Chapter Text
As Noah pulled up next to the small corner store in this new town, he sighed. 'I hope they have a blanket or something..' He thought to himself whilst slamming his car door shut, 'They have to, it's colder than that old house when you're butt naked in it' He shoved his hands in his pockets, it doesn't help much though, he only brought one change of clothes that were clearly for the summer, not for this winter wonderland. He jogged up the smooth, stone steps, hesitating at the door to look at himself in the reflection of the glass, 'I look like a fucking beggar.' He wasn't wrong. He hadn't shaved his beard or cut his hair in months, foolishly assuming just about any town would take him in with open arms. Turns out, he was wrong. Just like he was wrong about Allie. Oh, Allie..how he missed her. It was for the best, though. She was already engaged, from what he knew.
A high-pitched voice cut through Noah's thoughts, he glanced over and saw a little boy pointing at him. "Mommy, why does that man not have his jacket on? Can I give him mine?" The kid asked innocently. Noah looked back at the shop door and opened it, he'd always disliked children. 'They're needy and annoying' he had said when discussing the topic with his father. He shook away the memory of his late dad and started looking around the establishment. Most of the shelves were filled to the brim with blankets and hot water bottles. "Thank god..." He murmured to himself as he grabbed one of basically anything that could warm him up along with a couple chocolate bars. Not the healthiest choice, but he was 1,000 miles from home and almost out of money.
"Just these?" The cashier asked with that customer service smile on her face, "Oh, uhm...and a pack of cigs, if you have some." Noah anxiously tapped his foot, he'd been too cold to focus on that all too familiar itch for one of those damn cancer sticks, he mentally cursed his teenage self. "That'll be $45.59. Cash or card?" Noah sighed quietly as he handed over a $50 bill, "Thanks.." He murmured as he poorly attempted to carry everything back to his car.
He dropped some things (because of course he did), the many chocolate bars landing at a woman's feet. "Crap, uhm, I'm sorry." Noah immediately scrambled to pick the treats up, though it only resulted in him dropping more stuff, before the woman bent down to help him, "It's alright, I really don't mind." Her voice was kind as she placed the fallen items into his arms. "I'm Karin. Karin Lindstrom." She had a soft smile on her face.
"I'm..uh...I'm Noah Calhoun." God, this woman–no–Karin was pretty. Though, when you've been alone for months in a car driving across the country, anyone would look godly. "You're not from here are you? Your accent's all funky and you're shivering." "R-right, yeah, I'm from N.C." Funky? His accent isn't funky, is it? Sure, he said 'raht' not 'right' but that's not funky. That's just..different. "North Carolina? That's a long way from here." Karin seemed a little concerned. Noah hated that. "Why don't you come with me down to my house? I'm sure my husband wouldn't mind you coming in to warm up a bit."
Husband. Noah watched his chances of getting laid fly away as he agreed to go, "Alright.." He nodded quickly, "I have to..uh....put the stuff in my car. If you don't mind. Gimme a moment..."
[._.]
When they pulled up to the house, Noah couldn't help but admire it for a bit. It was pretty big and simple, with a garage just next to it that had been renovated into a sort of apartment. "Wow..." Noah mumbled to himself, he had realised he did that quite often back when Allie always pointed it out and got annoyed, there was no rich girl in his ear telling him to shut up anymore, so he sort of forgot about stopping his habit. "This is it." Karin said softly, like she didn't want to startle Noah. Gosh, she was perfect. "It's pretty." 'You're pretty', he wished he could say.
"I know, it used to be my father-in-law's." Karin chuckled to herself and Noah knew he was screwed. He was head over heels for a woman he met thirty minutes ago and she has a husband already, "Now me and my husband own it." Noah just nodded. "It's a really nice place, seriously. Very...Fun." He really was horrible at this talking thing, wasn't he? "My husband's little brother lives in the garage. His name's Lars. I'm a little worried about him." Great, a probable weirdo lived in the garage. Just what Noah needed after a long day of shivering his balls off. "Oh..um...okay." 'FUCKING LOCK IN, NOAH' he screams at himself in his head as he steps out of his car, rounding it to open the door for Karin, "Thank you." She murmured and climbed out of the vehicle, Noah's heart skipped like three beats like it was still 1990 and he saw Allie for the first time at that carnival. It was a little scary, feeling like that again. Especially for a married woman.
'I really need to get my shit together, don't I?' He thought while they walked up to the house, Karin pulling out her keys and opening the door.
Noah glanced around the entryway, noticing how cosy everything looked. "It's even nicer on the inside.." he mumbled to himself. Was he just saying that to get on Karin's good side? ....Possibly. "Thanks. I do most of the decorating around here. Gus doesn't mind what I do to the place as long I don't break something. Oh, right, Gus is my husband's name." Karin started to ramble on a bit, and Noah couldn't help but smile for a little before he snapped himself out of it. 'Come on, Noah, you met this woman 30 minutes ago, stop acting like a teenager!' "So, Noah, what do you do for work?" Karin questioned the man, catching him a bit off guard, "Ah, I'm a carpenter. Some kid said that I remind them of a 'mine and craft mob', whatever that means." Noah sighed, his cheeks pinkening as Karin let out a giggle. "Do you mean 'Minecraft'? It's a block game or something. Lars told me that his friend Kurt was playing it instead of working." "S-Same thing!" Noah squeaked out 'God, I sound so stupid.' He thought to himself, grimacing slightly before quickly reverting to a more pleasant expression and clearing his throat. "Same thing.." His face flushed in embarrassment while Karin let out another chuckle. "I didn't your voice could do that! Haha!"