I just wanted to preface this chapter by saying that it includes some themes of mild sexual assault. If you think that may trigger you then please don't read xx

chapter 8

"I don't mind you and Noah having sex, sweetie," Julie said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Just let me know so I can steer well clear!"

I felt my cheeks flush red as I tried to explain for the tenth time what she had walked in on. "No, that's not what-"

"Don't be embarrassed, honey. It's completely natural." Julie said, patting me on the back as she sped off to serve a customer. Groaning, I spun around and caught Noah's eyes from across the pub. He sent me a quick wink as I flipped him off.

After Julie had found us in the compromising position in my room, Noah had managed to speed off to help open the kitchen, while I was stuck bearing the full brunt of Julie's reaction. The more I denied anything happening, the more Julie thought I was just being shy about the situation she had caught me in. I had never had a more embarrassing conversation in my whole life.

As long as she doesn't tell Dad, I thought, shuddering at the idea.

"Oh you dirty, dirty girl!" Lewis said from behind me.

"Nothing happened!" I wailed, leaning against the counter with my head in my hands.

"Oh honey," Lewis said, chuckling, "I can see the concealer on his neck from a mile off. Those hickeys must be big!"

Admittedly, the concealer had looked a lot better in the darkness of my room than it did now, under the bright sunlight streaming through the pub windows.

"The hickeys weren't from me," I said, shooting him a look. "I just tried to cover them up."

"A seven year old could have done a better job!"

"I can't deal with you right now." I said, glaring at him. The lack of sleep had caught up with me and I was feeling very on edge. I snuck a glance across to Noah who, apart from the mismatched concealer on his neck, was looking fresh as a daisy. He barely even seemed tired, even though there was no way all the alcohol had left his system yet.

Lewis chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry honey," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, "you know I only tease you because I'm bitterly single.".

***

At around five o'clock, Julie called a team meeting. All of the staff congregated in the kitchen.

"Right team, there's a big match today. What does that mean?" Julie said, talking to us as if she was giving a pep talk to a football team.

"Lots of men!" Lewis said.

"Yes, Lewis." Julie said, "and what does that mean?"

"I'm getting laid!" Lewis said.

"No, Lewis."

"It will be very busy," Noah replied.

"Correct!" Julie said. I sent Noah a sarcastic thumbs up, which he responded to by blowing me a kiss. "It will be busy and it will be rowdy. " Julie continued. "But it will be a good night for profits.".

As the clock neared the eight o'clock kick off time, the pub started to fill up. Each of the five televisions around the place, as well as the projector screen in the beer garden, were showing identical displays of the build up to the match. All the waiting staff were frantically running around, taking orders from increasingly drunk and rude customers. By the time the starting whistle blew, every seat in the pub was taken and we could take a slight breather as the demand for food and drinks fell as the crowd became engrossed in the match.

"I've never understood football," I said to Noah as we stood behind the bar, watching the game out of the corner of our eyes.

"It's quite simple," Noah said, as if he was talking to a toddler, "who ever kicks the ball into the goal more times wins."

I rolled my eyes. "I understand the game. I just don't understand why fans care so much."

As if to prove my point, the camera panned to a particularly enthusiastic fan in the stands, who was crying as their team missed a shot on goal.

"I guess it's the feeling of being part of such a big community," Noah said, eyes trained on the screen.

"Who do you support?"

Noah shrugged, "I don't follow football anymore. My dad used to take me to watch all the Chelsea games, but since-" he paused, and looked at the ground. "I don't watch it anymore."

I was about to ask him about his dad when I was interrupted by a customer at the bar.

"Hey, sweetheart, could you get me another drink." The man at the bar was short and balding, with a substantial beer belly.

"Of course," I said, grabbing a pint glass and holding it under the tap.

"You're new around here, aren't you?" He said, leaning across the bar. "I'd remember a pretty face like yours."

I felt Noah's body stiffen beside me. Brushing off the comment, I gave the man a small smile.

"Yeah, I arrived last week." I said, handing the man his pint. He handed me a fiver.

"Keep the change," he winked. He leant further across the bar to whisper in my ear, his beer breath stinging my nostrils. "There's more where that came from for a pretty girl like you,"

Blood rushed to my face, and I found myself frozen still as he lifted his arm across the bar.

"Such a gorgeous girl," he said, reaching a hand out to touch me.

Before I knew what was happening, Noah had slammed the man's arm down on the bar. Pushing me back into the kitchen, Noah jumped around the bar and squared up to him. The man barely came up to Noah's chin. The crowd around the pair started to back away, watching the altercation with more interest than the football game.

"Why are you talking to her like that?" Noah shouted, rage prominent in his voice.

"Look at how she's dressed!" the man spat. "She's begging for attention."

Without hesitation, Noah swung his arm and with a single punch, knocked the man to the ground. Julie ran into the commotion and grabbed Noah's arms, leading him towards me, into the kitchen.

"You two stay in here," she said, shutting the door behind her as she ran back to the scene.

I looked up at Noah. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were focused on the floor. I grabbed his right hand, noticing it was bleeding and already slightly bruised.

"Go and get some air outside." I said, dropping his hand. "I'll find you some ice."

I found a packet of frozen peas in the fridge and went outside, finding Noah sitting on the back doorstep. He had an unlit cigarette in between his lips; an unreadable expression played on his face as he looked straight ahead. The sun was just setting, casting a magnificent display of oranges and pinks across the cloudy sky.

"Here," I said, sitting down beside him and placing the frozen peas on top of his hand.

"Thanks," he said, turning to face me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." I said. Even though I tried to sound as convincing as possible, my voice was flat. Truth be told, the incident today had shaken me slightly. It's not like I hadn't experienced situations like it, but they had always happened in big cities, or in boozy nightclubs. The fact that it had happened so close to home, in my place of work, made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Noah clearly wasn't convinced, as he let out a long breath of air. "This shit shouldn't happen."

I made a small noise of agreement, before motioning towards his unlit cigarette. "Are you going to light it?"

He turned to me, "would you mind?".

Any other day of my life I would have said yes, I do mind. But I could see the pain across Noah's face and realised that for whatever reason, today's events had struck a nerve with him.

"I'd rather you didn't." I answered truthfully, "but I wouldn't mind if you did.".

He tucked the cigarette away immediately.

We sat in silence for a bit, watching the colours dance across the sky until darkness fell.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked, out of the blue. "My jokes, I mean." I shook my head.

"Of course not." I answered truthfully. While Noah's jokes had made me slightly comfortable at the start, it had always been two sided banter.

"Are you sure?" he asked, turning to face me. "What's the difference between those jokes and what that bastard did today?"

"The fact you are even asking that question shows you are a million miles away from that man." I said, moving my hands so that they enveloped the bag of frozen peas, securing it to his hand.

"I just-"

"Noah," called a voice from inside the restaurant. Julie stepped out, eyes softening at the sight of us. "I'm so sorry but would you mind helping out inside? The man is gone but I completely understand if you want to work in the back for the rest of the night,"

Noah nodded, slowly getting up from the step. "Thanks for the peas," he said, his usual smile making a reappearance on his face.

I bit back my own smile. "Anytime."

My eyes followed Noah's movements as he turned and walked back into the restaurant.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Julie asked, rubbing my shoulder.

"I'm fine, really." I said. It must have come out pretty pathetic as it didn't stop her from taking the spot to my left. Julie let me sit in silence for a bit, clearly seeing that I wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

"Is Noah in trouble?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

Julie sighed, "he shouldn't have punched him. But seeing as the customer assaulted you first, they agreed not to press charges."

Assaulted. The blunt word stung almost as if it was a physical blow.

"So Noah's not been fired?"

Julie let out a chuckle. "God, no! I wanted to lay a few punches on the man myself!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. I would not have been able to stand it if Noah lost his job because of me.

"He's a guarded boy, Noah is." Julie said, "But he has a heart of pure gold."

My mind replayed the events of the night; Noah slamming the man's arm onto the table, Noah leaping around the bar to square up to him.

"I'm not going to ask if you're okay," she said, concern clear in her green eyes, "but I need you to know that I'm always here if you need to talk about anything." She gently caressed my cheek. "Absolutely anything."