Chapter 21

                                    

                                          
"Goodnight Lil" Noah whispered. We were on facetime, as we had been every night he'd been away so far. This is the first time he'd been away since I admitted my feelings, and it sucked. He wouldn't be away for too long, but it didn't stop me from missing him. I had been getting used to the excitement of sneaking around together when we could.
"Goodnight Noah" I replied. Forcing myself to keep my heavy eyes open to look at him one more time. It was dark, and he was in his bunk trying to be quiet due to the others being around, the light from his phone glowing against his skin. He looked flawless.
Noah began humming quietly, and I couldn't fight the tiredness any longer.
I woke the next day with my phone next to my face. I realised Noah must have ended the call sometime after I fell asleep. I messaged him a quick apology before forcing myself up and out of bed. 
I found Emma in her usual spot in the kitchen, nursing her coffee. 
"How are you? You haven't been out much this week" she noted whilst scrolling her phone. 
"Keeping tabs on me are we?" I questioned whilst getting myself a drink and joining her at the table.
"No, of course not, I just noticed you've been out a bit more recently, but you hadn't in the last week. Just wanted to make sure everything is alright?" She asked, looking up from her phone. "I'm just looking out for you"
"Of course it is! Just had less on, that's all" I smiled. It wasn't a lie, things were going well...apart from missing a certain someone. And technically, I did have less on now I wasn't spending any moment I could with him.
Once satisfied with my response, Emma went back to scrolling through her phone.
"Oh! Looks like fans are speculating about Noah's 'mystery girl', although she's not really a mystery if this is true as there are already pictures of them here" Emma said suddenly.
My head snapped up, looking over to her at the mention of Noah's name. I immediately felt my stomach drop at the idea of him and someone else.
"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, trying to keep my composure. She turned the screen to face me. There was an Instagram post with pictures from the festival from what looked like a fan account, including one of Noah talking with a female artist. His head was tilted down towards her due to the height difference, and his hand rested on the side of her arm. My eyes lingered for a while before Emma scrolled for down for me to see the comments.
I wish someone looked at me the way Noah looks at her!
Omg they look cute together. Hope they are a thing
I'm so jealous
The comments kept going, some fans telling others not to speculate, some devastated at the idea of him being taken and some happy for them. I bit my lip, trying to remind myself to remain unbothered and calm. 
"Oh" Was all I managed to say. I cursed myself for sounding so stupid, trying to wrack my brain for something normal to say. "Do you think they are together then? That's his mystery girl?" I finally asked, hiding my face behind my mug as I took a sip.
"Who knows? I guess we will find out soon enough though when he's back... or maybe not with that one, he is very secretive isn't he" Her words were completely innocent, but they cut deep as I thought about the idea of Noah entertaining someone else whilst he was away. I knew we weren't official, and it was stupid to feel like he should exclusively give me attention, but it didn't stop the feeling in my stomach. He had been sincere in how he felt, and what happened between us so far felt like it meant something to him too. However, the comments and the way he was looking in that photo had me unsure of what to believe. 
"That's true" I nodded and got up from my chair. "I'm going to get ready for work" I said, tipping the remainder of my drink down the sink, not feeling in the mood for it anymore. I headed upstairs and immediately collapsed onto my bed.
Noah: It's okay sleeping beauty
I picked up my phone to see Noah had replied to my message. I smiled for a split second before feeling frustrated again. I was frustrated at the idea of him being with someone else, but also at myself for thinking it was the case and letting it bother me so much. Surely he wouldn't be spending his night in his bunk on facetime to me if he was with or interested in getting with someone else, right? 
I decided against replying and opened up instagram. I was met with more pictures from a different angle, with more speculation underneath. The only way to avoid the feelings I felt, was to avoid my phone all together. So with that, I turned my phone to do not disturb, placing it face down on the table and got ready to do some work. 
I had managed to distract myself for a while, however thoughts of Noah and someone else would creep in, followed by thoughts of how much I missed him. My stomach would drop each time and it was that that made me realise how much he actually meant to me and how terrifying it is to be falling for someone again.