Love & Carnage✗Noah Foster [2]

Chapter Twenty-Two//'She likes to drive'

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"Do the rules just not apply to them?"

--Haley Meyers

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"Just tell me you're okay." Noah pleaded as I walked into his bedroom. "Noah, I was not hurt tonight. You need to understand this." I told him, sitting down on his bed. I caught eye of his murder board for the second time today, feeling that pain in my chest. Mine and Audrey's faces were still up there. "Now, please tell me why you needed me to come here so late?" I crossed my arms. "Arielle." Noah turned in his chair. "What?"

"You haven't been on The Morgue yet, so I was thinking--"

"Noah!" I whined, standing up. He turned his chair back to his computer. He put his mouth close to the microphone. "Testing, testing. Welcome to The Morgue." He said in a calm voice that reminded me of NPR.

Something caught my eye at the door. I turned my head and so did Noah. A guilty-looking Audrey walked into the room. Nobody spoke. "Thought you were going home." Noah broke the silence. "I was... but if I don't tell you guys this tonight, I may never be able to." Audrey explained quietly. I watched her quietly. Noah leaned back in his chair, watching his best friend. "Okay. Go."

Audrey sighed and walked towards the door, closing it. "I know why the killer is after me." She admitted. "He knows what I've done and that I would do anything to keep it secret." Audrey sat beside me on Noah's bed. Audrey paused once she saw the board. "I brought Piper to Lakewood." She revealed. My mouth fell open as I watched my friend beside me. "I was so alone and--and--and pissed at the world, so... I found Piper. I wrote her letters. I begged her to come to Lakewood and... help me research for a documentary about Brandon James. The thing about Brandon is, he may have looked different, but he wasn't a monster." Audrey looked from me to Noah. "He was like me. He was alone, rejected, and angry. It was Lakewood that turned him into a monster." Audrey continued on. "When people started dying, Piper swore to me that it wasn't her, and I believed her, and now... now, I'm paying for my mistakes...for all that blood. I deserve this." Audrey concluded. I watched her with sadness. I stood up, without saying a word, I wrapped my arms around her. She was surprised, but wrapped her arms around my waist. Noah, behind me, stood up. "Audrey, if you believe that, then Piper and this sicko win." Noah hugged the other side of her. "You're not a monster, Aud." I told her. "You're a victim." Noah finished. We stood there for a while, hugging her. "Promise me you won't tell Emma. I need to be the one to do it." Audrey whispered. Both, Noah and I looked over her head at each other and nodded.

I woke up with the sunlight shining in my eyes. I picked my head up and looked to see my head was on Noah's chest. He was fully awake and he was talking to Audrey, on the other side of the bed.

"Hey, buddy." Audrey smiled at me. I yawned, and looked up at Noah, who stared at me. I pulled away from him immediately. "You know you snore, right?" Audrey smiled at me. "I do not." I began to laugh. "Oh, you do." Noah added. I shook my head and leaned against his window. "Hey, thanks for letting me crash." Audrey told Noah. "I don't think I would've been okay by myself."

"Me either, actually." I looked to Noah. He nodded. Then, he sat up. "Hey... you know you need to tell Emma everything you told us last night, right?" Noah told Audrey. "No." Audrey said quickly. "There's no way I'm ever telling her any of that."

Noah and I looked at each other, and I intervened. "But with everything that's happened--"

"I destroyed her life." Audrey cut me off, sitting up. "Well, technically..." Noah trailed off. "Piper destroyed her life." I finished for him. "I brought Piper here!" Audrey shouted. "I get that you're scared, but...we understood. And Emma will too. You just... you just gotta give her a chance." Audrey jumped off his bed, walking towards the murderboard. "Emma's not you guys." Audrey grabbed her picture and mine off the board and crumpled it in her hands. She then turned to us with a smile. "I'm starving."

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Audrey, Noah, and I walked into the busy Grindhouse Cafe, where Eli and another barista tended the counter. "Hey," he said to us as we approached the counter. "Hi." I returned his smile. "If you're looking for Emma, she traded the early shift with me, last minute, and I am so not pissed." Eli said sarcastically, while wiping the counter. "Not looking for Emma." I told him. "Uh, we're looking for caffeine and baked things at the moment." Noah said. "Which is on me, for last night." Audrey told us. "All right." Noah shrugged. "Uh, I actually see a spot on the couch opening up, so I'm gonna go grab that." Noah moved me out of the way gently. "But, uh, get me the usual--" Before he could tell us. I answered for him. "Mocha, coconut, extra shot, and one of those yogurt granola things." I sighed, with a smile. Noah and Audrey stared at me in surprise. I shrugged. Noah pointed at me. "Yeah!" He then turned and walked towards the couch. "What do you want?" Audrey asked me. "Uh, just a hot chocolate." I said. "Thanks." I added. It must have been seconds, but when I turned to Audrey, she still stared at me. "What? Aren't you gonna order?" I nudged her. "Arielle, I already did." Audrey squinted at me. It was quiet between us for a second. I hadn't realized that she had ordered..."I know you two will make it." Audrey told me with a smirk. I raised my eyebrows at her. "What are y--?" Behind Audrey, something--someone caught my eyes. Zoe stood in front of Noah, talking. Or flirting. It was the same thing with Zoe. You don't care, you don't care. I tried to tell myself, turning back to the counter. I was too busy in my own mind to realize that our stuff had come. I helped Audrey bring it to the couch, where Noah and Zoe were talking about studying. "Hey, Zoe." Audrey interrupted them. "Audrey." She greeted coldly. I raised my eyebrows and decided against saying anything. Audrey passed me my hot chocolate and grabbed her coffee, pulling me to sit with her on the couch. I tried not to eavesdrop, but I knew Audrey was listening too, so...

"So, what do you say? Like, one-ish?" Zoe asked Noah. "Of course. That sounds great. Uh, you'll pick me up? I mean, I will pick you up?"

"No, no, no. I'll pick you up. I like to drive." Zoe smiled at him. "See ya."

"Bye." Noah said, in kind of a daze. Once she left, Noah took a seat beside me. Audrey and I stayed quiet for a second, before she broke the silence. "She likes to drive." She said, and I snorted. "First, shut up. Second, it's just a study session." Noah said. "Okay, study session or study date?" I crossed my arms, watching him. Noah looked at me. But said nothing. "Oh, my God. Foster, learn to read a moment, or you will be a virgin forever." Audrey told him. That's when I jumped up. "Arielle?" They both looked at me in confusion. "I--I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay?" I told them, grabbing my hot chocolate. "Thanks for this, uh... bye." I waved at them awkwardly, rushing for the door.

A/N, sorrrryyy it's short, I'm just trying to get through September, guys! The next one will be longer, pceee!