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This chapter is dedicated to zulfaxxx for her awesome comments and her amazing support. I am lucky to have you as a reader. Thank you =)

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"No, I don't like this one," Liam mumbled and the store-worker who was getting impatient with every passing minute sighed. Rolling her eyes in a subtle manner, she pulled out another velvety box from below the counter.

 Liam had decided to get over the Shay-Sebastian accident and was going to be the one who was going to take the first step for reconciliation this time by planning a surprise date for Shay and by gifting her something special, so that was the reason why we were stuck in a jewelry store for the past half an hour and no where near to buying anything. Now you may wonder why I was there. Well then let me tell you that it was one of the downsides of being one of the closest friends of Shay. After narrowing the list down, the choice was between me and Abbey but since Abbey's excuse making skills were better than mine, ultimately it was poor old me who got the golden opportunity of being Liam's shopping partner.

I used to think that doing shopping with Shay was no less than a work but that day I had learned that the only thing more tiring than shopping with Shay was shopping for Shay.

Undoing the clasps of the box, the attendant slid it to our side. A tiny green gemstones studded white gold bracelet lied elegantly on a silky purple fabric, with fine engraving done on the entire surface. I looked at the price tag and my eyebrows automatically lifted, high enough to hit the ceiling.

$900!

Who has 900 dollars to waste on a bracelet?

But Liam didn't seem fazed by the out-of-this world price.

The perks of having a rich father I guess, or a rich step-father in his case.

Liam looked at me and I nodded in approval.

"Great! I'll take it." Liam finally looked satisfied and the store-worker, who was ready to whack her head on the counter, finally looked relieved.

"Oh, thank god. I think we were going to be stuck here till next year." I stood up from my seat as Liam took his credit card out to pay.

"It didn't take that long and I think she'll like it." He actually looked proud of his purchase.

"She better. I didn't waste half an hour of my life for nothing."

"Hey, mom just sent me a text asking if you'll be joining us for dinner." Liam read from his phone as we left the store which was on the second floor of a local mall.

"Nah, some other time." The prospects of eating in the Cohen household still didn't count as my ideal way of spending my time.

"Oh, come on, you still can't be hung up on the fact that you were responsible for Dan's accident." Liam gave me a nudge in the shoulder.

"I'm not but your parents might be."

"Well, they aren't either. So come with me. You don't have your car anyway so I'll drop you off after dinner."

"I don't know," I replied still feeling doubtful.

"What if I told you it's Dan's birthday. Then would you know?" Liam said and I stopped walking.

"It's really his birthday?" I took my phone out and logged into my Facebook account. "Guess, he's not in my friends list 'cause I didn't get a notification."

Liam shrugged. "That's because he doesn't have a Facebook. Now are you coming or not? I know you want to." He gave me a taunting look.

"Not you too. I already got a lesson from Shay. I don't need another one." I raised my hand towards the ceiling.

"And I'm not giving you one. I don't know what's going on between you two but for the past few days Daniel has actually stayed out of trouble so I guess you're a good impact on him," Liam casually confessed.

"Or maybe he is staying out of trouble because of his hand," I said shrugging.

"And a cast has never stopped him before. This isn't the first time he had his arm or anything else broken but it's certainly the first time that he is actually trying to stay away from all the idiotic things that he used to do."

I would have liked to accept what Liam was saying but doing so also meant stepping into a dangerous territory where I would have to think what I felt about Daniel.

Just casual friends?

More than that?

"So you mean to say that you've no problem with it all? Cause I'm sure Shay has," I remarked trying not to let my doubts reek out in my voice.

"I know she has and four days back, I also told Daniel to say away from you but..." he paused and exhaled, "But I realized that it's none of my business to tell others what to do and what not. As long as you and Sebastian are okay with all of this and Daniel doesn't hurt you, I'm fine with it too."

I chuckled. "Doesn't hurt me? You make him sound like a bad person."

Liam shook his head. "I didn't mean to and he's not but he undoubtedly has the habit of hurting everyone around him. Being a jerk comes as a second nature to him but so far I've actually seen improvement in him and I'm hoping that it remains like that. So all I want you to be is safe, ‘kay?"

"Yep, I get it."

He smiled and ruffled my hair. I brought up an indignant expression on my face.

Brushing off my displeasure at his action, he asked again, "So are you coming or what?"

"Fine, but first you've to help me buy a present now."

"Gladly."

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I tapped my left foot nervously on the floor as we waited for the door to open.

"Would you stop that? You're acting like I'm taking you to a concentration camp." Liam gave me a tap on the forehead and then straightened up as the door open.

"Oh my god, It's you! Hi!" An over-excited voice greeted us and the person hugged me with the speed of light that I wasn't even able to see who it was. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't just in my head because Liam also took a step back, surprised.

"It's so nice to see you again," the bubbly voice spoke again and this time I got who it was.

Juliet.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, my voice sounding so dull compared to hers.

"I'm perfect. Why are you guys standing outside? Come inside." She wrapped her fingers around my wrist pulled me along with her. Guess that habit of holding people by their hand and towing them along ran in their family because Daniel did that a lot too.

"This is my house, remember?" Liam said in a dry voice.

Crinkling her eyebrows and pushing her lips outwards, Juliet made a cute baby like expression. "Lighten up Grumpy old man. Your frown lines are starting to appear."

I couldn't help but let out a giggle at the way that she said that but became silent when Liam shot me a threatening look.

The living room which Juliet had brought me had its wall painted in a slightly off white color with pristine white upholstery accentuating the look. The large number of the windows and the grand sconce made sure that the room had ample amount of fresh air and light respectively. Every item, from the white carpet to the grand paintings hanging on the wall, looked like they belonged at their places. En masse the complete area had a very provincial contemporary vibe like I was standing in a luxurious French countryside hotel suite.   

"Oh, hey Norah. I'm glad that you decided to come," Liam's mom said, coming out of what I surmised was a kitchen, wearing an apron. Her brunette hair was pulled up in a sophisticated bun and her clothes looked flawless like they had been ironed a moment ago.

"I hope it's not a problem, Mrs-"

She cut me off, "Of course it's not darling. And call me Sharon," she said, smiling.

I nodded weakly returning her smile. "Thank you for inviting me, Sharon."

"I'll put this in my room," Liam said holding the packet in his hand and then ran up the flight of stairs at the end of the living room leaving me with Juliet and Sharon.

"Juliet, would you ask Daniel to come down for dinner," Sharon requested, arranging the plates on the wooden dining table.

"Norah, can do it. Right?" she asked flashing me a mischievous smile and started helping Sharon.

"Yeah, sure," I muttered and walked to the stairs trying to remember the way to Daniel's room.

The Cohen residence was even bigger than it looked from outside because it took me seven wrong turns to reach to the dark hallway that had Daniel's room at its end.

I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Daniel's voice floated through the door.

"The FBI. Open up!" I replied in a serious voice but couldn't help but let a smile crept on my face.

"Aw, but I swear I got rid of all the AK-47s I stole." The door opened with Daniel sticking just his head out, smiling. "Hey"

"Hi, I have been asked to fetch you for dinner." I leaned on the wall trying to see why he wasn't opening the door but he closed it further more, leaving just a tiny space.

"Just wait a second." The door closed completely.

"Are you hiding something?" I yelled loudly to get my voice through the door.

"Eh, you know just your regular mutilated dead bodies, nothing unusual," he replied and I rolled my eyes.

I heard some movement on the other side and then Daniel unlocked the door and held it open for me. "Come in."

"Are you hiding someone? A girl? Tell me I won't find one in her underwear if I check your closet?" I wiggled my eyebrows entering the room.

"Sure go ahead. You won't find a girl but what you see in there will definitely scar you for life," he said gesturing towards the closet.

"Then, I think I'll pass."

"I say that's a good choice."

I nodded obediently and remembering the package in my hand, I said, "Hey, Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you. I am guessing Liam was the blabber mouth again?" He sat down on his bed where his laptop was lying open.

"Yes, he was but any special reason you're not celebrating your birthday?" I sat on the bed too and placed the present near him.

Daniel squealed and let out a fake sob. "I wanted a party at Chuck E. Cheese but my dad said no!"

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Aw, poor you." And then I slapped his arm. "Idiot!"

"Don't hit me you mean lady. I'm the birthday boy, remember." He pouted rubbing the area where I had hit him.

"Right and that's why I brought you a gift." I held the package in my hands.

"Which you didn't need to."

"But I wanted to. Anyway it's not anything pricey or something. This was all I could get on such a short term notice. Now take it!" I said getting impatient.

"Thank you." He took the present from my hand.

"Aren't you going to open it?" I asked noticing that he wasn't planning to unwrap it.

"Do you want me to?"

I nodded, excited and a little nervous if he was going to like the gift.

"You're such a child," he commented, chuckling to him self and untied the bow on the paper wrapped box.

I sat up straight as I anticipated for the gift to be completely unwrapped.

"This is really cool." Daniel smiled taking out the set of two Canon Camera Lens mugs from their packaging.

I was no master of gift giving, but I knew I had to buy the cups the moment I saw them. With a smart mix of photography and humor, they were like perfection waiting for my credit card.

One of the cups was white and the other one was black. At the first glance, you couldn't tell that they weren't actually real lenses, especially because of the movable buttons which made them look completely real.

"I shoot people," Daniel read the message written in silver on the curve of one of the mugs. "This is really amazing. Thank you."

I felt proud of my gift selection for once in my life.

"I'm glad you liked it." I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Daniel was still very much engrossed in studying every part of his gift so I let my eyes to scan the room. My scanning paused as I noticed a violin resting on his studying table.

Feeling a spurt of eagerness in me, I picked it up along with its bow.

"Do you know how to play?" I asked feeling the wooden surface of the violin. It wasn't of the finest quality but it still seemed decent.

Daniel looked up. "Um..no. It's Juliet's. She left it here."

I nodded and placed one side of the violin under my chin, holding the other with my hand. "Do you play?"

I shook my head. "I used to."

He nodded with an expression like he knew something but didn't say anything. "You do that a lot, you know?"

His eyebrows were pulled together. "Do what?"

I put the violin back at its earlier position. "Make me think you know something and then you stay silent."

"I don't think I do that," he denied like he was clueless but I could practically see him smiling in his head.

"Right. Let's go downstairs. It's time for dinner."

"After you."

"Finally!" Juliet said in her always chirpy voice as we entered the living room. "What took you guys so long?"

There was a hint of teasing in her expression.

"Juliet, behave," a new voice piped in and I immediately became nervous realizing that the deep voice belonged to Daniel's father.

"Hello Sir," I greeted him turning to his direction with a formal smile.

"Nice to see you again, Norah." he returned my expression. "I’m glad to know that you'll be joining us."

I don't know why but there was something in his demeanor that demanded the respect and attention of everyone and judging by the serious faces of all the people present in the living room, I wasn't the only one who got that vibe from him.

"Can we eat now? I'm so hungry that I can even start eating people right now," Juliet groaned, sliding out a chair and settling down on it.

"No cannibalism in the house," Liam commented and slid out a chair too.

The rest of us took a seat each too and the dinner started.

"So Norah, have you decided what major you're going to take in university yet?" Sharon asked passing me the bowl of salad.

"Um, I am still thinking of which subject I'm going to take for my pre-law," I replied trying to ignore the fact that all the eyes were on me.

"So a lawyer, huh?" Mr. Cohen remarked. "Just like your father, I see."

Instead of a reply, I nodded and smiled politely.

There was a sudden thundering sound outside and taking a glance outside the window, I found that the weather had suddenly took a turn from how postcard perfect it was in the morning.

"What happened to your plan of being a power ranger?" Daniel asked in a low volume leaning towards me so that it was audible to just me.

He remembered what I had told him during our midnight question fest at the hospital.

Leaning on my seat, I answered, "It's still on. Being a lawyer will just be my disguise."

He nodded, well pleased with my answer. I sat back straight on the chair and noticed Juliet giving me a wiggle of her eyebrows as if implying something.

Deciding not to respond to it, I looked down at my plate. The conversation on the table swayed from one topic to another and Liam was about to tell something about his college plans when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that." Mr. Cohen stood up from his seat and walked towards the door. I heard the opening of the door and then there were some exchange of words but it was too muffled for me to understand what they were talking about and since the foyer was separated from the dining area by a wall, so I was unable to even catch a glance of the visitor.

"It's his birthday today. Let me talk to him for just five minutes," a woman's voice pleaded in a shaky manner and within a second, all the people at the table stiffened all together.

If I wasn't already curious enough earlier, now I felt even more to know who the lady at the door was that had induced such a reaction from everyone.

"Excuse me," Sharon said somberly and left the table.

I turned to Daniel to see if I was going to get some kind of explanation of what was happening but he looked blankly inscrutable.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't contain my eagerness any more.

"Nothing." He used that leveled tone of his that I had grown to hate. "Just stay here until I come back. I need to tell you something."

Having no other option, I nodded reluctantly and watched him pace towards the door as well.

"Why is she here?" I heard him say and with the venom that he used in his voice, I was glad that I wasn't on the receiving end.

There were some more murmuring and my urge to be in the loop of what was happening was growing at a monstrous rate.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" I asked to the last two remaining occupants of the room except me.

Both of them had their head hung low, and neither of them made any movement.

"Fine, then I guess I'll just ask the woman for an introduction herself." I used a threatening voice, standing up.

"No!" Liam grabbed my hand, pulling me back. "Don't. Just sit."

"Then at least tell me who she is," I demanded crossing my arms on my chest.

Liam and Juliet looked at each other and I could see them having a mental conversation.

"Quick!" My patience was diminishing making me irritated.

"Alright, that's...um that's..." Liam struggled

"Dan's mom!" Juliet yelled throwing her hands in the air.

"I couldn't take the tension anymore," she groaned but I was far away from caring what she was saying anymore.

He lied.

"I'll see you guys later. Bye," I mumbled and made a beeline towards the backdoor of the house.

I was met with harsh, frosty wind as I stepped out of the warmth of the house. The sky was tar black and heavy water-laden clouds hovered over the town.

A few rogue strands of my hair were being blown by the wild wind as I kept sprinting down the road with just one thought on my mind.

'How could he?'

First Sebastian, and now Daniel. Was death a joke to these people?

"Norah, please wait!" Daniel called but I didn't bother to look back.

"Please, stop!"

But I didn't.

"Listen, I'm sorry," he said catching up to me.

"You should be," I replied attempting to keep my anger at bay.

"I know I shouldn't have lied." There was a sense of deep remorse in his voice.

"Why? Why would you do that?" I asked taking a breath.

He looked down and I knew I wasn't going to get any answer. Again.

"I can't," that's all he said.

"Of course you can't," I said in a finalizing tone.

My mind was telling me to just run away from there but I wasn't done talking yet.

"You know since the night at the bridge every morning I wake up hoping that you're safe, hoping that I won't be met with the news that you tried to kill yourself again. Daniel. Daniel. Daniel. That's all my life has been for these past days only to find out that you've been lying to me all this time. Do you have any idea how stupid I feel right now?"

I paused to take another breath.

"You had to tell me once not to press for answers so I never did. You were evasive, you were downright rude at times but I still wanted to be around only with the hope that you realize that you do have a friend in me."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. The raindrops started to wash every feature of his face. His eyes had regret, his shoulders sagged in defeat. He looked so weak that for a moment I wanted to forgive him.

I continued but my voice came out tired this time. "You don't know what it feels like when people die, Daniel. How could you lie so easily? She's your own mother for god’s sake! You know what my mom told my dad before she left us?" My voice broke. I didn't like that. "She said she couldn't bear to look at my face! And I was so mad at her for that. I still am but still I could never even think of anything happening to her so how did you?"

I instantly regretted telling him the part about my mom.

I exhaled and tried to regain my composure.

"I need to go." It came out as a mere whisper.

"Anyway, I'm really sorry for spoiling your birthday. Hope you can forgive me for that."

And with that I started to walk away.

You know, I had always wondered how it always rains in all those TV shows whenever there is emotion packed scene. But as I walked home with my makeup running down with the rain and my whole body feeling strangely subdued, I understood that it was because God had a really bad sense of drama. 

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So the drama begins! What are your thoughts about it? Do you think Norah over-reacted or are you with her? Please tell me in your comments. 

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