Chapter 20! Yay, this is officially the longest running book I've written. *Happy dance.* As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter. After all, you guys make it all worth it!
Photo: Richard (Dick)
Song: Best Friend, by Jason Chen
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Lily POV:
Climbing up the stairs, I couldn't help but smile when I thought about the last few hours. Noah's sister and brother in law were great, and they had accepted me with no questions asked. I could hear Dick swearing at the bottom of the stairs, something about heaving all the bags up because of the broken elevator. Laughing slightly, I stopped climbing and turned around.
"Do you want me to carry a bag Rich?" I smiled, gesturing for him to pass one along.
"No, I've got this," he nodded, flexing his arms and grinning at me.
"Seriously?" Noah questioned, arching an eyebrow at him, "You're flexing your guns?"
"He always flexes his guns, don't you honey?" Jackie laughed, mussing his blonde hair.
"I do not," he mumbled, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen in his life.
Chuckling softly, I turned back around and continued climbing. All of a sudden, I felt a slight pinch on my butt and I yelped in surprise. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Noah looking at me innocently, although I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Next time you can walk in front of me," I whispered, "and then maybe I can pinch your butt for a change."
He grinned at me and winked. "I don't think so honey, I enjoy the view too much."
Huffing out a breath, I turned back around and poured on the speed, leaving Noah, Jackie and Rich trailing behind me. "No fair!" I heard Noah yell. "I can't catch up to you, I'm carrying a bag with three tons of my sisters' makeup."
"Hey, I don't have that much makeup!" Jackie argued, slapping Noah on the back of the head.
"Did you just hit me?" Noah breathed, rubbing his head.
"You deserved it," she laughed, "Right honey?"
"Oh yeah, if I could reach you, I'd give you another slap just for luck," Rich laughed, swatting Jackie on the behind.
Bursting out laughing, I waited for the three of them to reach the top of the staircase and I couldn't help but think how lucky Noah was. He had a family that absolutely adored him, I could tell. The way they made fun of eachother was filled with love, as only a close family could do. And it was obvious that Noah loved his family, so I knew him asking me to meet them was a huge deal. It meant a lot to me. As the three of them stepped in to the hall, Noah walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead.
"Are you ok?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah I'm great," I smiled. "Why do you ask?"
He repositioned the backpack on his shoulder and stared down at me, leaning in close. "You just seemed to be staring in to space, like you were completely zoned out or something."
Standing on my tiptoes, I lightly kissed him on the lips and pulled back, noticing the small smile on his face. "I was just thinking what a great day this has been and what a great family you have, something I've never really seen before."
His eyes softened and I felt him take hold of my hand, squeezing it gently. He leant down and whispered in my ear ."I'm glad your happy Lily. That's all I want, is for you to be happy."
"So are we close to your apartment Noah?" Jackie asked, causing us both to look up, snapping us out of the little bubble we had been in.
I blushed as I realised that Jackie and Dick had been standing there watching us for over a minute. Glancing at Jackie, I saw that she was grinning at us, nodding slightly to herself. When she caught me looking, she winked at me and smiled.
"Uh, yeah," Noah nodded, pointing down the hall and ignoring the looks Jackie and Rich were giving us. "It's that one right there."
"Great," Rich said, walking past us and striding towards the door. "I'm so hungry, maybe Noah can make me a sandwich."
"I'm not your maid," Noah shouted after him.
"Yeah but I'm your guest," Rich argued, grinning over his shoulder. "I'm expecting breakfast in bed. The works."
"Oh yeah, well you can shove the breakfast in bed, right up your ass!" Noah yelled, letting go of my hand and stomping after him.
I laughed and turned towards Jackie, who was watching her brother and fiance argue with amusement. "Are they always like this?" I asked, nodding in their direction.
"Yep," she nodded. "They argue all the time, but you can tell they never mean it. They're both very fond of eachother."
"I thought so," I smiled, hearing laughter coming from down the hall as Noah and Rich joked about something.
As Jackie and I walked over to the boys and stood in front of Noah's apartment, I noticed my door opening. To my surprise, Pete stepped out and shut the door behind him, looking up with a surprised look on his face.
"Lily," he smiled. "It's so good to see you."
"Uh, you too," I said, as he stepped up and wrapped his arms around me for a brief hug.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, I patted him on the back and untangled myself from the hug. Looking over my shoulder, I shrugged and looked at Noah, who seemed very annoyed as he stared in Pete's direction.
"Pete, you remember Noah, my boyfriend." I said, slipping my hand in to his as he stepped beside me.
"I remember. Nice to see you again Noah," he muttered, like he had to force the words out.
"Pete," Noah replied, "Uh, this is my sister Jackie and her fiance Dick."
"Hi, it's nice to meet you guys," he smiled, looking over at both of them.
"Yeah you too," they both replied at the same time.
"So, uh, Pete. What are you doing here?" I asked him, wondering what reason he would have to be in my apartment
"Oh I just stopped by to see Jen and give her some vouchers. It's for half price drinks at the club tonight. There's enough for all of you in there if you want to go?"
"Half price drinks?" Jackie squealed in delight. "Hell yeah we'll go, right guys."
"I'm up for it," the guys nodded.
"Ok sure, we'll be there," I said, thinking it would be fun to have a night out.
Pete's eyes lit up as he stared at me. Feeling a little uneasy, I shuffled my feet as an awkward silence followed. "So, I better go. I'll see you all tonight. Bye Lily."
"See ya," I muttered, frowning at him. I don't know why, but whenever I was around Pete, I felt like he was constantly watching me, and it made me a little uneasy. As I turned around to face everyone, my eyes fell on Noah and I could tell that he was not happy. Sighing, I pulled him to one side and held up my finger to Jackie and Rich, letting them know we'd be just a minute.
"Are you alright?" I whispered, placing my hand on his arm.
He released a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah I'm good honey. I just get really bad vibes from that guy. There's just something about him that I don't like."
"Well you're not the only one," I said, looking up at him. "But don't worry. We're gonna have fun tonight and who knows, maybe I'll do a little dance just for you."
I laughed as his eyes lit up and he grinned at me like a kid in a candy store. "No take-backs!" He smirked. "You have to do it now."
"We'll see," I whispered in to his ear, smiling when I felt him suck in a breath.
"I'll hold you to it," he smiled, taking my hand as we walked back to Jackie and Rich.
"Finally," they both said, smiling at us. "We're starving!"
"Hey, how about we go out for lunch? There's a great italian about a ten minute walk away," Noah suggested, to the delight of both of them.
"That sounds flippin' awesome!" Jackie smiled. "But how about we go in an hour. That'll give me and Rich time to have a shower - "
"Together?" he interrupted, a hopeful look on his face.
She sighed at him and arched an eyebrow. "You wish."
"Hell yeah I wish," he mumbled, a deflated look on his face.
"Okay, can we please stop talking about my sister and her fiance in the shower together. It's making me want to vomit," Noah practically shouted, an annoyed look on his face.
"Uh yeah, sorry about that bro. Anyway like I was saying before Rich rudely interrupted me," Jackie laughed, throwing a dirty glance him, "Give us an hour so we can have seperate showers, and then we can go. Sound good?"
"Sounds great," Noah smiled, stepping forward to unlock his door.
"Okay well I'm going to leave you guys some time to catch up," I smiled. "It's been really great to meet you both, and I'll see you later when we go for drinks?"
Noah swivelled around and strided over to me. "You're coming for lunch."
"No, I don't want to intrude, you should spend some time with your sister," I argued defiantly, putting my hands on my hips.
"Screw that!" I heard Jackie say as she stepped beside Noah, "I've known this guy all my life and quite frankly he annoys the hell out of me. Me and you can chat whilst these two knuckleheads talk about golf and fishing and all that other lame stuff that men talk about."
I burst out laughing, looking at the annoyed faces of both Noah and Rich. "Ok, sure I'll go."
"Your damn right you'll go," Noah smiled, kissing me lightly on the lips.
"Right, well I'm gonna chill out in my apartment for an hour to give you guys at least some time on your own."
I saw Noah open his mouth to protest so I stood on tiptoes and kissed him again, silencing his words. "Don't argue with me college boy," I whispered, a small smile on my face. "I'll see you guys in an hour ok?"
"Sure thing gorgeous," Noah nodded, reluctantly stepping away from me as he went to open the door.
"See you in an hour!" Jackie said excitedly, before giving me a quick hug and walking in to the apartment.
"Later Lily," Rich smiled before stepping and practically throwing the suitcase on the couch. Just as I turned around to open my own apartment, Noah stepped up to the door and winked at me, before gently closing it and disappearing from view.
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Noah POV:
"DEAN!" Jackie shouted happily as she ran over to him and gave him a huge hug.
I watched amused as Dean stood up to hug her back, a huge grin on his face. "Jackie, how are you dude. It's been ages since I've seen you. Man, you got old."
Jackie stepped back and hit him hard on the arm. "I am not old!" She muttered, folding her arms and frowning at him. "I'm only 24."
He smirked at her and pretended to look at the top of her head. "Is that a grey hair I see?"
I bit back a laugh as Jackie stepped forward and hit him again, but this time twice as hard. "I forgot how much of an idiot you are, but now I've seen you again it's all coming back to me."
"Now now guys!" I smiled, taking a step forward. "Let's all try and be nice for a change shall we?"
"Easy for you to say," Jackie mumbled, pointing at Dean. "Your best friend has been annoying me since you guys were both eleven years old."
"Just ignore him, that's what I do," I laughed, ignoring the middle finger Dean stuck up in my direction.
"I SEE DICK!" Dean shouted happily, waving in his direction.
"Oh for the love of...." Dick trailed off, cursing under his breath.
"Oops. I forgot he doesn't like to be called Dick does he?" Dean smiled, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Well that's too bad, becuse I happen to like the name Dick, so that is what I shall call you."
"I figured you would," Dick muttered quietly. "I can't get Noah to call me Rich so why should you?"
"Amen brother!" I laughed, walking over to Jackie and throwing my arm over her shoulder as she laughed at the three of us.
"You have a nice apartment here guys," she said, a hint of sarcasm evident in her voice. "But would it have killed you to clean up a little. Jeez."
Wondering what she meant, I glanced around the apartment. Sure, there were some dirty plates here and there, and some of my clothes were scattered on the floor, but other than that it was pretty clean. "What are you trying to say?" I asked, trying to sound hurt. "We cleaned up, especially for you."
"Great job on that guys," Dick said, pulling a face.
"Anyway, moving on from our laziness," I smiled at Dean, who smirked at me. "You guys are in my room, and don't worry. I changed the sheets and cleaned it so it's all nice and tidy for you. I know how stressy you can be Jackie."
Dick laughed as Jackie whacked me in the stomach. "OW!" I yelled, whacking her back on the arm. "Look, just go and take a shower, we're meeting Lily in an hour."
Jackie nodded. "Right sure. I'll go first and then honey, you go after me."
"Okay, I'll unpack a little," he said, moving towards the suitcase as Jackie lifted up her backpack and took it in to the bathroom.
"Does she have everything she needs?" I asked Dick, who just nodded without looking up.
"Yeah all of her basics are in there; towel, tooth brush, change of clothes so it's all good."
Sighing, I collapsed on to the couch next to Dean and put my feet up on the table. I expected Dick to go in to the bedroom and start unpacking, so I was surprised when he sat down in the armchair and grinned at me and Dean.
"I'll unpack later," he whispered. "But first, I wanna ask you a little question Noah."
"Okayyy," I said, unsure of what he wanted to know. "Shoot."
He leaned forward and smiled at me. "Well I can remember you telling me specifically that you didn't want a girlfriend. That you would never want a girlfriend," he questioned. "And this was only six months ago, so what changed?"
"Ooooh! I'm interested in this too," Dean laughed as he sat forward, placing his hands on his knees.
"What's with the third degree?" I muttered, shooting up from the sofa and walking in to the kitchen.
I reached in to the cupboard and took out a glass. All the while, I could feel them both looking at me. Sighing, I realised that they wouldn't stop asking me until I gave an answer so I turned around slowly and looked at them. "I didn't think I wanted a girlfriend," I mumbled truthfully.
"And?" Dean smiled, indicating for me to continue.
"But I met Lily and I couldn't help it. There's something about her that makes me happy," I smiled, my mind drifting to her beautiful grey eyes, "And I just want to be around her all the time."
"Well, it looks like you've finally grown up man," Dick grinned at me. "Now next in line is Dean. Although something tells me we'll be waiting a while for him to grow up."
I watched as Dean picked up the cushion nearest to him and threw it at Dick, hitting him straight in the face. "Shut up dude! I'm a grown up!" He breathed as he started laughing hysterically at the angry look on Dick's face.
"Of course your a grown up Dean," I muttered sarcastically, "...because all grown ups throw cushions at eachother."
"HONEY!" Jackie's voice echoed through the room. "SHOWER'S FREE!"
"Well that's my cue," Dick smiled as he picked up his backpack and walked towards the bathroom.
Moving back over to the couch, I sat down next to Dean. Reaching over I grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV. After a couple of minutes, I could feel Dean's eyes on me and I couldn't take it any more. Swivelling around, I arched a brow at him.
"What?" I asked.
"Was that true, what you said about Lily?"
"Of course it was true," I smiled. "You may not get it yet but you will."
"Sure," he mumbled, looking like he was deep in thought.
"Hey, you want to come out to the italian with us later?" I asked, glancing at him.
"Mark's already invited me round for a poker night. He was going to invite you too but I said your sister was visiting so I figured you wouldn't want to go."
"That's cool man, thanks. Although we're going out later as well to the club, probably around ten. You think you'll be free then?" I said.
"Sure, I'll try to make it," he smiled, reaching over for the remote. "Now sshhh! I'm trying to watch TV."
Laughing softly, I nodded and settled back to wait for Jackie and Dick. As Dean flicked through the channels, my mind started to wander to Lily. And the only thing I could think about was the dance she promised me later on tonight.
And smiling to myself, I couldn't wait.