Chapter 55

Chapter 55
NOAH
Dalia was sitting on a bench in the park and the tightness in my chest released when I saw her. I felt like I could draw my first full breath in days because not hearing from her after Tamika confirmed that something happened had made me incredibly worried. I had dropped by her apartment and her friend’s place yesterday and the day before, hoping I could see her, but I didn’t, and I wasn’t able to get the answer I wanted from her friends, so when she called me a couple of minutes ago, asking if I wanted to meet up, I had basically rushed out of the apartment.
I paused as I realized that she was talking to herself and after watching her for several moments more, my lips twitched into a small smile. “Dalia,” I called out, drawing her attention, and she got to her feet while I quickly made my way over to her, pulling her into a hug. “I’ve been so worried,” I muttered, tightening my hold on her for several moments more before pulling away. “How are you? Are you okay? What happened?” The questions poured out as I scrutinized her to see if she was injured in any way, but the only thing I could see was that she looked exhausted and it seemed like her mind was somewhere else. “...Dalia?”
She pressed her lips together and hugged me again, tighter this time, and I smiled as I buried my fingers in her hair.
“I missed you too,” I muttered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and she took a deep breath before speaking.
“I- I didn’t mean to make you worried. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Are you okay?”
She quickly shook her head sideways and I paused, pulling back slightly to see that she was on the verge of tears. My brows snapped together. “Hey,” I said softly while worry began to set in again, and she let go of me. “What happened?” I added, wiping away the tears that escaped her eyes before making her sit back on the bench and sitting next to her.
“My…” She paused to wipe her face and I held her other hand as she squeezed her eyes shut. “My mum is in the hospital,” she replied and my eyes widened. Oh! “Travis attacked her.”
“...What?” What the-
“He thought she was me.”
“What?!”
He was after Dalia? His words from the last time we spoke - ‘You tell her to watch her fucking back’ - came to mind and a cold wave embalmed me.
“She’s fine. She’s still in the hospital, but she’s fine,” she said and my hands tightened into fists as my stomach churned. My fault… This was my fault. “I met Allison today.”
That snapped me out of my thoughts. What? How? Where? What did she say to Dalia? Before I could ask any of those though, she continued.
“Actually, I first met her on campus a couple of weeks ago… Why didn’t you tell me about her, Noah?”
“I-” When Dalia and I got together, I had thought there was no need to tell her about Allison, so I didn’t. Then Allison made people at school find out about my relationship with her and I still didn’t tell her because I was worried she would get pissed and break up with me.
Now that I thought about it, it was stupid and selfish of me not to tell her about Allison.
“I’m sorry. I broke up with her months before I met you and my relationship with her didn’t affect or rule me -” Till she came to campus that day and what her brother did to Dalia recently. “- so I didn’t think there was a need to tell you about it. I’m really sorry, Dalia.”
“There was no need to tell me about the kid too?”
“What ki- That’s not mine,” I burst out and she tipped her head to the side, giving me a blank look. “It’s my brother’s.”
Her brows snapped together and I could almost see the gears turning in her head. “What?”
“She cheated on me with my brother while we were still together.”
Shock washed over her face as her lips parted slightly and after moments of thinking, her expression softened. “I’m sorry.”
“I should be the only one apologizing.”
“...It’s fine,” she replied as she dropped her gaze to the ground and that surprised me because I expected her to be mad at me. No, I wanted her to be mad at me. After what Allison and her brother had done to her, she shouldn’t let go of this easily. “We should go on a break, Noah.”
It took several moments for me to process that and my heart slammed against my chest when I did. This wasn’t what I meant! “Dalia -”
“My parents found out about us and why Travis did what he did… And they’re not your biggest fans right now.”
Oh, no. My heart sank. Her parents were eventually going to find out about us, but this wasn’t how I hoped they’d find out. And with what happened to her mum, I understood Dalia’s decision in my mind, but my heart was a different story.
“I’m sorry, Noah,” she said as her eyes welled up while despair poured into my stomach, weighing me down. “But I need time and space.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but… didn’t. I was scared she would later come to the conclusion that she was better off without me and I wanted to beg her. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her. But I couldn’t.
I had no right to do that now. I already caused her so much trouble. I already messed up her life and she just wanted this one thing in return… I shouldn’t argue with her on it.
“... Okay.” My voice was as broken as I was inside. “I- I’ll wait as long as you need.”
Tears began to spill from her eyes and she let out a long breath. “I don’t know how long it will take. I can’t ask you to wait for me.”
“You’re not asking. Take all the time you need, Dalia… I mean it.” I really did, but I was also really pained that it had come to this.
“What if it takes forever?”
“Let me worry about that.”
“Noah,” she said, her voice filled with sadness, and I rested my head against her shoulder as tears blurred my vision.
“When you’re ready, Dalia. I’ll wait as long as you need.”