Chapter 78 — I Love You

Noah's POV

"I love you," she said.

"Yeah, that's okay but—Wait, what?" I blinked my eyes again and saw Cupcake smiling and biting her lower lip.

"What did you just say?" I asked again because I was fucking sure that my ears were playing tricks on me again.

"I said I love you," she bit her lower lip, and boy did my heart did that weird thing again.

"Say it again," I didn't mean to sound cheesy, but I just couldn't believe my ears right now.

"I love you," she said it again.

"Again," I whispered.

"I love you, Noah Black," she grinned, and that was when I smashed my lips onto hers.

She had confessed. She had said those words. Those three words. Fuck.

My mind wasn't registering a thing and my heart refused to accept the fact that it wasn't a dream. It was safe to say that I was actually screwed big time.

My girl had said that she loved me.

She had actually said what I had been dreaming to hear for ages.

I snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her to my lap with her legs on one side. I kissed her more passionately and hungrily and her whole body completely melted in my arms.

I sought for an entrance inside her mouth and she parted her lips to ma—

"Oooi, get a room guys, you're polluting the environment," a familiar voice snorted from behind me and I was seconds away from killing the shithead.

These fucking cockblockers.

I reluctantly pulled away from Cupcake and she lowered her eyes down, blushing like a tomato that lifted my mood up again.

"What?" I groaned at Kyle and he smirked.

"What? I was just advising you to keep it PG," he shrugged and I shook my head.

Ass Cupcake scooted back to the bench and Kyle folded his arms across his chest like he should be given an Oscar for ruining someone's moment.

"You guys were really on it," he chuckled and took a seat beside me.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes and averted my eyes to Cupcake to see if she was comfortable with Kyle's innuendos. I mean yeah that boy was a dickhead but he wasn't that bad from inside.

Just a bit blunt?

Okay, maybe way too blunt?

"So what I don't get a treat? You guys literally took eternities to ge—"

"Don't you have better things to do?" I asked my voice clearly irritated which made the asshole smirk even wider.

"Nah, not better than this," he winked and I was literally on my way to rip his head off when Cupcake squeezed my hand beside me, probably reading my thoughts. 

I moved my head towards her. She seemed...okay. I mean I knew she wasn't used to much attention and I was pretty much okay with it. But she did not seem uncomfortable with Kyle hanging around.

"So, Emily, tell me how did the lover boy propose?" Kyle spoke up and grinned at Cupcake and she blushed.

"Go away Kyle," I smacked his shoulder.

"You're such a party pooper," he rolled his eyes and stood up.

"And you're such a cockb—" I restrained myself from completing the sentence because my girl was sitting beside me.

Kyle smirked and mouthed 'whipped' to me before turning around and jogging away.

Dick.

"Sorry about him," I mumbled and smiled at Cupcake and she returned the gesture.

"It's okay," she scooted close again and rested her head on my shoulder this time.

We both stayed silent for some moments and I just felt Cupcake steady breathing beside me.

"Thank you, baby," I said after a moment as she entwined my fingers with her.

"What for?"

"Everything," I smiled and she bit her lip and rested her head back on my shoulder.

Yesterday I didn't know what possessed me to pour my heart out to Cupcake but all I knew right now was that I didn't regret doing it one bit. In fact, I felt light hearted. Nobody except Ace, a friend from my old town, and now Cupcake, knew about dad. Dad always masked his pain and he thought that I didn't notice it. He thought that I didn't know the times when he used to wake up in the middle of nights and stay awake till dawns. He thought that a five-year-old won't notice his dad crying.

But I knew all along, from the very first day that man left my mother's bedroom I knew my dad didn't deserve her, he deserved better, far better. Even as a child I understood that mom wasn't doing something right. The times when she would feed me with chocolates and ask me to keep my mouth shut when dad came back home. I knew all along yet I didn't do anything.

I still remember the night my dad came and caught my mother and his brother red-handed. For a second I thought he really was going to jump off the roof but then he saw me standing by his side tugging at his pants and he stopped, he stopped because of me. Because he had a child to look after because unlike my mother he actually cared about me.

He didn't ask anything from my mother all his life, all he wanted was her love. But that selfish woman couldn't even remain sincere to him let alone love him. So he asked her to get out of his sight. He didn't say anything to my mother after he caught her with his brother, he didn't even ask for an explanation. He simply asked her to leave and when she did he locked himself in his room for days.

But he grew strong. He pretended to move on because of me. He showed the world that he was okay when inside he was breaking each passing moment of his life.

From that day dad had taught me one thing every day of my life; sincerity. Even as a child he used to tell me how important it was to be true to the people you loved. It was the reason dad was so damn hurt when I kissed that redhead.

Because he knew how much being betrayed hurt.

He thought I didn't know all this. He thought that telling me that my mother and him weren't just made for each other would lessen my hatred towards her. He thought that I didn't understand all of the things my mother did. He thought that telling me that he couldn't love her as much as she deserved would make me adore and admire her again. If only he knew.

"Noah?" my girl's voice broke my chain of thoughts and I looked down at her and smiled.

"Hm?"

"You seem lost in thoughts," she said and subconsciously brushed the loose locks of hair away from my forehead.

"Yeah just thinking about....stuff," I sighed and she nodded and squeezed my hand, a small gesture that made me feel better.

I stood up and extended my hand out to her which she took and I pulled her up so that her small body collided with my chest. I grinned and she playfully smacked my arm and pulled away, picking up the tray and jogging off to the next class.

Which we had together.

I grinned.

I ran after her and of course, I caught up with her with ease.

Noah: 1

Cupcake: 0

***********

I paced back and forth in front of Cupcake's locker and waited for her to come back from her last lecture.

What was taking her so long?

I knew I was acting like a high school hormonal teen boy, which by chance I was too, but hey I told you I couldn't help it. I wanted her by my side like....24/7 maybe?

My line of sight found Cupcake's blonde ponytail swinging at the end of the hallway and I smiled and crossed my arms over my chest. 

She smiled, like a genuine smile.

And holy shit it happened again.

My heart was doing these weird things in anticipation whenever I saw her making her way towards me these days and it was annoying.

She approached me and grinned. She seemed way too happy after a physics lecture.

"Happy, aren't we?" I snaked my arm around her waist as she put the things back in her locker.

"Yes," she nodded proudly and I chuckled.

"What is it?" I nuzzled in her neck and I swear I felt her body shiver.

"I got an A in physics," she stated proudly and I smiled and kissed her forehead.

"That's my girl," I pecked her lips and felt her smile.

"Your girl," she repeated and nodded her head to herself as we made our way out towards the exit.

************

"I swear I can do it," Cupcake whined and I chuckled.

"Of course you can," I shook my head and suppressed my smile, biting the inside of my cheek.

"Ahh, why doesn't anyone believe me?" she muttered and moved her head sideways, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aw, baby, come here. I know you can do it but I just don't want you to. When I'm with you I want you to just sit around me and let me do everything for you, okay?" I wrapped my arms around her small waist from behind and kissed the crown of her hair.

"Mhm?" she hummed and turned around to look at me with a faint smile on her lip.

"Mhm," I nodded and bent down and kissed her lips as she gave in to me and let her body melt in mine.

"I thought y'all were making cake or something," dad walked into the kitchen with complete ease, munching on his Doritos as if he didn't just walk onto his son and girlfriend making out.

Cupcake immediately jumped away from me and folded her arms across her chest, casting her eyes downwards like the meek she was and I rolled my eyes.

"We ARE making a cake," I narrowed my eyes at dad as he took a seat and smirked at me.

"Darling, I'm afraid this way the only thing you'll make is cute lil' babi—"

"Ahem AHEM," I threw an empty box of chocolate chips at him which he obviously caught with ease.

"Um, I think we should go back to making the cake," Cupcake's small voice came from behind and I smiled to myself.

"Of course," I gave dad a death glare before turning around and he only shrugged in response.

It was Saturday again and dad and I had decided that it would be better for the three of us to chill around in the house and not go to the restaurant.

Of course, Cupcake complained and gave a long fucking speech on how it was unfair to the other employees but hey, it's not like I cared or something. I just had a chance to look at her speaking and it was enough for me to sit there and lean on the couch, watching my girl talk.

Whipped.

But of course, dad and I convinced her to stay in the end.

I looked up from the batter that I was mixing at my girl, saying something and moving around in the kitchen wearing an apron and doing absolutely nothing of help.

I smiled as her ponytail swung behind her and she explained dad something about how Nutella was better than any other chocolate spread. Dad nodded at her as if he actually was listening to her and she smiled proudly, making my smile go to a next level of creepiness.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and went back to baking the cake.

I thought about how in the last few days, Cupcake had made herself the light of our lives. The days when she didn't come over, dad actually asked me if everything was okay or if I screwed something up again. We had grown so fond of having her around us that now it had become an unusual thing of us staying apart for more than a day.

After a while when my cake was ready I took it out of the oven to dad and my girl who were now sitting in the living room and obviously making fun of me as usual.

Not that I minded, anyway.

I hopped on the couch beside Cupcake and she sunk further down in her seat. I teasingly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my lap, making her squeal.

"Teenagers," dad muttered and rolled his eyes and grinned when he saw the cake on the table.

He jumped up from the couch and started cutting the cake and serving it to us. He took one plate and put two slices in it before practically shoving it in my face.

Gee, I love you, too.

I took a small bite of cake in the spoon and fed Cupcake. She smiled. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about random stuff and doing useless things, with me obviously stealing small kisses from Cupcake. I didn't know why she didn't kiss me in front of dad.

 I mean, come on he was just an old man who probably thought that he was still better in bed than I was, which obviously was a lie.

But I loved the way she always, always melted in my arms whenever I stole a kiss from her against her protests. 

Cupcake lightly stroked my cheek with her thumb and that was when I realized that she was still sitting in my lap and I still had my hand in her soft hair. 

"What are you thinking about?" she said in a hoarse voice that made my grip around her tighten. 

"You," I grinned and she rolled her eyes. 

She entwined our hands together and I smiled and rested my head on the headboard. Dad was in his study so we were pretty much alone in here.

Keep it slow ,pal. Keep it slow.

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a pair of ocean blue eyes staring at me with so much passion and longing that for a minute I really did think that I was dreaming. The same eyes that I had fallen for and the same eyes that had the tendency in them to make me forget the ruthlessness of this outside world. 

My baby leaned up and pressed her lips to mine and I, obviously, wrapped both of my arms around her small frame and pulled her as close as the world allowed me to. We shared a long kiss and both pulled away panting heavily.

"I love you," she said and I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against hers. 

This wasn't the first time she said those words but I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I feared that tears would start pouring out of my eyes any second. 

She was the one. The one who made me feel whole again. The one who looked into my eyes and suddenly the world seemed better. The one and only reason that my dad had a real smile on his face after years again. The one who completed me. Completed us. Completed everything that belonged to me. 

And I promised myself to not let her go because I knew that if I would it would hurt like hell and I wouldn't be able to survive that hell.

"I love you, too."