Names

Of course, he acted calm over the phone with Leonardo. And he was calm. Now. But when it had happened, Noah just about had a mental breakdown.

He had been in the kitchen, searching through the fridge for the iced coffee he had from earlier that day that he never finished. After coming across it and taking it from the fridge, Noah turned around and was met with the alarming sight of Oliver leaning slightly over the edge of the couch, fluids spilling from her mouth.

It wasn't much and lasted about two seconds but it came without warning and drained Noah's face entirely.

Fearfully Oliver wasn't done; he grabbed the small trash can beside the kitchen counter and rushed it out to the girl on the couch, who shook her head as Noah held the can in front of her.

"I'm good." She spat in the can anyway. "I think that was the nausea finally making its escape."

"B-but, I-..." Noah heaved a breath of exasperation and glanced at the carpet. Blue—only a little bit, but it stood out and made him feel nauseous. He returned his gaze anxiously to the blonde. "O-...Oliver, that's, that's, you threw up blood, oh my gosh, are you okay-?"

Oliver made a discomforted face at this and slowly pushed the trash can away. "I didn't throw up blood," she said. "I bit my tongue really bad a minute ago, that's what bled..."

To prove her claims, Oliver opened her mouth for a second and lifted her tongue, which Noah could now see truly had been bleeding. He winced. "That must have hurt." Sympathetic eyes met the other's. "You should have said something..."

"I was gonna, but then my stomach decided to..."

"I'll get you some water." Noah stood up, then glanced at the carpet again. "And clean this up."

"I'm sorry, Noah..."

"Which one of us got hit by a car again?"

Oliver paused. "...me."

"Which one of us got a sprained arm?"

"...me."

"Which one of us has a broken rib?"

"...also me."

"Right. Conversation over."

Feeling proud of himself, Noah set the trash can on the floor and made his way back over to the kitchen to retrieve both water and cleaning supplies—the latter of which Leo didn't have much of in his apartment. Luckily, there was some sort of cleaning spray and some rags, which Noah grabbed and balanced under his arm while he retrieved a water bottle from the fridge.

"Here."

Soon he held the bottle out to Oliver, who stared at Noah with an inscrutable expression before accepting it.

"Something wrong?"

"No," Oliver said under her breath. "You've changed and haven't changed at all."

At this, Noah laughed a little, kneeling down to clean the carpet. "Meaning?"

"You're still so sweet, and...beautiful, but you're not shy around me anymore."

"Oh, I still feel kinda shy," he said in a reassuring manner, meeting Oliver's eyes for a second. "You can't blame me. Suddenly finding out someone like you was my girlfriend? I mean, c'mon."

Oliver made a face at the comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Noticing the genuine, innocent look of confusion on Oliver's face, Noah sat back on his heels, tilted his head to one side and raised his eyebrows at the blonde. "Oliver." He paused as if for dramatic effect. "Honestly. You got hit by a car, you just threw up on Leo's carpet, and you're still gorgeous. Way out of my league." He laughed again, spraying a bit of the cleaning liquid on the rag he had brought over before sweeping it across the stain on the floor. Regrettably, Noah had taken a few babysitting jobs in high school despite it not being ideal, and cleaning up after children was something he had done more than a few times. So to him, this was just another one of those jobs.

But a bit more tolerable, because it was his girlfriend.

"Out of your league??"

The response came late but drew an immediate chuckle from Noah. "Yeah," he said in agreement. "It's not really in character for me to gush about anyone's looks but Leo's, but you're...actually, probably the most attractive person I've ever seen. You're gorgeous. My best friend and my girlfriend are the prettiest people in the world, how'd I get so lucky-"

"Noah..."

"Can I ask something?"

Although plainly still upset over the matter, Oliver gave a small nod. Noah smiled.

"Okay, so, where on earth did the nickname 'Noahbear' come from?" He asked, amused, but the faintest blush appeared on his cheeks. "Won't lie to you, kind of embarrassing, but I'm curious where that came from?"

It seemed to evoke a strong, fond memory in the blonde. She didn't answer at first, instead staring deeply into the other's face even though Noah was currently looking at the floor. "It was kind of a joke at first," Oliver said, not missing the way the corner of Noah's lip curled upward. "It started out as a conversation about pet names, and...I teased you about it for a while and began calling you every possible one I could think of, and for some reason 'Noahbear' stuck. You thought it was embarrassing then, too. Said it sounded like something your aunt would call you."

"It really does. But I guess it's cute." He shrugged. "Did I call you anything embarrassing?"

"Not really."

"Ah, that's right." Noah nodded in understanding. "I was but a shy baby, yes?"

Oliver had to bite her lip to stop her grin from breaking through. "Yes," she said. "The shiest baby. But I loved you."

"Loved?"

"Love." She corrected herself without hesitation. "I still do."

"Good. Just making sure." Noah's smile was even softer now, sweet, familiar, that familiar smile that made Oliver's heart feel like it was resting on a bed of butterflies. "You gotta let me fall in love with you again. I mean, I'm already on my way. You're good at this. How long did it take the first time?"

"Uh..." Oliver had to stop to think for a moment. "Technically," she began, "ten years. We met when we were both six. You confessed to me after your sophomore graduation ceremony."

"And yours?"

"I was homeschooled."

"Ah." Another nod of understanding. "And I was the first to confess? Did shy boy Noah actually have mad game??"

Now this triggered a real laugh, not a mere giggle or stifled laugh, but a somewhat high-pitched noise of joy that caused Oliver's body to shake and Noah to go on full-alert mode.

"O-Oliver, your ribs..." He raised his hands so as to steady the girl. "Please be careful-"

"Your fault." Oliver pried open her now watery eyes to see a pale-faced Noah failing to stop her laughing fit. It was stopped soon, anyway, though. The sharp pain in the area above Oliver's stomach put it to an abrupt end. She wrapped her arm around herself, then drew in a deep breath, and one more.

"Oliver...h-hey, Oliver, are you okay??"

"Yeah." She needed a moment to allow the air to settle in her unhappy lungs. "Good, I'm good." Feeling Noah grasp her hand tenderly, her body seemed to calm all on its own. The pain subsided. "My miracle worker, I love you," she blurted. Noah's blush returned.

"Well, that's good." As if his own breathing had been affected, he placed a hand over his chest and sighed. "Don't scare me like that...I told you to be careful, how many times am I going to have to remind you that you were hit my a car?"

"Ten times is enough, I think I'm good..."

"You better be..."

By now Noah had managed to clean up the stain on the floor, with but a small yet noticeable hint of blue having stayed behind in the rug.

"You sure you're feeling okay, Oliver...?"

"I don't feel nauseous anymore," the girl replied. Her voice now was soft and sleepy.

"Tired?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. You need as much rest as you can get. I'm gonna give Leonardo a call, so I'll be right over in the kitchen if you need me, okay, Oliver?"

"Okay, Noahbear..."

He gave in to the eyes. Without Oliver verbally asking for it, Noah felt the sudden urge to kiss her forehead before leaving her side.

"Sleep well, Muffin-pie."

"Ugh, Noah, don't make me laugh, it hurts..."