Page 8 of Runaways

I try to step around him, but instead, crash into his chest. He holds me tight against him, and this time, I let myself cry into his shoulder.

"Mia called me ugly."

"Mia's just hurting—she doesn't mean it. She's in a lot of pain, and she needs a safe place for it to go. Unfortunately, that place is you because she knows you love her, and you'll always forgive her. And that's a good thing."

My chest tightens…because he didn't tell me I'm pretty.

"Yeah, okay. Good talk," I say, pushing him away.

"Noah, wait…"

I step back into Mia's room and crawl into bed next to her, but Tate follows only seconds later, kneeling next to my side of the bed. "What are you doing?" he whispers. "What'd I do? Huh?"

"You can't be in here," I whisper back. "She told me to stay away from you, or I'm dead to her. And I need her…and she needs me, so…go."

He rolls his eyes. "She doesn't mean that, either. Come on, Noah." He trails a finger down my cheek, then to my neck and down my chest until he reaches the hard point of my nipple, toying with it through the thin cotton material of my t-shirt.

"I can't," I tell him, my eyes filling with tears again. "I don't want to."

Tate frowns. He rests his hand against the exposed skin of my lower abdomen. "Then why do you look so sad when you say it?"

"It's weird…what we've been doing."

"No, it's not."

"It's not…" I start.It's not love."…normal."

"You don't like it?" he asks.

"No. I mean…I do, but—"

"Noah, you're hurting my feelings…"

My lower lip quivers, and I blink back tears. "I'm starting to get really confused."

"What are you confused about? What do you think this is?"

"I don't know," I say. "A game? Boredom? A joke, and I'm the ugly fucking punchline."

"Noah…" His brow furrows, hurt apparent on his face.

"What is it to you?"

"A relationship. Love."

That word from his lips knocks the air from my lungs. I part my own as my expression twists with confusion, but no sound comes out.

"There's no rule about what love has to look like, Noah. This is what it looks like to me, and I think this is what it looks like for you, too. Maybe it's weird, but that's okay. You're worried about Mia, and you're moving, and I know you're stressed out—I get it. But…there's nothing to be confused about. We've been there for you through everything…from the very beginning, haven't we?"

I roll onto my side to face him, holding my breath as Mia stirs next to me. "Yeah, but—"

"You won't find anyone who knows you like this—who loves you like this. I know the ugly parts—the ones that will always be a secret, the parts you'll never be able to say out loud because I was there. You know mine, too. And you know what I'm capable of, and you're always going to love me, anyway."

"That sounds like a threat."

"Who wouldn't want to be loved like a threat?"

I laugh just a little, careful to keep quiet.

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