Noah stood in front of the house where it all happened. He thought after a few years, it wouldn't change, but the same bright house which was always filled with cheers now was breathing with agony. And he was the one who created all that. There was no happy place anymore, it passed only heaviness. Invisible pliers squeezed his heart as it was harder and harder to look at it: his eyes still were glimpsing back to the spot on the ground in front of the front porch. Her laying wet silhouette was still visible. The heart shook opening the doors to bitter memories. He tried to lock them in the very distant dark place in his mind and throw the key into the black hole. He couldn't succeed. Her devastated image haunted him every day. Nothing loving was to remember there so he slowly turned away from the house, already catching the coming car from around the corner.
The car honk dragged him out of smothering thoughts and he turned towards it. Mathias was waving from inside the vehicle inviting to get in. As Noah made his way towards the car, hard music tunes hit his ears. Mathias was moving hands around clumsily to the tune and Noah felt forced to squeeze a small smile. The sound was bitter, bringing back all the things he tried to forget.
"Hey, Mister Powers Hits is back again" Mathias punched Noah's elbow as soon as he got into passenger seat "It's unbelievable you really came back to this hole. If I were you I would have thrown this place away and probably never come back. But look how patriotic you are" the friend playfully bumped his fist into Noah's shoulder.
"Patriotism has nothing to do with a place being simply home. I would have come back sooner or later" Noah turned back to the street view "I guess the time was now. I still have some business to do here"
"If you're talking about school, forget it. It did not get even a little better. If I were you, I wouldn't bother going there again"
"I'm not sure I have a choice" Noah watched the disappearing houses as Mathias started to drive "I came back only a few days ago, caught up with family. Now it's friends time and they are all in school. It's only fair at least to say hi. I can still use my recording excuse in case something goes wrong"
The laughter filled the vehicle as they threw a few friendly punches at each other. It was refreshing to be with people which matter the most. That is why Noah had to come back: as he watched flowing streets and buildings, he could see a little part of himself in each of them and knew his heart always belonged here. And he was ready to collect it all the lost time back.
"I would really prefer if you would turn it off" Noah only now noticed that his song was still playing in the car since he seated. It was silent, but he could recognize the rhythm anywhere "It might sound weird but I'm tired of it. This place is the only one where I can relax and shut down all recording studio things in my head"
"I get you man" Mathias obeyed "you don't need to feel like a star here, it's just good to have an old fellow back. And this definitely needs to be celebrated. To get you back on track here" Mathias turned to his friend and raised both eyebrows waiting for agreement.
"Yea, but it's weird to go drinking as the first thing" Noah mumbled frowning his face, "I thought I would start with something easier, like checking the..."
"Boring!" Mathias sped up the car not even listening to the friend "The best way to fit yourself into this hole is to start with the thing we enjoyed the most"
They both laughed at the undeniable truth. Partying was always their regular activity and even though it's only a few days he's back, he felt a need to pour out all the tense he had in past weeks. All England drama struck Noah to the bones and he was forced to leave. Funny how everyone idealizes so-called "famous" life until they get the taste of it and want to spit it out immediately. Now, as he watched empty dark streets, he felt whole again. It felt a right place to be. Didn't matter where Mathias was taking him, all he wanted now was to throw himself into the life he had again.
They arrived at the spot shortly, still continuing jokes about old school and England. This was something Noah was always missing. People who cared. Places that accepted him for him, and not for what he was doing.
The music tunes already reached them as soon as they got out of the car. The wide building with a basement was breathing with liveliness. Noah could find the image of it in his mind, but could hardly recall what it meant to him. He threw a questioning look at Mathias.
"I'm gonna guess you don't remember this place because of that idiotic face expression, but don't worry, it will come back to you the minute we step in" Noah only smirked at the insulting replica following the friend towards youth-breathing building "I should warn you though, this place now has theme parties accordingly to music. You know, techno, pop, rock and so on, and today is latino evening or something"
"Latino evening?" Noah could hardly hold the giggle "is that even a thing? Seems like a stupid excuse to involve even more young girls"
"Well, they did succeed because the place is loaded with them" Mathias stick out his tongue and pushed the friend through the doors.
The loud tunes hit them already in the hallway as they passed a few chatting couples and reached the filled dim hall. The place was nothing like classical clubs: no smoke, no bright flashing lights, no vibrating floors from the hard base. Just people surrendering to the rhythm and forgetting themselves. Even though both friends had to admit that the music wasn't their favorite, they both needed a getaway. They watched moving bodies and smirked at each other. It was rare to see people dance so close to each other but it was oddly heartwarming. Noah could see Mathias face wrinkling and pointed at the bar. With wide eyes, Mathias followed him to celebrate the new story.
People were crashing into them, losing themselves into the music sounds. It was almost hypnotizing to watch them. The bodies were so close to each other it left nothing but the heat in the air. Cheerful tunes were pounding into his heart, slowly taking over his mind. As they reached the bar, Noah still couldn't take his eyes away from dancing couples. The room was filled with intimacy and no one cared about crashing bodies. He could see suspicious Mathias look as he just frowned and ordered the drinks. They both knew it would be a small challenge to be here, but Mathias was always willing to take it if there was a chance of getting lucky. They both were sipping drinks, examining the crowd. A river of intense colored and thin fabric clothes was flowing with the rhythm. Swinging hips, touching hands gave whole new atmosphere to the place.
"I guess it could be worse" Mathias shouted to the friend's ear raising his drink.
"Cheers to that" their bottles clung announcing a memorable evening beginning.
The music went silent for a second and some announcements were made to the crowd. The friends couldn't hear it, mostly because they didn't care about it, but also because the crowd was way more entertaining. As the new song started, the room charged with more excited screams. Mathias poked Noah pointing in the direction of the screams, where a small circle of young teenagers was moving their half-naked bodies around in oddly hypnotizing syncron. They enjoyed the new song way too much but somehow it wasn't pleasing. Noah could see Mathias smirking to that, but it made him sick to his stomach and he shifted the look to the capturing crowd of moving couples. He never saw two people dancing like that: their moves were filled with passion, making the partner the only one person in the room.
After a few seconds, Noah's look caught a familiar face. The girl just a little further was dancing around in a very appealing and gentle way it completely caught his attention. Her body moved synchronized with the right tones of the music, white flowery dress hugged all the curves perfectly. Noah stared at her wondering how something so simple can steal all of him in seconds. He could feel the heartbeat raising as her image found that tiny spot in him he thought was dead years ago. As the girl turned fully to his direction, still swinging to the rhythm, her image started to make itself more and more clear. Noah narrowed the look trying to find her picture in his mind and it didn't take long: as soon as he did, his heart froze in the beat. He slowly put the bottle on the counter, feeling how legs were dragging him closer to her. As he was leaving confused Mathias, he pushed people out of his way, so her image can clearly stay in front of him. Her shining face hit him hard and everything went mute. He couldn't hear the music. He couldn't see other people. Only her smile and silent cheers leaving her mouth brought everything to life what he thought he killed.
She looked happy. God, she looked so happy...Noah gasped for air when realization kept hitting him until the body couldn't move. Other couples kept crashing into him but he didn't feel anything despite heaviness. It filled him with a demand to be near her. Again. To share her divinity, explore her beauty. She was smiling so wide and it was the most beautiful thing he could see. It dragged him to her and stopped at the same time.
As Noah stood there lost in his own fight, she caught his stare. It was flowing with fire and the burn made her look straight into him. Her body stopped moving and froze in fright. Their looks locked leaving only then two in the room. Noah could feel his lips mounting a single word.
"Gabrielle?"