The Ruins Of Tomorrow

39. Home

Noah stared at me as if he had seen a ghost. I broke his train of thought by speaking first when he tried to say something. "What are you doing here, Noah?" I asked.

He walked towards me and stopped to wipe away a tear from my cheek. He placed his hands on my shoulders in a comforting manner and gazed at my face. "Are you okay? Are you in pain somewhere?" He asked softly.

"You should tell me why you are here first," I said.

"I'm here to take you back home." He grabbed my arm, trying to push me out of the double doors until I stopped in my tracks.

I slapped his hand away. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What? Why?" He sounded impatient.

I let out a sigh. "It's best that I stay behind. I think everyone else in Terrenceville can agree on that."

"Well I'm not everyone," he said. He looked at me with almost a glare until a frown formed on his lips. "I know people have said a lot behind our backs but you didn't do anything wrong, Scarlet. I don't believe the bullshit of what the guards found in your bag or the people's remarks."

"That's not the issue. You don't know anything about me," I argued, but he just continued to look at me with a sad gaze. "But I'm not going to try to sit and defend myself when there is no point even if I know I didn't do anything wrong. And besides, I don't add anything to Terrenceville. I'm just someone who helped you guys get supplies to bring back, but that doesn't matter at all if others see you differently. I only keep bringing you guys so much trouble."

I went back to the wired fence and looked at the buildings in the distance. I knew arguing wasn't going to change Noah's mind. He was the type to set his mind on something and not let go of it. He walked up right next to me as he looked down while biting his lip, thinking deeply.

He was easy to look at when he was distracted. I looked down at his rough hands that were red and scratched up. He must have had a difficult time trying to get to the city as well. Noah was probably jumping from houses to houses looking for fresh marks that I must have left behind. Which eventually led him up here, since he looked surprised when he saw me on the rooftop.

"You make Thomas's life better," he said out loud. "You make my life better."

Scoffing, I grabbed my bag from the ground and made my way to the double doors when he moved quicker to block me. "The person who has been trying to frame you is still out there. I need you to help us find them. You're the only one who can."

"You can find someone else to help you guys."

"No one can replace you, Scarlet," Noah said. "Thomas needs you as much as he needed you from the start."

Something ached inside me, tangled up emotions I didn't want to feel again. It was hard to ignore them, and just forcing them away made them worse. "Thomas is better off without me."

He was safer in Terrenceville than with me. I didn't want to risk his life again like before. He has already dealt with so much and I didn't want to keep being a burden towards him. I didn't want him to hurt or cry. He deserved something better than me. I was never meant to be in his life. It was only a coincidence. Because of me, the Novas and Hunter hurt him.

"You're lying," he said.

"What? Why would I lie about something like that?"

"You tell me," he pressed on. "You're scared that something could happen to Thomas and you would blame yourself again."

I just shook my head at him. I didn't want to accept his words even if they were true. Why did it hurt so much? I thought leaving for good would have made things easier for everyone, but maybe that wasn't the case. I thought leaving would have made things easier for me personally.