CUPID'S CHOKEHOLD / Jake Seresin

03

Noa looked down, her eyes glued to her bathroom sink. The blue letters flashed back at her as if they were taunting her. She wanted to yell, scream, and throw a fucken fit, but instead, she just stood there in silence. She didn't know how long it took, but her cell phone was in her hand before she knew it, dialing the number by memory. It rang three times before he finally picked up.

"Noa! How have you been? I was planning to call you later." Bradley's voice flooded her ears.

"Brad," she took a deep breath. "I fucked up. I fucked up bad."

Bradley stilled at her words, his previous conversation forgotten about. He waves a quick goodbye to his friend and quickly exits the bar. Once in the safety of his vehicle, he turns the speaker on. "Lennon, what happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm pregnant." Her voice is crystal clear, but Bradley almost misses it. Instead, he leans back against the headrest and closes his eyes. The world is spinning, but he knows Noa's world is falling apart.

"Do we know the father?" We. Noa cries harder, her sobs filling Bradley's truck. They're in this together now, like always.

"Jake."

The memory replays in Noa's mind like a loop. Like its haunting her as she watches Jake speed out of the parking lot. Bradley places Sutton in her car seat before turning his attention back to his best friend. He doesn't have to ask how she is. Her brows are furrowed, and unshed tears fill her eyes are a clear indicator. 

"It could have gone worse," Bradley commented as they began to load up the car with groceries. Noa gives him a look. It could have gone way better.

"I fucked up. I know that. I knew it then." Noa admits as she watches Sutton play with her doll.

Bradley takes his hands in hers and sighs. "Then why didn't you try?" He had always wondered. Despite his general dislike for Hangman, he knew how much Noa had loved him. He thought they had been perfect together.

"I was scared. I didn't want to live my life like-" she stops herself and looks down, her eyes filling with tears. I didn't want to live my life like before. Wondering if that would be the last time i saw him alive. I barely managed when I was with you. I didn't want to be like Carol. Noa wants to say, but she knows she can't.

Bradley knows her so well that she doesn't even have to say it because he knows. He had seen firsthand what his father's death had done to his mother. It was a massive factor in why he and Noa were always afraid to commit. The situation with Maverick had been the cherry on top.

"Sutton deserves to know her father. Jake deserves it, too, but I'm scared."

"Of what? Hangman is good at his job." Bradley wants to hurl as the words leave his mouth. He would rather die than sing Hangman's praise. Maybe he's being a little dramatic, but the point still stands. He knows that Noa needs to hear those words. Noa needs a little shove of encouragement. Instead, a little shove from him, then a forceful one from Phoenix.

Noa closes the door and sighs. "Of letting him back in."

"Oh," is all Bradley can say. Noa laughs. Despite being best friends, he hadn't been around to see the aftermath of Noa and Hangman's breakup. Bradley had been too busy destroying his own life in Virginia. Phoenix had been the one to see it all happen. He had only gotten bits and pieces of it through texts, letters from Phoenix, and drunken calls from Noa.