Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Emma’s POV

The next morning, Noah came to my house early in the morning. He brought breakfast too!

“ I decided to chill with you. “ He had announced.

Currently, I’m preparing lunch for us, then we’ll go to watch Frozen 2 with Tim.

“ Don’t you have work though? “ I ask worriedly. He shouldn’t skip work because of me.

“ I do, I had to discuss a project with Lucas. It will be a great success, Emma. My company will do a combined project Lucas’s. “ He explains and my body goes stringent.

As much as I want to stay away from Lucas, he is Noah’s best friend and he will always be around Noah.

Just then Noah’s phone beeps. He picks up the call as I continue to make lunch.

“ Hey man. “ Noah greets, while on the phone.

“ I know we had a meeting but I’m at Emma’s house. I just wanted to spend some time with her. “

“ How about you come over? “

“ Yeah, see you soon then. “ He says, ending the call.

“ Hey, get over the phone and cut some veggies for me. “ I call Noah over here.

I’m making homemade veggie pizza. I’ll boil some extra veggies and the apple pie is done!

“ Should I prepare something for your guest? “ I ask with a smile.

Any guest of his is a guest of mine.

“ Umm, he likes lasagna. “ Noah mumbles, standing behind me and taking me in his warm embrace.

“ As much as I’d love to cuddle with you, you have veggies to cut mister. “ I say rotating back in his arms.

He gives me a gentle kiss on the lips and then stands beside me to cut some vegetables.

We’re finally done with all the preparations and then set the food on the table.

The doorbell rings and I skip towards the door to open it.

I open the door with excitement and it all fades away seeing the man standing in front of me. It’s Lucas.

I step back and let him in. The smile wiped off my face.

“ You’re here just on time. “ Noah exclaims.

We all sit down to eat. Lucas looks at the food disinterested while we all continue to eat.

“ Did you know, Emma made all of this? I didn’t know that she is such a good cook. “ Noah boasts.

Lucas raises his brow and unexpectedly starts to fill up his plate.

He digs in like a starved animal.

“ This is good. I have to say Emma you’re a really good cook. “ Lucas moans, after taking in a few bites.

“ Why thank you, I didn’t know I could cook before you told me. “ I retort back sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him.

“ Is everything alright? I thought the two of you were friends so I invited him. “ Noah interferes, a little confused as to why I’m being cold towards Lucas.

Lucas’s facial expression changes when Noah says the word friend. Lucas didn’t like the fact the Noah referred to us two, as just friends.

I take that as an opportunity!

“ Everything is alright love, we’re good friends. Right, Lucas? “ I ask with a fake smile plastered on my face.

Lucas looks annoyed, he stops eating, dropping his fork and knife. One thing I’ve noticed about Noah and Lucas is that they have such an elegant style of eating. They always tend to follow table manners, no matter a restaurant or their own house. They eat in quite a sophisticated way.

While I and Tim eat as any normal people would.

“ Where’s the bathroom? “ Lucas asks, getting up.

“ To the right. “ Noah answers.

“ I might not find it. Emma, can you show me? “ He asks.

I roll my eyes and get up to show him.

We walk a few steps and we reach the bathroom.

“ Are you doing this to bother me I thought you finally got tired of toying with me? Here is the bathroom. I don’t want you here Lucas, leave as soon as possible. “ I say.

“ I’m not doing this to bother you. I just couldn’t resist the idea of seeing you at least once. I might not mean anything to you, but you do mean a lot to me. I won’t bother you if that’s what you want. “ He replies sincerely.

I scoff.

“ What no blackmailing this time? No forcing me? What happens to the old Lucas. Or wait this might be your new plan. “ I taunt.

He looks down, in shame and guilt. Not saying anything back.

“ I’m sorry my actions have caused such a great amount of dislike towards me. “ He apologizes.

“ I do not dislike you, Lucas. “

“ You don’t? “ He asks a little surprised, hope rising in his eyes.

“ No, that would be a smaller word. I hate you, Lucas, I loathe your existence. “ I state, crushing the new rising hope.

I trusted him blindly, and he used my trust to make a fool out of me. To blackmail me.

Leaving him speeches, I come back to the dining table.

I sit beside Noah.

“ Noah, do you love me? “ I ask, seriously.

“ What type of question is that? You know I do. “ He expresses. I gently hold his hand.

“ Would you still love me if I did something stupid? Something so stupid that would break your heart. “ I ask, bring his hand closer to my chest. My heartbeat is raising, moment by moment.

“ I’ll love you no matter what. Did something happen? “ He asks, cupping my face gently.

“ Lu...Lucas. “ I begin, hesitating a little in the beginning but then I tell him everything from the start to the end.

I tell him how Lucas took advantage of a drunk me, and how he tried to blackmail me. I tell him about the night Lucas barged into my house and tried to force me to.

As I pour my heart into him, his facial expression changes.

“ Please don’t be mad at me. If...if you want to leave me after this, I understand but I just couldn’t hide this from you anymore Noah. “ I whisper, tears falling down my eyes.

“ Emma, I want you to understand one thing. I’ll love you no matter what. You hold a special place in my heart. “ He assures me and I hug him for dear life.

“ Shush, calm down. It’s okay, I’ve got you. “ He murmurs words of comfort, gently rubbing my back, moving his hands in smooth circles.

Exactly then, Lucas comes out.

“ Lucas, I heard a lot of things from Emma. When I trusted you and left her in your hands I thought you’d take care of her. Not use her. You knew I fucking loved her yet you tried to blackmail her. “ Noah shouts, striding towards Lucas.

“ It was my intention to hurt her. I fell in love with her, and I tried to pursue her but she was already head over heels for you. I don’t know what happened then, but I tried for her just so that she could be with me. “ Lucas tries to explain but Noah lunges at him.

They both fall down to the ground, but Noah grabs his collar and picks him up. He throws Lucas roughly on the wall and kicks him in his guts.

Lucas makes out a painful moan, and I almost want to stop Noah.

Noah then grabs his hair and throws him on the floor, he starts kicking Lucas in his ribs.

“ You were my fucking best friend.”

Kick.

“ I trusted you damn it, she trusted you. “

Kick.

“ Yet you used her, fucking took advantage of her as you’ve done to all other women and then claimed your fake love on her. You don’t love her. “  Noah roars.

But, before he can land another kick Lucas, gets up.

“ It wasn’t fake love. I loved her truly. Neither did I use her. “ Lucas exclaims getting up, all bloody now.

Seeing his beaten-up state, makes my heartache. We were good friends after all.

“ Noah please stop, he’s bleeding. “ I whisper, scared for Lucas.

Lucas’s attention diverts towards me and at the exact moment Noah throws a punch at him but before Lucas can fall down I catch him and support him.

“ Noah it’s enough, please stop or you’ll kill him. “ I beg, crying.

Noah doesn’t listen though, he lunges at Lucas but Lucas pushes him back.

“ She said fucking stop. I’ve taken your punches for her sake, but if you do it one more time. I’ll forget that we were ever friends. “ Lucas grits out.

Noah still tries to punch him, Luca dodges and aims straight for Noah’s face, but before it can strike with Noah’s face I step in.

“ Stop. You’ll have to hurt me if you want to hurt him. “ I state stepping in between them.

“ Get aside. I  can handle him. “ Noah states.

I don’t budge.

“ You know that I can’t hurt you, even if I want to. I’d never been able to do that Emma. “ He says, looking at me longingly.

“ I’m out. “ He whispers, leaving with a bloody face and a bruised-up body.

The rest of the day goes uneventful.

The next morning Noah wakes me up, in a cheery mood.

He wakes me up early in the morning. He decides to let Tim stay at his home where a trusted maid of his will take care of him while he takes me away to some unknown place.

“ I want you to meet someone. “ He announces while driving.

He is driving towards the country.

“ Are they your parents? “ I joke.

He nods his head.

“ You’re joking, right? “ I scream.

“ Nope. “ He says, popping the p.

“ How can you do this to me. I need to be more prepared. Am I looking good? Is there something stuck in my teeth? What if they don’t like me? “ I wail, getting frustrated.

“ Relax. It doesn’t matter if they like you or not. I just want you to meet them. You know Emma, I haven’t seen them for many years. I wanted to go see them with you. It’s been long. “  He says, still looking at the road.

We pass by many farms and beautiful trees. The wind is cold, yet the sun is shining bright. It’s good weather.

“ Why have you not seen your parents for a long time? I ask.

“ We weren’t on good terms then. I was madly in love with Sophia yet my parents rejected them because they were aware of her true intentions yet I was the stupid one who fought with his own parents for a gold digger. I stopped talking to them after they asked me to leave Sophia. “ He explains.

“ You shouldn’t have done that. They raised you. They didn’t deserve to be abandoned like that. “ I point out.

“ I know, I made a mistake. I made a lot of mistakes while I was with her. I lost a lot of good relations. “ He mumbles in regret.

We soon stop in front of a beautiful farmhouse, spread over a large area of land.

It is surrounded by greenery and a lot of lands is left for cultivation. I can see a barn house to the right and some farm animals roaming around, behind the fences.

I even see horses at one point.

We step towards a house, decorated with elegant wood.

Noah rings the doorbell, it is soon opened by a lady in her late mid-40s.

“ Mom. How are you? I missed you guys. “ Noah whispers, greeting his mom.

“ I brought someone, you’ll love her a lot. She isn’t anything like Sophia, please let us in. “ Noah says.

The lady doesn’t reply though and neither does she let us in. She remains silent.

“ Where is dad, mom? I don’t see him around. Is he still busy looking after the barn animals? He spends a lot of time there. Should I go check in the barn for dad? “ Noah asks, excited to meet his father.

“ Don’t. “ The lady says. Stopping Noah from going towards the barn.

“ Why not? “ He asks.

“ Because he’s dead. “