20 years ago
It was a chilly October morning when Noah moved in with his mom. I was sitting outside when the moving truck pulled into the driveway next to mine. I was only ten, quiet, and when we first met I was too shy to say hello.
Later on we grew up and ended up becoming best friends, but one day when I was twelve we stopped talking for a few months. Then one day Noah came over one day and I told him everything. My parents had died in a car accident and now I was all alone, Noah just hugged me and promised he would never leave me. At the time I thought that was enough sadness to last me a lifetime, but I was wrong.

Years Later
One day I was sitting in my room listening to music and finishing my homework, when I got a phone call from Ms. Collins, Noah’s mom. When the phone call ended I dropped everything and ran to the hospital.
Noah had fainted.
In the hospital
“So what happened,” the doctor asked.
“ We were watching tv and he got up to get a snack and he fainted,” Ms. Collins said.
“Ok, we just need to do some tests to make sure he’s okay.”
“Okay,” both Ms. Collins and I said in unison. After about an hour, the doctor came in with a worried expression on his face.
“I sorry but Noah has at the most 5 days to live, he has stage 4 leukemia, its everywhere and incurable,” the doctor said. Something changed in me that day i don’t know if it was the fact i was going to lose my best friend or that he was going to break a promise he said he would never break.
While he was sleeping I thought about the first time he told me he loved me.
*Flashback*
We were playing on the swings at the park we lived by, then Noah jumped off the swing and randomly yelled, “I love you Haley!”
Then I jumped off my swing and yelled, “I love you too Noah!” At that time I didn’t think much of it because we were just kids, but over time I realized that he really meant it and so did I.
*End of Flashback*
Right as I snapped back to reality Noah began to wake up.
“Hey, have you been here the whole time,” Noah said.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Why? You could have gone home and slept in your bed its probably more comfortable than here.”
“I like spending time with you.”
Later that night I went home so I could shower and sleep before I go back to the hospital. I tried to sleep that night I kept waking up from the same nightmare, I love you, Goodbye, over and over again. I kept telling myself he’s fine its just a dream. I finally dozed off after midnight.
The day Noah died I had cried as much as it had rained. I just sat in an empty house filled with sadness, in my room in the dark, clutching my favorite picture of Noah and I, while I listened to sad songs. I had no one, no parents, and now I lost Noah. The closest thing I have to family is Noah’s mom. Go see her. I heard a voice in my head say.

Later at Noah’s house
I rang the doorbell and it sounded different, but then again everything sounded different now a days. Then Ms. Collins opened the door and I noticed her make up wasn’t done, her face was stained with tears and her eyes were very glassy.
“Come in, Haley,” Ms. Collins said. Walking through the door it seemed like the walls were closing in so many memories came rushed back all at once, I wanted to fall to the ground and cry. My emotions were everywhere and the walls I had built over the past few days came tumbling down at once. Be strong for Ms. Collins.
Hours past and Ms. Collins and I talked about lots of thing but we didn’t dare bring up Noah, it was too soon. We did this for weeks to come and it helped, for the longest time I had thought it was my fault, blaming myself for something I couldn’t fix. You gave up on him. Its your fault, but over time I realized I couldn’t have done anything. I realized that for everyone death is inevitable, but for Noah it happened too soon.

Present day
I was sad, and heartbroken, and I still am, but I have moved on. I now have a dog and a wonderful husband and i’m pregnant with our first child, its going to be a boy, and were naming him Noah. Wow, Noah kept his promise, he never did leave me.