[This chapter is dedicated to _NBJ. Thank you for choosing Noah and Jess's story even though there are lots of other stories out there. I appreciate your support.]

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Jess went back to the kitchen after saying goodnight to Noah. She felt a bit down after she sent him home. She wanted to spend time with Noah as much as he wanted to spend time with her, however, she had some reading to do and she knew from past experiences that being together in the same room for a long time would always end up in something more.

She just returned to the kitchen because she would prepare herself some coffee. The kitchen was already cleaned and dishes had been washed. Noah insisted on doing those things before he went home.

He let her sit down on the kitchen stool and let her tell how her day was while he cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes.

A soft smile tugged the corner of her lips. She couldn't help but melt and feel in love with Noah a little more every day. Sometimes it scares her but then she took the gamble of letting go of a memory of their first night that Noah had no idea about.

She chose to trust him and her feelings for him and she could say, with how Noah was treating her, she was glad that she let herself take the chance. She still has the plan to tell Noah about their first night together, asked him what happened and why he couldn't seem to remember it but for now, she has no regrets for trusting him.

Noah ended up better than she had ever imagined. I mean, she wasn't in a lot of relationships but she knew that there wasn't a lot of breed of men out there that would insist on cleaning the kitchen and washing the dishes for their girlfriend's kitchen when all the girlfriend did was feed him with take-out food.

'Girlfriend,' she let the word settle in her mind and thought about how it feels. She wondered if she was already ready to tell Noah the three words to make their relationship official-official - whatever that means, she chuckled to herself.

She knew that Noah would take their relationship as official and as seriously as he could even without her verbalizing the three words that Noah has no qualms telling her even when she was confused, hurt, and scared to trust his declaration of love.

But she knew that she owed him that. One way or another she has to tell him her feelings with words and not just with actions. No matter how people tend to say that actions speak louder than words. When it comes to giving assurance to the other person in a relationship, there's still nothing that would beat the spoken words - even those that were written. Declaration of love should always have a 'voice'.

It's the reason why love stories, love songs, and poems were always favored as something as a sure way to win a woman's heart. It has a way of pulling anyone's heartstring like no other.

Jess in some ways is just like those women. She's weak with the spoken declaration of love, hence, Noah hooked her to give him a chance. And she wanted to give back to Noah what he gave to her. She wanted him to know her feelings. She wanted to be able to tell him with words how much he meant for her.

Just not yet. She wasn't ready. She was still afraid that Noah was hiding something from him that could break her heart. And she knew her fear and hesitation had a valid point.

Maybe being away from each other would do them good. She would have time to think about her feelings for him without being overwhelmed with his presence.

Noah has the charisma that drowned her fears and rational thinking. Whenever Noah was in the room, she forgot what to ask because she was too busy to feel.

She slowly made her way back to her study with her coffee. She was ready to finish reading the papers that Dr. Sison asked her to study. She wanted to finish them tonight for her to start reading the other part of the research.

She has a feeling that the other part was confidential information, hence, Dr. Sison didn't give her a copy of it. The thought of it made her excited.

When she returned to her study. She saw her phone blinking. She has an incoming call. Putting the thermos of coffee that she prepared, she checked who her caller was.

A laugh escaped her mouth when she saw Noah's name on her phone screen. "Noah, seriously?" She said, feigning irritation when in truth she felt happy with how Noah can be so clingy.

"Hey, don't be angry. Just give me five minutes of your time."

She sighed rather loudly, trying to let him know that she was unhappy.

He chuckled softly when he heard her sigh. "I had told you that Markus is in Mumbai. I told him to take care of you for me."

"Thank you for worrying, Noah. But seriously you don't have to."

Noah didn't say anything, he just kept on clearing his throat.

"Tiefenbacher, tell me what you really want to say so I can go back to my reading."

"Just take care --"

"Of Markus?"

He laughed nervously. "Baby, I'm truly sorry. I know I'm being too much. It's just that I know Markus. He can be such a ---"

"Noah, I don't have time for another guy and just to let you know, a while ago, I wasn't really annoyed. I was pretending but right now, I'm not so sure anymore…"

"I know. Sorry, baby...uhm, can I drop by at your place tomorrow after work?" When Jess didn't reply, he added, "Just a few minutes, please?"

"0229."

"What?"

"Memorize it so you can come to my house anytime." She dropped the call before Noah could say anything