking a shower,” I answer.

“Why didn’t you join her in the shower?” Lotte whispers so that Mum doesn’t hear her.

“Because it’s not your business,” I fake a smile just as Lexy joins us.

“What’s not her business?” Lexy questions, curious as ever as she joins us. Her soft, ivory shoulders were exposed and her brunette locks fell down her back. Her lips were carefully tinted red and her skin was flawless. Her hazel eyes shone like twin moons in the hallway. She wore a loosely fit plaid dress.

“Nothing. Let’s eat some brekkie, shall we?” I quickly change the subject because I don’t want to talk about taking a shower with Lexy.

“Brekkie? What’s up with you, Noah?” Lotte inquires as she burrows her eyebrows.

“Actually, I say that and Noah kinda started saying it to tease me. I’m half Australian and so it’s just what we use,” Lexy beats me to it and honestly, I didn’t even know she was Australian. Fuck, I don’t know shit about her.

“So let’s pray before we start eating,” my Mum initiates. My whole life I’ve grown up as a Christian and praying before eating is a must. 

After a short prayer, we devour the food in front of us. The sourdough had a crusty top, chewy middle and plenty of holes to bring it a perfect bounce to the touch. And the taste? The taste was heavenly! 

“Mrs Adler, this is absolutely delicious,” Lexy gushes as she cleans her plate empty.

“Oh, thank you, love. You can call me Grace though,” Mum laughs as she takes all of the dishes into the sink.

After helping Mum with the dishes, Lexy mumbles something to Lotte and together they go up the stairs. I wish I wasn’t so bothered about not knowing what they are up to because a few minutes after they left, I run upstairs. I slowly pass by Lotte’s room to see Lexy hugging and thanking Lotte as she stuffs something into her pocket. I know what I was doing is wrong but I can’t help it. In a swift movement, Lotte spots me and Lexy catches me too. Shit. Lexy turns pale as she watches me explain myself. “I was just going into my room so I-” I try although I clearly knew I fucked up.

“What the hell, Noah?” Lotte starts just as Lexy crumbles to the floor. I stand at the doorway stunned. What just happened? Did she just faint because of how stupid my excuse was? Probably not. “Get some water!” Lexy says in a stern voice.

We splash some water on her face and thankfully she wakes up. “Are you okay?” I ask a concern in my voice.

“I’m fine. I’m anaemic and I just started my period. Don’t worry,” Lexy whimpers.

“You should rest,” I state.

“I’m fine,” Lexy tries.

“No, you’re not. I agree with Noah. You should lay here,” Lotte insists right when her phone beeps. “I have to run. Julie and I are going to the mall.”

The same bitch that was trying to converse with me yesterday. I glare at Lotte. “You’re not going out with her.”

“Well too bad cause I’m going. You ruined our friendship after you hooked up with her. After a long time, she just texted me last night wondering if we could go out.” When Lotte said that, I was secretly hoping that Lexy was sleeping but I very well knew that she was listening.

“You know why she texted you last night? Because I saw her when we went shopping and we didn’t even acknowledge her stinky ass. She probably just wants to see me.”

“You are so self-conceited. I’m leaving.” With that, she takes a sharp turn towards the door. I let out a sigh. 

“How many girls have you hooked up with?” Lexy asks ever so calmly.

“10? 20? I don’t know. Why does it matter anyway?” I answer with my head in my hands.

“I want to know but if you aren’t ready. It’s fine. Can you bring me my phone?”

I stand up and walk over to my room where Lexy’s phone is on the nightstand. I see that there 4 missed calls and 2 voicemails from the same guy that called yesterday, Eden. Acting unbothered, I give the phone to Lexy. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Lexy quickly dials a number and puts the phone next to her ear. “Hello? Eden?”

It feels wrong to be listening to their conversation so I leave the room and go into the kitchen. I've heard that dark chocolate helps with cramps so I melt some pieces of that and dunk it into some fresh strawberries and put it in the fridge to harden. I was walking around the kitchen when Mum walks into the room. "Where's Lexy? Does she like it here?"

"She fainted earlier but she's alright now."

"What? Poor thing. I'll make one of my famous chicken soup for her."

Just as I respond, the door unlocks and Lotte walks in. "Julie is in the mood to just watch movies today and her house is busy so I offered ours," she smiles, right when Julie marches in.

"Hey, Noah," she offers a smug smile. I remain silent. 

"You two know each other? I thought it was Lotte's friend," my mum wonders. 

"We know each other. Very well. Don't we?" Julie smiles unpleasantly. She's such an asshole. I can't believe I got in bed with her once. 

"Why don't we get to the movies?" Lotte quickly ushers Julie into the living room. 

I snack on some cookies when my phone buzzes in my pocket so I retrieve it. "Hello? Josh?" I answer.

"Noah! I just arrived here and guess what? There's a party at the frat house tonight and you need to come. It will be like the old times," he says all in one breath. 

"A party? I'm not feeling it," I sigh. 

"I'm going," Lotte yells from the living room. 

"With me," Julie adds. Oh, fuck me. These two are such a pain in the ass. 

"I'll be there at 6," I give up.  

"See ya there," Josh hangs up. 

Jogging up the stairs, I see that Lexy is staring at the walls, deep in thought. "Hey. You okay?" I query. 

She turns her head towards me. "Eh, could be better."

"I'm going to a party tonight. Well, I'm only going because Lotte wants to. If you're feeling better, you can join us?" 

"Bunch of teenagers getting drunk? I can skip on that," she chuckles. 

"We can leave early. I don't want to go alone. It's going to be so fucking boring," I roll my eyes. 

"You want to drag me with you so that I could also die of boredom?" She grins but I can tell she's slowly warming up to the idea. 

"Please, Sweet," I plead with my puppy eyes. I'm desperate.

"Okay," she pauses, "I'll come," she gives in with a smirk.

I pull her into a big hug more like lean down for a hug because of how tiny she is compared to me. I can't wait to show her off to everyone at the party. 

"Really? You want to show me off?" She looks up with an innocent look in her eyes. Oh, shit, I said that out loud.

"Of course," I grin from ear to ear because I'm a hopeless romantic like that.

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Hey, beautiful reader! I hope you're having a lovely day. I'm also taking this opportunity to say that I'm really sorry for not posting chapters frequently. Thank you again for reading and if you enjoyed it, please like and comment! ♡