His kiss said more than any words ever could. Longing, pain, passion and hope all formed an unspoken truth in the featherlight way our mouths touched. From the tips of my toes right up to my scalp, the tsunami of finally feeling his kiss swept through my body, tearing down every wall of defence in its path.

As he gently brought his hands to rest on my waist, his lips parted. Each delicious movement of Noah's mouth caused another bone to fall from my skeleton. Each fleeting brush dissolved another muscle. I was melting into him, and I didn't want it to ever stop.

Lightly, his tongue began to dance against mine, the heat of his mouth igniting the flicker that had been burning deep within me since that first day on the bus. Running my hand through his hair to the back of his neck, I pulled him closer, my other hand reaching out to steady myself on the bed as the weight of his torso pushed against my chest.

The pressure of his body against mine forced my breaths to become shallower. As my supporting arm began to shake slightly, Noah's hands slid from my waist to hold my back with his wide palms. Smoothly, he maneuvered my body down until I was laying flat with him above me, his legs straddled across my thigh.

Whether it was an intentional move or not, as he bent his body low to continue our kiss, his knee pushed gently between my legs. The bolts that shot through every last one of my nerve endings caused me to gasp loudly into his mouth.

Feeling his lips spread into a smile as he continued to tease my tongue with his, he pushed his knee towards my centre again. As my body tensed under the aching warmth, his mouth moved along my cheek to graze my collarbone, exposed thanks to my off-the-shoulder jumper.

Another small groan escaped my mouth, right next to his ear. Not even at my own sensations this time, but the fact I could feel his hardness against my thigh while his knee continued to apply pressure between my legs.

"Those noises," he breathed against my neck. "You're killing me."

Not knowing how to reply, I pulled his face towards mine and met his lips once again, exploring the inside of his mouth like someone only just tasting ice cream for the first time.

Placing his forearms flat on either side of my head, Noah's body slid expertly down on top of mine, as the muscles in his arms rippled with his full weight.

As his groin came to rest on mine, I instinctively raised my hips to meet him. If his knee had felt good against me, then this blew it completely out of the water. Wrapping my ankles tightly around him, I ran my hands up and across the skin of his back underneath his T-shirt.

"Noah," I gasped softly, as my body ached with the sensation of finally feeling his pelvis pressing between my legs.

Pulling his head back, his green eyes focused on mine. "Are you okay?" he asked, "Am I hurting you?"

"No, not at all," I giggled. "You just kind of, hit a spot, that's all."

"Yeah?" he replied, flashing a wicked grin down at me. "You mean when I did this?" he asked, as he pushed his groin against me again.

My skirt had ridden up with his movements, leaving the thin pair of black tights as the only barrier between us. Pulling my leg up further, almost around his waist, he pushed down on me again as he ran his tongue lightly up my neck.

Groaning at the two sensations combined, I arched my back beneath him.

He exhaled against my ear. "If you keep making noises like that I'm going to come in my pants like some fucking teenager."

Keeping my eyes closed as he continued teasing my neck with his lips, a lazy smile spread across my face at the thought of doing that to him.

Digging my nails into the skin on his back, I responded quietly. "I could always make you come in other ways if you like?"

Swiftly straightening his arms to push his torso up, he stared down at me with a glint in his green eyes.

"Not until I've shown you how that feels," he smirked.

Running my hands down his stomach muscles, fully tensed and rippling in his half push-up position, I smiled coyly as he lowered himself back down to kiss my mouth lightly.

"Who said I don't know what it feels like?" I whispered. "Just because I've never had a boy do anything to me, doesn't mean I've never done it to myself."

"You touch yourself?" Noah said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well... I have done. A couple of times."

"But?" he smirked, "It seems like there's a but coming?"

I realised there was no point keeping up the charade that I was some kind of self-love guru. He'd find out sooner or later I had no idea what I did, and didn't, like when it comes to stuff like that.

"But it just never really did anything for me," I answered, embarrassed by my confession.

Sliding one hand slowly downwards between our bodies, Noah's eyes stayed firmly fixed on mine as his fingertip lightly brushed against my tights.

"This doesn't do anything for you?" he teased, not waiting for an answer before placing his lips back on mine.

Softly gliding his tongue into my mouth, his finger began to move in small, light circles, each movement sparking another untouched synapse in my brain. As his mouth began to move harder against mine, so did his finger against my body.

Suddenly slowing down his circular motion as he pulled his lips back from mine, I groaned, wanting him to continue more than anything.

'You didn't answer me," he said, still holding his fingertip against me but keeping it excruciatingly still. "I want to hear you say if something feels good for you."

"It feels good," I said, glancing away from his stare.

"Don't look away from me," he whispered. "You don't have to be ashamed of saying what you like, not around me. You understand that, right?"

I nodded as he moved his mouth back against mine. Much to my relief, his hand started moving again. It was different now, though. The soft feel of his fingertip had been replaced by something more intense. It took me a few seconds to realise that he now had two fingers pushed firmly against my tights, gently pinching them together while he rocked his hand side-to-side.

I let out a long moan, my voice hoarse as I struggled to keep my breathing under control.

"I can make you feel so much more than this," Noah breathed against my lips.

I could barely hear his voice in the distance as my head swam. I tried to say something back, but my shallow breaths and pounding heart meant I just about managed to let out a strained squeak in reply.

"I want to show you things a thousand times better than this," Noah continued, as he brushed his lips against the tip of my nose. "With my fingers, my tongue, my body..."

"Do it then," I whispered as his lips met mine again.

Noah pulled his head back to look at me, reducing his hand movements back to barely-there strokes of a fingertip over the black material.

"You've been drinking, Abi. I'm not that bad a person," he smiled, shaking his head.

"I had a few drinks, but that was ages ago," I replied.

Noah cocked his head to one side. "I won't do anything more than this unless you tell me exactly what you want. I'm not going to take advantage of you."

Placing my hands on his cheeks, I leaned back in towards him. Gently parting his full lips with my tongue, I kissed Noah softly and slowly, before pulling back to look straight into those beautiful green eyes.

"I want to feel you touch me under my clothes," I said. A lot more confidently that he expected, judging by the look on his face.

"Are you sure?" he responded, staring at me intently, trying to figure out if I really was as sobered up as I claimed to be.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I replied, as I hooked one hand behind my back to unzip my skirt.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Noah. I trust you completely..."

The sudden cold of him pulling his body away from me came as a shock.

Rolling over to sit on the edge of the bed, he sighed deeply as he leant his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his hair.

Pulling myself up to sit back against the headboard, I bit my lip.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

Sighing again, Noah kept his head down as he shook it in response.

"No. You were fine, it's just..."

"Just what? What did I do?"

"Abi, you didn't do anything wrong, I swear. When you said you trusted me though, it just..."

"Just what, Noah?" I pleaded again.

"You just shouldn't trust me, that's all."

"I don't understand. Tell me what you mean, please," I begged, as the crack in my voice finally faltered.

"I'm no good for you," he sighed. "I'm trying to change, I really am, but there are a few things I need to sort out before I can give you what you need."

"But I want to be with you, Noah," I said, the unwelcome heat of tears forming in my eyes. "I can't do this back and forth thing. Whatever your issues are, we can work through them."

"And I want to be with you," he whispered. "But I have to tie up some loose ends first. It wouldn't be right if I didn't."

"You're talking about us as though it's a fucking business deal," I snapped.

"It would probably be easier if it was, Abi. At least then we'd both know where we stand."

His comment made me see red.

"Don't you dare try and put blame on me for whatever the hell is going on right now," I yelled. "I'm the one who has no fucking clue where I stand right now, not you. This is your doing, Noah, not mine."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say-"

"No!" I shouted, as I jumped off the bed. "You do not get to do this to me, Noah. No fucking way."

Doing my skirt up with one hand and grabbing my shoes off the floor with the other, I turned round to face him as I headed towards the door.

"We're done," I hissed, narrowing my eyes at him. "Whatever 'us' there was, or could have been, you have just thrown it away. You, Noah, not me."

Slamming the door behind me, I flew down the stairs as quickly as my legs would carry me. I pushed through the people loitering in the hallway to grab my bag and coat from the kitchen. As I headed out of the front door, I felt a strong hand grab my elbow.

Yanking my arm out of the grip, his voice sounded shocked by my aggressive reaction.

"Abi, are you okay? Are you leaving now?"

Turning around to see Ben, my heart sank slightly at the realisation it wasn't Noah coming after me. Forcing a smile, I nodded in response.

"Well me and Holly were about get going. I can drop you home if you like?"

I nodded again. "Yes, please. That would be good."

"Okay, give me one sec. I'll just grab Hols and we can go."

As he walked away, I glanced upwards at the wide staircase, still unsure if I wanted to see Noah come running down it or not.

"Come on then, let's get out of here," smiled Ben, as he reappeared with Holly in tow, stumbling around on her high shoes and waving to everyone she walked past.

"Don't worry, I can hold my drink better than this one," Ben laughed, scooping an arm around her waist and ushering us both out of the front door.

Strapping her into the backseat, Ben lightly kissed Holly's nose before opening the driver's side door. "Sit up front with me, Abi, you can be my navigator," he grinned, as I politely smiled back and climbed in.

The tyres crunching against the gravel as he pulled away, he began to ask whether I'd enjoyed myself at the party. The smell of alcohol still reeked on his breath.

Remembering the drinking game I'd seen them all playing, I wondered whether I'd have been better off getting that Uber with Kris. Ben seemed like a nice guy, but he was giving off a slightly creepy vibe as he spoke, leaning over a little too close every time he talked.

As we finally turned on to a street I recognised, I relaxed knowing I was almost home. I couldn't wait to get out of the car, crawl into bed, and forget about Noah playing me like an idiot.

Glancing over my shoulder to check on Holly, fast asleep and snoring lightly, I felt Ben's warm breath as he turned to follow my gaze into the back seat.

"She's fucking adorable when she's asleep, right?" he smiled.

The sudden glare of headlights blazing through his window and the deafening screech of skidding tyres are the last two things I remember, before everything went black.