It would be a lie if I said I had a good nights sleep last night.

The whole time, I stared at my phone, hands trembling, waiting for Adrian to reply.

And he did.

But it was in no way reassuring; I had to see Noel.

It was around nine in the morning when my mom knocked on my door.

"Elliot? You awake? Hellooo?" I was too focused on the screen to answer.

"Elliot, I'm coming in--"

"Jesus, mom, I'm up!" I shouted.

Still, she opened the door, a weird look on her face.

She was in her red bathrobe, hair mangled and eyes puffy.

"Elliot, what the hell is up with you? You look like you haven't slept a wink!"

I shrugged in response and got underneath the covers.

"Don't wake me for breakfast," I said, groggily. "Mhm," my mother hummed in response, sitting down on the side of the bed running her fingers along my forehead. "Dad's coming home at 6, and he's got a surprise. Try to get as much sleep as possible, okay, Lamb?" And with that, she left the room.

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This time, I didn't wake up to the chime of a phone; I woke up to the sound of something hitting my window. Of course, I ignored it, being sleep deprived and all.

But whatever the noise was, it kept getting louder and louder until I couldn't take it anymore. Getting annoyed, I got out of my bed and somehow dragged my body across the floor.

At first, I thought it was just rain, but as the noises got louder, i realized that it was the sound of pebbles hitting the brick wall. The larger the pebbles the louder the sound.

Ugh, if it was Adrian I would've heated up a boiling pot of water and poured it on his head.

I unlatched the window thing and pulled the window upwards, letting a pebble, a large one at that, hit me on my forehead.

I grunted, cursing under my breath as I looked down, only to see nothing but a crushed can of cheap convenience store beer.

Confused, I turned around, only to be pulled back by a warm hand. Turning around, I saw him.

And in that moment, for the first time in ages, I smiled.

"Noel!" I beamed.