Noah

Chapter 13

I walked out onto the clean, white sand and took my shoes off. Feeling the sand shuffling under my feet as I moved felt different. Being in a new place was nice, especially near the beach. I walked down the little path enclosed by ivory braided ropes and that's when I seen here. Bria was sitting in the sand, just watching the water. I stood there watching her for a quick moment and made my way over to her.

"Finding your inner peace?"

"I was wondering how long it'd take you to get here." She says, still staring out at the water.

"Well, you know after the last time you left I promised myself I wasn't going to let you run away. Not without and explanation at least." I hear Bria sigh as she put hers head down. "I don't know what you're doing here, but if you're leaving I just want to know why this time." As she rises to her feet, I see her eyes glistening. She's been crying and I was hoping it wasn't because of us.

"I'm not leaving you, Noah. Not again, not ever."

"Then why did you up and go like this? I don't understand what's going on."

"Noah, that man in there is my biological brother. I met my dad today." I was slightly shocked that this was the entire reason she left. Bria never really spoke about wanting to know about her biological family and never showed interest in finding them. "I found out he knew about me my whole life, that I was out up for adoption and he didn't want me."

I didn't know what to say but all I could do was hug her and hoped it'd make her feel even just slightly better than what she was feeling right now.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I love you so much and I'm so sorry. I wished he'd take the time to see how amazing you are."

"I'm over it. I have parents that love and care for me."

"Well, I came here on a mission hoping to bring you home."

"I'm ready to get out of here." She says, laying her head gently into my chest. "I love and I'm never leaving you again."

"You sure you want make that promise?" She looks up at me with a single tear in her eye and a crooked smile. "I wouldn't have my life any other way, Noah."

I cupped her chin and stroked her cheek with the back of my hand, edmiring every feature of her face. I had a simple thought that slipped my mind and spoke it out loud, "How did I get so lucky to have you love me?" Bria give me a cheeky smile and it made my heart skip a beat and I didn't want to be anywhere else except looking into the eyes of the woman I love.

"How did I get so lucky for you to want me, even after I hurt you?" She paused and gave me a soft smile that spoke a thousand words into my soul. "Come on, let's go home." She says as she begins to walk away. I knew my next words would completely change our lives, but there was no better moment than now.

"Bria wait..."

She stopped and turned to look at me, and froze. Seeing her emotions overcome her was what I expected. I've never loved seeing a smile on anyone's face more than I loved seeing hers. No matter where life was taking me in the past, it always ended with her on my mind. Always wondering what her thoughts on this or that would be.

"Abriella, will you marry me?"

"Yes Noah, yes!"  She says nodding her head as tears fell from her eyes. I placed the ring on her finger, lifted her up and kissed her as I spun her around in excitement. I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous but I was confident that she'd say yes. I always knew she loved me as much as I, even after all the time we spent apart.

"That answer wasn't a heat of the moment one was it?"

"Absolutely not." She says chucking.I pulled her closer and placed a kiss on her forehead as I tucked my hand between her jawline and her ear. There was no better moment than the one we shared on that beach in South Carolina.