Page 89 of Uprising

“I’m sorry, Noah, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“You should be, I begged you for the truth. I told you, I won’t have you lying to me.”

I drop my head, knowing his next words—he’s done with me.

“From here on out, you lie to me, and I’m going to shove a rock up your ass.”

“A rock?” My brow furrowed.

Noah pulls back, reaching into his pocket. Confusion wraps around my brain as he pulls out three rocks.

“These are my favorites, this one is amazonite.” He holds a teal rock up, showing it to me.

“No more lies,” I mutter.

“No more lies.” He repeats. “And while we’re talking, I’ll have you know, I’m a very sexual person. And the fact you’ve only fucked meonce,well, that has to change.”

Laughter burst out of me. Of course, out of everything, Noah would be concerned about being fucked.

“And while it seems like I’m not upset about you not telling me this little fact about you, I’m not going to hold it against you. But I will tell you, you ever hold information from me again,” He grabs my chin, squeezing my cheeks. “I’ll bendyouover and fuck you.”

I smile against his fingers, rather enjoying this new Noah?—

“Noah!” Someone calls from the other side of the wall. My head jerks over, suddenly realizing we’re in a moving vehicle. One that looks awfully familiar.

“Come on, I want you to meet some people.” Noah climbs off the bed, holding a hand out to me. Slowly I swing my legs over the side, feeling every bone in my body scream in protest. Placing my hand in his, Noah leads me out of the room into the main part of the RV. My knees wobble with each step I take.

“You must be Reed, I’m Mallory!” A bright blonde girl bounces over. I’m nearly blinded by the bright pink dress and sparkly pink heels. I frown, glancing at Noah.

“It’s a long story, but they found me.” Noah whispers.

“Hi, I’m Rue,” another female steps up.

“Uh, hi,” I cough, unsure what to say. When I thought about getting Noah to his friends, I never thought about actually meeting them.

“Reaper—”

The world stops.

One second I’m breathing, thinking of how to convince his friends I’m the man for him when that voice, the one I never thought I’d hear again, hits me.

Ghost steps forward, no longer wearing his mask, but nonetheless it’s him.

My best friend.

My mind stutters, unable to process what my eyes are seeing. It’s like the universe itself is playing a trick on me. Because he can’t be here.

But he is.

“Ghost,” my voice cracks. Something inside me shatters. My breath hitches, vision blurring as the weight of everything crashes over me. A sob breaks free before I can stop it. My legs nearly give out, but Ghost is there in a second, holding me up.

“Hi, brother.”

The dam inside me breaks, tears gathering in my eyes, streaming down my face. I wrap my arms around his back, clutching his shirt in my hands. I can’t speak; nothing comes to mind. I never thought I would see him again; I accepted it or tried to. And now that he’s here, every pain, every hurt pours out of me.

“I–I didn’t want to kill him!” I cry out.

“I know, I know. It’s okay,” Ghost whispers. It’s odd hugging him, him telling me it’s okay. We’ve never hugged, and while it’s weird, I can’t think of anything else I needed.

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