Noah Griffin was happy and content with the way his life was going. He had a very beautiful girlfriend who loved him, a nice job and he was attending one of the best colleges in the area, working on getting his bachelors degree. Everything was great and there were no problems at all.

However it all changed the moment Blake Marshall contacted him, wanting to have a reunion at a remote vacation cabin in Hocking Hills, Ohio. Noah had admittedly agreed to go, although reluctantly. They hadn't spoken to one another in years since it happened. Since they graduated and moved on with their lives, heading off to different colleges.

The one person Noah stayed in contact with who was in the circle of friendship was his older brother, Ryan. And it was a daily contact since he and Ryan shared the same flat.

Blake had arranged for a car to pick them up and drive them to the airport which would take them to Ohio and from that was where all of them would all meet up. However, now that it was the day he and Ryan were supposed to leave, he regretted ever agreeing to go in the first damn place.

Noah sighed as he zipped up his suitcase and grabbed the duffel bag that he had packed some of his smaller items in as well as extra clothes and essentials. His mind was beginning to stray and his eyes glazed over as he began to think of things that he really shouldn't be thinking about.

At the sound of a knock on his door, he snapped out of the trance he was in and turned around as Ryan opened the door, peeking his head in.

"Hey man, you ready to go?" Ryan spoke, a hidden layer of dread in his voice.

Both Noah and Ryan had the same idea in mind which would mean ditching Blake and not going but they somehow knew that doing such a thing was out of the question.

Noah cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah just about. Let me grab something from the bathroom."

Noah squeezed past Ryan in the doorway and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, Noah shut the door and stood in front of the mirror, gripping both sides of the sink. He forced himself to blink and clear his mind as unwanted memories from the past flashed before his eyes. He stared into the sink and tried to force the memories to go away.

Slowly but surely, each memory that had risen up to the forefront of his mind began to go away and he felt his tense muscles loosen up a bit. Noah felt a pressure lift from his chest but the weight he had carried for years on his shoulders was still there and would probably never go away.

He didn't expect it to though. It was well deserved.

"Noah, come on. We gotta go now or we'll miss our flight!" Ryan said.

"I'm coming. Give me a second."

Noah looked up into the mirror, taking notice of how pale he had become and how he was trembling slightly. He took a moment to compose himself before he opened the bathroom door, finding Ryan standing in the hall with his bags. If he noticed how distraught Noah looked he didn't say anything.

"I set your bags in the car already."

Noah gave him a small half-hearted smile. "Thanks Ry."

"Mhm, sure. Now come on man! You know how Blake gets if we're late." Ryan started down the hall to the elevator lift. Stepping on, Noah smiled remembering how Blake was kinda OCD when it came to being on time. He had to have everyone somewhere on time otherwise he'd burst a blood vessel by freaking out.

"Yeah, I sure do." Noah muttered.

* * * *
Eight hours later, Noah and Ryan walked off the airplane with their luggage and out front where Blake was waiting in a black SUV. Noah put his suitcase and duffel bag in the trunk and hopped in the back. Once inside, he saw that everyone else was already there.

Alianna Jones, Raelay Johnson, and Nathan Sanders were sitting in the third row and Hayden Richards was sitting in the second row. Alianna was just as smart as Raelay and Nathan was one of the few people who he could go to whenever he had a problem. Hayden was like the twin brother he never had because of how well they thought like each other and acted.

However seeing all of them again after four years of little to no contact was like a breath of fresh air. He hadn't realized it until now but he had missed them dearly. Despite some of the bad memories they had made during their senior year of high school.

Noah shut the door behind him and watched detached as Ryan climbed in the front seat. Blake began to drive, the car so silent that if a pin were to drop, they would hear it. Noah wasn't sure who broke the silence at first until someone said his name and rested a hand on his arm.

Noah turned his head abruptly, causing his neck to crack and he hid a grimace as he let his eyes wander from the hand on his arm up to the face of the owner of the limb. Hayden was smiling at him softly as if he knew how Noah was feeling.

"Hayden..." Noah felt a smile tug on his lips as he spoke his name. He couldn't help it. "Hey."

Hayden's smile grew bigger. "Man I missed you Noah. How have you been?"

"Better. College is harder than I expected as well as trying to manage a job...but I'll get a handle of it soon enough." Noah told him quietly.

"That sounds great man!" Blake exclaimed.

"Yeah," Nathan started. "Any girls in your life?"

Noah laughed. "Yeah. She's beautiful and kind, and she doesn't expect a lot from me."

Alianna smiled sadly. "That's good. You deserve someone that'll treat you right."

Raelay nodded and said, "Especially after what happened--" Raelay cut herself off before she finished the sentence.

Noah frowned and turned back around in his seat. He knew what she was going to say, they all did. It was a subject they all tried to avoid mentioning or talking about after it happened. Mainly because Noah was really sensitive about it even though it was a touchy subject for all of them.

Noah couldn't stop the memory from breaking the surface of his mind and just let it replay itself.

~Four Years Ago~
It was a mid-afternoon day early on in August and it was pouring rain from a dark grey sky, soaking anyone who wasn't prepared for a rainy day. Dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and a dark blue jacket, Noah was one of those people.

He was walking home from a friend's house which was halfway across town and didn't have any bus fare to ride the bus so naturally he was stuck with walking. Noah was trying to pull his jacket tighter around him and was staring at the ground; he wasn't paying much attention to where he was going.

Noah stepped into the street while the light was green and hearing a car horn blaring he turned and looked up. The bright headlights of a car blinded him but he was frozen in fear and couldn't move. His feet had rooted themselves to the ground and he thought for sure that he was going to die.

Noah screamed at the same moment someone pulled him backwards out of the way and onto the sidewalk. Hitting the pavement hard on his back, Noah felt the air rush out of his lungs as the car sped past them, splashing water from the street and onto him.

Breathing hard and soaking wet, Noah turned and pushed himself to his knees, trying to get a look at his savior. He was surprised to find a girl standing over him, and a really pretty one at that. She had fair skin, blue or green eyes-he couldn't tell because of how dark it was-and long black hair.

"I-uh, thanks for saving me...I guess." Noah said, all of a sudden nervous as hell.

"It was no problem at all." The girl said. "I'm glad I could help."

Noah climbed to his feet, shivering in the rain. He was going to get sick if he didn't get out of the rain now. He noticed the girl was fairly dry and wasn't as soaked as he was. She was carrying an umbrella and he guessed that she had a car. The girl took notice of his shivering and smiled.

"You need to get out of the rain. I have a car and can drive you home if you want. I'm Leanna Collins."

Noah smiled. "Noah Griffin. And I'd really appreciate it if you could."

~Present Time~

Noah sighed and looked out the window, wondering what went wrong. The memory itself wasn't bad but remembering and reliving it was way too real and too painful. It used to be one of his favorite memories but after everything that happened, it just left a bad feeling in his gut.

"Noah, you okay?" Ryan asked him, his voice layered with brotherly concern.

Noah forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah."

Rule Number One: Never lie to your friends.

Noah closed his eyes and rested his head against the window. That rule went out the window years ago.

A/N: Hello everybody! How was everyone's Christmas? I know I'm late but I got grounded and didn't have my phone. But enough about me, how was the chapter?

Was it interesting?

Was it mysterious?

Was it Amazeballz?

If it was any of these, write how and why on the line. So the answer to each question just put it where the question is. Y'all know what I mean right😂

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one.