Page 168 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“When did you find out Noah was from your childhood?”

“Last night,” Noah and I say in unison.

“Oh. Well, carry on then.” She smirks as she leans back against Jeremy’s arm.

“So we drove up to the house, and I went in first. I decided I was going to burn the place to the ground.”

“You were just going to let her do that?” Jenna cuts in.

“Yes,” Noah says as if it’s the sanest thing in the world.

“I didn’t tell him, but I think he assumed so from the amount of high-proof alcohol I bought. Anyway, when we got there, I went in first. I wanted to grab any family mementos or photos before I burned the rest down. Noah came in and was standing behind me when I was looking through photos. Hold on.”

I quickly stand and rush back into the foyer where the box of photos and keepsakes is sitting on the bench. I bring them back in and start flipping through the photos as I continue my story.

“So, Noah was standing there, and the last few photos were from my birthday before my mom died. Here.”

I hand her the few photos and watch as she flips through them.

“Oh my gosh! That’s such a cute rabbit. You got her that?” she asks as she looks at the photo of us together with the rabbit.

“Yep. That’s Mr. Snuggles,” I say, laughing at the childish name I gave him.

“Aww. What happened to him?”

She looks up at me, and I look over at Noah. Her eyes fall to Noah. She pauses for a second before she rolls her eyes and sighs.

“Don’t even tell me you kept the rabbit all these years?”

“Yep. I went over there after the cops had left that night and found the rabbit. I knew she wouldn’t have left him behind on purpose, so I took him home, cleaned him up, and fixed his ear.”

“His ear? What happened to his ear?”

“It looked like someone ripped it, so I sewed it back together. It’s not perfect but…” Noah says, but I cut him off.

“Yes, he is perfect,” I snap. “You never gave up on me, Noah. Not even when I came back into your life and didn’t remember you.”

“No, he never gave up,” Jeremy laughs.

“Wait, did you know too?” Jenna asks Jeremy.

“I knew. Sorry. I was sworn to secrecy. I did tell him not to fuck with her head like he was doing,” Jeremy says as he glares at Noah.

“Fucking with her head? How?” Jenna demands.

“The flowers,” I answer for him. “They were my favorite from when I was a kid. We would walk up and down the road and pick them together. Fifteen bouquets…”

“For every year you were missing…Holy fucking shit. Yep, it’s official. You win. You officially have the Prince Charming all girls dream of having,” she sighs.

“Hey, you could get your happily ever after, too,” Jeremy says, wrapping his arm back around her.

I see the corner of her lip tilt up in a smile before she quickly shakes it away and turns her attention back on Noah and me. For some reason, she seems to be fighting this.

“So, after he told you who he was, then what happened?”

“We went out and stood in the snow making Molotov cocktails and launching them into the house.”

“Holy shit. You actually burnt down a house? That’s a felony, Willow. You’ve never even had a parking ticket.”