When Xavier parked his car across my apartment complex, I was surprised to see him preparing to step out of it. The engine was switched off and he unbuckled his seat-belt. I stopped in the midst of unbuckling my own and studied his actions in confusion. Xavier noticed my hesitance and looked over with bewildered eyes.

"Are you going somewhere?" I knew my question sounded dumb, but I couldn't find a better way to word my confusion.

A faint smile graced his lips. "The least you could allow me to do is see you through. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep peacefully tonight."

I reflected over his offer reluctantly. I didn't want this to mean anything; the faster we part ways the easier moving on will be. Plus, a bigger part of me worried what my friends will think of me bringing Xavier up to my apartment. While wearing his clothes.

Thinking about my friends brought back yesterday's unpleasant memories, and accompanied by them was a painful pang that rang through my chest. As childish as it seemed, I had an instant urge to disobey Elliot's 'orders' just to piss him off. I knew for sure that if he saw me with Xavier he would flip, and I was dying to see him do just that.

"Sure." I reached out for the door handle, but not before noticing the wide grin that spread over Xavier's face, his contagious excitement radiating off of him and creeping over me so that I ended up smiling just as cheerfully.

I glanced sideways at the street before crossing to the other side, Xavier following close behind. Once we reached the elevator, he hit the button then waited patiently by my side - standing so close that our shoulders brushed occasionally.

As we ascended up to my floor, I began speaking just as the elevator doors spread open. "I gotta warn you though, my humble abode goes nowhere near the extravagance you're surely used to," I teased.

Xavier rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. "I'm sure your place is lovely."

We strode down the hall until we reached my apartment door, when Xavier questioned, "shouldn't we have asked someone for a spare key?"

I shook my head, "my place is always occupied." I reached out and opened the door, and as expected - it was unlocked. I glanced at Xavier's expression to see him frowning at the door in disapproval.

The second I took a step inside my apartment, my body was engulfed by another human being's. The arms wrapped around my shoulders and squashed me to a hard, flat chest, my nose scrunching up as it was pressed against a broad shoulder.

"Jesus, Nora!" A raspy voice yelled in my ear. I flinched and tried to push myself away from the hard chest.

Noah stepped back once he realized my intention, but he didn't let go of me completely. His hands remained on my shoulders as his wide, frantic eyes searched my own. They moved over my face, and I could hear the breath hitching in his throat as he suddenly stopped breathing. He composed himself and clenched his jaw tightly, his hand coming up to poke a cold finger against the bruise on the side of my forehead. I flinched back, glaring at him.

"I'm fine, Noah." I whispered softly. It had completely left my mind that I bore a small gash that would surely raise questions.

"What the Hell happened to you?" His voice was so low, I could barely hear his question even though I stood two feet away.

"It was a clumsy accident, no big deal." I stepped to the side to walk away, but Noah copied my movement and blocked my way. A sudden cough sounded from behind me, and Noah's jade eyes moved from my face to the man behind me, widening then hardening in fearful rage.

I instantly knew what was coming up next.

My hands flew up to be placed against Noah's stiff shoulders as he lunged at Xavier, no doubt falsely believing he had something to do with my injury.

"Noah, calm down!" I yelled, pushing him backwards with all my might. His fists were clenched by his sides and his eyes never left Xavier. "He saved me!" I defended Xavier.

Noah's eyes snapped down to my face, the rage slowly dissipating and confusion taking over. "What. The. Hell. Happened?" He demanded.

"I will tell you if you'd just back off." Instead of stepping back, his eyes remained studying my face, and I could see the rage burning behind them.

"Nora!" Ariel's voice came from down the hallway. I let my hands fall from Noah's shoulders and turned to greet her, her worried eyes inspecting my face and widening the second they fell on my forehead.

I spoke before she had the chance to open her mouth. "It's nothing. I'm fine," I mumbled, but Ariel shook her head fiercely, yanking me forward by the sweater into a crushing embrace. I hugged her back and patted her shoulders, reassuring her that I am, in fact, fine.

"Where have you been?! We've been calling your cell non-stop but you never answered and just this morning I found it by your tub. And Paul's been hurt! He's been hospitalized because apparently someone attacked him last night. We've been worried sick, Nora-" I interrupted Ariel's long rant by slamming my palm against her mouth to stop them from moving, knowing it's the only way I could silence her.

"Stop. I'll explain everything."

Her wild eyes searched my own, then slowly relaxed as she breathed in. She glanced down at my hand still covering her mouth and nodded, so I removed it and lowered it to my side. I realized then that we were still standing in the doorway so I turned to walk towards the living room, and on cue, the rest followed behind.

I sat down on the couch and Ariel took the seat next to me. I motioned for Xavier to take the seat across from us and he offered me a tight smile, moving to sit down. Noah, however, refused to - and stood all jittery in front of me with his foot impatiently and anxiously tapping against the floor.

"I fell asleep in the bathtub," I began to explain the filtered events of last night from the very beginning, fully aware that random details matter the most to my friends. "When I woke up and left to the room, I found that a burglar had broken in." Ariel gasped sharply, while Noah's eyebrows furrowed. "He threatened me but I fought him off and ran away. In the process, I stumbled to the floor and got slightly hurt," I pointed towards the small gash on my forehead. "But Xavier helped me sort it all out, so there's nothing to worry about now."

I refused to even glimpse Xavier's way, since I could practically feel the disapproval radiating off of his body. I had been thinking the entire ride back about what I'd tell them, and now that I was put on the spot I realized that I couldn't have my friends worrying about me any more than they already were. Plus the problem was sorted out and there was nothing to worry about, so why make it a big deal when we can all move forward and pretend it never happened?

"Oh, Nora.." Ariel's voice broke, and she wrapped her quivering arm around my shoulders and pulled me to a comforting embrace. I allowed her to do so, even though I was practically boiling now beneath the heavy sweater, and my conscience was yelling profanities at me for lying to the people who cared about me the most.

I blocked out the thoughts and buried my guilt deep into my unconscious.

Noah sighed and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?" His voice came out in a low hiss.

I shook my head, reassuring him that I'm perfectly well - all thanks to Xavier, who speaking of, was burning daggers at me with his sharp gaze.

"Did they take you in for questioning?" Noah asked. I looked up at him in confusion, not fully understanding his question. He rolled his eyes, "to file a report against the burglar, Nora."

My mouth formed an O-shape, and I nodded frantically. "Yea-"

"No."

Simultaneously, all three heads snapped to where Xavier sat, his jaw set in powerful resolve. My eyes widened, and I frowned at him, moving my eyebrows around like a mad woman as I silently questioned what he was doing by answering my question for me.

"They did not get her statement." His eyes were set on me as he answered Noah's inquiry, filled with a determination that had my heart racing.

"Why not?" Noah snapped rather rudely.

I was literally begging Xavier with my eyes, shaking my head ever so slightly as to not grab Ariel's attention but also manage to send the message across to Xavier. Don't, I mouthed.

"Because none of what Nora just said happened last night."

It felt as if someone had splashed an ice-cold bucket of water down my back. My jaw hit the floor and I stared at Xavier in pure horror, my throat restricting.

Ariel removed her arm from around me to pull back and search for answers in my facial expression, while Noah clenched and relaxed his fists repeatedly.

"What are you saying?" He hissed dangerously.

Xavier's eyes moved from my shocked ones to Noah. "Last night, Nora was subjected to an attempted kidnapping." Ariel's sharp gasp startled me and I flinched back, she stared at me with horror-stricken, tear-filled eyes. My heart ached with guilt. This was the exact look that I was trying to avoid. I was beyond livid, I felt a sudden impulse to strike Xavier across his perfectly-sculpted face.

"After our date earlier in the day, I had one of my men keep a respectful eye on her for safe measures. He interfered when things got out of control and successfully ended whatever dangers lurked," Xavier finished explaining.

My eyes were now stinging. Noah inhaled sharply and slowly turned around to peek at me. The second his eyes met mine, I felt my world crumbling as my heart clenched. His eyes were so cold and distant, I wished the ground could open up and swallow me whole as my guilt gnawed at my chest.

"Noa-" I called out for him, but he silenced me by turning around swiftly and heading towards the door. I jumped up from my seat, startling Ariel, and rushed to follow behind his steps. "Noah, wait!"

His footsteps came to a sudden halt and I nearly ran into his back. He turned around to face me, his eyes no longer those cozy pair of jade that I grew to love, but instead they held layers of pain resulted from betrayal and disappointment, and I could no longer hold back the tears as they tore through my guard and streamed down my face.

"Please, don't leave," I begged, my voice coming out in a low whisper as it was so close to breaking.

"I'll do exactly what you asked me to do, Nora. I'll back off." He said quietly - and I hated the low tone of his voice, I would've much rather had him yell at me for lying to him, to express his anger and disappointment in me on the spot rather than play the ticking time-bomb that'll explode any second.

I shook my head fervently. "No, I'm sorry I lied. I didn't want to worry you-"

"Let me spare you the trouble, because you were right; it's your life, you should live it whichever way you please." With that he spared me no second look as he turned to leave through the door. My mouth hung open in pained shock because I could not fight his words in any way. Instead, I stood frozen as I watched the front door get slammed shut and the echo travel across my apartment, feeling like the tenderest part of my heart had been torn out of my chest.

"Nora..." Xavier's voice came from behind me, no doubt trying to play the sympathetic role and comfort me after single-handedly shoving everything in my life downhill. My pain instantly turned into boiling rage, and I spun on my heels so curtly and stomped over to him, stopping a mere foot away.

My index finger shoved at his chest so roughly that I could feel my nail digging into his skin, but of course, he didn't even flinch. "Get. Out." I seethed between clenched teeth.

He shook his head, his palms coming up to defense. "Nora, I-"

"I don't care what you have to say, Xavier. Get out," I spat angrily.

He hesitated again, standing still in his place, and I had to resist the urge to smack him and take all my anger and frustration out on him.

"I think it's pretty clear that you're no longer welcome here, so leave." Ariel's voice sounded as she came up to stand beside me, her arms crossing over her chest as she glared at Xavier daringly.

I was surprised to find Xavier not even sparing a glance her way, his sparkling eyes remained fixated on my own. I stood my ground and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to make a move.

Eventually, he gave in and took a step to the side. "See you soon, Nora." With that he stalked towards the front door. I couldn't find it in me to give a snarky remark about how he never will, too pained by Noah's departure, and already fishing for ways to make it up for continuously lying to him.

I had never felt like a bigger jerk.

Ariel sensed my unease and gently grabbed my arm, directing me back towards the couch. I sat down beside her, my eyes fixated on the floor and my mind running wild.

"Lying to him like that was wrong, Nora. We all know that," she started. "But we'll find a way to fix it, don't worry."

Having my best friend's support at a time where I deserved it the least did it for me; I broke down into pained sobs and crushed my body into Ariel's, my arms wrapping around her shoulders tightly as she gently reassured me and stroke my hair - the way she always did whenever my damned luck took its toll on me.