Serah met Noel outside the school by his motorbike; Serah was a little anxious about riding one, because had never even been near one. Noel saw her and tossed her a black helmet, which she clumsily caught while trying to hold onto her backpack .
"This is safe right?" Serah asked as she came over to Noel's side, as he swung one of his legs over the bike.
"Oh yeah, perfectly safe. Why you haven't ridden one?"
"No, first time for everything." Serah replied as she swung one of her legs over the side of the bike, sliding the helmet over her head.
With that, Noel turned the bike on, which about scared Serah to death; she quickly wrapped her arms around his chest, and leaned into his back. She could feel him smirking as she tightened her grip. He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road, which was mainly just pebbles because they lived too close to the beach for huge roads. Serah could feel the wind on her skin and through her clothes, and she loved this sensation she felt. Riding the bike with Noel was like flying through the clouds, it was something Serah never imagined herself doing. It was so different yet so familiar to her. Soon they came through town, where Noel had to stop at a red light.
"You having fun back there?" he asked through his helmet.
Serah nodded, against his back, "Yes! This is amazing."
"Glad you like my way of getting around."
"Like? More like love."
Noel laughed as the light turned green again and they took off. They were soon on the outskirts of town when Noel pulled into a small neighborhood. The houses weren't anything as large as Serah's house, but they were normal people houses, some nicer than others. Noel pulled into a house on the corner of Salt Water Street, which was one of the nicer looking houses. The house was real modern looking; It was all white with a wooden garage door, and lights surrounded the house. There were many windows that showed into the house, and the grass was very green with many plants.
"Your house is so pretty." Serah said, sliding the helmet off her head and adjusting her hair.
Noel laughed, "Yeah, it was a hell of a deal when we brought it."
Serah sat the helmet back on the bike as her and Noel walked towards the main door, "So who is this Caius guy anyway?"
Noel sighed and turned back towards her, almost making her run into him, "Caius, he's my friend. We've known eachother for a long time, him, Yeul, and I. He kinda became a parental figure for me and Yeul, even though we're not related."
"The same Caius who hit Yeul? Doesn't seem like a father figure to me."
Noel gave a small chuckle, "Well that was before he started drinking."
Drinking, the word had so many meanings to Serah. First it just meant to have something to drink, then it meant drinking like as in alcohol. She was surprised to hear that even in Noel's family, there was an alcohol problem. Noel opened the door and held it open for Serah, who gladly walked in. The house, much like the outside, was styled in the modern look; white floors, white walls, white ceilings, and white furniture. Even though the house wasn't as big as Serah's, it had many of the same luxuries, like big televisions, nice furniture, and a lot of electronics. Serah heard someone coming down the stairs, which were very sleek and white, and she turned to look to see who it was. It was a man with long purple spiky hair, that wore a dress shirt and a pair of slacks. That must be Caius Serah thought as the man approached her and Noel.
"Hello Noel, who's your friend?" the man's voice was deep and dark, and almost matched his personality.
Noel reached for Serah's hand, "Caius, this is Serah Farron. She's Lightning's sister."
"I see the resemblance." the man laughed and took Serah's hand for a shake. His hand was cold and clammy, and his grip was way too much for Serah's poor hand. She wished it was Noel's hand. He finally let go of her hand, and she let it drop back down to her side. "It's a pleasure Miss Farron, a beautiful lady like yourself is always welcomed here."
What a creep , Serah thought to herself as she squeezed Noel's hand. He eagerly squeezed back.
"Come on Serah," Noel said as he pulled her over to the stairway. She looked over her shoulder as Noel pulled her towards the stairs, and saw Caius looking at her like how a lion looks at a gazelle before it pounces. Serah's head shot back around and she hurried to follow Noel back up the stairs. He lead her down a hallway with many windows, and finally at the end he turned right into a room. His room was white as well, but his furniture was either black or blue. Noel shut the door behind Serah and turned back towards her with a strange look on his face. "So what do you think of him?"
"Seems nice," Serah said as she walked over to the nearest window to look outside, " don't really understand why he would hit Yeul."
"Yeah me either." Noel said shaking his head, "But you would say something if you thought something right ?"
Serah lied , "Yeah of course."
Noel walked over to her and pulled her into a longing kiss. It was nice just being there with him, with no worries about her parents, or school or anything at all.
She pulled away slowly to look him in the eye, "We really need to get that project done. Then we can do whatever this is."
"What is this? What even are we?" Noel asked as Serah started rummaging through her backpack for her folder.
Serah shook her, "I don't know Noel, I know I have feelings for you and i know i like you more than a friend. But the rest of the stuff i don't really know. Maybe after this project we can figure it out."
So they sat on the cold tile and worked on the project for a few hours; they had it finally finished by four o'clock and Serah was ready to talk about her relationship with Noel. She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but didn't quite know how to put it into words. She knew she loved him, even though she just met him, and she wanted them to be together. But did he feel the same way?
"So," she started off by saying, "what do you want us to be?"
Noel smiled, "Isn't it obvious?"
"Kind of." Serah laughed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well what do you want us to be?"
Serah pouted her lip, she does that when she thinks, "I want us to be in a relationship I guess. I mean we both like eachother more than friends, so the only other option is to be dating."
"Makes sense." Noel said leaning over by Serah, who happily allowed him to. Soon their noses were touching, and so were their foreheads.
"So you're mine?" Serah asked as she intertwined her fingers with his.
He smirked, "Yup, I'm all yours."
And with that they sealed the gap between them; Serah slowly drifted off to what she called her happy place, where nothing could ruin this moment. She loved being with Noel; he made her feel special and wanted, which was something she didn't feel very often, and no one had ever made her feel that way. Soon Serah was lying on the floor with Noel hovering above her, sending kisses down her jaw bone. She was glad they had finished their project, so that this time nothing could stop them. Except Serah's phone.
What the hell? Serah though as she sat up and reached into her bag to pull out her Iphone. It was her mother; she quickly hit ignore, and grabbed Noel by his collar pulling him back into the kiss. Noel questioned who it was, but when Serah pulled him back into the kiss he obviously got the message that it was no one important. They continued to passionately kiss for another few minutes, until Serah's phone rang again. This time it was her father.
She quickly pressed the answer button, "Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?" Her father hissed through the phone, making her cringe a little. "Are you really that stupid to not answer your mother?"
"I'm at Noel's house, we were just finishing the project. I completely forgot to text one of you to tell you where I was." Or maybe she had remembered and she just completely went against it.
"Well it's time to get your ass back home, darling." Her father's words said through the phone.
"Okay," Serah sighed, sitting up, ""be home soon."
"You better. This is strike two."
Serah dropped her phone when he said that. How could this be strike two? He was being an arrogant asshole and was just angry he didn't have someone besides Mom to hit.
"Sorry, I have to go." Serah said picking herself off the floor and gathering her stuff; Noel quickly got up and helped her pack her bag.
"You sure you can't stay any longer, I was about to take my shirt off." Noel smirked as he handed Serah her phone from the floor.
She playfully slapped him, "No, my parents are already going to kill me for not being home right after school."
"I can explain to them that it was my idea," Noel suggested, "then you wouldn't have to take all the blame."
"Okay," Serah nodded, "that will work too."
With that the two teens, went back out the hallway down the stairs, and through the living room until they came to the door. Caius stepped out of the kitchen and met them at the door.
"Pleasure meeting you Miss Farron. Hope to see you again."
Serah waved and smiled, "You too sir."
He watched her as Noel and her exited the room. Serah was closing the door when they made eye contact; he smirked began walking towards the door, which Serah quickly shut. She ran up to catch up with Noel, who was already putting on his helmet. Serah threw her helmet on, and Noel started the bike and off they went. Through the neighborhood, down the street, through town, and finally back to her neighborhood. Noel pulled up the driveway and parked the bike, pulling off his helmet, as Serah did too. Thomas and Charlotte came outside as the two were climbing off the bike.
"Serah, we were so worried." her mother said as she hugged her daughter, while her father shook hands with Noel again.
"Yeah, sorry about that."
Noel stepped next to Serah, "Sorry, it was all my idea. I suggested we go to my place instead of coming here."
"Oh it's no problem," Thomas said as he patted Noel on the back, "as soon as Serah said she was with you, I immediately stopped worrying."
"Mom, Dad, can I have a minute with Noel please." Serah asked both of her parents.
"Sure honey," her mother said taking her father's hand, "we'll be inside when you're done." She then pulled Thomas along back towards the door, who waved goodbye to Noel, and opened the door and walked inside.
"Whatcha need?" Noel asked as he leaned against his bike, the wind slowly blowing his hair across his face.
Serah smiled and walked close to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, " Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a ride home."
She leaned in and placed a kiss right onto his soft lips, and he eagerly kissed her back. After a minute or so, Serah pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
"What?" Noel asked as she continued to look at him.
Serah smiled, "Nothing, I'm all yours. Just remember that."
With that she turned on her heel and ran towards the door to her house; she made it right by the door when she turned and blew him a kiss.
"See you tomorrow boyfriend."
"See you later girlfriend." he called as he hopped onto his bike, and slid his helmet over his head.
Serah walked into the house feeling high and hopefully, but she was suddenly pushed down with the force of reality. Or her father. Her body hit the cold floor, and immediately tried to get herself back off the floor, but she was kicked back down by Thomas. He grabbed her hair and threw her back onto the tile floor, where she quickly pulled herself into a ball to protect herself from his kicks. He kicked her everywhere; she would have bruises all over her body tomorrow. He finally stopped, getting one last kick to her stomach, and walked away. Charlotte ran over when he had gotten a good distance, quickly searching her daughter's body for any severe injuries. Luckily besides a few bruises, there was nothing. She helped Serah off the floor, then Serah pushed her mom away and headed up stairs, followed by Mog. She finally made it to her room where she quickly shut the door, and locked it. Serah slid down the door onto the floor, where Mog happily licked her hand, and she started crying. It wasn't because she was sad, she was livid. She couldn't keep doing this everyday, it was tearing her apart in the knew she had to tell Noel, but she didn't know how. Maybe it was a good idea to leave and live with Lightning. But then again what about her mother, and Mog. Serah knew she just couldn't give up like this, she had to do something but what that something was, she didn't know. She only knew Noel; he was everything to her. She knew she couldn't get that third strike or else something really bad would happen.
The next morning, Serah was sore from all the kicks. She had many purple bruises covering her body, and it ached to move. She slowly got up and took a nice hot shower. It didn't help with the pain but she sure needed something to calm her nerves. Serah applied her makeup and blow dryed her hair; then after doing that she pulled out her curling iron to curl her ends. She carefully wrapped each hair around the iron, careful not to burn her fingers. Soon her ends were all massive curls that hung low down her back. She put on a long sleeve white shirt and a pair of blue jeans, with a pair of brown tall boots. At least the bruises weren't on her face. The bruise on her face had almost healed and was now a small mark. She grabbed her bag and headed out the door and down the stairs. She silently prayed her father wasn't up yet. He wasn't. She hurried out the door before anyone could stop her. She looked for her bike but then remembered she left it at the school when Noel had offered her a ride. Guess you're walking Serah said to herself as she started down the sidewalk. The walk was long, and quiet; usually Serah could be at the school in a matter of ten minutes, but now she probably would get their in like twenty minutes, if she walks fast . It gave her a lot of time to think though, about all that had happened, and what she was going to do. When she finally made it to the school, she was exhausted. And there was her bike, just where she left it. Note to self, hit Noel Serah said to herself as she remembered riding home with the boy. She was about to enter the building when her phone started ringing; she reached down and pulled it out of her backpack. It was Snow.
Serah put her phone to her ear, "Snow?"
"Hey Serah," Snow said, sounding like his usual self, " you haven't been to school these last three days. Everything okay?"
Serah sighed, "I transferred schools."
"W-what?" Snow asked confused, "When did this happen? Is this because of me?"
"What, no. I needed a change, and i just wanted a do over." Serah said switching from her right ear to her left ear.
Snow laughed, "You sure? You don't sound sure."
"I'm sure, is there something you wanted from me."
"Uh, yeah, actually." Snow chuckled, "You wanted to know who it was I was with when we broke up. Do you still want to know?"
"I mean, sure I guess." Serah was beginning to wonder where this conversation was going.
"It was your-"
Her phone was snatched away from her ear, and she turned to see Noel placing the phone on his ear.
"Uh Serah is unavailable right now, she'll have to call you back later." With that he pressed the end button and wrapped his arms around her waist. His head nuzzled in her neck, she could almost forget everything that was happening. Almost.
"Noel," Serah whined as he planted kisses across her shoulder. "that was an important call."
"More important than me?" he laughed as he came back around and kissed her right on the lips.
Serah sighed against his lips, "Maybe not, but still."
"Whose Snow?"
"My Ex."
"Hmmm," Noel hummed before saying, "want you back or something?"
Serah shook her head, "No, just wanted to check on me. Since I haven't been to my old school in like three days."
"Okay," Noel said kind of confused, " you wanna head inside?"
"Yeah, sure."
Noel and Serah walked inside the building, and up the stairs to the junior hallway. Serah had never been to Noel's locker, so when Noel signaled her to the right she easily found her place next to him. His locker was neat like hers, only it lacked pictures or her locker mirror. Besides that, it looked like an average locker.
"You need pictures." Serah said leaning against the locker to the left of his.
Noel chuckled, "Pictures of what?"
"Me."
Noel looked her dead in the eye, and smiled, "Okay, get me some pictures and i'll put them up."
Serah nodded happily, "Okay, I'll meet ya in Calculus. I gotta swing by my locker too."
"Kay."
Serah quickly walked down to her locker, where she saw Vanille and Fang talking together. Vanille noticed Serah approaching and gave a small wave, signalling Fang to stop talking about whatever they were discussing. Serah came up to her locker and started putting in the combination. She felt Vanille place her hand on Serah's shoulder, where a newly formed bruise was, causing Serah to wince in pain. Hopefully the two girls didn't notice.
"Serah, are you okay?" Vanille said quickly removing her hand from her shoulder.
Fang stepped closer, "Did anything happen?"
Serah shook her head, "No, not at all. Just a little sore."
"You sure?" Fang asked, clearing not believing Serah's lie.
"Positive, now if you will excuse me I've got to meet Noel at Calculus."
"You guys a thing now?" Vanille clasped her hands together.
"Um, actually we are."
"That's so cute and sweet."
"He's a good guy." Fang nodded as Vanille gushed about Noel and Serah.
Serah smiled "Thanks, I'll see you guys later."
With that she quickly walked towards the other end of the hallway, and down the stairs. Serah hurried to get away as quickly as she could without looking like she was trying to run away. That was too close; Fang and Vanille almost had her right there. Did they know? Serah asked herself. She figured Fang probably knew from Lightning, but for Vanille she didn't know. Down the long tiled hallway she walked, until she came to the calculus classroom, where Noel was supposed to be. But all that was in there was Yeul, and Noel's stuff. She walked over to her desk and sat her stuff down, quickly glancing around the classroom. No Noel.
"Hi Serah," Yeul said still looking at her drawing, "looking for Noel?"
"Actually yes I am."
Yeul looked up, "He said he would be right back. I'm sure he's heading here right now."
Serah sighed and said okay, as she sat down in her seat. She wondered what the boy was up to, being himself and all. She hoped it wasn't anything to do with her and the truth. As soon as she thought that, Noel walked into the classroom and weird look on his face. He sat down next to Serah and took her hand.
"Are you okay?" Noel asked as he gave her hand a squeeze.
"Yeah, are you okay?"
Noel sighed, "As long as you're okay, then I'm fine."
Serah smiled as students started filing into the classroom. Even though there was more people coming in, Serah felt like she was the only one in there. She knew Noel knew something, but what it was, she didn't know.
The next two weeks were a blur to Serah; most of her days consisted of going to school, spending her days with Noel, getting smacked by her father, and then going to bed. She hadn't got the third strike though. Thomas had actually found a job so her was gone early in the morning to late at night. That definitely helped her mother, and partly her. It was Monday afternoon when Serah got home from school to find her mother crying in the bathroom. She quickly sat her backpack down and sat down close to her mother. Charlotte was hysterical, something must of happening with Serah's father.
"Mom? What's wrong?" Serah asked as her mother contained to cry into a towel.
Serah's eyes drifted to the trash can, where she noticed a box. It was a pregnancy test. She quickly got up and dumped the trash onto the floor, when she saw it. The tester, with a little pink plus on the side of it. Serah picked it up and showed Charlotte, who cringed and became more hysterical.
"Mom, what happened." Serah sternly said as her mother continued to cry.
"I-it was y-your father," she hiccuped, "he was m-mad one night and needed me."
"Mom!" Serah said standing up, "You're not his toy to use whenever he wants! You can't handle having another child to watch!"
"I know Serah!" Her mother screamed and threw the towel.
Serah quickly exited the bathroom before her mother started throwing other things. This was insanity, how could her mother be pregnant. If she didn't already have enough to deal with, now she definitely did. Serah needed to escape this place, so she left. She took the car keys and drove her mother's car to Noel's house. He said he had homework to do today at home, so she figured he'd be home. She pulled in and got out of the car; when the car first pulled in she saw a figure by the front door, and as she walked closer she saw the door swing open. It was Caius. He looked more casual this time, with a pair of jeans and a black v neck tshirt.
He gave her a smile, "Hello Serah. How can I help you?"
"Hi Caius," Serah uncomfortably shifted her weight, "I was just wondering if Noel was home."
"He stepped out for a moment, saying he was coming right back. He probably will be back shortly, please come in."
"You know, I can just wait in the car-" Serah began to say but Caius grabbed her hand.
"Please, I insist." She slowly walked into the house, as Caius released his grip on her hand. She walked over to the couch and took a seat, as Caius watched her do so. She felt very uncomfortable, and she knew something was going on. He walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge.
"You want anything to drink Serah?"
"No thank you." Serah quickly replied, as she saw Caius pull out a beer for himself.
She quietly prayed that Noel who hurry his ass up and get back home. Caius walked over and took a seat beside her, too close for comfort. He stretched and laid an arm behind her back, like a typical move a guy does when they want to put an arm around a girl.
"So Miss Farron," Caius started as he sipped on his beer, "why are you here?"
"Oh nothing really. Just needed some help on some Calculus homework." She quickly lied. Hopefully he'd believe her.
He sat the beer down on the glass table, "Is that so? Well I was once a student who took calculus maybe I could help you?"
Serah stared at the can, "Um, ya know, I'm just going to wait on Noel. I mean, he can't be gone that long."
Caius moved his other hand to rest on her bare thigh, "You sure? I'm sure I can be some assistance to you."
Serah was about to snap this guy, "Okay, it has to do with limits."
"Oh, my favorite." he growled into her ear, his other arm wrapping around her body and pulling her close. Serah was about to punch this guy in the face when he was suddenly on top of her. He pushed her shoulder down onto the couch, making sure she couldn't escape. Caius then began to slowly kiss her, which Serah didn't respond to at all, and she actually bit his lip. He recoiled but gave an evil smirk.
"You like to play rough." He slowly stroked her face as she tried to kick him, but he was so much bigger than she was that it was useless.
Serah then tried to scream, but a hand clamped down on her mouth. Caius glared above.
"You scream, and Yeul gets it."
Serah froze; she knew she couldn't let herself get raped by this douchebag, but then again she didn't want anything to happen to Yeul. She just wished Noel would hurry up and get back. Caius continued to kiss her and slowly began unbuttoning her dress shirt. Serah knew she had to do something, so she screamed again, but this time Caius slapped her hard across the face.
"That's it you little bitch, you're mine-"
"Caius!" A voice screamed, and Serah could hear footsteps down the stairs. Caius quickly got off of Serah just in time to block a punch across the face from Noel.
"Noel," Caius breathed heavily, "I can explain."
Noel looked from Caius to Serah, who was quickly buttoning her top, and then looked back to Caius, "You son of a bitch!"
Noel then attacked Caius, and the two were throwing punches left and right. Noel struck Caius right in the jaw, and then Caius hit Noel's left side. Serah quickly got up and started screaming at them to stop, which didn't do anything. Noel swung and hit Caius right in the nose, making it snap and start to bleed. Caius then fell backwards onto the floor, and laid there with his nose gushing blood.
Noel stood over Caius, "You touch her again, and your nose won't be the only thing I break."
He then turned and grabbed Serah's hand, pulling her outside and shutting the door behind him. Noel turned to her and took her face in his hands.
"Did he hurt you?"
Serah shook her head, "No, I don't think so."
Noel sighed and pulled Serah into a hug. Serah quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close to her. She was so relieved that he had come and saved her.
"Hey Noel," Serah murmured into his chest, "can we go somewhere to talk."
"Yeah sure. Let's go."
It was three thirty went Serah and Noel got to the beach; it was a hot and sunny day, so the water was warm and clear. Serah and Noel both took off their shoes and sat them by Serah's car, then they ran across the hot sand to the water. Serah took Noel's hand as they walked down the long seashore.
"Whatcha want to talk about?" Noel asked giving Serah's hand a tight squeeze.
Serah sighed, "My mom's pregnant."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah," Serah said sadly, "it's great and all, but she doesn't need to have another kid besides me to take care of."
Noel released her hand, "Well it's not like you need taking care of, you're basically almost an adult."
"I know but still. With my dad losing his job, and now my mom being pregnant, it's just a lot." Serah said trying to avoid bringing the topic of her dad being an alcoholic.
"What does Lightning think?"
"She doesn't know yet." was all Serah could say. Lightning would flip when she found out, especially the version that her mom gave. Serah took as deeper step out into the crystal water. "Ya know, sometimes I just wish I could go away."
"Just go away?"
"Yeah," Serah turned to her boyfriend, "like disappear. Go somewhere else."
Noel took a step out and grabbed her hands, "What about us." Serah sighed and started to turn away, but Noel held her in place. He stared deep into her eyes, "Does this mean nothing to you?"
Serah sharply turned back to face him, "Of course it does! This means everything to me! Like I said before, you're the only thing that's right in my life right now. Everything else doesn't matter."
Noel moved closer to her, "Than wherever you go, I'll be there too."
Serah sighed as her and Noel kissed once more, with the warm ocean beneath their feet. Instantly everything seemed to not seem like a big deal anymore. The pregnancy, her father, telling Lightning, it all seemed to slip away. She knew this feeling all too well; it was one of the bad things about kissing Noel, not that there were many, everytime she kissed him everything seemed to fade away. It was a quick escape for the moment, but as soon as their lips didn't touch all the thoughts came rushing back to reality. Serah wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and he wrapped his around her waist. If she only knew what would happen next, she should have stayed with him forever.