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“I’m sorry I’m so fuckin’ sorry,” he voiced in a tone that was filled with nothing but pain and re, I could feel it engulfingit hard to breathe

Hard to think

Hard to feel

Right now, at this moment

My life ended before it ever even had a chance

To begin

While I stared at the gray granite tombstone, etched with the last name

Jameson

My eyes fluttered open just slightly, only to bebut darkness A thick piece of fabric obstructing etobject, but it was no use I was too weak I opened et the words to co,it hard to s, let alone speak I tried to process as going on, what had happened, how long I had been out, but I couldn’t push through the haze I was so tired, so dizzy, so out of it that panic couldn’t even set in

My head pounded heavily as if it weighed a thousand pounds Sensing as though it was lying on soh ainst ine while a cool breeze swept across my face, neck, and hair My body hich made me think a blanket rapped around me, but I was nuround weon

The vehicle felt like it never stopped cliain, over and over, throwing me off course There was no way I could keep up with the twists and turns My sense of direction was long gone Nothing seemed familiar, not the sounds and not the scents I was too drowsy to function My body continued to be jostled fro the ride extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant The sound of the histled in ht have been a forest because tree branches snapped under the weight of the tires I could occasionally hear branches scraping against the roof of the car

They were driving so fast, as if they were getting away from someone I couldn’t fathom why I was there, what ive it another thought, I blacked out again

My head fell back against the headrest inat the house out in front of me

Creed and Noah’s house

The irony was not lost on h, I couldn’t possibly complain, it wouldn’t be fair to Noah if I did He had stepped up in every way possible when it carew inside of me In the process of it all, I don’t kno it happened, but we started to become close friends I couldn't help it I had spent more time with Noah than I ever had with Creed, in the past seven years Ever since I first laid eyes on his tortured soul, it had always been a ga about hi to convince myself to walk into his childhood home for the very first time

Except it wouldn’t be his elco

It would be his brother’s

My baby’s father

Theatfor all his life I’d often catch gli our many doctor visits He didn’t even try to hide it Noah wanted our unborn child He wanted to be a part of this journey He wanted it all

A future

A life

A forever

Possibly with me

If I knew the truth, there was no way in hell Creed didn’t The thought alone sent shivers down ht up Feeling the consequences of what hadn’t happened yet, but would eventually come

The inevitable

A battle

For my heart

I learned pretty quickly that Noah was just as lost as his brother, if not more His eyes held the same sadness that Creed’s carried all his life A burden I could never understand or conte about the Vice Prez of Devil's Rejects, other than what his eyes always showed , callused hands and fervent, burning lips promised me

His love

Noah was a lot like his older brother, but at the saht and day, and oil and water The more time I spent with Noah, the easier it was for me to see a side of him that I wished Creed would show me after all these years

His heart

Creed was still guarded, broody, and temperamental, and those were some of his best qualities All I could hope for was that eventually he would open up, showThe man who I’d loved since I was nine years old

I shook off the senti ly beautiful baby with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair, s back up at me An expression on her face that looked exactly like her father’s A smile I couldn't help but love Much like Creed’s

“Jesus, Mia, get your shit together,” I whispered to irl I was carrying

I sighed, chastising myself Creed’s priority was the MC, which I’d known since day one It was ht He was traveling all over the place, day in and day out I barely kept up here he was, or what he was getting involved in All I kneas he had to go whether he liked it or not Everything changed so quickly and so suddenly

I never stopped thinking about him

I never stopped praying that he stayed safe

I never stopped

Loving him

I couldn’t He was a part of me in more ways than one He always had been Yet to this day, I didn’t knohy It was one of those unexplainable things, a powerful netic pull that only he held over me

And he knew it

Using it to push ot

I took one last deep breath to steady htening my dress before I made my way to their front porch

The sonograrasp Noah wanted a girl and had been beyond excited since they told us that afternoon He wanted to tell the world or at least hisme over to his house for the last severalexcuses as to why I couldn’t coood of a ti Creed had been the one to invite me to meet his mother and not his brother

Noah wanted me to be a part of his world, and I think Creed only wanted to be a part of mine, if that made any sense

I knocked on the door and waited while looking around the front yard Memories of the last ti, witnessing the fallout between Creed and ed in just four short months At least between Noah and me My dad still hated the boys, and felt the need to re but biker trash, even though he knew his words hurt me He still couldn’t look me in the e

yes, and I hated that

“Hey, pretty girl,” Noah greeted, pullingaside to let me in

I shyly sround as I walked by him

“I like your dress,” he added, grinning Eyeingin my white flowy maxi dress

I sed hard, locking eyes with hiht back at me

“Thanks,” I replied

“You get dressed up for me, Mia?”

I smirked “Don’t flatter yourself, Rebel” I never called him Noah, I only knew him as Rebel “I wanted to look nice for your momma”

“Don’t need to put on a dress to accomplish that”

I shyly s to show me around or just stand there and flirt with me?”

“It ain’t flirtin’ if you’ve already slept with the girl” He put his hand onhis point

I stepped into the foyer a little further, putting so the screen door shut, but leaving the other open to allow the evening summer breeze to flow in

“Co the way around his parents’ house

Showing ined it A typical guy’s roo screen TV and PlayStation A black bedspread ruffled on hisup in the corner

He continued, walking past a closed door that I assu to show me, much to my disappoint it would give me more answers about the man I loved Instead, I took the opportunity to look at all the pictures of Creed throughout the years on the walls He was the cutest baby and little boy, looking so sweet and innocent, but I knew otherwise Already sporting tattoos froarette in his mouth in almost every picture shortly after

“This house is beautiful Your ”

He narrowed his eyes atbut the truth

“Oh my God, Noah, is this you?” I pointed to the baby boy straddling aanother little boy that looked a few years younger in a headlock