"Don't make promises you can't keep."
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Noah Reed is lost. Fed up with his constant attitude and need for self-destruction, his mother sends him to live out the rest of the year with his father in hop...
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I study Blake skeptically, eyes wandering over her face through narrowed slits, waiting for the truth to come out.
Contrary to what I expected to happen, Blake meets my gaze with wide and daring brown eyes, as if to suggest her words are true. She holds my stare defiantly for a long moment, and I begin to wonder if maybe I'm wrong.
"I'm fine, Noah," Blake persists once I've finally blinked and looked away. "I swear to you I'm fine."
I don't want to admit that I don't see how Blake can be okay at this point of her life. I know that Blake often feels as if she has to hide what she really feels and be strong, as if letting her guard down for a moment is a form of weakness. I know she feels this way because of her twisted past with a boy who seems to find immense pleasure in hurting her. Despite all of this, I don't see how Blake is so easily coping when Mason is around town running his mouth, trying to put Blake in a bad position. Yet here she is now, smiling and assuring me that she's okay. However, I've since learned that she is good at faking happiness. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between one of her fake smiles compared to one that is genuine.
With this in mind, I shift closer to the girl I love, wanting her to know that I'm here for her. If she's hurting, she doesn't have to pretend with me. I've seen Blake in every shade of light she has to offer, and she never ceases to remain as beautiful to me as she was the first time I met her. I wish she knew that there is nothing she can say or do to push me away.
"Because if you're not okay"—I run my hand over Blake's cheek, cupping the side of her face—"you can talk to me about it."
"I know that," Blake says with an eye roll, leaning into my touch. "I'm being serious, Noah. I'm really fine. I'm tired of letting him get to me, you know?"
Blake bites down on her lower lip and shakes her head. "I realized that it's pointless, Noah. It's so pointless wasting my time and energy worrying and crying over someone who doesn't give a damn about me. I know what happened that night. I know what Mason did. He can say whatever he wants, but we both know the truth. And my truth—the one I lived through—is all that matters to me. Mason't lies can't hurt me if I don't let them. Other people's opinions can't bother me if I don't let them. I'm tired of letting people hurt me."
I'm blown away as I listen to Blake. I've always known that my girlfriend is beyond empathetic, stupidly brave, and ridiculously beautiful, but in this minute she is so much more. I realize now just how smart Blake Rhodes is. The amount of strength this girl holds within her is insane. She could choose to let this rough patch of her life consume her and make her miserable, yet here my girl is, making light out of some of the darkest things she's experienced.
"That's my girl," I murmur as I take her face in my hands, claiming her lips with mine. Blake smiles against my skin after pulling away, her palms resting on my chest. In this moment—with her brown eyes sparkling as she grins—Blake is truly radiant. More than that, she genuinely seems unworried, which is all I want for her right now. To be happy, despite all the shit the world has given her. I once heard that it is the best people who have the worst luck, and I'm inclined to believe that now that I've seen how the world treats a soul as beautiful as Blake Rhodes. I vow to myself that I will treat her the way she deserves to be treated and more, because maybe I can't take away all of her pain, but I can love her with all that I have.
