𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟓𝟔

"𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

     NOAH tiptoes her way down the staircase. Ever since she has been avoiding Emily, the teen has to get her own glass of water before bed. It was the smallest gesture Emily always did for the teen and, now that it is gone, Noah realizes how much Emily always did for her.

The teen turns the corner to walk into the kitchen and notices the light on. She saw the light from the stairs but thought nothing of it. Now, she stands face-to-face with Emily.

"Hey," Emily quietly says as she sips her tea. Emily has been reverting to her life before Noah came along. Spending all night doing extra casework and having midnight teas.

Noah nods her head with a tight smile. Emily frowns as the teen grabs a glass from the cabinet.

"Can we talk?" Emily asks.

"There's nothing to talk about," Noah mumbles as she puts her glass under the water dispenser on the fridge.

"Don't play that card," Emily groans.

"Emily, I don't know what you want me to say." Noah shrugs and keeps her back to the woman.

"Anything! You've barely spoken to me." Emily pleads and sits her mug down.

Noah stays silent, not giving in to Emily's begging. The mother listens to the silence. Something inside her bursts as she realizes that Noah has given her no choice. She has practically been on her hands on knees, giving Noah all the time she needs and still doing everything for her despite the silent treatment.

"Noah, I get that it's a lot to process!" Emily exclaims, the change of volume in her voice startling Noah, "I know that what I did was wrong and the result of what I did gave you trauma. But I'm sorry!"

Noah keeps her back to Emily, taking a sip of her water to push down the lump in her throat.

"I feel awful! Is that what you wanna hear?! That I hate myself for what I did and I regret it?!" Emily shouts.

Noah's hand grips the glass tightly. Emily is saying all the right things to get a reaction out of her.

"Do you want me to hate myself, Noah?!" The mother cries out.

"Ugh!" Noah exclaims as she throws the glass of water at the wall. The water splashes all over the wall and kitchen cupboards, the glass shattering on the hardwood floor.

"I don't want you to hate yourself!" Noah roars as she turns to face Emily, "I just want you to leave me alone!"

"Don't you get it?!" Noah sarcastically shouts, "You left me behind!  You left me before I was even old enough to put up a fight!  I had no say in you leaving and you want me to look you in the eye and forgive you and just move on?!  Every bad part of me formed the moment you made your decision!"

Noah looks over at Emily and sees a tear fall down her cheek.  She can tell that Emily is trying to hold it in.  Seeing Emily's face is the one thing that snaps her back into reality, the storm of rage passing by.

"You don't get to cry, Emily," Noah groans as her voice becomes softer.

"No, Noah! I do get to cry!" Emily exclaims, "I'm losing a piece of my daughter by the day! You're distancing from me and you think that doesn't hurt me?! So, yes, Noah, I do get to cry!"

Noah's eyes fall to her feet. A piece of glass sits beside her left foot and she peers around at the shattered glass. She realizes what she had done and stares at the ground in fear. She lost herself for a moment.