Chapter 22: Even if
The rest of the day, Thorne carries on as if everything is fine, but Noelle knows better. There's a storm brewing beneath his composed exterior, a darkness that's always lingered in his eyes but seems more pronounced today. It's there, just beneath the surface, threatening to overwhelm him.
As night falls, they go through their usual routine, taking a bath together, the warm water doing little to ease the tension in the air. Noelle watches him carefully, sensing the unrest that Thorne tries so hard to hide. It's in the way his muscles tense, in the fleeting glances he casts toward nothing in particular.
When they finally crawl into bed, the room cloaked in darkness, the atmosphere is thick with unspoken worries. Noelle can feel Thorne's restlessness, the way his body shifts ever so slightly, unable to find peace.
*
"Thorne, you can talk to me," Noelle's voice whispers softly through the darkness.
"My brightest star, it's nothing," I reply, trying to keep my voice steady, but even to my own ears, it sounds unconvincing.
I feel the bed shift as Noelle moves away from me, creating a cold, empty space between us. The distance is unbearable. I roll towards him instinctively, my arms reaching out to his waist, pulling him back into my embrace. I bury my face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent, letting his familiar pheromones calm the storm raging inside me. For a moment, he's stiff, resisting, but then he melts into my arms, his body relaxing against mine.
"I hate it," Noelle says after a long pause, his voice tinged with sadness. "The way you push me away and keep me at arm's length sometimes."
The weight of his words crushes me, and I can hear the hurt in his tone, feel it in the way he holds himself.