16

If someone asked me what I remember of last night, I would kindly tell them to fuck off and get me some Tylenol. And that's exactly what I said to Marco. I look around to where I had ended up. We were both barefooted at the beach, lying on the sand. Some memories of last night played in my head. The drinking, the dancing, the kissing.... wait, wait, wait, did I just said kissing? I kissed Marco, Marco kissed me, we kissed???!!!

I quickly stood up and fixed my hair, it was full of sand and the hair spray that I had applied last night was now the one thing gluing the sand to my hair.  I look up, and Marco was giving me a hand. 

"I guess now I can saying I partied with The Emily Evans," he joked. "Rough night?" he asks as he's looking at me, picking sand and sticks from my hair. 

"Nothing that a deep shampoo can fix!" I smirked. "Did we...?"

"Kiss?" he asked, trying to hide his smile, " You wished. You did make out with a statue in the park, though."

My cheeks turned red with his comment, and all I could do at that moment is laugh. " I gotta go home, but I have to clean up first. Please tell me your place is nearby."

"You're in luck, parents are out of town for the week, and our house is a five-minute walk."

"So you're telling me that instead of taking me to your home where you have a cozy bed and food, you brought me to the beach where I have sand literally glued to my hair?" I asked dramatically. 

"Didn't want to take you to the bedroom on our first date."

"First date? And who told you that this was a date?" I asked, shocked at his response. 

"Well, you didn't deny it." 

I laughed, but at the bottom of my heart, I couldn't help but feel guilty. I had just spent a night with another guy, and I was with Noah. But soon after his name popped up into my head, so did the pregnant girl walking towards him with a picture of their baby. Maybe I should've waited out, maybe there was an explanation, and she got the wrong guy, or it was a prank.  A part of me felt like things could still turn around for Noah and me. 

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ELLE'S POV

Noah had finished telling me what happened last night and I was shocked. He promised he would never do such a horrible thing to my sister, and I believed him. But I was still shocked. I told him I could help him find the girl again and track down where this lie was coming from. We said goodbye on the phone with a promise that he would meet me back at my house in 10 minutes. We had our family lunch today anyway, and my dad wanted the Flynn's to come to our house. He had ordered some seafood that was going to get delivered soon. 

"Why are the police leaving?" I asked my dad, who was now cleaning up the rest of breakfast we never finished. 

"Your sister finally reached out to me. She said she forgot to tell me that she and some friends from work were going to a beach house yesterday. She's been there since", he explained. 

"Really?" I asked, knowing that was a lie. My dad nodded, and I left it like that. I did not want my sister to get in much more trouble. I checked my phone to see if she texted me, but nothing. However, I did have a special message waiting to be open. It was from this guy I had met a bit ago, and he was a bit older, my sister's age. He was tall, tanned, and handsome, everything I needed to get over my childhood crush on Noah. We had been talking for a bit and only officially met once. I might have described how much of a snack he was to the whole school without knowing. Lee and Rachel approved and told me to go for it. So we have been talking and joking around for the past month.

 Something came up. I might not be able to hang out today. Raincheck?

I whimpered at my phone, " Really?" 

As I was getting ready to respond, I heard a knock on my door; Noah had arrived. 

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EM'S POV

"Can you take me back home?" I asked Marco, who was now shirtless, handing me some of his clothes, "I promised my dad I would be home for lunch."

"For sure," he smiled, "do I get an invitation to this lunch?" he asked. 

"It's a family thing. We don't usually bring a lot of outsiders, sorry". He frowned, "it's okay!"

We hopped into his car, and he drove me to my home. I had completely forgotten that the Flynns would be there too and when I realized, it was too late. I quickly put my half wet, half dry hair in a half-up, half-down pony. I was wearing my jeans from last night that Marco had quickly cleaned and one of his shirts. As we park in my home, I took a deep breath. Noah was going to be in there. I see my sister, Noah, Lee, and Rachel come home once they hear a car. All of them staring at Marco and me as we pulled up. Noah steps up in front of everyone and quickly walks toward us. 

"Drive," I said loud enough that Marco could hear me. "what?" he asked, confused. "I want to get out of here, drive!" I said a bit louder this time. Marco nodded and quickly started reversing. Noah backed out as he noticed the car reversing. When he realized that I was walking away, he started running after the car. "EM!" he screamed, but it was already too late. Tears start flushing down my face. I turn to the window, so Marco does not notice them as much. Although I doubt he didn't notice, he was respectful enough not to say anything. After about 20 minutes of driving around, I finally spoke, "Could you drop me off at work?" He nodded. 

It was around 3 pm when Marco dropped me off. "Are you sure you don't want me to tag along?" he asked. 

"No, it's fine. I have to check on some things. Thank you!" I smiled. 

"You have my number; if you needed, just call!" he winked. 

As he drove away, I made my way up to the office. Jake was sitting at his table, focused on his computer. As soon as he saw me, a big smile was plastered across his face. " I did;t know you were coming in!"

"I needed to get my mind off things."

"I know the best place for that," he paused, "care for a field trip?" I smiled and nodded. He picks up his keys and jacket. "C'mon!"

Jake takes me to this beautiful part of the beach, where most people couldn't go because the sea turtles had laid their eggs everywhere. There were so many nests, so many I couldn't believe.

"It's going to be an exciting season," Jake mentioned noticing I was looking at the nests. We sat on the sand. 

"You know you did great on the rescue!" he complimented me, "supervisor material!"

"Really?" I smiled, "Thank you!" His face started getting closer, close enough I could feel his warm breath on my skin. The smell of alcohol filled his breath. He was drunk. I quickly back away, "Jake, I'm sorry if I have given you the wrong impression but"

"But what?" he sounded annoyed, "Noah cheated on you!"

"I know, but that does not mean that..."

"That what Emily, that is not true? I could give you everything. You name it, and I would bring it to you. I would go to hell for you, do things I would never do for anyone else".

I backed away, "I'm not asking you!"

Jake grabbed my arm with force, "Don't go!" Although it hurt, I was able to get it away from his grasps, "I think its time for me to head out."  I quickly stand up and walk towards the center. 

"You don't get it?" he asked, "I am in love with you, Emily!"

I reach for the door, but it's locked. I change course and make my way around the center. Through there, I could end up in front of the building. I picked up my phone and dialed Noah's number, but something in me stops for a second. I quickly deleted and dialed Marco's. The phone rings, and he picks up. I put the phone in my pocket. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"I want you! Don't you understand? I wanted you since the day we met, remember?" He asked as he followed me. 

"You were my supervisor, of course, I remember!" 

"Nope, that was not the first time we met! We met a while ago, in Boston. You were there for the summer, and we had a lot of fun, if I remembered correctly."

I didn't remember him at all. However, that was mainly how my nights were spent up there. 

"Stay away!" I warned him. Marco had hanging up, and I just hoped he had heard enough to come to rescue me.

"You blew me away the first time I saw you. The most beautiful girl at the party!" he stopped, "You and I had a lot of fun that night. Too much fun", he smiled. We were almost in front of the center. 

"You were mine. I even moved for you, restarted my whole life!" 

"I didn't ask you to do any of that," I stated. I was scared, and my heart was pulsing at a very high rate. All I could do is pray that Marco was on his way. 

"I even lied for you," he said as he got closer. I tried quickly moving away, but he got ahold of my arm. He pulled me close, too close, and pushed me against a wall. I closed my eyes. I did not want to look at him, and I did not want to think; I just wanted to disappear.

 Why was I the most unlucky bitch in this universe? I hear a noise, and suddenly Jake lets me go. I open my eyes one by one and spot Noah and Elle. I ran to his arms as my eyes fill with tears.

"He did it. He paid for an actress to play pregnant, to give me the photo", Noah said, still holding me tight. I didn't respond. I just hugged him tighter.

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We were sitting inside. Elle had left to get me some water, and Noah held my hand next to me. Unfortunately, we had to call the police. They had arrived and taken Jake with them to the station. One man stayed back to get my statement. As I finished telling him what I knew, Marco opened the door. I run to him and give him the biggest hug, "Thank you!"

" No need for thank yous, I did what I had to do for a dear friend!" he smiled. Noah watched in the back. Elle soon joined him. 

"I have someone I have to apologize to," Marco said, walking away towards Elle.

 Noah approached me with a cup of water. "You called him, not me!" He sounded hurt. I wish I had an explanation on why I did what I did, but I didn't. I think at that time; it was too complicated. It didn't seem like Noah was the best option, considering he had cheated on me. 

"I'm sorry," I apologized. He placed his arms around me, "So how will you quit your job?"

"Most definitely, " I sighed. We both laugh for a bit. "You never came. You bought a ticket and never came. Why?"

I look at him; his face was serious, thoughtful. "I was afraid. I didn't want to see your awesome room with your awesome friends in your awesome school. It made me feel like I was something you had left behind."

"You are way more than that to me, Emily Evans. You are the only reason that keeps me coming back to this town. Damn, you are the reason why I want to do this all for!" 

I smiled; hearing him talk about me like that reminded me of why I loved Noah. He actually loved me. "I want to become one of the best lawyers so that we can start our family with a good foundation. I want our kids to live happily..."

"Our kids?" I interrupt him.

"Yeah," he smiled, "two of them. Both boys like my brother and me!"

"Boys?" I asked, shocked, "Why can't they be girls?"

"I'll be too overprotective," he joked. Well, we both knew that that was actually true, but we still laughed it off. 

"C'mon," we have to go somewhere," he said, grabbing my hand and taking me to his bike. "And my sister ?" I asked. 

"I'm pretty sure Marco is taking good care of her!"

I climbed in the back of the motorcycle, and we drove off. 

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Noah dropped me off at home. My dad was extremely worried and welcomed me with a very long lecture. I apologized and agreed to come home every day at 11 pm. I walked to my room, where Noah was sleeping. The talk with my dad was so long that the poor guy fell asleep in my bed. I can't believe he had to leave tomorrow, we had just made up, and we spend the two days he was here fighting. I lay next to him and play with his hair. Noah Flynn wanted a future with me, and he wanted kids, a home. I thought back to what my grandma always told me about love, and this was it. This was what she was talking about.