Noah (5th Street series)

Chapter 28 - Part 2 & Epilogue

Afraid to say the wrong thing, Veronica chose her words carefully. She'd hated seeing him so hurt, and she was not about to say something that would hurt him again. She started walking to him. "So you're a dad?"

He shook his head. "Nope. When she first told me, it scared the hell out of me. But then the more I thought about it, the more it hit me. I was going to have a child, my own flesh and blood. She said she didn't wanna have it. She was too young. That's when I dropped out of school. I told her I was getting a job and I'd raise the kid myself. She's the one that disappeared, not me. Her parents set out looking for me, sure that it was me she'd run away with, but I had no idea where she was either. The next time I saw her, she'd already had the abortion, and then she and her family moved away."

Veronica didn't think her heart could break for him anymore than it already had. "Were you in love with her?" she asked as she reached him, touching his face.

He shook his head again, bringing his hand over hers then brought it to his mouth and kissed it. "The only person I've ever been in love with is you."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Veronica hugged him hard, furious with herself for ever questioning what or why she felt for him. "I love you too." She pulled away to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you—us."

His eyes were wide and almost wild but not in that horrible way they'd been earlier when he'd been so angry. Now he was smiling. "You love me?"

"Yes!" She hugged him again. "And I'm so sorry about doubting you."

"Don't be. Kratz didn't know what happened. Nobody in school did, and after she aborted, I was so pissed and let down I didn't bother going back to school. I took my GED and kept working. I was done with all the fucking high school drama. But he knew the truth about the drug trafficking bullshit." Noah's eyes were hard again. "He could've explained that to you."

He explained to her about the girl who'd broken his heart and how he spiraled out of control for a while there. How it was the only time he'd done weed in his life and that was only to numb the pain.

"I shared a locker with Abel and Gio because mine was in a suck ass temp building. I let the guy that sold me the weed use the locker I wasn't using. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to stash his shit in it. Every few months, they did a raid—brought in the dogs and everything and found his stash. Since the locker was in my name, my ass got hauled in, but everyone knew I never used that locker." He shook his head. "I'd been in so much trouble leading up to that, Kratz wasn't buying anything I said anymore. But in the end, they had enough people vouching for who actually used the damn locker, and they never got enough evidence to make the charges stick. So my name was cleared. He knew this."

His expression changed suddenly, and his eyes were now full of concern. "Roni, I don't think I could deal with you being friends with this guy. I hated him so much back then, and now I have even more reason to hate him."

Veronica touched his lips with her finger. "I don't wanna be his friend anymore. You're right. I need loyalty and friends I can count on, but most importantly, I don't want anyone in my life that doesn't believe in us. And obviously he doesn't."

"Us?"

She smiled, nodding. "I'm ready for us. I love you, Noah, and I want the whole world to know it."

The glimmer in his eye at that moment was something she hadn't seen before. He'd been so emotional earlier, but this ... This took her breath away. He kissed her so softly and so tenderly she sighed against his lips. Noah was exactly what she needed in her life. She wasn't afraid to admit it anymore. Who wouldn't need what she was feeling right that moment? And it had nothing to do with being afraid to be alone. She could easily have Derek's company if she wanted to, and Nellie was definitely going to be around more now.