other half

starting now

isn't it funny? how love is perceived to be the most intoxicating thing in the world. how we are lead to believe that within minutes people can fall madly in love. it doesn't make sense, but at the same time, it makes more sense than anybody really understands.

Noah knew this of course. As well did mason, both boys lost in the madness of the same girl. one daring to love and the other sworn to protect. or really were they both to do the same thing. she had no idea the whirlwind she had exposed herself to. but then an absent mind is sometimes a safer mind is it not?

"lydia?!" Allie screeched breathlessly as the girl reached her front door. mason had driven off not moments before. she wasn't particularly tired, but with the long day she had had she was definitely ready to just let it go and go to sleep.

"Allie is everything alright?" Lydia tumbled back down the steps of her porch as she noticed that the blonde had gotten a thick red substance smeared across her chin. Her pulse quickening as the thought that one of the boys had done this to her weighed down her every step. her thumb gliding across her chin, the blonde flinching underneath her touch.

"i'm fine i just fell running over here" she removes her cousin hand from the open wound and ignores the blood, scanning every inch of the girl. she wasn't uncomfortable, not visibly anyway, and no bruises. she was okay?

"why are you home so late?" Allie breathes heavily, allowing worry to take her over. Noah would most likely kill mason if he hurt her, Noah is most likely going to try anyway as soon as mason steps through the front door.

"we got to talking and stayed at the carnival a little longer, so what?"

"so what?! Lydia, it's mason Cole normally when somebody comes back this late it means-"

"i didn't sleep with him, we were talking okay! he's not the asshole you make him out to be!" Lydia spat, the hatred the blonde had for Cole was formed from only Noah's perspective. he was his older brother, an ass, someone who was used to getting everything they wanted. but then she never really heard about mason when Noah wasn't angry. that and she had seen him out multiple times with girls who either looked too into it or looked massively uncomfortable and were looking for any way out of the situation.

the fact that Lydia couldn't see the evil mason bore angered the blonde. all she knew of Mason Cole was that. evil. he was a bad person who made others bend to his will. he was just like his father and that was that. the fight between the two boys earlier that evening only proved her point further, at least in her mind.

"Lydia, he's a Cole, he's just like his father, you've known him two hours and i-"

"and you have what? how long have you known him? did you know that he promised to keep mine and Noah's secret? that he actually looks out for Noah, takes some of his fathers beatings too, you don't know him, i don't really know him but i got a damn good picture of the person he is tonight and believe me he is not his father, and the stories you've heard aren't true,  Allie he's not a bad person, he's just had a crappy rumor spread about him"

the scowl on the brunettes face was harsh and unwelcoming, she loved her cousin unconditionally but in this instance she was wrong. she had made the same judgment Lydia had and she was wrong.

the silence was overwhelming. the entire night had gone still in shock from the venom of Lydia's words as they filled the air between them. she stood strong, arms folded over her chest trying to protect herself from the cold. a brisk wind had swept it's way up the dirt path breaking the tension between them.

the blondes mouth opened and shut, trying desperately to find the right words to say. sorry didn't seem right but at the same time, nothing really said what she felt needed to be said. neither were willing to admit defeat and were convinced that the other was entirely wrong. incorrect or had been deceived by another's choice of words.

"no i didn't know that" she finally spoke wrapping her jacket further around her, her blonde curls being tucked under the collar.

"i'm sorry i didn't mean to snap at you, but it's exactly what he said people thought of him,how they only saw him as a Cole and not for himself, you don't look at Noah and think oh god here comes Noah Cole"

"me and Bobby might not but the rest of the town sure does, they've eased up on Noah but with the others? they thing they're all the same, Mason has showed no interest in anything other than his family-"

"because if he does he ends up like Noah, with cuts and bruises all over him" that was when it struck her once more. the perilous thought scratching at the front of her mind, desperate for a release. 

Was Noah okay? did he go home to get hurt even more? why was Allie here if Noah was in trouble?

"where is he?" she asked with such an urgency the blonde couldn't quite process her change in tone.

"what?"

"where is Noah?"

"he's just out he never went home"

"we have to find him-" the living room light flickered on and she knew her time was up. her fathers knuckle rattling against the glass pane signalling her last few moments needed to end now. "if you see him on the way home tell him to meet me at the diner tomorrow!" she half yelled rushing inside. once the door was shut and Lydia was gone from sight Alison made her way home. not knowing if she had been right in telling Lydia that Noah hadn't gone home.

he had in fact gone home that night, but he wasn't going to return home. there was a scrap yard not too far out from the town, it was big and so half the cars there would be empty. the seats were tough and the cold nights were rough but he didn't really have anywhere else to go. upon packing his things, he took the keys for his truck and headed out for the scrap yard. the truck didn't have heating and there wasn't really enough room for him to sleep. he parked his car towards the back of the yard and made way for one of the bigger cars towards the reception building. it wasn't exactly a five star hotel but it was something. for now at least.

as he lay down across the back seat all that was going through his mind was Lydia. the pain in her eyes as he fought mason. he pushed away the thoughts of mason riding off with Lydia, bringing the memory of the night they first met.

the golden streaks in her hair, the mix of maroon and emerald in her eyes. her soft encouraging smile. the hilarious victory dance she did when she won at ski ball. the way the skin around her eyes crinkle up when she's smiling. how she trusted him when she was terrified of jumping off the marsh. how her eyes glittered in the light.

his eyes closed and the smile on his lips faded for a few moments of pure bliss. the world was silent and nothing could break this glowing warmth surrounding him. for the first time in a long time Noah had experienced pure joy.