One morning, Noelle was sleeping peacefully, something she had done a little more lately- when she heard her cell phone go off. With a groan, she rolled over toward the table the noisy device was sitting on, then reached out to grab it. She squinted her eyes, then flashed a sleepy smile when she saw it was a good morning text from Jamie.

It had been a few days since their date, and the two haven't been able to see each other since they were busy with work. He had pulled a couple of double shifts, while she had been busy with autopsies and other tests. One of those autopsies was on the girl Anna Zoltin, the girl pulled out of the river days ago.

She had reported her findings to Danny, then he, with his partner Jackie, had closed in on her killer, which should have been cause for celebration, but instead, the FBI got involved. The killer was one of their confidential informants for a major case and they would not let Danny arrest him, but Danny did what Danny does best and found a way around it, and now the killer was awaiting trial for the murder of Anna Zoltin.

But despite not seeing Jamie, he made sure to keep in contact with her. He would text her several times a day. Usually, first thing in the morning to tell her good morning, one during the day to ask how work was going, then another at night to wish her sweet dreams.

Hearing her phone go off again, she checked the message and saw that he was asking her if she was awake. After she wrote back that she was, she heard a knock at the door. She chuckled when he sent her another text, telling her she should answer the door.

Glancing down at what she had slept in- a short tank top and pajama bottoms- she threw back the comforter and jumped up to find something else to throw on. She grabbed an oversized long sleeve shirt from the floor and threw it on over her top, the last thing she wanted was for the tank top to ride up and show off the ugly scar on her side.

Looking down at her bare feet next, she grabbed a pair of mix-matched socks, something normal for her, then tossed them on before she ran toward the front door to let him in.

"Hey," Noelle breathed out as she opened the door, seeing him dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He looked like he had been awake for a while and completely put together, making her feel like a slob for just rolling out of bed. She didn't even have time to run a brush through her hair or brush her teeth.

"Morning." Jamie stepped into the apartment and set the gym bag from his hands on the floor. Seeing the sleepy look on her face, he let out a chuckle. "I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Mm-hm," she mumbled with a nod.

"I'm sorry, Nol," he softly said as he stepped closer to her. He laid his hands on either side of her face, then pressed his lips against her forehead. He moved closer to kiss her lips until she shook her head and took a step back.

"Are we doing this again? You denying kisses?" Reminding her of when she did that on their date a few nights ago.

"No." She laughed at his joke. "Morning breath. I haven't had a chance to brush my teeth yet or even brush my hair, which is why I look a mess."

"You never look like a mess, Nol. You're always beautiful," he said honestly. He stepped toward her again, then leaned closer, his lips inches from hers. "And if your breath didn't smell like death right now, I would run my hands through that mess of a hair and kiss the crap out of you, but I fear for my life right now."

Noelle let out a laugh at his teasing, then playfully punched his shoulder and call him a jerk before turning to leave the room to brush her teeth and pull her hair up. She let out a squeal when he slapped her butt as she walked away. She glared at him from over her shoulder, then broke out into a smile when he gave her a wink.

She was only gone a few minutes before she came bouncing down the hall and into the living with fresher breath, a clean face and hair piled on top of her head. He couldn't stop himself from smiling as he thought she had never looked more beautiful to him.

"Can I have my morning kiss now?" he questioned with his arms out when she walked toward him.

"Nope." She laid a hand on his face and playfully pushed him away while she walked past him to go into the kitchen for coffee.

She had only taken a couple of steps when he reached out to grab her arm and spun her around toward him as a laugh escaped his lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, his lips were against hers. She let out a chuckle, then wrapped her arms around his neck, the coffee quickly leaving her mind. In her opinion, this was the best way to wake up anyways.

"Mm, minty," he mumbled as he shot her a smile and laid his hands on her sides.

She chuckled at his comment, then reached to grab the hand that was near the scar on her side, moving it to lay on the small of her back. Even if the scar was covered, she didn't want to risk him being able to feel it under the fabric of the shirts she was wearing.

"Is the big baby better now?" she jokingly asked as she went to take a step back from him until he shook his head and pulled her back toward him for another kiss.

He took a few steps back, his backside hitting the arm of the couch. He sat down on it, getting more at her level.

As the kiss began to heat up between them, he lowered his hand from her back to her butt and pulled her closer to him. She let out a breathy groan when he kissed across her jaw and down the side of her neck. She tilted her head to the side to give him better access, while her fingers went into his hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp.

She moaned out his name, her breathing labored, when she felt how badly this make-out session was affecting him. She couldn't deny she wanted him, she thought about this often when she was a teenager and learned what sex even was, and lately, she had a lot of vivid dreams like this, but when she felt him move his hand up to slip it under the bottom of her shirt she froze for a moment.

When his hand met flesh and his fingers began to dance across her skin from her back to her side, she quickly pulled back when he got a little too close to the mark on her side.

"I'm sorry," Jamie breathed out, thinking he made her uncomfortable moving too fast. He laid his hands on either side of her face, turning her to look at him when she looked away from him. "Hey...I'm sorry, Nol."

"It's okay." She shook her head, then took a step toward him to rest her arms on his shoulders. "You didn't do anything wrong, Jamie. I was into it, definitely into it, but-"

"It's fine," he cut her off. "We did just start dating. I mean, I know we did things backwards; we made out a few times before our first date...so I guess that means I need to wine and dine you a few more times before that happens, huh?"

"That would be nice. You know, I'm not just some girl you can get and forget," she joked.

"I could never forget you, Nol." A grin appeared on his face. "I mean, how could I forget the girl who cries at Disney movies, eats everything in sight, and looks pretty adorable with bed head and cartoon pajamas."

She laughed at his comment, then playfully pushed him, causing him to fall back onto the couch with a laugh of his own.

"Hey!" he called out. "I called you adorable."

"I heard." She sat down on the edge of the couch beside him. "But it felt more like an insult than a compliment."

"I would never insult my girl." He pulled on her arm to get her to lay with him. She was too caught off guard by his comment to fight against him and instead laid out beside him, then buried her face in his chest to hide the grin on her face.

This was the kind of moments she used to dream about; the words, the touches, the kisses, and now they were actually happening, which made her as giddy as a schoolgirl. No other relationship had ever felt like this- not that there were a lot, but it didn't surprise her since she had never felt for anyone the way she had for Jamie all her life.

Between their bond and connection, it intensified everything; his touches set her skin on fire and his kisses left her breathless. She couldn't even imagine what it would do to her if they did have sex, she would definitely be a goner then. There would be no coming back from that, she had no doubt she would never be able to get over him then. She would be in too deep for the rest of her life.

"What are you thinking?" Jamie softly asked after the two cuddled silently for the next few minutes. He needed to make sure she wasn't having second thoughts or that he had made her too uncomfortable earlier, that was never his intention, he honestly just got carried away.

He had never planned for that when he stopped by, but it was like since she opened the door, he couldn't get enough of her. Once he laid his hands on her or kissed her, he wanted more. It was like he had hidden his feelings for so long and now he was making up for lost time. Now he could think about her in ways he was too scared to before, now he could be honest with himself, and now he could have her in ways he only ever allowed himself to dream about.

"I'm thinking..." she began to say, her voice muffled in his shirt. She took in a deep breath, then released it. "You smell good."

"That's because I showered earlier, unlike someone who just crawled out of bed, looking like a Mogwai," he joked.

"What did you call me?" She laughed as she raised her head to look at him.

"A mogwai...remember from the movie Gremlins?" he questioned, referring to an old movie from the '80s.

"Are you really calling me a gremlin?" She shot him a look and tried to hide the smile that threatened to appear on her face.

"Just the cute ones." He made a funny face, then tapped the end of her nose, causing her to laugh out loud before laying her head back down on his chest.

"That movie was stupid, by the way," she mumbled.

"It wasn't stupid," he said, defending it. "You were just scared."

"I was not scared," she argued as she lifted her head again.

"Then why did I have to hold your hand during the whole movie?"

"Maybe I planned it that way," she joked. "Maybe I just wanted to hold your hand."

"Maybe you did. Or maybe you were a big scaredy cat and don't want to admit it," he teased as he tickled her side.

"Stop!" She laughed and tried to push his hand away. When that didn't work, she lowered her head and playfully bit his shoulder, causing him to let out a yelp. He should have expected that, this was the type of things they've done since they were kids and would play fight.

He called for a truce, then gave her a quick kiss before lowering her head back down to his chest. The two were quiet for a few more minutes until she spied his gym bag, the one she remembered he came into her apartment with earlier. While she was out of the room before to freshen up, he had moved it over toward the couch, which had grabbed her attention.

"What's with the bag?" she questioned as she nodded toward it.

"Oh, that," he said, nudging her to sit up.

He sat up beside her, then reached over to grab the bag and set it on the coffee table in front of them. "I was headed for the gym before I stopped by here." He began to unzip it. "Actually that's the real reason I came by."

"So there was another reason you stopped by beside to feel me up?" she joked.

"Actually that was an added bonus." He shot her a grin. "But the main reason is this..." His voice trailed off as he pulled out a set of boxing gloves.

"You box? When did you start boxing?" she questioned as he handed them to her. "These look kinda small, by the way," she commented as she looked over the gloves.

"I got into it when I was in the academy," he answered her first question, then nodded toward the gloves. "And those are smaller because they're for you." He pulled out another set. "These are mine."

"Wait, mine?" she asked confused. "Why do I have boxing gloves?"

"Look..." He turned to face her and laid a hand on her knee. "After what happened to you and Erin, I'm worried about you, Nol." He wanted to bring up Florida. He wanted to point out that something happened to her, and that scared him- the unknown had him terrified for her, but he knew if he did bring it up she would shut down.

"I'm okay-"

"But you're not," he cut her off. "How could you be, Nol? A serial killer attacked you...a serial killer who was convicted for killing and torturing other women. I hate to think of what would have happened to you and Erin if Dad didn't show up when he did."

"You don't have to remind me of what happened, Jamie," she said, her tone a little harsher than she meant. Not being able to sit still, she jumped up from the couch and began to pace back and forth with her arm folded across her chest. "I was there, I lived it, and I'm okay. Once again, I'll be okay."

"What do you mean once again?" He stood up and stepped in front of her, then laid his hands on her shoulders to stop her pacing. "What does that mean?"

"Wha-what?" she mumbled, not realizing what she had said. She shook her head and stuttered, "N-Nothing. I just mean, once again, like, just pointing again, I'm okay."

"Okay, fine, maybe you are okay," he said, even though he didn't believe it. He laid a hand on his chest and added, "But I'm not. And it would make me feel better if you knew the basics, just something to protect yourself. Will you do that for me?"

"I already know the basics."

"What do you mean you know the basics? You box?"

"I have." She nodded. "A friend in Florida taught me a few things."

After what happened with Jimmie, Spencer dragged her to a gym. He thought if she wouldn't talk about what happened, maybe she could at least get what she was feeling out another way. Plus he figured knowing a few self-defense moves wouldn't be the worst thing.

"A friend? Who?" he asked curiously.

"This guy named Spencer," she answered like it was no big deal, which to her it wasn't. Spencer was just a friend, but the look on Jamie's face let her know he wanted to know more about this friend.

"A guy named Spencer," he repeated quietly to himself with a nod. "Who is this guy named Spencer?"

"I told you...a friend." A chuckle left her lips as she teased, "Why, Jamie Reagan, are you jealous?"

"No." He scoffed, hoping that sounded convincing. He wasn't usually the jealous type, but now he couldn't help but wonder how close those two really were. "This is just the first I'm hearing about a friend from Florida. You're usually pretty tight-lipped when it comes to your time down there."

"There's not much to tell about my time in Florida," she lied. "I mostly worked and Spencer is a detective down there." She hoped he would assume that she met Spencer on the job.

"So you two never-"

"No," she interrupted, knowing he was wondering if anything ever happened between them. "We're just friends, Jamie."

"So you didn't date anyone in Florida?" He thought back to a theory he had recently; maybe she dated someone violent and was running from him.

"No." She shook her head. "Like I told you, I mostly worked."

Desperate to change the subject and get him off of her back, she reached down to grab the boxing gloves from the floor- where they had fallen when she jumped up from the couch earlier.

"If it'll make you feel better, you can take me boxing."

"Really?" he asked, earning a nod from her as an answer. He gave her a smile and a quick peck on the lips, then told her to go change so they can get started. He wanted them to have a good workout before he had to start his tour in a couple of hours.

It wasn't until later when they were leaving the apartment in separate cars to drive to the gym that he began to think more about her Florida friend. The report he found on her, he remembered seeing the name of a detective who filled out the report, a detective by the name of Spencer Hayes- he assumed that was the friend she mentioned earlier.

Now he couldn't help but wonder how close the two really were. If this detective had sealed her report, why would he do that? What were they hiding?

•••

After arriving at the gym, he spent the next few minutes wrapping her hands and reminding her of the basics, most she had remembered from Spencer, but some she had forgotten. Then he set her up with a punching bag, holding it on the other side as he encouraged her to hit it a few times.

She started out barely hitting it. She was only doing this to distract him from earlier, but the more she punched the bag, the more she began to get into it. She lowered her eyebrows in anger as she punched a bit harder.

Her mind flashed back to the house Jimmie kept her captive in. In her mind she saw when she was chained by the ankle in a damp basement, causing her to punch the bag again. She remembered how helpless she felt daily, how she would sit on the cot he had set up for her and would pull on the chain as hard as she could, until her hands hurt and began to bleed, even though deep down she knew there was no way to pull the heavy-duty chain from the wall.

She swung hard at the bag again when she remembered standing down in that basement with her head back to look at the ceiling above her as she screamed her lungs out. She begged Jimmie to release her, she screamed for someone to save her until her voice went out, but as days rolled into nights and no one came for her she began to lose hope. She began to think she would never get out of there, she was close to falling to the floor and giving up completely until her best friend crossed her mind.

In those moments, she thought about Jamie a lot. She held on to their memories and thought of the things he would tell her if only he could in those times. She knew he would plead with her to keep fighting and to never give up, he would beg her to stay alive and to make her way back to him. A few short months before she had stood beside him to bury his brother, she saw how much that destroyed him, and she never wanted to see that look on his face again.

She knew in that moment if she was going to survive Jimmie, she had to play his game until she could catch him off guard. She had pulled in a shaky breath to get her emotions under control, then wiped the tears from her face. She yelled out to Jimmie, telling him she was sorry for fighting against him. She understood now, she knew why he took her. It was only a few minutes later, that she heard the basement door opened, followed by his footsteps coming down the stairs.

Back in the present, she didn't realize her breathing had become labored and tears were falling down her face as she hit the bag as hard as she could. She let out a frustrated grunt each time her hand connected with the bag.

More memories crossed her mind like a picture book. She remembered how happy Jimmie looked walking closer to her, thinking she was finally going to be his. She felt her stomach roll when she remembered how he ran his hands up and down her sides before he pulled her closer to him. She had pinned her eyes shut and swallowed the bile in her throat when he buried his face in her hair and inhaled, then whispered in her ear that they would be together forever, she was his forever.

"No!" Noelle screamed and pushed against the bag as hard as she could- as if for a moment she thought it was Jimmie in front of her as real as he was in the memories in her mind.

"Nol...Noelle!" Jamie called out as he came around the bag to stand in front of her.

Seeing she was losing it and getting hysterical, he laid his hands on her shoulders to calm her but was surprised when she knocked his hands away, then shoved him back and yelled for him to leave her alone.

He ignored all the whispers around them as they began to get everyone's attention in the gym. He held up a hand to tell the few who stepped forward to help that it was okay- he would take care of it. He took a cautious step toward her and held a hand out to her, then waited a moment before he touched her again. Whatever was going on, it was like she was stuck in a past memory. Deep down, he knew she wasn't fighting against him earlier, she was fighting against someone else- someone who had hurt her badly before.

"Nol, baby, look at me..." he quietly said, hoping to grab her attention.

When she raised her head to look at her, her eyes red with unshed tears and her chin quivering, he felt his heart break for her. This was more than just what happened with Reed the other night. He was also starting to suspect this was more than a relationship gone wrong, this was something way worse than he could have ever imagined.

"Jamie..." she whimpered out in confusion. She glanced around for a moment to take in her surroundings and realized she was in the gym with Jamie and was safe. She was not back in that house with Jimmie.

When she noticed the looks everyone was giving her- similar to the ones she had seen after the attack in Florida- she felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Back then, she always felt like people were watching her and waiting for her to lose it, and now that's exactly what happened.

She lowered her head, her breathing quickening as she tried to rip the gloves off of her hands. She let out a frustrated groan, then saw Jamie walk closer to her from the corner of her eye, before he reached out and took one of the gloves off for her.

She didn't dare look at him and instead kept her head down as she tried to remove the other glove. It took her several tries and more time than she would have liked, but she was finally able to get the other one off. She ripped off the tape and gauze from her hands, then stomped past Jamie and headed for the door, trying to ignore all eyes that were still on her.

Jamie stood still for a moment, wrapping his head around what just happened. Then without a second thought, he fled for the door and rushed outside after her. He caught up with her a few rows away from her car in the middle of the parking lot.

Not wanting to frighten her more, he softly said her name and reached out to grab her arm and turn her around to face him. "Hey...Nol, hey, wait, just talk to me."

Feeling like she needed it just as much as him, he pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, she fought against him for a minute before melting into his embrace. He laid a hand on the back of her head, burying her face in his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

"I can't help you if you don't let me in," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Pulling out of his arms and taking a step back, she snapped, "I don't need your help, Jamie. I don't need it, because I'm fine!"

"That is not fine, Noelle!" he said back, matching her tone. He gestured toward the building they just left. "What happened in there is not fine! Noelle, who are you running from, huh? Who is it?"

"Right now it's you, Jamie." She turned to march away from him, but she didn't get far when his next words made her come to a quick stop in shock.

"Is it Jimmie?"

Her body shook in fear as she slowly turned around to face him. Her voice quivered as she quietly asked, "How-How do you know that name?" All she could think was somehow Jimmie found out about him, somehow Jimmie had made himself known to Jamie and now he was in danger.

Jamie swallowed hard, knowing she wouldn't like the next words that came out of his mouth. "I saw it on the report."

"Wha- wait, what report?" Realizing what he meant, anger overtook her. "Did you look me up? Jamie, tell me you did not check up on me?"

"What was I supposed to do, Nol?" He threw out his arms feeling helpless. "You won't talk to me."

"There is nothing to talk about!" she exclaimed. "It happened and it's over and I just want to forget it! Jamie, please! Please, just let me forget it."

"Nol, I'm sorry..." he softly said.

He took a step toward her and laid a hand on the side of her face, seeing how she leaned against it to accept his comfort. She closed her eyes and released a breath, assuming this meant he was going to drop it, until he spoke again, causing her to snap her eyes open.

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" She took a step back from him.

"You know I would normally not do this, I would never push you, but I know something happened- something bad and I can't let this go." He reached out for her and tried not to feel hurt when she pulled away from him.

"I can't fight this feeling that this is something important; that you need help, that you need me, but you're running scared. Someone has you terrified, but you don't have to be, because Nol, I'm here. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, I can protect you."

"You can't," she breathed out with a shake of her head.

It's not that she didn't trust him, she knew he would do whatever to protect her and that was why she couldn't let him. If her paranoia was true and Jimmie was back, she didn't want Jamie on his radar. As obsessed as he was with her, she feared what he would do to someone who 'stole' her away from him.

"I can." He took a step toward her, his eyes pleading with her to trust him and open up to him. "Just talk to me, Nol."

"There's nothing to talk about." Her face hardened and her tone cold. She did the only thing she could think of, she had to push him away. "We have nothing to talk about."

"Nol-"

"Just leave me alone!"

Without another word, she spun around and walked away, ignoring him as he called out to her. He wanted to run after her, but one glance at the time showed him he had to be at work soon, and unfortunately, that meant he didn't have time to make things right between them. For now, all he could do was stand in place and watch her walk away, making him feel even more helpless than he did before.

Things were going so great with them before, then in one moment everything had spiraled out of control and he didn't know what to do to make it better for her.

Noelle wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her head as she walked across the parking lot toward her car and tried not to break down on the way.

When a few tears escaped, she reached up to wipe them from her face as her car come into view. Seeing something laying on the windshield, her steps faltered and she glanced around for a moment but didn't see anyone nearby. She looked over her shoulder where Jamie had been standing earlier, but even he was gone back inside to grab his stuff before having to go to the station.

She took a few steps closer and noticed it was a red rose laying against the glass, the stem under the windshield wiper. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart began to pound in her chest. She knew there was a chance Jamie left the rose and she wanted to believe that, but she knew who it really came from since Jamie knew what her favorite flower was. If he had left her something it would be daisies- not a rose- this had to come from someone else- someone who had been haunting her nightmares since he came into her life.

She cautiously reached out with a shaky hand to remove the rose. Seeing a small paper tag attached to the stem with a red ribbon, she turned it over and read one simple word- 'We'. She swallowed hard, remembering how Jimmie use to leave her things one at a time and each 'present' had one word attached to it, once she got the whole bundle, it would spell out a phrase.

She felt her eyes flutter shut as a tear rolled down her face. After all the little clues lately, she had hoped she was just being paranoid, but other than the Florida cops and lawyers, it was never released publicly about the presents with a note attached. No one else knew about this, just the one who started it all, which meant one thing; Jimmie was back.

•••

After regrettably leaving Noelle, Jamie changed into his uniform and started his tour. He hated leaving in the middle of a fight, but he didn't have any other choice. This was one of the downsides to being an adult, you couldn't skip out on your responsibilities.

Not long after his tour started, they got a repeat call from the day before, or as his partner called them- 'frequent flyer jobs'. They were the calls they got constantly from the same person, it was mostly lonely old people looking for companionship or something it was just straight-up crazy people imagining things. This time it was a rich girl named Melissa Samuels, who was convinced someone was breaking into her apartment and moving things around.

They were just at her place the day before as she tried to get them to believe her even though she had no real proof; nothing was missing or taken, just in her words- 'moved around'.

"Two days in a row with this crap," Renzulli complained as he exited the car. "This broad is just a plain whack-adoo. Who says she ain't moving the stuff herself, huh?"

"Yeah, but she's not making up the scared part," Jamie pointed out as they walked down the sidewalk toward her apartment building. "She was really frightened."

"Hey, we're not in the business of making the bogeyman go away," Renzulli argued. "A real crime perpetrated by a real criminal? Yeah. That's our bailiwick."

"Right," Jamie muttered with a small nod, agreeing with him.

"And besides, if she looked like a linebacker, you'd think she's nuts, too," he continued, causing his partner to snap his head to the side to look at him like he was the crazy one. "Yeah. And if I was you, I'd be careful about that. You've told me stories of that crazed hellcat you call a best friend."

Jamie laughed at his comment, realizing he was joking around. "Are you scared of her, Sarge?"

"A little." Renzulli held two fingers close together to get his point across, then dropped his hand. "But if you ever tell her, I'll deny it and write you up for insubordination."

Another laugh escaped his lips, but the sound fell short when Melissa jerked the door open at seeing them arrive and informed them that she wasn't imagining things.

The two cops followed her inside the apartment and it was clear to see the furniture had been moved around this time. It was in different places than the day before when they were there, as were several picture frames on her wall, which were now turned upside down.

In Renzulli's mind, none of this proved that someone had been in her place- like he suggested before, she could be moving this stuff around herself, but Jamie was feeling like there was something more going on.

Feeling like no one believed her, Melissa became upset and fled the room. Jamie glanced at his partner for a moment, knowing he wasn't going to chase after her. He blew out a breath, then began to follow her into the kitchen.

"What else has to happen for you to believe me?" she questioned when she heard Jamie walk in behind her.

Spying a few prescription bottles on the counter, he questioned, "I hate to ask this, but you're on medication?"

"You're going to be like all the rest," Melissa said, feeling disappointed. For a moment, she thought maybe he did believe her. "There's nothing wrong with being anxious. If you came home to this..."

As her voice trailed off, Jamie said, "Melissa, the precinct is two blocks from here. I...I drive past your house to and from work. I'll keep an eye out for you, okay?"

Grabbing a set of keys from the counter, she turned to him and held them out. "I need you to have these."

"No, please. That's-That's not what we do, okay?" he said, trying to decline the offer, but she pressed the keys into his hand.

"No. I'm going to Chicago for a week just to get away," Melissa explained. "If you see anyone while I'm gone..."

When he finally nodded his head to agree, she blew out a breath, relieved he was going to help her. He wished her a nice trip, then turned to leave until she spoke up and got his attention, asking him if she can ask him a question.

"Sure." Jamie nodded.

"What was it that makes you believe me?" Melissa asked.

"There's this girl...my girlfriend- well actually, I don't know what she is yet, we just started dating, but she's my best friend. Has been since we were kids," Jamie began to explain. "And you remind me of her, mostly because of the look on your face. I can tell you're scared about something and I've seen that same look on her face too."

"Who is it?" Melissa questioned, causing him to look at her with a confused look on her face, unsure what exactly she was asking. "I mean, who's messing with her?"

"I don't know." Jamie sighed. "According to her, no one is."

Melissa nodded her head at his words, then went silent in thought for a moment. "The first time I noticed something was moved, I told myself it was my imagination or I just moved it and forgot. Deep down, I knew that was wrong, I knew it wasn't me, but it was less scary to believe that.

"But every time I walked in afterwards I could feel it in the air, the whole place felt different, it didn't feel like my own anymore. I didn't feel safe or comfortable...I couldn't sleep. I always felt like I needed to look over my shoulders. I'm a nervous wreck, and that's how I knew...I knew this was real, I knew it was happening right under my nose."

Jamie silently watched her while she talked, seeing how her hands slightly shook at times and remembered when he had tried to question Noelle, hers had done the same. He also knew she didn't sleep much, she had mentioned that to him before and he knew how fearful she was; there was proof of that by all the locks on her door, the baseball bat and mace that she had.

"At first I was scared to tell anyone...scared no one would believe me or look at me like I was crazy since I had no proof of anything," she continued to tell her story. "It was my brother more than anyone who believed in me, he pushed me to call the cops. It's hard to ask for help when you fear rejection, perhaps your girlfriend never felt like she really had anyone to turn to and that's why she doesn't talk about it."

"She knows I'm always there, that I'll always listen and believe her." Jamie shook his head. "Up until recently she lived in Florida for a few years, but even when she was gone, she knew I was only one phone call away."

"Maybe with you being so far away, she didn't want to worry you," Melissa suggested. "Maybe she tried to turn to someone else, tried to get help other ways and was made to feel like she was crazy, so she just gave up trying to ask for help."

Jamie nodded his head in understanding and felt a pain in his heart at the thought of her reaching out to someone and being denied. What if she had tried to go to the police in Florida- but like Melissa- had no proof, only a feeling, and they turned her away.

She grew up around cops and was always told they would be there for her and she could always turn to them for help. She would have walked into a station to tell her story, but what if she was turned away? What if she thought no one believed her and no one would help her?

Now maybe she felt hesitant to open up to anyone, for fear of being judged wrongly again or turned away.

"You care about her a lot," Melissa stated when she saw the look on his face.

Even though it was more of a statement instead of a question, he still nodded his head, letting her know she was right.

"My advice then...don't give up on her. If something like this is happening to her, she needs you to believe in her. And I'm sure deep down she wants your help, she's just scared to ask for it, for whatever reason. Find that reason and maybe you'll find the way in. Find the way to break through whatever wall she has put up."

"As stubborn as she is, it's probably a steel door instead of a wall," Jamie joked, causing him to softly smile as he thought about his childhood friend that he was quickly falling for.

Melissa chuckled at his comment, seeing even more clearly how he felt about his friend. "She's a really lucky girl to have you in her life."

"No." Jamie shook his head, a smile appeared on his face. "I'm the lucky one."

He did view himself lucky. He knew he was blessed to be able to see her grow up in front of his eyes and see how strong she became.

That was another reason it killed him to see her the way she is now; that was not the girl he grew up with and he missed that. There were times he saw the old Noelle shining through, like recently when she stood up to Sonny Malevsky. Seeing that fire in her eyes had made him proud, but those moments were usually short-lived before she began to look frightened again. Somehow, he was going to protect her and in the process bring the old Noelle back.

•••

A/N; Poor, Nol. Not gonna lie, this chapter killed me to write. Thank you to everyone reading!

Happy reading!
xx