Page 113 of Come Back to Me

“Um…maybe. I heard them raise their voices at each other. I think it had something to do with future living arrangements or something. I’m not really sure because it was so loud. They were cordial to each other when we left though.”

“You know that doesn’t mean shit, right?”

Whipping out my phone, I start a text conversation with Dani to get to the bottom of all this.

Me

I know this is none of my business, but did you and Noah get into a fight last night?

Dani

what happened?

Me

Your boyfriend yelled at Xander and I. He stormed out of the apartment with no explanation. I think he’s going to get breakfast somewhere

Dani

i tried to get him to come outside when we were at stingray house, so we could talk about it because it was so freaking loud inside. we could barely hear anything we were saying to each other

Me

Well, I’d call him and find out where he is because he worries me when he’s like this

Dani

he worries me when he gets like this, too. don’t worry, i’m going to find him, and we’ll resolve what’s going on between us. you don’t have to do anything. okay?

Me

Are you sure?

Dani

this isn’t your problem to fix. it’s mine. we’re going to be okay

Me

Okay, I’m sure Noah will tell me what happens, but if he doesn’t, keep me posted

Dani

i will

I knew if I tried to contact Noah that he wouldn’t answer me, and I didn’t want to piss him off more than he already is. This is why I texted Dani because I knew she’d answer me. I didn’t need to know every tiny detail because I’m not Noah or Dani. I just want Dani to know what’s going on.

When Noah gets like this, he retreats and doesn’t like being around anybody. He’s done this since he was a kid. It’s gotten worse since his dad passed away a few months ago. Grief isn’t something that somebody should go through alone. I’ve toldNoah this so many times, but he doesn’t want to talk about it whenever I bring it up.

Bottling things up only makes things worse in the end because everything implodes before it all explodes. I’ve learned to stop doing that because it doesn’t help me in the long run.

“What’s going on?” Xander asks.

“Dani’s going to find Noah and talk to him.”

“Okay, good.” He pats me on the back. “They’ll figure everything out. They always do.”

Noah and Dani don’t get into fights that often, but when they do, they both retreat and wallow in their negative emotions for a bit before they pass. Xander’s right though. They always resolve their disagreements through healthy communication.