english - c.hood 01 | au

twenty six

c a l u m

driving around and looking for noelle made me nervous.

what made me nervous was that she was in pain and she was alone.

i didn't ever want her to feel alone, let alone the pain she's facing with it.

so i did what i was told to and i went to the cemetery.

i took me about ten minutes to build up the nerve to get out of my car, let alone step foot onto the property.

her friends were smart, they knew exactly where she would be.

it took a bit of searching on my part, but eventually i caught sight of her.

she was laying down in the grass between the two tombstones.

the sight was heartbreaking.

and all she did was talk normally as tears flowed down her face, no sobbing or muffled words; her words were clear and face was drained in sadness.

"oh james, you would've loved it. the big campus, it's so big. and they have this giant park, i would've taken you to go play soccer all the time. you could've met calum too, he likes soccer a lot. you would've liked him a lot, you too, dad. i mean, you would've been disappointed in me for dating my teacher, but hey, there's a first time for everything. but i know you dad, you would have moved passed it because you wanted me to be happy, that's all you ever wanted. he makes me so happy, dad, so so happy. nora was right, i have to live a little. because if i don't, i'll never get to truly be happy. and it's been a really long time since i've been happy."

"you make me happy too, little girl, just don't run away next time."

noelle quickly jolted you're from her comfortable position on the ground, startled by my sudden appearance.

"w-what are y-you doing here?" she stutters. "h-how much d-did you hear?"

"enough for me to realize just how much you truly mean to me." i smiled, walking towards the girl. "well? aren't you going to introduce me?"

noelle let a small smile spread on her lips, myself sitting down behind her, pulling her in, and wrapping my arms around her.

"james, dad, this is calum." she beams. "cal, that's my dad, and that's my little brother james. dad would've wanted you to call him jack though, that's his middle name, he prefers it."

"hi james, hi jack." i nodded. "it's nice to meet you. you have a very lovely daughter and sister here, i like her very much."

"you're such a cheese ball." she laughed, resting her head on my chest."

"noelle, babe, why did you leave before?" i asked. "we were all so worried. your friends said you didn't show up to where you were meeting them."

"shit, i forgot about that." she sighs. "i'm sorry."

"it's okay, love." i smiled. "but what's wrong? you don't just run out because you can, i know you hold yourself to be better than that."

"w-well there was that girl." she began.

i knew it.

"no, it's not what you think." she says. "i don't know who she is, and sure she seems to know you or whatever, i don't care. but i've seen her before. she looked right at me, it was really weird. something was up, and i was going to come here after class anyways, so i left. i had a bad feeling, so i ran, i'm sorry."

"you have nothing to be sorry for." i said. "you didn't do anything wrong. i'm doing my best to get rid of caroline, don't worry. you have nothing to worry about, love."

"are you sure?"

"yes."

"how do you know?"

"because i love you too much to ever imagine losing you."