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He caught sight of Niles over the service area. It had been less than a year, but that time had not been kind. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in weeks, months even. His skin looked slightly grey, his cheeks beginning to sink in. Noel felt his anger begin to slowly dissipate at the sight of him. He’d been so angry at his friend for so many hours now, stewing with the thoughts of what he’d do and say to him when he finally found him. Now all he could see was someone in just as much pain as the rest of them were. This wasn’t a man who had taken what he wanted and skipped town. This was a man who appeared to have had everything ripped from him.
It was the same look he saw in his sister.
He walked forward and straight through the kitchen door, ignoring the server making a feeble attempt at stopping him. “You.” Niles looked up at him, and his eyes widened. “We’re leaving. Now.” He grabbed Niles arm and started to pull him away, the other man too shocked to do anything.
“Hey man, you can’t just-” The cook in charge shut up instantly when Noel reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out a large bundle of notes and slammed them on the worktop.
“For the inconvenience,” he said, his tone not implying there was any chance of negotiation, and pulled Niles all the way out of the bar straight to his car. “Get in.”
“Noel-”
“Shut up and get in the fucking car, Niles,” he growled.
Niles swallowed and did as he was told. He’d never, in all the time he’d known Noel, ever heard him use that tone. He couldn't even say for sure he'd heard him curse before. They drove in silence down the empty abandoned highway for the first three hours, Noel’s knuckles permanently white on the steering wheel, before Niles’ curiosity got the better of him.
“How’d you find me?” he asked quietly.
“I am very determined when I want to be.”
Niles nodded. “I believe it. But why? Why now? It’s been, what, 8 months? What could possibly be worth hunting me down to say at this point?”
He took in a deep breath, steadying himself before answering. “Do you have… any idea of what you did to my sister?”
Niles' jaw clenched but he kept his poker face up. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you know what your leaving did to her?”
“Your sister hates me, Noel. I can only assume my disappearance brought her the uptmost joy.”
Noel slammed on the brakes so hard the car skidded a good few feet before coming to a dead stop. He slowly turned to his friend, rage burning in his eyes and knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel. “CC is in love with you, you absolute moron. So much so that your disappearance after fucking her quite literally broke her.”
Niles just stared at him, unsure which piece of information to process first. “I…how…wait…” he sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What do you mean she’s in love with me? She’s not, Noel. I know she isn’t.”
“Oh? And how the hell do you know that?” he snapped.
“I just… I just know-”
“You don’t know a goddamn thing, Niles.”
“Oh and you do?”
“I think I know my own sister better than the fucking deadbeat who was supposed to be my frie-”
“Because I told her I loved her and she freaked out on me!” Niles yelled finally.
Noel stared at his friend, who was now breathing heavily with tears streaming down his face. “You… wait what?”
“I love her, Noel. I’ve always loved her. The sex part was an accident or unplanned or whatever you want to call it but then it happened and afterwards I told her how much I love her and she freaked out. She wouldn’t look at me for the rest of the trip and when we got back… I couldn’t bear being so close.” He ended in a whisper and he had to take a second to compose himself. “Why else do you think I had to disappear? You think I like working here? I’m so far away from everyone I’ve ever known and everyone I-” His voice caught for a moment, and he looked away. “Everyone I love,” he murmured.
Noel stared at him, jaw on the floor. “Niles,” he murmured, his voice far more gentle than at any point earlier in the evening. “Please believe me when I say this. She loves you. I just… I need you to trust me on this.” He put his hand on Niles’ shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. “And right now she really needs you so we have to go.” He restarted the car and drove off faster than the speed limit technically allowed.
“Lennox Hill? Noel what the…”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said that your leaving broke her,” Noel said solemnly as he walked into the lobby.
Niles followed, looking round as Noel led the way through the corridors, and they took the elevator to the 7th floor. His heart dropped when he saw the sign that labelled it as the psych ward. She couldn’t possibly be here. Not the spitfire he knew.
“We're here.” Noel stopped in front of the door of a private room, turning to fix him with the darkest look Niles had ever seen. “You listen to me. You will go in there, you will listen to her, and you will do whatever she asks of you, or I will make sure that no-one will ever find your body. Do you understand me?”
He nodded, and Noel stepped aside. The room was dark, lit only by the stream of moonlight coming in through the window. A small figure was curled up on the single bed, and his heart caught in his throat.
“CC?” She stirred and he walked round to face her. “CC, it’s me.”
He had to choke back a sob when he caught sight of her. Lying on the bed before him was a shell of the woman he knew. There was no fire - no life - in her whatsoever, and it was all he could do to stop himself dropping to his knees before her and weeping. He reached out, only just stopping short of actually touching her.
“Niles?” Her voice was so small and weak.
“That’s right. It’s me; I’m here.”
“You came.” She reached out and he caught her hand, touching her for the first time in 8 months. Her fingers were chilled, and her grip was so weak.
“I did.”
He watched as her bottom lip trembled and she began to cry. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no, CC, please don’t cry. It’s okay." He pressed her hand to his lips and tried deperately not to think about how gaunt she looked. "I promise everything’s gonna be okay.”
“I didn’t know where you were; I would have told you but I didn’t know.”
“Shhh, shh, shh, it’s okay.” He soothed gently. “Tell me what?”
She pulled herself into a sitting position, and as the bed cover fell away he suddenly realised how Noel had known they’d slept together. He somehow managed to feel everything at once; rage at himself for leaving her like this, joy at knowing she was carrying his child, and sadness for the loss of time with her during all this.
“Oh CC,” he gently placed a hand on her bump, and when it gave a kick in return he couldn’t hold back the tears.
She put her hand over his. “Please don’t leave,” she whispered.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not if you don’t want me to.” He moved to climb onto the bed beside her and she immediately clung to him. “I thought you hated me,” he whispered.
“I was scared,” she whispered back, tucking herself back against his chest and clinging to his shirt as his arm came round her.
“I know. That’s my fault; I shouldn’t have blurted it out like I did.” He pressed a soft kiss to her head.
“Niles?”
“Mm-hm?”
“I do love you. You know that right?”
He swallowed hard, and pulled her closer, rubbing a hand over her stomach. “I know. I love you too.”