Chapter 7 - Don’t Be AfraidOne year after Lily’s nineteenth birthday, the restaurant looked almost exactly the same.
Noah improved.
Clare found a new job at a hotel restaurant with better hours, better management, and shoes she could finally afford to replace before the soles wore through.
Adrien didn’t arrange it.
Clare had made him swear.
One evening, she found him waiting outside after her shift.
“No driver?” she asked.
“Across the street.”
“Security?”
“Also across the street.”
“Progress.”
“I’m trying.”
They walked.
Clare glanced at him.
“Lily says you canceled three meetings to attend Noah’s school fundraiser.”
“She talks too much.”
“You bought one raffle ticket.”
“You told me I wasn’t allowed to buy fifty.”
“You tried to buy five hundred.”
“It was for a good cause.”
“It was a bake sale, Adrien.”
“I like baked goods.”
“You didn’t eat anything.”
“I dislike baked goods.”
Clare laughed.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“People usually use different adjectives.”
“Terrifying?”
“Yes.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“Brooding?”
He frowned.
“Who said brooding?”
“Lily.”
“I’m changing my will.”
They reached Clare’s building.
Noah was waiting on the front steps.
“You’re late.”
Clare checked her phone.
“By six minutes.”
“I was worried.”
Adrien sat beside him.
“Your sister can handle herself.”
Noah nodded.
“I know.”
Clare looked at them.
“When did you two become friends?”
Noah shrugged.
“He helps with algebra.”
Clare stared at Adrien.
“You?”
“I understand numbers.”
“You have people for numbers.”
“I also attended school.”
Noah grinned.
“He’s actually good.”
Clare sat beside them.
For a moment, there was nothing dramatic about it.
Just three people on an apartment stoop beneath an ordinary city sky.
Then Adrien’s phone rang.
Maya.
He answered.
“Yes?”
Her voice was audible only to him.
His expression changed.
Clare noticed immediately.
“What?”
Adrien ended the call.
“Marcus accepted a plea agreement. Daniel Crest has also been charged.”
Noah looked confused.
Clare understood.
“So it’s over?”
“The legal case will continue, but neither of them is coming near you or Lily.”
Clare exhaled.
Adrien looked toward her.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
But she was crying.
Noah leaned into her.
“Clare?”
“I’m okay.”
Adrien didn’t touch her immediately.
He had learned.
He waited.
Clare looked at him and held out her hand.
Only then did he take it.
“You know what’s strange?” she asked.
“What?”
“The worst night of my life brought you into it.”
Adrien’s thumb moved gently across her knuckles.
“I’ve been called worse things than the worst night of someone’s life.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
Noah stood.
“I’m going upstairs.”
Clare narrowed her eyes.
“You and Lily have been talking.”
“Maybe.”
“Noah.”
“Good night.”
He disappeared through the door.
Adrien smiled.
“Your brother is very intelligent.”
“Don’t encourage him.”
Clare looked at their joined hands.
“What happens now?”
Adrien answered quietly.
“Whatever you choose.”
“You really learned something.”
“Apparently.”
She leaned closer.
“Then I choose dinner.”
“Tonight?”
“Friday.”
“Table nine?”
“Absolutely not.”
Adrien laughed.
“Pizza?”
May you like
Clare smiled.
“Now you’re learning.”
