Through the Screen novel Chapter 99

noah flinches slightly as his teeth tear the already bitten flesh of his lower lip, and his fingers tighten around the soft material of the jacket in his hands as he quietly approaches a completely oblivious abel. noah watches as abel 's legs bob up and down impatiently, his eyes fixed on the cloudless sky and his forehead a mess of uncountable curls.

when noah is three feet away, and his shoes scruff against a dry patch of mud, is when abel breaks free from his trance, his cheeks blooming a soft pink and his rosy lips pursed as he looks at noah ; coffee eyes drowning in spoonfuls of concern.

"a-are you okay?" abel asks hurriedly, his voice small as he gets off the bench and quickly rushes to noah, both his hands involuntarily gripping noah's arms, before he lets go and steps back, the blush on his cheeks dripping down slowly towards the collar of his shirt and staining his neck.

"i'm fine," noah answers, staring at abel for a moment before holding out the jacket in his hands, and abel just furrows his eyebrows for a moment.

"it's cold and you're clearly not wearing enough clothes," noah rolls his eyes, and abel flushes, thanking him quietly before pulling the sleeves over his arms and letting the heavy fabric sit on his shoulders—the faint scent of noah, the smallest spray of his cologne, the unmistakable trace of mint makes abel feel more at home than he actually does in the apartment.

his body grows warmer, cheeks grow pinker, and his eyes almost drop shut because he has been desperately longing for comfort since whatever happened between him and noah. he feels slightly pathetic for being this comforted by a simple article of clothing, but the way noah's jacket seems to hug him carefully—he refuses to think about it too much as he submerges more of himself into the lone piece of cloth.

"are you okay? i'm sorry i said too much," noah breaks the silence after a while, his glassy eyes shielded with his thick black rimmed glasses, and his dark hair branching all over his forehead and abel just looks at him worriedly before breathing out a sigh, a small puff of mist forming in front of his mouth at the gesture.

"no you didn't, it's okay, i'm okay," abel reassures him and noah nods half heartedly, moving his gaze back to the boy in front of him. the tip of his nose is tinted pink, his mouth is curled into a small smile and his eyes are staring back at noah with so many emotions that noah has to look away.

he can't physically stop himself from being close to abel right now—even though he is so mad at him, and he is so hurt, and he is so confused and angry and anxious—he still wants to hold abel and he wants abel to tell him that he won't actually do something like that, something that would forbid noah from ever trying to build a relationship with him again because its too late.