CHAPTER 7

DABRIA

Nora watched in what would later seem like slow motion as her and Patch's parents descended on them. It was as if they somehow knew that Patch and Nora had just found happiness of a different kind together, the kind that comes from the heart and not from the bank account. The Cipriano's and Grey's had a way of seeking and destroying anything that might vary from what they wanted, especially when it came to money and reputation. What they had wanted was Vee with Patch, Rixon with Nora. Vee and Patch would go to business school, take over for their dad's place and continue to lead their family's in building money and prestige upon retirement. Rixon and Nora would both be successful, work in the family business and be model socialites.

It hadn't been long after all kids enrolled in private school and other activities together that they knew Patch was going to be a problem. He was smart as they came, and twice as much trouble, the older he got the more he rebelled and the worse he became. He was an embarrassment to his parents and by extension, the Grey's as well. That kind of reputation and behavior would not bode well for their social status so he was shunned to focus on Rixon, Rixon they thought could do no wrong making him perfect for taking over for Mr. Cipriano. Vee, by hierarchy, should have been the one expected to take over for Mr. Grey, that dream faded with the hopes for Patch when her grades turned out average while Nora's were honor's. Blythe tried to push Vee, but her oldest daughter was more artistic than scholarly. The focus became set on Rixon and Nora. Both having quieter personalities that made the pressure their parents put on them more effective. Rixon had a sense of duty and Nora a sense of guilt. Both were heavy crosses for children to carry. Grandma Clista often stepped in on her grand-kids behalf and as Patch grew he tried to cushion any blow he could to Nora's sense of family responsibility. Like Clista, he wanted each of them to follow after their own hopes and dreams, if that was taking over than that was fine, but it should be by their own accord not their parents. Had they been willing to invest time into their kids they likely would have put a stop to Patch and Nora's friendship, he was a bad influence, but with grandma being the main caretaker when they were young she wasn't about to let that happen.

It had become clear in the last year though that little Nora wasn't wanting any part of marrying Rixon, without her agreeing Mr. and Mrs. Cipriano and Mr. and Mrs. Grey's hopes would fly out the window. Since Nora hadn't been dating anyone else they could only come up with one reason she wasn't interested in young Rixon. Patch. When the dance contest had started and they had found out Nora was involved and enjoying it so much they wrongly assumed she'd finally come to her sense's and was at last spending time with her 'future husband'. The competition had just blown that right out of the water and it was clear to everyone present, especially their parents, that they now had legitimate worries that things were heating up and changing between Patch and Nora. They weren't aware of the internal struggle Patch was having over seeing Nora as a sister and seeing her as something more. Compared to the women he was used to Nora was still a child, but was she really? He was confused and it wasn't like he could talk to them about it.

As soon as Nora stormed away to find Patch the four parents met. They needed to act and they need to act now. There was another prominent family in the area who did business with both the Cipriano's and the Grey's. They were at least as wealthy and of good social graces as the four of them. They also just happened to have a daughter the same age as Patch who had just returned home from school abroad. If they could lure Patch away from Nora their plans for Rixon and her could be fulfilled and Patch would be out of their hair so to speak. This would work even better since it would now combine the assets of the three largest family's, not just the two, that was exciting and too good for them to pass up. If Patch was preoccupied they could work their magic on the younger children, both would feel obligated and it wasn't like Rixon wasn't willing, he'd always had it bad for Nora, who'd 'unfairly' not given him a chance. She was a smart girl, they were convinced that she would do the right thing, the right thing being their thing. This seemed like a great plan so they went about setting it in motion immediately. With all the 'who's who' in Coldwater Creek in attendance it wasn't hard to find the third family and arrange an introduction. Their only fear was that Patch wouldn't fall for the young girl, that was until they saw her.

Catching Nora and Patch's attention they told them they had a family/business associate they wanted them to meet. This was nothing new for them, they were always being introduced to 'important' people. To begin with Patch just rolled his eyes at Nora over another greeting, tightening his hold on her waist when they mentioned they had a daughter for him to greet his age. That was until the couple's daughter, Dabria, made her presence known by stepping out from where she had been hidden from view behind her parents.

Dabria smiled sweetly at Nora, reaching to shake her hand while shooting her razor edge daggers of ice with her eyes. She'd noticed Patch and she'd already decided to move in for the kill. Nora never would have believed it had she not seen it for herself, in an instant she knew she had lost her heart, her everything, her Patch...forever.

Patch quickly unwrapped himself from around Nora as Dabria extended her dainty little hand to Patch, who immediately bowed his head, raising it to his lips and kissing the back of it in a way that made Dabria giggle and Nora want to puke, cry, or maybe both. Patch quickly introduced Nora as his best friend, explaining how they had been friends since they were very young children and had just won the salsa competition. As he continued to 'assure' Dabria of their 'friendship' Nora stopped listening having spotted a look in Patch's eyes and an expression on his face that she had never seen before. It looked awfully close to the one he had started to wear when looking at her in the last couple weeks. This was a blown up look at it though, no reservations, no holding back.

Patch was a total goner, this tramp had already won the heart of the only man she loved the only man she knew she would ever love, that she wanted to settle down with, raise a family with, not only that, this..this...bitch had captured the sole attention of a man no other woman had been able to entertain for more than a single night at most. All it had taken was a handshake and a little giggle (that Nora was convinced had been fake). When Nora looked closer at what would have been her competition, if there was anything left to compete for that hadn't already been won, she noticed Dabria was simply the most stunning woman she had ever seen. In her opinion Dabria wore too much make up and her hair was straightened in an obvious effort to keep every strand in perfect place, her clothes were of the best design and impeccable coordinated, Vee would be envious. It was all so...perfect, too perfect in fact it made Nora's hackles go up. Something was amiss here, the more she studied the girl the more her senses went off. Nora narrowed her eyes, her suspicions increasing every second, aside from her obvious jealousy, not even she would try to deny that it existed, there was just something not quite right here. Yes, something was wrong and she was going to find out what it was. This wasn't just a competition between two girls, but half of her heart beat in Patch's chest, if he gave it away to someone else she would never feel whole again, she was protecting her heart as well as his. This..'woman'...had the power to break HER Patch, even shatter both their hearts, it was the thought of what she could do to Patch though that bothered Nora the most, she couldn't EVER let that happen. She would always look out for, protect, and defend Patch at any and all costs...even if that price was her. If she found out this woman's intentions and true feelings were honorable and pure, she would willingly hide her shattered heart so that HER Patch could find his happy ever after. If keeping the cost to her in the dark from him meant keeping their friendship, she would do what it took, she couldn't lose that, to lose him completely would kill her.

As soon as everyone was distracted, which didn't take long, Nora fled the scene, slipping away unnoticed to grandmas house with tears pouring down her cheeks. Grandma would know what to say, she always gave the best advice and she'd been such an intricate person in all the kids lives she'd have insight no one else would have. She also wasn't someone to pull punches, she'd tell it exactly how it was, even to her grandchildren.

Clista opened the door, took one look at Nora's tear-stained face and swollen eyes and wrapped her tightly in a hug, pulling her to the kitchen where she made them steaming cups of hot chocolate with extra cream just how Nora liked it, just like she did when Nora was small so they could sit and talk about whatever had her baby so upset.

Clista listened to the story as the words poured and tumbled out of Nora's mouth at a rate she almost couldn't keep up with between breaks where she would break down again. She was happy that the two young kids had finally started to see there could be more between them, that Nora had seen what she had seen from day one, Patch owned her heart. When Nora came to the part about Dabria Clista's face hardened and she had to take a few steadying breaths before muttering under her breath 'of course they would find a way to destroy a relationship built on destiny with a love that's pure unlike theirs in lieu of another step up the social ladder and more money in their overfull filthy pockets'...She had never hated her son and daughter in-law along with their 'friends' as much as she did in that moment.

Her grandma knew that her granddaughter had a place in Patch's heart and in his life that no one would ever replace, not even this new girl. Regardless if Patch saw that his love wasn't just a friendship love but a romantic kind of love he had for Nora yet, he one day would. Until that day she was going to make it her duty to keep Nora encouraged to never give up hope and now more than ever to always follow her heart, because in the end that's what your left with. It won't be money, social status, material possessions, your job, it's your heart, it's love that you are left with. Clista knew her granddaughters heart had always resided in Patch. She just had to have faith that it would work out in the end, no matter how long it took or what the heartache along the way that her precious girl would endure. One or both was going to hurt and that didn't set well with Clista, she knew that Patch loved Nora just as deeply and he wouldn't be excluded from pain either. Now that Dabria was in the picture time would be spent keeping Nora together and strong enough to face the hell she was bound to walk through. There was no way to know what would happen from this moment until the moment Patch and Nora BOTH realized together that they had a love written in the stars, all that was certain now was the clear shattering of Nora's spirit.

If Clista knew anything about the parents involved in this catastrophe, and she certainly did, they had a plan up their sleeves and it couldn't be a good one. She was willing to wager a vast amount of her wealth that they were trying to insure that Patch and Nora never took their relationship farther than they had already and they were successful as of now. It looked to her like they'd found another profitable marriage to 'arrange' for Patch since things hadn't worked out with him and Vee and he had fallen straight into the snake pit they had dug for him for the first time in his life. Patch had done the one thing he swore he'd never do, he'd done exactly what his parents had wanted. The only person who had ever really loved and accepted the rebel black-sheep on every level was Nora, and grandma too, so if this girl showed him the slightest bit of 'real love' he was going to fall hard.

Patch had earned his bad boy image, he'd earned his title as Clista's eternal stud, but there were reasons, he only let Nora see the softer side of him, he'd learned long ago people couldn't be trusted and they often used you. He'd always been a step ahead of their parents though, looked like that time had ended and the parents had finally won a round with him. There was only two things left to do really; first was to hope he saw through it-unlikely by the things Nora had to say, and second, make a plan of attack to see what they could find out about this Miss Dabria. Evil, yes, fun and exciting, yes, rewarding, hopefully. After that all they could do is wait and see how things played out.

Things wouldn't be the same for Nora for a long time Clista feared. This would have consequences on Nora. All she could do was help her granddaughter to stay on Patch's side, and never lose faith while she did all she could to support the both of them for as long as she lived. She believed as deeply about the love of her grand-kids as she did about the love her and her beloved husband Nick shared. It was timeless and so was theirs.

Clista ran Nora a nice relaxing bubble bath with her favorite scented bubble bath and set out fresh pajama she had there for the occasions Nora stayed. With that done she sat down to hash out a plan of attack, without Nora taking the reigns on this there would be even more despair. She had to help Nora get any dirt there might be on this little hussy. In her long life she'd never known anyone who gave her as strong of an impression that there would be skeletons in their closet like this girl had, and she hadn't even met her...yet. Nobody could be that perfect, she had to agree with Nora there. They just had to find out what those skeletons were and expose them in a way that would cost Patch the least amount of pain, pain was inevitable though.

Nora was going to need some time, time to wallow, time to heal. She would follow her grandma's advice, but for now she needed to grieve. She had been sooo close and now it was all for nothing. She had started to feel so confident, so sure of herself, she had grown and started maturing, becoming a woman in ways that weren't only physical. Now she felt like a she was back to square one or worse, no square at all. Maybe she needed to forget about it for now. Nora just didn't know.

The next day when Nora returned home and checked her messages there were three calls from Patch and five texts from him wondering why she left without saying a word. He could keep wondering Nora thought bitterly even though she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid him for long she was sure going to give it her best try. They'd never spent a day apart unless one of them was out-of-town and that had only happened a handful of times, including the week leading up to the dance competition. They were like a permanent rash on each other that just wouldn't go away. Well now he has sweet little 'ole Dabria to keep him company and entertained she laughed to herself dryly. Her days with Patch would never be the same, she knew they would be changing she hadn't known at the time just how quickly.

There were four months till summer and now she had those four months to dwell on how she would spend it since it wouldn't be every moment with Patch as it had been every year since she was five. Patch kept trying to reach her all day, but she avoided him like the plague, she told everyone she had come down sick with the flu that they should stay away. That explained her not being able to keep food down and her red puffy nose and eyes to them. No one else wanted to get what she had so they left her alone, she shut off her phone feeling too guilty for making Patch worry to keep it on listening to it ring.

By the second week she was holding food down, but the crying hadn't stopped. She explained to everyone she had a cold, possibly allergies, she just wanted to stay in bed so please don't let anyone come up to visit, she'd be sleeping. She did send Patch a couple of texts filling him in on her "conditions", telling him he shouldn't risk his health by visiting when all she really needed was rest. Of course her grandma knew differently, the second week Clista started bringing her soup for her "cold", it was the perfect cover so no one suspected what was going on, but it gave Nora someone to talk to and hold her because for the first time in her life Patch wasn't there to do it. There hadn't been a time up until then that she had been sick, in tears, or in pain that she wasn't in his arms with him fixing whatever was wrong.

By the third week she could avoid Patch no longer. He was insisting on seeing Nora no matter what her condition was. Nora knew he would be hurt she had kept him away so long after they'd been inseparable, but she also knew that he had plenty of distraction. Her bedroom windows faced his house so she could see both the house and driveway, plus the window to his room. She knew that Dabria had been there every day since they'd met and almost every one of those days her and Patch had left together to go who knew where. They were probably going to all of her and Patch's favorite spots, like the waterfalls and the look out or the many parks in the area. They might have even gone over night to the beach where the Cipriano's and Grey's had beach cottages that they had loved staying in since they were small. Unlike Nora, Patch and Dabria were both full-grown adults and could go anywhere they wanted. With the money both of them had there wasn't a limit as to where that might be.

Nora was so lost in her depressing line of thoughts that she almost didn't hear the door of her room opening without a knock. She knew without looking up that it would be Patch, he was the only one who never knocked. She rolled over in bed turning away from him and stared out the window blankly, not really seeing anything. She didn't want to see him after what had happened and she especially didn't want him to see her like this. Her face was all red and swollen, her cheeks stained with saltwater left by her tears, but most of all, she didn't want to hear how great Dabria was and she knew by the look on Patch's face that day when he met her and with the time those two had spent together that she was going to be hearing a lot about her.. Nora felt the mattress dip a little as Patch sat down on the bed next to her. He really did sound concerned in his messages, but what was she supposed to say, "oh I've just been throwing up and crying my eyes out because I was foolish to think there was something more between us then just dancing which is why I almost kissed you, but don't worry seeing you with Dabria made me so happy for you both even after I realized I not only love you but I'm IN love with you. Don't sweat it I'm just a child obviously I can't tell reality from a dream." No, she couldn't tell him that so she played the sick card again, or at least she tried. He gently turned her head and with the hook of his finger lifted her chin to look in her eyes when she claimed it was allergies still.

"Angel, it's been three weeks you've been sick, you can't tell me it's a cold this week because I know you would be lying. If I didn't know you better I would think you were purposely trying to avoid me."

Nora avoided eye contact knowing if she met his eyes too much would be given away, he would read her thoughts and things would change forever. There were definite downsides to having someone know you so well that they could read you so easily she was beginning to discover. I might as well get the inevitable out-of-the-way so I can suffer and wallow more on my own, she thought, turning away to gaze blankly out her window once more. "Where's Dabria? Why don't you tell me all about her, I know you're dying to." And I'm going to die piece by piece slowly listening to you tell me, she added to herself while forcing an encouraging smile.

That's all it took, her disheveled appearance forgotten as he got animated telling her all the ways Dabria was perfect, how perfect their times were together, how everything was so...perfect. Shoot me now Nora pleaded with whatever deity was listening. Couldn't he see through her? Nobody, not even Nora, was THAT perfect. This is all over money she thought sourly. How convenient that Rixon and her hadn't been hanging out together and people saw her and Patch's relationship practically smoldering and suddenly in walks perfect little Dabria. Angel of death is more like it Nora chuckled darkly to herself. The timing, to use Patch's new favorite and overly used word, was too 'perfect'. Nora was concentrating on holding back the waves of nausea rolling through her that she almost missed what Patch was saying. Oops.

"...earth to Nora, I said are you okay? You don't call or text anymore and even when you had pneumonia you did that on top of letting me visit so what's going on? You know you can tell me anything, we've never kept secrets from each other." There's another thing changing. There will always be this secret now, he can't know how I feel, not unless a day comes that I KNOW he feels the same, wants the same things.

Nora turned ever so slightly to him once more, careful to still avoid his eyes and gave him a ghost of a smile.

"I've just been sleeping. I'm glad you've had Dabria to keep you company while I'm sick and not feeling well. This is the happiest I've ever seen you." That certainly was true, he had never looked more alive or excited or...in love. She swallowed the lump that was consuming her throat.

Once Patch had left she realized she couldn't avoid him anymore, she missed him and wanted to spend whatever left over time there was after Dabria was done with him together. She couldn't cut him out it was literally killing her to be away so long. She'd lost weight and felt like hell, she wasn't even sleeping. Looking in the mirror she practiced a happy face to mask how she was really feeling till it looked almost totally convincing...almost. With her new mask in place she went back to her old spot as best friend minus a few new changes. For example, his non stop babbling about all of Dabria's grand virtues. Nora was either so good at her mask or he was too caught up in love to notice she was avoiding his eyes and face as if her life depended on it, in a way it did. Had Dabria not been in the picture that wouldn't have lasted thirty seconds before he called her bullshit. He also rarely flirted anymore, all of his innuendo's and sex jokes that were so much a part of who he was were gone, taking his cocky comments with them. He had changed, their friendship had changed, the thing that hadn't was her dedication to their friendship, she was standing firmly by his side at all costs, even if it meant breaking her own heart shred by painful shred. He was simply more important, their relationship was more important. She swore to do all she had to to be there throughout their lives when and however he needed her.