Charred Promises

14- Hope is all we have..

"Why do you act like a douchebag in front of Caitlynn?" Juno asked on the way back home.

"Explain douchebag?" Noah asked as though he's least bit interested.

"Do you like her?" Juno asked closing the door.

"Would I act like a douchebag if I liked her?" Noah still trying to sound casual.

"Questions require answers not counter question!" Juno said standing in front of him folding her hands.

"Nope I'm not taking advice from a teenager!" Noah said shaking his head, but he found it amusing that Juno was interested in his life.

"I'm so much more than you give me credit for." Juno said with a wink.

"That is true. You are much more than I give credit for. Say how about we make a plan to do something this weekend?"

"We as in them and us?" Juno asked and he nodded.

"So that you could flirt and we could ignore like we did this evening?"

"I was not flirting with her, I'm not interested in her in that way. She's in a complicated state of mind, she could use the fresh air and you like violet, you guys can hangout of talk boys and giggle for no apparent reason." Noah said trying to change the subject.

"We don't talk about guys and we definitely do not giggle. I have not had friends in forever, she's my first friend. " Juno said defensively.

"What about that boy I saw the other day?" Noah asked her and saw her eyes widen.

"Oliver is not my friend, if anything he's just in my class and I help him out with the homework and stuff, he doesn't like to be associated with me in public, why would I be friends with someone who treats me like shit?"

"Well its his loss. I have not seen anyone as awesome as you."

"And you had nothing to do with how I turned out." Juno said firmly. Noah knew that voice of hers, he knew she was going to shut down again.

"I had issues Juno, unresolved issues.. Being here even now is not an easy for me. " Noah said coming close to her, she pushed her hand away "Then leave Noah, see if I care!" saying this Juno stormed off into her room and he sighed in defeat. Living with a teenager was never going to be easy. He knew what she felt, he knew where this resentment comes from. He knew this feeling of being unwanted all to well as he was always an unwanted child. His mother never took care of him, nor hugged him, or comforted him. She was his mother but Noah remembered all too well that she never even looked him in the eye.

Juno didn't know what she was thinking, she had expected Noah to come into her room and talk to her about what happened. "But that would mean he cares, Juno, he doesn't he's going to leave, sooner or later he is going to leave. Try not to get too close to him or worse depend on him. He will go, just like everyone does and you will be all alone again. The less attached you get, the less it's going to hurt. Calm down Juno, calm down.." saying this Juno got up, wore her jumpers and went to Caitlynn, she couldn't stay here and pretend like she's okay. She got out of her room and saw Noah was reading something. She scribbled a note that she was at Caitlynn's and she went.

The moment Noah heard her close the door, he ran to see where she was going. She stopped for a bit, maybe she was trying to figure out where to go or a some reason to go to Caitlynn but then she went straight ahead, Noah went back to what he was doing. He pulled out his phone and messaged Caitlynn that he would join her soon and that Juno was coming to her.

Noah walked in to the room that his mother has previously stayed in and then later was taken by Beatrice, there were photographs of his mother and sister, Juno when she was born, when Beatrice graduated and few other picture of them doing random things, none was of Noah, nothing surprised him as this indifference was faced by him from childhood. He couldn't explain why and never bothered to ask, but there was this one memory he had of her.