"Hi, Zoey!" Noah's mom wrapped me into a tight hug that felt like home. I don't know how else to explain it. She was kind, warm, nice and everything that Noah is.

I had to admit that it was definitely weird that a hug from someone I had never met for the very first time felt like home. Home is a very intimate feeling. Delicate and strong altogether. Loving. Wholehearted. Affectionate. Heartfelt. Genuine and sincere. But that's exactly how I would describe it.

It was easy to see now, why Noah is the way that he is. He got it from his mother, and from what I know about his brother, I had to guess, his brother as well.

"Hello Mrs. Wilson." I said as I hugged the woman back, with a wide smile.

We let go of the tight embrace, and I noted her dimples make themselves known as she smiled, gracing her freckled covered face.

"Noah talks so much about you." I couldn't help but notice her enthusiasm, and I wondered if it matched her son's, when he (apparently!) talked about me. "It is so nice to finally meet you and put a face to the name."

"Thank you." I said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, too."

She scootched to the side to let me in their home, closing the door behind me afterwards. Noah's mom made her way to the kitchen and I simply followed her tracks. Looking everywhere around the room, I was unable to spot the guy who had invited me to come over.

"Where's Noah?" I asked while my eyebrows furrowed and I fidgeted with my fingertips.

"Oh, he went out to get some things." She explained while she fixed herself a drink, that she then offered me. "He'll be back in a few minutes. Do you want some iced tea?"

"Sure." She happily poured the brown drink into another glass and handed it to me, not forgetting to add two ice cubes and a slice of lemon.

I thanked her before taking a few sips of the cool drink, when Noah walked through the front door, carrying a bag of groceries.

His mind seemed to be elsewhere as he made his way through the house, but he stopped in his tracks at the kitchen entrance, where he looked up and saw me. He was clearly not expecting me to be inside his house, which was only fair considering we had agreed on three o'clock and I showed up thirty minutes earlier. However, he tried his best to hide his expression of surprise, and my lips curled upwards as I watched him walk into his kitchen, pretending not to be confounded at this whole situation.

His mother greeted him with a great deal of excitement, which seemed to be enough to distract him from me for a second. After putting down his groceries' bag, he took a seat next to me and showed me a smile.

"Hi, Zo."

"Hi."

"I wasn't expecting to see you he-"

"Shoot." Mrs. Wilson said as she picked up her phone. After a couple of mumbled hum hums and a quick alright, she hung up and turned to face us.

"The office called, I need to go there and sort out some things."

"Okay." Noah replied loudly, making sure she'd heard him, while she had gone inside her office in a rush.

Mrs. Wilson then came back in less than a minute, carrying a briefcase full of documents she'd probably need in her hand. "Hey you two," Noah and I both turned our heads in her direction. "No funny business while I'm gone."

Not expecting her to say that, I blushed and let out a nervous chuckle.

"We wouldn't dream of it." Noah said and turned his attention back to the small TV screen in front of us, that, up until this moment, I hadn't even noticed that it had some contest show on.

She said goodbye once more, before fleeting the house and leaving me and Noah alone.

He then turned to face me, and lowered his head in my direction, whispering, "Hi." , as if we were just now seeing each other. "How's your wrist?"

Not that he needed to ask, because he had asked me about it every single day for the past week, sometimes more than once. But I had to admit that I liked that he asked.

"It's fine." I said while holding up my arm in his direction, showing him the wrist, still with a bandage wrapped around it, but definitely feeling better now.

He smiled widely, and I did the same, before adding with a wink, "Nurse Noah."

He laughed out loud, getting up from his seat and taking some steps towards the living room and sitting on his couch. "You'll never catch me at nursing school. Ever."

Noah gestured for me to sit next to him and I did just that, right after picking up an apple and taking a bite, taking it with me to the other room.

His words made me realize that his future was something we actually hadn't talked about much. Or at all. And I was surprised to only now realize that.

"What are your plans after high school?" I asked, the question now crossing my mind.

"Honestly?" I nodded, eagerly waiting and equally curious about his answer. "I have no idea."

He remained still for a few minutes, thinking about it. "I would love to pursue swimming as a career. But at the same time... that's not very viable."

"Why not?" I asked.

"I'm almost eighteen and I've had multiple injuries that have kept me away from competitions. If I'm gonna swim for a living, I can't afford to do that. My career will be gone by the time I'm thirty."

"Forget that for a second." I said, which caught his attention. "When you think about it, what is it that you really want to do? Olympics?"

"That would be a dream." He sighed. "But I just know that's not written in the stars for me."

"Why not?" I asked again.

I know what he was thinking. Because it's the Olympics. I know it, because I've had those same thoughts.

But instead, he chose to ignore this question and answered the first one.

"CSU in Bakersfield has a great swim team." I averted my eyes away from the apple in my hand to watch him as he spoke. "I was thinking about it."

I hummed, sounding as intrigued as I was that I was only now hearing about this.

"And you know what else I thought about?" I nodded in silence, waiting for him to answer his own question. "You could join me there next year." His fingers gracefully touched my hair as he pulled some strands back and tucked them behind my ear. "They got a women's team, it would be perfect."

I would be lying if I said this didn't surprise me a little.

"I-I... I wasn't even thinking about going to college." I said, more to myself than anyone else. My voice sounded like a soft whisper.

"Why not?" Noah sounded surprised. "Look, you're a junior, you need to start studying for the SATs and thinking about taking them now."

He was on a roll, and I felt the need to stop him right there. I put my hand on his chest. "Noah, I don't expect you to understand this, but... You know about my condition. I never thought I'd live to even graduate high school, let alone go to college."

"I understand, I do." He said, sitting up straighter in his seat and taking my hand that was resting against his beating heart, into his. "But look at you now. You're finishing junior year and moving onto senior year. You're okay."

When I didn't say anything in response, he sighed and softened his voice again. "Don't do that. Don't stop yourself from thinking about your future."

"Back to you." I said in a light tone, gently hitting him in the forearm with the TV remote. "What would you want to major in?"

"I'm good at Biology and Chemistry so Science has always been an option in my mind."

"I'm sensing a but coming." I said and he chuckled.

"But, I don't want to just put swimming aside. I've thought a lot about majoring in Education and then becoming a swim teacher for little kids. In the future, even a coach for a professional team." Noah explained. "That's where Ben's mind's at."

"I know you guys are like two peas in a pod but you can't make the decision of another major just because of your best friend."

"What else can I do? That would allow me to work with Ben and in the field that I love." He shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "It's the best of both worlds."

"There are so many more options!" I said, my eyes open wide. "You can become a sports doctor-"

"No. Absolutely not. There's no way I'm going to med school. I don't want to start my life at almost thirty."

I rolled my eyes at his words, but deep down I knew he was right. Even if I was good at biology, I would never consider medical school either. Too draining.

"Fine. What about a sports physical therapist?" This time when he looked at me, he looked intrigued. "Don't tell me that's never crossed your mind."

"It has."

"So?"

He shrugged again. "You know me, I go with the flow. Let me graduate high school first and land a spot at Bakersfield and then I'll think about it."

"You could still work with Ben, though. He'll just send his students to you whenever they're injured."

Noah and I bursted out laughing, thinking about the possibility and picturing this version of the future, in our heads. 

* * *

author's note:  my babies???? zoey and noah???? talking about their future ????  i am emotional!!  🖤

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xoxo, mars