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“Give the guy a break. I picked him up out of the cold. You’ve always been too much for everyone,” Derek said.
“I’ve never been too much for my guy here. He knows what he wants and is more than willing to take it, aren’t you, Noah?”
“Not tonight, Rebecca.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You got the whole dark and brooding thing down, but it’s going to get old real fast.”
“Rebecca, cut it out,” Derek said.
“Oh, come on, you guys don’t think the same thing?” she asked. “So you were taken, but you weren’t alone. You had that fat chick, Skye, right? The one that was tutoring you.”
Noah stared down at his bottle. Gripping it tightly within his fist, he ignored her, needing the break, needing to ignore everything that was happening right now.
“I’m out of here.” He put the bottle of beer down and headed out.
Before he left, he saw the shock on Rebecca’s face. For all of her popularity, people would remember this party as her rejection. Guys and girls from their school had seen him put her down and then leave as if she meant nothing. It would hit her reputation more than anything else.
He failed to give a fuck. The guy they had all known was gone. He slammed the front door closed, but he heard Derek.
“Man, you know what’s she’s like. She has no fucking filter. She doesn’t know when to shut her mouth.”
“I don’t care. I don’t need to listen to her shit, or any of it.”
“Being away really did a number on you, didn’t it?” Derek asked.
“Dude, I wasn’t on vacation. It’s not like I had a choice about what I did or where I went. You know what? Fuck this shit. I’m out of here.”
****
Skye watched as Noah walked down the driveway. It wasn’t the first time he’d come to her house or even at the hospital. Her parents were being … overprotective. She didn’t know how to stop them. Sure, she could call to him, but he looked so defeated with his drooped shoulders, and his sadness. It clung to him like a second skin. Besides, she didn’t want him to feel responsible for her. This was their clean start, and he needed to have that as well. He was a good guy, and he didn’t need to keep feeling guilty for her.
“That boy doesn’t know when to stop,” her mother said, coming back into the room.
Skye let go of the curtain and turned to her very smiling mother.
“So, where were we?”
“You were trying to convince me to talk to someone.”
“That’s right. I have a friend—”
“Mom, why don’t you want me to see Noah?”
“What?”
“You send him away all the time. I don’t know why. Why don’t you want me to see him?” She folded her arms across her chest, waiting.
Lilly’s face went bright red. She actually looked embarrassed.
“I don’t think it’s good for you to dwell on what happened. Noah was there, and he could spark memories.”
“Mom, I don’t have amnesia. I remember perfectly fine.” Her parents knew some of what happened, only because her injuries had been told to them, along with the knowledge that she wanted the pill and an examination in the event of a suspected pregnancy. There had been trauma to her anus, and her vagina had shown rape as well. It didn’t take a genius to fill in the blanks, not that she talked about it.
“I know that, but it must still be scary for you. I wasn’t even there, and it sounded scary to me.”
Skye stared out of her window, and there was no trace of Noah. The nights were the worst. Lying in bed, staring at the empty space where he’d once been. She didn’t know it was possible to miss him. They had been forced together against their will. She’d gone from being his annoying tutor to his roommate, and then his fuck buddy, and then what? His escape partner. The cop that had come to her room, Denison, wanted her to tell him everything, every little detail, and he kept coming back to Noah. It was like he wanted her to make his life easier by accusing the guy who had helped her to safety.
She wasn’t going to accuse Noah of rape. It wasn’t the whole story. Noah was forced just as much as she was. At least they had each other, and for Skye that was all that mattered.
