The trip to the mountains was exactly 24 hours away. It was 6:30 in the morning. Leonardo was half awake in his bed listening to the crickets chirp outside. He had the covers pushed down around his waist from getting hot in the middle of the night. Leonardo had clothes laid out on his dresser to pack. In fact, there were a lot of things laying around to pack because Edward had brought stuff over and literally dropped it all in the middle of Leonardo's living room. Leonardo had just started to stir slightly when he heard a knock at his door…or did he? Maybe he was hearing things, after all he was barely awake. There it was again, this time louder. It startled Leonardo as he shot up in bed. He wondered who in the world would be knocking at his door at 6:30 in the morning on a Thursday? He heard the knocking again as he searched the floor beside him for the shirt he had thrown there the night before; that would have to do for now. Whoever it was at the door, one thing was certain…it wasn't Edward. Edward had a key and he would have let himself in by now. There was the knock again.

He finally got up and made his way through the mostly dark house and to the front door. He looked out the key hole but didn't recognize the face of the man at his door. This man didn't appear threatening but instead a bit fidgety, perhaps he was in trouble and needed help. Leonardo opened the door with caution.

"Hello, I'm…so sorry to have awoken you at this hour. My name is Wesley Reade…Noelle Bradford…said that this was where you lived." Yes, this was the same Wesley that owned the tavern that Noelle had spoken of. There was a look of concern in his eyes and his body language was tense.

"Wha….what? Please, please come in." Leonardo said nervously as he opened up the door to Wesley. "What's….what's going on? Something's wrong isn't there?" Leonardo closed the door behind Wesley. "Please, come sit down…what's going on?" Leonardo nearly missed the edge of his couch as he sat down with Wesley. Something wasn't right…why else would this man be at his house right now? Wesley sighed; Leonardo could hear the air shake as it escaped him.

"No…Noelle's father died…Ssshhh…she woke up early this morning and went to give him his medication…and he was dead in his bed….he died sometime between 11:30 pm and 6:05 this morning." Leonardo could see that Wesley could barely get those words out. He just looked at Wesley in a state of shock…no idea what to say, his face was frozen, his mind was frozen.

"I…am terribly sorry to meet your acquaintance on such solemn terms. Noelle has spoken so endearingly of you…I had hoped to meet you in a more pleasant setting. She's at the house right now with Johann." Wesley said. Leonardo shook his head.

"No…no…not her father…no…no…she doesn't deserve that, she doesn't deserve to lose him, and she's too good to him….no…no…." Leonardo could feel his throat tighten up. He didn't even bother changing clothes. He got up from his couch, grabbed the house keys and he and Wesley left.

"When I left neither the doctor nor the coroner had arrived yet. I asked her what I could do for her…and she said she wanted you. I should probably warn you, she was a mess when me and Johann showed up at the house. Johann probably has her relaxed a bit, but I'd say she'll lose it again when you show up. Noelle's a tough one to shake…but this is enough to shake her through and through." Wesley explained.

"Is there any inclination as to what happened?" Leonardo asked wiping the mist from his eyes.

"Not officially, but as far as I'm concerned…I would say that Winston Bradford's heart just couldn't support his stroke-stricken body anymore. He had that stroke when he was 47 and now he's 52. Truthfully, I'm surprised he lived this long after having it." Wesley said. The streets were quiet this morning as they walked in near silence to Noelle's house. Leonardo didn't know what to say, he was in an utter state of disbelief. This couldn't be happening, this just couldn't be happening to Noelle. She didn't deserve this. Life had most certainly dealt Leonardo a hard hand in the past but as far as he was concerned Noelle didn't deserve to go through what he did.

He wasn't even entirely sure how he would react when he saw her. It wasn't like this was his father but the problem was that he had gotten attached to this man. He wasn't just an invalid man waiting to die…he had a daughter whom he loved, he had a soul, and he had hopes and wishes for the daughter he now left behind. Wesley and Leonardo had now approached Noelle's home. It appeared that either the doctor or the coroner had arrived as there was an unfamiliar coach before her home. "Do you think that's the doctor?" Leonardo asked quietly.

"I think it is. Johann notified the doctor first and the coroner won't come until the doctor determines the cause of death." Wesley explained opening Noelle's door. Leonardo could feel his heart leap into his throat. He didn't know what to expect and he wasn't entirely sure if he could keep himself together. Wesley closed the door behind them but neither Johann nor Noelle were anywhere to be seen. "I think they must be upstairs." Wesley said. "I think its best we wait for them to come back down. Oh, I apologize…I didn't even appropriately introduce myself to you. I was consumed with the bad news I had to bear." Wesley extended his hand to Leonardo.

"It's understood…and it's nice to meet you, though our circumstances are unfortunate." Leonardo said still unsure of how he was going to react when Noelle came down those stairs. Both Wesley and Leonardo could hear Johann and the doctor talking upstairs, Noelle's voice was yet to be heard. Leonardo could feel his heart beating faster.

"You don't need to see this. You've provided enough information…" Wesley and Leonardo could hear the doctor say. They both looked at each other. Leonardo was getting ready to head upstairs but he stopped when he heard footsteps. Leonardo shook his head and pressed his lips together as he stood at the bottom of the steps and peered up at Noelle on the fourth step. He opened up his arms to her and couldn't fight the tears anymore. He saw her face long enough to tell she had been crying immensely. She nearly flew down the steps and into his embrace; her arms trembled with fervor as she held on to him tightly. As predicted, the tears poured from her eyes. She muffled her whimpering voice into his shoulder. This was one of those hard cries that would later end up giving Noelle a headache.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry Noelle…it's not fair…it's just not fair. No one ever said life was fair…but it's supposed to be for you…for you it's supposed to be fair." Leonardo was almost but not quite as wrecked as she was. He looked into the saddest and most destroyed brown eyes he had ever seen when he said it. Her face was red and her hair wet around her face. He could feel her tears on his fingers as he put both hands on her face. She tried to fight her tears but it was impossible.

"Tell me that it's alright…tell me….tell me that….that people die…" her chest was starting to hurt from all the sobbing. "…tell me that people die and that this….is a part of life…and that everything's going to be alright….I'm right….right? Tell me I'm right….please….please tell me I'm right…oh god….oh god….oooooh god why is it so hard to let go of him…." Noelle's head fell forward coming to rest on Leonardo's chin, her tears streaming down her face and landing on the collar of his shirt.

"I can't stand here and lie to you and tell you that it's alright…and that every thing's going to be alright. It's not alright…it's not alright. For now, for right now….it's not alright. Noelle…don't try and convince yourself that…that everything is alright…go ahead and fall apart…I'll put your pieces back together." Leonardo sniffed repeatedly, holding her head against him. Noelle was 100 percent composed 100 percent of the time…until now. She could feel herself crumbling and now she was nothing more than a broken lady waiting to be mended.