Hey fellow Hush Hush nerds! So this is just a really quick update. The chapter doesn't further the plot, it's only purpose is just to build the relationship between Rixon and Nora. To my latest reviewers: The Archangel Network, liv408, xXRavenBlackXx, JustAlison, bookwormgrl101, Crystal Red Roses, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, love-30stm, BlackRabbit23, Hopeless121 – thank you all so much for your feedback! Hope you enjoy this chapter, the next one will be up very soon! Please Review!!!
CHAPTER 6
"Hey, Nora. Do you want me to take you into town to get your stuff?" Rixon yelled from somewhere out the back of the house. I still hadn't seen the entire house so I couldn't say where he was yelling from. "I mean, I don't want you to die from lack of whatever it is when Patch is going to all the effort of killing Dabria."
I let out a sigh. "Sure," I called back from the pea green couch I'd been sitting on for the last hour. After Patch had left, I'd been too broken up to do anything else but come in and sit on the couch.
All I could do was sit and stare at the clock, wondering. Was Patch evil right now? Was he with Dabria? Were they fitting in a make out session before they came to murder me?
Rixon entered the room and looked at me, confused. "Have you been there the whole time?" He asked looking around the room for evidence that I'd moved.
"Yeah…" I answered a little unsure where he was going with this.
"Uh, Nora it's alright if you want to move…. You don't have to stay in the one place." He spoke slowly, as if I was catatonic and didn't want to further disturb me.
I pouted, "I know that, I'm not an idiot."
Rixon tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders, "sitting in the one spot for an hour doesn't exactly say 'intelligence'."
Great, I was being hunted down by one and a half psychos and my only protection was acting like a ten year old boy.
Rixon walked over to the sideboard, grabbing his keys and shrugging on his jacket. He turned back to me. "Ready?" he asked.
I took a deep breath, "sure." I got up off the couch, my legs flooding with pins and needles thanks to the motionless hour. He pulled open the front door for me and I went to go through but stopped when something on the sideboard caught my eye. The phone.
"Um, hang on. I need to make a few calls before we go." I said reaching for my cell in my jean pocket. The pocket was empty. "Damn, stupid evil Patch," I muttered.
"You okay there, love?"
I let out a sigh, "can I borrow your phone? Patch stole mine."
He passed me the phone. "Whatever, find me when you're done," he said before heading outside to fill in the time.
I didn't want an audience, even though I didn't really care if Rixon heard me, so I ventured towards the back of the house for the first time. Coming off the narrow hallway were various shoe-box size rooms. A laundry and 3 other bedrooms.
The biggest (relatively speaking, of course) was clearly Rixon's, it just smelt like him. Not to mention the fact that it was the messiest of the three. I didn't want to disturb his the mess or stay near the smell so I chose the first of the other two bedrooms.
It had been painted the same green as the couch, evidently a long time ago as the paint was now chipped and faded. I sat on the double bed that basically took up the entire space and dialled Vee's number.
"Vee's phone," a sing song sounding Vee answered. It was weird to think that to other people this was just another day. I felt my heart ache a little as I went on.
"Someone's happy," I tried to work a little cheer into my voice, best not to alarm her with the joyless tone I'd been using with Rixon.
"Nora! Where have you been?!" She didn't sound concerned or mad, she sounded curious. "Let me guess, you spent the night with Patch?"
I hadn't known what I was going to say to Vee. I had only been away for one night but I hadn't had the faintest idea how to explain it to her. Luckily she'd found a way to explain it to herself.
"Don't worry Nora, Dorothea called and I told her that you spent the night here and just forgot to call." And she'd found a way to explain it to Dorothea, I knew there was a reason I loved Vee.
"Yeah, I'm with Patch. Thanks for covering-"
"Oh my god!" Vee squealed down the line. "You finally did it! Nora you rebel! So how was it? How was he? What did it look like?" I decided to stop her before she gave herself a coronary.
"Vee slow down, we didn't do it. We just…" this was the hard part, coming up with a reason why I wouldn't be back in Coldwater for god only knows how long, "…decided to take a road trip."
Not sure where the hell that had come from, I chose to run with it, "after all it is Summer, and we're only going to be seventeen once and…we wanted to be together before life got in the way…" The last words stung as I said them aloud. Life definitely had gotten in the way. "So I need you to kind of keep covering for me as long as possible…"
"Nora, one night was hard enough to do. Especially when Dorothea asked to talk to you. And what about your mum? Imagine how she's going to feel when..." I zoned out as Vee went on, listing all the ways I was hurting people by running away with Patch. I wanted to stop her, to tell her the truth. But I couldn't. When I'd chosen Patch I'd chosen a life of lies and secrecy. Now I was paying the price.
Tears welled up as Vee went on about how much I would be hurting my mother, how my mother would never trust me again. I tried to control my voice as I stopped Vee, "Your right, it's better for them to be hurt by the truth than a lie. Tell them I'm with Patch and he loves me and we're safe."
With those last words I hung up the phone and broke down. All the hurt, all the anger, all the pain. I just let it flow. My face became drenched as I cried tear after tear. Every emotion that had been building up since Patch had spoken from the darkness last night came rushing out. I could barely breathe, sadness clogged my airways.
"Nora…" Rixon spoke from the doorframe.
I looked up at him, not knowing how to explain the outburst. He didn't need an explanation though. He sat down next to me on the bed. "Are you okay?"
I couldn't bring myself to answer. All I could do was allow Rixon to pull me into his chest as I continued to cry. I wasn't okay, and I didn't think I could ever be again.