Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's another big step in their relationship! I'm aiming for this one to show the extent of their feelings, in particular Noah so I'm hoping this comes off as really sweet and genuine. As always, please vote/comment if you do enjoy it. Okay, well I'll see you on the other side! :)
Photo: Lily
Song: Fix You, by Coldplay (I could not write this chapter without listening to this song over and over again. Also, I picture this song in the very last scene).
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Solely Noah POV:
The city lights reflected off the shop windows as we all walked to the Italian restaurant. There was a slight chill so I wrapped my arm around Lily's waist and pulled her against me. "Having a good day so far?" I whispered in to her ear, a small smile crossing my lips.
"I'm having the best day so far," she whispered back, the sincerity in her voice warming me to the core.
As she snuggled in closer to my side, I couldn't believe how things had changed for me. The talk back at the apartment with Dean and Dick had really put it in to perspective. I had a girl that made me feel like I was worth something, and truthfully, I was afraid that she would wake up one day and only see the guy I used to be. Sighing, I pulled her in tighter, savouring the feel of her body heat and wishing I could never let go.
"Are you ok?" I heard her ask, sounding concerned.
Looking down at her, I smiled and nodded. "Are you kidding me? I'm wonderful!"
"Well I'm glad college boy. You deserve to be," she whispered quietly, looking up at me with those beautiful grey eyes that I had come to love.
Kissing her lightly on the top of the head, I wondered how she seemed to instinctively know when I was thinking about her. It seemed to be one of her many talents, but not the best one. My mind drifted back to the first time I heard her singing with her guitar. Her voice was so beautiful, and I think that was the first time I knew, that Lily would always be the girl for me.
Suddenly, a loud laugh came from behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Jackie smiling up at Dick, her eyes betraying how happy she was. And the way he was looking back at her, was something that made me sure that those two were meant for eachother, just like Lily was meant for me. I caught Jackie's eye and nodded slightly, an understanding passing between us. Ever since we were teenagers, we've wanted eachother to be as happy as we both could possibly be. And right at that moment, we both knew that we had found what we had been looking for.
"Alright sis?" I grinned, winking at her.
"I'm awesome bro," she winked back, wrapping her arm around Dick's waist as he guided her through the busy street.
"Looks like we're here," I said to Lily, pointing to the restaurant which looked extremely busy. "Uh-oh, looks like we weren't the only one's who had this idea tonight."
"There's no way we're gonna get in there," she muttered, shaking her head slightly.
All of a sudden, I felt a heavy weight on my back and I fought to stay upright. Smiling to myself, I could recognise that giggle anywhere. "Jackie!" I shouted, "You almost made me faceplant the sidewalk."
"I know," she laughed loudly, "That's what I was aiming for, but alas, it was not meant to be."
"You're so annoying," I mumbled, as she wrapped her legs around my waist and held on tight.
"Must run in the family college boy," Lily smiled, arching an eyebrow at me.
I huffed out a breath as Dick burst out laughing and stepped next to Lily. He held up his hand for a high five and Lily gladly accepted the offer. "I've finally met someone else who does high fives? Woo!" She laughed, smacking his hand with enthusiasm.
"Hell yeah," he chuckled, swinging his arm over Lily's shoulder. "Us two, we're the cool ones. Unfortunately, we become uncool by association with these two nutbags."
"Hey!" Jackie and I blurted at the same time.
As they both burst out laughing all over again, I felt Jackie jump down from my back and step to my side. She patted me on the shoulder lightly so I bent down. With Jackie whispering in to my ear, I couldn't help but smile. "What's say we teach these two a lesson," she laughed softly. "You take your other half, and I'll take mine."
"Sounds like a plan," I whispered back, giving Jackie a quick fist bump as we approached Dick and Lily slowly, devilish smiles on both our faces.
They were too busy laughing to notice us, so I nodded at Jackie and grinned. Striding forward, I grabbed Lily around the hips and pulled her against me. Her head snapped up and she yelped in surprise, a look of shock on her face. "What are you - " She started, but raising my eyebrows at her, I squeezed her hips gently and a laugh escaped her.
Looking her straight in the eyes, I moved my hands up slightly and squeezed again. This time, Lily's laugh became louder. Starting to laugh myself, I kept moving my hands higher until they were on her ribs. "Noah, please - please stop! We're in the middle of the sidewalk," she gasped, laughing almost uncontrollably.
"I don't think so honey, you have to do something for me first," I whispered in to her ear, noticing other people laughing at us.
"Wh- what?" She breathed, trying her hardest to wriggle her way free.
"Oh it's quite simple really," I smiled, raising my head and looking in to her eyes.
But just as I was about to tell her, the words seemed to vanish. Staring down at her, I was overwhelmed by how beautiful she looked at that very moment. Her cheeks were flushed from laughing so much, and her tied back hair had come loose, falling over her shoulders. A huge grin came to my face as I realised what it was. It wasn't makeup, or clothes, it was seeing her laughing without a care in the world that made her look so beautiful to me. And it was at that moment that I vowed to make her laugh everyday, if it meant I could see her like this again.
"Noah?" I heard a faint voice calling, snapping me out of my trance.
Blinking a couple of times, I realised that I had stopped tickling Lily and I was just holding her around the waist, a faraway look in my eyes. "What happened?" Lily smiled, stepping closer so she was pressed against me. "You looked like you were lost in thought."
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I lowered my head and kissed her lightly. "I was lost in you," I whispered against her lips, before pulling back and smiling at her.
Looking in to her eyes, I wondered what she was feeling. The way she was just standing there on the sidewalk in her yellow dress, the wind blowing her hair, she looked a little unsure. But my brief worries vanished when she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around me, a huge smile on her face. "Thank God I found you," I heard her mumble in to my shoulder, and I couldn't help but think the same thing as I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.
"Um, guys," I heard Jackie's voice say next to us.
Reluctantly, I gently pushed Lily away from me and took hold of her hand. She was blushing furiously, obviously just realising that we had just acted like we were in our own little world, when in fact we were on a busy sidewalk, right in front of an Italian restaurant's window. Realising the same thing, I was sure that I was probably blushing a little too, but I just chose to ignore it and turned to Jackie.
"So, shall we find somewhere else then," I shrugged non-chalantly, trying to ignore the looks that they were both giving Lily and I.
She cleared her throat and looked up at Dick, who was beaming at us. "Well, we've actually been suggesting that for the last minute, but apparently, you guys were too busy to notice."
"Very busy indeed," Dick added unnecessarily, winking at me.
"Sorry guys, uh, we were just - " Lily smiled, looking up at me with a look that screamed, 'Help me explain Noah!'
Getting the message, I nodded vigorously and cleared my throat. "Yeah, I was just giving Lily the payback that we joked about, remember!?" I looked at Jackie, desperately hoping she would just drop it and not make me the butt of the joke as usual.
But to my surprise, she smiled at me and winked again, that same understanding passing between us like earlier. Releasing a breath, I squeezed Lily's hand and we walked over to them. "So, uh, looks like the Italian is out of the question," I said, hoping to change the topic. "We'll have to find somewhere else. There's another Italian two blocks away."
"I suppose," Dick mumbled, looking longingly at the couple eating spaghetti in the window.
"You know what?" Lily smiled, holding her hands out to the side, "It's a beautiful night, we're in great company. So who needs a fancy restaurant. There's a place where you can get great hotdogs right in the park nearby, and we can just sit out. Whaddya think?"
"That sounds perfect!" I smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "You, my beautiful girlfriend are a genius."
"Hell yeah, I could definitely go for some hotdogs under the city lights," Dick practically yelled in delight. I watched amused as he held up his hand to Lily for yet another high five.
Lily laughed and high-fived him again, turning back to me as she did so, the same happy look on her face that I loved to see. It pained me to realise that the look on her face now, was one that any child should have, but was new to Lily. Although as I watched Jackie throw her arm around Lily's shoulder and laugh with her, I knew that Lily was finally breaking free of those memories that had been holding her back since she was just a child.
Smiling to myself, I walked behind as Dick, Jackie and Lily walked together in front of me, heading for the park. I watched as Dick said something that caused Lily to throw back her head in laughter and as she did so, she looked back at me and smiled. And it caused my heart to soar.
*Twenty Minutes Later*
We were sat in the park, not on benches, but on the ege of the field. It was getting late, so the sun was going down and most of the families were leaving. The sound of the fountain nearby echoed through the small line of trees, and the stars were coming out. With Lily sitting next to me, our hips just touching, and my sister and future brother in front of me, I couldn't have wished for anything else.
"So, how's this for going out? Better than a restaurant right?" I smiled, taking the last bite of my hotdog.
"This is - this is really great," Jackie nodded, tilting her head up and closing her eyes. "Reminds me of home a little."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Dick smiled, scooting closer to Jackie and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Glancing at Lily, I could see that she was shivering slightly, so I took off my jacket and placed it on her shoulders. "OK gorgeous?" I asked, taking hold of her hand and entwining our fingers.
"I'm wonderful," she nodded, leaning in to me. "So tell me about home, what's it like?"
"Home?" Jackie smiled, "It's the place that always draws me back, wherever I am. We live close to the lakehouse where my parents and other brother JJ live, but Rich and I spend most of our time there, don't we honey?"
"We do," he nodded, "That place just feels like home, even to me. I mean, we started dating when we were fifteen and I've spent so much of my life there."
"It sounds wonderful," Lily whispered in a small voice.
Looking down at her, I could see a single tear running down her cheek, that she quickly wiped away before anyone could see. Seeing that single tear made me feel sad, knowing that her childhood hadn't consisted of happy memories, or even a family. I knew she wouldn't want me to say anything in front of my sister, so I just untangled my hand from hers and placed it around her shoulders, bringing her closer to me.
"So, hows JJ doing?" I asked, stroking Lily's shoulder as she looked up at me gratefully for the change of conversation. "Is he still the same?"
"Is your brother sick?" Lily asked, sounding concerned.
"No he's not sick honey, he just worries us, that's all," I smiled, looking over at Jackie.
"He gets bullied a lot by other kids," Jackie sighed, a look of pain crossing her face. "I mean, he's only seven, but he's too shy to make friends so he spends a lot of time alone."
"It was hard to leave him," I whispered, "I try and talk to him on the phone every couple of days but I can tell he's not the same boy I left, which is why I'm happy to be going home for the wedding. I can spend some time with him too."
"I'm sorry that's happening to him," Lily said, "But with a family like you guys, he'll be ok. I'm sure he will."
"Yeah, and if any bullies go near him," Dick yelled rather forcefully, "I'll cram my size ten feet up their asses."
I laughed when Dick waved his fist to no-one in particular and glanced at Jackie. She was looking at her fiance with so much love in her eyes that I hoped Lily would look at me like that one day. "So, about the wedding..." Jackie said suddenly, snapping me from my thoughts.
"Yeah, what about it?" I asked, hoping everything was still okay. "I thought you two had organised pretty much everything?"
"We have," Jackie nodded, "But that's not what we wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, um, okay. Well what then?" I wondered, still stroking Lily's shoulder.
"Well, uh, is Lily going to be coming to the wedding?" She blurted out in one breathless sentence, grimacing at me because she knew she had just put me on the spot.
"Oh no," I heard Lily mutter beside me, bringing her hand up to shield her face.
"Jackie," I shouted, throwing my hands in the air. "Why the hell would you bring that up now when I told you not to!"
"I'm sorry!" She cried, "But you looked like you were going to bottle it, so I thought I'd help you out."
"Wait!" Lily said, her head snapping up in confusion. "What? Bottle it? What does Jackie mean?"
"Just come walk with me," I whispered, getting up off the floor and pulling Lily up before she had a chance to ask any more questions.
Looking back, I threw a dirty look to Jackie who smiled at me and waved. Dick had an amused look on his face and he shot me a thumbs up. Sighing, I guided Lily over to the fountain that ran along one of the paths through the park. It was one of those that was on the floor, with jets of water shooting up. Spotting a bench facing it, I walked over and sat down with Lily. Taking a deep breath, I stared at the fountain, willing myself to speak.
"Lily, there was something I was going to ask you before my sister effectively beat me to it," I whispered nervously, my palms starting to sweat.
Risking a glance at her, I could see that she was staring at me with wide eyes. Taking another breath, I nodded to myself and turned to face her. Reaching over, I took hold of her hand and smiled. "I want you to come home with me and meet the rest of my family. I want them to see the girl that's stolen my heart."
Lily looked at me and I saw her eyes go misty, like she was about to cry. Thinking I had done something wrong, I went to say sorry, but to my surprise she smiled and threw her arms around me. Laughing, I lifted my arms and circled them around her waist, pulling her close.
"So, I'm guessing that's a yes then?" I smiled, smelling her strawberry shampoo.
I felt Lily lean back and she looked up at me. And it was that moment that she looked at me just like Jackie had looked at Rich, a look that totally knocked me for six. She may not be able to say it yet, but I knew that she loved me. "Of course I'll go with you," she whispered, "I'd go with you anywhere."
My heart soared and happiness flooded through me that I had never felt before. Something took over and I couldn't help myself. Standing up from the bench, I scooped Lily in to my arms and held her close.
"What are you doing?" Lily laughed, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"You know what?" I grinned, "I don't even know."
With my heart beating fast, and the girl I felt so much for in my arms, I ran to the edge of the fountain and looked down at Lily. "I hope you'll forgive me for getting your dress wet!"
And as her eyes widened, I ran straight in to the middle of the lit up fountain and felt the water falling over us both. Laughing uncontrollably, I released her and took a deep breath. But to my surprise, she didn't run, or try to dodge the water. She just stood there with her arms out, letting the water fall over her. And it was at that moment I knew.
I was in love with her. Totally and completely in love with her.
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