School shooter killed by police after pulling a knife on two officers.
Is Rowan Ellis pregnant again? Take a look at these photos and decide for yourself!
Noah could not stop his heart from pounding against his ribs, even though he knew that it was not physically possible. He had hugged Camille. Hugged him. Like actually put two arms around his body and hugged him. He was going crazy from the memory replaying in his head like a song living rent-free.
Chloe poked him in the back of the head. "Whatcha thinking about?" she asked in that singsong voice that meant she already had bets on his thoughts.
Noah bit his lip as she came around to sit across from him at her station. "You have a boyfriend, right?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"
Noah gave her a look. "Do you hug him?"
Chloe's eyebrow went higher. "Like daily or what?"
"Like if you notice he's sad or something." Or something. Noah could not quite figure out why he had hugged Camille. The expression he had seen for a split second before Camille shut it down was one of mingled fear, sadness, and something he could not put his finger on. And he was not about to ask Camille point-blank about it.
Chloe shrugged. "I guess. I mean, if he wants it. Usually he'd rather play a video game or whatever. I'm not exactly the comforting type. You, on the other hand, you're a comforter through and through. You're like an empathic genius. You always seem to know what other people are feeling, and you know instinctually what will make them feel better." She crossed her arms. "Did that answer the question that you're actually trying to ask me?"
"What?"
She smirked. "I assume that you're attempting to ask if hugging someone equals them being your significant other. Or if the latter needs to precede the former."
Noah leveled another no-nonsense look at her. "I'm not in a relationship, Chloe."
"I know. But I think you wish you could be in one."
Noah rolled his eyes, trying to deflect. "What are you even talking about?"
Chloe's grin could have rivaled the devil's for communicating evil intentions. "Don't be a blind dork, Noah. We all know how you're pining to have intercourse with the angelic omega who's now living with you."
Noah cringed. "Please do not ever say 'intercourse' in a conversation with me ever again. I hate it."
Chloe snorted a laugh. "Fine, but then you have to admit how badly you want him in your bed."
Noah belatedly realized that all the nurses within earshot of their conversation were listening intently, along with some of the doctors. He scowled at Chloe. "The only thing I'll admit to is that I'm bisexual."
Chloe's eyes went huge. "What?" she shrieked like a startled parrot. "Are you coming out? Did you just come out? To me?"
"To the entire ER now," he muttered under his breath.
Chloe squealed, jumping up and clapping her hands excitedly. "I knew it! Lloyd owes me twenty bucks!"
Noah groaned. "You took bets on my sexuality?" He knew it was bad that it did not surprise him even a little bit.
Chloe tipped her head with an earsplitting grin, just like the menace she was. "He thought you'd turn out to be an uber closeted gay. I said you'd turn out to be bi, and I was right!" She whirled to face the male nurse and made a gimme motion with her hand. "Pay up, loser."
Lloyd rolled his eyes but pulled out his wallet and shoved a twenty into Chloe's outstretched hand.
Chloe pocketed the money and turned back to Noah, capturing him in an awkward hug. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Yay," Noah mumbled in her ear, which made her cackle.
Chloe plopped back down in her chair and scooted up close to Noah. "So? Now that you've admitted that you're bi, what's the news on the angel you're sharing a house with?"
"He has a name, Chloe."
"Fine. What's going on between you and Camille?" she asked, exaggerating Camille's name just to be petty.
Noah shrugged and leaned back in his chair, even though all of his nerves were strung tightly. "He's living with me because he has no one else to help him, and I'm a doctor, so I'm more than qualified to remind him to take his meds."
Chloe seemed slightly disappointed. "That's it? Nothing juicy?"
"Chloe, we've lived together for barely two days! There's nothing else happening!"
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Then what was all that talk about hugs?" She suddenly sat bolt upright, a gleam in her eye. "Did you hug him?" She sounded gleeful as she pounced on the topic.
"Maybe…" Noah hedged.
Chloe grinned. "Oh, you definitely did." She leaned forward. "Why? What was the occasion?"
"There was no occasion," Noah retorted. "I scared him, and I wanted him to know I was actually sorry about it."
"So you hugged him."
"Yes."
"As an apology?"
Noah ran a hand over his face. "Yes, Chloe. I didn't do it because I wanted to touch him. I did it because he clearly needed it."
"And now you're wondering if you crossed a line."
Noah nodded tiredly. "I can't stop thinking about it. It's living rent-free in my head."
Chloe chuckled grimly. "Noah, the guy worked at a nightclub. He's not your typical blushing virgin. His lines are probably drawn pretty far back. I doubt you crossed any of them."
"I meant my own lines." Noah rested his forehead on his hand. "Because his lines are so far back they're practically non-existent, I'm setting lines for him. Invisible lines. Meant only for me. The way he reacted, Chloe, I've seen it a hundred times. He's hurting on the inside, and he doesn't know any better than to keep giving himself over to be hurt again. I don't think he's ever experienced anything different."
Chloe's face had become more and more serious as Noah spoke. When he was done, she said quietly, "I can't tell you what to do, Noah. But yeah, definitely respect him. If you're right about him, he needs it."
Noah kept that in mind as he arrived home, kicking off his shoes and hanging his jacket up before going in search of Camille to ask about dinner. He did not have to look far.
Camille had found the noise-cancelling headphones Noah had left out for him, and he was curled up on the couch with Noah's weighted blanket draped over his body. With his eyes shut and his body relaxed, he looked so young.
Noah remembered the date on Camille's ID and mentally calculated his age.
Camille was 23, which meant he was only three years younger than Noah. Old enough to have seen the world for what it was, but young enough that he should not have had to face it on his own.
Noah quietly crept upstairs, changed, and came back downstairs as silently as possible. Even though the headphones over Camille's ears were technically noise-cancelling, he still did not want the possibility of startling Camille awake. After starting dinner, he carefully approached the couch and crouched down in front of Camille. He gently set a hand on Camille's shoulder.
Camille shifted, rolling onto his side, and his blond hair spilled over his face like soft-spun gold. He really was an angel. Then his gray eyes slowly opened, and, just like every time they looked into each other's eyes, Noah was surprised by that ring of golden-brown around Camille's black pupils. Camille was beautiful in the way that knocked the air from Noah's lungs like a sucker punch. Shocking and somehow unexpected every time. He did not startle when his gaze focused on Noah. Maybe the headphones really did help. "You're back," he said softly, the words tinged with sleepiness.
Noah smiled, resisting the urge to brush Camille's gorgeous hair out of his face. "Yeah, I'm back. Are you doing okay?"
Camille pulled the headphones down to rest around his neck. "I'm fine. I got tired, so I took a nap." His hands came back up to rest on the headphones. "I really like these headphones. They block out the little annoying noises, like the fridge and the clock."
Noah glanced over at the clock that sat on the mantelpiece over the decorative fireplace. "I can get rid of the clock."
Camille shook his head with a faint smile. "It's a nice clock. Don't get rid of it." He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. "How was work?"
Noah had never had anyone ask him that beside Darius. When Camille asked it, their relationship suddenly felt very domestic, like they were actually together and had been together for a long time. "It was good. Nothing too crazy happened. How about you?"
Camille shrugged. "I've mostly just been sleeping off and on all day. My brain still thinks relaxation equals sleep." He rolled his eyes as he shoved the blanket back. "Please tell me this is going to stop soon."
"I can't make any promises, since everyone reacts differently to the medicine." Noah stood up as Camille got up, hands open and ready to catch Camille just in case.
But Camille was fine. He walked over to the kitchen and glanced at the ingredients Noah had laid out on the counter. "What're you making?"
"Soup," Noah replied. "Nothing fancy, just some chicken noodle." He picked up a stalk of celery and rinsed it off in the sink. "It'll be ready in maybe 30 minutes."
Camille pulled out a stool and sat down at the island, leaning onto the counter and watching everything Noah did. He was silent, but it did not feel awkward. The silence should have been horrible, but it was comfortable instead. It felt like he deserved to be there, like he was a natural part of the house.
And for the first time since he had moved out on his own, Noah felt at home.