Page 109 of The Secret Of Us

“I’m here. I told you I’d come back for you.”

She buries her face in my neck again, and I lift one of my hands to hold the back of her head.

“I’m not going anywhere this time. I’m with you, Izzy, if you’ll have me.”

Izzy pulls back again, her thumbs running over the dampness on my cheeks.

“I only want you, Noah. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too. Can we go somewhere to talk?” I ask her, realising that we probably have an audience. I don’t know for sure, though. I haven’t looked away from her for a single second to check.

“My car’s outside,” she says.

“You can drive?” I ask her.

I shouldn’t be so surprised, but it’s just more proof that I’ve missed so much. I want to know everything she’s done since I left.

“Barely, but I have a license, so that’s all that matters,” she laughs, and I can’t believe I survived so long without hearing it. “Avery, I’m going on my break!”

“Take the rest of the day off,” the blonde girl behind the counter says, a wide smile on her face.

Izzy doesn’t hesitate before she climbs off me, taking my hand in hers as she drags me out of the cafe and down the street to her car. I get into the passenger seat as she gets behind the steering wheel, and it feels so strange to see her like this.

She turns the engine on but makes no move to go anywhere. Instead, Izzy stares at me as she lets out a heavy breath, shaking her head.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she says, taking my hand in hers again.

“I can’t either,” I tell her, lifting our joined hands so I can place a kiss on the back of hers.

“Do you want to come back to mine? We can talk there.”

“I’d love that,” I say, and she starts the short drive toward her house.

It only takes us about ten minutes to get there, and she only lets go of my hand once we have to get out of the car. As soon as I’m at her side, she takes it again as we walk up to her apartment.

“I don’t know if Isaac and Violet are home, but we can go in my room if they are,” she explains.

I hide my smile, knowing that the two of them are expecting my arrival anyway. They’re ready to leave as soon as we get there, but Violet wanted to see me first.

When I got back to England a few days ago after visiting Halmeoni, the first thing I did was text Violet. It was a shot in the dark, and I wasn’t too hopeful about getting a reply, but it only took a few minutes for us to start up a conversation.

I asked her if it would be okay for me to see Izzy. I didn’t want to show up without knowing if she still felt anything toward me. Violet told me that Izzy hadn’t spoken much about me, but that there was no harm in seeing an old friend. After that, she told me the best place to find her and now we’re finally here. Her hand is in mine again.

Izzy fumbles with the keys as she unlocks the door, mumbling under her breath adorably as she fights to put it in the lock. She doesn’t get a chance to try again before the door swings open, and her brother is staring at us.

“Noah, it’s great to finally meet you,” Isaac says, as he stretches out his hand toward me.

I don’t want to let go of Izzy’s, though, so I do some weird backward grip on his hand as I shake it. I hope this doesn’t ruin his first impression of me. Even though I’ve heard a lot about him and saw him from afar at the airport, I’ve never spoken to him before.

“Likewise,” I say, and the crack in my voice betrays any hopes I had of not showing how nervous I am.

“What’s going on?” Izzy says, looking back and forth between us.

I open my mouth to explain, but then Violet joins Isaac in the doorway. She pulls me into a hug, her hands squeezing my shoulders comfortingly.

“It’s great to see you again, Noah.”

I smile at her, regretting not bringing some sort of gift for her. The reason I’m standing here right now is all thanks to her.

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