Chapter Text
Noora took a moment to look around her; the room felt simultaneously familiar and startlingly different. Without the constant depression she had been in looming over her, the room looked more comfortable and homely than she remembered.
William's touch was everywhere and she didn't just mean the expensive furniture; his clothes were strewn about the room and food containers littered the table. It was clear that William hadn't eaten a home-cooked meal since she had left.
“How have you been?” Noora softly asked, watching him close the door out of the corner of her eye.
William turned to Noora with a raised eyebrow. “Noora”, he said, deadpan. “Let's talk.”
Noora took a deep breath but quickly nodded her agreement. She moved towards the couch, taking a seat a one end and looking expectantly up at William, who joined her after a moment of hesitation.
Where Noora was fire, William was ice. In Noora was a spark, a feisty nature that drove her to be determined and independent. In comparison, William was isolated, dark and closed off but no less passionate.
It was in moments like this that Noora was reminded of that.
Whatever emotion William had allowed himself to show at the door was gone, make-shift disinterest in it's place. Noora smiled sadly, knowing that this was his way of protecting himself.
“You're probably wondering why I'm back”, she began.
William's snort cut off whatever she had planned to say. “Yeah”, he sighed. “I am.”
Noora nodded, the tension settling around her like a literal weight. She felt her throat constrict slightly, all her pre-prepared lines scattered in her mind. Her thoughts raced as she attempted to figure out what would ever constitute a basic apology.
“I'm sorry”, she eventually whispered. Her voice came out more hoarse than she had expected and her milky white skin seemed almost translucent as all blood rushed to her cheeks.
William watched Noora with a curious eye, obviously unsure where to tread. “Don't be”, he finally settled on.
Noora raised her head slightly to meet William's eye and what she saw there surprised her. William appeared to have opened himself up to this moment, his eyes soft and vulnerable despite the tense nature of his shoulders and the nervous bouncing of his leg.
“No but I should be. Even with everything that happened, walking away without even warning you was unfair.”
William digested her words and felt an uncontrollable sense of pleasure at her words. Despite his wrongdoing in the situation, her leaving had severely wounded him, especially since he had been granted not a moment of warning.
“Walking in that door”, he began, voice far more shaky than he was comfortable with. “It took me a while to notice. At first I thought you had gone out for the day or something.”
Noora felt her stomach sink with guilt at what she knew would come next.
“So that's when I text you... and you never replied.”
Just as expected, William's words were a punch in the gut to Noora. While she had been the one to sever contact, the looming guilt she carried about how she handled the situation seemed to hit her all over again just as it had when she sat on the plane, watching it take off and flee London.
“I got so worried I tried to file a missing person's report”, William said. His voice was hard, betrayed no emotion. “It was only when Chris text me to tell me he'd seen you in Oslo that I realised you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere.”
Noora winced slightly, the canvernous hole in her chest widening to accommodate more undissolvable guilt. “That wouldn't happen”, she said uselessly.
William seemed to grow angry at her words. “We're in London, Noora. A capital city. Anything can happen here.”
The atmosphere began to grow even more tense and Noora felt the hairs on her arm stand on end as she regarded William with nervous eyes.
“William, I'm sorry for scaring you” Noora said softly. She wasn't sure what, but something compelled her to reach across and gently lay her hand over his on the couch pillow. “I'm so sorry.”
William nodded slowly but didn't remove his hand from under hers. “I know”, he sighed deeply. “I am too.”
“For what?”
William must have been short of breath, for the next breath he took was deep and stuttered. “For making you think that I was upset with you... for not testifying against Nikolai.”
And there it was; the elephant in the room had been addressed. Despite the relief Noora knew she should feel, the persistent shiver that travelled down her spine at Nico's name made her frown.
“I wasn't upset with you”, William continued. “I was just.... devastated that he gets to walk around after that. That he's somewhere in Norway living a normal life, and you were here in London devastated and completely changed. You like to pretend it didn't affect you Noora but we both know it did.”
Noora paused for a moment, absorbing the explanation she had so desperately craved from him. “Yeah”, she relented. “It did.”
“And I couldn't- the more I sat at home, around you, the more I thought about it. It made me so angry Noora, so angry. So I avoided it, avoided home, avoided... you.”
Silence settled around them, not awkward but far from comfortable. In the silence, Noora closed her eyes to steady her breathing; crying would do neither of them any good. When she opened her eyes, William was watching her closely.
William looked away after a moment, his fingers carding awkwardly through the fur blanket under him. “It was stupid.”
Noora laughed softly. “I'm not going to deny that”, she teased gently.
Noora's words tugged at William's lips and he smiled slightly, albeit ruefully.
“I wont say that what you did, avoiding me, was okay. But I think I understand why you did it now”, Noora said. She looked down at William's busy hands, getting lost in her thoughts. “I don't blame you for being disappointed in me after that, everyone was.”
William's head snapped up, his back straightened and his attention focused like a laser on Noora. The look in his eyes as he looked at her was one of devastation.
William shuffled towards Noora on the couch, his hand slipping out from under hers and running up the expanse of her arm. Holding her upper arms and squeezing tightly, William drew Noora's attention.
“Noora”, he said clearly and pointedly. “I was not disappointed in you. I'm still not.”
Noora met his eye, hers embarrassingly moist with unshed tears. Her lip quivered uncontrollably as she stared into the eyes of the man she loved, his own gazing back at her with something flaming within them. Noora knew that the same fire was reflecting back at him.
“I love you, Noora Amelie Sætre. Nothing would change that, testifying or not.”
Noora looked at William for any sign of his emotions betraying his words but found none. His gaze was as steadfast and unmoving as always.
“Jeg elsker deg også.” Noora's voice came out far shakier and quiet than she had anticipated but from the small smile on William's face she was sure he had heard her. “I'm sorry for thinking the worst, for thinking that you would ever look down on me for not testifying. For thinking you didn't love me anymore.”
William winced slightly. Leaning forward, William pressed his forehead against Noora's and dropped his hands into her lap to grasp her own. “It kills me that you thought that.”
Noora nodded solemnly. “It killed me too.”
William nudged his head against hers, rubbing his forehead to hers as he sighed deeply. Noora let her eyes flutter closed as his did, both of them bathing in the silence and the feeling of each other's breath against their face.
“Every moment”, William whispered.
Noora opened her eyes to look at him but William's remained closed. “H æ? ”
William sighed once more, “Every moment you weren't here I just....”
“Me too”, Noora whispered, her eyes falling closed once more. “We have so much to talk about.”
William pulled away with a deep sigh but his smile was reassuring. “I know”, he promised. “But let's just-” William moved backwards to fall back against the couch, his arms open in invitation.
Noora giggled quietly as she laid herself next to him, her arm locked tightly around his waist and her head pillowed on his chest. William ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair before leaning down to press a kiss to the crown of her head.