جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

(Her POV) The hardest part about loving Noah wasn’t the fear of losing him. It was the waiting. Waiting for his thoughts to catch up with his feelings. Waiting for his heart to say what his actions already showed. Waiting in the quiet spaces where reassurance should have lived. I didn’t blame him. Not really. But that didn’t make it easier. The days after our conversation in the library felt careful. Measured. Like we were both afraid that one wrong step would shatter something fragile. He smiled at me, held doors open, checked in but there was a hesitation behind his eyes, like he was always holding something back. I told myself patience was love. Still, doubt crept in. On Tuesday afternoon, we were paired together for a history project. We sat across from each other in the library, books spread out, laptops open. Anyone else might have thought it looked perfect. I felt the tension instead. “You’re quiet again,” I said gently. He looked up. “Sorry. Just tired.” A pause.

(Her POV) Noah’s words stayed with me long after we parted ways. I choose you. I’d imagined hearing them a hundred different ways hesitant, rushed, wrapped in excuses. But when he said them, they were steady. Grounded. Like he’d finally stopped negotiating with his fear. And still… belief didn’t come easy. Choosing someone isn’t the same as trusting them. Trust takes time. It asks questions you don’t always want answered. It demands proof not grand gestures, but consistency. I wanted to believe him. I was just afraid of what it would cost if I did. The next few days passed quietly. Noah didn’t overwhelm me with attention or declarations. Instead, he showed up. Walked beside me between classes. Waited when I needed time. Listened without interrupting. It was subtle. And somehow, that mattered more. On Wednesday morning, he handed me a coffee before first period without saying a word. No performance. No expectation. Just a small, deliberate act. “Thank you,” I said. He smil

(Her POV) Being chosen in private feels like a secret you protect. Being chosen in public feels like standing in the light and hoping it doesn’t burn. When Noah said yeah so easily, so confidently something inside me shifted. Not because I needed the label, but because I needed the certainty. The way he didn’t hesitate told me more than a thousand quiet reassurances ever could. Still, visibility came with weight. By Monday, people weren’t whispering anymore. They were watching. Measuring. Deciding what kind of story we were going to become in their heads. I felt it in the hallway, in the way conversations paused when we walked past. I felt it in the subtle looks some curious, some approving, some sharp with judgment. I’d expected it, but expecting something doesn’t make it lighter. Noah noticed too. He stayed close without crowding me. Walked beside me, not ahead. Let me set the pace. It was small, but intentional. And intention mattered. In English class, the teacher assigne

(Her POV) I didn’t cry when the doctor said the surgery went well. I smiled. I thanked him. I breathed. It wasn’t until Noah stood beside me silent, steady, unmistakably there that my chest finally loosened enough for the tears to come. Not dramatic ones. Quiet ones. The kind that slip out when you realize you weren’t alone in a moment you’d been bracing for by yourself. We didn’t talk much at the hospital. We didn’t need to. He sat with me in the waiting room, his knee angled toward mine, his presence a constant I could lean into without asking permission. When my phone buzzed with messages from relatives and friends, I barely noticed. All my focus was on the simple fact that he hadn’t left. When everything was done and the tension finally ebbed, he walked me to the car, the night air cool against my face. “You should get some rest,” he said gently. “So should you,” I replied. “You’re leaving early.” “I’ll sleep later,” he said with a small smile. That smile followed me all

(Her POV) Everyone thought my decision was obvious. That was the problem. At home, my aunt talked about the school like it was already settled. “Out of state is good for you,” she said while folding laundry. “You need distance to grow.” At school, teachers congratulated me in passing, their smiles bright and certain. “You’d be crazy not to go,” one of them said casually, as if my heart wasn’t tangled up in the word go. Even my friends spoke in expectations. “You’re really doing it, right?” Maya asked as we sat on the bleachers after class. “I mean, this is huge.” “I haven’t decided,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time. She tilted her head. “Is this about Noah?” The way she asked careful but curious made my chest tighten. “It’s about everything,” I said. But everyone heard him anyway. The truth was, Noah wasn’t stopping me. If anything, he was making it harder to leave. Because he wasn’t clinging. He wasn’t guilt-tripping. He wasn’t asking for promises he couldn