Chapter Sixteen

Patch's POV

I watched, worrying, as Nora picked over her plate, hardly eating. For all of her large exit this morning, she'd come in extremely quiet. I'd surprised her by being home and making dinner, lasagna, but her reaction was still muted.

"Did something happen at work today, Angel?" I asked her, looking at her face. Her jaw twitched, but she kept her face composed.

"Nope," she said, flipping her hair back and eating. She was lying, and I didn't know why, but I decided not to press her just yet.

"I'm sorry for speaking to you that way this morning. It was wrong, and I shouldn't have been impatient with you. I had a rough night, that's all. Forgive me?" I asked lightly.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. It was wrong of me to bother you like that. I just…I got a little worried. Sorry." She finally looked at me and smiled beatifically. It warmed my heart, and I smiled back.

"I just don't like to talk about my past. It's not something that I'm proud of. It's not anything that should interest you, either." I said, trying to drop the subject.

"But how do you know it won't interest me? I mean, you've been around for so long, Patch! There are so many things that you have to have seen, or done! So much history that you were there for first hand, and-" she said, leaning in excitedly. Thinking of the things that I'd "seen and done" made my nervous answer sharper than I'd meant it.

"Yes, I know it won't interest you, and no, you can't see my scars because I know that's next." I rose my eyebrows as Nora's face flushed. After a moment, she leaned back, and her face resumed the far off, defeated look it'd had on when she walked in.

"Angel, don't give me that look—"I started.

"I had lunch with Vee today. She's back in from England," she interrupted, trying to keep her tone light.

"How was that?"

"She…" she paused, struggling for words. "She said that she thinks I ought to put my foot down." She smiled at the table, pain showing on her face. "But I don't think it would matter. Not with you, anyway."

"Nora. You know I care about your opinion, and how you feel. But I need you to trust me on this."

Nora began laughing. It was a quiet, pained sound.

"Sure." She got up, clearing her place at the table. "I'm going to Vee's tonight, okay? Don't wait up."

Oh boy. "You going to be okay?" I asked her, leaning back to look at her. She stopped placing her dishes in the sink, her back turned to me.

"Yeah." She said, halfheartedly.

"That doesn't sound so sure." I answered.

"What's the matter, Patch?" she said aggressively, slamming the plate down, breaking it. "Don't you trust me? Think I might go somewhere different? It's not like you can't see me there!" I stood up quickly at her sudden change of tone.

"Nora!" I shouted. Ignoring me, Nora grabbed her coat and her keys and charged for the door. This time, I stood in front of it, blocking her way.

"Move," she commanded. I braced my shoulders.

"No."

"Move!"

"I am not doing this with you. I'm not sure what's going on, but I am not fighting with you over something so little!" I told her, crossing my arms. "So you tell me what's up."

Nora paused, and there was silence in the room. Her chest rose furiously, and then she exhaled sharply. "So little…No. I don't think I am going to tell you. Not until I'm ready. Now, please get out of my way." She whispered.

"Nora."

"I don't want to have to fight you," she said quickly. "It'll only make things worse. Just let it go, and let me leave. I need…I need to think."

I was shocked at the notion that she'd been prepared to fight me to get out. Silently, I moved out of the way, and she opened the door and walked out.

It could have been minutes, or hours, until I moved from the wall again. I checked my phone to see where her tracker was; she was, indeed, at Vee's. Sighing, I sat down. I hated arguing with Nora; I hated seeing her unhappy, and there were so many better things I could be doing with her instead. It was times like these where I missed having Rixon around to laugh at me. I could never tell Nora, but I missed having my brother around; the brother that he'd been before everything he'd made the decision to betray me. He may not have been perfect, or completely sane, but he'd been through my side long enough to empathize with me, and that's what I needed. I needed someone that already knew my secrets to confide in, and to ask for advice, without worrying. I didn't have many (if any) real friends anymore, and I wasn't the best at making new ones. I sighed; Rixon was beyond death now, and he wasn't ever coming back.

There was a quiet knock on the door, and I tensed. It wasn't Nora coming back, so it wasn't anyone I was expecting. I wanted to ignore it, but I sensed an eerie familiarity about the presence, so after a moment, I opened the door to see who it was. My eyes widened in shock.

Standing on the other side, sheepishly, were Nehemiah and Ezra.

Nora's POV

Well, that had been a failure.

I'd gone home today nervous, trying to find a way to approach Patch. It was my last ditch effort at not sneaking around, but at the moment, I was out of options.

When the man in the alleyway lowered his hood, I'd been in shock. Shock quickly turned into anger, and not just for me.

"Son of a bitch," Vee whispered, her hands tightening into fists. I had to stop her from charging him then and there.

Elliot Saunders stood at the end of the alley, bag on his back and hands in his pockets. I hadn't seen him since I'd accidentally killed Jules/Chauncey that night in high school years ago.

"Where the hell did you even come from? Not only that, but where did you even go? And what the hell are you doing here?" Vee sputtered. She was enraged; as for me, I just wanted to leave him in the past where he belonged.

"Well, hello Nora, Vee. It's been a long time." He said, smirking.

"Hi. Goodbye," I said, grabbing Vee.

"Wait!" he called. I turned, unwillingly. "Give me a chance, okay? Besides, even if I did try something, we all know that the both of you can take me out quickly. I have something that you might find of interest." I looked at Vee.

Are you buying this? She asked me.

Not completely, but he's no threat anymore. I answered.

I am curious as to why he came back. Could be interesting. Vee answered. She turned to Elliot.

"All right, what do you want?" she asked. Elliot smiled, opening his mouth. I cut him off.

"First, I want to know what happened to you after…after…" I hedged.

"After my stay in the hospital, my family moved me away. I needed to get as far away from here as possible; start a new life." He answered. I nodded. Fair enough.

"The reason I returned was because I've been…struggling a bit since then. Money has been pretty tight." he continued. Vee smirked.

"So you're here to blackmail us? Have you really stooped so low?" she asked.

"Yes and no. I'm here because I have something that Nora may want to read." My eyebrows rose.

"What is it?" I asked him suspiciously. Vee looked at me as if I was crazy.

"I've been doing research into the person that formerly called himself Jules, and I've come across some pretty interesting things." Elliot said, looking right at me. "Vintage items, historical facts…and diaries. It seems that Chauncey de Langeais has quite the story to tell."

Vee responded faster than I could. "How do you know that Nora doesn't know everything in those diaries?" Elliot shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't. The only reason I came here first was because I know that she's descended from him. It's technically a family heirloom, and as such, she might be interested. I've already sold some of the other things I've found, but this….these are jewels. Besides, she chose that fallen angel over me." he said, raising his hands questioningly. "Do you really know the man that you're dating?"

I was silent. Here I was, just saying how I wanted to know more about Patch's past…

"How do I know you're not lying? You could have just overheard my conversation." I asked quietly.

"Nora, you can't really…" Vee started. I held my hand up, silencing her.

"I did overhear your conversation, which makes me that much more confident that you'll accept. I could have sold them for a pretty penny. I'm here because I wondered if you'd have a prettier one." Elliot answered. "Considering who Patch is, you have the money."

"How much?"

"How much do you want it?" he asked.

"I could mindtrick you into giving them to me for free; I'm being friendly. Now how much?" I hissed.

Elliot swallowed. "Twenty thousand per diary"

"Five."

"Sixteen."

"Ten; take it or leave it."

Elliot sighed angrily. "Deal."

"Well, let's see them." Vee commanded.

"I want the money first." Elliot said. Suddenly, he reached into his backpack, and pulled out a large sandwich bag with three old journals inside of it. I looked at Vee. She shrugged.

"He was doing too much. At least we know that it's real now. Are you sure? You could just reach out and take them…" I looked at Elliot, whose eyes were glazed over.

"I'll give him something. He's obviously struggling if he fell back on blackmailing old classmates." I said, looking at him with something close to pity. Vee shook her head but didn't argue.

"And Patch won't notice?" she asked.

"Sure he will. But I once saw him haggle three sentences of information over for twelve thousand dollars. I think I've made the better deal. I'll just...make something up for him..." I said, taking the bag from Elliot. He started at my quick movement.

"What about my money?" he growled.

"I'll get it to you tonight." I answered vaguely. "Oh, and-"I turned back and looked straight into his eyes. Ten thousand for all three. He nodded. Grabbing Vee, I sped out of the alley.

"Shit, now I'm late for work," I said, looking at my phone. I'd handed the diaries to Vee, deciding that I'd try honesty one last time with Patch before reading any of them.

Now that I was speeding to Vee's, I decided that it was to hell with honesty. She opened her door before I could even knock on it, excited.

"I didn't even open them yet, I've been waiting for you." she said, letting me inside.

Oooooooh?What's in those diaries? And I always wondered what happened to Elliot; I felt like he knew a lil bit too much to have just completely vanished from the series. And I've always thought Nora was so impulsive on the wrong things; makes me just wanna shake her sometimes! Anyway, please, I appreciate the love I've been receiving, and I hope to receive so much more! You guys rock!