Flashbacks

I couldn't get a single bit of sleep last night. I kept tossing and turning, afraid that if I closed my eyes, he would appear there. I was already in trouble. I didn't want to make the family regret their choice of taking me in even more by screaming every night.

Ever since the incident, I haven't touched my phone. I wanted to check on Dan. I hope he doesn't think I intentionally ghosted him. And I hope his girlfriend doesn't think there's something going on between us. I'll ask for my things when everyone's awake.

I checked the clock on the wall and saw that it was 5 in the morning. Everyone was definitely asleep at this time. I decided to make my way out of my room since I was a bit thirsty and I wanted to clear my mind.

I opened the door slowly and tiptoed downstairs, not wanting to make any noise and wake anyone up. Halfway to the kitchen, I heard someone talking and it was Noah.

"I still love you, but we can't be together anymore. You know that -" he said, but it seemed like he was cut off by someone.

"You know what you did, Charlotte. You can't come back from it -" Again, he was cut off.

"You keep cutting me off! If you loved me, you wouldn't have done what you did!" After saying that, he hung up the phone and began rubbing his face. I felt a little awkward. I wasn't supposed to hear their conversation, but I was too thirsty to go back to my room. Therefore, I walked straight to the fridge and took out a bottle of water.

"How long have you been here?" Noah asked.

"I just came here for water," I softly replied. "Do you know where my phone is?"

He looked at me, confused. I felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. Shit, I realized, I'm probably making things difficult for him right now. I don't think he knows where it is.

"Sorry, you probably don't know." I immediately began walking away from him but then he called out my name, making me freeze.

"Eleonora?"

"Yes...?" I turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was dumb of me. I was just going through something and I took my anger out on you. And, um, your phone is in one of the cars. I'll give it to you tomorrow, if you don't mind." "It's okay." I attempted to smile. "I was a difficult person. I should've been more mature instead of acting like a child. I deserved you snapping at me, and thank you." My hands began shaking a little. "No," he said, getting up and coming closer to me. I grew more nervous, though I didn't know why. "You don't deserve anything bad that has happened to you in the past few weeks - well, years actually. I was being an asshole. I am sorry."

"It's fine."

We stared at each other, and it felt so weird and wrong, but at the same time so good and right. I was the one who broke eye contact. "Can I sit down?"

He laughed, his whole face lighting up.

"You can sit anywhere you want. I'm not going to bite."

I wish you would, I thought, then scolded myself. I can't be thinking things like that right now. I walked to one of the stools and sat down.

I didn't want to speak, I just wanted to feel something, if that even made any sense. I slowly took a sip of my water and closed my eyes. I began breathing in deeply, then out slowly.

My heart began beating faster. Why couldn't I just get him out of my head? Why is it that every time I close my eyes, I see him? I knew he was the one in the alley that beat me up. I felt myself not being able to breathe properly.

"Are you okay?" I heard Noah ask. That's when I snapped out of everything unpleasant.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I just - I don't know how to describe it."

"It's fine."

"Um, have you heard any news about the unknown person who attacked me?" I daringly asked. Noah looked a little conflicted. His stare lingered on me for a bit until he spoke up.

"We found very little information. Nothing to really help your case, but there was footage of him. He was wearing a hoodie and his face was covered. We only got a glimpse of the side of his face, and that was when I got to you.

I nodded my head as he spoke. "I don't think we should carry this case out. I'm sure it doesn't matter,” I said softly. "I mean, why does it matter? What happened, happened. I'm fine. Besides, it's just a few more weeks until I'm out of everyone's hair."

Noah's eyes snapped wide open.

е

"What do you mean? You were in danger. Whoever that person was, they're a danger to society. They're a criminal. What happened to you was simply wrong and should not happen again. So, if you're asking for your father to drop the case, the answer is no. Are you sure you don't know this person, though?"

I began panicking a bit. "No, I don't. You know what, I'm actually really tired. I'm going back to my room." Before he had the chance to say anything, I quickly walked away and back to my room. I closed the door and went to my bed, closing my eyes.

No one can know he did it, I thought before falling into a dreamless sleep.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐