Page 25 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

Two Weeks to Accept the Apology

I stared at Noah, dazed and confused. He was leaning against the living room door frame chatting, my mom smiling pleasantly at him.

I could see their lips moving but their words sounded like a jumbled mess.

Then they pivoted and stared at me, and the questioning gaze on Mom’s face turning quickly into concern. “Skyler, honey?”

The words sounded like they were coming at me through a tunnel. I held my breath for a few short moments, inhaled, and nodded.

“Yes, uh, yes?” I stammered.

“I said that dinner will be done in about an hour.”

“Oh, ah, great.” Swallowing hard, I cast a look at Noah, who had one amused eyebrow raised. “We’ll go hang out upstairs until then.”

“Okay, honey, have fun,” she said, but then stopped, narrowed her eyes, and waved a finger in my face. “But not too much fun, okay?”

“Mom!” I shrieked, feeling intense heat climb up my neck and consume my face. “We will have the normal amount of fun.” If by fun you mean me making Noah regret the day he was born.

“Mm-hm.” She turned to look at Public Enemy Number One. “Hope you like chicken casserole, Noah.”

“I love chicken casserole, Serena. I can’t wait to try yours.” Another charming grin, all teeth and confidence. Just one glance at how soft my mom’s face went was enough to tell me she was already falling for his bullshit.

She turned around and left for the kitchen, mumbling, “What a polite boy . . .”

A freaking kiss-ass is what he was.

Noah chuckled, clearly having heard my mom’s near-silent musings. I turned to him and instantly wanted to punch that smug look off his face.

“You. ” I moved toward him and pulled on his gray cotton shirt, bringing myself dangerously close to his personal space. Unfortunately, that action did not have the menacing effect I’d hoped for, since he still towered over me .

Having his face that close to mine was making my stomach do somersaults.

Especially with that infuriatingly amused look still plastered on his face.

And those eyes, glistening with curiosity and something else I couldn’t decipher.

It wasn’t until he licked his lips, and my anger morphed into something of a different intensity, that I realized how truly bad this decision had been.

I instantly let go of him and shook my head to clear it of his spell. Moving toward the stairs, I hissed back at him, “Come with me.”

My angry footsteps were a deep contrast to his calmer, more casual ones. It stoked my anger again. This was out of line, even for someone like him. I hadn’t wanted my mom to be aware of his existence, and now the Archer was out of the bag.

I flung my door open and made a little demonstrative gesture with my hands to usher him inside. As soon as he was in, I closed my door and swiveled to face him. Noah was glancing around my room, back turned to me.

“You,” I said again, poking him in the back this time. He turned around, and I continued my little jab attack by poking him in the chest. “What the hell is your problem? Why would you come to someone’s house unannounced? What were you—”

“I’m really sorry, Skyler.”

That made me halt. I hated when people apologized right away when I wanted to yell at them. It was like a needle poking my little balloon of anger.

I sighed and shook my head. “Sorry for what? For coming here and telling my mom you’re my boyfriend ?”

“I mean, technically, I am your boyfriend.”

“Is that really the hill you want to die on, Noah?”

“I’m just being factual—” he started to say, but stopped when he noticed my expression tighten. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry for it all. In my defense, I did tell you I would come over to apologize if you didn’t reply.”

“That in itself is the problem, Noah, you can’t just invite yourself to people’s houses if they’re ignoring you!”

“So you were ignoring me,” he said, in a way that made the unspoken A-ha! easily understood.

I stared at him. He stared back. After a beat, he ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

“I know. I messed up. I guess I suck at apologizing, and all of . . . this. I just wanted to talk to you. Yesterday was a very long day.”

“What does that mean? Where did you go yesterday?”

Noah pressed his lips together and looked away. We stood in silence for a few moments. He wasn’t going to tell me. That much was clear. And while before I would have just shrugged his silence off, right now, it was bothering me.

“Another secret,” I muttered, and he looked up at me, pain and regret in his eyes. “You’re full of secrets.”

“I’m sorry. There are some things I—” he muttered, and let out a frustrated sigh.

I could see that this was bothering him. That he was frustrated and nervous and felt bad . And that made me feel like the villain, again . I wasn’t even a real girlfriend, technically, and here I was expecting him to tell me his secrets.

“That was kind of rude of me,” I said, and bit down on my lip. “You don’t owe me anything, Noah. Not a text message, or your life story, or some deep, hidden secret. You should save that kind of stuff for someone you really care for.”

His eyes widened, and when I offered a small smile, he returned one. There was a warmth in his eyes that made me swallow hard and look away before I got any wrong ideas.

“I’ll tell you,” he said, and I looked at him in surprise. “I will tell you everything. Later. When I’m sure,” he finished, and cleared his throat before grabbing the backpack he had and digging through it.

Before I could change the subject, he finished rummaging through his bag and shoved something toward me. I blinked a few times.

“What is this?” I asked, staring at the palm-sized teddy bear.

“My apology gift. My mom always says you should bribe people with gifts when you’re asking for forgiveness,” he said, a lopsided grin on his face.

“Smart woman,” I said, and could see joy in his eyes at my words.

Carefully, I studied the bear. It was a light brown and held a large brown jug with yellow drops over it, and in big letters it said i’m sorry, honey . I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You, Noah Archer, are a walking cliché,” I managed to say.

“Is that a good thing?” he asked, a huge grin on his face.

“I think so,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “I love it, thank you.”

“Does that mean you accept my apology?” he asked, tilting his head like a curious golden retriever. If he’d had a tail, it probably would have been wagging happily behind him. Spurred on by the visual my mind created, I grinned and nodded.

“I’m sorry too,” I said, and he looked at me in confusion. “For being petty and ignoring you.”

“Ah.” He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine, I’m just glad you’re not mad at me, honey .”

Rolling my eyes, I lightly punched his arm and turned around before he could see the redness on my face. I needed a tall glass of ice-cold water.

“Oh, do you want anything to drink? Water, Coke, juice?” I asked, realizing I’d gone straight past my manners and into attack mode.

“I’ll take a Coke, thanks.”

After a trip downstairs and skillfully avoiding Mom’s questions under the excuse of not leaving our guest waiting, I made my way back upstairs.

I opened the door using my elbow, considering I was balancing two glasses in my hands, and froze when I stepped into my room.

There was Noah with my pastel-pink headphones over his ears and an amused smirk on his lips. Shit . He was going to think I’d gotten these because of him, I just knew it.

I walked to my desk, set the two glasses down, and extended my hand. He raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t know what I was asking for.

“My headphones. Give.”

Noah took them off and offered them to me. But he didn’t let go of them when I took hold, so we awkwardly held a side each.

“That’s the exact same model I have,” he stated.

“Yeah, I got them from my parents for Christmas.”

“Why don’t you ever wear them at school?”

“I don’t know, I just got used to using them at home, I guess.” It wasn’t like I could tell him the real reason, which was that the headphones had become a signature of his. They were part of his whole look.

I tugged lightly at the headphones, signaling it was time to let go. He did, but not without a disappointed look.

“That’s a shame. We could have matching headphones.” Noah smirked. “Think about it, it would be cute.”

“Uh, if by cute you mean cringe , then, yes, it certainly would.”

Noah just laughed, shaking his head. “That’s what I like about you, Sky. You’re different from everyo—”

“Oh god, no! Don’t make me a not like other girls girl.” I groaned, shaking my head. “Just because you don’t give girls a decent chance doesn’t make me something special.”

“I get it. You don’t think two weeks is enough,” he stated, crossing his hands over his chest.

“It’s not just about the two-weeks thing.

You think girls act fake around you to get you to like them, right?

” I asked, and he slowly nodded. “Well, did you ever think maybe the girls are just nervous? They can’t relax because they like you.

Maybe if you gave them more time, they’d be able to become more natural with you. ”

He frowned. Considering how smart he was, it was surprising to witness him looking like he had never thought about that on his own.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said quietly. “But I think I have my hands full right now,” he added, as he took a step closer to me, his eyes soft and full of warmth. “There’s this one cute, stubborn girl who promised she’d teach me what love is.”

Okay. Whoa. I knew he was going to give me a heart attack today .

“I—uh—I—” I stammered, my gaze moving from his eyes to the playful tilt of lips that kept me transfixed. Lips that seemed to be moving closer to me. And closer . And closer.

“Skyler! Dinner’s ready!” Mom’s voice boomed and made us both jump a foot away from each other.

My heart hammered in my chest erratically. I glanced at Noah, who was rubbing a hand across his face, his cheeks seemingly more pink than usual. What the hell had just happened? And how the heck was I supposed to get through this dinner now?