Through the Screen

Chapter 22

"adrian! open the door my hands are full!"

noah called, leaning against the opposite wall, too lazy to keep the bags down and search for the keys.

he shook his head a little to get out the damp hair plastered to his forehead due to sweat, groaning in

annoyance when they stay put.

noah was surprised to say the least when the door was opened, and he was greeted by a tall man,

almost as tall as abel, instead of adrian. his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared at the

stranger, letting his back off the wall and taking a hesitant step forward.

"am i in the right house?" noah tilted his head slightly and the man just let out a soft laugh, biting his lip

and getting out of the way to let noah enter.

"um, hey, abel was setting up the dinner table and adrian was in the—i'm chris by the way, sorry that

you were—" noah tuned out the unfamiliar man's northern accent, his expression slackening slightly.

why would abel call him for dinner? without letting noah know?

"oh that's okay," noah regained his composure, swallowing the uncomfortable lump in his throat, giving

chris a hesitant smile. noah noticed the way chris was slightly nervous around him, his hands fidgeting

with the hem of his shirt and his olive eyes wandering away from noah's.

he was attractive.

and noah hated that.

"i'm noah," noah settled the bags on the dining table, offering a hand for chris to shake and chris just

smiled, taking his hand. "abel 's husband," noah sounded a little harsh, emphasising a bit more on the

words but chris seemed oblivious, his smile just growing a little bit more.

"i'm aware," he nodded, ending the awkward handshake. "i'm chris, abel 's best and probably only

friend," chris laughed a bit when abel snorted from the kitchen, obviously having heard the

conversation between the two men.

best friend?

"of course, i've heard a lot about you," noah forced another smile, loosening the tie around his neck

and gulping again, walking further into the hall and towards the kitchen, where abel was stacking plates

and spoons and forks, his back turned to noah.

"all good things i hope," chris joked and noah rolled his eyes a bit, not enough to make anyone notice

but enough to indicate that he was annoyed.

"trust me," noah scoffed. "only the good things,"

chris wiggled his eyebrows at abel at the statement, and noah watched as abel 's cheeks flushed pink

and he punched chris' arm in a friendly gesture. noah just continued to work the tie off his neck,

clutching the soft material tightly in his fists.

"how was work?" abel finally acknowledged noah, turning around and pressing a soft kiss to the older's novelbin

cheek and noah just sighed, running a hand through his damp hair, pushing them back off his forehead.

"it was alright," noah said dismissively, his tone noticeably hostile but abel just nodded, not bothering to

ask anymore questions as he was obviously very engrossed in chris.

noah stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, quietly watching chris converse with abel, not joining

into their conversation. noah tried to ignore the fact that chris was standing too close to abel, or the fact

that abel was okay with chris leaning so close to him, or the fact that chris always had his arm around

abel 's shoulders or on his back.

noah also couldn't help but notice the unmistakable difference between him and chris. noah was pale,

light eyes and dark hair. noah was lanky and awkward and probably had an annoying smile.

here was chris, just slightly tanned, his eyes a dull shade of olive that only made him look much more

qualitative and intense, his hair a soft shade of caramel. chris was tall, but seemed to carry himself

better than noah, and chris had dimples that noah didn't and he didn't seem to act awkward at all.

he could feel the unwanted anger and insecurity bubble inside him but he kept his thoughts to himself,

walking out of the kitchen unnoticed and making his way to his room. his teeth dug into his bottom lip

and he shut the bedroom door quietly, unbuttoning his shirt and pants, not bothering to put on a shirt

before slipping into bed.

he let out a huge breath, and he figured that it is probably rude to just go and sleep when you have a

guest over, but noah was so done and tired and he really didn't want to see any unintentional flirting

going on between his beloved husband and chris.

and so when adrian entered the room to call noah for dinner, noah simply denied, saying that he had

already eaten outside and that he brought dinner only for three people.

and of course, noah had originally bought take out for him, abel and adrian, but chris seemed to have

replaced noah in a lot of ways, so replacing noah on the dinner table wouldn't be that much of a loss.

he sighed once again, bringing the soft duvet upto his chest, his fingers gripping the material harshly as

he shut his eyes, trying to get over the insecurity that a certain green eyed boy had planted in his mind.