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Noah
I am going to say it.
Yes, I am going to say or admit or whatever-shit-synonyms-are-there it.
Alexa Harrington is the ultimate third wheeler and mind you, my best friend is Aditya Subramaniam.
First of all, she wakes us up by screaming on top of her lungs and banging her small fist on the door. Second of all, she wakes us up at six am, sharp, when all I wanted was to cuddle with Bella and I know Bella wanted the same with a little more sleep time, of course.
Third, when Tamara gives me the keys of her car for the day, I can practically feel Gabriella's stare into my head and the look she has been giving me since I got here (also, the one Caleb gives me)â 'One wrong step, you are out'
Now, this.
"This song is just bad as the last one." Alex groans from the back seat. "Change it, ag-ghain."
I have some feelings about this morning.
"Kind of agreeing with Alex here, Noah," Bella says. I glance at her, raising my eyebrows. "It is really slow for a morning. I know you like R&Bs but just put some pop songs."
Alex nods and looks at me through the rear mirror. "Please do it for this cute little human?" She says, blinking her eyes and pouting, as I look at her through the rear mirror.
I start to say, "No canâ"
"Oh shush, I am changing." Bella changes the song to a pop song and Alex grins at me. I scoff but don't say anything as both of them start humming to the beat.
Though not related by blood, Bella and Alex are like shadows of each otherâsame music preferences, same stances about dressing up, and also, both are way too curious for their own good.
Bella turns slightly in her seat and starts clicking pictures with the yellow-colored camera her parents got her. She tries to click my picture but I turn away, scowling.
"You know," She starts to say to me. "Even if you turn away, I am still going to click your pictures."
"I knew you were obsessed with me," I retort, smirking.
"I am not obsessed with you, Stupid." She scoffs, looking away, and I try to restrain myself from smiling.
"So stubborn."
I can feel her, slowly, turn to me with a frown. "I am notâyou are the stubborn one."
Before I can reply, a loud groan comes from behind and I remember we have a child with us.
"Can you both not?" Alex says, giving us a look. Bella and I share a smile, knowing our small arguments are way too common but not for Alex.
Bella turns and asks her, "Alex, are we there yet?"
"No," I reply, instead. When Bella looks at me, questioningly, I add, "I, along with Chris, stayed in Nottingham with Grandmother for two years. We used to come to London, frequently. So, I remember the waysâit has not changed much, anyway."
"When?" She asks me.
"Sophomore and junior year," I answer, briefly.
"Wait, that meansâ"
I clear my throat. "We are almost there," I say, and hope Bella drops the subject. She does after she looks at me for some time with a curious expression.
The whole family is on a vacation to Bahrain, except for me because Mum decided to keep me and my father away for some time. Hell, like we weren't already.
So, when I told Mum that I wanted to go to London, conveniently omitting the fact that I'll be with Bella, she straightaway agreed. She thinks that I am living with one of my cousins, who resides in London. Of course, not, since I am staying at Bella's aunt's placeâwho hates me, I think.
When we reach the parking lot of the practice ground, Alex, suddenly, shouts, "Oh, lookie here. It is Ronaldâhey, Ronny!"
This Ronald kid is almost seven cars away from ours and the fact he can hear her, as he turns towards the source with a scowl, just tells me how normal it is for Alex to be loud.
"What's up, loser?" Alex shouts, again, grinning, as she runs towards him. Bella clicks another picture as two of us walk behind her.
The kid looks around as if trying to escape but before he can do that, Alex jumps on to hug him. I am trying not to laugh as Ronald tries to run away but Alex tugs him towards us.
"This is Ronald, one of my friends," Alex introduces. "He is shorter than me with blue eyes and red hairâhe's Scottishâ"
"IâI am not thottish," He says in between in a low voice.
"âand he has a lisp. It is really cute." Alex grins, wrapping her arm around Ronald. "Ronny, this is Iris and Noah."
"Hi, there Ronald." Bella bends down, smiling sweetly at him. "Nice to meet you."
Ronald blinks at her before he replies, shyly, "You are pretty."
I shake my head, knowing this kid has formed a crush on my woman.
"Er..." Bella blushes at his comment. "Thank you, Ronald. You are handsome."
Ronald turns as red as his hair and I narrow my eyes at Bella as she straightens up.
"Ronald! Where did you go? Darn theâThere you are..." A woman older than usâmid-twenties, most probablyâruns towards us and sighs looking at Ronald. "I had told you to tell me before you run off somewhere."
"Sorry, Miss Melanie. I took him away," Alex says with a smile as Ronald looks away.
Melanie shakes her head, before looking at us. For some moments, she stares at us until a recognition spark in them. "You must be Gabriella's niece, Iris, and her friend, Noah."
I recoil at the word friend. We are not friends but, unfortunately, we are not exactly those friends yet. I have to change that but I just don't want her to rush in with me. I know her past relationship has left some insecurities in her and also, she needs to know me fully before we jump into anything official.
"Hello," Bella says to her, smiling. Then, Melanie turns to me, expectant.
"Nice to meet you," I lie, without smiling. Bella rolls her eyes, subtly, knowing that I am lying.
"Alright, kids, we will be late to practice," Melanie says to the kids and turns to us. "Both of you can go and check the cityâthough it is a bit windy, today, you can have a wonderful tour. I will drop off Alex at her home after practice."
"Thank you, Miss Melanie," Bella replies, smiling. She smiles back at her, before taking Alex and Mason towards the football field.
Bella turns to me with a glare, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Could be any ruder?"
"Yes," I reply and look back at her with the same expression. "You never called me handsome."
She rolls her eyes, moving towards the car. "Shut it." She says, "I can't believe you are jealous of a six-year-old kid."
Taking normal strides, I walk beside her. "Because you called him handsome, not me."
"You are stupid," Now, she turns to me with a smile reserved just for meâa shy yet so confident one. "But you are my stupid."
Taking a step back but still walking, I just look at her while she still moves towards the car.
Her black hair has been pulled up into a small messy bun, just some strands falling on her face, and my black sunglasses pushed upon her head. She has worn a blue turtleneck with jeans and white sneakers; her clothes hugging her curvy body perfectly.
Only now, my phone ringsâwho else will call me?
Hearing the same, Bella turns towards me, questioningly for a moment, but when I sigh, she laughs.
"Adi?" She asks, grinning. I roll my eyes, declining the call. "Come on, just listen to him."
"I will, after we get into the car," I say, opening the passenger side door for her. She shakes her head, getting inside the car.
Just as I enter the car, Bella's phone starts ringing. She looks at it and turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "He's calling me, now?"
"Pick it up. Let's get over his dramatic ass," I sigh.
She laughs, before picking up the call. "Heyâ Did he just hang up on me?"
"He's going to video call you since you have got his attentionâ" The phone rings again and I can see his fucking face with anger yet excitement.
"Hey, Milady!" Adi grins at her and she grins back.
"AS!"
"Add another s and he is an ass," I murmur just when Adi speaks again.
He narrows his eyes at me and says, "Hey, you dick. I have some fucking words to say to youâIris, do me a favor and close your ears."
"No," We reply to him. I say no because I know the words, he is going to sayâthey have been sailing up in all of Adi's messages.
"If you have some words to say, censor them and say it but I am listening to this," Bella tells him, sternly. "And no changing of languagesâboth of you. I swear it is frustrating when you change the language. If you want to, speak in SpanishâI understand that."
Adi blinks at her. "You just scolded me?"
"Yes," She replies and I grin.
My little warrior.
Adi looks offended but it takes him less than a second to go full 'best friend betrayed me' mode and I scowl, again.
"You don't have the right to scold meâ you both are together in London! You both cannot go on a honeymoon without gettingâ"
"Adi," I give him a look as Bella turns scarlet.
"What? It is the truthâ" He pauses, looking between my glare and Bella's shy expression. "oh, you both are taking it slow or something?"
Both of us nod at his question, not giving any more information.
Bella tucks her hair behind her ear and asks Adi, "How did you know that Noah is here?"
"Such news travelâokay, don't give me the lookâColt kind ofâ"
"I am going to kill that idiot," Bella groans, putting her head against the backrest. "Did he say anything else?"
"You talk about me, I see," I kiss her head, smiling. She groans, putting a hand over her eyes.
"Guys," Adi waves on the screen. "I am right here. Don't want to see best friend pornoâ"
I take the phone from Bella's hand before her cheeks can be any more scarlet. "Talk to you, later," I tell Adi.
"But listen, remember to uâ"
"Bye, Aditya," I say, ending the call. I am about to give back her phone but stop when I see her phone background has changed.
It's of us.
In the picture, we are wrapped in each other's embrace.
I remember, distinctly, the way Bella's cheeks turned pink when cold wind brushed past us. She had shivered so slightly that if I was not watching her with full attention, I would not have noticed it. Just making silence speak between us, I had pulled her closer to me. Like I hoped, she hadn't objected; she just wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my chest.
I don't know how long we stood like thisâsomething Bella would know. All I remember is the synchronized beating of our racing hearts and a sense of both physical and emotional attraction combined.
It had been clicked by Mellissa, the pregnant lady, when she caught us like this.
"Noah."
When Bella takes her phone away from my gaze, I bounce back to the present, grinning like a fucking idiot.
She groans, "You were not supposed to see that."
"I am supposed to do a lot of things but I choose not to." I wink towards her. "And, you were declining that you had an obsession with me with that as your background?"
Bella looks away, hiding her face with her hands. "Oh goodness, I am so embarrassed."
I chuckle and get out my phone. "Look," I say, showing her my phone's lock screen. It is the same picture. "You are not only one," I say and she takes my phone, gaping at it.
"You, you too?" She looks at me, innocently, and bites her lips. She looks so adorable... so kissable.
Not now.
Kissing her hand, I whisper, "Of course, me too."
Holding her hand, I look at her with a small smile, after starting the car. She raises an eyebrow at me, silently asking what the fuck is wrong with meâwithout the f-word.
"Nothing," I reply to her, still smiling. "Just... know that today might be one of the best days of us."
"Us?" Bella grins.
"Us," I confirm.
***
As we enter the house, Bella gets attacked by one of the twins. I don't which one but he hugs her leg, giggling. Surprised, Bella stumbles back on my chest and I hold her upright.
She laughs and looks down at the kid. "James, thank you for welcoming us!"
Right, he is James.
"Boo!" James says to her and she picks him up to hold him in her arms, going into the house.
"Right, boo," She kisses his cheek, and he giggles again.
"You are quite natural at this..." I comment and she looks at me, giving a half-smile.
She tells me, "I didn't like to borrow money. So, I used to babysitâit just lasted for a month. Babysitting is not for me. I am just good with kidsâwell, only some."
"Some?" I ask and she pauses, her eyes glaze over.
"I am way too much of a pushover," She mumbles. She lets out a laugh as James touches her face, trying to get her attention.
I raise my eyebrows at her claim. Bella is never a pushoverâthat is one of the things I really like about her. Sure, she is stubborn to the core just like me but she is not someone who will force out stuff from people, let alone kids.
"You are notâ"
"Oh, finally, you both are here."
Tamara and Gabriella are sitting in the living room with William playing with blocks in front of them. James wiggles in Bella's arms and she smiles, letting him go to William.
"Yeah, I met Ronald, finally." Bella shakes her head, chuckling. "I have no idea how that boy handles our Alex."
"We have been wondering the same," Gabriella says to her, smiling. "So, you both took your sweet, sweet," She looks at me. "time."
On the way here, I had to stop on multiple occasions as Bella tried to click pictures, and honestly, she tried to be a good photographer but she is just not. Most of the pictures were blurry or clicked way too awkwardly. Only some pictures were good enough for Bella to be not deleted.
Bella and I share a smile, subtly, but of course, not so subtle as Tamara notices this and grins.
"It's fine, Gaby," Tamara nudges her. "It is not like we haven't done stuffâ"
"We get the point," Gabriella and Bella say, interrupting her, and Tamara smiles, unapologetically. Tamara gets up and holds Bella by her shoulders.
"Iris, we have a good dayâlet's go out," She says to her.
"Out?"
"Gaby declined my request," she gives Gabriella a glare and Gabriella just rolls her eyes. "So, you can come withâ but only girls." She adds, looking at me. "Sorry, Noah, I had dibs on spending time with Iris first."
"I am okay if she is okay," I tell her, shrugging my shoulders.
"So, you are okay staying here with Gaby?"
Bella turns to me, wide-eyed. I pause, glancing towards Gabriella, who is raising an eyebrow towards me, waiting for my answer.
Honestly, I don't really give a shit about what she thinks about me. Her watching my every movement as if waiting for a bomb to burst after my one step is just a minor problem to me. But I know Bella really cares about her opinion and somehow, I really want to prove to Gabriella that I am good to Bella.
"It is not like he is a child," Gabriella says to Tamara, shrugging.
I can see Bella starts to panic and she starts to say, "Aunt Gabyâ"
"He can handle himself," Gabriella turns to me. "Right?"
"I will be fine," I tell Bella, squeezing her hand. She relaxes a bit but she still looks concerned. "As she said, I can handle myself." I turn to Gabriella and nod, curtly.
"You know, I am gunna take the kids too," Tamara says, flinging an arm around Bella's shoulder. "I don't want them to watch a war," She murmurs, making Bella laugh. "Iry, get ready and come. We will leave in some time."
When Tamara and Bella go to get ready, Gabriella looks at me and turns away. "Do whatever you want, just don't disturb me."
"I have no interest in disturbing you, Miss Harrington." She glances at me over her shoulder and I say, "But I just want you to know BellaâIris is as important to me as she is to you, if not more."
She gives me a nonchalant nod and walks away. But I feel like that I passed some test.
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- a u t h o r ' s n o t e -
hey. hey. hey. it's another saturday and another update! also, also, some good news: Ineffable has been featured in StoriesUndiscovered's reading list for july! eeeeeeep, i am too happy!
inerys