"Shh Em, she's not well." I heard his voice say but I kept my eyes closed. A bang made me wince and tighten my eyes even more. Even with them closed everything was bright.

"Emily!" He said sharply.

"I want her to wake up." Emily complained and another bang filled my booming head.

"It's too fucking loud and it's too fucking bright. What the fuck!" I groaned.

"Mia!" His voice shouted and I winced again. I heard Emily laugh and my eyes shot open realizing where I was. She jumped down on my body excitedly and I grumbled as a wave of nausea hit me.

"Emily please leave the room so I can talk to Mia." I sat up straight in the bed, pulling the sheet higher to hide my underwear from someone with a hella mad expression and a five year old who couldn't care less.

"He only wants you to leave so he can shout at me for yesterday." I whispered to Emily. She cringed instantly.

"Oh I hate it when he yells at me." She said. Noah folded his arms, losing more of his patience as time went on.

"Me too" I admitted. Emily jumped down from the bed, gathered up her brothers phone and disappeared into the other bedroom. "Does she know how to use that?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject. He tilted his head to the side and gave me a silent stare.

"What were you thinking Mia? You got too drunk, had no self control." He unleashed his frustrations out on me, taking me by complete surprise.

"What the fuck Noah?" I asked holding my collapsing head.

"You can't turn up here drunk like that. You can't do that. You can't let that happen again." His stern voice was pissing me off. What exactly could I not let happen again? The drinking? The dancing? The kiss? Rubbing his dick and hearing him gasp with enjoyment?

"My head hurts, please stop trying to parent me. I'm not Emily." He folded his arms and tapped his foot hard against the floor.

"What you did was reckless and stupid." He was honestly making a mountain out of a molehill. I rubbed my temples willing his loud voice away. He flopped down on the bed beside me.

"Ughhhh don't rock the bed." I groaned trying to settle my insides. I propped myself up on my elbow to look at him. He was burning so hard with anger I was frightened he would catch on fire. "You really threw it all away, didn't you?" He caught my gaze and his eyes softened. He knew exactly what I meant yet still felt the need to question me.

"Threw what away?" His brow furrowed.

"Your teenage years. You don't party, get drunk... you don't make irresponsible decisions with girls late at night, you gave up your friends, your interests, your freedom... everything." He blinked at me slowly, giving me every response I ever needed.

"I gave it away." He whispered. "I grew up faster than everyone else and I don't regret that." He reassured me, or himself.

"But don't you miss not being so uptight? You lost yourself, you can be a parent and still take time for yourself too." He started laughing and shook his head.

"You have no idea." He muttered with amusement.

"Don't you get lonely?" I asked, sitting myself fully up in the bed now, not caring if he seen my underwear.

He stood up and slapped his hands on his thighs and my eyes followed him across the room. He opened the door to Emily's bedroom and stood between the two rooms.

"Come on, we've got a party to get to." Emily came running out with a gift wrapped present in her hand and all eyes turned to me. "You coming?" Noah asked, taking me by surprise.

I flicked my finger at him to turn around just like he did to me in the locker rooms and he smiled to himself before turning. I quickly got out of bed and dressed.

"He's watching you in the mirror." Emily pointed out. My eyes looked through the reflective glass and became locked with his.

"You perv!" I launched a pillow at him and pulled a T-shirt over my head. Emily and her brother laughed.

"Why would you change right in front of a mirror?" He laughed, I ignored him pulling on my jacket and grabbed Emily's hand.

***

We ended up at some ball pond party, Emily abandoned us to go and play with her school friends and I sat at a table with an exploding head listening to Noah rattle off food menu items that turned my stomach.

"Did you bring me here on purpose? This place is hellllll." I complained. He laughed beautifully and nodded his head.

Kids literally screamed and ran around me from every angle and my pounding head was making me feel sick.

"Tell me about your family." He caught me off guard.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"Well you seem to know an awful lot about me but I know nothing about you. You don't like it when I assume things about you, so tell me." He put the menu down and gave me his full attention. My throat suddenly felt dry and I forgot how to speak.

"My mom and dad split, I moved in with my mom. The end. So how about those fish sticks?" I picked up his menu and started looking through the items. He grabbed it and lowered it down.

"Come on Mia, do better than that. Why did they split?" His eyes looked at me so intensely. Willing me to talk but I choked up inside.

"I don't want to talk about it." I spat out.

"Well I didn't want you to know about Emily but here we are." He fired back. I took a deep breath.

"Fine." I sighed. "My father cheated on my mom." He nodded his head.

"Not really something to shy away from, that's how most marriages end." He shrugged like I just told him what the weather was like outside.

"'My parents were never married. My father made the money and he knew if he married mom he would either need a prenup or give her half. It wasn't worth the hassle so he just didn't bother and kept the house, his business, his possessions all in his name."

"Wow that's brutal and selfish." Noah admitted.

"He cheated on my mom... with my sixteen year old best friend and I was the one to catch them so I got the whole sickening visual."

"Fuck! What? Shit Mia, that's disgusting." He sat back in his chair, understanding my need to not talk about it.

"Then they split. It was messy, he was always controlling. Never let my mom have a job, made her family turn away from her, even controlled the clothes she wore. So when they split she had no one to turn to for help. She had no income and no personal belongings. My father kept everything."

"Wow, he sounds like a great guy." He muttered sarcastically.

"She was smart enough to hide money away from him. He didn't give her much but when he did she always made sure she stashed away the change. So when we finally escaped him she could afford to buy us some crummy apartment in the bad part of town. I sold my clothes to get us money to live on and she got a job in a diner to help pay the bills."

"She's a brave lady, I have the utmost respect for her." He smiled sweetly.

"I have never told anyone that. I have a hard enough time admitting it to myself." He gave me a reassuring smile.

"Hey, who am I going to tell... I can't talk, remember?" We both burst out laughing and then he did something that took me by surprise. He reached across the table and took hold of my hand. "Stay at the hotel with us again tonight." I smiled back at him and nodded my head.