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“Um. Yes—yeah, I’ve seen him. He’s with me right now.”

“Okay, thanks. Bye!” I hang up quickly.

If Bailey is with Theo and Jake is with Luke, Noah has no car to drive back to Cumbria. Which means he’d need to get the bus. I don’t know when the little shit decided to leave. It could have been the second he came back from the pub. Sneaking off without anyone knowing.

I grab my keys on my way out, hop into my car, and speed off down the country lane to the closest bus stop. The rain gets worse by the minute, and I have to flick the windscreen wipers onto full speed and lean forward just to see properly.

There.

I slow down, braking as heavily as I dare on the slick road. Once the car’s stopped, I fling my door open and step out into the frigid rain. “Where are you going?” I shout at the small figure huddled on a bench. He’s wrapped up in so many layers I wouldn’t have noticed it was him, except he’s wearing those bloody pink pyjama bottoms.

Noah startles, cold and drenched, as I haul him up. “Get off!” he squeaks, shoving at my hand gripping the oversized hoodie he’s wearing—my hoodie.

“Where are you going?” I ask again, a little calmer this time.

“Home.” He lifts his chin in defiance.

“Pretty rude to leave without saying goodbye, wouldn’t you say?”

“No.” He shoves me and stamps on my foot, hissing when he realises my boots are steel-capped. “Fuck. You can’t stop me from going home.”

“You were supposed to leave tomorrow with Jake. Have you told Bailey you’re leaving? Or your brother and uncle?”

“They wouldn’t care if I went home. The bus will be here in five minutes, let go of me!” His voice goes shrill, and he pulses with energy. He’s wound up tight. His nails dig into my forearm, teeth bared as he snarls like a wild cat, desperate to get away from me. Desperate to get away from everyone.

I know that feeling. I learnt to get past it—at least enough to let some people back into my life after my da passed away. But there was a time I could have lost everything, and I don’t want Noah to do that to himself.

“Come on, Noah. Don’t make my mistakes. Don’t push everyone away because you’re scared. Stay till tomorrow. At least long enough to say a proper goodbye to your brother.”

“I’m not scared,” he scoffs. “Scared of what? I’m fed up with this tiny fucking village on this tiny fucking island. I want my own bed, and I need to get back to Jam⁠—”

I pull him hard against me and grip his jaw, tilting it as I lean down to capture his lips with mine. Noah’s hands fly up to fist my jacket, but he doesn’t pull away. A whimper escapes him as I deepen the kiss, and he lets me. His jaw loosens, and his mouth opens enough for my tongue to swipe along his bottom lip, teasing the tip of his tongue.

We’re both wet and cold from the rain, but I don’t care. I’m pissed off that he’s been denying me his mouth for weeks. I growl, releasing my grip on the hoodie he stole and letting my hands migrate south to cup his arse. Pulling him close, I press my hardening cock against his stomach.

Time slips away, neither of us willing to end the kiss. Neither wanting to acknowledge what it means. He’s still going to leave. He has a home, and a job—a life. Asking him to stay to say goodbye to the others would only buy me a day before I’d be right back where I am now.

I don’t want to admit that I want more. Not to him, not even to myself. I know we can never be more than this. The thought of anything else scares the fuck out of me, because this is Noah—desperate to escape.

If I thought for a second that he’d stay, then maybe I could try. But he won’t. He’ll keep running, and I can’t let myself be the one he’s running from. I just needed one kiss.

I finally break away from his soft mouth, nipping his bottom lip as I do.

He blinks, wide-eyed, before his eyebrows crash into a deep frown. “You broke the rules.”

“We’ve broken a lot of rules. I don’t care. You might want to slip away without telling anyone, but I’m not letting you go without a proper goodbye. Besides,” I smirk, “I told you I’d kiss you in the rain.”

Pink colours Noah’s cheeks as he pushes away from me, and this time I let him. An engine rumbles in the distance, getting closer. Noah walks to the edge of the pavement, avoiding looking at me as he holds out his hand for the bus to stop.

“I’m not letting you disappear for good. You can go home, but I’ll be texting you. Often.” As soon as he gets home he’ll try to shut down and hide from everyone. It’s what I would’ve done. His brother’s married. His best friend’s moving out, and he’ll be home alone with his nightmares. Texting is the least I can do to be there for him, and make sure he’s okay.

“I’ll block your number.”

“No, you won’t,” I say with certainty.

He glares at me over his shoulder, then looks back at the bus as it pulls in and stops.

“I mean it, Noah—you’re not walking away from everyone. Just because Bailey’s decided to stay doesn’t mean he doesn’t need you anymore. Rich needs you too. He’s missed you.”