Cloudy with a chance of heartbreak

The other victim

Three years ago
Noah's POV

Katie and I ran down to our spot. Her giggles were like musical notes drifting into my heart and soothing my soul.

She plonked herself down on the sand ungracefully and beamed up at me. I couldn't help but pick her up and spin her around, soaking in every last bit of her magnificent beauty. How did I get so lucky?

I gently placed her back down and she stared out at the expansive still blue ocean before us.

"Do you think you'll get here in time," she said cryptically.

"Huh?" Her words made me uneasy. Was there something I was forgetting?

She snapped out her trance and began giggling again. "Come here Noah Hudson," she grinned and pulled me closer to those impossibly soft lips.

I could get lost in these lips forever. I hungrily kissed her beautiful mouth and wrapped my arms around her small waist.

"Why does it hurt so much," she whispered as I began trailing kisses along her jaw

"What hurts baby?" I groaned back, lost in a cloud of pure bliss as I explored her dainty neck.

My lips trailed back to hers but when I reached them, they were wet and sticky. There was a metallic taste in my mouth. Confused, I pulled away and looked at my girl.

Her face was covered in blood. It was everywhere. My hands were crimson.

"Katie, what is happening baby?" I panicked as I searched her terrified baby blues for an answer. Her face was deathly pale.

"Help me Noah, why won't you help me," she groaned.

My eyes shot open and my desperate wails filled the room. I was dripping in sweat. It was just a nightmare, I reassured myself and tried to calm down.

But then I remembered it wasn't a nightmare at all. This was my grim reality now.

Katie's blood everywhere, her beaten and helpless body limp in my arms. My life had become my worst nightmare.

I made a dash to the bathroom to splash water over my face, but nothing could wash away the glaring images of Katie, discarded like a broken rag doll on the beach.

Katie was being brought out of her induced coma today but I couldn't be there. I didn't deserve to go anywhere near her.

I started crying again, thinking of the girl I waited for my whole life only to lose her the moment she was mine. I did everything right, I kept my promise to her dad, I stayed away when I wanted to kiss her more than anything else in the world. Years of excruciating yearning, years of playing the protector and it all was ripped away from me because when it really mattered, I walked away. I hated myself more than the piece of shit that hurt her.

Later that day, Liam walked into my room without an invitation. I ignored him and kept flicking through the channels.

"You're off the hook, she remembers everything," he said bitterly.

I winced. So now she had to live with the vile memories of what happened to her. I had really hoped she wouldn't remember. I was prepared to take the fall, I wasn't even going to put up a fight.

"She asked for you," he said accusingly.

I blinked but kept flicking through the channels.

"Aren't you going to say something?! Or are you planning to just stay holed up in here when she needs you by her side?"

"Fuck off Liam," I gruffly said to him.

"You're pathetic! God knows why but she wants to see you! I wouldn't be here if it was up to me, but I care enough about her to beg you to just pull your head out of your ass and go see your girlfriend!"