Noah looks puzzled. "I thought that’s what you wanted, Theresa." He looks down at the floor, and continues, "I’ve had feelings for you for the longest time. Since I’ve been in boarding school, the one thing that’s kept me sane is this." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a folded sheet of paper.
Theresa accepts the tattered sheet from him, and opens it carefully. Her breath catches in her throat as she realizes what it is. "This is a note I wrote you freshman year. I told you all about life in Harmony, and how much I missed having you around. I can’t believe you still have this," she says softly, looking up into his eyes.
Noah takes her hand and smiles gently. "I read it every night before I go to bed. It meant so much to me, T, and it still does."
Theresa lets her breath out in a shaky exhale. She looks down at the note, her loopy handwriting sprawled across the page. Her eyes focus on the last sentences she wrote: I don’t know how I’ll go through life without my best friend. I love you, Noah Bennett. Her heart pangs, and she glances up into Noah’s searching eyes. "Noah, about this letter…"
"T, when you sent this note to me, you must have been in love with me. I always treasured it because I wanted to believe you’d wait for me…that when I came home you’d still have those feelings for me."
Theresa stares up at her best friend, the person she’s always considered
a brother. How can I tell him that I don’t love him, and that I’ve already
moved on with my life? She scratches her head nervously and swallows around
the lump in her throat. "Why don’t we take a walk outside?" she asks, biting
her lip. Noah nods and they head for the kitchen door.
Ethan kicks at stones in the walkway of the Crane mansion. Damn you, Ethan, for being so stupid, he thinks angrily. You actually trusted Theresa and believed that she was in love with you. You know better. You know that the "locals" are all the same, out for money, lust, and nothing else. His heart constricts after that thought, and he shakes his head sadly. "That’s not true," he murmurs. "Theresa isn’t like that. But why? Why would she turn to some other guy after all that happened between us?"
He grinds his teeth, for the pain is too strong even for him. A wave of hurt washes over him, and he yanks the front door open. It turns easily, and he is greeted with Gwen’s astonished face on the opposite side.
"Ethan!" she exclaims, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Where were you? I was so worried! Oh, I do hope you’re all right." She kisses his cheek lightly, and pulls him into a tighter embrace.
Ethan breaks free of her grasp and cries out, "No!" Gwen stares at him, a shocked expression on her face. Ethan glares at her, the realization hitting him that he cried out aloud.
"What in God’s name is the matter with you, Ethan?" she whispers.
Ethan’s head pounds, and he thinks of holding Theresa in his arms on
the beach…of walking her home, hand-in-hand…of returning to her home and
seeing her locked in another man’s embrace. Tears bite at the corners of
his eyes, and he suddenly knows what he has to do. He looks at Gwen tearfully
and falls to his knees. "Gwen…" he whispers dejectedly. "Will you marry
me?"