Met His Match ✓

Chapter 30 - Beside The Fire

"It sounds wonderful," I whispered, "It sounds like a childhood that deserves to be remembered."

I felt Noah kiss the top of my head gently and I smiled to myself. My childhood didn't deserve to be remembered and I had never been able to erase it from my memory, but with Noah, it was different. He helped me to see the good things, and I would never be able to thank him for that.

As he opened the door and stepped in to the spacious hall, I followed closely behind. There was a huge living room to the left, finished with old wooden beams and filled with childrens toys. A fireplace was at the far side of the room and family photos dotted the walls. My eyes caught one of Noah with his arm around Jackie as JJ stood next to him. This family was clearly as close as any family could be. Suddenly, a bark came from the top of the stairs on the right and I caught sight of a golden blur as it rushed down the stairs.

"Hey sammy!" Noah laughed, sinking down to one knee as the Labrador charged at him. "How's my boy?"

I grinned as Sammy stood on his hind legs and tried his hardest to lick Noah's face, despite him trying to wriggle away. He failed, and the dog whined as it licked him like crazy, slobbering all over him.

"Oh no," I chuckled, wincing as Noah looked up at me with a look of bewilderment. "Dude, you've got drool all over you."

The dog suddenly cocked his head and looked in my direction, as if only just realising that there was another person stood next to him. Smiling, I bent down and reached out my hand. Sammy took that as his cue and I grinned as he rolled over on to his back, his legs in the air. I reached out and scratched his belly, causing his tongue to fall out on to the floor in complete relaxation.

"Looks like you've made a new friend there," Noah smiled, looking down at Sammy affectionately. "Traitor."

The dog just barked and wagged his tail back and forth, too preoccupied with getting his belly rubbed. Laughing, I stood up and turned to Noah whose blue shirt was covered in slobber. I raised my eyebrow and just watched as he tried to wipe it off, a disgusted look on his face.

"Oh, to hell with it," he shrugged, rubbing Sammy's ears as he walked down the hall. "Lets go through to the kitchen, there's a door that leads to the back garden."

I followed him and my eyes widened as I stepped in to the kitchen. It was painted a pale yellow, with wooden work tops. And it was huge, encompassing the whole back part of the house. More family photos were displayed. It seemed that no place was off limits for them, something which made me fall in love with the house even more.

"Hell yes!" I heard Noah say happily. "My mum baked cookies and they're still warm."

"They smell great," I said, smiling when Noah passed me one, after having shoved two whole ones in to his mouth at the same time.

Taking a bite, I waved the cookie at him. "These taste awesome."

"Don't let my mum hear you say that," he said, crumbs falling out of his mouth as he shoved in another cookie. "She'll get all smug about it and start baking cookies every hour."

"Well that wouldn't be such a bad thing," I laughed, my eyes drifting to the floor as Sammy sat in front of me, trying his damned hardest to look cute.

He was doing a pretty good job. "Can I give him the rest of the cookie?" I asked Noah, noticing him shaking his head at the Sammy.

"Sure," he nodded. "If you didn't, that dog would hold a grudge. He can be a grumpy old thing sometimes."

I handed over the last part of the cookie and wiped my hands on my shorts. Turning on the spot, my eyes drifted to the slightly open door to the right hand side of the kitchen. The music was still blaring from the garden, and I could see smoke appearing from around the side of the house.