Page 147 of Come Back to Me

“You should ask our buddy, Noah.”

“I’m not playing this guessing game with you of trying to figure out why there’s smoke coming out of your ears. You’re an adult. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Okay, fine. You told me Violet wasn’t there at the hospital. She told me she was, but she ended up leaving. She just…left. You convinced me so hard that the lie you told me was the truth. What kind of person lies to their best friend like that?”

“You asked her to tell you what happened six years ago, didn’t you?” Noah asks, his tone stable.

“Do I need to make it more obvious that I did?”

“I told you to not do anything stupid.”

“Well, I didn’t listen. I’m glad I didn’t because I wouldn’t have found out that my mother knew she was there. They talked apparently. Oh, and Violet’s the one who drove my truck to the hospital. Not you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Dani and Bella sneak out of our apartment. I don’t blame them because I would do the same thing if I was in the middle of an uncomfortable situation like this one.

“Why are you making such a big deal about this?” Xander asks, his voice going an octave higher than his usual tone.

“The former love of my life was at the hospital for maybeten minutes. Why didn’t she stay? Why did she think that vanishing from my life was the best option? Why did she leave me?”

“Did you ask her these questions?” Noah asks.

“I stormed out before I could. I’m asking you ifyouknow the answers to these questions.”

“If I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Do you know why? It’s not my place. Only Violet can answer those questions for you.”

“I can’t talk to her right now. I need time to process this.”

“How much time?” Xander asks.

“I don’t fucking know, Xander. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.” I speed walk into my bedroom, slamming the door shut.

A hand comes into contact with my door, and Noah eventually makes his way inside. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I was put in a tough position. You’re my best friend, and so is Violet. I care about both of you. You have every right to be mad at me, but I don’t want you to hate me for what I did.”

“I don’t hate you,” I clarify.

Noah sits down on my bed, and I take a seat to the right of him.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” he says.

“Shit, you should’ve seen the way I exploded at her. She probably hates me now. I would if I was her.”

“It was that bad?”

“I know I ended off my rant with something like ‘you vanished from my life, and now I’m going to vanish from yours.’ I don’t know if she’s going to want to talk to me again after that.”

Noah scrunches his ugly face. “That was fucked up. I do think giving yourselves time to heal is necessary before you talk to her again.”

“Yeah. Like I said back in the living room, I needtime. I’m sure she does, too.”

“So, what are you going to do to distract yourself from dwelling on all this?”

“Same as last time. I’m going to throw myself more into basketball, focus on my classes, and spend my time in the kitchen.”

Noah nods. “Sounds like a solid plan to me. Again, I’m sorry for lying to you. It won’t happen again.”

I point my index finger at him. “It better not. I never lied to you when it came to Dani. I knew you always had feelings for her, and I knew she reciprocated them back.”

“I know, and we wouldn’t be together right now if it wasn’t for you, so thank you.”