Jamie's POV

Noah's eyes flicker open, "good morning." I laugh.

I have been sitting on the end of the couch for the past fifteen minutes, trying to get him to wake up.

He rubs his hand across his eye, tiredly.

"What time is it?" He asks

"Nine o'clock." I respond casually.

"Oh, shit, we have school, Jamie, I'm so sorry, I made you late!" He starts to freak out, jumping up and throwing the blanket off of him.

I laugh, "Noah it's Saturday."

"Oh..." He responds

"Well now that you're up, let's grab some breakfast." I suggest

"Sure, thank you."

I head into the kitchen and he follows me, still exhausted.

"Is this okay?" I ask, holding up the pancake mix for him to see.

"Yeah, I'll help."

"Great." I respond

"Why did you wake me up so early if it's a Saturday?" He asks, handing me a bowl and a whisk.

"Well," I say, cracking an egg into the bowl, "I think we should discuss what happened last night, and what will happen."

He sighs, getting the milk from the fridge and handing it to me, "I know, I just don't want to see my dad end up in jail or something."

"I understand that, but I still think you should go to the hospital. You don't have to tell the full story." I tell him, whisking the batter.

He puts the pan on the stove, turning it on, waiting for it to heat up, "yeah, I guess."

"Maybe he needs something like that though, not jail obviously, but like therapy sessions. I know it's hard for you to hear this, but it's a serous problem, Noah. You cant live like that."

"I know that you're right. And I have been looking into therapy for him. I just can't bring it up because he's never really himself." He tells me, pouring some batter into the now heated pan.

"Have you tried taking away his alcohol?" I ask

"Yeah once. First he got really mad, then he just got confused, and then took his keys and went to buy more."

"Oh." I sigh

"Yeah."

"Maybe the therapist could just go to your house?" I suggest

"No, that would get dangerous. He's not stable."

"Dammit, I don't know then! God, I'm so sorry, Noah. I'm so sorry you have to live like this and I can't even help!" I suddenly get very frustrated, slamming my Palm on the island.

"Hey, what do you mean? You have helped me so much, you know that? You have already helped me, just by being here. He's not your problem, okay? He's mine. And I have to deal with it. I can figure it out." He says, embracing me in a hug.

"I know, I know. I just hate that you have to go through this alone. I wish there was something more I could do!"

"You've already done more than enough." He tells me.

"Okay." I tell him

He breaks the hug, pecks my lips lightly, and goes back to the stove.

***************************************************************

We are halfway done our breakfast when suddenly Noah drops his fork, "shit." He curses.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask panicked.

He holds his bandaged arm, " my arm, it kills. Somethings wrong."
"We have to get to the hospital Noah, I'm sorry, it's for your own good." I say

"Okay. Let's go." He responds, sounding unsure, but nods his head.

Seeing as the hospital is too far for wither of us to walk to, I call my mom, telling her the story. She already knew that me and Noah were dating, but she's been in the hospital with my dad, so she hasn't met him, nor have we had the chance to discuss it too much.

"Oh honey," she says sympathetically, when I'm done my retelling of what happened last night, "Why didn't you call me sooner?" She asks.

"You're under a lot of stress, I didn't want to make it worse. And it was in the heat of the moment, I couldn't think straight. I'm sorry."

"it's fine. I'm just glad everything's okay. I'll be home as soon as I can, and I'll drive you both to the hospital." She tells me.

"Thank you mom. I love you."

"I love you too, see you soon." She says and ends the call.

"I just called my mom," I say, re-entering the kitchen, "She's on her way, she's gonna drive us both to the hospital."

Noah's face drops, "your- your mom?" He stutters.

"Yeah... what's wrong?" I ask, suddenly worried.

"Ive, I've just never met anyone in your family before, and now, the first time I meet them, she's driving me around. Oh gosh, what if she hates me? This is not a good way to meet!" He exclaims.

"Noah, it'll be fine, they're all gonna love you." I reassure him.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Okay." He says, calmed down.

"Okay." I smile.

**************************************************************

"Okay, I'm here." My mom says, rushing in the door.

"Hi." I say, embracing her in a hug.

She hugs me back, and gently kisses the top of my head.

"How's dad?" I ask

"He's fine sweetie, things are really looking up!" She tells me, smiling.

"Oh that's such a relief." I say, and it's like an invisible weight has just totally lifted off my shoulders.

"Hello, Mrs Winters." Says Noah, entering the living room.

"Oh please, call me Amy."

"Okay," he smiles, "Hello Amy. I'm so sorry we had to meet like this."

"Oh, don't worry about a thing sweetie, I've heard enough about you to know that you seem like a very nice boy and you care deeply about my daughter. And we will have time to talk eventually." She winks.

"I'm looking forward to it, and yes, you're right, I do care very deeply for your daughter." He says to her, and smiles warmly at me.

She smiles lovingly at the two of us and I swear I saw her eyes begin to well up.

"Alright then," she says and sniffles a bit, "we better get going then."

************************************************************

"Noah dear, Jamie told me you might not want to tell the doctors exactly what happened to your arm, I understand completely, so what would you like to tell them?" My mother asks once we have pulled into the hospital.

"Ummm, I wasn't too sure yet. I want to tell the truth in case they find glass in it or something, but I can't get my dad in trouble."

"Okay." My mom says, pondering our options.

"Well, what if Noah tells the story, but says he was at a party instead?" I suggest

"What if they ask where the party was? Then we get some random kid in trouble." My mom mentions.

"I'll say it was a friend of my cousins. I didn't know the person." Says Noah.

"But then how did you end up at my house?" I wonder aloud.

"I'll say you were helping me study this morning." He perks up.

"Okay, perfect. Let's go." I say

**********************************

Once Noah has finished telling his story, the doctor leaves to get the results of the tests they took earlier.

"I hope everything's okay." Noah says.

"It will be. Don't worry." My mom comforts.

"Yeah, the doctor told us everything seemed fine, that's why we did the tests, only to make sure. Nothing to worry about." I add

"Jamie, I'm going back to see your father once we're done here. Would you like to come see him quickly or just have me drop you guys off at home?" My mom asks me.

"Umm, I want to see dad, but if Noah doesn't feel comfortable with that, it's okay." I say, turning to him.

"Oh, no that's totally fine. You should visit your dad. And to be honest I would love to meet him. I mean, if that's okay. If he doesn't want to meet me, that's totally alright too." He tells us.

"Oh, Noah don't be silly. All Jamie's father has been talking about is how he can't wait to meet you, he's ecstaic!" My mom beams.

"Awesome." Noah replies, smiling.

The doctor comes back in, holding a piece of paper, "so noah, the results came back, your arm is..."

***********************************

Cliffhanger! I don't know whether to feel mean or proud.
I hate ending on cliffhangers, but I'm not quite sure how I want the whole deal with Noah's arm to turn out yet, and I really wanted to update;)
What did you all think of Noah meeting Jamie's mom?
Also, thank you thank you thank you thank you! This book has over 360 reads!! Almost 400!! That's absolutely incredible, so thank you all so much! Love you guys!
Big shoutout once again to JustandForeverMe for really helping me develop this book, it honestly wouldn't be the same without her help, so be sure to check her out:)
Thank you all again, next update will be soon, I promise:)
~Maxine♡