~Noah~

Helplessness is a cause of frustration.

You know you want to change something, but you don't have it in your power to change it.

It feels like your life is getting controlled by someone else. And that could be quite frustrating for anybody as one can't be dominated forever.

I stuffed the food into my mouth and forced myself to swallow it. I wasn't satisfied with my life, and I had a feeling I wasn't going to be, anytime soon.

~Ian~

I pressed the pillow close to my ears to block out the alarm torn blaring through my phone from the desk.

I always kept my phone at a distance so that whenever the alarm goes off, I have to get up and shut it. And once I get up, I stretch and don't go back to bed.

So I had to sit up and walk over to the desk, grunting as the loud music purposely kept annoying me.

"Ian!" I heard a cheerful call of my name as soon as I dismissed the alarm, followed by a couple of knocks on my door.

I frowned with my eyes still drooping. What was mom doing home?

I dragged my feet to the door and opened it. There stood my mother with a very bright smile on her face matching her sunny yellow dress and tied back hair.

I did a double take on seeing her.

"Mo-" I began but was cut short by her happy voice,

"Morning, baby," she greeted and kissed my cheek.

"What's the matter?" I asked. There was no occasion I could think of to justify the sudden change in her appearance.

"We have a visitor. Someone I'd like you to meet." She said smiling up at me with a light tint of pink coating her pale cheeks.

My frown relaxed into a genuine smile as the realisation dawned on me.

"So that's why you didn't come home last night!" I teased and chuckled when she lightly punched my arm with the pink on her face becoming two shades darker.

"Now go get changed and come for breakfast," she said rolling her eyes and went downstairs.

I smiled to myself as I made my way over to the bathroom. My mother was beginning to move on, and I was very happy because I had always wished the best for her. Being the wonderful woman that she was, she deserved the best.

And hence I was sure to make the guy go through a lot of trials till he gets to be with my mom.

I brushed excitedly thinking about how amazing the feeling of mutual love must be. The thought of Noah crossed my head and I was surprised that I had actually gone ten minutes in the day without thinking about him.

My heart clenched again, thinking of the events that happened two days ago. I wished he trusted me enough to know that it was all a misunderstanding. But he didn't, and that was my fault. I had always treated him wrong and so my image etched in his brains was a rotten one.

The worst feeling was of being helpless. I couldn't do anything to change his thoughts about me because he was adamant to not listen. He wasn't receiving any of my calls and hadn't come online even once since then.

I rinsed my mouth and the brush, trying my best to push my depressing thoughts away and put on a smile for my mother's sake.

I turned the shower on and quickly washed myself. Then I walked out of the bathroom and to my room with a towel tied around my waist.

I chose grey jeans and a black button down to wear because I always thought they made me look tough and scary, the exact way I wished to look in front of my mother's boyfriend.

After spraying some cologne, I rushed down the stairs as my stomach had begun gurgling.

I could hear the soft sounds of laughter coming from my mother's mouth as I reached the base of the stairs and walked towards the kitchen.
As soon as I stepped in, I spotted a good looking man sitting on the counter, chuckling and shaking his head while my mom had her back to me as she prepared breakfast on the counter. The guy had a fair built and black hair and I was surprised to see a man so young to be dating my forty three year old mother. I could bet he was not more than thirty five.

I dramatically cleared my throat making my mother turn to me and the guy jump off the counter as his eyes met mine.

They both smiled at me and I smiled a small smile back.
I walked over to them and shook hands with the boyfriend.

"Nice to meet you, Mr..."

"Clithering. But you can call me Henry. Nice to meet you too, Ian." He said withdrawing his hand from mine.

"Henry," I said with a nod.

"You guys can sit down, I'll get the food," mom said a little nervously and excused herself from our little group.

I took a seat on the table opposite to Henry, and crossed my arms, not taking my eyes off him.

He looked directly back at me with slight amusement.

"So Ian," he began with a smile, "How are you liking school?"

"It's fun." I said, shrugging and continued, "What do you do?"

"I'm a doctor at the same hospital as your mom." He replied.

I nodded and looked over at my mother who was carrying two plates of sandwiches towards us. I wondered if he was the reason my mom was working 'extra shifts' lately and a chuckle involuntarily escaped my mouth.

The pair looked at me with raised eyebrows and I shook my head muttering an apology.

"So..." I trailed, raising my own brows and trying to get them to tell me if they were official or not.

"Um," mom spoke and peeked at Henry.

He pulled back a chair for my mom and made her sit next to him. Then he took her hand, entwined their fingers together and looked at me smiling.

I wanted to give him a death glare but the couple opposite to me were both beaming beautifully and I just couldn't not smile.

"Ian," mom began. I had never seen my mom being scared of what I would think, it was always the other way round. I felt like I was her father and not her half-her-age son.

"Is it okay for you if I date your mom?" Henry took over making mom relax a moment and tense the other as she waited for my reaction.

They didn't need my permission but it was good to be asked. My feelings mattered to my mother and she was so different from my father that I was happy.

It was also a little odd, I'd admit, to see somebody else aside from my father next to my mom. I couldn't understand why she kept her relationship from me. Maybe this was a bit odd for her too. But I knew she was a smart woman. Hell, she raised me, she was my parent. If she trusted him, I knew I could trust him too. But I would still be on guard till I see for myself that he is a genuine person.

"Keep her happy." I said to him and managed to give him a glare.

"With everything it takes." He replied with confidence while mom blushed and I felt some satisfaction.

"To a new start," Henry raised his glass of juice to make a toast.

Mom and I followed, each of us clanging our glasses together.

I looked at my mother as she smiled at the both of us. If it gave her even an ounce of happiness to see it working, I'd try at my end to make it work.

There was small talk over the rest of the breakfast where I learned that Henry was thirty eight and divorced. Mom and dad's divorce was still pending but I knew each of them had moved on in their lives so it was all okay. I wished to see my father as it had been a while and even though we weren't on great terms, I missed him.

I missed someone else too. I shook my head as if the thoughts of him will fall off the corners of my brains where they always resided.

"I'll get going," I said, getting up from my seat and walking to the sink to put the dishes away.
My first class was to begin in half an hour.

"Drive safe," mom said while Henry nodded at me.
I nodded back and went out.

I took the keys of my Harley from its stand near the door and went into the garage where it stood gracefully next to mine and mom's car.

I began thinking about Noah again while I turned the ignition, accepting the truth that I would not be able to ignore his thoughts or let go of him just yet. My heart pushed my brains to start thinking of ways I could convince him.

I knew a lot about him now, thanks to the limited days we were friends.

There had to be something I could use for my benefit. Actually, it was the benefit of the both of us since Noah was far away from the reality of how I truly felt about him.

I began driving, my mind busy in my thoughts rather than paying attention to the road.

Similar to me, Noah loved being close to nature. Maybe I could take him out again? But would he agree? I thought not.

He enjoyed roleplaying with me too. Would it work if I did something like that in real? I chuckled bitterly to myself thinking he must feel disgusted with himself for having allowed someone like me to touch him. So this plan was ruled out too.

He loved children too. So maybe I could....

I slammed the brakes suddenly when a solid idea hit me.

I turned by bike around and sped back home knowing that even if I went to class, I wouldn't be paying attention to it.

The only hope left in me was that maybe this plan would work and I could make him mine.

A/N:
Chapter twenty!

Once upon a time I thought I'd keep this book limited to twenty chapters and now look at me still typing away to glory.

Do you guys like it though?
Let me know!

And vote and comment and share please!