Bad Memories // a.u.

chapter 30: home

Keaton left a little while ago after much protesting and only after agreeing that he would come back in the morning. Now, Skylar and I were laying in my bed since she didn't want me to sleep alone even though I told her I was capable of such a thing. I let her stay because I knew she only wanted to be there for me. I was thankful for this, but I felt in a way that she was hovering, trying to protect me from something. We were on our sides, facing each other in the dim lighting of my room from the night light that Skylar insisted on turning on.

"Where were you?" Skylar whispered. It was weird to hear her talk like this. She always talked so loudly, almost obnoxiously, but now she was talking like she was nervous. It was as if she wasn't sure she could ask me what she wanted to.

"What do you mean? I was at the cabin, you know that."

"When you were running to the cabin, I mean. Jake was coming behind you. He was with you, wasn't he? Where were you coming from?"

I squeezed my eyes shut. Once we had gotten back to the house, Keaton had put in Frozen because he knew I loved that movie and no one had brought up Jake at all. I was surprised at this, but also thankful for the distraction and to be safe. "I was with him. He was helping me escape, but while we were at the gas station I saw Wes' car pass so I came back to the cabin."

"Helping you escape? Why was he there in the first place?" Skylar's voice rose back to its normal volume as she sat up.

I sighed, trying to form a coherent thought in my head to say this right. "Ian is Jake's uncle," I finally told her. "Jake helped him kidnap me to get back at you for telling him that you loved him but not really meaning it but when he figured out that Ian wanted to kill me, he tried to help me escape."

Her jaw dropped at my words and she stayed silent for a long moment. "Oh my god, Noelle. This is all my fault. If I didn't mess up, Jake wouldn't have helped that asshole and none of this would've happened."

I shook my head and sat up, placing a hand on her shoulder. "That's not true. Ian would've found me anyway. He was already in California coming to look for me. It probably happened faster because he found Jake in the hotel, but it's not your fault. I don't blame you for anything. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Ok, Noelle. I just wish none of this happened. It's all so messed up, but at least we have each other right?"

"Right," I told her and hugged her tight.

**********

A banging on the front door downstairs jolted me out of my sleep. Skylar was still sound asleep next to me, so I climbed out of bed and rushed to see who it was. I wiped the sleep from my eyes before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

"Aunt Kathryn?"

"Hi dear," she said, walking in without being invited and hugged me. "How are you feeling? I bet the past weeks have been quite traumatic." She let go of me and walked farther into the house, inspecting it.

"Uh, I'm alright. It's been a tough couple weeks, yeah. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

"Oh, Skylar didn't mention I was coming?"

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head. Skylar knew she was coming? "No, she didn't."

"Oh. Well I'm not so sure that this whole California living on your own thing is going so well. It may be time for you and Skylar to move back home to Rhode Island."

Tears stung my eyes as the words left her lips. "This is my home. You can't make leave."

"I sure as hell can make you leave. I pay for this house and I can stop at any time. Nothing good has happened for you here, Noelle and Rhode Island is your home."

"More good has happened to me here than anywhere else and you don't decide what my home is. Skylar and Keaton are my home and they aren't in Rhode Island. Neither is the beautiful beach outside. I used to hate the beach because it reminded me of mom and dad when they took me to the beach once, but now I like it. I like the vastness and the openness of it. I like the night sky here and I like little cafe that Keaton works at. This is home to me. Nothing means anything to me in Rhode Island. I have made the best memories of my life here with people I love. I've fallen in love here. You can't take that away from me."

My aunt crossed her arms over her chest and I saw her eyes flick behind me for a second. I turned around to see Skylar standing there, tears streaking down her face. I squeezed my eyes shut because seeing her was only going to make me cry more. Knowing that she didn't tell me Kathryn was coming and that she wanted us to move hurt like hell.

"That was a nice speech, but it doesn't change anything. You don't have any supervision. You can run rampant and I've not even met this boy you claim to have fallen in love with. He could be bad news for all I know. I should've known this was a horrible idea. Your father would kill me if he knew I let you run off to California with Skylar."

"You know nothing about Keaton or me. You have no right to talk about him like that! I'm staying in California even if you stop paying for this house. I'll get a job and I can find my own place to live."

She let out an ugly laugh. "Like hell you will."

"Kathryn, I think you should go. Give Noelle some space for now, ok?" Skylar spoke from the stairs.

The door opened and Keaton walked in before she could say anything, staring blanking at the scene before him. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked, walking over to my side.

"No," I told him. "My aunt was just leaving."

At that, she turned away without another word and slammed the door on her way out.

"What did I miss?" Keaton asked as we made our way into the living room.

"She wants me to go back to Rhode Island," I explained as we all plopped onto the couches, me and Keaton on one and Skylar on another.

He ran his thumb along my cheek, wiping the tears away. "Elle, that sucks. What did you tell her?"

"That I can't move. My home is here now, with you and Skylar. She just said that she pays for the house and she can stop at any time, which is true. I honestly don't know what to do."

"What if she just stops paying the bills?" Skylar chimed in.

"I don't know," I threw my head back against the couch.

Keaton moved so that he could pull me onto his lap. "We'll figure something out. I'm sure my mom would let you move in," he said with a laugh.

I gave him a look. "I'm trying to be serious, Keaton."

"I know, sorry. But we will figure something out, ok? I'm not going to lose you again when I just got you back," he whispered.

"I'm not losing you either," I said, tangling my fingers in his hair and placing a sweet kiss on his lips.

hi (: sorry for the long wait, but i was super busy. hope you like the update. please vote/comment xx zoe