“If you hadn’t come—”

“But I did.” Thank God I did.

We had gotten over one hurdle, but this wasn’t over yet.

It didn’t take long for her to cry herself back to sleep. I was grateful she got something into her stomach, but I wished she had eaten more. Taking the tray, I got up off the bed, pulling the sheets back over her.

Closing the door behind me, I made my way to the kitchen, my hands beginning to shake the more I thought about the situation, until I finally lost it, throwing the goddamn tray right into the wall. The glass and plates shattered on impact, the leftovers splattering everywhere. Falling back onto the cabinet and clenching my jaw, I tried my best to ignore the shakes as they overtook my body again.

“Noah?”

Austin came in from the balcony, the phone still up to his ear. Upon seeing me, he hung up quickly, reaching into his bag to get my pills.

“No, I’m fine.” I didn’t want to be so dependent on those goddamn things.

“Noah, you’ve gone days without taking it. We aren’t doing this again,” he said, pouring them into my hand. Knowing I wasn’t going to bother with water, he made no moves to get me any as I threw the pills into my mouth and sank to the ground.

“You can’t allow yourself to get riled up like this—”

“I don’t have choice!” I snapped, breathing deeply. “While I’m shaking on every fucking floor in the city, she’s alone, trying to save me. I need to get riled up. I need to be…I need to be better than this, Austin. I gotta be.”

Running my hand through my hair, I tried not to think of it, but I would never get the picture of her struggling in Mallory’s hands out of my head. “If I was one second late. If I hadn’t been so annoyed that she was taking too long and wanted to leave…she would have...”

“But you were there. You saved her,” Austin reassured me.

“I got myself thrown in jail with no contingency plan, so she didn’t sleep or eat until she got me out. I feel useless, Austin. I keep asking myself, am I really the best person for her? She’s the best person for me, but if I only make her life more complicated—”

“You’ll leave. Didn’t you do that already?” He leaned on the counter. “If I were you, I’d spend just as much time with her as you did apart, and then decide.”

“So get back to you in a decade, then,” I said.

“Exactly.”

A decade of Amelia. I wasn’t a fortune teller, but I was sure that would involve us spending most nights alternating between work, sex, and Netflix. Every once in a while, we might do something crazy like socialize with other human beings. We’d fight at least once day, and she’d probably always ask me why I loved her, like it was something I had a choice about.

Sounds like paradise.

 “I want to do something for her. The studio gave us the day off tomorrow, right?”

“You could ask the studio for anything at this point, and they’d give it to you. They almost screwed themselves with that board meeting. Add that to Amelia’s ‘if he goes, I go’ speech.”

“She went?”

He nodded, and I threw my head back, laughing. I was always one step behind this woman. I’d probably never stop chasing after her.

Amelia

What was that?

Rubbing, then brushing, and finally smacking whatever it was tickling my nose, I rolled over.

“A … me … lia,” a soft voice sang.

I knew that voice.

“A milli.”

I knew that voice, too.

My eyes snapped open when they started to jump on the bed. There were two pair of brown eyes, both staring down at me.

“Mayko? Antigone?” I didn’t even bother sitting up, because they each grabbed one of my arms, pulling me from the bed.

“Miss us?” They wrapped their arms around me, still jumping and forcing me to jump with them.

“Oh my God, guys!” I laughed, holding them. “How are you here?”

“You boyfriend whom you love unconditionally flew us out since you have a free day today,” Antigone replied, allowing herself to fall back onto the bed. “Aww, this is nice! Don’t mind me.”

“You know they have sex on these sheets, right?” Mayko paused, crossing her arms.

Antigone, trying to keep a straight face, said, “I’m sure they change them.”

Mayko spoke up. “Well, not after last night—”

“Eww!” She jumped off, rubbing her back as Mayko and I broke out into a fit of laugher.

Antigone was still as gorgeous as ever. Her thick curly brown hair was cut to her shoulders, even though she swore she would never cut her hair since it took her forever to grow it out. She had perfectly smooth brown skin and deep eyes. Meanwhile, Mayko was the absolute opposite. Her hair was normally black, but it was now dyed a soft pink. She had pierced her bottom lip and wore glasses though she had perfect vision. Her outfit choices were usually ripped jeans and plaid shirts, while Antigone was more floral sundresses. They were complete opposites in terms of appearance, but they shared the same brain sometimes.

“Don’t you guys have classes?” I asked them, sitting back down on the bed.

“It’s healthy to skip every once in a while,” Antigone replied.

“And,” Mayko said, taking my hand, “our sister apparently was attacked, and we only knew because of Twitter.”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought of them.

“I’m sorr—” I began.

Before I could even get the words out, they hugged me tightly.

“You don’t have to be sorry, Meli, we were just worried. You weren’t answering your phone,” Antigone said softly, and I felt a familiar ache in my heart, but this time I welcomed it.

When they let go, I pinched both of their cheeks just like I did when we were kids.

“Amelia!” they yelled at me. Giggling, I let go.

“Am I interrupting?” Noah questioned from behind us.

“Yes, but it’s okay since you’re hot,” Mayko said, and I smacked her leg. “Ouch! Possessive much?”

“She was always bad at sharing,” Antigone nodded.

“I’m sorry, are you asking to share my boyfriend right now?” I asked.

Mayko looked between us. “Are you offering?” she teased.

“Down girl, down,” I said, waving my finger in her face.

“I’m only joking.”

She was only partially joking.

“Please tell me you plan on feeding us, Noah. I’m dying here,” Antigone groaned, rubbing her stomach.

Noah’s eyes looked over all of us and then fell back on me, his eyebrow raised.

“I can totally see how you’re all related,” he replied. I flung a pillow at him. With one hand, he caught it.

“Throwing things won’t get you food any faster,” he joked.

“What will a hand—” Mayko started.

Reaching over to Mayko, my hand closed over her mouth before she embarrassed me even further. I loved her to death, but she purposely said things to get people riled up.

“Get dressed, and I’ll get you all out for the best breakfast in town,” he winked at me, closing the door behind him. I let go of Mayko, who only leered at me.

“I like him,” Antigone said, walking toward the closet.

“None of my stuff is in there—”

“What do you mean?” she questioned, lifting out a yellow dress of mine.

What? This was still Noah’s room.

Rising from the bed, I moved into the closet right beside her, and there, next to all of his leather jackets and button-down shirts were my clothes, which took up two-thirds of the closet. Even my shoes were all lined up perfectly.

I wasn’t sure if it was Ollie or Noah, but I didn’t care. Just seeing something as simple as a closet made me feel better.

Heading into the bathroom, it was the same thing. All my facial cleansers, lotions, and perfumes were sitting on the counter, and I knew that it was Noah. I had a system for setting up my bathroom, and Ollie knew it already.

This was all Noah.

We’d be in Chicago filming for a few more weeks. This suite was his home away from home, and he had actively moved me into his life.