Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2014 22:49:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Bunny Tsukino <bunnyempire@aol.com>
Subject: Dreamless sleep 8

Disclaimer in the front. Party in the back!

Hello~ The beginning of the chapter will be like usual from Noah's
perspective however the rest of the chapter won't be. It will just happen
once so don't worry. I just want you guys to get a feel of Liam.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


			       Chapter Eight
			 Red like fire in my heart

I bit my lip and looked around the room. School ended a few hours
ago. Steve wanted to get a head start and go to New York right away. I had
said my goodbyes to everyone but one person. That one person didn't answer
my messages and I had only seen him during first period. He was straight up
ignoring me though. Well, not really but he was just deep in thought.

"Noah, we have to go now or else we won't catch our flight!" I gave a sigh
after I heard Steve yell. The one person I wanted to say goodbye to wasn't
here.

We locked up the house and put our things into the taxi trunk. Mrs. Heart
was going to drop by occasionally to make sure everything was good at the
house - make sure my bikes were still there, the plants didn't die, or no
one broke in. Those sort of things.

Steve had left his Manager in charge during the time we would be gone. If
anything important happened, he would have to let Steve know as soon as
possible. Steve didn't like leaving work but this time he didn't have a
choice.

We put our luggage into the luggage area and waited for our flight to be
called. I looked at my cell phone. I was going to have to turn it off
soon. "LiamÉ"

Steve looked at me. "You know, he could be busy doing something? Don't
worry, you will see him later." Steve pointed up to the giant screen. "Our
flight is boarding, Noah."

I nodded. I could talk to him later, right? Call him or send him a text at
least. I started following Steve toward the gate.

"Noah! Wait!" I turned around and saw Liam running towards me. He bumped
into a lady and tripped on her luggage. I ran over and helped him up. "I'm
sorry, ma'am." We watched the lady walk away mad. "I'm sorry, Noah. I
almost missed you." He panted.

"It's okay, we have a few seconds." I smiled and helped him up. "The
flight's leaving though."

He looked at me really sad. "I don't want you to go." He bit his lower
lip. "I just got you and you have to leave again."

I reached over and pulled out his lips with my fingers. "It's only for a
little while. Just to make sure I can be here." I smiled and gave him a
hug. It took a while before he put his arms around me. "Make sure you take
care of the girls, okay? Don't let them cause too much evil."

He chuckled. "I don't think I can stop them." He squeezed me tight. "Come
back to me, okay?"

I rubbed my head into his chest. "I promise." I backed up and leaned up to
kiss his lips. "And when I get back we can talk about us." I smiled when I
saw his eyes twinkle.

"Really?" He smiled. "Like us getting back together?"

I nodded. "Yeah but not till I get back."

"Noah! We have to hurry." Steve walked over. "Liam, I'm sorry but we have
to go."

I pulled away from him and my heart fell. He looked so crushed.

"I'll be back, I promise!"


Liam's POV

"I'll be back, I promise!" Noah said before he went after his older
brother. I stayed and watched them show there tickets. I waited until they
got inside and didn't even move until their plane had left.

Part of me was gone again. Hopefully, not as long as it was gone before. I
sighed and made my way out of the airport. Damned Erika kept me from going
to see Noah. Something about not the right moment, about how when I saw him
it had to be seconds just before he left. That actually did happen. It was
all about romance with her.

"See, you guys had a great moment." Erika smiled as I got into my truck.

"I almost missed him." I put on my seat-belt an waited for an opening into
the traffic. I was in such a hurry I didn't turn off the truck. I could
have gotten a ticket too if one of the security guards paid attention.

"But you didn't!" Erika kept on smiling. "You got a kiss! Which you didn't
even initiate, by the way."

Yeah, it was nice. I had kept thinking about him leaving that I failed to
actually have a proper goodbye until now. Worrying about something like
that was pretty stupid seeing as how I almost didn't get to see
him. Hopefully, his return would come quick. I was already missing him.

"He wants to talk about us when he gets back." That would mean that I could
make things go into our old direction again. Together and in love. A place
I don't wanna lose again.

"Good! You two haven't made much progress." Erika looked out the
window. "You know how many plans I set up just for one of you to ruin it?"

"Like that love letter?" That one was a bit harsh for her to do. I actually
thought he had written it. I thought maybe he would have apologized for his
absence but... "You really hurt my feeling with that one sis."

Erika waved her hand. "It was your dumb misunderstanding that messed
everything up. If only you had listened."

"Yeah." If only I had listened all those years ago, I wouldn't have felt so
betrayed. Abandoned. Empty. All those were gone for a while until I saw him
again. But it also brought back one special thing I thought I had
lost. Love. "I take all the blame."

"You loved him all along, yet you let your abandonment issues get in the
way."

"He did a really fucked up thing, Erika." Leaving us alone like that. Two
small children. A wife who adored him and randomly got divorce papers. We
never heard from him again since then.

"I know but not everyone is like that." She sighed. It was my own issues to
work out. She wasn't as attached to him as I was. She was more attached to
mom.

"Well, I know that... wanna go get some pizza?" If I was going to miss the
heck out him why not eat the food he loved to eat? Maybe I could find a
great tasting pizza store and take him out on a date. A real date.

The first two weeks were filled up with pizzas. Lots and lots of
pizzas. Ashley and Erika had helped me narrow down some good places for me
to take Noah. Occasionally, Schala would help out on the search. I was
still getting used to her but she seemed pretty nice. If you didn't fuck
with her, that is. If anyone was going to date my sister, I was glad it was
her.

I wasn't sure when exactly they started dating but I saw them kissing a few
times. But I guess I should have known since Erika never shut up around
her. But then again, I did the same thing about Noah. The way he smiled,
turned red when I pushed a little, eyes twinkled, or the way he talked
back. Hell, I loved the way he got lazy for no reason.

There was nothing not to like. Even the things you didn't like, you learned
to love. It was just something in me that made me love him so much, which
was why I wanted to keep away from him and try not to love him again. If he
left... I would be destroyed again. He is my one and only.


"Dude, aren't we going to practice for the baseball team?" Eric bounced the
ball in his hand. "I know you're sad about Noah but don't you text him or
call him?"

"Rarely. The time difference doesn't help. Either it's night over there or
too fucking early over here." I put on the glove and caught it as he tossed
it.

"He does that to you too? I wanted to talk to him about Rick but he didn't
reply back to me." I threw the ball back. "Guess whatever is happening over
there is keeping him busy."

"Yeah." He threw a fast ball at me but I caught it.

Eric smiled at me. "Noah has a good 'catcher'."

I raised my eyebrow confused. "My granddad showed me how to play so I can
catch pretty well."

Eric gave me a smirk. "So going to let Noah 'pitch' for you?"

Tom rolled his eyes. "Dude, leave Liam alone. He's not as perverted as you
are."

So I was obviously missing something here. "If Noah wants to play, sure, he
can be the pitcher."

Eric started laughing hysterically as Tom shook his head. "Eric, stop it
already."

If you blinked, you would have missed the baseball flying at who knows the
speed straight into Eric's gut. He keeled over holding his stomach as he
cursed under his breath. Tom and I turned around to see Ashley bouncing a
baseball in one hand and holding a bat in the other. She smiled as she
walked over.

Her hair was straight and completely tamed. She had her glasses on, some
shorts, and a loose jersey on. "You know I don't like people making fun of
my friends, Eric." She gave him a wink before walking over to give Tom a
kiss.

"Can't a guy make a joke around here?" Eric sat down on the dirt. "Where
the hell did you learn to hit a ball like that?"

Ashley smiled and spun the bat around in a few circles. "Girls gotta have
some secrets." She grabbed Tom's hat and put it on. They were a very cute
couple. He was tall, lithe, and had red hair. She was the short, little
spitfire of a lady. Tom was my first friend after Noah and Ash. Ash was one
of my childhood friends.

"Did you hear anything from Noah?" Maybe Ashley talked to him about things,
not just about missing him. It was basically what I had sent him every
hour. He sent me a few "I miss you too" here and there.

"Yeah, he said those sneaky bastards brought up his past mistakes." The
drinking and sex. He had a really messed up childhood. There was a higher
risk of him doing bad things. He did do them but he became a better person
because of them. "Thankfully, his doctor was able to back him up. Not much
you can say when they have reports of psychological damage."

"Is Noah really that messed up?" Eric asked as he got back up.

"Listen, you! He is no-" Ashley started but I finished.

"He isn't messed up. Just had some issues. Nothing to worry about now but
before he had some problems. Just like all of us." No need to bring people
into Noah's issues. If he wanted people to know, he would have told
them. It was a lot of things to tell, though.

"Don't call him messed up again or I swearÉ" Ashley started towards Eric
but was stopped by Tom.

"Easy baby. He means no harm, right?" Tom looked to Eric.

Eric raised both his hands in surrender. "I know he isn't messed up but you
have to admit he has some issues. I was there when he fainted."

It was sheer luck that I was the one who caught him. Sheer luck that I
bumped into him at the office. Sheer luck that our moms became friends. Or
maybe it was destiny. I kinda hoped it was.

Or, like Noah's dad said: "Why play it safe and leave it to chance?"
Sometimes you need a little luck, though, right?

"Look, I may not know Noah as long as you guys have but we all care about
him, right?" We all nodded as Tom spoke. "Let's just hope for the best and
wait for him to come back." He took the bat away from Ash. Probably a wise
choice. She could hurt someone with that. "So are we going to play ball or
what?"


"So those bastards had an issue with my piercings." Noah said after giving
out a huff. "How it was unbecoming of me and how I should lose all them."

I laid on my bed and smiled. He was probably killing a pillow right
now. "Well, they can't do nothing right now. Steve doesn't mind you calling
at this time?" It was nine right now which meant it was midnight over
there.

"He's not here right now." He gave a sigh. "He went to speak to some
relatives. I can't be risked seen out at this hour so I have to stay here."

I frowned. Did they really make him stay in the hotel room all alone? "How
is the case going?"

He chuckled. "Good. Slow but good. They're trying to make it seem that
Steve is a bad guy but they can't. How can you make the guy who saved his
little brother a bad guy?"

That was true. "I just don't want to lose you."

"You won't. Right now we have an eighty percent chance to win." He
paused. "We found out something interesting, though."

Was he going to do the interesting thing again? "What is it, baby?"

"Hmmmm..." A pause. "Steve had some detectives look at records and found
something interesting. Really, really interesting. So interesting it
couldn't be missed without-'"

"Thinking it was interesting, go on babe."

"Yes, yes. Well, turns out they lost the remainder of their money. Bad
investments, bad management, and giving access to the wrong kinds of
people."

"One sec." I switched my cell phone to the other ear; it was starting to
get hot. "So they want to take you for your money?" Noah's family, the one
from his dad's side, was well off. Well, from what I could remember. Their
family had doctors, lawyers, and politicians. They had all the
connections. They were even able to take his dad away.

"Basically. With a little more digging Steve found out that he had
inherited the house they are living in right now. He's going to use it as a
barter if we get close to losing. The house for me." I heard some
movement. "Didn't know my family was this fucked up."

I laughed. "Well, we all have family like that." But hiding the fact that
you own a house was a little much. "Everyone misses you and wants you
back." Mostly me.

"I miss you guys too." He paused. "We are going to get back there soon, I
promise. I just..." He sighed. "I need you to wait a little longer, okay?"

"I will wait as long as I need to, even if it takes a year." His birthday
was coming up and he was going to turn seventeen. Then a year more and he
would be able to go where he wants to. Hopefully, with me.

"I'll try to make it sooner." I heard something from his end. "Liam, I have
to go. Steve's back with someone." He covered his end so I was only able to
hear mumbles.

"Okay Noah, be safe, I miss you."

"I miss you, too. See you soon." The phone clicked and I dropped the phone
on my side.

I moved my hand through my hair. If he had to stay with his grandparents,
it would be alright. I was going to make sure to see him if it happened. It
wasn't going to happen, at least now, but just in case something bad
happened, it's good to be prepared right?

I loved him for so long and so much. A little distance wasn't going to come
between us. I looked up at the ceiling and was hit with a chocolate bar.

"Oh dear brother, oh don't you look like shit." I looked at the door and
saw Erika smiling. She had half the chocolate bar in her hands. "Let the
chocolate fill you up with joy."

"Thanks." I popped a piece into my mouth and chewed. "Did you do what I
asked?"

She looked offended. "Of course I did. They will reach him in a few
days. Got me a few candy bars for free for my service."

I had her send some chocolate over to New York. Milk chocolate, it was
Noah's favorite. Little guy loved the things. My guy. "Thanks, I owe you."

She waved her hand around. "I owe you guys too. You don't tell mom of the
shit I do." She turned around. "Get some sleep. Eric and Tom are suppose to
pick you up for more exercise."

I watched her leave. Just because school was over didn't mean we had to
stop working out. Mostly cardio and some baseball. Occasionally, we took
our bikes and rode around town. I was glad to know that Noah still rode
bikes. He left his bike the first day of the new semester and I was more
than happy to drop it off. I was supposed to be mad but I had no issues
dropping it off.

I love the guy way too much. Wasn't an issue though as he loved me back. He
didn't say it but I could feel it.


Sam, Eric, Erika, Schala, and I were sitting around a table at the park
talking about nothing. Ashley called and told us to meet her and Tom at the
park, something about being there to receive something. She didn't tell me
what it was but she said it was going to be exciting.

Noah called me last night thanking me for the chocolates. Steve wasn't
particularly happy with the sugar rushed Noah, though. He didn't have to
eat half the chocolates in one sitting. Hopefully, he didn't finish the
rest today or he was going to get sick.

"So she comes up to me and looks me straight in the eye." Schala pushed
some of her hair to the side. She was letting her hair grow long. "Says are
you looking at my girl?"

"Were you looking at her girl?" Erika asked curiously. Freckles were
starting to show up on her face. She had her hair in a ponytail. She
dressed for the sun today - shorts and a cropped blue shirt.

Schala waved her off. "Not important. So I step up and say. 'What if I was?
Going to do something about it?'" She smiled. "Took five seconds before the
bitch walked away crying."

"Did you really do that?" Sam squeaked. He didn't really hung out with us
much. He spent most of his time at home doing something. He said it's just
looking over the house but that much time?

She laughed. "Well, I wasn't looking at her girl. I was trying to remember
a song I heard and the bitch was right in front of me. I wasn't flirting
with her or paying much mind to her."

"You didn't get in trouble?" Eric had a smile on his face. He liked
fights. Had a few with the guys on the track team or other teams; said he
didn't feel like a man unless he did something rough.

"Nah, people saw her come up to me. Plus no one at the club would think I
was trying to steal her girl. I have morals and I make sure everyone plays
fair." Schala tapped the table. "I like making sure areas I like stay that
way."

I nodded. It only takes an ass or two to really fuck up a place. Make a
call to a few friends and next thing you know, assholes are running around
a place and you can't really do anything. They out number you.

"Hope I didn't make you guys wait too long." Ashley ran over to us and
smiled. "Had to pick that up at the post office." She pointed behind her
and we noticed a box coming our way. Tom was carrying a pretty impressive
sized box. We could probably put Sam in there. Not that I would but it was
that big.

Tom dropped the box on top of the table. "It's not as heavy as you would
think." He backed up and smiled. "Will anyone take a guess who it's from?"

"A praying mantis ordering a wrong pizza and gave it to us?" Erika smiled.

"Or... " Schala moved the box so that her side could be seen to the rest of
us. We look at Noah's name plastered on the side with huge letters. We
laughed as we saw Noah written in big letters. From Noah to Ashley Fletcher
& monkeybutts.

"Does anyone have a knife?" We all looked at Schala.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" She frowned and reached into her
pocket. "Yeah, I do but do you really think I would have had one?" We
didn't say anything. "Aw, you guys know me so well." She smiled as we
laughed.

Ashley opened the top. "Noah said he attached clips with our names on
them." She pulled out a weird black book with silver lines painted around
it. "Schala..." She passed Schala the book.

"He found it? I told him it was pretty rare. They only had a few copies
there." She touched the book and noticed us looking. "It's a really rare
poetry book. Only a few were made since it had some really dark stuff in
it."

"You should read me some later." Erika smiled and looked at the book for a
few seconds.

"Okay, the next will be...." She took out a giant red fox. "So that's why
the box was so big." She looked around for the clip and found it on the
butt. She started laughing as she read. "For the pain in my butt. You can
always use something red. Erika."

Erika smiled and hugged the red fox. She loved stuffed animals, the cozier
the better. "Aw, he is so adorable."

I smiled. She was just like a child. "Next up." She reached inside and
pulled out another book. "How to make costumes for stupids?" She looked
over to Sam.

He was blushing. He reached over and took it. "I told him a few times how I
liked to create outfits." The red on his cheeks were pretty cute. Nothing
compared to Noah, though.

She reached into the box again took out a box. She opened it and it had
another box. She moved a piece of hair to the side and opened it
again. Another box. "This must be mine. He does know how to piss me off
more than anyone." Inside the box was another small box. "What the hell?"
There was a little sticker on the box that said Ashley. She opened it and
her eyes caught something. She reached inside and took out a necklace with
a small little red rose on it. "Oh this is so nice of him." She gave it to
Tom so he could put it on her.

She smiled as she dug deeper into the big box. "Hmm... " She took out
another box. It had Tom on it. "It's for you baby." Tom took it and looked
inside, he smiled and closed it.

"What is it?" Erika asked as she hugged her fox. Schala was looking inside
her book, as was Sam.

He blushed and put the box behind him. "Something not important."

"Let's see what else is here!" Ashley said before Erika would hound
Tom. She reached in and took out another box. How many boxes did he put
inside one box? "Says it's for Eric." She passed him the box.

He opened it up and he took out a pair of really nice looking running
shoes. "Wow. I was telling him about these shoes when we were coming back
from LA. Didn't think he would have paid attention. He was really bored."

Ashley took the big box away and started putting all the boxes back in
there. "Well, those are all the presents!" She sat down at the table with
Tom next to her. "Make sure you give Noah your thanks."

The guys were looking at their things while I was there looking at them
thinking why didn't I get anything? I wasn't expecting anything from him
but why the hell was I here?

"Aw! Is Liam mad he didn't get anything?" Erika laid her head on the
fox. "Doesn't he give you a lot of his time?"

I frowned at her. "I'm not mad I didn't get anything. It's okay that I
didn't get anything. I'm happy you guys got stuff, though."

"Oh, really?" Ashley dug into her purse and took out a small box. "This was
in the box. Says it's for you but if you don't want anything, I could give
it to Tom."

I reached over and snatched it from her hand. "Don't be mean." I opened the
box and something slid into my hand. Two things. A note and a bottle of
cologne. I opened the note and it read:

Hey Liam!

I really miss you! :( I thought of you when I went shopping with Steve.
Just a month and a few more days to go!  Thinking of you and your brown
eyes.

XoX Noah

I smiled and sprayed the cologne on my wrist. It was a good musky smell. It
was a brand I never heard of. It didn't look cheap though. I sniffed my
wrist again. It was a manly kind of smell. So I smelled manly?

"Why don't we go eat some pizza in thanks of Noah?" Tom asked as he looked
inside his box. There was a little miniature figurine inside. Tom had a
little collection of the little guys.

"Sure!" Erika jumped up and held the fox tightly.

Noah really did know us pretty well.


"So what are you wearing?" I was laying across my bed with my head on my
pillow, looking up at the ceiling and talking to Noah. I wasn't sure why I
asked that but why not?

He chuckled. "Well..." His voice got a little low. "Some sweatpants, a gray
shirt with holes, no socksÉ" He paused and I heard rustling. "No
underwear."

I smiled. Oh. "Oh, that's hot." I moved a bit to get comfortable and put my
hand on my chest. "Want know what I'm wearing?"

Again he chuckled. "I would have to say you are wearing jeans, a white
shirt, still have your shoes and socks on, and black boxers? Did I get it
right?"

Was he looking through my window? "How did you guess?"

"You are a simple guy. Nothing too out there. Just like back then."

That was true. I wore nothing with signs or symbols, just plain things. I
did occasionally wear clothes with the school mascot - a bear - but aside
from that, nothing too out there. Noah was the one with weird shirts and
wavy brown hair. He always wanted to stand out as a kid. I just wanted to
blend into the wall.

"I miss those old times." Mostly missed having him with me. Playing with
each other. Falling in love as kids and planning our whole future together.

"I do too but I'd rather us be older and together now. We can make our
future what we want it to be. Together."

"What would we be like if we didn't have to separate though?" He didn't
leave me. He wanted to be with me.

"Liam, it's something we shouldn't think about. We can't change it but we
can figure out what to do later. Why think about something that can't
happen. Instead think about what we can do."

I smiled. Well, there were things we could think about doing. "Like how
we're going to make out in the backseat of my car?"

He chuckled. "Oh, do you think I'm that kinda girl?"

"No, you're that kinda guy. Remember our 'practice' sessions in your room?"
I was a pretty bad kid back then. Watched some interesting stuff on TV and
we saw Steve doing it too. So why couldn't we try too?

"Well Liam, I would think we would have our first date and decided to be
monogamous by then."

"Oh baby, there are all sorts of things I want us to do after you are
mine." I smiled. "And I'm yours."

"Like?"

"Lots of things. One of them involves one of us bent over a table." Would
be pretty fun to play.

"Oh, really? What's the other one going to do?"

"Can't tell you everything now can I?" Well, the other one is going to be
watching as the one takes his turn when we play pool.

"I'll bend over and you can go behind me."

"Wouldn't playing pool be hard that way though?" He wouldn't be able to
shoot right.

He started laughing really hard I had to pull the cell phone away from my
ear. After a while he stopped and took deep breaths. "Liam... are you sure
you had sex before?"

"A couple of times." Depending what you meant by sex. Penetration, no but a
few blowjobs and handjobs. Penetration wasn't something I wanted to do to a
girl. Or a guy. Once I found out about sex I couldn't really think about it
aside from one person.

"I really like your little slow butt then, Liam Mitchell Heart."


Halfway into our summer break I had a very interesting thought. Things
between Noah and I were going very well. Great, even! A bit of casual
flirting and talking about our times as little kids. The one subject he
kept holding back was our getting back together. He was open to the idea
and wanted us to but he wanted to wait. If I wanted to make it official,
then I had to wait until he was here.

The date, kiss, and the asking out. The whole nine yards. I was up for that
but I couldn't say I was really happy about it. After wanting something for
so long, it's hard to wait for it when it's so close to your
fingertips. That was probably a bad thing but not really. I was a spur of
the moment type of guy. Noah never minded and always tagged along to my
crazy plans.

Even about getting married. We were kids.

"Are you sure you can keep it a secret?" I put the case on top of the
dashboard. It wasn't expensive but it wasn't cheap either. Doing odd jobs
now and then didn't earn much money. Enough to help me buy the truck
though.

"We already did it so I don't know why you're getting all nervous, big
bro." Erika changed the music station. The song ended and the announcers
were talking about random shit. She only liked the music, not the
'chatter,' as she so called it.

"It's something really big." Maybe it was soon but hell, live life with no
regrets.

"So are your smelly ass feet. But that's not what you're talking about. It
falls into my plans so I have nothing to worry about." She stopped when she
found a song she liked. "As long as you don't fuck them up, I'll keep my
lips sealed."

"How many plans do you have?" Right now I only had three. They all involved
Noah coming back. Which was a real good possibility. They said it always
was but they just wanted to be sure.

"Well, involving you or everybody?"  She looked at her nails. We spent four
hours getting them done. She even got me to get my toes done.

"Both."

"Forty nine. Fifty six if you count animals."

Shit, why so many? "Hopefully, for good, right?"

"Probably. Depends on what you think as good and evil." She raised her hand
up. "Seven of them are different types of pets that I want. Four of them
aren't really likely but the three are."

"She won't let you get a tarantula."

"Well, I have one right now and she doesn't know." She looked at me and
smiled. "Keep my secret and I'll keep him from knowing."


"Evelyn Nash. Born 1968, died 2005. May she rest in peace." That was
strange. Usually, it had "was a loving daughter and mother" on the graves
of mothers. My mother was sitting in front of it. She had put a few roses
on the tombstone and was currently praying. Noah's grandpa was right next
to his daughter. "Loving grandfather, devoted father, and loving
husband. Born 1940, died 2005."

Why did his have "loving" and "devoted" but not his daughter?

Noah didn't really tell me how his parents died, just that it was at night
and very unsuspecting. It started as normal but then everything went crazy.

The last one that died was Evelyn, at least from what I read up
online. Noah really didn't give me info on what happened but I had enough
to do some research. I didn't find much either, mostly that two kids
survived a brutal homicide. The mom was the last one stabbed. No
investigations were done afterwards either.

There were lots of holes but no one really asked any questions. I
understood since the only ones who survived were the ones who were
traumatized. The child was mentally broken while the teen was in intensive
care, almost paralyzed.

Couldn't really interrogate them without the risk of damaging them even
further. All that was said was that the case was closed and there was no
need to look for a suspect. Evidence had been gathered and the culprit was
contained. Whatever that meant.

Erika told me it was something she couldn't talk about. She had told me she
knew a bit more about the incident than I did. But not by much. Ashley had
most of the story, at least from what she knew, though getting her to talk
about it was almost impossible.

It was a very delicate thing to ask. Noah, who suffered through it and
Ashley, who defended Noah with giant teeth. It was in the past but it still
held a grip on Noah.


Eric, Tom, Ashley, Schala, and I looked at the orange envelopes on the
table. Erika was taking a shower. She was going to be a junior, not a
senior like we were. There was a chance we could have some classes
together. All the seniors had lunch together - Senior Lunch. Only the
seniors could leave the school for lunch. They made sure all the seniors
had lunch together, that way no underclassman could leave the school.

"Too bad Noah won't be able to open it with us." Schala touched her
envelope.

"He had his delivered to New York. He will be back in a few more days."
Ashley rubbed her hands. She was exited like the rest of us. Noah had a few
more days left in New York. The case was about to settle and it looked like
Noah was going to stay with Steve, among other things we didn't know
about. Just interesting things were happening over there.

"Guys, just open them up." Eric reached for his and tore the top part of
his envelope. We all shared a look and shrugged.

I looked at my schedule, it wasn't so bad. English, History, Math, Auto
Mechanics (Tom and Eric thought it would be a good thing to learn how to
fix cars), Free period, Science, and PE. It was actually a stamina and
muscle training program. It was for athletes at school. There was a name
for it at school but I can't remember it for the life of me.

We traded schedules and I was happy to know Tom and Eric shared my fourth
period and of course, seventh period too. First and third periods were
going to be shared with Ashley, which I was pretty happy about. It would be
almost like the old days. No classes with Sam but I had sixth period with
Schala.

We had a few teachers we hadn't heard of so chances were that we got new
teachers at school. Ashley made it a mission to know the teachers at
school, not personally but a bit of their background. She wanted
information on them to know how to keep on their good graces.

"So about the lunch situation. What are you guys going to do? Join us at
our little tree or stay in the funky smelling cafeteria." Schala asked as
she put her papers in her bag.


"Seeing as some people in our group are dating, wouldn't it be best to hang
out together?" Sam bit his lip.

"Well, yeah but what about Amber? Wouldn't she want to have her claws on
Liam?" Ashley had a point with that. Luckily she was on vacation with her
family so she couldn't really bother me this summer. I didn't know why she
liked me but she didn't care that I didn't like her back.

"Well, its our last year of high school. We should be together. Chances are
we won't be at the tree, though. We could leave school for forty five
minutes." I looked at Tom and nodded. Why would we want to eat the shitty
ass food in the cafeteria?

"Chances are Noah will want to find a pizza place nearby." Ashley took out
her cell and looked at the screen. "Oh, well this is interesting."

"What?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Noah." She typed a message. "He just told me something very interesting."
I was a little jealous. Not that I had a right to be. I know they didn't
like each other that way but they talked a lot and knew more things about
each other. I take fault in that but I was trying to make up for it
though. They couldn't tell me much but they kept giving me more information
as time passed.

"What's so interesting?" Schala leaned over to look at what Ashley was
texting.

Ashley covered her cell phone. "WellÉ She smiled and put her cell phone
away. "Steve got full custody of Noah and something else apparently. Noah
also got something interesting, too."

"Not going to tell us, huh babe?" Tom smiled at her.

She did the motion of zipping her lip. "He said to keep it a secret for
now."


He was back. Arrived yesterday but was late at night so we couldn't go over
to welcome him back. He didn't tell me his schedule so I had no idea what
classes we shared. He and the girls sure liked to keep their secrets. Tom
told me that I was probably going to have to get used to it. Some things
had to be said at the right time or done at the right moment.

I put on a white shirt and had blue loose jeans on. I slipped on my shoes
and pulled my collar. I was nervous and excited. I was going to have my
Noah back.

"Liam, hurry up! Steve texted Ashley and told us Noah just got up. We need
to hurry to go get the things." Erika said from my doorway. It was
currently six o'clock. We had a little plan set up to welcome Noah
back. Ashley had asked Steve to tell her when Noah woke up.

Each of us was in charge of something. Sam, Tom, and Eric were already at
school getting things ready. Schala and Ashley were getting the
supplies. All that was left was for Erika and I to bring in the main
item. Noah was going to be surprised. I reached over to grab my bag and
keys from my bed. I went to my dresser and pulled out an old teddy
bear. Erika raised an eyebrow.

"I thought-"

"I'm not. Not yet." I put the teddy bear back.

"Let's go before a line starts forming." Erika whined.

I smiled. "Okay, okay." I followed her down the stairs and out the
house. Mom was still asleep. Just a bit more and I was able to see Noah
again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just so you won't be confused the next chapter will be back to Noah's POV.

Fund nifty if you can~ by the way I have a new story in my head. I might
put a little thing on the end of the next chapter for you guys. This story
is about halfway over.