Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 18: Truth

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Noelle POV:

The past week has been difficult. Embarrassed about what happened between Asta and me, I've hidden away in my room and avoided him. Despite my talk with Vanessa, I'm having difficulty approaching him or even finding the right time to bring it up. Tomorrow is the Royal Selection. If I'm going to tell him, I should do it soon. I walk over to my window and undo the latch. I open the window wide and rest my head down on the sill. The gentle night breeze hits my face making me feel refreshed. I definitely have to talk to him. It would definitely be better to resolve any issues before the selection. I wonder what I should say, though? Moving from the window sill to my desk, I try to collect my thoughts. First off, I should apologize. I think that much is obvious. Feeling a smile on my face, I head towards the door. I want to see him. I swing my door open and hit something. When I look out of the doorway, I see Asta rolling around on the floor. 

"Asta! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" I bend down to help him to his feet. 

Holding onto my hand, Asta slowly makes his way to his feet and leans on my door, "I'm perfectly fine! It didn't hurt one bit." Despite his words of encouragement, blood starts to drip down from his nose. 

Without saying a word, I grab his arm and sit him down on my bed, "Don't move." I rush over to my desk and grab some tissues, "here, use these for your nose," I say, placing the tissues on his lap.

"Thank you, Noelle," he picks up the tissues and plugs his nose. "You must've been in a hurry. Your door opened really fast. It slammed into my face really hard," he laughs.

"Yeah, I was actually going to look for you. But, you made it easier for me," I say as I sit down next to him.

"That makes me happy," Asta smiles, "I'm glad."

Overcome with sudden embarrassment; I look away from him. My face gets hot, and my heart starts to beat faster than normal. Seeing Asta smile might've just made my entire week. 

"I-I-I'm happy too," I say while still avoiding eye contact, "I really wanted to talk to you as well." Figuring that now would be the best time to tell him, I start to ramble, "so, Asta, um, the thing is..." I let my words trail off. This is much harder than I thought it would be. I know I decided to tell him how I felt, but the words are stuck inside my mouth. Silence fills the room as well as an awkward tension. My eyes are glued to the ground, my palms start to sweat, and I feel a sense of nervousness well up inside me. What do I do if he doesn't accept the way I feel?

 "Noelle," Asta starts, the look on his face serious, "I want to apologize to you first."

My eyes quickly dart to Asta, "what do you mean?"

"Well, the thing is, earlier this week, I happened to be looking around for you. But when I found you, you were talking to Vanessa. I overheard you two talking about me. But I don't know exactly what you two were talking about. However, I think that's why you have been avoiding me lately. I'm not mad either, by the way! I figured you must've wanted some space, so I let things be. But it turns out that I missed you so much. So no matter what, I wanted to talk to you tonight," he laughs and gives me a big smile. 

The look on his face makes me feel warm, and my heartbeat accelerates. Know that he's told me this, I can't stay quiet anymore. Not afraid anymore, I muster the courage to tell him my true feelings, and finally, let it out, "Asta, I have something important to tell you. But first, I want to apologize to you. This week I've been confused. Honestly, I didn't mean to avoid you. It kind of just happened. The longer I waited, the harder it was to approach you. It got to a point where it was easier to avoid you. I know it sounds stupid, but that's what it was. I'm really sorry." I pause and take a deep breath. I put my hand on my chest, my heartbeat has slowed down, I can do this. I continue once more, "t-this next part is super embarrassing, so don't laugh at me- also, don't interrupt me." Asta nods in agreement and lends me his ears, "earlier this week when we were together, things got a little...more heated." The words that came out of my mouth made myself cringe on the inside. Still, Asta's face remains expressionless. Nevertheless, I continue, "the thing is, I really liked being close to you. It made me feel extra special. The way you held me, the way you kissed me, it all felt amazing," suddenly, the words that I struggled for so long to say were coming out. I fix my gaze on Asta and notice that his cheeks are starting to change to a rosy red. I laugh to myself. He must be speechless. With a smile on my face, I let out the last thing that I wanted to say to him, "if we could ever go back to where we left off, I'd be extremely happy."

Asta puts his hands over his face. Most likely, with the intent to hide his embarrassment. But his ears have turned bright red, so it's no use. After finally telling him the truth, I felt so free. The uneasiness from the entire situation has vanished. Now, watching him be the one so embarrassed makes me feel silly for ever hiding this from him. I can't help but put a smile on my face. Slowly, I wrap my arms around Asta, rest my chin on his shoulder, and hug him tightly.  Asta remains silent but returns my embrace. His warmth makes my heart flutter, and I truly feel at peace.

"Asta."

"Hm," he responds.

"I love you. Also, you don't have to respond. I know you're probably overwhelmed." 

Immediately, Asta's grip around me tightens. I close my eyes and enjoy our time together. The longer we're together, the more I realize that these feelings I have for him- they'll never disappear.

[Chapter 18 end]

{Author's notes: Sorry about the delay with this chapter; it was exam week again. The next chapters won't have such a gap between them until final exams come around. Thanks for reading!}