The final straw

Laila had left with Jake, leaving Noah alone in the middle of the streets on the long awaited date. Not knowing that what she had done, in order to ensure herself that Noah would be in her life forever, would cause her to lose him much faster than any failed relationship could have.

It appeared that this night was the wakeup call that Noah needed. The final push he needed in order to start giving up. His thoughts were all over the place and as he walked to the shore in his confused state, he tried to make sense of it all. He hoped that the cold breeze of the shore would calm his restless heart. He simply couldn't believe that Laila would chose Jake over him and that she would leave him like that with his confession. Now that Laila had made her decision, he needed to make his.

He knew that once he had made his decision, there was no stopping him or changing his mind. So, he would need to think hard before doing what he thought was best. Noah knew that if he wanted to get over Laila, truly get over her, he would need to create some distance between the two of them. He needed to not see her at all in order to find some closure. If not, his heart would always belong to her. As he fought back the tears he could feel were stinging his eyes, he took a deep breath and looked at the dark, soothing waters. After sitting there for almost an hour, his decision was made.

For Noah, Laila's return to Jake, especially after knowing his feelings and telling him that she and Jake were done for good, was the final straw. This final move caused Noah's heart to be shattered and made him lose all hope of ever getting together with Laila. Being left behind like this, after getting so close to being more than friends with Laila, was harder on him than he could ever imagine and definitely more than he could handle. The disappointment and heartbreak were so severe, that Noah couldn't imagine staying by Laila's side and witnessing her go back to Jake all over again. So, instead he did the only thing he thought he could do. He left.

He might love Laila but he didn't hate himself and staying here would mean knowingly hurting himself. School was practically done and he had been admitted into the University of his choosing. So, instead of staying at home and spending the summer with Laila like he had initially planned, he decided to visit his grandmother for the summer. Once the new term of the first year would start, he would also move out of his childhood home. He was first considering to commute from home but there was no point to that now. So, he changed his decision regarding living in the dorms. The dorms were over an hour away from where they were living now. So, the odds of Laila coming to visit him there were very small. If she did, he would simply hide or say that he was busy studying. After being rejected like that once or twice, he was sure that she would give up and that she wouldn't try again unless he would take the initiative. Something he would no longer do.

And indeed Noah knew Laila well and what he had predicted, soon became the truth. When Laila found out that Noah had left for the summer, she did her best to hide her sadness. She kept telling herself that she had made the right decision and that Noah would be back after the summer. That he simply needed some time and that things would go back to how they used to be in no time. When summer ended and Noah had yet to return or respond to any of her thousand messages, Laila began to worry. "Did I make the wrong decision after all?" This question had entered and left Laila's mind over and over again during the break. But each time it did, Jake was there and he was being so great, that she couldn't believe that something so great could be wrong. That was until the break ended and the first day of the first term started with Noah still nowhere to be found. That is when she decided to go to his parents for answers, who were surprised that Laila didn't know about their son's decision to move out.

When Laila discovered that Noah had signed up to live in the dorms, her earlier worry intensified and the question that had been haunting her, was no longer one that came and went. It was one that stayed and remained in her thoughts all throughout the first term. After not hearing from Noah for almost four months, she gave up and went to visit him at the dorms. But like he had said, Noah refused to meet with her and she was forced to go back without seeing him. Before she could think of what to do about Noah and plan a second visit, she was faced with another source of worry. Because on the day of her twentieth birthday, a day which came in her first year as a college student as she and Noah were late starters, a day she had always shared with Naoh, Laila received a very unexpected gift. One that would change her life as she knew it forever. She was late...