#nick folio

Fallon's head spun. She wasn't sure if it was from the drinks or the fact that Noah had somehow materialized in front of her outside the therapy office.

Noah disappeared back into conversation as though nothing unusual had happened, settling beside Jesse while Davis introduced the rest of the group properly. Fallon took a slow breath and forced herself to do the same.

The conversation picked up almost immediately. Stories bounced back and forth across the table over the music. Jenn and Davis were already debating the best Bring Me The Horizon album. Christina had somehow roped Jolly into describing what it was like living in Sweden, while others laughed from down the table.

For a few blissful minutes, nobody paid much attention to Fallon or Noah, which somehow made it worse. She became acutely aware of every little thing. The scrape of his glass against the table. The quiet laugh she could instantly recognize as genuine rather than forced. The way he'd occasionally glance in her direction before looking away just as quickly.

She wondered if he was as painfully aware of her presence as she was of his.

"He's really cute." Michelle leaned close enough that only Fallon could hear, subtly nodding toward Noah.

Fallon didn't even have to ask who she meant.

"I noticed," she muttered, taking another sip of her drink.

Michelle grinned, "I mean like... for you."

Fallon nearly choked. Before she could protest, Michelle was already steering her toward the empty chairs farther down the table.

"Michelle-"

"Oh, relax." She gently pushed Fallon into the seat across from Noah before claiming the chair beside Christina. "There," Michelle said proudly. "Much better."

Fallon shot her a look that promised revenge. Michelle only smiled. Around them, the conversation continued uninterrupted. Ruffilo had launched into a tattooing story that had everyone at the table laughing, giving Fallon the smallest sliver of relief.

No one was watching them. She risked a glance across the table. Noah was already looking at her. He looked away first. Fallon's pulse hammered against her ribs.

"I..." She leaned toward Michelle. "I'm actually not feeling that great. I think I might head home."

Michelle looked at her as though she'd suggested leaving Christmas morning halfway through opening presents.

"Absolutely not."

"Michelle.."

"Nope."

She stood, grabbing Christina by the wrist. "Come on. This one needs a shot." Michelle nodded her head at Fallon. Christina laughed as Michelle dragged her toward the bar. 

Before Fallon could object, they disappeared into the crowd. Silence settled across the small stretch of table between her and Noah for the first time all night. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The music filled the silence between them, the conversation at the other end of the table drowning out everything else.

Noah was the first to crack.

"So..." A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "This is what you do outside the office."

Fallon let out a nervous laugh, “Yeah, every once in a while.”

"I've gotta admit..." He leaned back in his chair, swirling the ice around in his glass. "The leather jacket threw me." 

She looked down at herself before looking back up with a smile, "Oh yeah?" 

Another quiet moment settled between them.

"I can't believe this is happening," Fallon admitted under her breath.

"I know."

"You handled that..." She glanced toward the others before lowering her voice. "...really well."

"I panicked."

She smiled. "I wouldn’t have known."

"So..." Noah said. "Your friends seem fun." 

Fallon nodded towards the other end of the table, “So do yours.”

“Is that why you were trying to run out of here?” Noah asked with a laugh.

Fallon scoffed and a smile spread across her face. “Hey, I was just trying to…protect your privacy. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“I don’t,” Noah said, “not at all. I promise.”

“Okay…good. I can’t say this has happened to me before.”

They both laughed. Michelle and Christina appeared, each balancing a tray of shots.

"Here we are!" Michelle announced. "I leave for five minutes and you're already getting along."

Fallon felt her face warm. "We were just talking."

"Uh huh." Michelle chided before handing everyone a shot glass, lifting her own into the middle of the group.

 "To new friends!"

A chorus of cheers echoed around the table.

Noah looked across at Fallon. Without saying a word, they lightly clinked their glasses together before tossing back the shots in unison. The liquor burned all the way down, earning a collective chorus of grimaces and laughter around the table.

The hours slipped by easier than Fallon ever could have imagined.

Conversation drifted effortlessly from one topic to the next as drinks disappeared and laughter grew louder. Whatever lingering awkwardness had followed the introductions dissolved somewhere between Michelle attempting to convince Jolly that Twilight was cinematic art and Folio insisting he could catch any kind of fish with his bare hands.

Somehow, Fallon and Noah always seemed to end up beside one another.

She found herself answering questions she'd never imagined him asking.

"So what made you become a therapist?" Jesse wondered.

Fallon smiled into her drink. "Honestly? I always kind of knew. I was one of those kids that everyone trauma-dumped on in high school."

The table laughed.

"No, seriously," she continued. "I was obsessed with psychology. Then I got to college and realized how much I loved everything about the field, how rewarding it actually was."

She found herself talking about the years that followed; late nights in the library, unpaid internships that had her driving across the state five days a week, balancing classes with work just to afford rent. Michelle chimed in every few minutes, dramatically reminding everyone of the nights she'd found Fallon asleep on top of her textbooks.

"I don't know how she graduated," Michelle said. "I'm pretty sure caffeine became one of the major food groups."

Fallon laughed.

"I was fueled almost entirely by cold brew and spite."

Noah couldn't stop smiling.

He'd spent nearly two years hearing Fallon ask questions, offer guidance, and celebrate his victories. He realized, sitting across from her now, that he'd never actually stopped to wonder how she'd gotten there herself.

The conversation shifted again. Concerts. Jenn insisted she share with the group how many shows she'd been to.

"...hundred forty-three?" Fallon guessed.

Michelle snorted. "That's the number she's willing to admit."

"What?" Fallon laughed. "I've lost count!"

"You've got a spreadsheet."

"Guilty."

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"A spreadsheet?"

"It's categorized." Christina pointed out.

He stared. "...wow, I'm surprised we've never crossed paths before."

She laughed at the irony of his statement, "We'll see if your band is good enough to make the spreadsheet."

The table dissolved into laughter. Conversation continued. Tour stories, band encounters, facts about their pasts.

"You gonna tell them that he was your first celebrity crush?" Christina asked, grinning mischievously and Fallon.

She groaned immediately, "We don't have to do this."

"Oh, we're doing this."

She covered her face with both hands.

"Fallon's even written Oliver Sykes fanfiction."

Three people at the table shouted "NO WAY!" at the same time.

"I was fifteen!" Fallon defended herself through laughter. "Leave me alone."

Noah laughed so hard he nearly spilled his drink, "I honestly respect it. I love the guy, too"

"Oh, don't make excuses for her," Michelle taunted.

As the night wore on, the stories slowly shifted away from Fallon and her friends, and toward the band. Jolly recounted the time Noah had pranked him about his visa.

"It wasn't my idea," Noah protested.

"You were the one that made the phone call!"

"Hey, it's funny now isn't it?"

The group laughed.

Another story followed about a van breaking down in the middle of nowhere, then another about a festival where Noah had somehow talked the entire crew into stopping at a roadside reptile zoo. Fallon smiled until her cheeks ached. This version of Noah felt so different from the one she'd come to know every Tuesday afternoon. Lighter. Looser. Still thoughtful, but happy.

The sound of someone calling Noah's name pulled her attention away. A young man hovered nearby, looking equal parts excited and terrified.

"Sorry to bother you," he said. "I just... I wanted to say I love your music, it got me through a really rough year."

Noah stood almost immediately, "Hey, man. You're not bothering me."

The two talked for a minute while the fan nervously explained what the songs had meant to him. Noah listened with the same quiet attention Fallon had witnessed in session, thanked him sincerely, took a picture with him, then wished him a good night before returning to the table.

"What?" he asked, catching Fallon smiling at him.

She shook her head.

"Nothing."

But it wasn't nothing.

For the first time, she wasn't seeing Noah through the lens of depression or anxiety, or treatment. She was simply seeing him. Somehow, that made everything infinitely more dangerous.

"Come on!" Jenn called as the band onstage launched into another song.

Jenn grabbed Christina's hand. Michelle was already halfway to the floor, pulling Fallon behind her. Fallon laughed as she was swept into the crowd, Noah falling into step beside the others. The music grew louder. Another round appeared. Conversation blurred into laughter. Fallon felt warm and light, every little joke turning to the funniest thing she had heard all night. For the first time since walking into The Amp, she stopped thinking about how disastrously wrong the night could go. 

The opening chords of a familiar song drifted through the speakers, and a cheer rippled through the crowd.

"Oh my God," Jenn gasped. "I love this song."

The band smiled at one another before the vocalist stepped up to the microphone.

"This one's for anybody who remembers Dashboard Confessional."

The unmistakable opening of Hands Down filled the room. Around them, the energy shifted almost instantly. People who had been shouting lyrics only moments before slipped closer together. Couples found each other in the crowd as the lights dimmed another shade.

Fallon smiled to herself. "I haven't heard this song in years."

"It's a good one," Noah said, his voice carrying just enough to reach her over the music.

She nodded. "It is."

For a moment, neither of them moved. They simply watched the crowd sway together beneath the amber lights. Noah glanced toward the dance floor, then back at Fallon. A crooked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"So..." He offered her his hand. "Are we committing to the bit?"

Fallon blinked. "What?"

He nodded subtly toward the rest of the group.

"I think we've already sold it." She laughed.

"Yeah." He grinned. "Might as well keep it going."

Her heart fluttered. She knew exactly what he was asking. Every logical part of her brain screamed that this was a terrible idea.

She was his therapist.

He was her client.

There were a thousand reasons to say no.

But standing there, getting to spend time with him in a way she never had in the office all this time, surrounded by music and laughter and people who had no idea who they really were to each other...she didn't want to think.

She wanted to feel.

Fallon slipped her hand into his. His tattooed fingers closed gently around hers. Noah guided her a few steps farther onto the dance floor before resting his hands lightly against her waist. She looped her hands behind his neck, lifting her chin to meet his eyes.

She swayed in his arms. Maybe she could pretend this was nothing. Pretend this was really just a guy she had met tonight by chance. Pretend Noah was someone she could have. She pulled her head from his shoulder and met his gaze, a sad smile crossed her face.

Noah’s lips parted like he was about to speak, then he looked away, scanning over the groups of people dancing around them. He looked back to Fallon, brown eyes flickering between her green ones. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before.

"...Can I tell you something?"

Fallon searched his face. "You can tell me anything."

He laughed softly. "I don't know if that's true."

"Noah..." She felt her stomach tighten.

He shook his head, "I know." He looked down at the floor for a second before meeting her eyes again. "I know I probably shouldn't."

The song continued around them, people swaying obliviously only a few feet away. "I've been fighting with myself for months."

Fallon's breath caught.

"I kept telling myself..." He let out a humorless laugh. "...it's because you're helping me. You're my therapist. It’s working. Of course I look forward to going. So I ignored it." He shrugged. "I told myself I was just grateful."

His thumb shifted almost absentmindedly against the fabric of her jeans.

"But then..." He smiled to himself. "...I started looking forward to hearing you laugh."

Fallon's heart lurched.

"I'd catch myself thinking about things during the week and wondering what you'd say about them. I'd hear a song and think, 'Fallon would like this’, you know? Stupid little things. The way you always play with your rings when you're thinking. The way you get this tiny wrinkle between your eyebrows whenever I say something that surprises you." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have noticed those things."

Her eyes shimmered.

"I kept waiting for the feeling to go away…It never did." He smiled sadly. "It just kept getting bigger."

The music seemed impossibly far away.

"I've never..." He laughed under his breath. "I've never felt this way about anybody before." He searched for words that refused to come. "I think you're the funniest person I've ever met."

She laughed through the tears threatening to form.

"You are, and you're so..." he shook his head, “kind, so unbelievably smart. You make me feel like I matter." He smiled at her genuinely. "And you're..." His eyes drifted over her face as though he were seeing her for the first time, "...You're so incredibly beautiful it actually makes me nervous."

Fallon felt her heart pounding against her ribs.

"I know this is probably the alcohol talking. Or maybe it's just making me honest." He looked toward the crowd for a second before returning to her. Fallon stood, absolutely speechless, a million thoughts racing through her head. "I'm leaving for the tour in a few weeks, and I don't know what's going to happen after tonight, I don't know if this ruins everything or if you'll never want to see me again," he took a slow breath, "but I couldn't leave without telling you."

His voice barely rose above the music.

"I needed you to know that Tuesdays have gotten me through the last several months. Not because it was therapy, but because I got to spend an hour with you." His eyes searched hers one last time. "I don't expect anything from you. I just..." He swallowed hard, "...I couldn't keep pretending this wasn't real."

Fallon was silent for a long time. The band continued to play in the background but the rest of the world had disappeared. She thought of her career, all the work she had put in, what she knew was right. Then she thought of Noah. Sweet, handsome Noah standing right in front of her, hands on her hips. She thought of the way he made her feel. The real Fallon, not the therapist or the grad student or the professional. The alcohol softened the sharp edges of every thought. Everything she'd spent months keeping carefully compartmentalized blurred together until all she could see was the man in front of her. 

Fallon reached a hand up, brushing a strand of hair back from his forehead.

"I need you to know something."

He searched her face.

"If we'd met here tonight..." she looked around the crowded bar,  "...If we'd met like this...I would've fallen for you." She smiled through the heartbreak. "I think I already have."

The words seemed to hang between them. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Fallon let her hands drift from around his neck to the center of his chest. Not to pull him closer, to create distance.

"But..." Her voice cracked. "This just can't happen."

Noah looked at her for a long moment. Then, almost hesitantly, he lifted one hand to cup her cheek. His thumb brushed lightly beneath her eye.

“Maybe for tonight we could just pretend.”

Fallon didn't answer. Instead, she rested her forehead gently against his, closing her eyes. She waited for the guilt. For the panic. For every instinct to pull her back.

Nothing came.

She opened her eyes, finding him already watching her. Slowly, almost timidly, she closed the remaining distance between them. Her lips brushed his in a soft, hesitant kiss. When they pulled apart, both of them lingered there, only inches away, waiting for the world to shatter around them.

It didn't.

Noah's hand settled a little more securely against her waist. He searched her face one last time, silently asking a question he was too afraid to put into words. Fallon didn't pull away. This time, Noah met her halfway. Their lips found each other again, firmer now. More certain. Everything that circled between them became tangible. Real.

Fallon’s lips parted, giving way to Noah til she could taste the whiskey on his tongue. His hands traveled down her sides, returning to her waist. Fallon tangled her fingers in the hair on the nape of his neck, pulling him in to deepen the kiss. She pulled away to take a breath.

“God we shouldn’t be doing this”

“I know” he mumbled against her lips.

“Like, really shouldn’t”

“Mmhmm”

Noah pulled away after a moment. “Come home with me.”

“Won’t they ask questions?”

“Fuck, maybe-” Fallon cut him off with a quick kiss.

“My place. We’ll go to my place then.”

She took Noah’s hand and led him towards the table, grabbing her bag from the back of her chair. She scanned the crowd, eyes catching Michelle's, and motioned towards the door.

A chorus of cheers, wolf whistles, and exaggerated cries of approval erupted from Fallon’s friends, loud enough to earn a few amused looks from nearby tables. Heat rushed to Fallon's cheeks as she rolled her eyes dramatically. Noah couldn't help but smile. It was the first time he'd ever seen her like this, flustered, laughing, completely unguarded. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen anything more beautiful. 

Author's Note: SURPRISE! HAPPY FRIDAY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! WE GOT A CONFESSION AND A KISS!!!!!! BIG (😉) THINGS TO COME!!!!! Enjoy the cliffhanger, XOXO Lila