Chapter 297: Confession

Song Recommendation - Eternal Love by Michael Learns To Rock

Two hours later.

Though it had been two hours back when Aria was still furious at Noah for hiding the truth from him. But everything vanished when she recalled Noah's confession. She could clearly remember the words he had conveyed to her. Aria stared at the ceiling as she recalled what he had said.

Flashback....

"Let's begin afresh. Let's start dating again." Noah almost pleaded as he fixed his gaze on Aria waiting for her response. He saw her eyebrows rise up in surprise and she blinked at him in shock. "What?" Aria asked again, thinking her ears to be ringing. She assumed to be hearing things in her state of shock and wanted to confirm his words again.

"Let's forget everything and start dating again, Aria, I don't want to lose you," Noah stressed on the word lose to emphasize how much she meant to him.

"But we are already dating right?" Aria blurted out without thinking and it was only after seeing Noah's smile did she realize what she had done. She had spoken without thinking and now she was on the shorter end of the stick. 'Why did I have to speak without thinking? Why?' She scolded herself when she heard Noah's words.

"I am glad to hear that we are still in the relationship. Here I was fearing that you had ended whatever we had the day we fought. I am happy that this is not the case. Now, rest assured I can sleep well today." Noah stood up to leave as he had achieved the purpose of his visit here. But he stopped walking when he heard Aria's voice.

"Why?"

Noah turned to face her, his face filled with confusion. "I don't understand."

"Why do you want to be with me?"

"Because I.." Before Noah could complete his answer Aria interrupted him.

"Wasn't your intentions to get to me and my sister so that you could use us to find your mentor? Now that you have fulfilled the purpose, why do you still want to be with me?"

"No, Aria. You are wrong here. My feelings for you were genuine. I never approached you with other intentions. In fact, I got to know about your relationship with Mr. West only after we returned from London. By then, we had already started dating. So, don't doubt my feelings for you."

"Do you expect me to believe you?"

"Yes, I do. You can scold me, hit me, curse me, do anything you want. But don't ever doubt my love for you." Noah said, his eyes filled with sincerity. He did not like the fact that she was suspicious about his love for her and his heart was in pain when he heard her words. The one thing that was most genuine in his world was his love for her and it would never change, never.

His words struck a chord in Aria's heart. 'Noah loves me. He loves me?' She questioned his words as she tried to see if he was lying to her. Though she had long forgotten him for the things he had done and the lies he had told her, there was some part of her brain which still wanted to test his sincerity and his feelings for her. "Do you love me?"

"Yes, I do. I love you, a lot. More than anything in this world. And I know that you love me too." Noah said as he slowly approached the woman he treasured the most in his life.

"No, Noah. I don't love you. I hate you, Noah. I hate you." She shouted, her eyes filled with angry tears.

"I love you, Aria," he replied, pulling her towards him. 

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. Falling in love with you is the best thing that ever happened to me. I will always love you; today and forever." With that, he sealed her lips with his, not allowing her to move. The kiss was filled with passion and love. Noah poured all the emotions he had in his heart for her: love, longing, respect, regret, and most important of all, promise. He promised her silently that he would always love her and she was his for eternity. Although he would not force her if she was not willing to be with him, in his heart he had already made up to have her as the only woman in his life. She was his lifeline and he would not allow any other woman to occupy the special place that was exclusively meant for her. She was the queen of his heart, soul, body, and mind and that was fixed for life.

Tears fell down slowly as Aria tried to push the man away. But the man was adamant to make her realize his feelings for her and held her tightly in his embrace. He only released her when she stopped protesting. Seeing her crying silently, he kissed those tears away, his heart twisting in pain seeing the state she was in.

"Aria, please forgive me, I am sorry. I know I have messed things up. Please give me a chance to rectify them. I promise I will not lie to you ever again. I love you, Aria. Please." 

Aria did not say a thing. She was still relishing the kiss she had just shared with him. She had sensed all the feelings he had tried to convey to her and her mind was muddled thinking about him and his words. She could see his honesty and sincerity when he confessed his thoughts to her. He was not playing with her and his words her genuine. He really loved her and she did too. She loved him too, although not as much as him. 

Noah noticed her confused expression and sighed lightly. "Aria, tell me your answer after two days. But please think it through and make a good decision. Please don't hurt yourself or try to suppress your feelings for me. I know how you feel about me, don't try to lie to me about it. Most importantly, don't lie to yourself. You can punish me however you want but please don't leave me. Please."

Noah left her and took two steps back. Aria had lowered her head, unable to meet the man's loving gaze. His words had touched her deeply and the little amount of anger she had vanished after the kiss and listening to his heartfelt words. She had forgiven him completely now, his mistakes could be taken care of later. She did not need two days to answer his question. She had made a decision on the spot. Her answer was yes loved him and she needed him in her life. Aria could not even imagine how her life would be without him and how miserable it would be. Just the thought of it made her cry again.

When she looked up after using a lot of strength, she saw Noah walking away. He was just short of opening the door and leaving the room. Aria panicked seeing him leave and her heart was shouting at her to run to him and hug him. It was now or never. But her mind was sending her conflicting signals. It wanted her to take her time and think about it. Her love life was at stake and she should not be hasty. 

In the war between her mind and heart, her heart eventually won the game and without further delay, Aria dashed to him and hugged him tightly from behind. Her sudden action shocked Noah to the core. He had never expected such a reaction from her, not this soon at least. He knew what her answer would be, he had seen her emotions clearly on her face. Her eyes were filled with love and fondness for him. She just needed some time to realize them and understand them.

"Noah, you won. I can't do this any longer. I can't." Aria surrendered. She was exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. She could not be angry at him any longer even if she wanted to. This man was so good and he just deserved her love and pampering, not her anger and definitely not her hatred.

"Don't leave me, please." Aria sobbed as she hugged him tighter, leaning against his back. She felt safe and happy in his arms and it was then she realized that she could never stay without him. This man was her home, she belonged here, in his arms. He was her happiness and seeing him sad would make him sad too. She did not know when he had taken her heart away with him, and now even her soul wanted him. He was her universe and she could not stay without his presence. 

"I am not going anywhere, Aria. I am right here, I'll never leave you." Noah released her hold on him slowly and turned to face her. She was sobbing like a little kid and he felt bad seeing her this way. "Aria, are you trying to entice me?"

Her words made Aria to furrow her eyebrows. She wondered what she had even done to get such a reaction from him. "What?"

"You are so cute right now that I want to take a bite from you," Noah whispered close to her ears and immediately, her ears became red. Her cheeks were splashed with a beautiful shade of red that spread to her neck. Aria was too flustered and punched him lightly on his shoulders. The man only chuckled seeing her behavior, she was just like a cute little rabbit, lovely.

He then remembered something she had said and he held her in his arms before gazing at her intently. "Aria repeat the words you just told me."

Aria did not have to guess what he wanted to hear. She averted her gaze and bit her lip, as she remained silent. Noah was having nothing of it. He wanted her to speak and if she was not willing to say those three words, he would make her say them. He held her chin and lifted her face so that she was now staring at him. "Aria, please. Tell me those beautiful words."

That was all it took for Aria to melt and she said the words which Noah wanted to hear for long. "I love you, Noah."