Chapter 16

sixteen

Noah – Three Days Later

I suck my lip ring into my mouth as I check my appearance in the large oval mirror on the wall.

I wore a black short-sleeve button-down shirt open at the collar, with a white tank underneath, black jeans with no rips this time, and my boots.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

My eyes go to the photo of Diego and Rose after she gave birth that’s enlarged on the wall.

Her hair is sweaty, and she’s in a hospital gown, but she looks beautiful, staring down at our son in her arms.

I found it in a box in her tiny closet.

Yes, I was snooping, but I needed to know who was important in her life, and it turned out that it was Diego and me.

The box consisted of pictures of our past and our son, along with dried petals from the flowers I’d given her when I could afford them.

She had several pictures of her and me, the ones she had in her old room in frames, were near the head of her bed, well, not bed, just a fucking mattress on the floor.

All her clothes in the closet were her old ones from high school, and her living room only had the basics, and they all looked old as hell.

She has barely anything, only the memorabilia of our life together, and yet our son has everything he could need.

Guilt is destroying me, knowing she’s struggled, that we all abandoned her when she didn’t deserve it.

“Yo, Noah, you ready?” Cameron asks as he knocks on the door. I look his way, but instead of looking at me, his eyes are on the wall, at the photo.

“We all fucked up, didn’t we?” he asks.

I nod. “We did.”

He swallows hard. “Will she ever forgive us?”

I chew the inside of my cheek, then admit, “You and Barn, with time, me….” I shake my head. “Probably never.”

He sighs. “She loves you, Noah.” I look down, grabbing my phone off the bedside table, and he continues, “I saw the jewelry, the tattoo on her wrist. She loves you, and she will forgive you. Just like me and Barn, it’ll take time.”

“I haven’t seen her in three days, Cam,” I scoff with a bit of bitterness. “How in the fuck did I go nearly two years without her?”

I look his way with so much fucking pain, his eyes tear up, and he rasps, “You drank yourself to sleep every night, and made yourself go numb.”

I nod, then shake my head and mumble, “Let’s go.”

He leads the way out of my room, bypassing Diego’s room that Mom has done up for me, and toward the stairs.

“Does Rose know you’ve done a room up for Diego?” he asks as we go downstairs, and I sigh.

“Not yet. I’m hoping to get her here soon to show her the house… her house. If I have my way, she’ll be moving in, it’s just convincing her to hear me out first.”

He nods as Mom squeals, “I can’t believe our baby is one already!”

I snort, raising a brow. "Way to go reminding me you had access to my son, Mom.”

She shrugs unapologetically. “I tried to tell you about him from the moment you arrived in LA after she admitted to being pregnant, Noah, but you blocked my calls.”

Nick chuckles, getting my attention.

He loves that Mom’s giving me her “told you so” crap. Wanting to wipe that grin off his face and take the heat off of me, I smirk, “Hey, Dad, do you know Diego’s middle name?”

He frowns, as does Mom, while Cameron and Barnett grin. Dad states, “She never told us, or his last name, for that matter.”

I nod and say, “Diego Nicholas Scott.”

Nick’s eyes tear up; she gave Diego Nick’s name as his middle name. I smirk and pat his back, happy to give him the news so he knows what he means to Rose, which means knowing what he means to me. Because Rose is the only person who knows what he means to me, what he gave me growing up.

He’s my dad in every way except blood.

Last year, I met my biological father, and not on my terms, either. It turns out his company was going in the red, and he needed a handout. He saw me in interviews and showed up at one of our gigs.

He said he was my father, and he needed help.

I told him I had a dad, and if he didn’t leave, I’d contact his wife. He tried claiming she knew about him and was the reason he wasn’t a part of my life, so I called his bluff and called the number I had for years as insurance from Mom.

He went pale as fuck when I said who I was to the poor, unsuspecting woman, and when I told her who my mother was, she flew off the fucking handle.

Turns out the fucker had a bet going. Whoever got my mom to fuck them would get the company that’s now failing, the company his wife wasn’t aware he had, only believing he worked as the CEO.

It turns out, my mother was school-focused until he ruined her, and made her think she was his forever.

Fucker….

It took three security guards to stop me from beating the shit outta him when I realized he mentally hurt my mother, causing her to drink the way she did, always believing she wasn’t good enough.

Mom sniffles and whispers, “Okay, let’s go, quick. I want to see our boy.”

We head out the door but stop when I see Gina and Piper standing near the cars.

I scowl. “And what are you two doing here?”

Gina rolls her eyes. “I’m your sister, Noah. It’s time you stop being petty. I get it. I screwed a guy on your couch, I invited Piper to stay, but you can’t keep ignoring me….” Her words trail off, and she frowns when she sees our parents behind me, dressed up, along with my boys. She asks, “Where are all you lot going dressed up so nicely?”

I sneer at her and take a menacing step forward, but Cameron grabs my arm. Gina’s eyes widen, and Piper asks, “Noah, what has gotten into you, baby?”

I growl at her, “Don’t fucking call me baby. I have never and will never touch you, and it’s time you get that in your pathetic head.”

She gasps in shock, and I look at my sister, my baby sister, and scoff, “You’re a piece of fucking work. What was it, huh, Gina? Didn’t want all of my money to be spent on Rose? Is that why you did it, because we both know it wasn’t for popularity, because that bitch was the school outcast!”

Gina swallows. “I…uh, don’t know what you’re talking about?”

I smirk “No? So you didn’t see my girl heavily fucking pregnant, and then tell me she looked to be four months along?” Her eyes widen, and her face pales. “So you didn’t ensure that I’d miss a year of my son’s fucking life, and all for what, huh? Why, Gina, why in the fuck would you do this to me? What the fuck did I ever do to you other than give you what you wanted, huh? What did my girl ever do to deserve to be a single fucking mother!”

Her tears fall, and she stammers, “N-Noah I-I, please I….”

I cut her off, “Get the fuck off my property. We have a first birthday party to get to for my son!”

She cries, but I ignore her and go to the SUV, climbing in, the others following. Not even Mom or Nick spares her glance, even as security escorts both women off my property after Barnett waved them over.

She’s supposed to be my sister, instead, she tried to ruin my happiness, and may have succeeded, if Rose doesn’t give me a chance. I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t.

I may not have touched another woman, but I still fucking left.

A few hours later, I’m smiling, watching Diego laugh and giggle in the ball pit Rose bought him for his birthday, clutching the bear I bought his momma years ago, while Rose stands near him, taking pictures, wearing a long strapless maxi dress.

Fuck, she looks beautiful.

Fuck, I’ve missed her. Every time I’ve come to spend time with Diego, she hasn’t been here, and it's not lost on me that it’s on purpose. Rafael stated she did see the guy in the photo, but he wouldn’t tell me who he is, which fucking hurts.

Why is he so special?

Swallowing past the pain, I push off the railing where I’m leaning, and follow Rose as she goes into the kitchen, not able to stay away any longer.

She doesn’t look up as I enter behind her, closing the door, instead, she sighs.

“What can I do for you, Noah?” she says flatly, and I half smile, liking that she can still feel me like I can her.

I shrug and admit, “I just wanted to see how you were doing; I’ve not seen you since we got back into town.”

She shakes her head, grips the counter, and whispers, “How am I doing? It’s been two years, and yet I still feel like I can’t breathe.” I flinch at her words, and she shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I need to get back to our son….”

She grabs the plate of party food and walks past me, but I quickly grab her wrist, gently rubbing my thumb over my name as I turn her hand, my eyes finally catching the date.

Fuck me, it’s the date we met, her first day at Kings Prep….

Trying to breathe past my pain, I rasp, “I know I screwed up. I know I should have spoken to you, but I’m not giving up, Rose. I love you, just like you love me.”

With that said, I kiss her forehead, then let go of her, and walk outside to the yard, needing a little break from our family. I’m also giving her space, knowing I won’t be able to keep my distance from her now that I’ve touched her soft skin.

I sit on the swing seat, my fingers itching to grab a smoke, but I resist, and sigh. I notice Al leaning against the tree, and I sigh again, but for a different reason.

He gives me a nod but doesn’t come over, knowing he’s not welcome. Whatever happened between them must have been real fucking bad, and my curiosity is getting the best of me.

The seat moves as a lump sits down next to me. I don’t look his way, though, already knowing who it is.

“You need to convince her to come to our show.” I scoff, but he ignores me. “Seriously. As soon as she hears the music, the pain you feel when you sing the words…. Get her to come to the show and to your party. I know you want to cancel, but I think she needs to see how much your life revolves around her even now, two years later.”

I look back at Al, and he nods again, so I know he heard Barnett.

“Fucking fight for her, Noah, fight with everything you have within you, show her what she means to you….”

I nod at his words.

Fight….

I’ll fucking fight until I can’t breathe. She’s proved she still loves me, and now I have to prove to her that she’s been my only.