Noah,

If I hadn't already felt trapped in my old fourteen year old state of mind by being at my mom's house, I had to stay in my old room.

It was green like so many of the rooms here, but I had picked out the color myself at fourteen. My bed had the same little marks from when I got bored and started drawing soccer balls on the wooden posts. My clothes were still in the closet. Posters were still hanging on my wall. My old favorite books were on the bookshelf, and the movies I used to play a million times over and over were still sitting beside my DVD player.

If I thought about it long enough, I could convince myself that I was sixteen again. I could wait to hear my mom call out that I needed to come down to lunch where she would then try to set me up with the latest young starlet all while telling me about the latest new healthy thing we would do "as a family" this summer.

It was enough to make me sick.

I felt suffocated, and I was back in the car, my old green convertible that was still sitting in the garage. Before I knew what I was doing, I was just driving around and trying to find something I didn't know.

New houses being built. One ones being remodeled. New things. New stores. New restaurants. Anything new.

But it all felt the same. Nothing new was being contributed. Just the same old ideas swirling around.

And then I found my old salvation.

The small little coffee shop that I used to start all of my mornings at. Letting the caffeine wash away my annoying mother, latest health trend that was about to drive me insane, or a strong hangover. This was the part of LA that I missed. This was what had been my home here.

As I stepped through the door to Wired, my nose was attacked by the bold coffees, teas, and pastries. The place was alive, full of people talking or working. Yet there was a calming feel to it, relaxing me more than all of those attempts at meditation that my mom had forced me into.

And there was my table, empty and calling out for a homecoming for the two of us.

I had a grin on my face as I sat down at it and took out my laptop, logging onto the WiFi connection automatically.

For the first time since Hephaestus had told us that we needed to go to Olympia and face the music, I was really smiling. I was happy, I was relaxed. And I had an urge to talk to someone that I hadn't had the urge to talk to for a very long time…

SoccerGuy18: Please tell me you're online

There was a horrible wait as I watched the IM screen, waiting for the little light to turn green and tell me that Pixar was online. I waited for what felt like a lifetime, ordering a coffee and staring at my screen, and then finally the green light popped up.

PixarRules4: Well, you still exist. I can barely believe it ;)

SoccerGuy18: I'm sorry… A lot has been going on.

PixarRules4: Understood… We've had… a lot happen, too…

SoccerGuy18: We're in LA now

The fast responses suddenly stopped, and my coffee arrives just as I got a reply.

PixarRules4: You are?

SoccerGuy18: Just got in yesterday

PixarRules4: So did we.

SoccerGuy18: So you're here, too?

PixarRules4: Yeah

As I looked at the screen, I felt a sudden temptation run over me.

I wanted to meet her. I needed to somehow. It was selfish, yes. If I died tomorrow, she would lose me. If Charlie died tomorrow, I would be broken. If I lost Kate tomorrow, I would be broken. It was a lot to push on someone the day after I would meet them. But I felt like I needed to meet Pixar.

If things hadn't been as chaotic as they were, I never would have asked for this. I wouldn't have been that selfish. I wouldn't have pushed such a dramatic and important event so close to another, but I was feeling impulsive and just wanted to get what I wanted for a little while.

And I wanted this.

I was thinking about it, the logical side trying to reason with me, but I didn't want to be reasoned with. I wanted to be reckless. It had paid off for Sam of all people, so why couldn't I at least give it a shot?

PixarRules4: You still there?

SoccerGuy18: Yeah, yeah, I am here. I just got a little distracted.

PixarRules4: With what?

SoccerGuy18: Just thinking…. And I've been thinking about this.

PixarRules4: This? You're being vague.

SoccerGuy18: I want to meet you.

The words were printed on screen. They had gone out. "Send" had been pressed. It had been sent to her, and the screen told me that she had read it. I couldn't go back now. It was like the moment you took your seat on a rollercoaster. You felt that flash of needing to get off and fear, but you forced yourself into that seat with the bar closing.

I felt my stomach dive as I waited for the moment that the rollercoaster took the first plunge. My impatience was growing as I waited to see what she would say back to me.

PixarRules4: I want to meet you, too.

SoccerGuy18: How about today?

I took a large gulp of my coffee, trying to dull my nerves that were going insane, but it wasn't working. I felt like I was fifteen years old asking June Baker to go with me to the spring formal.

PixarRules4: Where should we meet?

I began to fill in the information about the coffee shop, excitement running through me as I prepared myself for this momentous moment. I was like a little kid on the first day of school, afraid and excited for what could be wonderful or be terrible.

PixarRules4: I will be there in an hour.

No one's POV,

Kate looked at herself in the Jeep mirror for the millionth time. She kept readjusting her brown curls, pushing them behind her ear and then pulling them out again. She applied another layer of lipstick before blotting it out and deciding it was too dark for the third time. She looked for any sign that her mascara had smeared, but there was none. She tugged on the blue blouse that Aphrodite had given her, pulling it to where she wanted it to be.

Kate hadn't done this since she was a senior in high school and she prepared for her first date since she decided to get over Noah. He had been a football player and fellow senior, James Gray, and he asked her to a party. She changed outfits three times and fixed her hair two different ways. The date was a bust, and she ended up riding home with her friend named Jessica.

But she found herself doing it now, trying to fix things that weren't broken.

It had been an hour since Kate had gotten the message from SoccerGuy18 asking her to meet him here, and she had scrambled to get ready. She did her make-up, hair, and put together an outfit. She sneaked out of the house, snagging the keys to the Jeep out of Sam's room, and started driving off.

It wasn't far, and it hadn't given her enough time. She needed to stall. Her nerves were tearing her up, and it was all she could do not to crank up the car again and drive back to JoJo's mansion.

Kate's eyes peaked towards Wired.

It was a square, brick building. It had once been a very boring bakery serving very boring pastries. Five years ago, a new owner gutted and revamped the place. The outside had steel beams and different surfaces to call attention. The new clientele of people too hipster to go to the typical Bel-Air hangouts had their electric cars sitting out front, and there was a sign informing Kate that there was a book sale inside. She had parked towards the end of the mostly full parking lot, and she had ignored the prime spots just to give her more stalling time.

But she had to be thrown to the wolves sometime, and now was just that sometime.

She opened the car door, stopping the hum of the latest hit song playing on the radio. Her feet took a grip on the concrete as she stepped out, and she found herself using the reflective surface of the car as a mirror. Her hands smoothed the shirt, pulled up her jeans, and moved her necklace to be center once more.

There was nothing more she could do but let her brain take her off on the million tangents it needed. Uncertainty, confusion, and pressure swirled around her like a whirlpool. The health conscious lunch Henry had made was threatening to crawl up her throat, and she had to grip onto the car door as her balance in her ankle boots became shaky.

One step. Now two. Now three.

She was walking. She was closer and closer.

Noah had to force himself not to pace. The three coffees in his system were adding to his jitters, and his hands were shaking as he held his first non-caffeinated drink, a strawberry smoothie. He was still sitting at the table that he had claimed an hour ago. He hadn't done much of anything since he got the message.

How could he?

He was too nervous. Too excited. And far too jumbled up to think of anything else.

Kate kept flashing through his mind as he thought about Pixar. Beautiful, perfect Kate.

She would never love him is what he kept thinking. She would never want him. They would never be together. He was like a second brother to her, and that was all he would ever be. He had to get on with his life. He couldn't chase after her like a little puppy dog forever.

But it felt so wrong sitting here when he wanted her…

He wanted Pixar, but it was different with Kate.

Kate was… well, Kate.

Kate was the girl he had grown up in love with. She was the girl that he had taught to drive. She was the one who put him in a suit and told him to go to those dances he wanted to skip. She was the one who kept him calm when he needed. He couldn't have survived without her, and he knew he couldn't now either.

Pixar would just have to be the replacement, whoever she was.

Maybe she could do it. Maybe she couldn't.

Second best was better than nothing at all, Noah thought. He just wished it wasn't like that.

Noah took a gulp of his cold smoothie as he looked out of the window, trying to identify who it might be.

And there she was. Kate. Looking beautiful and walking just his way.

Noah began to choke on his drink, looking away out of shock as his hopes led him to wonder if she was Pixar. But his rationality shot it down, making him look back.

And she was gone.

She was there. She had to be. He didn't just imagine that.

Noah jumped up from his seat, ignoring the fact that it was time to meet Pixar. Ignoring the fresh smoothie that the barista had given to him as she had tried desperately to flirt with him though he didn't even notice. Ignoring all of it.

He began to swiftly make his way through the coffee shop, looking around outside. Nothing. No sign of her.

Except for the silver Jeep that Sam prized as his baby sitting in the back of the parking lot.

"What the Hades?" Noah muttered, looking around, and then he heard it.

A soft little whimper, and his feet began to slowly move towards it as he suddenly saw a black ankle boot be thrown from the alley.

This got him faster, his hand wrapping around his sword.

The second ankle boot was also thrown. Directly at the ugly head of the hybrid monster in front of her. It blinked its eyes, shunning back from the high heel hitting it in the nose, and Kate scrambled to pick herself up. But the claws had left a pretty good mark on her as he had gripped her and taken her to the alley.

She had remembered everything.

Everything that is except for her sixteenth birthday present from Aphrodite, the lip gloss that turned into a sword. It had fallen out of her bag and was currently sitting in the passenger seat of Sam's jeep.

But throwing a shoe didn't do much damage except for the shock factor, and two slimy arms were lunging out for her, sharp claws ready for the greater damage they could cause than a shoe.

She dodged it, but not well enough.

Kate let out a scream.

A haunting scream. The kind you can never forget. The one you hear over and over again in your head. The broken pain. The moment that the world had lost all hope to that person was shown through their voice.

Noah would hear it for years to come in a little corner of his mind.

"Kate!" his desperation had never been so high.

Before he even knew it, he was there. He wasn't thinking. His body just attacked. Slicing. Gutting. Stabbing. Kicking. Anything and everything to cause the monster harm and cover Noah in golden blood.

As it shriveled up, Noah suddenly found what he was done. He was covered in blood, golden and shimmering in the sun. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes were murderous. For the first moment in his life, he really felt like he could have killed someone. He would kill for her…

Her…

Noah dropped to his knees, for the first moment getting to see what had caused that horrible scream.

Her blood was everywhere, littering the street the deep crimson that had once flowed through her. Her pretty little blue shirt was ripped at tattered, just like her body.

The gash in her abdomen was bleeding out fast, and you could see the life in her face draining at the same speed. Her beautiful grey eyes were beginning to flutter closed, and Noah was afraid he would never see them open.

"Kate, Kate," his voice was frantic, "Come on, please. Keep your eyes open. For me, please."

He was scrambling for the ambrosia in her bag, and she tried to keep her eyes open as her tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"I didn't want it to be like this. I didn't want it to be like this," her words were hard to hear through the sobs, "I was so stupid. I was so stupid."

"No, no, it could have happened to anyone, don't do this. Don't blame yourself," Noah didn't even notice he was crying, too, as he got out the ambrosia, forcing it in her mouth. It was working, slowly patching up her body. But blood was still pumping out far too fast.

It wasn't fast enough…

And that was the horrible realization hitting both of them.

It wasn't fast enough. She could die right here. Right now. And she probably would.

"I was so stupid," Kate's voice was getting more and more frantic, "So stupid. I was too focused on meeting him to think. I just kept praying and praying he would make me happy. That he could ever compare to you."

She let out a louder cry as she struggled to keep talking. She felt woozy.

"I love you. I love you so much. I always loved you. And I have been trying to replace you! That was why I stopped talking to you. I wanted to find someone else. I wanted to try to forget you because nobody compared," her face was white as a ghost, "I love you just so much…"

She was fading faster and faster.

"SoccerGuy can't compare. He can't. He isn't you," her voice was getting softer, "I love you…"

And the world faded to black.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to happen in a beautiful way. She was supposed to look beautiful instead of having her body bleed out on the street. She was supposed to be telling him for the sake of her future, not making up for the lack of one.

But things weren't right.

The fates hadn't been fair. They hadn't been just. They had been cruel. The cards dealt to them had been the worst in the deck, and their happiness had been thrown away like a candy wrapper, insignificant…

Or maybe not….

Noah refused to give up. He never would. Kate loved him, and that was all that mattered. He wouldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever.

Kate,

I woke up to a pounding headache, a tender spot on my abdomen, and a terrible feeling that something bad had happened the day before. Light flooded into the room through the light green curtains, and I felt cold wrapped up in the silky sheets. My body was sore as I tried to sit up, and two arms wrap around me, supporting me carefully like I was a china doll.

I felt fragile, and I wasn't sure why.

As my eyes began to blink open, I heard voices around me. My brain struggled to identify them through the confusion and soreness of my body.

I think I heard Sam. And Charlie. Swift? Or was that Aiden?

My body leaned in farther into the figure supporting me, still unidentified, and I felt like a child holding onto their mother's skirt.

My eyes finally opened, and I adjusted to the sudden light.

Everyone was sitting in the room. Charlie was sitting worriedly by the bed, a chair from who-knows-where pulled up to sit beside me. Sam was being comforted by Swift as he looked at his little sister, and Aiden and Chester were even paying their silent respect to me as they stood in the corner of the room.

And Noah was beside me.

He had been the supporting figure.

I leaned in even more, my body taking advantage of his warmth. His arms were wrapped around me protectively, and it felt like a security blanket. I hadn't felt him be like this since I was seven years old, and he walked up with me to beat up the little boy that had been bullying me.

I was bombarded with questions. They wanted to know how I felt, what had happened, and if I remembered anything. I didn't really. My memories were coming back from the last few hours, but I needed time and silence.

Like a timid child, I retreated into the safety of Noah.

"She's tired and needs sleep. You guys can see her later," Noah cut Sam off, his voice definitive and very serious. There was no room to mess with what he had just said, and nobody did.

What happened?

A monster. I remembered that part. He had sliced me open, and I didn't have a weapon. I had been on my way to meet SoccerGuy18. I was so nervous, and I kept stalling. I was wearing that blue blouse, and I threw my ankle boots at the monster.

Bits and pieces came to me slowly, and I tried to fit them all together.

I-I was apologizing. To Noah.

Yes, that was it.

I kept saying that.

And then I-…

My heart stopped. My head pounded, and, if I had eaten anything, I would have thrown up all over the expensive green bedspread.

I told him I loved him.

I did.

I finally did. After all these years, it had taken only the most extreme to get me to tell him that I loved him. Only almost dying could force those words off my tongue, and I wanted to revoke them out of fear. I wanted to pull them out of the air, placing them safely back inside of me where they could hurt nobody but me.

He didn't say anything back…

If he had loved me, too, wouldn't he have said the same back? I was dying for crying out loud!

Was he getting us alone to break it to me? Or would we just try to go on pretending that it had never happened? Just like we seemed to do for everything else…

As everyone began to file out, I suddenly wanted to call out to them and get them to stay here with me. I didn't want to be alone with Noah to have my fear realized. I didn't want to feel the pain I had tried to save myself from for the last two years. It was one thing to just think he didn't love me. How could I handle the words coming out of his mouth?

As the door clicked shut, I thought I was going to pass out again, and my body was shaking like a leaf.

"What's wrong?" Noah could feel my shaking, and his arms wrapped around me tighter, making it so very much worse.

"It-it was very hectic and crazy yesterday," my voice was nervous.

"It was horrible. I was scared to death."

I nodded, swallowing heavily.

"Well, through that all, things must have been forgotten. Things were so crazy. Do-Do you…- Well, do you…. Do you remember what I said yesterday?" I asked, my eyes looking up at him for the first time since I had woken up.

He didn't seem panicked. Or upset. Or nervous. Or anything.

"I will always remember everything about that day," he whispered, his eyes meeting mine and refusing to leave, and I was so shocked by the passion in his eyes that I almost didn't register what he said next, "Pixar…"

Pixar.

I hadn't mentioned Pixar.

It hit me like a ton of bricks, and my eyes widened in understanding.

"You-You're… That's why you were there!" I was almost laughing out of relief, so happy that I couldn't even come close to describing it, "So, you're SoccerGuy18?"

"And you're PixarRules4. Love the name by the way," he smirked, resting his forehead against mine. He took in a deep breath, taking in the moment, and I couldn't stop smiling.

"Pixar does rule, and you know it," I grinned.

Noah let out a laugh, and I had never heard anything so perfect. It warmed my heart, and I felt a wide smile spread across my lips, so wide that it almost hurt my cheeks to make it.

"I love you," he smiled, kissing me softly, and, if I thought my grin couldn't get any wider, I was wrong, "You were my dream, you know."

"You were mine, too," I whispered, running my fingers through his black hair. I loved playing with his hair, and I always had. But now I could actually do it, and that made it so much sweeter.

"Married?"

"In New Athens."

"Two kids?"

"Boy and a girl," I laughed.

"Well, that gets the big talks out the way," Noah laughed, playing with a stray curl that fell over my shoulder. He was close enough to me that I could feel his warm breath on my skin, and it sent a small shiver down my spine.

"I love you," I smiled. The words just kept coming out of my mouth on their own. Now that I could say it, I never wanted to stop.

Noah's arms wrapped even tighter around me as he gave me what was officially the best kiss I have ever had. His hands rested on my waist, and my arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him as close to me as I possibly could.

And then he suddenly pulled away, making me whimper.

"You're hurt."

"What?" my eyes shot up to him.

"You know exactly what I am talking about," he gave me that look, and I suddenly pieced it together.

"You're kidding me!" I looked at him, pleading, "Come on."

"I might hurt you."

"But-"

"No, Katie," he kissed my forehead, "We have time for that later. When you're not hurt."

"You're mean," I pouted, and he laughed. I absolutely adored his laugh. I always had, but there was something different about it. I was allowing myself to love that about him. To love everything about him.

I loved the way his smile shined. I loved the way his skin felt against mine. I loved his eyes that sparkled. I loved his voice. I loved how he held me like I was the most important thing in the world. I loved him so much that it hurt. But it wasn't the throbbing pain that had plagued me for so long. It was perfect. It was the kind of pain that reminded me how lucky I was to have him and how it would kill me if I ever lost him.

"I promise, it'll be better later," he kissed my jaw, and I continued to pout, "But, for now, you need to sleep."

"Stay with me?" I asked hopefully as I leaned down, sliding back into the cold sheets. But they felt comfortable with warm Noah beside me.

"I'm not leaving you for a while. Even if you want me to," Noah smiled, sliding beside me, his arm draping around my body and pulling me closer to where my head rested comfortably on his chest.

"I love you so much," I whispered, my body nestling up against him as I closed my eyes. I was afraid to open them in fear that none of it would be real when I opened them, that this was all just a beautiful little dream, "I always thought you saw me as a little sister."

"You never were really just like a little sister. You were always different," he rubbed my cheek, and my eyes blinked open to see him smiling down at me, "I didn't know what that different was until I graduated. Things were changing, and I could feel you pulling away from me… And it just showed me how much I needed you. How much I loved having you around. And then how much I loved you."

He laughed like it was all just a funny joke we could look back on and one day tell our kids. I grinned thinking about it. One day, we would be explaining how we had gotten together to our children, laughing about how silly it all was. We would be teasing each other that it had taken me almost dying to finally get us to say it.

"Remember when you made me babysit for you when you went to your senior prom?"

"Oh God, I can't believe I did that now," he buried his face in his hair, laughing.

"Well," I smiled, playing with Noah's hair, "Charlton Williams, a senior, asked me to go to the prom with him, but I said no to babysit Charlie. I was putting on a DVD for us and checked Facebook, and I saw your date. And I was just… so jealous of her. She was perfect. Beautiful. Prom Queen. And there with you. I was already losing it, and then Charlie just looked up at me and asked me why I was there because it sure wasn't to spend time with her…"

I kept twirling his hair, losing myself in the memory for a minute.

"I needed to move on. To stop throwing everything away because I just wanted to make you happy when you couldn't ever love me…"

"Look at me," Noah's grasp on me tightened, and his eyes met mine, "Don't you ever say anything like that ever again."

I looked at him as his eyes searched mine.

"I love you so, so much," he kissed me softly but desperately as if trying to prove himself, "And I just want you to know that."

"I do," I nodded, my eyes watering, "I know you love me. And I am so lucky," my arms wrapped around him, hugging him tight. I tucked my head in his neck, "I love you. I love you more than you can imagine."

"Shhh, you've been through a lot. Just go to sleep," Noah whispered softly, his hands gently stroking my back to calm me. I closed my eyes, and my body began to relax into him as I drifted off to sleep in his arms.

"I love you," I whispered softly, "So much…."

"I know, I love you, too," his voice was tired, and I could tell that he was about to fall asleep.

So I let myself do the exact same thing, slowly falling asleep in Noah's arms.