Chapter 10: How Do You Like Your Eggs?

*Natalia's POV*

The second I walked in my apartment, the intense smell of weed threw my head back. I had to double-check if it was me, pulling my tank top up to my nose to get a whiff. It most certainly wasn't me.

"Noah?" I called out, walking slowly into the living room.

"Oh! Hey, Babe," Noah grinned with droopy eyes as he took them off his phone screen, too heavy to fully open them, "Isn't it early? I thought you'd still be at Jules'."

"It is early," I blinked, standing near the couch where his body was slouched deep in the cushion, "Why are you getting high at nine in the morning?"

"Why not?" he giggled in response, then patted on the cushion, "Come here. I wanna show you this funny video."

Once I set my bag on the coffee table, I sat down next to Noah. My hands wrapped around his bicep while my head rested on his shoulder, feeling the need to get as close as I possibly could. Joe's guest bed was insanely comfortable, almost like if I was sinking in a cloud close to heaven, but I missed Noah's presence sleeping with me.

I lightly chuckled with him as he played me a few TikTok videos he saved in his favorites, then scrolled through his 'For You' feed. Almost every video made him laugh, everything funny to him in his stoned state of mind. I didn't mind all that much. Him under the influence always brought out his calm, silly self.

Noah's small bouts of giggles continued as mine diminished, my heart starting to race while I recalled last night and this morning. If Noah knew the person on his phone screen was the man I had a drink with at a bar and who allowed me to spend the night at his apartment, that information would've transpired a fight I never wanted to participate in.

Instead, I swiftly maneuvered my body to straddle him, grabbing his phone out of his hand in the process to place by my bag. My fingers entangled in his light brown hair, a few strands falling down into his eyes. His hair color was something we debated about every time it was brought up. He said it was dirty blonde. I said it was light brown with blonde highlights, the roots a bit darker than the rest of his hair though.

His normal blue eyes altered to a grey color under his heavy eyelids, "Did someone miss being away from me during their girl sleepover?"

"So much," I whispered in his ear before nibbling the lobe, then down his neck.

He hissed in a gasp, closing his eyes while bending his head back into the couch cushion behind it, "You gonna do anything more than just fuck my ear?"

With Joe's voice still playing repeatedly in the background on Noah's phone, I stood up to undress. Noah hadn't the slightest clue it was the same outfit I left in before going to Jules'. But before I could engage in any kind of further sexual activity, I had to mute Joe. Quickly clicking the side button on his phone to blacken the screen, it was now just Noah and me.

I grabbed his face to link our lips in a passionate kiss, wrapping my legs around both sides of his lower body. Our tongues flicked one another's every now and then. Slow at first, then it started to become more domineering. Aggression he couldn't control.

"Ow!" I pulled away, instantly pressing the tips of my fingers on my right hand on my bottom lip. When I withdrew my hand, the taste of metal coated my taste buds as red liquid blotted on the same fingers that touched my lip.

"Shit," Noah breathed out, standing up while watching me dash into the kitchen that connected to the living room in one large open space, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you bleed."

After ripping a square off the paper towel roll, I patted it on my lip in an attempt to stop the bleeding, "It's fine. You didn't mean to."

He walked over, taking control over the wadded piece of paper towel. With a slight smirk, he stared down at my wound as he swiped his thumb to smear the blood down onto my skin instead of using the paper towel to soak it up, "You know, it's kind of sexy. Makes you look like a damsel in distress. Or some kind of badass. Whichever you prefer."

I kept my eyes on his, even though the contact wasn't reciprocated, "Which one do you prefer?"

He shrugged, but we both knew it was a bit of both. A Damsel in distress that finally snapped, bulldozing through whatever it took to survive.

In a single movement, I forced him back onto the couch before climbing on top of him. My teeth sunk into the side of his neck, the blood from my lip creating a small spread of red around the bite mark. Then, with no hesitations, I clawed my fingernails down one side of his body, right underneath his shirt.

Hard. Until his skin broke too.

It was what he wanted. What he desired. Roleplaying to cause damage and to be damaged.

I didn't remember much. Once I felt any sort of pain, my brain dissociated. If I hadn't, I would've stopped it. I knew I would've because I hated pain. He loved it though. Pain aroused him.

"How do you like your eggs?" I heard Noah ask behind me as my body turned to walk into the bathroom, kneeling down to pick up my clothes on the way to throw them in the hamper.

I swirled around, eyes doe-like with the inner corners of my eyebrows upturning, "Huh?"

He knew. How did he know that small of a detail?

"I said, how'd you know what I like without making me beg?" he repeated, clarifying the misheard question.

"Right," I nervously scoffed, briefly glancing down, "Did you forget we were together for three years? I know you like the back of my hand by now."

"The same hand that did this?" he chuckled, gesturing to the bloody scratch marks left on his sides and chest. I had no doubt they were also on his back.

I gulped as I nodded, forcing a small smile, "Probably both, but who's keeping track, right?"

It wasn't until I looked in the bathroom mirror did I notice all the large hickeys on my neck and collarbone, already bruising in hues of green, purple, and red. My mouth and chin were covered in the blood from my bottom lip, the wound still freshly opened. Thankfully, I was a master at covering up his marks that proved I was his possession. I had three years of practice that I hope I hadn't forgotten.

"Hey, Babe?" Noah poked his head into the bathroom, holding up my phone, "Jules is blowing your phone up. She said she brought your duffle bag to the rink. Left it with Maddy."

I nabbed my phone out of his hand, seeing my opened conversation with Jules on the screen, "I told you I hate when you go through my messages without my permission."

There was nothing in there that would've led back to us going to the bar last night. I made sure to hide my tracks, in cases just like this.

"Why?" He snatched my phone back and started to scroll up in our conversation, "Is there something you're hiding?"

I crossed my arms, glaring at him while he purposely tried to search for something to catch me in, "No. You obviously can see that I have nothing to hide."

Unable to look directly in my eyes, he reluctantly handed me my phone back. Being wrong was something he'd never admit, sometimes even twisting scenarios to make them fit his own narrative.

"Noah," I sighed, seizing a grey towel from off the rack to cover my body. My arms weren't enough to protect me.

"I know," he whispered, hanging his head.

"I told you I can't do this again," I firmly stated, "My privacy is important to me. Just trust me, okay? Is that hard?"

"You know my history with past partners," he defensively replied, our eyes finally locking, "They were all toxic. Most of them cheated. I know you're different, but there's always that little thought that maybe you're just too good to be true."

I hadn't known anyone else that had such a shitty romantic past than Noah. There wasn't a single ex of his that treated him with kindness or respect. That was my job to give him that.

 "I know. I'm sorry," I took his hands in mine after setting my phone down on the countertop next to my makeup, squeezing them gently, "Look, why don't we go out on a lunch date? I'll go pick up my shit, and by the time I get back, you should be ready unless you start to dillydally in whatever task you pick up in your high."

"Yeah, yeah," he smiled, licking his thumb before wiping the smeared blood off near my lip, "Alright. Lunch date with my girl it is."

Once Noah left the bathroom, I scrolled through my messages with Jules myself. There was no indication that our friendship went south if you read it without knowing the full context behind them, but Jules never would've left my belongings at my workplace when she knew I didn't have a shift that day.

It still didn't hit though. I had a large hold on hope that it was a just tiff we'd work out in time. She was the sister I never got biologically, literally since we were infants. She was only eight days older than me, both our moms pregnant with us at the same time. That was our wish too. Growing up and building families we could merge together so our kids could experience what we did.

I only liked her last text, notifying her that I had seen her messages. We both were stubborn like that, taking turns on who would give in on apologizing. It technically was my turn, but my grudge was strong.

Exiting out of my messages with Jules, I clicked on my list of contacts, scrolling all the way to the J names. His name wasn't there. In fact, there were no new J names. Not a Joe, Joseph, or even a Josh. I guess he decided giving me his phone number wasn't ideal after all, even though he was the one to boldly initiate it.

Then it hit me. I scrolled all the way to the bottom to find a contact name under the emoji of a cracked egg in a pan. A smile I couldn't contain creased lines on my face, from the nostrils all the way down to the corners of my lips. He was the person I knew the shortest amount of time, yet he was also the person that had the most nicknames already.