Through the Screen novel Chapter 96

it's half past midnight when abel enters their. . .noah's bedroom, the bed unmade, the closet open and half empty and a picture frame shattered onto the carpet. he sighs and takes a deep breath, walking outside and grabbing a dustpan and a broom, before making his way back, only to find noah already inside and in the middle of changing his clothes. oh god. abel 's fingers grip the dustpan a little tighter, his already bitten lower lip easing back between his teeth and a bruising blush rising from the base of his neck and sitting high on his cheeks.

he knows he shouldn't be watching, especially after things are so terrible between them, but this is noah, and he is abel, and even if things weren't terrible between them, he would still watch noah as he is watching him right now—with an unconscious desperation and an inexplicable gaze of love. he looks away before noah can notice, slowly backing out of the room but to his luck—or lack of—noah turns around just that second and abel 's eyes widen in surprise, the blush on his cheeks darkening from embarrassment.

"i-i'm sorry i didn't mean to," abel stammers nervously and noah only sighs in response before eyeing the objects in his hands.

"what are you going to do with those?" noah asks instead, not making eye contact as he speaks and abel just bites his lip before answering.

"the-um-the frame-i—" abel can't speak; he's constantly jittery and nervous and scared. he just doesn't want to lose noah.

"calm down," noah's tone is soft, reassuring, mending abel 's heart and breaking it all at once. "why are you so anxious?"

"maybe because you are divorcing me and i can't imagine living without you and—" abel slaps a hand over his own mouth, gulping as noah looks at him with an emotionless gaze for a moment before he looks away completely, the objects in abel 's hands falling to the floor with a soft thud.

"i'm sorry," noah chokes all of a sudden, his voice strained as he keeps his trained on the floor, and abel 's hands slip from his mouth in confusion as he stares at noah. why was noah apologizing?

"why are you—" abel begins but noah interrupts him with an almost inaudible sob, and settles himself onto the edge of the bed, his face buried in his palms and back facing abel. abel stands at the threshold in confusion for a few seconds before he drags his feet heavily across the bedroom and towards noah's shaking figure, hesitantly sitting next to him.