Two Yards from Heartbreak

Chapter three

Noah’s house always smelled like home.

Even after all these years it still felt safe. I used to come here after school when we were kids, and nothing much had changed. Same wooden table by the window. Same old fridge covered in magnets. Same quiet that felt comfortable instead of empty.

That afternoon his parents weren’t home yet.

Noah dropped his backpack by the door and looked at me with a small smile.

“You want water or something else?”

“Water’s fine.”

He nodded and went into the kitchen. I followed and sat on one of the stools at the counter. He handed me a glass and then stayed standing on the other side, like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

For a while we just talked about normal things. School. Practice. The next game. It felt easy, the way it always did with him.

Then the conversation slowly died, and the kitchen got quiet.

Noah rubbed the back of his neck. He did that when he was nervous. I’d known him long enough to notice.

“Ellie,” he said after a moment.

“Yeah?”

He looked at me, then down at the counter, then back at me again.

“Can I say something without it getting weird?”

My stomach did a small flip. “Okay…”

He took a breath.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you this for a long time.” His voice was quiet but steady. “I like you. Not just as a friend. I like you as more than that.”

The words landed harder than I expected.

I stared at him. For a second I didn’t know what to say. Part of me had wondered sometimes… but hearing him actually say it out loud made everything feel different.

“Noah…”

“You don’t have to say anything back right now,” he said quickly. “I just… I couldn’t keep pretending I only see you as my best friend. Because I don’t.”

He let out a short, nervous laugh and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’ve liked you for a while. Longer than I want to admit. And I know you’ve always had a thing for Jace, so I’m not expecting anything. I just needed you to know the truth.”

My heart was beating fast. I looked at the boy I’d known since we were seven. The one who always showed up. The one who never made me feel small.

“I didn’t know you felt that way,” I said softly.

“I know.” He gave me a small, careful smile. “That’s why I’m telling you now.”

We stood there in the quiet kitchen for a few seconds. Neither of us moved.

Then Noah walked around the counter and stopped next to me. He lifted his hand slowly, like he was giving me time to pull away, and gently brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

His fingers were warm.

“I’m not asking you to choose anything today,” he said. “I just didn’t want to stay silent anymore.”

I nodded, still trying to process everything.

We ended up studying at the table after that, but it wasn’t the same as usual. Every time our hands accidentally touched, I felt it more than before. Every time I looked up, Noah was already looking at me, then quickly glanced away again.

When he drove me home later, he walked me to the door like always.

At the top of the steps he stopped.

“Thanks for listening today,” he said.

“Of course.”

He hesitated, then leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. Warm and careful. Right next to the corner of my mouth.

“Goodnight, Ellie.”

I stood there long after his truck disappeared, my hand against my cheek.

Noah Brooks liked me.

Really liked me.

And for the first time, I didn’t know what to do with that.