Chapter 109: Epilogue Part 1
Chapter 109: Epilogue Part 1
"do i look okay?" noah asks quietly, smoothing his hands over the navy blue shirt and studying his hair
cautiously in the mirror. he had gotten rid of the fringe sometime last year and for now he was enjoying
the shortened sides and the mass of hair pushed right off his forehead in a messy quiff. he looks over
at adrian for reassurance and the sixteen year old just gives him a toothy smile and sticks two thumbs
out to show his approval.
"i think you should wear your glasses instead of contacts," he suggests. "you haven't been wearing
contacts anyway so why are you wearing them today?"
"i'm meeting my husband after three years, the least i could do is look attractive," noah jokes. abel
wasn't a touchy subject in the household anymore, he was just a reminder of how much noah has
grown as a person.
"no, the least you could do is be yourself, so lose the contacts good sir," adrian tips his head
sarcastically and noah rolls his eyes at him fondly. he can't put his love for adrian in words, the pride
noah has for him is something that makes his chest swell and his breathing easier. the first month of
abel leaving was probably the hardest for him, too many days spent inside just crying, too many days
where he missed school, too many failed classes, too many calls from concerned teachers, too much
crying and breaking and loss of appetite. but he's been handling himself well now.
he's the captain of his school's junior football team, he's acing all his subjects, every wednesday after
school he goes by the orphanage and plays games with the children and he often accompanies his
grandmother in making several monstrosities in the kitchen. he's discovered a new passion for cooking
and a hefty bookshelf in his room is filled with recipe books and cooking show dvd's. there have been
times and times again when he has surprised noah by creating dishes he can't even pronounce, and
needless to say noah is glad to see him make progress and find his interests.
noah's mother and father have been living with him since the past two years, he wasn't in a very good
state of mind when they moved in. he had gone to work for approximately fifty days in the entire year,
and he had spent more than two weeks in the hospital because he was just throwing up too much. his
appetite was lost and so was his will to do anything but stay in bed and sulk, and to this day, he still
feels guilty for putting adrian through all of that.
he had turned to alcohol as well, getting drunk just so he isn't left alone with his thoughts, too many
emotional breakdowns to pay attention to anything but his broken heart. two months after his addiction,
adrian had finally confronted him, sitting in noah's bedroom and crying his eyes out and telling him to
pick himself up. he remembers how adrian had yelled at him, he was younger then, his high pitched
voice yelling concerns and throwing several cards of therapists he'd been looking up. that was the time
he had decided that he had done enough damage and he needed to fix himself, if not for anyone else
then for adrian.
he had been seeing a therapist every two weeks now for the past year, and things were a lot better. no
longer were honey curls with matching eyes haunting his sleep and the reminder of abel was lot more
gentle on his slowly healing heart. he had been on a few dates this year, neither of them could compare
to what he had with abel but at least the pain in his chest had died down significantly enough so he
doesn't feel like crying every time he sees a married couple.
"papa's calling," adrian informs him, and noah snaps back to where he is standing in front on the mirror,
his thick black rimmed glasses now shielding his eyes. he feels his heart race in his chest, after a long
time it's not out of panic and frustration and anger. it's just because he has missed abel terribly over
these years and he has restrained himself enough to not hear his voice or look at him or know how he
is doing.
the last image noah has of him is a heartbreaking one, where abel 's voice was merely above a
whisper, his face was a ghostly pale colour splashed with purple bags and red bitten lips, and his pretty
brown eyes were nothing but just shells that lacked any sort of emotion. he knows abel has been in
contact with adrian and his own mother but he couldn't bring himself to actually know how he is doing
without noah.
"yeah he's getting ready,"
"stop cussing,"
"someone's eager,"
"woah, slow down mister,"
noah giggles slightly at the casual tone of adrian's voice, it makes him unnecessarily happy that adrian
is on good terms with abel after whatever happened. he knows that they have been meeting frequently,
and adrian has spent a lot of late nights chatting to his father but the reminder makes noah smile
nonetheless.
he feels it now, the heat in his cheeks, the warmth in his chest, the shakiness of his hands—he's been
anticipating seeing abel again for a quite a while now. they have texted each other a bit, nothing too
personal or invasive, just small talk asking how each of them are doing and setting the timings of their
friendly reunion or 'date' as adrian calls it.
"he just called you lester dude," adrian laughs and noah can't stop himself from joining in, his hands
flying up to cover his mouth so he can muffle the noise.
"even after three years he doesn't fail to offend me," noah rolls his eyes and adrian gives him a warm
smile, getting up from the bed and pushing noah out of the door. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
"come on, hurry up, don't be late for your date," he reaches up to fix the strand of hair that had fallen
across noah's forehead, before grabbing his shoulders and leading him out the door again. adrian is so
much taller than he was earlier, he's almost over noah's shoulders.
"it's not a date," noah grumbled, straightening out the collar of his shirt and pressing a kiss to adrian's
forehead before leaving.
"go get your man!" adrian yells once he shuts the door and noah can't help but roll his eyes, gripping
his car keys tightly between his fingers before making his way down the stairs.