Page 15 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

Two Weeks to See the Stars

I stood there, stunned after his fun little revelation and the confusing spiral it threw me into.

While I was busy staring off into space, Noah rummaged through his bag and pulled out a blanket, then laid it on the ground.

After that came a couple of store-bought sandwiches, two bags of chips, some chocolate chip cookies, and a variety of juices and sodas.

My gaze shifted to the picnic spread before me. It seemed like something you would see in some rom-com movie or book.

Was that where this guy learned all his smooth moves? Romance novels?

Noah noticed me looking and chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “I didn’t know what you liked to drink so I bought a few things to choose from.”

Yeah, a few was putting it mildly.

As I struggled to untangle my thoughts from the level of maximum confusion I had entered, he pulled out a portable speaker before plopping himself on the blanket.

He was starting to remind me a lot of Mary Poppins with all the stuff he magically pulled out of his bag.

Noah stared at me expectantly, and when he caught my eye, he grinned and patted the space next to him.

I hesitated. Sitting in such close proximity to him was making the alarm bells in my head go off in a flurry. But I didn’t exactly have much choice at this point. I wasn’t about to sit on the cold ground just to stay at a comfortable distance away from him.

Once I sat down, Noah chuckled and lay on his back, looking up at the sky. Sitting there stiffly felt weird, but I also felt too awkward to lie next to him. A few minutes passed in silence before he spoke in a relaxed tone.

“I come here sometimes when I want to be alone. The stargazing is awesome,” he said, and I knew the hidden meaning behind those words. He was asking me to join him, to lie down, to relax.

He probably wanted me to put my guard down, but that wasn’t going to happen.

Even so, I decided that maybe I should try playing his game for a while.

Clearing my throat, I lay next to him and looked up at the sky.

Noah was right. Up here the stars were brilliant specks of light, whereas the city lights usually rendered them invisible by my house.

“Yeah, they’re beautiful,” I said, and then decided to go full cliché. “Makes you feel so small, right?”

Noah chuckled, as if I’d said a joke, and I stared at him, confused by that reaction. Maybe I’d gone too far down the cliché rabbit hole?

“Actually,” he started, a spark of excitement flickering across his face, “staring at the stars always makes me feel so big.”

My lips parted slightly as I processed those odd words.

It was clear to me now that words like ordinary or typical could never be used to describe Noah.

Spending time with him was like taking a ride on a roller coaster that spins you up and down and all around until you’re lightheaded and out of breath.

“What do you mean?” I asked, unable to stop my curiosity.

“Well, look at all that. So many stars in the sky, in a universe without an end, and then there’s me.

In all of time and space, there will only be one me.

Only one Noah Archer with this exact life, and these thoughts, and these feelings, and this awesome hair,” he mused, and grinned at me, as if to lighten the impact of what he was saying.

“We’ll only ever exist in the now, and while some don’t believe it, I think we actually matter.

You can make an impact in this world and change your reality in the blink of an eye.

The universe will always be there, but you’re unique, one of a kind, ephemeral.

It’s kind of a miracle when you think about it. ”

I was quiet for a long time, my mind absorbing the meaning behind what he’d just said.

Shockingly, it almost made sense, and once again I was thrown for a loop at how differently he viewed the world and his surroundings.

Where someone else saw the vast emptiness of space and how meaningless human life was, Noah saw the beauty of existing, of being yourself in that vastness of space.

Swallowing hard, I looked at him and saw him staring back at me with a gentle expression. As if he hadn’t just made me question everything.

“Technically, even the universe will end one day,” I muttered, swallowing hard as I focused back on the sky.

Once I said that, Noah sat up and burst into laughter.

“Damn, Fox, you went full nihilistic on me,” he choked out between bouts of laughter, wiping his eyes with his fingers. “ Ahhh , you’re a riot.”

I bit down on my lip, worried that the night sky would never be the same again. That it would now always remind me of Noah Archer. I was unsure of what to say next. After everything he’d shared, I didn’t want that to be my only reaction. Especially if my goal was to get him to like me, right?

“I don’t know if I believe what you said,” I started, sitting up next to him, “but I liked it. I think I’d like to believe it, too, one day,” I admitted. The intensity of his blue eyes on mine was making my face flush and I was instantly glad that our surroundings were dark.

Feeling exposed, I curled my knees up to my chest and hung my head a little.

I’d known he was dangerous from the start, but I never expected this.

I was completely sure that I would never fall for his fake charm and bullshit.

Deep, deep down in some dark part of my mind, I’d been slowly starting to understand why all those girls liked him so much. And that scared the crap out of me.

“Thanks for listening, Fox,” he said, reaching out his hand and brushing the strands of hair off my face and behind my ear.

A shudder ripped through my body and I cleared my throat, trying to untangle the knot in my stomach. We needed to switch topics, and fast.

“Uh, aren’t we gonna do a question?” I asked, my voice a little too high-pitched for comfort. Questions. Time to go back to the plan. Find out his dirty secrets and then ruin him. A plan, right?

“Sure, I was planning on that but then I got distracted,” Noah teased, his eyes twinkling as he winked. “Does having to make a phone call ever stress you out?” he asked, looking at me with a tilt of his head.

What an interesting question.

“Yeah but not as much as it used to, I guess,” I answered quickly.

Noah stared at me expectantly, obviously unsatisfied with my short answer.

Fidgeting with a strand of hair, I continued, “If you’d asked me this when I was fifteen, or even sixteen, it would’ve been a definite yes.

I was insecure and calling someone gave me such intense anxiety I’d stutter and get tongue-tied or forget everything I was supposed to say, even if I just had to call a hairdresser for an appointment.

I don’t really know why. I was scared of being judged or the kind of impression I left, maybe?

But now I care less and less about what people think of me, so it’s getting easier. ”

Noah’s lips were pressed together as he nodded in understanding.

“We all have things that make us uncomfortable or scared, you don’t have to justify that to anyone,” he said, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Warmth spread through me and I cleared my throat. “How about you?”

“Ah, well, it depends on who I’m calling,” he said, and looked away. I had a feeling that this wasn’t the answer he usually gave to this question.

“Come on, you have to give me more than that,” I pressed, raising my eyebrows in expectation.

Noah chuckled and stretched.

“I guess you do deserve more after the lengthy answer you gave.” Suddenly, his voice took on a slightly sadder, darker tone. “I usually practice what I have to say if I’m calling my dad. Talking to him is never easy, or straightforward, and I can’t always keep my emotions in check.”

My eyes widened in surprise. The only people in my life I had no trouble calling were family members, so to hear that for him it was the complete opposite was unexpected.

“Your dad? Why?” I knew I shouldn’t pry, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Hm, that’s a question for another day,” he said.

Unsatisfied with his answer, I pursed my lips together in a slight pout.

“Should I put on some music?” He ran a hand over the back of his neck and then fiddled with the Bluetooth speaker before I even had a chance to reply. “Any preference?”

“Surprise me.” I knew we had similar music tastes anyway.

And he did. I was tempted to ask him if he could share his Spotify playlist with me.

“So, did I choose the right spot for the first date?”

“Yeah,” I blurted.

Suddenly darker, petty thoughts ran through my head.

“Do you take all your girlfriends here?” I said, and we both seemed taken aback by the harshness of my voice. Holy crap , did I actually ask that?

Noah stared at me for what felt like a good minute before he turned his attention to a bag of chips, opening it with a loud pop.

“Nope. You’re the first.”

His voice was low and raw, and my eyes widened at his revelation. This was his spot, and I was the first girl he’d brought here? Why? What was he playing at?

My heart thrummed uncomfortably loud in my chest, heat radiating from my cheeks once again. As I reached for an apple juice to try to cool myself off, Noah reached for the same bottle and our hands collided awkwardly.

Before I could pull mine away, Noah grasped my fingers and grinned.

He used his other hand to take the apple juice and held it out for me, not letting go of my hand.

I took the bottle, and just as I was about to take my imprisoned hand from his clutches, he entwined our fingers and lowered our hands onto the blanket between us.

“Uh, I kind of need my hand back to, you know . . .” I let the rest of the sentence drift off as I lightly shook the juice bottle in his direction.

“Nah, you don’t need your hand, you just need a hand,” he said with an easygoing chuckle, and I stared at him, perplexed.

Within a second, he reached out with his free hand, grabbed the lid of my juice bottle, and twisted it off. Then he chose an orange juice for himself and held it out for me to do the same.

Carefully, I opened the bottle and glanced at him through slightly narrowed eyes. “This doesn’t seem very productive long-term.”

“Probably not. But for right now, let’s just live in this moment.”

And that was when I knew I wasn’t going to get my hand back anytime soon. When I noticed how comfortable and warm his touch felt against my skin, I realized I didn’t really mind.

We sat there for a long while listening to music, sipping on juice, snacking on chips and sandwiches, looking at the twinkling stars in the sky, and holding hands.