It had been 2 weeks since Noelle had help decorating her apartment. She had been spending more time with Jaime’s friends, mainly Mike they had become really close. Like big brother and little sister close, it was the beginning of what was going to be a great friendship, you could just sense it.

Noelle and Tony had come in to contact a lot over these 2 weeks and had finally managed to agree on being polite to one another. Noelle was never going to forgive him but if she wants things with Jaime to work then she needs to be prepared to see a lot more of Tony. Tommy and Tony had had words also and Tommy was a lot more forgiving then Noelle. He was a bit pissed off that Tony could think something like that but at the same time he understood. He and Noelle have always been flirty, it’s their relationship. Some best friends are the brother-sister type of best friends other people were the can-do-anything-around-one-another-even-flirt type of best friends and that is what Tommy and Noelle were.

Everyone had arrived at Noelle’s since she was holding movie night tonight and the theme was classic movies. Everyone gets to choose one classic movie and they watch as many as they can in one night, if they don’t get through all of them they roll it over and make it a two night thing. Last week it was held at Tommy’s place and the theme was musicals. It was quite an entertaining night, full of sing alongs and alcohol.

Jaime put on The Breakfast Club, which was Noelle’s choice, into the player as she went to her room to get a jumper since she was chilly. She returned wearing her Young Guns crewneck and pyjama bottoms, she carried her sketchbook with her. When she got to the couch she motioned for Tony to put his legs on the floor and he knew what was coming since he saw the pencils in her hand.

Tony put his legs down and Noelle sat between them as he placed a cushion behind her back. She opened her sketchbook and began to draw. Everyone looked at them in complete shock because despite the fact that they were getting along, they didn’t think they would ever see them this…. cosy.

Mike whispered to Tommy, who was sat opposite the ex-lovers, “I thought they hated each other” He slightly joked.

“They used to sit like that to concentrate. It was how she would sit when she sketched her tattoos or wrote her songs, or just when they used to study actually.” He informed him. The film had begun and Noelle watched it from the corner of her eye, she knew it word for word so didn’t need to look at the screen that much. She poked her tongue out the side of her mouth which indicated how concentrated she was, it was as if she was in her own little world.
She leaned back slightly and looked over what she had just scrawled on the paper. Noelle held it up to Tony as a sign that she wanted to see what he thought. He pointed to an area that he thought could use something more to fill it up and Noelle agreed with him. She added the extra piece and held it up again. “Yeah, that looks great” Tony said honestly. Even though the other 4 were watching the film, they were studying these two as well. They were happy that they were getting along but also a bit weirded out by it all.

Noelle’s phone let out a beep signalling that she had a new text. It was from someone she really wished would stop contacting her. She opened the message anyway and knew she shouldn’t have bothered since what was in it was nothing but hate and mean words. Before she had the chance to lock her phone and put it away Tony grabbed it from her because he saw what the sender had written.

“Tony, give me my phone back” Noelle demanded as she stood up facing him. He refused and continued to read the messages that had been sent from the same person many times before

“No, Noelle this is serious, who is this” He demanded an answer standing up in front of her.
“It’s nothing, just leave it and give me my phone back” She tried to grab it but he pulled it back scrolling through more past messages.

“It’s not nothing, are you fucking kidding?” He said with a sad look in his eye. The film had been paused and the other guests were watching the pair, again, they knew them getting along was too good to be true. Noelle managed to snatch her phone back from Tony’s hand and began to walk away, he followed.

“Noelle you can’t just let someone say shit like that, it’s dangerous”

“What the fuck do you care anyway?” She spat as she entered her bedroom, he followed her again.

“You know I care, especially when it comes to this. I was there last time remember” She thought back to the time in high school when Tony helped her battle anorexia.

“Actually, I remember when we broke up and when you left Ana returned and I almost died so don’t act like you know anything” She screeched at him.

“Uh-oh” Tommy said as he overheard what Noelle had just said.

“What is it?” Jaime asked, he never knew about Noelle’s eating disorder past, she just couldn’t bring herself to say anything, especially since a) she was over it and b) the last person she was seeing that she told was the one sending her the messages.

The content of the text was horrible, it was making fun of her weight and included a comment about how she should starve herself. Her ex was an ex for a reason. They only dated for a few months but she opened up to him and he hurt her so she vowed to never share it again.

“Erm, I can’t say. It’s not really my place to but Tony’s right when he says it’s serious and dangerous” Tommy told the guys, worry shot across their faces.

“No, I’m so sorry. I never meant that to happen” Tony had tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Funny isn’t it, how the person who once saved you from your demons ends up being the one to push into their arms?” She was crying and couldn’t control it.

“That’s why this is so dangerous. I never meant for that to happen but Noelle you need to sort this out. What if Ana comes back huh? What are you going to do? What if Mia comes with? This is how you started in the beginning, because of comments like this, you have to do something” He pleaded with her. He was worried for her health.

“You know I always thought that that’s why you did what you did. I thought that when I got better you thought I wasn’t the worthy anymore. I almost fucking died because of it. I almost died because of you Tony!!” She pounded on his chest and he grabbed hold of her wrists trying to calm her down. She had got worked up really quickly when she thought back to the time that she ended up in hospital because she was on the verge of death with her weight. She was moved to a treatment facility and recovered with the help of Tommy.

She fell to the ground and Tony followed her, he pulled her into his chest and rocked her back and forth, they were both crying at this point. Remember how Tony was the only ever person to be able to comfort Noelle properly? Well that’s what he was doing now. She cried strongly into his chest as his arms were wrapped around her body. All four of the guys in the lounge had made their way to Noelle’s bedroom.

“It was quiet and we thought you two had murdered one another” Mike said trying to lighten the mood. They noticed Noelle in Tony’s arms and her crying slowly subsided. Jaime was crouched in front of them. “Noelle, sweetie, what happened?” Tony handed him her phone and Noelle jumped up in panic trying to take it back but it was too late. Jaime had read what was on the screen. His heart broke when he read the hateful messages. How could anyone be so mean to his girlfriend, she was beautiful and perfect and now he understood who Tony meant when he spoke the names Ana and Mia. He pulled Noelle into a tight embrace and never wanted to let her go. He never wanted anyone to hurt her. She didn’t deserve the shit that she had been through.

“Is this the Max that you used to go out with?” He asked as he gripped on to her for dear life. She nodded into his chest and he let out a sad sigh.

“We’re going to sort this, okay?” She nodded into his chest again. Nobody knew what to do so they all just watched the scenes fold out in front of them.

Noelle soon calmed down and she grew tired from the non-stop crying so Tony and Jaime put her into bed. Mike and Vic had decided to leave, thinking it was better they left the 4 of them to it.

Tommy was in the kitchen he had just left a rather nasty voice message on Max’s answering machine, letting him know that when he fucks with his best friend, he fucks with him and he wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

Noelle couldn’t help but feel weak in situations like this, she wanted to remain strong and stand up for herself but Tony kind of ruined that. At the same time she was relieved a little because now she wasn’t hiding it, she no longer has to deal with the pain and harassment on her own and she believed Jaime when he said they were going to sort it. She didn’t know how they were going to do it, but she trusted him.

She had fallen asleep and Tony was sat on the end of her bed as Jaime kissed her forehead and tucked her in. He looked at the way Tony was looking at her, his eyes were full of pain, anger, sadness, worry and still a bit of love. Jaime stepped back a bit and observed Tony for a little longer.

“You really care about her don’t you?” He asked quietly.

Tony had to force his gaze away from her “Yeah, I mean I still love her but I’m not in love with her anymore but she’ll always be important to me, I’ll always care for her. Especially when it comes to something like this, I was there when she was first going through it so it scares me. I fucked up big time but I just want to be her friend again. We were friends for a little while before we got together and that’s all I want I know I don’t deserve it but I’m trying” His tears were coming back to the surface. Jaime believed that he wasn’t in love with her anymore. Jaime has seen Tony in love and that look, that vibe just wasn’t there. A platonic kind of love had taken its place.

He went over and hugged Tony and pulled away saying “It’s okay; she’ll come around trust me. I mean you guys looked like you could get along tonight, until her phone went off, you guys will get there. It might take time but I’m sure she’s willing to work on a friendship.” He stood up gesturing for them to leave the room and let her rest. “We’ll make sure she doesn’t relapse too, it’s going to take all of us and considering you were there in the beginning I’m positive she will accept your help” His voice was so comforting, he could be lying and you could believe it because of his voice.

“Not after what she told me. Not after I made her relapse last time, she almost died and it was my fault. I can never forgive myself for that. Now I know why she hates me so much. I hate me now too, even more than I already did” He sighed and they sat in the kitchen, joining Tommy.

“Hey Tone, when she went through that whole relapse she didn’t hate you. She hated herself for believing it was you that caused her to that. It wasn’t your fault, she sometimes still thinks that but deep down she knows it was deeper than the ending of your relationship” Tommy also had a comforting voice but the words that came out of it, Tony couldn’t believe. He was going to blame himself and he would let Noelle blame him too.