Sarahi

lying in his bed, his eyes dry from staring at the ceiling for so many minutes without blinking, he couldn’t believe that he was the piece of shit. she had left so quietly. not hiding, but simply because she had nothing left to say or do; she had no reason to shout or hurl insults –though, to be fair, that had never been her style– the decision was firm and had been made some time ago. he had driven her to this, to the point where she didn’t even turn back for a second to look at what she was leaving behind. because there was nothing left. as well as being an alcoholic and a drug addict –or at least that was what he’d heard her mother reproach his girlfriend for one day when the lady thought he wasn’t at home– he was a cheat in every sense of the word, a scoundrel. there wasn’t a moment in their relationship when he hadn’t broken his word, from the very act in bed to little whispers in the back of a car. he had done it all. Noel had been a hurricane in her life, sweeping away whatever pride and dignity she still had, leaving a withered heart and an empty soul. he had murdered the sweet, graceful girl, taking away each of her qualities piece by piece, only to leave bitterness and sourness on the plate.

when she told him – ‘that’s it, I’ve had enough’ – and listed, one by one, the things he’d done to her, his reaction was typical of a man without a shred of remorse: denial. he claimed it hadn’t been like that at all and that she was being unfair for not taking into account all the good times they’d shared and everything he’d done for her. He had the nerve to get angry with her for making that decision. that didn’t stop her; her brother was already waiting outside to help her load as many of her belongings as she could into a car.

a week went by and he was still stuck in his own perspective, convinced that she was unfair and heartless, even going so far as to believe that his friends were telling the truth and that women really do leave you out of the blue after all. there were no calls, no one chased after anyone, nor did they send veiled messages via any mutual friends. she simply had no reason to; after all, there was a reason they’d split up. him, because he was so proud and stubborn that he was incapable of acknowledging what he had done wrong. it wasn’t that he didn’t want to give in; he simply didn’t feel it, the guilt. people sometimes refuse to admit they were wrong in public, but in the privacy of their own thoughts they are able to admit to themselves that others are right. Noel wasn’t like that. of course, he didn’t openly share all his feelings, but he could speak his mind without holding back, and he didn’t need to retreat to an empty room to take off a mask and speak the truth. no. not now, either. in his solitude – surrounded by silence, by the endlessness of the hours now that a certain person wasn’t there to listen to music at full volume, making even the slightest movement – he remained as steadfast as a palm tree swaying in a storm in which he hadn’t done so badly. quite simply, in his mind he could not conceive of the idea that all those deceptions and his other problems could outweigh the kisses between mouthfuls of food, the whispers in bed, and the endless conversations at night when they had the time and space to be just the two of them after a long day – more than all the good things they had experienced. 

and Noel thought that the days and weeks would pass like this until either she showed some sign of softening so he could approach her with a joke or a tender kiss and everything would be forgotten, or until he grew tired of putting up with the silence and the distance and simply told her to fuck off, as had happened before. but what he hadn’t taken into account was that she wasn’t just another girl. not because she was better than the others – nobody is better than anyone else – but because there had never been anyone like her in his life. 

eventually, pride fades away when the heart softens the brain, which led him to stand at the door of one of her best friends –with whom she always went to sleep when they’d had a row and she couldn’t even bear to look at him– and ask her to please convince her to have a word with him. but she wasn’t there. none of her friends would tell him where she was, and when he called her brother and her mother —who let him know she’d already predicted this would happen because of how worthless Noel was compared to her extraordinary daughter— he got the same reply: ‘do you seriously think i'm going to tell you?’, and they were right. what mother would send her daughter back to a fate that is already in ruins, where all she’ll do is drown in bitterness because there’s nothing left to save? Noel threw her into the sea and ripped the life jacket from her; of course no one around him was going to return her to his arms. 

weeks and weeks went by and there was no sign of her; weeks during which Noel kept pestering her friends to at least tell him she was okay. Olivia –the one who liked Noel the least, to put it mildly– snapped at him for knocking on her door every week begging for information, and told him she didn’t live there anymore, so he shouldn’t even bother. he didn't understand. 'here, in your flat?' 'no, here in the city. i'm not going to tell you where she is.'

suddenly, even the air had vanished with her, leaving only the fragments of her existence abandoned in their flat, the things she hadn't wanted to take with her – like the beautiful coat he'd given her for her last birthday. the useless things, the things she wouldn’t need in the life she was going to build for herself, she left to Noel. a deep pain struck him right in the chest, the despair of not knowing what to do, where to run to, because they had nothing to bind them together. No children, no rings, nothing. she could be anywhere and yet nowhere at all. of course, he had the means to go and find her, but he didn’t. what for? was he going to change? being alone, he could admit it –the one thing he really needed to isolate himself for to open up to honesty– he was never going to change. so he gave up on the idea and knew it was the right thing to do the day Olivia turned up with a letter and left it for him in a nasty way.

I’ve already been told you’ve been asking about me, and my mum said you told her that you do love me. 

If you really do love me as you say—which I doubt—you’ll stop.

There’s no going back now, and we both know it. You hurt me; that’s it. There’s nothing more to be done or said. The only thing you should do, if you’re so distressed by your mistakes, is to step aside and let me get on with my life in peace. No calls, no chasing after everyone who knows me, and no trying to find out where I am. I’m not going to tell you. It's over, Noel. Forget my existence.

the defeat was bitter and overwhelming, filling every fibre of his being with the realisation that there was nothing left to do, because you weren’t wrong at all. after all the harm he’d caused, would he continue bothering you? It wasn’t fair at all. even though he kept telling himself and others that he’d meant well this time, that his remorse was genuine, it was already too late for that, and deep down in his heart, Noel didn’t trust himself to be the man you deserved; there was no proof whatsoever that he could be.

that night, without calling anyone to go out for a drink and escape any sense of guilt as he’d been doing, Noel sank down on your side of the bed, second by second feeling at one with the mattress, wishing he could drown in it, knowing that he no longer cared about his own fate because the only truth he’d ever known in his life no longer belonged to him: you.

⋆.ೃ࿔🌸*:･

g/n: ayyy i'm so proud of the way i wrote this, which is a little context of wth happened here. so i'll leave it here till i finish chapter one😭

thank u sm for reading

Manchester 1986.

By nineteen, your life looked nothing like you imagined it would be at fifteen. Not better, not worse. Just different. The days felt shorter now, swallowed whole by responsibilities that once seemed impossibly far away when you were younger. There was work, church, errands for your parents, and the constant feeling that adulthood had arrived without bothering to ask whether you were ready for it.

You didn't spend your afternoons staring out of windows anymore. You didn't keep track of who walked past your street. And you certainly didn't think about Noel Gallagher every time someone mentioned his name. At least, that's what you told yourself. The lie had become easier with practice. But the truth now seemed scarier.

At fifteen, it had been easy to dismiss it. Just a silly crush, something to talk about with your girlfriends during a sleepover; the sort of thing girls eventually grew out of. But nineteen felt far too old for that excuse.

Four years had passed, and somehow Noel Gallagher still found a way into your thoughts. You knew exactly who he was, or at least you knew what people said about him. You'd heard the stories, the fights, the trouble. You'd seen the disapproval written across the faces of every adult who mentioned his name. None of it should have mattered. Yet whenever you spotted him across the street, something inside you still shifted, and that frightened you more than you'd ever cared to admit. And the question now wasn't what kind of boy he was, the question now was what kind of woman you were by being attracted to someone like him.

Your dating record wasn't too impressive. Over the years, your mother introduced you to countless boys from church. They were always the same sort: soft eyes, neat hair, good manners. The kind of boy who helped carry chairs after mass and remembered to shake your father's hand before leaving.

On paper, they were exactly what you were supposed to want. And you tried, you really did. You went on walks, accepted invitations for tea, and sat through awkward conversations about work, family and future plans. They were kind and respectable; perfectly decent boys. But it wasn't enough. Because none of them made your stomach twist with just a look. None of them excited you in the way they were supposed to. They lacked something, you just couldn't understand what.

For a long time, you assumed there was something wrong with you. Your mother said you were too picky. Your friends said you were too romantic. Maybe the problem was that life wasn't meant to feel the way novels and songs insisted it should, maybe affection was supposed to grow slowly, quietly, without the dramatic rush you secretly longed for. That explanation would have satisfied you and it would have been much easier. Except every now and then, you would catch sight of Noel Gallagher somewhere in the neighbourhood. And suddenly, all those carefully constructed explanations stopped making sense.

Things became easier after you left school. Or at least, busier. Your parents couldn't afford to send you to university, so while some of your classmates left for new cities and new lives, you stayed in Manchester. You found a job at a small record shop not far from the city centre. You didn't mind; in fact, you loved it. Music had always felt like a refuge, a place to disappear when your thoughts became too loud. There was something comforting about spending your days surrounded by records, helping customers, and listening to songs that seemed to understand feelings you could never quite put into words yourself.

And just like that, your life settled into a familiar rhythm. You still helped your father at church whenever he needed you, you still attended mass every sunday and you still spent evenings with your friends whenever everyone's schedules allowed it. Slowly, life began to feel more manageable. The questions that had once kept you awake at night seemed quieter now, not entirely gone, but at least easy to ignore.

♡~~~

It was a hot summer afternoon and you were hanging out at your friend Lucy's house. The Smiths had just released their new album "the queen is dead" and she invited you to listen to it at hers. Sitting on the floor of her living room, looking out the window, you could see the Gallagher's house. They lived right in front of Lucy's. Your back was against the sofa where Lucy was lying down and "I know it's over" was slowly playing in the background.

"I like this song", said Lucy, eyes closed focusing on the music.

"Mhm", You said, glancing unconsciously at the house across the street. It seemed like nobody was home. Lucy kept talking about the song. Something about the melody and how the lyrics were too sad.

"Well, it's The Smiths innit?"You said, still not looking at her.

"We need to cheer up a bit". Lucy sat up suddenly. "I heard about this club called 'The Hacienda'"

"Isn't that the place where everyone goes to get off their heads?" You asked not really interested. Your attention was still somewhere else.

"Oh for god's sake, y/n" she grabbed your shoulders and shook them lightly. "Lighten up."

You laughed despite yourself. "I'm serious."

"So am I. We're nineteen. We didn't go off to uni, we're stuck here, and this place is bloody boring."

She got up and walked over to the record player, lifting the needle before the song had even finished.

"Oi! I was listening to that" you said, ignoring her big discourse.

She rolled her eyes at that. "You were looking at the window."

You looked away immediately. Unfortunately, Lucy noticed. She followed your gaze towards the house across the street. Then she looked back at you. A slow grin spread across her face.

"Oh."

"Oh, what?"

"Nothing."

"Lucy."

"I just heard Noel Gallagher spends a lot of time at the hacienda, that's all." She said, pretending innocence.

You scoffed. "Right. And?"

"Oh, nothing." She shrugged innocently. "Just thought you might like to know."

"I couldn't care less."

"Course you couldn't."

"I mean it."

"Y/n, you've been looking at his house for the last ten minutes."

"I have not."

"You absolutely were."

"I was just looking outside."

"Mm."

"I'm serious."

"Whatever you say."

She went to the kitchen with the excuse of making tea while you just sat there alone with your thoughts. You hated when Lucy did that, not because she was wrong, quite the opposite actually. The worst thing about Lucy was that she had an irritating habit of noticing things you'd rather keep to yourself.

The hacienda had never sounded particularly appealing. A crowded club full of strangers, loud music, cheap drinks and people making questionable decisions. It was exactly the sort of place your parents would disapprove of. Exactly the sort of place you'd spent most of your life avoiding, but you couldn't help your stomach tightened the moment she mentioned him, and somehow, the idea had planted itself firmly inside your brain. You could pretend you weren't interested, that the possibility meant nothing. But for the rest of the afternoon, every time Lucy mentioned the hacienda, a small part of you found itself wondering the same thing: What if he was there?

So by the time you were getting ready to leave, standing in the doorway, you found yourself glancing across the street one last time. The Gallagher house looked exactly as it always did. Quiet and ordinary. Except that this time, a warm light glowed from one of the upstairs windows. And you didn't know why, but before you could stop yourself, you turned back to Lucy.

"So…" You said, trying your best to sound casual. "When's this hacienda thing?"

♡~~~

That's how you ended up at Lucy's house again. But this time, it wasn't just to spend the night listening to sad music and sharing whatever liquor she'd stolen from her father's cabinet. This time you two were getting ready to go out. Lucy had lent you one of her dresses; it was black with delicate lace, long sleeves and it reached mid-thigh. It was a cold night despite being mid-june, so you paired it with black fishnet stockings and your worn-out boots. Lucy had said you looked like some bird from the 60s. "Like, in a fit way." You just laughed at that.

The truth was, you felt pretty. Really pretty, in fact. Maybe even a bit sexy too, though you would never admit it out loud. Standing in front of the mirror in Lucy's bathroom, carefully applying red lipstick, you started to think that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Everything was going to be fine. You two were going to arrive, have some drinks, dance a bit, and leave before two. That was the plan.

Your parents didn't really know where you were going. You'd left the house at seven, telling them you were staying at Lucy's and wouldn't be back until the following morning. Just a normal sleepover, like the ones you'd had since you were children. They'd believed every word of it, and you tried not to feel guilty. There would be time for that later.

"Oh, girls just wanna have fun!" Lucy appeared singing, pushing the bathroom door without bothering to knock. She handed you a small bottle of some cheap liquor you two had bought from the off-licence.

"Rude! Didn't your parents ever teach you to knock" you laugh, taking the bottle. You took a sip. "Ugh, it tastes awful."

"That's because it hadn't kicked in yet." She said, examining her reflection in the mirror.

Still recovering from the burn of the alcohol, you headed back into Lucy's room. You checked your bag to make sure you had everything. Money, lipstick, keys.

"You should take this too," Lucy said, tossing something into your bag.

You picked it up and nearly choked when you realised what it was. A rubber.

"You're mental!" you laugh, throwing it back at her.

"Oh, come off it. You never know." She caught it easily and slipped it into the pockets of her jacket. That's when you noticed it, the look on her face. You'd known Lucy long enough to recognise it immediately. She was hiding something.

"What is it."

"What is what?"

"Just spit it out Lucy."

She tried to surprise a smile and failed miserably.

"Fine. I might've invited a few friends."

Your stomach dropped. "What do you mean, a few friends?"

Lucy immediately noticed the panic on your face.

"They're people from work," she said quickly. "They're nice, I promise. And they've been to the hacienda before, so at least one of us knows what we're doing."

"I don't know Lucy…" you looked away, suddenly wishing you were back home.

"Hey." She stepped closer and grabbed your arms. "Look at me."

You did.

"We stick to the plan, alright?"

You nodded.

"We go, we have a drink, we dance, and if you're not having a good time, we leave."

You studied her face for a moment. "Promise?"

Lucy 's expression softened. "I promise."

♡~~~

The bus was empty and silent at this hour of the night. Your laughter and Lucy's filled the air inside, both of you excited about what the night would bring. After the motivational speech your friend had given you earlier, you'd regained some of your confidence, or maybe the liquor had finally kicked in. Whatever it was, you were determined to enjoy yourself, just for one night. Not thinking about what could go wrong, no thinking about your parents, no thinking about responsibilities. Or about him. Because, realistically, what were the chances of Noel Gallagher being there? And even if he was, it wasn't as though you were going to speak to him.

"The place will be packed," Lucy said as the bus rattled through the city, turning around the corner where the building was. The bus had been running late, which meant you were both a bit behind schedule.

"How are we even getting in?" You asked. "Isn't there some sort of guest list?" You glanced out the window, a queue had already started forming outside.

"My friends know someone," Lucy replied casually. "We'll be fine."

She grabbed your arms as the bus began to slow. "C'mon. This is us."

As soon as you stepped off the bus, a cold gust of wind hit your face. You pulled your jacket tighter around yourself as Lucy linked her arm through yours and steered you towards the club. The closer you got, the louder the music became. You could feel the bass vibrating through the pavement beneath your feet. The building looked enormous. You'd passed it plenty of times during the day, but somehow the lights, the noise, and the crowds transformed it into something else entirely. Something bigger and intimidating.

For a brief moment, you considered turning around. Then Lucy spotted her Friends. "Oh, there they are!", And before you could protest, she was already dragging you towards them.

There were four of them. Three boys and a girl, all standing together near the entrance. Lucy greeted them as if they'd known each other for years, immediately pulling one of the boys into a hug. You lingered a step behind, smiling politely, suddenly very interested in the pavement beneath your feet.

"She's my best mate, y/n!" Lucy announced proudly. Every pair of eyes turned towards you.

You lifted your gaze towards the group again. "Hi," you managed.

"Hi," the girl replied with a smile. "I'm Sarah."

The others introduced themselves one by one, they looked completely at ease, like they'd somehow belonged here. Their bodies moved lightly at the music that vibrated from inside the building, talking about some dj they were looking forward to hearing tonight. To your relief, they welcomed you into the conversation as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That had helped to ease some of the tension in your chest.

"Noel should be here already," Sarah said casually. "He'll let us into the club." The words immediately made your stomach tighten. You immediately looked at Lucy, who was already looking at you.

Just there, one of the boys glanced over your shoulder. "There he is." You turned before you could stop yourself, mentally cursing yourself for it. Noel was making his way towards the group with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. For a ridiculous second, you forgot how to breathe. He looked taller up close, somehow sharper and more certain of himself.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Took your time"

"You just arrived very early," he said, completely unapologetic. His voice was different than you'd imagined, low and rough around the edges but not too deep. He greeted Sarah and the boys, just then his gaze drifted to you and Lucy.

"These are the girls I told you about," Sarah said. She pointed to Lucy first. "This is Lucy, we work together." Lucy gave him a quick wave.

"And this is y/n."

For a second, you forgot every single word in the english language. Noel glanced at you, your face seemed familiar, though he didn't know why. "Alright?" His hands briefly appeared from his pocket and you shook it, his grip was warm despite the cold.

"Hi." Your voice came out softer than you'd liked it, and he found himself smiling at you.

"Nice t'meet you," he simply said. Then, just like that, he shifted his attention back to the group again. "Right, are we standing about all night or what?Let's get inside." That was all it took for the group to cheer up. One of the boys clinged to Noel's shoulder and they started to walk towards the entrance.

You followed the group, or at least your body did. Your brain seemed to have remained somewhere back on the pavement, trapped in the moment when you got to see him again, four years after that summer. His eyes were still the same, blue and impossibly clear. You were so distracted that you nearly walked straight into the person in front of you.

"Oi," Lucy grabbed your arm. You looked at her, she was trying- and failing- not to laugh. "Will you relax? You're walking like you're being led to your execution."

"I'm not," you answered, though your mind was still somewhere else. You glanced towards Noel's back a few metres ahead, then immediately looked away.

Lucy's grin widened. "Oh my god."

"Stop," your eyes widened in warning her to shut up.

"You still fancy him that much?" She said, voice lower this time.

"Lucy, please stop talking."

She laughed and linked her arm through yours, reaching for the group again.

"He's just a bloke, y/n. Relax okay"

You just nodded. "Yeah, you're right." And for the first time, you almost believed it.

Once you got inside, the first thing you noticed was the noise, the music seemed to vibrate through your ribs as the group made their way towards the bar. The further you got into the place, the more the heat produced by the number of people inside enveloped you, and to your surprise, you were enjoying it.

"What are you having?" one of the boys asked. You thought his name was Mark, or maybe Matt, you'd already forgotten.

"What?"

He laughed. "To drink."

"Oh," you looked at the menu board behind the bar as if it might magically provide an answer. "Whatever's cheapest." That earned a few laughs, your cheeks turned a bit red.

"Fair enough," he said. "I'll get it."

By the time he returned with your drink, you found yourself relaxing. The group was easy to talk to, and the music was good, loud enough to quiet the thoughts in your head. Nobody seemed interested in making you feel out of place, and for once, you thought that maybe you could belong here. At least for one night. You found yourself trapped in a conversation with Sarah about New Order, she was impressed that you knew that much about music. "I just thought you were a different kind of girl" she said, but the drink had already started to kick in so you just laughed at her comment.

That was when the feeling hit you, like a strange awareness. The unmistakable sensation that someone was looking at you, at first you ignored it, then it happened again. Your eyes drifted across the group and landed on Noel. He wasn't staring, at least, not anymore. The moment you looked over, he glanced away and took a sip of his drink, as though he'd been looking somewhere else entirely. You frowned slightly; maybe you'd imagined it, that had to be. Yet a few moments later, while everyone else was talking, you caught him doing it again. A brief glance, gone almost immediately. Just long enough to make you shiver.

He seemed to know half the people in the building. Every few minutes, someone stopped to say hello to him. It was strange, for years you'd only ever seen him from a distance. Now he was suddenly everywhere. Laughing, talking, moving through the crowds as though he belonged there, and perhaps he did.

The words of Lucy came back to you. "He's just a bloke." She was right, you thought, it was nothing. He was probably looking at Sarah, they seemed to get along really well. She was cool, more natural than you, she carried herself with a confidence that you'd never had: a pretty girl who knew it. So you'd decided to forget it, move on for the night, enjoy yourself. Just like you'd said you would.

The night kept moving. At some point, you'd stopped keeping track of how many drinks you'd had. Not enough to get wasted yet, you knew your limits. The right amount to feel lighter. The dance floor was crowded, Lucy and Sarah had dragged you in and you found yourself dancing and laughing with them. After some minutes, you decided to take a break. You were turning around with your drink in your hand when you walked straight into someone.

The liquid sloshed over the rim of the glass. "Oh, shit." A dark stain spread across the sleeve of a familiar jacket. For a moment, you considered dying on the spot.

Noel looked down at the damage, then back at you.

"Sorry," you blurted out, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," he glanced at the sleeve, "Could've been worse."

You just stared. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked.

"I thought you'd be angrier." You admitted, a mix of embarrassment and shock on your chest.

"Don't fret. It's only lager." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

You laughed despite yourself, and just like that, some of the tension disappeared. Noel sensed this, and couldn't help but ask the question that had been turning over in his head since the moment he saw you. "Have we met before?"

His head was tilted and you thought it was the sweetest thing you'd ever seen. You took a moment to answer, and he suddenly felt a bit stupid for asking. "Sorry, it's just- you look familiar."

The music pulsed around you. For a moment, all you could hear was your own pulse. "We went to the same school," you said. "That's probably it."

He just nodded slowly. "Maybe." Yet something in his expression suggested he wasn't entirely convinced.

Before he could say something else, someone shouted his name from the other side of the room, he excused himself and left you there. You stared at his back for a minute as he made his way across the crowds. Lucy grabbed your arm, "Let's dance," she slurted in a voice that suggested she was on the verge of having enough. You laughed at her state and let her pulled you into the dance floor once again.

♡~~~

The time passed like that, dancing and drinking and having heated discussions over music. Noel lingered, close but not too much. You'd exchanged a few glances now and then, but nothing more. By the time the party ended, Lucy was off her head and leaning against you like her life depended on it. You stepped outside and were received by the cold breeze. The night had somehow become even colder, or maybe it was the contrast with the heat inside the club. The group started to discuss who was leaving with who. No one had a car and the buses didn't work at this time; you and Lucy lived on the opposite side of the rest of the guys, so you'd had to manage alone with your best friend who couldn't even walk straight.

"You weigh a ton," you muttered.

"I love you too," Lucy slurred, very happy with the situation. You just sigh, this was going to be a long walk.

The group said their goodbyes and everyone went their separate ways. Noel hadn't come out with you all; he'd gotten lost in the crowds sometime during the night. "Typical Noel," one of the guys had said. Anyways, it's not like you cared. You had a bigger problem now: figuring out how to carry your friend for at least ten blocks to her house. You stood in the corner, Lucy hanging from your side, and tried to accommodate her in a way that was comfortable enough for you to walk.

"You alright there?" A man's voice asked. You were ready to slur something to tell him to piss off, but when you turned around you saw him. Noel. Cool as always, already walking towards you two, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"Fine," you said. At that exact moment, Lucy nearly fell over, and you immediately became aware of how ridiculous the situation looked. Lucy barely conscious, one of her shoes untied, and you were struggling to keep both of you upright.

Noel raised an eyebrow. "Right."

Without saying anything else, he grabbed one of Lucy's arms and put it around his shoulders, so that you and he were carrying her at the same time, making it easier to distribute the weight. You just stared at him, impressed by the decision of his actions.

"Where d'you live then?" he asked. You told him Lucy's address, still a bit startled.

He nodded. "I live on the same street." And just when you opened your mouth to politely refuse, Lucy decided to open her big mouth. "Yesssss you could walk us hommmeee."

You looked at her with big eyes, but before you could protest you heard Noel's laugh. "C'mon then. I'll give you a hand."

Just like that, the three of you started walking down the street. The conversation flowed surprisingly easy between you and Noel. You talked about everything and nothing at the same time. You told him you worked at a record shop near the city centre; he'd told you that his dad sometimes made him work on construction sites. According to him, it was the closest thing to torture known to man. You'd told him that sometimes, you helped your father at church. "Church? And you actually enjoy it?" He asked surprised. Now and then you two were interrupted by Lucy making some nonsensical comments, or tripping in her feet.

Eventually, you'd get to Lucy's house. "Well, this is us." You'd said.

"Oh… you're sorted then?" He asked, for a second, you'd caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes. "You don't need to walk home then?"

"Um.. no, I'll crash here tonight."

"Alright then," he let go of Lucy's arm and carefully helped you to hold her. You grabbed her bag looking for her keys. Once the door was open, Lucy magically seemed to remember how to walk and head inside. "Byeeee Nowlllll, pleasure to meet uuuu." She slurred out the words as she tried to take her shoes off.

Noel just laughed at that and looked at you. "It was nice meeting you, y/n."

You thanked god that it was still dark outside, and begged that the lights of the streets weren't bright enough to let him notice your flushed cheeks. "Nice meeting you too, Noel." He waved goodbye and crossed the street, not looking back.

Just then, you heard Lucy fighting with her shoes. "Alright there?" You asked amused.

"It's your prince gone already?" She said mockingly.

Your face changed from funny to serious. "Shut up Lucy."