Broken Promises

45 | blake

"Are you serious?" Noah asks. He stands a few feet away from me in my bedroom, expression one of shock.

"Yes," I tell him with a nod. "I filed a report and everything. It was something I just couldn't handle on my own anymore."

As of right now, it is two days after I told my sister about the way Mason assaulted me. I told my parents the same night, and filed a report against Mason the following morning. Now I'm filling Noah in on all that has happened, as he has a right to know.

"You told your family?" Noah questions. "About . . . what happened?"

I can tell that Noah dislikes the conversation. Clear as day, I can read his uncomfortable expression. He seems to take what happened almost as personally as I do, like he feels all the emotions I do about the situation. It makes me love him all the more, knowing that he cares about me in such a way.

"Yes. Well, Brooke and my parents."

Noah takes a seat at my desk, gaze meeting mine as he glances my way.

"How did your parents react? When you told them?"

"They didn't take it so well," I admit. My parents were shocked when I told them the story I'd told Brooke. My mother had been crying, holding me close and constantly asking if I was okay. My father had been so furious, he'd actually broken a vase (on accident, but still) on his way to the landline, where he proceeded to call Mason's father and yell at him for nearly half an hour about what Mason did.

It'd been a long night.

"I can only imagine," Noah murmurs. He leans back in his chair, appraising me silently. "I'm proud of you. I know it's hard for you to talk about. Especially with your family. And I know that you were worried about reporting Mason. But you still did it. That was very brave of you."

I bite down on my lip, lost in thought. I'd been hesitant to report Mason for many reasons. One of them being the fact that by reporting him, I'd be single-handedly ruining his life, taking away future job opportunities, potential scholarships, his reputation.

I'd only managed to move past this mindset when I realized that Mason could do the same as he did to me to another girl. I couldn't risk Mason ruining another person. Assault is a hard thing to go through, much less live through. I couldn't stop thinking about how destructive it can be to a person—how hard its been on me—and how Mason could cause someone else pain similar to mine. That's when I realized I had to stop protecting a criminal, and instead protect the potential lives of others he could hurt.

"I was just telling my truth," I say simply.

"The truth is the hardest thing to tell sometimes," Noah points out.

Tears well in my eyes, and I suppose it's because I know Noah is right. I'd felt so vulnerable sharing my story with my family, much less to the police officers I spoke with. It's something personal to me, something hard to talk about. Yet I managed to do it, and I got through it.

A tear falls down my cheek. And then I am crying, shedding tears of sadness and freedom, reliving the past and releasing it all at once.

My mattress curves as Noah sits down next to me, wordlessly wrapping me in his arms and pulling me into him. I cry into his chest as Noah runs a hand over my hair, whispering in my ear in an attempt to comfort me.

"Today," Noah murmurs, "you became the bravest person I know, Blake Rhodes."

"Even when I'm crying?" I joke through my tears.

"Especially then," Noah says softly, cupping my face in his hands. "It takes strength to be able to show emotion. You taught me that. Even when it's tears. Especially when it's tears."

"Noah Reed," I say, smiling up at him through my tears. "You are something else."

When he kisses me, it's different somehow. Kissing Noah often feels safe and comfortable, like I'm coming home. But this time, it feels new and maybe a little scary, though in a good way. Somehow, I know that we've only grown closer. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

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a/n: my only personality trait is being obsessed w my girlfriend and yk what? i'm cool w that