This hurt. Watching him suffer like this tore me apart. I may have not said it out loud, but Noah was the man I loved, irrevocably and powerfully. The kind of love that binds two souls together. When he hurt, so did I. And the fact that I couldn’t do anything to fix it only made it a thousand times harder, turned the twisting knife into a rusted blade, making every breath more painful than the last.

“You might be able to get a stalking protective order,” Eric said. “If we can get the parents to say they never put in those cameras, then maybe a judge can see that Robby wanted you under surveillance. That would be enough. And if he violates the order, then he goes to jail.”

“And if we can’t get the parents to cooperate?” Noah asked.

Eric didn’t need to answer. His silence was enough.

Noah would be fucked. Robby had been careful with his tactics, keeping himself out of the picture as much as possible. He must have been wearing a wig when he tried breaking into my house, although I still wasn’t sure how he had gotten Franky’s car. Either way, it didn’t really matter. None of it proved to law enforcement that Robby was the one behind the threats and break-in attempts.

“I need to go home, I’m sorry,” Jess said, looking back at the cabin as if it were a cougar poised on its haunches and ready to launch. She had an arm around her stomach. “I feel sick.” She started to cry, and no amount of comfort from Tia seemed to help soothe her. “I’m so sorry, Noah. I’m just so scared.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Noah took Jess in a hug. She cried into his shoulder, triggering a couple of sniffles from Noah. She turned and hurried into the car, Tia giving Noah another hug before promising that she’d meet up with them later.

“I’m not going home,” Noah said. “I can’t. I can’t go back there, not with Robby next door.”

“We don’t have to,” I said.

“Can you stay with me? We can go to the other cabin?”

I nodded, certain that nothing could take me away from Noah’s side. “Of course.”

He grabbed my hand in his, squeezed. My heart hammered, my fingers locking around Noah’s. It was in these dark moments that gave us the chance to prove ourselves to each other. I wasn’t about to let him go through any of this alone.

“I’m going to go meet with my sister,” Yvette said with her keys already jingling in her hand. She came over and wrapped Noah up into a hug, but he didn’t let go of my hand. “Stay strong, Noah. We’re going to figure this out.”