Gwen and Noah
1034 Words
Chapter 8
Noah’s POV
I climbed into my truck and started the engine. It roared like a hungry animal.
My hands were steady on the steering wheel, but inside, I was falling apart. I couldn't stop thinking about what my neighbor said: You were too weak to protect her.
As I drove away from the police lights and the neighbors who now looked at me like a criminal, everything started to change.
The dark road seemed to melt away. The smell of the trees changed into the smell of expensive leather and gun smoke.
I wasn't in the truck anymore. I was being pulled back into the library the first day I met Gwen, my safe space.
Flashback 3 years ago.
The library was the only place in town that felt right. It was quiet and smelled like old paper.
I was trying to be a normal man named Noah, but my brain wouldn't stop working. I saw every crack in the wall and every crooked shelf.
I was looking at a bookshelf that was about to fall over.
"It’s leaning the wrong way," I whispered to myself.
"It’s just an old shelf," a voice said from behind the books.
I jumped. I wasn't used to anyone being so close to me. I turned too fast, and my elbow caught a stack of heavy art books.
They slid off the cart one by one, hitting the floor with loud thumps that sounded like gunshots in the quiet room.
I scrambled to catch the last one, but my foot hit a loose rug. I did a clumsy dance, waving my arms before landing hard on my rear. I sat there in the middle of the mess, feeling like a fool.
I heard a small laugh. Then a giggle.
I looked up and saw a girl looking at me through the gap in the books. Her eyes were bright, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.
My face burned with shame. felt my face turn bright red. I felt stupid.
"I think the rug is broken too," I said, trying to act like I meant to fall.
"I think you're just clumsy," she said, walking around the corner to help me.
"I'm not clumsy," I complained, though I took her hand. Her skin was warm, and the second we touched, I felt a spark of electricity shoot up my arm. It anchored me to the floor.
"I just... notice things too much. The rug moved when it shouldn't have."
"Sure it did." She pulled me up.
For a second, we stood very close. I didn't want to let go of her hand. My brain, which usually only thought about how to build things, suddenly only thought about her.
"You're holding your book upside down," I said softly.
She looked at her book and turned red. "I wasn't really reading. I was just hiding."
"From what?"
"Everything."
I stepped a little closer. "I'm hiding too. Maybe we can hide together. We can build a place where no one can find us."
She laughed. It was the best one I had ever heard. "I'd like that. But no."
She started to walk away. I felt a leaf of panic. I reached out and touched her cheek very gently. My hands were rough from work, but I didn't want to hurt her.
"I can build you a home," I promised. I meant it. "A real one. One that won't break."
"You're just a clumsy stranger," she teased, though she didn't move away.
"My name is Noah."
"I'm Gwen," she whispered, and then she slipped away into the shadows of the library.
A few days later, I found her again in the park. It was raining. I stood over her with a big umbrella to keep her dry.
You're following me, Clumsy Stranger," she said with a small smile.
"I'm making sure you stay dry," I told her. "This park is a blueprint for a disaster."
"Everything in this town is a disaster," she whispered.
I sat down next to her. I could feel the heat from her body. It made the cold rain feel far away.
"I went back to the library," I said. "I fixed the rug. And I looked for you."
"I was hiding again," she admitted.
"You don't have to hide from me. I want to stay in this town, Gwen. Because of you."
I touched her hand. I wanted to build a wall around her so high that nothing bad could ever touch her. I wanted to keep her safe forever.
"Let me walk you home," I said. "Let me see where you live so I can make it safe."
"Okay," she whispered.
As we walked, I held the umbrella over her, making sure not a single drop of rain touched her shoulder.
She teased me about my "serious builder face," and I laughed a real, deep laugh that I hadn't felt in years.
When she tripped over a tree root, I caught her easily, and she joked that maybe I was the one who needed a bodyguard.
We stood outside her door for a long time, just talking and shivering in the cold, but I didn't want to leave.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't looking for the exits.I wasn't checking the shadows for my father’s men. I wasn't checking the locks. I was just standing there with her.
I had finally found it. My SafeSpace wasn't a building or a fortress. It was her.
The girl who made me feel humane again.
Back to the Present
The memory ended. I was back in my truck, clutching her bloody locket.
It clogged my brains bringing me to tears, I'm not just going to let that go, I'm going to fight for her.
My memory and the locket is the only thing I have of her, I'm not going to let Raph destroy what I have built, I'm going to fight this till the end.
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