Part 21

The cold and rainy night air hit Noel's face, a sharp contrast to the suffocating tension of their bedroom. He didn't look back at the house, he knew if he saw Sara's silhouette in the window, his resolve might flicker. He drove through the city, the streetlights blurring into long ribbons of amber, while Sara's words kept pounding through his head, "there will be consequences"...but as soon as he drove through Caro's street, his worries seemed to vanish, he was the millionaire in this marriage, not her and he was the one she would have to hold her hand up to.

The sharp, aggressive buzz of the intercom sliced through the silence of the flat, making Caro jump so violently that a fresh bolt of pain flared in her side. She gasped, clutching her ribs.

Rob.

The blood drained from her face. It had to be him. He'd come back to finish what he'd started, or to offer one of those sickening, tearful apologies that would preceed the next blow. She stood paralyzed in her livingroom, the damp robe clinging to her skin, her eyes fixed on the door as if he could burst through the wood by sheer force of will.

Buzz.

The sound was insistent, rhythmic, the sound of someone who wasn't going to leave anytime soon.

She moved toward the wall, her hand trembling as she reached for the receiver. She wanted to scream, to tell him to leave her alone, but her throat felt constricted. She hovered her finger over the button, her breath coming in shallow hitches.

Buzz.

'Caro? It's me. Open the door.'

The voice through the speaker wasn't Rob's. It was lower, coarser, and carried that unmistakable Manchester lilt that usually sounded like a challenge, but right now sounded like a prayer.

Noel.

Her knees nearly gave out. It was almost 4:00 in the morning. He should be in bed in his perfect house, with his perfect life, and his perfect wife, how long had it been since he sent that text? Five minutes? Or five hours? Whatever! he was here, standing on the pavement in the cold December air, her shaking hand pressed the button to buzz him in.

She heard the heavy thud of the main building door downstairs, then the rhythmic, tread of his shoes on the stairs, it resembled the rhythm of him pacing the studio looking for a new melody. Slowly she opened the door before he could even knock, as if to doublecheck it was actually him and not Rob.

'Noel, oh thank god' a faint smile danced around her lips as she let him in, 'I thought it was Rob, what are you doing here?'. Her shower fresh scent tickled his nose when he entered the apartment 'You didn't text me back..' he stammered 'and I got worried, so here I am..he's not been stalking you, has he? Rob, I mean', suddenly Noel's mind was on red alert.

Caroline shook her head, 'No..he's not, anyway..sit down, I'll go put on some clothes' she tried to gather her thoughts as well and slowly she disappeared into her dressing room. She looked at her reflection in the small vanity mirror. The "professional" Caroline, the one who handled the Gallaghers and their egos with ease, was gone. In her place was someone fragile, caught between the terror of thinking Rob had returned and the weight of Noel standing in her living room at 4:00 o'clock in the morning.

She pulled on a pair of soft joggers and the oversized sweater, wincing as the fabric brushed against her bruised side. She took a deep breath, and walked back out only to hear Noel rummage around her kitchen, the warm smell of coffee wafting into the room, her curiosity got the better of her 'there's some milk in the back of fridge,' she caught him looking in her fridge. Was that a slight blush she saw when he glanced at her? 'Noel, we really need to talk' she almost whispered, Noel straightened his back.

'I know,' Noel repeated, his voice dropping to match her quiet intensity as he slowly closed the refrigerator door.. He didn't turn around; instead, he stayed anchored to the spot, his fingers still tracing the handle of the fridge. 'I didn't mean to pry,' he said, his tone rougher than usual. 'I just... I couldn't just leave you like this.' He took a tentative step forward, the space between them shrinking, though he still looked as if he might bolt if she spoke too loudly. 'Where do you want to start? Because there's a lot we haven't said, and I think we're both running out of ways to avoid it.'

'Why don't we start with Liam?' she nervously added.

'Liam? Why do we need to talk about him?'  he echoed as he turned to face her fully now, the blush from moments ago replaced by a twitch in his jaw. He didn't look surprised that she'd brought him up, it was the ghost that had been sitting at the table between them for months.

Caroline took a shaky breath, her hand pressing harder against her side to steady the pain. 'Well... I'm tired of the ghosts, Noel. I'm tired of the silence between you two being louder than the music ever was'.

She looked him directly in the eyes, refusing to flinch. 'I really want to bring the brothers back. I want Oasis back together..properly. Not just as a business arrangement or a staged press release, but as a family. I really think that Oasis' glorious wall of sound will be the only thing that's gonna break down the wall of silence between you Gallaghers'.

Noel's jaw tightened so hard she heard the bone click. He looked away, his gaze landing on a stack of mail on the counter, 'You have a strange poetic way of looking at a fuckin' car crash, Caro,' Noel muttered, his voice thick with a bitterness that couldn't quite hide the flicker of pain in his eyes. He finally looked away from the counter, his stare heavy and tired. 'That "glorious wall of sound" was built on top of a minefield, you know that.. and now you're talking about family, but Liam and I... we haven't been brothers since Paris in 2009. We've just been two halves of a headline.'

He took a step closer, his hand twitching as if he wanted to reach out and steady her as she stood there all nervous and wobbly, but he held back,. 'You think a Gibson ES-335 and a loud amp can fix what he said about my wife? What he said about me? What he's done to his own life? Really? Well, let me tell you that the "wall of silence" is there for a reason..it's the only thing keeping us from killing each other. If I step back in a studio or on a stage with him, it's for the fans and the paycheck. Anything else is a fairy tale.' He paused, his voice dropping to a vulnerable whisper, 'Do you honestly believe he even wants to be 'family' again, or does he just want to regroup because he's run out of people to fight?'.

Caroline's breath hitched, the sharp pain in her side momentarily forgotten as she saw the crack in his armor. That whisper wasn't the "Chief" talking to some reporter; it was the voice of a man who had been lonely at the top for a very long time.

'I don't just believe it, Noel..I saw it,' she said, her voice gaining a sudden, feverish strength. She took an impulsive step toward him, ignoring the protest of her bruised ribs. 'He didn't even sneer when he spoke your name, for one second, the 'rock star' mask slipped, and he just looked... small and vulnerable even, he's missed you so much Noel,.. and I don't care if you don't believe a word I say, it was almost as if he was waiting for his big brother to tell him things were gonna be ok again'.

She suddenly reached out, her fingers grazing the sleeve of his jacket, his heartbeat going bonkers in his chest from her touch, she had never been this "spontaneous" with him. 'Listen, I really think he wants to bring the band back together because he's realized that all that 'Manchester vibes' he talks about and all that swagger doesn't mean anything if he's standing alone. Now, you just have to decide if you're going to walk onto that stage as a businessman or as a Gallagher.' She looked up at him, her eyes bright with conviction. 'The fans will give you the paycheck, Noel. But only Liam can give you back the sound you've been missing since Paris all those years ago.'

Noel stared down at her hand on his arm, his breath hitching as he wavered between his legendary pride and the truth she was forcing him to face, the silence in the kitchen felt like the calm before a storm. Noel looked down at her fingers, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He knew she was right—that the High Flying Birds had given him freedom, but Oasis had given him power.

'You're a dangerous woman, Caro,' he rasped, finally lifting his gaze to meet hers. The ice in his eyes had melted into something far more turbulent. 'Coming in here with your bruises and your 'Gallagher' speeches, trying to mend a bridge that was blown to pieces years ago.' He didn't pull away.

Instead, he covered her hand with his own, his skin warm against hers. 'He really looked small? The great Liam Gallagher actually looked like he gave a damn?' A bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped his throat. 'I've spent fifteen, sixteen years convincing myself I didn't need that sound. That I didn't need him.'

He leaned in closer, his forehead almost touching hers, the scent of the rain still clinging to his jacket. 'If I do this, then it's all because of you..not because of him.' He paused, his thumb tracing a slow, hesitant circle over her knuckles. 'But if he steps out of line once, Caro... if he treats this like a joke, I'm gone. And no amount of 'Manchester vibes' will bring me back. Understood?'

Caroline nodded fiercely. 'So... is this actually happening? Am I really hearing 'The Chief' say yes to an Oasis reunion?' The sparkle in her eyes could have lit up an entire Christmas tree.

Noel managed to keep a straight face, even though he was secretly as electric with excitement as she was. 'I'm not saying yes yet...' He tried to take a step back, but the forcefield between them refused to cooperate. 'There is just one thing..' His expression went stone-cold again. 'And that is that you take back your job as my PA—and I'll even add Tour Manager to that as well. If you can manage to organize this entire tour, then I'm in' he bit his lip as he waited for her reaction.