√ 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞..... 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚'𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐚. 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. [𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐜 𝐱 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐧]

[This story is free as of February 10, 2021] "Move over A Walk to Remember, and make way for one of the most heartwarming stories this side of Wattpad. It's so cute, I could cry (again)." - Grace @ HQ After tragedy strikes, Nolan loses all faith and never expects to love, let alone smile again until Nora-perky and persistent-walks into his life. ***** 15-year-old Nolan Haynes has everything. A loving family, a promising future as a filmmaker, and a pretty cool group of friends. That is until tragedy strikes and he's forced to move towns. Nolan vows never to let anyone in ever again-they always leave. But on a summer day two years later, when the super upbeat, Nora walks to his lunch table-Nolan has to try a bit harder to keep a smile off his face. Little does he know that Nora is fighting a battle of her own, one that no one could even imagine. And as the two get closer, they not only find solace in each other but in God. When Nolan is faced with a situation in which he has to break Nora's trust to protect her, can their budding relationship still stand and will God show up in all of this? [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story contains scenes of verbal and physical abuse that may be triggering for some readers. NOTICE: Before the Morning is currently undergoing revisions! A sensitivity reader (someone who goes through your manuscript and assesses representations in your work) identified a number of issues surrounding the Filipino representation in BTM. I'm rewriting with the goal of creating a more authentic and respectful story. I'm sorry for the pain I caused by failing to include accurate Filipino culture and in having written from Nora's point of view.