Hola amigos!

Happy new year everyone! Sorry I am a little late in wishing you but forgive me 'cause I am a lazy person =P

Okay, so first this chapter is dedicated to one of my favorite person on wattpad ....*drumrolls*... Dimaeatsapples! She's been with the story since the very start and she is such an amazing person, like made with marshmallow, nutella and all the other nice things in the world! So thank you!! And also she made this just as amazing banner on the side----->>>>>

Thank you so much!!!

And on the side is also the trailer that I made myself for the story. So please please please check it out too. It would be really cool if you did, =)

So now, the last chapter was some heavy thing huh? I think we need a little break from the shocks, and hence I present you this chapter. A sweet, simple but extremely long one. Hope you like it. =)

Enjoy ♥

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Daniel's pov-

The bells on the door chimed and my eyes immediately shot up but then came back down in disappointment once I noticed it was an elderly man who had entered the cafe.

Taking a breath, I picked up my cup of second cup of coffee, hoping that its warmth will help the jittery feeling in my fingertips. Taking a sip, I checked the time on my phone.

Just four minutes past than when she was supposed to be here.

I scratched the tip of my nose, my fingers still twitching.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. I shouldn't be behaving like this.

Anything and everything was making me anxious and jumpy; the mindless chatter of the group of girls sitting on the corner table, the entering and exit of people, the sound of the clicking of spoons against ceramic cups.

Everything was throwing me off the edge.

Where was the button for putting the whole world on mute when you needed it?

I looked at the phone again.

Five minutes.

Maybe, she wasn't going to come.

I got up from my chair, but couldn't take one step ahead.

No, this needed to be done.

I sat back down.

It had been nine years of waiting for her. Nine additional minutes for me couldn't possibly hurt.

And then again, it wasn't about me. This was so that a particular slightly crazy girl couldn't use my decisions as an excuse.

Yes, this was for Norah, I reminded myself and allowed myself to calm down.

The bell rang once again.

My eyes darted up.

"Thank you for coming," I said as she walked towards my table.

She smiled.

A smile the six year old version of me would have considered as the greatest thing in the world.

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Norah's pov-

I cringed as another pot fell from the cabinet.

"Just admit it, Nate. You aren't taking the next Masterchef trophy home anytime soon," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I will eventually make a damn pancake. Just wait," Nathan replied, picking up the scattered pots in his arm.

"As much as I'll like to see that happening, I've got a school to attend," I hooked my wrist in my satchel's strap, pulling it closer to me.

Uh, that hurt. Well, more like everything was hurting.

Also, I still felt woozy.

So now I knew why they tell you to have proper rest to get rid of a hangover.

Also, as if residual hangover which had now turned into fever wasn't a problem enough that period cramps were also acting as double trouble.

Bad timing, Aunt flow.

"Noh, you sure you wanna go to school?" Nathan asked, cocking his head to the side. "You look...umm...I don't know...a little dead."

I frowned. "A little dead?"

"Kind of," with full honestly, he answered.

"Well then sir, brace yourself for you’re going to see the real life walking dead, ‘cause I got to get to school soon. Can't miss another day." I picked up my satchel from the kitchen counter and stood up. And everything spun three times, really fast.

I clamped on the edge of the stool for support, while Nathan rushed to come across the counter.

"Pale face, bad punch lines and dizziness. Yup, definitely sick," he blabbered, gripping my shoulder. Nathan pressed his palm on my forehead. "And you feel a little hot."

"I'm always hot." I half smiled.

"Just...just don't." He made a cringing expression. "I can't handle anymore of your terrible one-liners. Better you stay home today and take some rest. It's a no school day tomorrow anyway."

"Nope." I got back on my feet again. "Gotta go. Tell dad I'm leaving."

Nathan crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"Fine, don't do it," I told him, scowling. "No need to be a jerk about it."

He gave me a look of disapproval. "I am not being a jerk. Just want you to go talk to him."

"Yeah because it would be so easy explaining to him why I never came home from that party, why I missed school and why I lied to him. And then dad would be all like 'Sure, Norah, sure you lied again, ditched school, went to Maine, but that's all fine cau-"

Shit.

I bit on my tongue, my eyes screwed shut involuntarily and then I heard Nathan shriek, "Maine?! You were in Maine yesterday?!"

"Nate, listen I-I," Think of something! Quick! "I was, I really was-" Nate still was staring at me with his eyes the size of the moon.

I took a discreet glance to my right, then towards the door, and then brought my eyes back to Nathan who looked like he was in a state of shock.

And then I ran.

"I promise I'll explain to you soon!!" I yelled, sprinting out of the door.

I heard him calling my name, not sounding at all amused but I was already out of the driveway by that time.

I smiled, smug about my escaping skills, but while catching my breath, which was coming out short since last night; I realized I didn't have my phone and car keys on me.

And then I didn't feel so smug anymore.

Now, neither could I go back home, nor did I feel stable enough to walk all the way to school.

I felt my knees buckling under me, so I sat on the ground in a crouching position.

Alright, so Nathan would be furious right now, brimming with his queries, and if he had already told dad about Maine, then I could only imagine how many questions would be shot in my way. So, that was my option one while the second one was to drag myself to school, no matter how long it took me to get there.

I got up, dusted of the dirt from my knees and palms and started my ultra painfully slow staggering and crippling to school.

As much as it would seem that I did this just to escape the wrath of the two angry birds waiting for me back home, well, that wasn't the only reason.

And no, it also wasn't because I suddenly was feeling my love for school blossoming in me.

But it was because I was tired of hiding. What I mean is that's what I did, right? Whenever anything happened between Daniel and me, be it good or bad, I always ran away, hiding, avoiding him.

So that's why I was hell-bent on going to school today.

Also, I was sure that was what he would be expecting of me, that I would be going all incognito on him, so it would be fun to prove him wrong, no matter how many nags I felt in my head not to walk alone.

It's broad daylight, Norah, I told myself. You're safe. He isn't around.

By the time I reached school, I was already fourteen minute late for my first class, but I was sure, looking at the old red brick building, I was experiencing the same feeling that mountaineers have when they arrive at the peak of Mount Everest.

Not exaggerating even a little bit.

As expected, all the hallways were empty as everyone was inside, attending their respective classes.

Careful not to disrupt the silence around, I cautiously opened my locker door and before I could pull a single book out, it felt like someone had fast-forwarded the earth's rotation to fifty times, cause everything was spinning again.

I blinked my eyes several times to clear my vision but instead everything was starting to blur even more with every passing second.

Yep, I had picked the wrong option by coming to school. There was no way I would be able to last for a fifty minute long lecture.

Thinking that being back in fresh air would be better than standing in the narrow school hallway, I made my way out toward the back exit of the building, but instead of taking one of the outer cafeteria benches like I had first intended to I kept walking past the school boundary, towards my old spot, the one with the now broken swing.

In practice, if there is a possibility of a psycho creep stalking you, it's probably not the wisest decision to be alone in a secluded place, but I have no idea why it didn't occur to me as I kept walking.

I blame it on my delirious state of mind.

Dry leaves scrunched under my shoes leaving a cracking sound in the air. The day was beautiful, you could actually see how everything around was starting to transition, waiting for the arrival of winters.

Dropping my satchel down, I slid to the ground too, resting my back against the tree. I rubbed my hands together to warm them up, and then looked up towards the criss-crossed network of the branches from which the weak rays of sun were struggling to penetrate.

Secrets are a strange thing. Once within yourself, they torture you from inside but once out, the thought of the whole world knowing of it was even scarier.

Now, I knew he wouldn't have told anyone by now. I understood him well enough to know that, but I still couldn't help feel a shiver every single time when I imagined everyone knowing the truth. I had wronged so many people for these three years, and I didn't want to know what the punishment for it would be.

I stared back at the branches again.

Frankly, I was exhausted of this constant need of over-thinking too. For once, I wanted a normal life, where I didn't have to analyze and over analyze everything to the extreme that I make myself sick all the time, where I didn't have to cope with the fact that I was a liar and not to mention a coward.

That would have been nice, a life as a boring high school senior, worrying about college, friends, what would I be wearing to prom, and talking boy problems with my best friend.

Well, at least out of all of that, I did have boy trouble, so I guess that was something.

I sighed, closed my eyes and just sat there quietly, appreciating the silence of the place, for approximately the next three hours.

The cramps were getting more painful and so were the headaches.

Urgh, why did I even get out of the bed this morning?

I whimpered from how sore my legs felt as I turned to pick my bag to get my iPod from it.

Maybe music would help.

I plugged in the ear phone and put it on shuffle but had to pull the cord out as the first track that came on was a Disney song, which certainly wasn't there when I checked it last. And it wasn't just one song. In fact all my songs were replaced by Disney tunes, 60s music or concertos.

Nathan!

Who else could have done it?

I breathed out a tired sigh and let my head fall back as I settled on playing the Disney play list and it didn't take me long to start singing along to them; not very nicely though, if I might add.

"...I have often dreamed of a far off place. Where a great, warm welcoming would be waiting for me..."

-

"...An enchanted moment, and it sees me through. It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you..."

-

"...Once upon a night. Once upon a time. Once upon a wish. Once upon a dream..."

-

"...Sha-la-la-la-la-la...Don’t be scared. You got the mood prepared. Go on and kiss the girl-"

"Gladly," a voice came from the side, loud enough to reach me over the music.

I gave him a side glance, pulling my earphones out. "Tell me, you didn't wait for me to sing this particular line from this particular song to make your entry."

He shot me a smile. "As much as I would like to take the credit for the theatrics, nope, just perfect timing." He took slow steps towards the tree. "So this is where you've been all day while I've driven up to your house twice, looked at every place you could have been, and worrying myself to a maddening point?"

I dropped my iPod back in my bag. "If this is your subtle way of asking for gas money, sorry, ain’t got even a single dollar."

He took the spot beside me, and then turned to give me look which was clearly proclaiming that he thought I was cuckoo. "It's noon. You can't be drunk already?"

"Hey!" I yelped in protest. "A month ago, among the two of us, I would have had the right to say that."

"Well, tell that to your eyes still looking hungover," he pointed out, smirking and then looked straight. "Let me guess, didn't sleep at all last night?"

I scoffed. "As if you did."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged, making an innocent face. "I slept just fine."

An incredulous look was up on my face. "Oh yeah?" I placed a finger under his chin, forcing him to turn his face towards me. "Then why do you so pale and...white?"

He narrowed his eyes, a glint of playfulness in them. "Oh my god, Norah, you can't just ask people why they're white!"

And no matter how much I could have tried, I wouldn't have had any control over the chuckle that escaped my mouth. I heard him chuckle too, but it probably wasn't because of his own joke.

"This is...all of it...we are really strange, you know that?" I noted, shaking my head but still smiling.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I mean, you know, one day we are at each other's throat and on the next we've got this-this-" I waved my hand randomly in the space between the two of us "this silly thing going on."

He breathed out a sigh. "I am sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have reacted that way. I shouldn't have yelled."

I gave him a small smile. "It's okay. For what it's worth, that was the exact reaction I expected from you."

He chuckled breathlessly. "That's nice to know." And then suddenly his smile dropped a little. "Yesterday when you were leaving, I thought of catching up to you, but, umm, there was one thing I had to do first before I could be in a place to tell you that what you're doing is not the right thing. It's not fair to you, to people who care about you and to those who cared about Emma. It's not fair to her either."

My eyes shifted down, at the ground to flick away the tears that had sprung at the mere mention of her.

"What do you mean?" I opted for whispering to conceal the shakiness in my voice.

A silent moment passed by. Using it to get a hold of myself, I took a breath, brought my head up and was thrown off at the unexplainable look in his eyes.

How I intercepted it, was that it seemed like a look one gets remembering an old memory. Though good or bad, I couldn't tell.

His eyes quickly went up and then came back to me.

"I talked to my mom," he told me, as I stared at him with unwavering eyes. "I told her that I forgive her. For everything."

I opened my mouth, but it wasn't of any use, my brain couldn't form a single word.

Okay, I really needed to say something right now.

I cleared my throat. "Why?"

He didn't say anything, probably because he knew that I already knew the answer, and he didn't need to put it in words.

"You did that for..." I mumbled to myself.

Cause I told him if he couldn't forgive him mother, then how could have Emma forgiven me. That's why he did that. He did it for me.

"If it helps," he said.

Short lived stings of pain were running in my nasal area, a clear indication that I was about to cry, and my head was feeling heavy.

For a minute, I didn’t feel like talking and he let me have that silent time.

"So you really think Em could somehow forgive me too?"

Daniel took my hand, interlaced his fingers with mine, and guided my head to rest on his shoulder with his other hand. "Yeah, I do believe that. And I think you should do it too, because if the sole reason, you blame yourself, are what her last words to you were, then you gotta understand that how scared she must be right then. There is no way she would have possibly wanted it to be you in her place."

But wasn't that exactly what she had said? That it was supposed to be me?

I shifted my head on his shoulder, my cheek brushing against his white cotton shirt. "She had every reason to though…to hate me."

"She preferred dying over giving into that guy's blackmails, to keep you safe…She told you to leave this town…That doesn't sound like a person who hated you. She just made one mistake, that's all. That's why it all happened. Not because you did something wrong."

"She didn't mean to." The instinct to protect Emma was instant. "She was a really nice person, Daniel. One of the kindest people ever and she loved Nathan. She really did...with everything she had in her...I had seen it in her eyes. I know she never meant any of it to happen."

"I believe that," he whispered, resting his head against mine. "But the mistake was not telling anyone. If she didn't any other way of getting out, maybe someone else would have had. And I am afraid you're doing the same thing and I don't want that happening."

His thumb made small circles on my palm, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. "But she was afraid of losing everyone's trust. She thought we would hate her."

"Do you think that's what would have happened?" he asked. "That her own family would have made her suffer so much that ending her own life altogether was a better option?"

I shook my head, lightly. "No, of course not. Everyone loved her. They would have come around some day."

"Then tell me why are you making an exception for yourself?" I brought my gaze to him. "Why do you think she wouldn't have done the same for you?"

He had said what he came for, and I had nothing but silence to give him in return, but this silence didn't have defiance as its roots. His words had made me to think.

All these years, I had assessed everything that had happened, over and over again till I started having nightmare about it, decided that I was the main culprit of it all and then had decided my own punishment.

Getting rid of long held guilt wasn't a matter of few words.

But…

But there had to be a start somewhere.

Maybe...

"Exactly when did you become the wise one?" A half smile tagged on the corner of my lips.

I received another light chuckle. "Well, you know since I found out that the girl who once stopped me from offing myself is kind of suicidal herself."

"I am sure normal people conversations don't have the words, suicide and death, included as frequently as ours do, right?" I made a thinking face.

"This is our own version of normal, I guess." He shrugged. "Discussing death and suicide like Saturday brunch."

I snorted. "We need help."

"Nah," he drawled, smiling, his nose wrinkling. "I think we can do just fine."

"I hope so," I muttered.

"Yeah," he whispered, and then gave a hopeful smile. "Now, please explain why did you decide to come to school looking like this? Should have stayed home."

"Let's just say I didn't think things through when I left in the morning," I waived my hand. "Hey, you said you went over to my house."

"Yeah?"

"Did you see Nathan there?"

"The guy annoyingly proud about his sense of humor?" Daniel frowned.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, did he like seem really mad or anything?"

"No." He stopped to think. "But he seemed really worried when I went the second time."

I groaned. "I should head home before he officially declares me missing." Taking the support of the trunk behind me, I rose up from the ground, my legs still wobbled, and I sat down again.

"Or maybe never mind, I'll just stay here for the rest of the day," I announced, my voice rasping in my throat. I made a dismissive gesture with my hand. "You're free to leave."

"Get up," he almost ordered, standing up himself.

"Were you like lost for the last five minutes?" I said, incredulously. "I can't stand."

He huffed lightly. "Fine." then bent down, grabbed my bag, handed it over to me and in a quick motion picked me up as I squealed in a high pitched voice.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Practicing weightlifting for the next Olympics," he answered, sarcastically. "I am taking you home."

"Put me down!" I demanded, holding on to his shoulder, afraid that I was going to fall down.

"Yeah, you know a better way to do this?" He queried, walking with a wicked grin.

His blue eyes stared down at me, amusement floating in them and the last Disney song started to play in my head, with a slight change in the lyrics.

'Sha-la-la-la-la-la. The music play. Do what the music say. You wanna kiss the boy.'

Oh god...

Definitely not ready to complicate things even more, I looked up at the afternoon sky. "What if someone sees us?"

"You should try not thinking so much all the time," he said in a fake stern voice. "Don't want your pretty little head to blow up, now do we?"

"Bu-"

"Shush, be quiet," he didn't let me start properly. "Enough talking done. Close your eyes, and relax."

Yeah, tell that to my racing pulse, and my brain which is being all giddy-giddy about being in physical contact with you, I answered in my mind.

Nonetheless, I closed my eyes but cheated several times by look at his face.

And he looked so cute!

Someday, my head really was going to blow up...

It was rather silly how excited I was about being carried by Daniel, even sillier was how I felt like complaining severely when he put me down on the car seat, but the silliest was how I felt like squealing in happiness when he once again picked me up once we reached my house's driveway.

Opening the door, for a couple of seconds Nathan just stood there, his gaze shifting from Daniel to me, then coming back to Daniel. "Tell me this is one of those moments where we all are mutually awkward, and not just me."

"You can be sure of that," Daniel enunciated, heavy with a sarcastic tone.

“Is dad home?” I asked.

“Nope, went to work.” Nathan took a step back to let us in but kept talking, "Okay, I get how teens are these days but please try to keep it inside closed room, okay? It's rather traumatizing for the rest of us."

Awkward.

I was about to protest about but Daniel beat me in answering Nathan. "Sorry, hormones working over time. Can't keep our hands off each other."

I shot him a look of disbelief which he returned with a smile.

Nathan threw a steely gaze at Daniel and then a flinty one at me. "And where have you been all this time? Do you know this guy almost broke our doorbell ringing it again and again?"

"It was just two effing times!" setting me down on the couch, Daniel argued but Nate completely ignored him.

"So where were you? I thought you were going to school?" Nate towered over me, his hands on his waist.

"I was in school," I wheezed out, my head hurting with the conversation going on.

"So you were in school but didn't go to any class?" Nathan spoke, confused.

"Yep."

"So what that's like an option nowadays? I tell you American high school system just keeps getting worse each day." Nate looked disappointed. "And then we say that the asians are taking over our jobs. Pathetic!"

Daniel and I stared at Nathan who was now mumbling something to himself.

"I am going to my room." I stood with a little help from the armrest of the couch and then lumbered towards the staircase. I sensed Daniel follow me.

"So what he's like going with you?" Nathan called from behind.

"Like you said, taking things to closed rooms. You’re free to look if you want," Daniel countered, possibly with a sardonic look.

"Nope, thank you…" Nathan trailed. "So, then can I get you guys anything? A snack? A con-"

"Nathan!" I stopped him from continuing further.

"I'll be in the guest bedroom if you need me!"

"I worry about your sanity around him," Daniel commented after Nathan left the living room. "You need help in walking?"

"No." I shook my head. "It's okay. I'll manage."

I took one step at a time, leaning against the railing. It took me way longer than usual to reach the upper floor and I heaved a sigh of contentment as I opened the door to my old room.

"Whose room is this?" Daniel, who had been silent all this while asked, as I sat on the bed.

"Mine." I got under the cover, feeling my legs getting relaxed. "The other one actually belonged to Em, not me."

I fought back the smile which threatened to break out as I watched a spooked look pass Daniel's face which he tried to conceal quickly.

I didn't blame him. It was strange as it was, living in my dead twin's room, surrounded by things which once belonged to her.

"Umm," he cleared his throat, walking towards the fully stacked, dark walnut bookshelf installed near the window. "I like this one better. Better than that dollhouse. It's more you."

"More me?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Yeah," with a book from the shelf in his hand, he turned around. "Much suited for that girl lost in her own world, with her books and her violin."

I blinked. "How did you know?"

He set the book back in its original place. "It's not really hard to join the pieces."

I nodded. "You know it's kind of unfair how it's been all about me lately. I feel like I am the only one doing the talking, while I get nothing from you, except your half ass replies, of course."

Daniel came to sit beside me on the bed. "What do you wanna know?"

My eyes widened a little. "So you're actually going to answer them?"

"I'll give them a try." He nodded his head, lying on his back. "So ask away, butterfly!"

"Alright..." I trailed, trying to quickly gather up everything that I had ever wanted to ask him, in my head. Though it was a hard. All the time I became irritated because he hadn't another one of my question, and now when I had the chance I couldn't think of a single question.

Okay, Norah. What was the first thing that you ever noticed about him?

Honestly, that how hot he was.

Okay let's not even get me started over his looks. I could probably write a whole book just about his eyes and would still be left with enough content for its sequel.

This leader of the 'Daniel Cohen fan club' side of me talked too much and was messing my brain from what actually it was supposed to do.                                      

Think!

"Why do you always look tired? Like do you ever sleep?" I asked, and turned on the bed to face him better.

He smirked. "Well, cupcake, what can I say? Being a student by day and a pimp master by night is more work than it seems."

I frowned. "Be serious."

He pouted. "Fine, yeah I don't sleep much."

The frown slipped away from my lips. "Do you get nightmares too?"

He shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that. I just...don't fall asleep, I guess. Been like this since I was seven," he answered, normally, like it wasn't hard for him to tell me that, which I thought was a good thing. "And that also answers your question from yesterday about how I managed to get grades worth for MIT."

I gave him a look bordering between disbelief and teasing. "So what you're saying is that Daniel Cohen, school's biggest hotshot and former star player actually studies all night? Nerd!"

With his face an inch away from me, he narrowed his eyes at me, not at all angry though. "First, thank you," his expression changed to a smug one for a split second before going back to narrowed eyes. "Second, you can remove the former tag. I'm finally back on the varsity team and third, whatever!"

I grinned widely. "You're back on the team? That's great!"

"Yeah..." he drawled. "So there you have you answer. I don't sleep 'cause I can't. My sleep spectrum ranges from nada to two hours tops. And so you can imagine how absurd I think it is that you used to actually take pills to force insomnia, and that you still don't sleep at all."

"It's not like I get a kick out of it. I just..." I trailed off. "Anyway, next question."

"Shoot."

"What is in all those letters..." I felt his fingertips brushing mine before he took my hand in his again, playing with it absentmindedly. "...in your room."

"It's kind of hard to explain," he replied, placing his arm under his head to look at the ceiling. "Better if I just show them to you someday."

"This someday you talk of, is there any possibility that it would come within this very century?" I asked, with a pondering face.

Daniel smirked. "Well, look at you, developing my sense of rude sarcasm. Proud of you," he mimicked a sniffling sound.

I wasn't having any of stupid remarks. "When?"

"Whenever you're in a less absent state of mind," he answered honestly this time.

"I am perfectly present at the moment," I argued, furrowing my brows together.

"Yeah, then why haven't you noticed that you've been digging your nails in my palm?"

I looked down at the angry red, half crested marks over his skin where my nails were. "I'm so sorry," I apologized in a blabbering manner, and waited for him to let my hand go but he didn't.

"It's okay," he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head lightly. "So what I was saying that I would show you the letters once you feel fine."

"Okay," I didn't argue back this time.

"So done with all your questions?" He peaked at me with just one eye open.

Not yet.

Well, there was another thing that sometimes wondered me, but I wasn't sure I should ask it.

But then again, I could always say that I was feverish and I didn't know what I was talking about.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" the question tumbled out of my mouth.

"No," he simply answered.

And that was exactly what wondered me. I mean, I knew he still had a reputation of a player in the school, even though lately he had done absolutely nothing to still deserve that tag, but he wasn't what he came off in the first look. Beside the initial layer of rage and short-temperament, lied a warm, considerate and a overall great human being. So what was bizarre reason he never fell for anyone? I mean, I was aware how a plethora of girls were ready to throw themselves on him, so out of that entire crowd, how come not a single face appealed to him?                                                                            

"Just to be sure, when you say that you've never had a girlfriend that also implies that no boyfriends too, right?" I confirmed, actually serious.

He turned his head towards me, slowly. "No," he replied, dragging the 'o'. "I think you're mistaking me for your ex-boyfriend."

"Fake ex-boyfriend,"  I corrected him. "So no one? You never found anyone worth your standard? Never had a girlfriend? Never fell in love before?"

"I believe I just said that I never had a girlfriend. I never denied about that falling in love part or anything."

Woah woah what?!

Dumbfounded, I stared at Daniel, not expecting this answer.

There had been a voice in my head for some time that told me not to get ahead of myself and simply assume that Daniel loved me or something, because let's face it, even if I was in a position that I could assume that he liked me, him actually being in love being with me was still a big deal, one that would have been wrong to believe without him admitting to its first.

But right now, even if I was to ignore that voice and simply assume he in fact did love me, I still got the vibe that he wasn't talking about being in love in the present.

But nonetheless, I still decided to ask, "When?"

"Do you want the real version or a much normal one?"

"The real one," I quickly replied.

"When I was ten," he answered, without any trace of anything that could just he was lying.

And then that teeny tiny hope of his answer being something cheesy like "right now" or something was trampled.

My fault. I had set myself up for disappointment.

My follow up question to him should probably have been asking who she was, but I didn't.

I didn't need another piece of information to overtime my brain on.

And also, it didn't matter.

It shouldn't. He wasn't in love with the girl anymore.

I mean...I guess...

Oh, god what if he was? What if I had imagined everything that had ever between us? I have kissed him twice, didn't I?

That did happen...right?

Was that even like possible? That everything had just played in my head?

Wait...no...what if...

What was even real anymore?

Alright, I was definitely drifting off. Everything looked cloudy, and funny and dancing and-

"Do you any idea how frustrating it is to just sit here while you're all lost in your own thoughts?" He said, the corners of his mouth in a lop sided smile. "Like a million things you could be possibly thinking about, over probably fretting over."

"Sorry," I mumbled, shaking my head. "So yeah, I am done with the questions. For now at least."

"Good, now give that racing brain of yours some rest," he whispered, holding my gaze.

Maybe it was just the stark blue colour of his eyes that were responsible for it, but whenever he looked straight in my eyes, I got the feeling like he could see right through me. And maybe a month ago, I would have minded about his ability to make me feel like that.

But right then, I was more than happy that he could. That someone finally knew everything. Everything truth, every lie, every secret that made me who I was, he was allowed to see.

"What are you thinking, Norah?" he asked, his eyes still fixed on my face.

And then also I loved how my name sounded when he said it. Above all the hoard of pet names that I had, Noh, Rara, butterfly, little bird, cupcake and anything else, stood the way he said my plain and simple name, like pronouncing every syllable with care.

I smiled at the thought and shook my head.

"Nothing," I whispered, my eyes drooping, but I picked my head up a little, gave him a peck on the cheek, which he wasn't expecting because he looked a little surprised, and then fell back on my pillow.

"Thank you." I struggled to keep my eyes open for just ten more seconds. "For everything."

I loved how the smile that came next on his lips was filled with such child like innocence.

And then I closed my eyes.                                                                                          

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So another chapter done. I know Norah's thoughts seemed haphazard in the last, but like she said blame it on her feverish state. =P

And finally Daniel got to be play the wise one too. =)

So all in all a slow paced, sweet kinda chapter, much needed after the last one, eh? But those for those who like the drama more, well you just gotta wait till the next one. Hehehehe, it will be fun writing it. =D

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Until next time, which will be within a week and a half. Promise! ♥

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