Getting Over You

"are you sure?"

I had just woken up from a nap when I heard the front door slam. I looked out my window and noticed that it was already dark out. I knew my parents were busy doing work and Avery was at a friend's so I wondered who that was. 

I slowly got up and put on a sweatshirt before making my way down the stairs quietly. I heard noises coming from the kitchen so I slowly walked through the foyer and peered into the kitchen, where I saw Noah digging through the freezer. He pulled out an ice pack and put it on the counter before closing the freezer. That's when I saw his hand. 

"What the hell did you do?" I asked, walking in to kitchen to examine his hand. 

"It's nothing," Noah said, pulling his hand away before I could grab it. "What's wrong, Lana?"

"You seem upset," I said. "Please let me help you."

"I already told you, nothing happened," Noah said, turning to get a water bottle out of the fridge. He tried to open it and winced at the pain. 

"Noah, please," I said softly. 

I slowly walked over to him and grabbed his hand softly. When he didn't pull back, I lifted his hand to examine the bruising and cuts slowly. 

"Come with me," I said. I walked up to my room quietly, Noah following behind. I led him into my room and closed the door behind us. "I don't want mom or dad finding out."

I walked him into my bathroom and opened the cabinets to get the first aid kit. I opened it and placed it onto the sink before taking his hand. I rinsed it under the water before cleaning it with solution. I placed some Neosporin on the cuts and wrapped up his hand. 

"Just leave it on overnight and take it off in the morning before school so they don't see it," I advised. 

"Thanks," Noah said softly. 

"So, are you going to tell me how you got this or am I going to have to pry that out of you too?" I asked as I cleaned up the mess. 

"I don't think you want to know Lana," Noah said. 

"Trust me, this day couldn't get any worse. You might as well just tell me," I said. 

"Let's go sit outside," Noah said. "It's still fairly warm and the stars are out."

"Ok," I said cautiously. We left my room and went down the stairs and out the back onto the stone patio. 

We sat down on two of the lounge chairs that looked out to the pool. 

"What happened today Noah?" I asked as I stared out at the pool. 

"I had a bad day at practice," Noah admitted. "I lost control."

"What did you do?" I asked him slowly. 

"I got into a fight at practice today," Noah admitted. 

"With who?" I asked.

He paused. "Tyler," Noah said. My heart dropped.

"But you have to understand, I didn't start it. Practice was running smoothly but he had been acting weird from the moment he stepped onto that field," Noah said. "We were running plays and he didn't follow the play. He decked me before I made a pass and we fought until coach broke it up."

"Oh Noah," I said with a sigh. 

"He called you a slut," Noah said before pausing. "I couldn't let him say that about you."

"Noah, I can fight my own battles. I don't want you to risk your scholarship or place on the team," I said. 

"That doesn't mean anything and you know that," he responded. "I couldn't let him get away with that."

"Trust me, Noah, he isn't." I said, thinking back to our fight earlier. 

"What does that mean?" Noah asked, turning to face me.

"I need to tell you something," I said, refusing to look at him even though I could feel his stare. "I ran into Tyler today."

"What!?" Noah yelled. 

"Noah, please," I said softly. "Let me finish."

He stayed quiet.

"We got into an argument because he was snooping in my business. He was upset that I was spending time with Dean and when I called him out on being a hypocrite, he called me a slut. He said that I was easy and warned that Dean's only using me," I said. 

"Lana, I warned you that this would happen. You're getting too close to Dean, people are starting rumors," Noah said. 

"Why do I have to live my life for them? Why can't I have a real friend?" I demanded. "I'm tired of doing things to please everyone else. When I met Dean, I was going through a rough time and he made my life better." 

"I know, Lana," Noah said. "I get it--"

"No you don't. If you did, you wouldn't be siding with them," I argued. "I never wanted any of this. I never wanted any of this attention but I got it and I have to deal with it."

"I know, Lana," Noah said softly. "I just want to make sure that you're thinking clearly."

"I am, Noah, I promise." I said. 

We sat there in silence for a while until he spoke. "Lana?" He asked.

"Yes?" I responded, turning to look at him. 

"Are you sure you don't have feelings for Dean?" 

My breath hitched and I froze for a minute to think about that question. Dean was one of my best friends and I cared about him a lot. I knew I still wasn't over Tyler if his words today affected me that much. Maybe I had feelings for him but now wasn't the right time, I still needed to deal with my Tyler issue. 

"I'm sure," I said, but I knew that was a lie.