Opening my eyes just a crack, I glanced at the glaring blue screen of my phone to check the time.

02:24am.

That couldn't possibly have been our buzzer waking me up. Charlotte would have her key and Kris was away for the weekend, so it's not like he'd have been turning up unannounced.

I rolled over and closed my eyes then heard it again, loud and clear this time.

What the hell?

As I rolled out of bed I grabbed an empty prosecco bottle still in my waste bin from the other night and tiptoed into the hallway. The buzzer sounded again; longer this time, piercing through the quiet of the flat at this time of night.

Picking up the receiver, I didn't speak. The voice that came through the other end caught me off guard.

"Abigail? It's Noah. Can I come in?"

I gasped and fumbled with the receiver, almost dropping it before putting it back to my mouth to respond.

"Go away, Noah," I finally whispered. "I've got nothing to say to you. Goodnight."

I had barely hung up the receiver when the buzzer went again, and this time it didn't stop.

"Stop it, you'll wake the whole fucking house up," I hissed down the mouthpiece.

"I think I probably have already, I've been buzzing every flat to find yours."

"Well congratulations, you found me and now it's time to leave. Go back to Vanessa or whoever you've just been with."

"Abigail, please let me explain. I was trying to do something nice for you tonight. I didn't want to leave things the way I did, but I've got shit in my life that I can't control."

After a long pause, his voice was barely audible as he spoke again, sounding defeated.

"I'm so sorry," he sighed, "You're probably better off without me anyway."

As I heard the shuffle of his boots moving to leave, something beyond my control took over and I reached up to press the buzzer, clicking open the lock. A few seconds later there was a gentle knock at the flat door.

Opening it up to see Noah stood there looking like a lost child with his hands in his pockets, I didn't say a word as I let the door swing wide. Turning my back on him, I padded silently into the living room.

Hearing him quietly close the latch, I glanced through the open entrance to Charlotte's room. Her sheets were still immaculately made and there was no sign that she'd been home yet.

Following the direction of my eyes, Noah spoke quietly.

"I saw your flatmate getting on the night bus towards central London with a group of people. Looked like they were pretty set on keeping the party going."

"How did you know she's my flatmate?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"I know more than you think. I haven't been able to get you out of my head since you literally fell into my life the other day."

"Well, if you know that much then you would know that I hate being called Abigail," I snorted. "What's with that anyway, it's like you're doing it just to patronise me?"

"I'm not patronising you," he sighed. "I just think it's a beautiful name and it, I don't know, it just suits you. It's like, classy or something."

His usual cockiness had slipped and given way to a side of Noah I'd not seen in the short few days since meeting him. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him, standing awkwardly in the doorway while I sat on the sofa fiddling with the label on the bottle that I'd picked up as a makeshift weapon.

Noticing as he glanced towards my hand holding the bottle, I allowed a small smirk to make its way across my lips.

"I didn't drink this on my own by the way," I said, rolling my eyes. "It was in the bin and it's the best thing I had to defend myself with."

"Do you think you need to defend yourself from me?" he asked, a genuine look of concern flooding across his beautiful eyes. "I know I might have come on a bit strong earlier, but you've just got under my skin."

"Believe it or not, yes, I did think I might need to defend myself against whatever weirdo was ringing my doorbell at this time of night," I answered, finally allowing myself to smile at him.

Smiling awkwardly back, he asked, "Can I sit down? I think I owe you an apology."

"Yeah, you do," I said, raising an eyebrow. "And yes, you can."

As he took the seat next to me on the cosy red sofa that Charlotte and I had bought the first day we moved in, he pulled his grey beanie from his head and shook a hand through his hair. As I watched his movements from the corner of my eye, I suddenly remembered I had no bra on. The skimpy black vest and floral-print bed shorts I wore as pyjamas did little to cover my exposed skin, and I didn't want to give him any more ideas.

Grabbing a pillow to cover myself, I lowered my eyes before glancing up through my eyelashes to see Noah staring straight at me, his lips parted slightly but no words coming out.

Holy shit, he looked divine in the amber glow of the corner lamp. The shadows it cast on his face emphasised the sharp angles of his bone structure, and the darker tones in his dirty blonde hair shone through, making his emerald eyes seem even more piercing.

Diverting my attention swiftly past him to focus on the single bulb glowing gently on the other side of the living room, I finally broke the silence with a whisper.

"Go on then, Noah, explain..."

Taking a deep breath, Noah flicked his eyes away from me before quietly speaking.

"I'm sorry I performed your song. But I'm more sorry that I left you in the lurch on your own tonight. The thing is, it's complicated."

I nearly burst out laughing.

"Is that it? Is that your explanation?"

"No, let me finish," he said, looking a little hurt. "My life is... complicated. There are people I have to consider more than others and sometimes it gets in the way."

"What people, Noah? Your family? Your girlfriend?"

"Just people."

It wasn't exactly the explanation I'd been promised and my frustration was starting to grow.

"Look, we hardly know each other and this is stupid. I don't need to know why you just ditched me in the street tonight. I don't need to know anything about your life because - as far as I'm concerned - it's none of my business and never will be."

"Abigail, please, if I told you, you wouldn't want anything to do with me. You're too good for someone like me."

"Don't feed me that bullshit," I snapped back. "If you've got a girlfriend then just leave now and go back to her. Don't give me the 'it's not you, it's me' crap."

"It's not like that," he groaned, running his hands through his hair in frustration before dragging them back down his face as he tipped his head back towards the ceiling.

"Then what is it like? Do you just get a kick out of almost kissing girls in corridors, stealing their secrets for public entertainment, then leaving them in the fucking street while you run off to your girlfriend?"

Noah's eyes flashed as he snapped back. "She's not my girlfriend, Abigail."

The silence that followed only amplified his heightened breaths.

"Get out," I hissed, my voice barely audible.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and hung his head once more. "I didn't mean it to come out like that," he whispered.

"I said get out."

"Abigail, please..." he started. 

But my mind was racing and my blood boiling. "It's Abi, for fuck's sake," I snapped, the sudden burst of rage in my voice visibly startling him. "Everyone who knows me and loves me calls me Abi, not Abigail."

My voice still raised, I continued my rant.

"And you, Noah... I thought I was actually starting to like you but I'm disgusted with myself for even considering it. Imagine if we had continued getting to know each other and maybe even become more. I would have never forgiven myself if this had gone any further. I can't even imagine the shame if my first time ended up being with a cheat like you."

Realising what I'd just blurted out, we both fell silent again.

"Your first?" Noah asked quietly.

"Oh what, going to run back and laugh about that with your bandmates now?" I sneered. "Maybe stop off and see your girlfriend on the way?"

"For the last time, I don't have a girlfriend," he said through gritted teeth. "I can't explain it more than that right now, you'd only hate me more than you probably do already."

An involuntary shiver ran down the length of my body. Reaching behind my head, I grabbed the white fluffy blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around my exposed skin.

"I'm tired," I said with a sigh. "I think you should just leave and we can both forget about what happened tonight."

Looking defeated, he reached out a hand to gently touch mine. As furious as I was, the touch of his hard, guitar-worn fingertips brushing against my skin sent electricity from the roots of my hair down to the tips of my toes.

"I'll go then, if that's what you really want?" he whispered, studying my face for any signs I might change my mind.

Battling every fibre in my body that ached to pull him towards me and feel his lips on mine, I slowly peeled his hand away and placed it gently back into his lap.

Keeping my eyes on the floor, I whispered, "Goodnight, Noah."

The sofa cushions shifted as he rose to his feet. Slowly making his way down the hall, I watched as he pulled his beanie back over his hair then reached for the latch with the same hand that had just touched mine so gently. As he opened the door, Noah turned to look back.

"Goodnight then, Abi," he said softly, a wistful sadness lingering in his eyes as he stepped out of the flat then quietly closed the door.