"I'm dreading leaving you," Noah whispered, his lips pressed into my forehead.

We cuddled in his bed. I had woken up from a peaceful sleep without nightmares but I was dejected that Noah and Papa were leaving for Noah's football camp. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't followed him around pitifully the few days before he was to leave.

"We're pathetic if we can't spend a week apart," I croaked back to him.

"You're right. But if that's the case, you'll be calling me pathetic when it's all said and done," he chuckled. With another kiss on my head, Noah pulled out of my arms and sat at the side of the bed. He brushed his fingers through his unruly hair, his arm muscles rippling.

I marveled at my boyfriend. I had been waiting for years to be able to call him that. I was still getting used to the new title but couldn't imagine being happier. As if he felt my eyes on him, he smirked and winked at me, pulled himself back to my side and kissed my lips softly. He couldn't seem to get enough of me but I certainly wasn't complaining. "Come on, pretty. Mom's gonna kick the door down if I don't start getting ready to go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the warm bed.

Downstairs, Papa sat at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. He glanced up at us. "Good, you're up," he commented. "You wouldn't have been happy if I had to come get you."

I walked to his side and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. Even though my foster father was sitting down, I could barely reach. "Good morning, Papa," I said to him and took a seat beside him.

"Morning, Mini," he greeted. "What are you gonna do all week while we're gone?"

I groaned and put my head on the table. "Don't remind me. Jolie's got my whole week planned out. She says I won't even sit down, I'll be so busy."

Noah had retrieved a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes from the stove and took the seat on the other side of me. He pushed the plate closer to me and gestured for me to pick off of what he had. I took a piece of bacon.

"Mini, just be safe. Make sure to call your mother and tell her wherever you go. You know how we worry." Papa tried to give me a stern glare, but I could see the concern pinched in his eyes.

My foster family was very protective of me. I couldn't so much as take a walk around the neighborhood without telling someone exactly what I would be doing. I could understand their worry, their need to keep me safe. It seemed everywhere I went, trouble followed. I sometimes wondered if I was cursed. "I promise, Papa. I'll call whenever I go somewhere," I assured.

"Good," he conceded with a kiss on my forehead and stood up to take his plate to the sink, humming a song I didn't recognize. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish packing."

❃❃❃

"Will you call every night?" I gripped onto Noah's hands. I thought for what felt like the thousandth time that I was being overly dramatic, but I was extra hormonal lately and the thought of being away from Noah was almost painful.

"I'll call every night, Edith. I love you."

Noah had told me he loved me countless times before. I always thought he meant the word in terms of friendship or family. I was getting used to him meaning it as I did, he loved me like a boyfriend would.

"I love you, Noah. You promised you'd be safe. Don't get hurt."

"I did promise. And I will be. But I'm not the one that always finds myself in trouble. I'll stay safe as long as you promise you will be, too."

"I do."

"Good, Edie," he breathed and pulled me to him, branding my lips with his. He smelled good, fresh and manly, and I wanted to pull him closer, to never let go. My body always responded in ways I could barely understand.

"A bit too close, kids!" Momma walked into the room and covered her eyes. "It might not be weird to you two, but it sure is for me. I'm all for you loving each other, but give me a chance to get used to my babies making out."

Noah groaned, doing funny things to my body unknowingly. It always bothered me when Momma would say things like that. Noah and I weren't related in any way, we weren't doing anything wrong being together. Maybe I thought of the other boys in the Winters family as my brothers, but Noah was different and always had been.

"Mom, leave, please?" Noah begged. "I'm about to go. We're just trying to say goodbye."

"Fine, whatever. But if y'all are stupid and do stupid things and make a tiny human, I will murder you both."

We both replied, "Yes, ma'am."

When she left, I wrapped my arms around Noah's midsection. I could care less about what others thought of our relationship. I had loved Noah for years, way before he was my foster brother. I pulled him down to me by his shirt, trapping his lips in a kiss that I hoped would convey my feelings for him.

"Noah, we're going to miss our flight if we don't leave soon," Papa persuaded. "Say goodbye! It's for a week. A week, children. You can handle it,"

Noah smiled at me with sad eyes. "I'll see you in a little while. Call me every day and stay out of trouble with Jolie. I love you," he pledged. With a final kiss that made my heart flutter and my knees weak, I walked him to the car.

"Love you. You better have fun, remember this is important to you!" He laughed and waved goodbye as the car drove off.

❃❃❃

I had promised Jolie I'd spend the week with her. But I hadn't slept, an awful nightmare effectively keeping me awake, and I was really tired. I was not looking forward to spending my Sunday night at a club.

"You better get out of bed before I get up there. You promised!" Jolie screamed from the bottom of the stairs, yelling loud enough to make me flinch.

"You better listen, pumpkin. She looks like she means business," Joseph sounded from beside her. He was home from school and I was glad he was there to save me in case Jolie decided to go psycho killer on me.

I groaned and pulled myself out of bed at the sound of my friend stomping upstairs. I hurriedly changed out of a pair of Noah's sweatpants I'd taken from his dresser and into a pair of jean shorts. I was pitiful, really.

Jolie whipped open my door with angry force and I gave her my best guilty smile, putting my arms through the sleeves of my blue v-neck. "I'm sorry, Jo?"

"I've spent forever planning this week. You are not going to ruin it by being mopey," she barked. Her light hair was in two artfully messy space buns on each side of her head. She wore a crop-top that hung off of one shoulder and some black high waisted shorts. I had been with her when she handpainted the rhino on her top.

I nodded, running a comb through my curly hair. It was hopeless to try to style it, but I did pin the top quarter of it back with a clip so it would be out of my face.

"I'll be fun," I promised. I picked up my phone and wallet and we walked downstairs to Momma's room.

"Bye Momma, love you," I called to her.

"Bye, baby! Try to check in every once in a while."

❃❃❃

"That was awful, Jo," I told her as we left the theatre. "How do people watch such scary movies?"

"That wasn't even scary, Bitty! I took you to the least scary movie out right now. That was like a comedy," Jolie scoffed and shook her head.

"Well, whatever, I thought it was scary. What's next on your foot-long list of activities?" I wasn't really in the mood to do much else. My hip was causing me more problems than usual, having sat down for so long. I was trying to hide my struggle but Jolie noticed. She looped her arm through mine as we walked down the street, silently offering some support.

"I thought we'd go get ice cream," Jolie offered.

Never one to turn down ice cream, I smiled. "Let's go then."

When we arrived at the ice cream parlor, we ordered our favorites. Mint chocolate chip for Jolie, strawberry cheesecake for me. We found a seat in a booth to talk. Jolie was a bit boy crazy and spoke about various boys in our class that she thought were worth going for. I interjected with my opinions on some of the boys but I didn't think any of them were worth my best friend's time.

Before we could complete our cones or our conversation, two boys sidled into the booth with us. They were both brown haired and the one closest to me had dark, wild eyes. My body tensed, still not used to human interaction like it should have been. I began to shake, not fancying a body I didn't trust so close.

When the boy put his arm around my shoulder, bringing his lips to my neck, I gasped and tried to push him away. How dare he? Who did he think he was? I felt the impending panic attack cloud my vision. I glanced at Jolie with panic in my eyes and she glared at the boy menacingly. He had the decency to move his face from my neck. "Get your hands off of her, you jerk!" She yelled at him.

"I think the girl can speak for herself," he growled, a sneer spreading across his ugly face.

I gathered all of my strength and choked out, "Okay, get your hands off of me!"

"Why? I'm not hurting anything. I'm barely even touching you!"

"You don't just go up to someone and put your hands on them," I hissed. My breathing was labored and I fought hard to keep my attack at bay. "And I have a boyfriend."

"He's gonna beat your ass," Jolie acquiesced.

The boy looked at his friend who sat beside Jolie. "She's got a boyfriend, Felix...I don't see him, do you?" They guffawed together. "He shouldn't let her go off by herself if he's gonna beat the ass of someone giving her perfect body some company. Come on, honey," he said to me. "If your boy isn't here, he doesn't exist to me. All I want is a little fun."

His friend began rubbing his hand up Jolie's arm and her face grew a disgusted scowl. She slapped his hands off of her angrily and he backed up out of the booth. I shuddered out breaths, needing to calm down. I wanted to be strong. I badly wanted to be able to punch the boy holding me in his smug mouth, but my nerves were shot and my body felt like it was shutting down. I managed to elbow him in the stomach weakly, which only served to make him angry.

"Get your fucking hand off my girlfriend," a voice I couldn't place said from the bar a few feet away. When he stepped into view, I hid a gasp. He was very large and handsome. His face wore a scowl so filled with rage, I shook even harder than I already was.

The boy shot out of the booth like it had burned them. "Look, man, we don't want trouble. We were just looking for some fun! You understand, right?" The big man stared at them with what looked like murder in his eyes. The boys ran off before he could attack them.

I couldn't get air. I trembled as Jolie pulled me across the booth and into her arms. Tears streamed from my eyes and I felt doomed. Why did bad things always happen to me? A cup of water was placed in front of me but I was too unsteady to advance on it. "I'm so sorry, Bitty. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to help," Jolie cried.

I took large gulps of air, trying to even out my breathing enough to let Jolie know. "I-I-it's ok, J-Jolie." My voice sounded even more hoarse than usual. How embarrassing.

The man was still standing close by, much more friendly looking. He looked anxious to help. When my breathing was more even, I felt the need to reassure him. "I'm f-fine, thank you. But I wouldn't b-be if it wasn't for you stepping in. I can't thank you enough." Ornery tears still fell from my eyes, but I was calm enough to tell him what I meant.

I was still leaning on Jolie's side, breathing heavily. She handed me the cup of water before holding her hand out to the man. "My name is Jolie. This is my best friend, Eden. Oh man, you practically saved our virtues and we're so grateful."

"'My name is Jeremy," he waved. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I couldn't watch that without stepping in. I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner." Jolie invited him to sit down and pulled me closer to her side.

"Well, in my opinion, your timing was impeccable. I was sure they were about to drag us out of here by our hair," Jolie said as a shiver racked my shoulders and I let out a quiet sob. Jolie pushed my sweaty hair that had fallen from its confines off of my forehead and sighed. I hated myself for being so weak, so prone to trouble.

Jolie's phone started to ring and I watched her look at the screen. She glanced at me with a worried frown before answering the call. "Hey...Noah, I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to stop it. I'm sorry. And I don't know how you knew to call, but she's with me. She's safe. Don't kill me, please."

When she handed me the phone and his voice broke through my inner turmoil, my shoulders relaxed instantly. "Eden, you didn't answer your phone. What the hell is wrong with Jolie? What did she do?"

"I'm sorry, Noah," I said quietly, begging my anxiety to be hidden.

"Why are you breathing so heavy, pretty? What's wrong?" I looked to Jolie who was in a conversation with Jeremy.

"There was some trouble at the ice cream parlor. I'm safe, Jolie's safe, they're gone-"

"Who's gone, Edith?" His voice was grave and held hints of fear. I paused, not wanting to scare him. "Eden, who's gone?"

I took a heavy breath and sighed, "Just some boys, Noah. I don't know them. They got too close and threatened us and I had a panic attack. But another man came to help and they left!" I said it as fast as I could, hoping he would be able to understand without asking any further questions.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he fretted. I assured him I would be. "We'll talk about this at home when you're safe. If I ever find who did this to you, they'll regret it. I should have been there," he moaned. I could hear the barely held back strain in his voice. Noah was blaming himself, as usual.

"Oh stop it, Noah. You know you couldn't have been here. You can't always be there to save me. I'll call you when I'm home."

"Okay, as soon as you get home, tell me. Bye, baby."

Jeremy was still across from us having a conversation with Jolie. Now that my mind had calmed down, I was able to see just how handsome our protector was, and that he wasn't a man, yet. He looked only a year or two older than us and had a rugged look to him. His spiky hair was a deep brown and his almost black eyes were framed with long eyelashes. He wore a stereotypical leather jacket and combat boots. Jolie looked completely infatuated with the boy.

When Jeremy and Jolie saw I was off the phone, they gave me a careful smile and asked how I was feeling. "I'm fine," I mumbled, feeling wary of the boy even after he saved us.

"Jeremy is a new student at our school, Bitty. Isn't that cool?" I could tell Jolie was trying to warm me up to her new crush. I grabbed the water and it sloshed in my shaking hands as I brought it to my lips.

"What grade are you in?" I spoke, my voice embarrassingly raspy.

"I'm a senior. Jolie said you both are now juniors. Maybe I'll see you at lunch or something." He sounded hopeful and I nodded, telling myself I was being stupid for fearing him, that I was still scared by the attack and not him.

"Well, it was nice meeting you both. Maybe I'll see you around?" He winked at Jolie and I'm pretty sure she swooned. With one last concerned look at us, he turned away.

When he left the ice cream parlor, Jolie leaned against me and put her arm over her eyes. "I'm in love, Bit. He's beautiful." As if remembering what circumstances we met Jeremy in, she turned to me with a guilty expression. "Are you okay? That was pretty scary."

I wanted to be alright. I really did. But I couldn't stop shaking and couldn't get that boy's wild eyes or heavy arms draped around my shoulders out of my mind. I wanted to take a shower and scrub every inch he had touched. I wanted to be home, safe in Noah's arms. But Noah wouldn't be there. And I needed to be stronger. So I nodded and said, "I'm fine, but can we stay at my house tonight?"