Page 74 of The Secret Of Us

“Sit back more.”

He shuffles back slightly so he’s actually sitting more comfortably, his hands clasped together in his lap. It’s like he’s trying to make himself take up as little space as possible on the bed, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Neither of us says anything for a moment, we just smile at each other. I take the chance to look at him properly. I already noticed his hair, but looking at it from the front now, I can see it’s definitely long enough for me to run my fingers through. My gaze drops to his face, his lips. His tongue peeks out and swipes across them, and I have to force myself to look away from himagain.

I’ve been in a relationship before. I’ve kissed guys before. But whenever the thought of kissing Noah pops into my head, it feels like my entire body is on fire, my brain firing off every nerve and making them come to life.

“I need to go to the bathroom. My laptop’s in my bag. Let’s watch a movie.”

The words rush out of me, and I don’t wait for him to respond before I hop to my bathroom, completely avoiding looking at him. My face is as red as I thought it would be, and I hope Noah didn’t notice. I splash some water on it, stare in the mirror, and tell myself to get it together before I leave the bathroom. Noah’s set my laptop up on the desk, but hasn’t done anything else with it.

“I didn’t know what you wanted to watch,” he says, as I settle next to him on the bed, lifting my hurt ankle onto the chair.

“Do you like horror movies?” It feels like a make-or-break question.

“I love them,” he says. Noah lets out a small laugh when a quiet ‘yes’ escapes me.

“A man after my heart,” I say. I don’t miss the way his head snaps to look at me before he stares ahead at the laptop again.Bad choice of words, Izzy.“What’s your favourite?”

I’m so happy to finally have someone who might appreciate the genre as much as I do. I want to know all of Noah’s favourites. Is he a slasher or psychological guy? Does he think any remakes are better than the originals? There’s only one correct answer for that question, but I can already guess his.

“Has to beSinister. It’s the only horror movie that’s actually scared me. After watching it, I had to sleep with the lights on for a week.” He looks at me after he says it, his eyes wide. “I mean, that never happened. It’s scary, but not that scary. I was completely fine after.”

I nudge him with my shoulder, and he smiles down at me, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

“Mine isScream.”

“That’s pretty good, too.”

“Pretty good?It’s more than that, it’s life-changing!” I tell him. I can’t believe any horror fan would say that about one of the most iconic movies of the genre.

“I haven’t watched it in a while. Maybe I just don’t remember it all that well.”

“That settles it. We’re watching it right now so you can appreciate it.”

Noah shakes his head, but he leans over to grab my laptop from the desk and passes it to me. I pull the movie up, and he takes it back from me, placing it on the desk before he presses play.

We stay sat on the edge of my bed as we watch the movie. I tell Noah all the behind-the-scenes facts that I know. After the first few, I stop because I think I’m starting to annoy him, but then he asks for more. Whenever I speak, he leans his head closer to me, his eyes still on the screen but his attention clearly focused on me. Noah stays still when I start leaning on him, our arms touching and my mind racing.

WhenScreamends, we go straight into watchingSinister. I didn’t realise how fun it would be to watch horror movies with someone who actually liked them too. Whenever I watch them with anyone else, it’s clear they’re doing it just to humour me, but Noah really enjoys them, and it makes the whole experience better.

He points out details like I did for him, tells me his favourite scenes and why, and it’s so much fun that we continue watching them. We take turns picking, and before I know it, my room has gone dark, the sun setting without us realising.

The whole day has passed, and neither of us noticed. I brought plenty of snacks from home, and we’ve been working our way through them, not even considering that we’ve missed lunch and dinner.

I lean forward to switch on my star lamp, but Noah beats me to it, bathing my room in a warm glow.

“Didn’t realise how late it was,” Noah says, taking his phone out of his pocket to check the time before putting it away again. I’ve noticed I never really see him on his phone when he’s with me. It’s nice. “I should get back to my room. I actually do have some work I needed to do.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept you for that long.”

“No, I liked it. A lot. This was really fun, Izzy,” he says, looking at me with that half smile on his face. I’m still waiting to see the full thing. I wonder what it’ll take.

“It was,” I agree.

The dim light makes Noah look softer than usual. I wonder what he’d do if I moved closer, if my lips touched his for even a second. He’s kissed me twice now. It was only the cheek, and when I was upset, so I’ve tried my best not to overthink it. But maybe he wouldn’t mind if I did the same. Maybe it would be okay if I kissed him or told him how I really feel.

We’re still sitting so close to each other. Once I started leaning on him, I didn’t pull away, and he didn’t move a single inch. I glance down to see his hand resting on his knee. He’s got it clenched into a fist, this thumb moving back and forth over his forefinger.

---