Hey! So here is the 19th chapter. I was going to post it tomorrow but since I had finished typing so I thought why not.

Thanks for your comments in the last chapter. It was really fun to read your opinion's about Norah's reaction or over-reaction. I hope you like this chapter too and I am curious to know your opinion about it.

Enjoy♥

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"Urghh! Just stop calling already!" I grunted, frustrated. After one minute of waiting, the ringtone, which had been stuck in my head for the last three days like a bad jingle, stopped.

Phew!

I threw my face back on my pillow and let out a tired sigh. It had been like this since the day of his birthday.  He had called a million times, I'd never responded once. He had even came by my house twice but I didn't succumb. Not even a single time. I wasn't ready to give up and hear him out so easily. And it wasn't like I hadn't given him a chance to explain that day but he had blown it up by saying that he can't.

Well guess what Daniel? I can't either.

Ignoring him through calls and at the house was easy. It was the school hours that had posed as the main problem. But thanks to my 'boyfriend' and his solid rivalry with Daniel, I had been able to keep Daniel from coming up to me by sticking to Sebastian's side all the time.

So all in all I had been able to pull off a Daniel-free week till now. Another thing that I had been able to done this past week was to keep myself from was going to the land of nightmares by not sleeping at all. And no, it wasn't just because of that I-lie-about-my-mother's-death guy, but because tomorrow was going to mark the third death anniversary of Emma, and fearing that the nightmares would get even more and more exhausting, and to be very honest, scary, I had decided to abandon sleep till at least the next week.

No big deal.

And so far the plan was going great.

Ed Sheeran's voice flowed from my iPod and my eyelids were on the verge of shutting close when the doorbell rang.

Not again!

Following the bell, after a few minutes my phone went off again. Lazily, I craned my neck and looked at the phone screen. To my surprise, it wasn't Daniel's name flashing on the screen, but an unknown number.

"Hello?" I spoke into the voice piece.

"Norah, it's me, Mom."

I sat up on the bed at her voice.

"Um, hi," I replied awkwardly.

"Why aren't you opening the door? Your car is outside. You're home, right?"

I ran to my window and stood on my tows to get a better view of the front door. Indeed she was standing there in a black dress.

"Sorry, I fell asleep. I'll be there in a moment."

Pulling the thin band lying around my wrist, I grabbed my hair and tied it in a ponytail. Rubbing my eyes to get rid of the tiredness in them, I left my room to face my mother.

"Hi." I walked out after switching on the pendant lights of the porch.

Her lips automatically lifted up in a smile and her eyes shone with happiness, which I thought was kind of an over-reaction for a simple opening of a door.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you," she hesitated a little in speaking, probably because of the last encounter we had.

"No, it's okay." I shrugged and as soon as I voiced my words, the smile slipped from her features.

"Your eyes look puffy and you've been smoking again," she stated, looking me with a scrutinizing eye. I internally scolded myself for not thinking that my croaky voice was going to give away the re-taking of my old habit.

"No, I haven't. It's because I just woke up," I denied, smoothly.

"What? The smell?" She asked with a questioning look.

Now I really deserved a mental slap. I should have been careful about the stench.

"It was just one."

Liar!

"Now was it?" She had her arms folded and I looked down, shifting on my legs and feeling like a little girl again when my mother would have a 'talk' with me for breaking another house rules.

I heard her sigh. "Anyway, we'll talk about it later. Right now I want you to come with me," she said, changing her voice in a much lighter mode.

"Where?"

"You know how I've been looking for a house around here?" I nodded even though I had no clue that she had been house-hunting. "Well, I think I found one and I want you to come and see it before I finalize it."

"I don't know," I said and my brain started storming to come up with an appropriate excuse.

Her face dropped a little. "Oh, come on, it's Sunday evening and you're not doing anything anyway so come with me."

There was hope in her voice that I couldn't ignore.

"Fine, I'll come," I said, agreeing to her request and gestured her to come inside. She was wreathing in smiles as she entered in the house, and one could practically see her memories swimming in front of her eyes as she scanned the living room.

"Just give me a minute to change," I told her and made my way back to my room.

I tried to get ready as quickly possible as I could by slipping into a pair of blue denims and a white button up shirt. After redoing my pony tail, I trotted down the stairs and then followed my mom out of the house.

We ran to get inside her Mini Cooper to escape the light drizzle. We drove out of the drive way in silence, splashing water from a puddle that had formed in front of my house.

I looked out of the window glass which had tiny rain drops all over it. Four days worth of rain had ended up giving the town a dark look. The whole atmosphere was beautiful but yet so gloomy and sad that it was like watching a Lana Del Rey's music video.

"It has been raining too much," mom commented, turning her head in my direction.

I mentally sighed. This was what our conversation had come to; weather. It couldn't get any sadder than this.

But nonetheless I replied, "Yeah."

And then we became silent again and because my small talk making skills were easily comparable to that of a peanut's, I wasn't really complaining.

After driving around in a neighborhood not far from ours, the car came to a halt in front of a house painted in soft green and tan. A small lawn surrounded the porch-less rectangular building, with a wooden door marking the start of the lawn.

"It looks nice from the outside," I said, impressed at the simplicity of the exterior.

"I knew you would like it." She got out of the car. I followed. "It's even better from the inside."

Crossing the cobblestone pathway, we reached the front door and mom brought out her key to unlock it.

"It still needs some work." She pushed open the door and the smell of fresh paint immediately took over my senses.

The whole house was just one-story but had many stairs running up and down to different areas of the central room, giving it a multi-dimensional feel. From where I stood, I could make out that there were two bedrooms in total, which I guess was enough for a single person.

"So what do you think?" She asked, opening a window to my left.

"It's nice," I replied, walking around the room. "Very modern-chic."

It was different from the craftsmen style house that I lived in, but then again she always did have a knack for change.

"That's what I thought too." She beamed. "You're going to visit, right?"

I looked away. "We'll see."

"Baby, this will be your house too. I know it's your senior year so you'll probably be busy but you can come here in weekends and we can spend some mother-daughter time?"

Yeah we can braid each other's hair watching Gilmore Girls and remember the good times, like when you left me and dad, I added internally, but didn't actually say it.

"I don't think either of us is ready for that, mom," I told her, honestly.

 "It has been three years. I think we are," she replied back immediately. Then something crossed her eyes. "That reminds me. I am going to visit her tomorrow, and I was thinking if you'd like to come with me."

Just the topic I had been dreading.

"I have never been to her grave after the funeral, you should know that." I pushed back the waves of the strange feeling that I felt on my skin every time I thought of her.

"Maybe it's time you should start doing that."

"And maybe it's time should stop telling me what to do all the time!" I snapped back and the taken back look on her face told me that my way of talking had done some damage.

"Sorry," I mumbled. It felt like déjà vu. She had started nagging me about something and I had snapped at her. And I was afraid that this was what it would always be like.

 "No, it's okay," she said smiling, but the lone tear slipping from her eye told another story.

I exhaled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Look Ma, you can't expect me to run back to your arms like the last three years happened just in my mind. I need sometime, 'kay?" She nodded, the crestfallen look not budging from her face. "Alright, I think I should head home now. It's late and I have school tomorrow."

"What about dinner? Have you eaten anything at all today?" She asked, wiping her tear discreetly.

"I made something for myself earlier," I lied.

"Okay, then I'll take you home now," she said. Her voice seemed clipped and lost of all enthusiasm that she had earlier.

I wasn't a complete heartless. I did feel bad for pushing her away like this, but I didn't know how to react any other way. I was confused. One moment I wanted her to come back home, and the very next one, I wanted to push her far away.

Between the time of the clock on the dashboard changing from 7:02 to 7:11 pm, we covered the distance back to my house from her potential one. The ride was silent again, only this time the car was jam packed with a boxes of an uncomfortable feeling too.

"I'll see you soon then?" She asked as I got out of the car.

Oh come on, Norah. Just one positive reply, I told myself.

"Yeah, alright," I said, closing the door and she drove away happily.

The sky was still suffused with grayness but the rain had stopped so I sat in my lawn, watching the cars that were passing by on a very sporadic basis. With the after-rain cool air and the tranquil atmosphere, I am sure I would have dozed off if the the car approaching my house hadn't honked loudly.

"What up, white witch?" Someone called from the car.

"Being a delight like always, huh Luke?" I retorted back sardonically to the blonde guy who was smirking at me from the car window, and I could see Sebastian in the driving seat.

Taking my dad's parking spot in the driveway, the car came to a stop and both of the tall guys walked towards me holding hands, of course.

"Well you look like death personified. Still going through your tired phase honey boo boo?" Sebastian asked sitting beside me on the lawn, his brown hair flopping around his forehead with the wind.

"Yes, and that makes me really snarky too, so beware." I rested my head on his shoulder and looked at Luke who was towering over us.

"You see that's why I'm glad that I am not designed for girls. PMS-ing and all," Luke remarked, messing with my hair. I glared at him.

"She's not PMS-ing. She's just missing her Daniel. Right?" Seb answered for me.

I was about to say something but Luke beat me to it. "Oooh! Right, the infamous Daniel. What has been going on between you two?"

"There are having a lover’s tiff right now. Poor guy has been trying to talk to her and she has been over-reacting as usual," Sebastian answered again.

Was anyone going to let me say something?

"I'm not over-reacting," I hastily replied, afraid that Luke would say something again.

"Well you do over-react a lot," Luke agreed with Sebastian giving me a disapproving look.

"Excuse me, I don't. What you call over-reacting is just a normal reaction to an abnormal amount of bullshit," I said, closing my eyes but the questioned lingered in my mind.

Was I really over-reacting?

"See, you're over-reacting to a comment about you over-reacting. Classic Norah," Luke sang the last part.

"I think you should listen what he has to say. As much as I like him not being around you all the time, I still can't handle the glares he has been giving me in hallways lately," Seb suggested.

"Do you think I should call him right now?" I asked with doubts in my mind.

Giving him a chance couldn't hurt, right?

"I think you should do that," Luke answered and Sebastian nodded along with his boyfriend.

I got up from the wet grass and dialed Daniel's number.

The ring went once, twice, thrice but he didn't pick up.

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up," I repeated over and over again, but when the call went to voice mail, I sighed.

"Hey, it's me. I think we should talk. 'kay bye," I spoke into the phone feeling disappointed.

"That was quick," Sebastian who was now standing near my house door said.

"He didn't pick up," I said, dispirited.

"Aw, don't use that voice. Let's go inside and we'll see a movie and then Seb can sing for the both of us," Luke said, encouragingly.

Seb gave Luke a playful nudge because of the sarcastic way he mentioned about Seb's singing talent. Luke pouted at Seb earning a smile from him.

I hugged both of them. "Just get married already. You two are so fraking cute."

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"Tell me again why in the world did we decide on this movie?" Luke questioned, wiping his nose.

"Cause you two are sucker for crappy emotional drama," Seb answered faking a yawn.

We were watching 'A Walk to Remember' and even having seen it multiple times before, both Luke and I now had more feelings to express and tears to shed than that girl in Mean Girls who 'doesn't even go here'.

"Your heart is made of stone, Seb," Luke whimpered, and crawled over to my side.

When the movie had begun, we were on my bed but somehow all of us had ended up on the floor.

Feeling cold, I got up to grab my fleece blanket from the bed, and accidentally the blanket knocked the can of soda off Seb's hand.

"Ah, my shirt!" Sebastian shrieked standing up as the liquid started travelling down his shirt.

"Oops!" I brought up my hand in front of my mouth. "Sorry."

"If you just wanted him to take off his shirt, you should have just asked, Norah," Luke commented smirking, now not so much invested in the movie anymore.

It was times like these when it astonished me how strange Luke was. I mean if I would've been his position, it surely would've been uncomfortable to hang out with a girl who was acting to be my boyfriend's girlfriend but Luke made us feel like normal friends.

"It's so cold," Seb yelped, trying to keep the wet shirt away from his skin.

"I swear it was just an accident," I tried to rid myself of the false accusation.

Luke just rolled his eyes and looked like he had something to say when the doorbell rang.

I ran down to open the door yelling, "Coming!"

As I opened the front door, my breathing stopped momentarily.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi, sorry it's late. I fell asleep and just saw your call and I know I have so much to tell you if you can please just listen me out," Daniel rambled, running his fingers through his messy hair.

His voice was heavy and he sounded unsure. Exhaustion loomed heavily over his face.

"I will. I'm sorry I over-reacted. I shouldn't have gone off at you like that without even giving you enough time to explain." My voice came out hesitant as well. It was like we were strangers all over again.

He shook his head without breaking the gaze. "You had every right to. I shouldn't have lied-"

The sound of Sebastian's voice made Daniel to stop talking.

"Norah, who's at- oh, hey." Sebastian noticed Daniel's presence as well and stopped at the top of the stairs, leaning on the banister.

I turned back to Daniel and the hard look that had instantly taken over his features surprised me at first.

And then I realized what it looked like. In a silent looking house I was alone with a Sebastian, my supposed boyfriend.

Yeah, it had disaster written all over it.

Pursing my lips, I tried to come up with something to say. "Um...it's..."

"I'll talk to you later," Daniel said in a dry manner, and I knew that I wasn't going to hear the end of our conversation that Sebastian had interrupted.

"Daniel, it's not like-"

"Bye." All of the emotions had drained from both his voice and face.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian said coming to my side as I watched Daniel walk away and eventually fade into the darkness of the night.

"It's okay," I said, even though it was not. It was not at all okay.

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"Just call him again," Sebastian suggested for the third time in the last twenty minutes as I stared blankly at the screen of the television.

"He won't pick up. I know him." I felt even more defeated and tired now than I was earlier in the evening.

"Don't push her, Seb," Luke said and I felt grateful to him for that. "And I think we should get going."

"Yeah, I know," Seb mumbled and got up from my side. "Take care, Noh."

I escorted them to the door and once Sebastian's car left my house's compound, I made my way back to my room with heavy steps.

Taking my phone with me, I walked towards my window.

I remembered what I had just told Sebastian but I still wanted to make a last attempt, for the sake of my own peace.

I dialed his number again and prayed that he would pick up even though there was hardly any possibility of that happening.

When the call was about to go into voice mail again, he picked up. My heart did a back-flip as hope filled my veins but it drowned down immediately as someone else spoke from the other side.

"Hey, Norah," a girl's voice chirped from the other side of the line, and I felt my already sulked heart move further deep in its cavity as I identified the voice.

"Abbey?"

"Yeah, it's me. Daniel says he can't talk-" and then I heard her gasp.

My hand automatically flew up to my mouth as Abbey breathed out Daniel's name.

I wanted to end the call but my hands felt frozen.

Abbey giggled about something but then a white noise occupied the line before he finally decided to talk to me.

"Didn't you hear her? Can't talk right now," he spoke, the vindictiveness clear in his tone.

That was enough to bring me out of my dazed state.

"Clearly I called at the wrong time. Sorry to disturb you," I spat out with as much venom as he had in his voice, and then ended the call, which I should have never made in the first place.

Closing my eyes, I breathed out to calm myself down but the anger had already spread to every single cell in my body.

Sliding out the drawer of my bedside table, I took out the pack of cigarette and lit one.

He did that deliberately. He had done that just to exact revenge on me. I should have listened when Shay, Sebastian, Liam and everyone else told me to maintain some distance from Daniel but I didn't listen and now I was facing the consequences.

I watched the smoke from the cigarette rise in a beautiful pattern as a mix of emotion swirled inside me: anger, humiliation, sadness, regret and the worst of all, hurt.

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So close, right?

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