❝L'amour est l'emblème de l'éternité, il confond toute la notion de temps, efface toute la mémoire d'un commencement, toute la crainte d'une extrémité.❞ -Madame de Staël
Noah's dad's house is huge. Three cars are lined up front: a Porsche, a Tesla and a Mercedes, which I assume is Noah's. I park my out-of-place car behind Noah's and nervously walk to the front double doors.
I'm suddenly hit with a wave of uncertainty. Is this really a good idea? His stepmom and dad don't even know what I look like.
Before I can second guess myself, I ring the doorbell. Moments later, a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes answers the door. She has strands of gray hair mixed in with her golden hair, but if anything, it makes her prettier. She has gentle and loving features; that evident of a mother. There's a brief moment of confusion on her face, before a small smile appears.
"Are you one of the camp counsellors?" She asks in a distressed voice. Interestingly enough, a French accent tinges her speech. "What ever the twins did, I am so sorry. They've just turned eight, they're both handfuls—"
"I'm not a camp counsellor," I assure her, and she sighs with relief. "My name is Diana, I'm Noah's friend."
"Diana? Oh. Oh." Noah's stepmom blinks in surprise. "Aren't you from the city? That's a long drive. I'm Mabel, his stepmom. Please, come in, ma chérie."
"It's really nice to meet you," I say thankfully, shaking her hand. "I'm so sorry to intrude but I really need to talk to Noah."
She opens the door further for me, "you're as pretty as he says. No wonder you've got him wrapped around your finger."
I enter their luxurious house, taking in the high ceilings and dark colour schemes. "Thank you, but what do you mean by that?" I ask her curiously.
"He talks about you a lot, and he's only started opening up to me four days ago," Mabel has a small smile on her lips, as if she knows something I don't. "Well, he tells his dad about you, I just like to eavesdrop."
I feel a blush spread across my cheeks, and I try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
Unlike Noah's house back in the city, this house is a charming, simplistic structure. It is modern yet welcoming, which doesn't normally happen with modern homes. It is obvious that this family has children; a collection of toys are tucked in a box under the table and muddled drawings are taped to the white walls. Aside from the childlike characteristics, it is still an elegant home.
One thing I take in immediately is the endless array of plants. On the coffee table, a small aloe plant sits, in the corners, large dracaena plants are precisely placed and the top shelves of their cabinets are decorated with ivies. As I admire the plants and design of the house, I hear the small pattering of feet.
Just then, a small boy crashes right into me. He falls to the ground, and since I'm thankfully taller than this eight year old, I manage to keep my balance.
"Cam!" Mabel scolds her child. "Apologize to Diana."
"Who?" Cam asks, still on the floor. "Diana? Noah does not stop talking about a girl named Diana, it's so annoying—"
"He kicked me!" A shrill voice screeches. At the backdoor, I spot a small girl with a big attitude. She crosses her arms and huffs, "Cam, get back here!"
"I'm so sorry," Mabel turns to me and apologizes. She whirls around in the direction of her daughter, "Reina! Don't even think about kicking your brother! Cam! Get up and apologize to our guest!"
Though twins, the two kids look close to nothing alike. While the boy, Cam, got his mother's brown eyes and blonde hair, Reina has features similar to Noah. Her hair is dark and her eyes match Noah's perfectly; a gorgeous hazel. They are only half siblings, but the twins have uncanny resemblances to the older Jacksons, from the delicate noses to the wild personalities.
"Sorry, lady," Cam apologizes halfheartedly. "It's just that Reina wants to kick me and I don't want to be kicked! Noah normally controls her, but he's being moody in his room!"
At the mention of Noah's name, my heart skips a beat. "Maybe don't kick your sister first and you won't have this problem." I tell him.
"But I want to kick her."
"Cam, can you take Diana to Noah's room?" Mabel asks her son. She turns to me, "Noah's the only one who can get the twins to listen, especially Cam. He's the troublemaker, but he gets Reina riled up very easily."
Reina and Cam seem to represent sibling culture perfectly.
Cam prances up the stairs, looking back to make sure I am following him down the hallway. Family portraits hang on the walls, and I notice that Noah is only in one of them. That photo hangs right by the door of what I assume is Noah's bedroom, with only him and his father in the picture.
Cam stops at Noah's door and looks up at me. "Are you the reason why my brother has been sad?"
"Partially," I tell him. "I'm here to make things better."
Cam nods, as if understanding everything. "I like you. If you can make my brother happy again, I'll give you some of my chocolate bar. It's hidden in my room, but don't tell my mom 'cause I'm not supposed to have it. She says it makes me too 'hyper.' Whatever that means."
I chuckle at Cam's offer and nod my head. "I'll try my best. Also, love, do your mom a favour and don't kick your sister anymore. She's already got a lot to handle."
Cam shrugs nonchalantly, as if it isn't his problem. It may seem like it now, but he'll realize that the happiness of family is more important than anything. Without another word, Cam walks back downstairs to his mom and sister.
I knock on the door, already having gotten too far to turn back.
"Sorry, Mabel, but I can't deal with the twins' craziness right now," Noah's voice answers. "If Cam is being Cam, just give him some ice cream and turn on Harry Potter. Shuts him right up."
My hand grabs the doorknob and I twist open the door. Standing there is Noah wearing a pair of sweats and no t-shirt. Of course he isn't wearing a t-shirt. Remember, Diana, you're still low key mad.
"Diana?" He asks in disbelief and surprise.
"Um, uh, yeah," I mutter, completely and utterly distracted. Smooth, Diana, smooth. "Can you, ah, put a shirt on, or something?"
Noah smirks but doesn't move. "I don't like wearing a shirt at home. Besides, you're in my room, I have a right to not wear a shirt."
Asshole. He knows that he is attractive and that I am distracted. Why do boys, especially Noah, have to be so cute? It just isn't fair.
"Okay, fine," I say in defeat. "I just needed to see you and make sure you were alright. You left without telling anyone. We couldn't even call you if we wanted to."
"I'm sorry," and it is genuine. "I was pissed and sad and wasn't thinking straight. I left in a rush and forgot my phone back home. You told me to see my dad one time, and I decided to do it now. I'm glad; I've missed him and though the twins are a handful, I love them. Mabel's also really sweet."
"That's good to hear," I breathe out. "I'm sorry for what I said. You're not a coward or an asshole. Well, maybe you're an asshole sometimes, but I hadn't meant what I said during our fight. Anyway, yeah, I just wanted to apologize to your face."
I never did well with apologies. I look down at my feet, shuffling uncomfortably at the silence while still being slightly fazed by the sight before me. I feel Noah's tall presence approach me. He gently lifts his hand to my chin, tilting up my face with a look of concern.
"I'm sorry, too," Noah says. "I said a lot of things I didn't mean out of anger. You were right; it's your choice when it comes to who you want to sleep with and I shouldn't have let my jealousy get out of line like that. Let's avoid fighting, yeah?"
"Yeah," I agree with a small smile. "But that also requires us to not do stupid things, which is unlikely."
Noah chuckles, dropping his hand from my face, "we are quite dumb when it comes to certain things."
"Well, I promise to try and not be dumb." I hold out my pinkie and he laughs and wraps his pinkie around mine.
"I promise that this time, love, I'm holding you close and never letting you go."
A/N: Love is the emblem of eternity; it confounds all notion of time, erases all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end.
This is irrelevant, but I named the twins after Harvest Moon characters because I just started playing the games again and forgot how much I loved them :) x specifically from A Tale of Two Towns cause that was the first one I ever played.