Page 18 of Keeping Noelle

“Thank you,” I whisper, and he kisses the top of my head.

“For what?”

“For always being there for me. I meant what I said to him. You really are the most amazing person that I know. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I… I love you, Ansel. I always have, and I know that I always will.”

“Fuck, Noelle, don’t cry,” he says, sounding and looking pained as he wipes my tears away. “I would do anything for you. I love you, more than anything. I’ve always loved you. I should have told you. I should have married you when I joined the Marines and taken you with me. I just… I thought that you didn’t see me that way.”

“I did,” I tell him, and he nods.

“I should have talked to you four years ago. Hell, I should have asked you to be mine the second that I saw you.”

“We’ve wasted so much time,” I whisper, and he smiles slightly.

“We won’t waste anymore,” he promises me.

“I’m sorry about your door.”

He shrugs, and I look at the busted wood.

“I know that you like a different style door any way so I was going to replace it. We can go look in town tomorrow,” he tells me. “We’ll get the kind you like, with the big glass in it to let in the sun.”

I smile, squeezing him tighter.

“I love that you know so much about me.”

“I’ve been obsessed with you for most of my life, Noelle. I don’t think that you realize just how much you mean to me.”

“I do,” I assure him. “Because I feel the exact same way about you.”

“You’re moving in here,” he tells me, and I grin as I rest my face against his strong chest.

“Alright.”

“Into our room. The master bedroom,” he clarifies, and I nod.

“Okay.”

We stand like that, our arms wrapped around each other for a moment, until the wind kicks up outside and the door sags open slightly.

“I’ll fix it for tonight,” he says, reluctantly pulling away from me.

“I can help.”

He nods and passes me my boots to put on while he heads out back to the shed to find a piece of wood big enough to cover the doorway.

I smile as I look around my new home. I’ve never really thought about my future, probably because I was always too busy trying to make it through each day. Now though… now all I can think about is what’s to come. I want a future with Ansel, I want everything with him, and I know that together we can get through anything.

Starting with this door…

NINE

Ansel

“Need a hand?”I ask as I head back into the bedroom.

“I actually think that’s all of it,” Noelle says as she emerges from the closet with the now empty reusable shopping bags.

“All settled in now?” I confirm, and she nods.

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