♱Recommended song: Summers Over Interlude By Drake♱
The sun seemed to peak perfectly over the horizon, dusting the sky in a beautiful cotton candy sunset.
Below were the busy streets of Singapore, which I could barely make out given how far up we were in the penthouse suite.
Noa and I had officially been married for three months and fifteen days—
But who's counting?
Every day with her seemed to feel like a honeymoon, even if ours had faded and reality crept in on us.
Well... not yet exactly.
But with summer ending, I knew the runway would be calling my name for all the upcoming fall shows.
And then Noa briefly mentioned joining her father's side to take some pressure off of him, especially since he had woken up from a coma only months ago.
It definitely sounded ideal, but at the same time, I didn't know what that meant for us.
I didn't want to be in different cities for shows without her.
But at the same time, I knew she and her father needed time to catch up on all the years he missed, and then eventually she would have to take back over.
Maybe now is a good time to get adjusted to our old lives.
Or maybe I should just quit modeling altogether?
"Lun?"
I hummed, "Yes?" I murmured as I continued taking in the beautiful sunset.
I felt her presence grow behind me, "You seem deep in thought?" she said, and I knew she was referring to the troubled look on my face that I couldn't bother to hide even if I tried.
I shook my head, brushing off the unanswered topic in my head as always, "How's Fenix?" I asked, turning around to finally face my wife.
Noa smiled slightly, "Interesting..." she trailed off, which easily made me raise a brow.
"Interesting? That's new?" I said, clearly wanting more of an explanation.
Noa slid her arms around my waist, causing me to lean back against the floor-to-ceiling windows, "She was going on about this new assignment she got," she explained as she leaned down into me.
I leaned in to meet her halfway, "That's definitely interesting," I murmured as her lips met mine.
Noa hummed against my lips as I slid my arms around her neck, "Now let's circle back to you," she said as she pulled back from the kiss slightly to meet my stare.
I raised a brow, "Me?" I questioned, even if I knew exactly what she was referring to.
Noa drew me in closer to her body, clearly about to say something else, but my ringing phone managed to halt her.
Saved by the bell.
Or in this instance, Vincent.
"Hey, Vince," I said, breaking away from Noa's analyzing stare as I stared down at the Facetime screen.
But as soon as I managed to take in what was displayed on my phone, a gasp fell from my lips.
"No fucking way—no absolute fucking way," I breathed out.
Automatically, Noa took the phone from me, "What? What is—" she laughed slightly, "Oh, you finally did it," she said to Vincent who was standing beside Arya—who now had a heavy ring on her finger.
I smacked her shoulder, "You knew and you didn't tell me?" I scoffed dramatically.
Noa only leaned down to me for a kiss, which I ducked away from, "Angel, don't be like that—Vince didn't want you telling Arya," she tried to explain, but I only pulled my arms away from around her neck and crossed them over my chest.
"Guys, I hate to break up the arguing, but this is supposed to be our moment," Vincent's voice flowed from the phone that Noa still held.
I gave Noa a brief narrowed look before snatching my phone back from her hand, "Congratulations," I said as a smile grew on my lips.
I felt so happy for them, especially my brother who didn't seem to really click with anyone.
I'm happy he found his person.
Noa leaned into the camera frame, "Yeah, congratulations—we can celebrate when Lun and I get back into New Orleans," she said.
Arya nodded a few times, "Yes that sounds perfect—Vince and I should be back from Brazil next week," she said.
I hummed happily, "We definitely have to go out—" I looked over to Arya's face on the phone screen, "—Maybe we can discuss it alone Arya since they don't like to tell us anything," I said, clearly recircling back to the topic at hand.
Vincent shook his head, "Here we go," he said, clearly knowing that I wasn't going to let this go.
I mean why should I? My wife kept something from me.
"How about we call you guys tomorrow?" Arya suddenly suggested as she leaned into Vincent's side with a wide grin.
"Yeah, let's do that," Noa said before I could even answer.
I shot Noa yet another narrowed look before glancing back over to the phone, "Congratulations again. We love you guys."
Vincent smiled, "We love you too."
"Love you!" Arya waved before the call promptly ended.
And as soon as the call ended, my full attention was cast onto Noa, "How could you not tell me? That's my brother," I pointed out.
Noa only slid her arms back around my waist, "He wanted to make sure that Arya never found out. It wasn't for me to tell," she calmly explained as she leaned back into me.
I pressed my hands to her stomach, "I'm your wife, everything is for you to tell when it comes to me—" I gently pushed her back, but Noa only remained in place, "—Even when you tell someone that you won't tell anyone, everyone knows that it never includes your wife."
Noa's lips twitched up into an amused smile as she looked down at my hands on her stomach, which were attempting to push her away.
"You're not actually mad," she determined as she unraveled her arms from my waist to pull my hands away from her stomach.
I gave her a narrowed look, "Well, I think I am," I said as I pulled my hands away from her hold.
But yet again, Noa only held her ground and continued to hold my hands in hers—
Until she managed to pin my hands above my head.
I gave my wife a narrowed look, even if our position alone managed to make me grow warm.
"You're deflecting. Now tell me what's bothering you," Noa said as she carefully looked between my eyes.
It's actually annoying that she knows me this well.
And never forgets the topics that I purposefully change.
I shook my head, "Nothing is—"
"Don't lie to me," Noa suddenly cut me short with a raised brow, "You know you don't have to," she added.
And just like that, a sigh was falling from my lips, knowing she wasn't going to let go of this one.
Especially since it had seemingly been bothering me all summer.
"I think I want to quit modeling."
The words were barely audible and I could easily feel my stomach start twisting in knots.
Noa let go of my hands, which easily allowed my arms to fall back by my sides.
"You don't want to quit," Noa emphasized as she gently grabbed my chin to study my face.
I pursed my lips, "Yes I do," I forced out in a whisper as my arms managed to find their way around her waist.
Noa tilted her head slightly, "Why do you want to?" she suddenly asked, and it was clear that she didn't buy my answer.
I don't think I did either.
But I would rather be by Noa's side.
"I don't know, I just don't think I want to travel like that anymore," I said, clearly giving only the partial truth.
Noa raised a brow as she continued to analyze my face.
And as I continued to stare up at her, a brief silence grew between us.
Especially with Noa clearly searching for the rest of the truth.
I just knew that if I said this was about me wanting to be by her side, then she'd shut it down immediately.
"You know I'm not missing any of your shows right?" Noa suddenly said.
Just like that, my brows were raised, clearly surprised that she knew where my head was.
"I know I discussed joining my father's side, but I'll always fly out for your shows Lun," Noa said as she leaned down to my lips for a brief kiss.
I felt my body relax slightly as her lips met mine—I had been stressed about this topic for the entire summer, and Noa seemed to fix it in less than five minutes.
"I just don't want to be away from you," I whispered against her lips.
Noa hummed as she pulled me into her body for a hug, which I didn't hesitate to reciprocate.
"I don't want to be away from you either angel, but we both have different things that we want to do with our lives. Let's just call this a compromise," she suggested as I hugged my body even tighter to hers.
A soft sigh fell from my lips, "A compromise," I determined.
Noa pressed a brief kiss to the top of my head, "We'll keep figuring it out as we go. We have the rest of our lives to," she reminded me.
I couldn't help but smile as I melted even more into the hug, "We do don't we?" I murmured.
Noa hummed, "We do," she repeated back to me as we pulled back from the hug, "Now let's get ready for dinner," she suggested, clearly knowing our reservation was for seven.
I smiled, "Already on it—I laid our outfits out on the bed," I said, motioning over to the large king bed, "—I just need to pick out matching shoes," I added.
Noa smiled down at me, "See this is why you're my wife," she said as she pressed a brief kiss to my lips, "I'll go get our shower started while you finish up."
I felt my smile grow, "Sounds perfect," I said as she began heading over to the bathroom.
And as she left to prepare a hot shower for us both, I was back over by our suitcases, looking through our shoes to go with our outfits.
Everything officially felt like it was falling into place, especially with Noa taking some of the weight off my shoulders.
It's like everything is ending but beginning at the same time, and I'm just happy to be doing it by Noa's side.
It's so odd to think how our first arrangement turned into something like this, but I still felt thankful for our ups and downs.
Especially since it led to the rest of our lives together.
The End.
Author's Note
I'm so so happy to finally say that I finished this book. I've been putting off ending it for so long just because I got attached to the characters. However, it was definitely time to complete it so I could move onto other books. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed the ride & this chapter. I love you all soooo much.
Thank you for all your support,
Weekendlustt