Chapter Nine

She didn't say anything at first, so I decided to make dinner, we ate in silence, even Darcy knew something was wrong. I bathed her and put her to bed, and made up a bed in my old room. I walked back downstairs and sat on the arm chair, Noah sat next to his sister. "So," he said. "What's wrong,"
"Everything," she said sadly, tears streamed down her cheeks, it was heartbreaking to watch. Noah put an arm around her shoulders. "Mom refuses to believe me when I tell her what he does to me,"
"What does he do to you," I said gently.
"When mom isn't there, he treats me like Cinderella," she said. "Except Cinderella never got punched or kicked when she didn't do as she was told,"
"He hits you," said Noah I could hear the anger in his voice. Sarah nodded,
"Mom thinks that I'm lying, she tells me that I'm just like you," she said. "Apparently you said something like that happened to you,"

"His daughter gets treated like royalty," she said. "They tell her how much they love her, but I don't get told that anymore, and it hurts more than what he does to me," Noah pulled her into a tight hug as she fell apart in his arms. I felt tears in my own eyes, Sarah was just nine years old, but I held them back for now,
"Sarah," he said softly. "I love you, and Rachel loves you, and Darcy is going to love you once she gets to know you,"
"And I love you too," she said, "You have no idea how much I've missed you," She yawned,
"Okay," said Noah. "I think you need a goodnight's sleep, Rachel's made up a bed for you,"
"Really," she said, looking at me and giving me a small smile. "You didn't have to do that,"

"Of course I did," I said. "Now come on, I'll show you where your room is," I held out my hand and she took it. I led her upstairs and showed her the room. "Here it is,"
"It's really nice," she said.
"Sarah," I said. "I want you to know that you can come and talk to me about anything girly okay,"
"Thank you Rachel," she said. "You're really nice,"
"You're welcome Sarah," I said. "Are you comfortable," she nodded,
"Can you leave the door open slightly," she said.
"Of course," I said. I kissed her forehead and then walked out of the room, "Goodnight,"
"Goodnight," she mumbled.

I walked back downstairs and saw Noah sitting on the sofa his head in his hands. I walked over and sat next to him. "It's not your fault," I said breaking the silence.
"Yes it is," he said in a broken whisper. "She's my sister I'm supposed to protect her," he still kept his face hidden.
"Noah," I said softly. "Don't hide away from me," He slowly lifted his head, and I saw unshed tears in his eyes, my heart broke for him, but Noah was one of those people who refused to show those sort of feelings. I held his hand and squeezed it gently. "Did he hurt you too,"

He nodded and pointed to a scar on his arm, "What did he do," I said softly. Noah in all the years I'd known him, had never said anything about his life at home, I knew it wasn't like mine, but I didn't ask, at the time I didn't think it was my place to ask, and then we had to focus on Darcy and it pushed to the back of my mind. "He was drunk," Noah said finally. "He put a knife to it,"
"He, What," I couldn't believe what I'd heard. "How old were you,"
"Six," he said so quietly I barely heard him, that was when the first tear fell, but he wiped it a way as fast as he could, as if he thought I wouldn't notice.

"My ma, bandaged it up and told me that he didn't mean to do it," he said, "But I saw the look in his eye, I've never been so scared in my life," I saw him shudder slightly, he was obviously remembering.
"Noah," I said softly. "It's okay, you're allowed to get upset,"
"No," he said. "I'm not, it happened long ago, it doesn't bother me so much now," I sighed, he was trying to rebuild his walls, he saw it as a sign of weakness to be upset, I hated it when the people I loved were upset, but Noah needed to open up, let all this built up hurt out.

"Well I'm going to bed," he said. "You coming," I nodded and followed him upstairs, we got changed quickly and when we got into bed, he didn't say a word. I didn't fall asleep straight away, Noah did, I heard his soft snores; it was at two in the morning when he thrashed around, and then sat up with a gasp, I saw him put his head in his hands. "Noah," I whispered, moving to kneel in front of him.
"Rach," he choked out. "It still hurts," I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close as he finally broke down and sobbed on my shoulder.

I let my own tears fall, Noah had always maintained a strong and tough personality, but seeing him like this broke my heart, I had never seen him like this. I held him close for what seemed like hours, and eventually he had fallen asleep again, I gently lay him back down and lay down with him, finally falling to sleep myself. I wasn't going to let Noah blame himself for what had happened to his sister, I kissed his forehead softly and let my eyes close, Noah was everything to me and I knew I was everything to him, we would get through this together.