Please Stay

The stool kicked back a little further than she would have liked, hitting the slight gap between two wooden panels, and Alice grabbed the edge of the countertop only for her to lose her balance as it was more like a smack to the edge rather than a grab. When she knew she was going to fall, she panicked and looked at Noah first.

Noah was in the middle of spooning some food into his mouth, his eyes widening in shock as everything went down in slow motion. She wanted to reach out to him, but she kept her hands to herself, quickly trying to figure out how she wanted to break her fall. However, she didn't have to want to reach out since Noah was already doing it. 

As she fell, Alice wasn't the one to hit the ground. Groaning, she scrambled up to check on Noah. His arm was extended to cradle her fall as he darted out of his chair for her.

Nothing was wrong on her end, but she couldn't say the same for Noah. Noah laughed as he grimaced sitting up to stretch with her in his lap running her hands up and down to check if he was fine.

Alice ran her fingers through his hair and gently massaged his scalp since she heard a thump as they fell to the floor. "Oh my god. Are you okay?"

Noah rubbed the back of his head. "I'm fine."

She frowned. "Are you sure? I swear I heard a loud impact. And it sounded like your head was hollow."

Noah snickered. "I didn't hit my head too hard."

Alice patted his shoulder. "You better not push yourself so hard."

"I heard you the first time," he said. 

She gave him a skeptical glance. "If you say so. Don't you dare get worse on my watch." 

Her fingers were in his hair anyway, so she ran her fingers through his hair. Noah leaned more into her touch, and they fell into the silent pattern that they found over the previous night. Noah didn't comment on their actions, and Alice didn't want to call out their less than normal behavior

He was practically sprawled over her, but she let it slide for that matter. They were going to be in their little bubble content without anyone to burst it. She pushed him off after a while since her legs were getting numb. They couldn't leave their food abandoned too.

"Get off, Noah," she said softly. "I want to finish the toast you made me."

He gave a grunt of affirmation before getting up. Noah extended a hand toward her, and she looked up at him. Eventually, she placed her hand in his. He grasped her hand tightly, making her realize how large it was compared to hers only for him to basically yank her up to her feet in utmost surprise.

Alice was to her feet in a second, but he was careful to make sure that he wasn't being too rough with her. He finally let go of her hand when she shook their intertwined hands very slightly. Noah released after running his fingers over her fingertips.

"Why do you always reach out to me hesitantly?" Noah asked.

She shrugged but answered truthfully. "I've never been on to ask for help in the first place."

"Then why do you always look for me when you need it?"

Alice snickered since he was getting ahead of himself but wrapped her hands around herself. "I've been doing good for so long, thanks a lot."

"I never said you haven't," Noah replied. "You're doing good, Alice."

They sat back on the island to finish their food before they started to clean up again. Noah tried to get her to sit back and relax to no avail, and she followed at his heels wherever he went to do the errands around the house. She tried to help out as much as she could, but Noah would set her off to the side making her watch.

"I can grab that basket," she said quickly diving for the woven basket that was filled with fresh hand towels for the kitchen.

Noah immediately lifted the basket out of her hands over her head which she couldn't reach. Alice laughed and poked him in the stomach only to realize that he flinched away. With a bated breath, she reached for him and squealed as she tackled him or rather she just ran head-first into his chest while trying to tickle him.

He picked her up over his shoulder while she kicked her feet trying to get out only for him to dump her on the sofa like she was a sack of potatoes. She flopped onto the cushioned seat with her arms spread open, and Alice opened her mouth about to protest when he leveled her a look. "Please stay."