I woke to a warm, overly dominating body pressed up against me. It belonged to my best friend and boyfriend, Noah. We had met ten years ago when he was eight and I was six. We’d been best friends ever since. We only started dating a little over a year ago, but I honestly don’t know what I would do without him. He’s my sanity in an insane world… my rock.

We’ve been secretly sleeping like this every night for the past five years… ever since the night of my eleventh birthday. When I know my mom is down for the count, I sneak over here to sleep. I’ve always been able to evade her and sneak back home before she wakes up. To say that my mom and I don’t get along would be an understatement. We’re like oil and water, cats and dogs, fire and ice.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve outgrown being shy and awkward. I grew into my body, curves and all. I finally stopped growing at a little over five foot seven. My blonde hair is down to the middle of my back and has natural highlights from the Georgia sun. Genetics blessed me with my dad’s oval green eyes and porcelain skin. Thankfully, I didn’t look like my mother, except for the blonde hair.

Noah’s hot! He’s a little over six feet tall and muscular, but not too buff. He has the most beautiful chiseled features, a square jaw, and strong nose. His piercing, blue eyes compliment his short, dark hair. His lips are my favorite, though; they’re just so kissable!

“Morning, Jules,” he whispered in his raspy morning voice. I love that voice more than anything. I looked at his messy case of bedhead and his breathtaking smile and wished that we could stay in this moment forever. I smiled back as he moved me onto his chest so that we were face to face. I nuzzled in the crook of his neck, breathing in his cologne, and snuggled closer. Thankfully, since my mom had stayed out last night, I didn’t have to worry about sneaking back. Mornings like this were my favorite.

I closed my eyes until the alarm went off and reluctantly dragged myself from his bed. He kissed my head and helped me out the window and I headed across the lawn, back to my house to get ready for school. As soon as I opened my window, a set of blood red claws dug into my arm, yanking me inside.

“Where the fuck have you been?” my mom, Abigail, yelled. She’d been waiting for me, and it wasn’t because she was concerned for my safety. “You little whore, I asked you a question!”

“Since when do you care?” I spat.

She slapped my face, making my skin sting. I was used to this kind of treatment by now. I’d been taking care of myself since I was eight when my dad took a job in England.

“You were with the Sinclair boy, weren’t you? How many years have you been fucking him now?”

I didn’t reply. I found it best to bite my tongue where she was concerned.

My mother’s polished appearance was only a facade. She was a vicious woman who resented me. As if I would have chosen to be born into this family. She grabbed a picture frame off my end table, the one Noah had given me for my eleventh birthday, and tossed it to the ground. The glass shattered. She huffed away, slamming the door behind her, leaving me to do what I do best - pick up the broken pieces.

I quickly picked up the pieces that I could and placed them on my dresser. I would try to glue some of it back together later. I pulled myself together and headed to my bathroom to shower. I took extra care applying foundation to ensure the slap mark was covered. I dressed in a black leather pleated skirt that showed off my long legs, a ribbed gray tank top, knee high Doc Martens, and a cardigan.

I hoped my outfit would distract Noah from my face. Despite my best efforts, though, he noticed.

“She hit you again, didn’t she?” He ran his lightly ran his fingertips over my cheek. I nodded. “Jules, we can just run away. I’m eighteen now. We can start over, just the two of us.”

“You know we can’t. You’re graduating in less than seven months. Plus, you know wherever we go, she’ll hunt me down like a bloodhound. It will just make everything worse,” I said sadly.

“She only cares because she doesn’t want your dad to cut her off financially. Just think about it, please. I’ll make it happen if it’s what you want.”

I told him that I would think about it, but we both knew damn well I couldn’t actually go through with it. Things at home had been getting worse since my parents finally decided to divorce two years ago and my dad couldn’t reel her in any longer. His visits had always been sporadic, but after the divorce, they stopped altogether. It left me to fend for myself.

Abigail Kline was selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. If it didn’t work for her, she wasn’t happy. She was rarely ever happy. I often wondered if she always acted like this, or if it was just after I’d come into the picture. I was an accident, and she never let me forget it. She had recently started dating a much older man named Clark Donahue. He was from New York and traveled here a lot on business. I liked when he’d fly her there to visit because it made my life easier. It wasn’t often enough, though.

I was thankful that we had a couple classes together. Just spending time with him made my day better. We both took mostly AP classes and were working extremely hard to keep our grades up so we could get into good colleges. He wanted to be a lawyer, and I wanted to be a journalist. Since I could work from pretty much anywhere, I was willing to go wherever he was. We had plans for the future.

At the beginning of our relationship, we had decided that we were going to wait to have sex until we were married. If we had our choice, it would be as soon as I was eighteen. But, something happened that day that changed everything…

We walked in my front door after ensuring that my mom’s car wasn’t there. I was laughing as Noah was attempting to tickle me. He left our book bags by the front door, and we headed to the kitchen. I would always make us a snack before we started doing our homework. There was a note from my mother on the kitchen counter. I assumed it was just her telling me that she would be gone again. It wasn’t.

I sunk to the floor and put my head between my knees. Noah took the letter out of my hands and read it quickly. The saddest part was she would hunt me down and make my life hell, even though I was a burden to her.

“We can still run away if you want to.” His blue eyes stared mine. I wanted nothing more, but I knew there was no escaping her wrath.

Two more years… I kept repeating it in my head. After that, I wouldn’t have to see her ever again if I didn’t want to. “We can’t. She’ll find me and then we’ll both be in trouble. She’s not going to let this go.” Tears slid down my face as the realization hit.

He sat next to me on the floor and pulled me close. Resting my head on his lap, the thought of leaving him behind was making me physically sick. I couldn’t imagine a life without Noah. He was my everything and not in the childish, puppy love way. What we shared was so real. The kind of love you felt in your soul. My mind raced as my anxiety skyrocketed. Noah's hand slid up and down my spine. It wasn't enough to calm me completely, but my tears started to slow.

"I love you, Jules."

Sitting up, I straddled his waist and began kissing him. The kiss deepened as my body started to respond. I wanted him. After all the time we waited, it seemed like it was time. It also seemed like it was now or never...

"I love you too, so much," I said as I pulled back. "I'm ready."

"I don't know, Jules," he sighed apprehensively. "It seems spur of the moment."

"I do know I don't want to wait anymore. Honestly, I'm surprised we've made it this long. I want you to be my first, my only."

"You're sure," he asked. Looking at my face for any doubt, I nodded.

Wanting to make it memorable, in typical Noah fashion, I quickly changed course. Knowing that my departure was he booked a room at the Four Seasons in Atlanta. We would spend our last night together there before he took me to the airport. We would be separated for longer than a week, for the first time ever.

That week, we spent as much time together as possible. I stayed with him every night, as usual. Five days later, we went to the hotel. As he went to put our bags into the bedroom, I used the bathroom to get ready for dinner. He’d made us reservations for the Park 75 restaurant at eight. I put on all black lace lingerie that I’d picked out at a local boutique and dressed in a sleeveless leather and lace sheath dress that Noah had picked out for me. I paired it with black wedges and pulled my hair in a half-bouffant, curling some of the pieces for a rocker chick look. I applied some light makeup and finished the look with red lipstick. I felt beautiful.

Picking up my clutch bag, I took a deep breath and headed for the door. Glancing at Noah, who was dressed in a charcoal gray suit with a white shirt and black tie. He looked breathtaking as he stood there, grinning at me. He told me I looked gorgeous, but he would have said that if I was dressed in a potato sack.

He leaned down and kissed my cheek, before taking my hand and walking down to the restaurant. I ordered lemon thyme chicken with grilled asparagus and mashed potatoes, and Noah ordered the beef tenderloin with béarnaise sauce and hand cut fries. We ate mostly in silence. Neither of us addressed the fact that I was leaving. We knew it was going to happen, but we didn’t want it to spoil our special night. After dinner, we shared a peanut butter lava cake. When we were done eating, he pulled his chair closer to mine and produced a ring from inside his suit pocket. It was a sterling silver ring inscribed with Faith. Love. My Jujube, his nickname for me.

“This is my promise to you. I will be with you, wherever you are. If you need me, I’ll come for you. No matter what… I love you, Jules.” He kissed my cheek. Tears blurred my vision. His thoughtfulness was usually overwhelming to me. Even after all these years, he never ceased to amaze me. The waiter came with the check and Noah settled our bill. It was finally time.

We went back to our room and made love for the first time. It was perfect, and nothing like I’d expected it to be. It was as if we had done it a hundred times. Like we were made for each other. As if we needed more assurance.

Waking up the next day was hard, reality was setting in. I was leaving. I tried my hardest to stay in this moment with Noah for as long as I could. Packing up my suitcase, I left my iPod and a book handy for the plane ride. I tossed my hair up in a ponytail and put on a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt that were both fashionable and functional. A million butterflies formed in my stomach as the minutes ticked by. The thought of running away kept popping up. I squashed it down, but I didn’t want to leave him, either.

After check out, we headed straight to the airport. We promised to see each other as much as possible. He promised to come to New York after graduation and get a job so we could be close again. I hoped I'd be able to leave and move in with him. I'd happily live in a closet with him rather than a mansion with Abigail.

“Promise we’ll stick together,” I said to him.

“Like pages in a porn magazine,” he promised, making me laugh.

We kissed for the last time…

That was ten years ago.