other half

Noah

the girl had fallen fast asleep next to the fire place as Lydia still fiddled with the envelope in her hands. she had waited a long time to open it. though the date it was addressed never came, she still waited for him. wondering just how different her life would have gone if she had gone back that Kaitlyn? or spent that summer in Italy with Alison and her friends from work?

but there was one question that burned inside her, and she asked it often...

would she have been happier?

would she have needed so many nights out, or another place to stay when things got rough with rick (the ex-husband)? would Kaitlyn have Noah's eyes? or charms? would she have had more children? she was never truly keen on children until she found out she was pregnant with her daughter, then things began to change.

rick didn't see it the same way, he would get drunk and come home screaming that Lydia would have rather gotten pregnant with Noah's child. that since they moved back to longebrooke that's all she would talk about, Alison, bobby, mason and Noah. then one day he picked the wrong fight and lost. and so he never went back to longebrooke, out of shame more than anything else really.

she drew her mind back to the present. the date was imprinted in her mind. 20.07.78. the day they were supposed to get married. years after they had met and were supposedly brought together by fate. not that Lydia believed it was fate. even his messy words couldn't convince her of it. but something inside her just knew.

Kaitlyn's 14th birthday was coming up soon and lord knows she was more desperate now to find out more about Noah than before.

she would read her stories while she was young as she fell asleep. only parts of the story though, she would often change it a bit as well. to make them happier. so that she didn't feel so bad about the choices she had made in the end.

About leaving Noah.

With all the strength she could muster she moved the young girl from beside the fireplace back onto the sofa before heading off to bed herself.

tears brimming in her eyes as the loneliness started to settle in. she had loved the boy more than anything in the world. the decision she made was to benefit them both...

truthfully she never thought it would get this far.

morning came with an unholy thud on the glass. Noah's eyes shot open as they were greeted with an angry man stood over the top of him. silver hair across a stern brow. his icy blue eyes piercing into his soul. his expression began to soften spotting the carry bag noah had stuffed down the gap between the chairs beside him, not wanting to give anyone any reason to break into the truck as he had done to the car.

he pulled himself together before climbing out of the car. fear was beginning to settle in his bones at the thought of the man returning him to his father. he couldn't go home. he wouldnt go home. Realising the bruise still stained his arm, he folded them over his chest hoping to cover it as best as he could. the bag at his feet, he watched as the old man searched the front of the car.

"you didn't take anything did you?"

"no sir" he answered plainly. not wanting to cause the man any more trouble than he had already done. he was old, but something about him still lived in his youth. he was roughly 69 going on 70. though the way he stood strong and determined made Noah question whether he was right or not.

"what's in the bag?"

"clothes sir, necessities" he goes to open the bag but the man stops him. spotting the bruise almost instantly as Noah maneuvered the bag from the ground to his shoulder. the man nods softly before motioning for Noah to follow.

if he called his father Noah would run. there was no doubt about it. the time had come where Noah knew he had pushed too far and this time he had pushed himself out. which meant either blood would be spilled of the ones he cared about, or he would be disowned. of which he hoped for the second option.

"where's your friend?"

"my friend?" his mind instantly goes to alison or bobby, seeing as they were the only two people who he really considered friends in the town. everyone else was...afraid and so they were nice out of fear for the consequences if they weren't.

"the pretty brunette you were with at the carnival, i saw you two together throwing balls" Noah's cheeks flushed pink. of course. he meant Lydia. the pretty brunette girl... that ran off with his brother last night. his chest ached and he pushed the thought away.

"i dont know" his jaw visibly clenched to refrain from saying anymore that could possibly harm her in his or the old mans eyes.

the old man huffed. he knew exactly how Noah felt. not that he would know that. whenever a man utters the words i dont know they are followed by i dont care, trying to convince himself that that statement is true. when truthfully it's a load. 

seeing as he didn't use the follow up phrase, the fact that he didn't know was killing him but there was nothing he could do about it.

"there's a shower out back, go clean yourself up and be ready"

"for what sir?"

"i'm taking you home"

Noah's eyes widened but there was no argument. Something about the way the man said home made him feel slightly at ease. home wasn't really a place to him anymore. it wasn't really anything to him but a word. a word that had lost it's meaning. but the way this man spoke, he gave it meaning, made it sound less horrific than Noah had known it to be.

Noah did as he was told and once dressed he piled his bag onto the backseat of the mans car before joining him up front, awaiting whatever would come next.