Season Of Love (gxg) | ✍︎︎

6. Broken Hearts.

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|  SEASON OF LOVE  |
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July 2010.
Three Days Later.
Riverlin, Michigan.

"Dwayne, hey sweetie," Noelle's mom greeted him when he rang their front door that evening.

"Evening, Mrs. Jennings. Is Noelle home?"

"She is. You looking for her?"

"Yes ma'am. And I know it's kinda late," he looked down at his watch to see that it was a little after 8pm. But it being the middle of summer, he didn't even realize how late it really was because the sun was still out.

"I'm sorry for showing up at this time. I just really gotta talk to Elle."

"Well, if it's that important. Do you want to come inside?"

"Is it okay if you just call her to the door?"

"That's fine too. Just give me one second."

Yvette left Dwayne standing at the open door and went to the staircase.

"Elle!"

"Yeah, mom?" Noelle called back. She was in her room folding both her and her little siblings' laundry.

"Dwayne is here to see you! He says he needs to talk to you."

"Oh God," Noelle mumbled under her breath.

She wasn't avoiding Dwayne, per se, but she hadn't talked to him at all in the three days that she hadn't spoken to Hope either.

"Alright, I'll be down in a second," she finally called back.

Noelle left the half-folded pile of clothes on her bed and made her way down the stairs.

"Did he say what he wanted?" she whispered to her mother.

"No. Why, did something happen?"

"No. Nothing happened."

"Hmm... well, it sounds like it might be important. I'll give y'all some privacy."

And with that, Yvette left Noelle standing at the bottom of the steps. She took her time approaching the door. And she wasn't sure why she was so hesitant to talk to Dwayne. It's not like she did anything to him, she just didn't feel right speaking to him since Hope hadn't been talking to her.

"What are you doing here?" Noelle asked, holding the front door open as she stood in the doorway.

"Hello to you too," Dwayne said very sarcastically.

He didn't seem upset, but Noelle knew that he knew what had happened between her and Hope. He's her cousin. They're closer than Hope is to her own brothers, so there was no way she didn't tell him.

"Dwayne, seriously," she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing here? It's after 8pm."

"I came to check up on you."

"For what? I'm fine."

"Are you really?" He asked. "You know you ain't gotta lie to me."

"She told you... didn't she?" Noelle walked down a few of the porch steps before taking a seat on them.

Dwayne joined her, sitting on the step that was below hers, and turned so he was facing her.

"That y'all are fighting? Yeah, she told me. That's exactly why I came to check up on you."

Dwayne and Noelle had gotten extremely close the last few months. He spent almost as much time with Noelle as Hope did. The three of them had done everything together since Christmas break, and the only time he wasn't with them was when he was hanging with his guys or spending time with his girlfriend.