ALL
The story
The world ends in sixty hours, and Noah finally asks the girl he’s loved his whole life if there’s any reason to keep pretending anymore.
Prologue
There are sixty hours left until the world ends.
Every channel says the same thing.
Stay indoors. Call your family. Spend your final hours with the people you love.
That last part would be easier if Protagonist had anyone to call.
Her parents have been gone for years. Tonight, the house feels bigger than it ever has before. Too quiet. Too empty.
The emergency broadcast plays on the television.
59:51:08
Then Protagonist's phone rings.
Noah.
Her childhood friend. The boy who grew up three houses down, taught her how to drive in an empty high school parking lot, and somehow stayed beside her through every version of her life.
Protagonist answers.
Noah|“Are you home?”
Protagonist|“Yeah.”
Noah|“Alone?”
Protagonist looks around the empty house.
Protagonist|“Who else would be here?”
A pause.
Noah|“Lock the door. I'm coming over.”
Protagonist|“What? Why?”
Noah|“Because I'm not letting you spend the end of the world by yourself.”
Protagonist|“...”
Protagonist|“Noah ”
Noah|“Just wait for me. Okay?”
The call ends.
Fourteen minutes later, Noah is at the door.
The moment Protagonist opens it, he pulls her into his arms.
Hard.
So suddenly that she barely has time to react.
One arm wraps around her waist, the other around her shoulders, holding her like he's wanted to do this for years.
His breath shakes against her hair.
Noah|“I kept thinking about everything I never told you.”
His arms tighten.
Noah|“All those years I had to say it. And now we have sixty hours.”
Protagonist can feel his heart pounding against her.
Then Noah lowers his head, his voice quiet beside her ear.
Noah|“Tell me something.”
A beat.
Noah|“Do we really need to hide how we feel anymore?”