Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a little while; I've been really busy for the past week. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Remember to comment, follow and favorite!

Nora and Mary Louise: Confrontation

1 YEAR AGO

"What do you mean girlfriend?" I asked. My sadness began to turn into anger and confusion.

Before I let her respond, I continued: "How did this happen?"

"I am truly sorry, Mary Louise. I didn't think she would move on. I really thought she would wait for you,"

"Well she didn't, did she," I paused for a minute.

"Is she happy?" I asked.

Valerie was silent and looked down at the ground.

"Is she happy?" I asked again, my tone of voice getting louder and more inpatient.

"Yes," she finally blurted out. I didn't realize it at first, but tears had started to fall from my eyes.

"How long has this been going on for?" I managed to get out through my tears.

"About six months,"

"She only waited six months to move on from our relationship? We were in love!"

At that point, I stopped yelling at Valerie and started to yell to myself: "I can't believe this has happened! What is going on? You have to fix this. You have to, Mary Louise,"

"Mary Louise," Valerie interrupted.

I looked up at her: "Maybe you should just speak with her and this will all be sorted out,"

"You're right,"

The words came out of my mouth sounding confident, but inside I wasn't so sure. In her mind, I had abandoned her, and I wasn't sure how she felt about me anymore.

2 YEARS AGO

"Where is she?" Nora screamed.

Valerie was woken up by the loud noises in the kitchen; she immediately came downstairs and asked what was wrong.

"Mary Louise—she's—she's not here. She's been gone for three days. I thought maybe she would need a day to cool off and then come back, but three? Something is wrong. I need to go find her,"

"No!" Valerie suddenly said.

"Why not? Do you know something I don't?"

Valerie's face said it all and Nora knew.

"What did she tell you?" she asked.

Valerie looked from Nora to Lily to Julian who were all in the kitchen, trying to figure out where Mary Louise could have gone. Valerie thought about what she was going to tell Nora the reason was for Mary Louise's absence, but when she saw how upset Nora was after only three days, she knew what she had to say.

"She left,"

"What do you mean she left? Obviously she left. She's not here!" Nora said, frustrated at that answer.

"No. I mean she left. As in she's not coming back. I am so sorry, Nora, but Mary Louise told me to tell you that her guilt about Adam was just too much to handle and she couldn't face you. She said she needed to leave for a while,"

Nora was speechless. She looked behind her at Lily and Julian, shocked at the words she had just heard, hoping this was some kind of joke.

Her mouth opened to say something, but all that came out was the sound of sobbing.

"What—am—am—I—suppo—supposed—to—to do now? I love h—her" she was able to get out in pieces.

1 YEAR AGO

I waited for the other girl to leave the house which happened to be about an hour later. That's when I went inside, upstairs to Nora's room to finally be reunited with her. As I walked up the stairs, I felt a wave of nervousness wrap around me like a blanket, holding me back, but I pushed through it and was able to make my way to Nora's room. I knocked on the door.

After a couple of seconds, the door started to open. Although, in reality, it was only about five seconds for the door to completely open, it seemed like an eternity; I had waited for this moment for so long and it was finally here. Was I ready for it? Was Nora? Before I could finish my thoughts, I saw Nora's face and all of my doubts faded away.

I stared into her big, beautiful eyes, started to smile and said, "Hello, Nora,"

She jumped back, startled to see me. She looked around as if she was uncomfortable or as if she thought it wasn't real.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"We need to talk,"

"We certainly do not. You left me, remember?"

I wanted to blurt out the fact that I didn't leave her—that I was actually protecting her from a secret that would cause her much sadness. But I knew I couldn't.

"Can I just explain,"

"You don't deserve that. You left me here without even a note for a goodbye; you told Valerie of all people! I should've been the one you talked to! I loved you and you left me stranded; I was lost for so long,"

I wanted to tell her it wasn't that long considering my anger towards having found out she started dating someone else only six months after I left, but I didn't want to have two fights at one time. I wanted to focus on us for now.

"You hurt me, Mary Lou. You really hurt me. And I won't let you bring up those memories again; I have moved on and am happy, so please just leave. Again. Go back to where you ran off to,"

She slammed her bedroom door in my face.

PRESENT DAY

I knocked on Nora's door for about ten minutes straight. It seemed like déjà vu.

"Nora, please open up! We need to talk about this!"

"No we don't!" she screamed from inside. "Just go away,"

"Stop it. If you don't open the door, I am going to break it down. And don't test me, because I will do it,"

I supposed she believed me, which she should've, because she opened the door up seconds after I said that.

She peeped her head through the opening, blocking my way inside.

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"No,"

I wasn't going to push my limits, so I agreed to stand outside in the hallway.

"Nora, I really didn't know. You know I would never intentionally hurt people you care about,"

"You hurt Adam!" she said. "How can I trust you?"

"Because you love me and that's what girlfriends are supposed to do! Trust and forgive,"

"It's not that simple, Mary Lou, and you know that! You not only killed him, but you killed his whole family! How could you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but she interrupted.

"And how have you kept this secret for a year, pretending everything's been okay? How could you not tell me that?"

"I'm sorry! I was trying to protect you!"

"You killed his family to protect me? What the hell?"

"No, I left because I killed them and I knew you would hate me for it! So yes I kept it a secret for this long, pretending everything was okay when really I was dying on the inside, because I didn't want you to feel that same way,"

I started to tear and saw that Nora had as well.

She brought me in for a tight embrace. She hadn't responded to what I had said, but she didn't need to; that hug meant more to me than any words she could've said.