𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟏𝟎

"𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙼𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ

NOAH walks out of the interrogation room and puts her back to the door.  She sinks down to the floor and brings her knees to her chin.  The teen buries her face into her knees and cries to herself. She did not think she would become so emotional, but hearing Jenny talk about how she feels broken really spoke to her.

Emily and JJ come around the corner and both flee to the teen.

"Noah," Emily whispers as she strokes the teen's arm, "Look at me." She tells Noah and watches her slowly lift her head.

The teen is holding her hands over her mouth and nose.  Emily notices the never-ending tears and JJ stands behind them, not knowing what to do.

"Hey," Emily coos and pulls at Noah's hands.  When she removes them from the teen's face, she sees the blood dripping from Noah's nose.

"Okay, c'mere.  Let's get you cleaned up." Emily says and holds the teen's hand as she helps her stand up.  Morgan comes around the corner and sees the scene happening before him.

"Woah, are you okay?" He asks Noah, who nods with tears in her eyes, "Let me help." Morgan offers and picks Noah up.

Morgan, JJ, and Emily walk Noah to the bathroom, avoiding everyone's stares.  Noah buries her face into Morgan's chest and holds her nose.  As they enter the women's bathroom, Emily locks the door behind them and makes sure the bathroom is empty.  JJ gets some paper towels for the teen and Morgan lets her stand on her own.  Noah holds the paper towels to her nose and tilts her head up.

"Can I..." Emily trails off, wanting to be alone with Noah.  Morgan and JJ nod and walk over to Noah.

"You did good, kid." Morgan says and ruffles the teen's hair.  Noah lightly giggles and smiles at Morgan.

"We're all here for you." JJ adds and kindly places her hand on Noah's arm.

"Thanks, guys." Emily thanks her friends for the teen and closes the bathroom door behind them.

"Are you okay?" Emily questions the girl.

"Yeah,"

"I'm so proud of you. Thank you for trusting me." Emily sweetly says as she fixes the girl's hair.

"It's funny you say that." Noah chuckles dryly.

"Why?" Emily asks.

𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜
ɴᴏᴀʜ

I walk over to Emily's bag and unzip it. I search for the Advil, but a bunch of folders are in the way. I pull the folders out of Emily's bag and set them down on the bed. As I glance over at them, I cannot help but do a double take.

I read the name on the files and cannot believe what I am seeing.

"𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐚𝐡 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧"

I realize that all of the folders have my name on them. Penelope must have done some serious digging to find enough information for three full folders.