Chapter 9 Undone

• Noah’s P.O.V.
• My office was suffocating and I didn’t know why.
• Maybe it was the way the air felt heavy and it was pressing down on my chest.
• Maybe it was the absurd silence that followed me everywhere I went, even in a room filled with people. Or maybe—just maybe it was the fact that Liam Hayes was doing his best to pretend like he didn’t do something none of my family could do at that table that night.
• I wasn’t an idiot.
• I knew how to read between the lines, and Liam’s niceness toward me wasn’t just random, he had always been cold towards me but this was too much.
• Has something happened? Was it dinner? Or maybe I pissed him off.
• The dinner, his reaction, none of it was coming together. But I could vividly remember the way his eyes had darkened at the mention of a girl that didn’t exist.
• The way he had stood up for me, the way he had stormed out, and the way the table had felt cold after he left.
• I don’t know how to feel. Liam was deep within his ass but he hadn’t ever told me I didn’t matter and now there was an invincible thread tugging my heart to its downfall.
• It hurts.
• A lump formed in my throat, but I forced it down. I had learned how to suppress things a long time ago. Feelings, pain, longing. I had buried them all so deep I could almost pretend they didn’t exist.
• But Liam? He was a wound I couldn’t cover up and right now, that wound was bleeding.
• I had been avoiding him all morning since yesterday. No, correction—he had been avoiding me.
• I had walked past his office door three times now, finding the courage to knock, only for my feet to betray me.
• Not that it mattered.
• Liam wasn’t looking at me. He wasn’t acknowledging my presence. It was like I had disappeared from his world entirely, and for some sick reason, that stung worse than anything I had ever felt before.
• I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply as I leaned back in my chair.
• My desk was covered in paperwork, but my mind couldn’t focus on a single thing. Not when he was there, just a few doors away, acting like I was nothing more than an afterthought, someone that didn’t matter to him.
• I mean, he had said that.
• A knock on my door came through and I sat up straighter.
• “Come in,” I called, forcing my voice to stay even.
• The door opened, and Alex poked his head in, a hesitant smile on his face.
• “Hey, Nook, you okay?”
• I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
• He raised an eyebrow. “Because you’ve been staring at the same document for the past twenty minutes. Upside down, by the way.”
• I cursed under my breath, flipping the paper in my hands before tossing it onto the desk.
• Alex stepped in, shutting the door behind him. “This is about Liam, isn’t it?. I have been watching you from over there.” He gestured toward the see through glass.
• I stiffened. “No.”
• “Liar.”
• I shot him a look, but he didn’t back down.
• “It’s obvious, Nook,” He continued, sitting on the edge of my desk. “You’ve been on edge ever since that night I had picked you up. And from what I heard, things didn’t exactly end well between you two.”
• I looked away, jaw clenching. “Nothing ended because there was nothing to begin with.”
• “Really?” He tilted his head. “Because I think you’re full of shit.”
• I let out a sharp breath, rubbing a hand over my face. “Alex…”
• “Look, I’m not here to interrogate you. I just… I know how much he meant to you.” His voice softened. “And I know how much it hurts pretending like he didn’t.”
• I swallowed around the stone lodged in my throat, not finding a way to take it down. “It doesn’t matter.”
• “But it does,” He insisted. “Noah, you can’t keep running from this. From him. He’s here. He’s in your space. And whether you like it or not, he still affects you.”
• I knew he was right.
• I hated that he was right.
• Before I could respond, another knock interrupted us. I expected it to be one of my colleagues, maybe someone from the accounting department with another report to review.
• “Come in,” I said.
• But it wasn’t.
• It was Liam.
• And for the first time all morning, he was looking directly at me.
• “Alex,” he said, his voice unreadable. “Give us a minute.”
• Alex hesitated, glancing at me. When I didn’t protest, he gave a small nod and slipped past him, closing the door behind him.
• Now it was just the two of us.
• Alone.
• The air between us was thick, so thick that I couldn’t take it in. It only clung on my chest, making my breaths come on in puffs.
• I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice steady.
• “What do you want, Hayes?”
• His jaw tightened. “We need to talk.”
• I huffed out a laugh, leaning back in my chair. “Do we? Because you’ve been acting like I don’t exist at all since yesterday and you said I didn’t matter if I recall correctly.”
• “Because I thought you were pissed at me because of what you told Veronica”
• The words hung between us like a loaded gun.
• I froze. “What?”
• His eyes darkened. “Don’t play dumb, Noah.”
• “I’m not playing anything.” I frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
• Liam’s expression shifted. He was studying me now, searching for something in my face.
• And then, realization dawned.
• “You really don’t know, do you?” he murmured.
• I stood up, suddenly uneasy. “Liam—”
• He turned away, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck.”
• “Liam, what did you do?” I demanded.
• Silence.
• A beat.
• Then—
• “It doesn’t matter.”
• I took a step closer. “The hell it doesn’t.”
• He turned back to me, and for the first time in a long time, I saw it—vulnerability. Raw, unfiltered, and bleeding through every inch of him.
• But just as quickly as it came, it was gone.
• Shut off, buried and suddenly, he was Liam Hayes again, the cold, detached man I had grown to despise.
• “This conversation is over,” he muttered, moving toward the door.
• But I wasn’t letting him go that easily, not when he dropped a bomb that could explode any minute from now.
• I grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.
• “You don’t get to do this,” I said, voice low.
• “Do what?”
• “Pretend like nothing happened.” I stepped closer, my grip tightening. “Pretend like we didn’t….like you didn’t—”
• “Don’t,” he cut me off.
• His voice was hoarse. Almost desperate.
• I swallowed hard. “Why?”
• He turned then, his eyes locking onto mine and what I saw there made my breath catch—pain, regret and something undone.
• “Liam—”
• “Let go, Noah,” he whispered.
• I didn’t, not right away. Because at that moment, I realized something. Something I didn’t know was possible, something I couldn’t believe was possible.
• It wasn’t just me fighting this pull, it wasn’t just me unable to stop thinking about him.
• He was too.
• And that? That changed everything. Delight clung unto me and a little bit of hope that we could be something more.
• Liam felt something for me…Liam freaking felt something for me!
• But before I could say another word, the door swung open and I looked to the door, Liam did too.
• And standing there, eyes sharp and lips curled into a cruel smile was Veronica and she wasn’t alone.
• Behind her stood a lady that had a very noticeable resemblance with Liam. Her features were as prominent as his but her eyes were empty?
• Liam’s mother?
• “Well,” Veronica drawled, her gaze flickering between us. “Isn’t this interesting?”
• My stomach dropped and I just realized I was holding unto Liam’s hand.
• Liam wrenched his hand from mine like I had burnt him, taking a full step back.
• His entire posture changed and now he was rigid, tense, unreadable.
• His mother’s eyes narrowed, lips pursed in disappointment.
• “Care to explain, Liam?”
• Silence.
• Liam said nothing, did nothing and in that moment, I knew.
• I knew that he wasn’t going to fight.
• Not for me.
• Not for us.
• Not for himself.
• And that realization hit like a punch to the gut and I almost doubled over at the sheer force of it.
• And just like that, whatever hope I had left, whatever small, fragile piece of me still believed in him, in us shattered like it was just an imagination.
• I let out a breath, forcing my face into something neutral, cold and unfeeling, just like the man who had my heart in his pocket and now it felt like he was coming for my soul.
• “There’s nothing to explain,” I said, stepping away.
• Liam flinched and I ignored it.
• Veronica’s smile widened, victory flashing in her eyes.
• And just like that, the walls I had created around myself went up again.
• I turned away from him, from them.
• Because if he wasn’t going to fight? Then neither was I doing so.