A/N: to show how much I appreciate you lovelies support I decided to open a cover shop just for the month of June. It's titled 'June Covers' and it's found on my profile and the external link on this update. I look forward to making some covers!

AND I finished writing this book recently! I was wondering if you guys were up for double updates weekly? (*internally screams: I FINISHED WRITING A NOVEL*) 

This chapter, unfortunately, has neither Bruce nor Finn but you can enjoy a whole lot of Noah ;)

| dedicated to dobrienly for being so bloody supportive |

HAPPY READING!

Noah, Riley and I were sprawled across the carpet in the living room, watching the television upside down with our legs propped up against the couch.

"This is giving me a headache," Noah groaned.

"Duh," Riley said dramatically—he may have possibly inherited that quirk from me. "The point of the game is to see who gives up first."

"It's rather amusing to see what you definition of fun is," Noah said, sitting up and holing up his hands. "I give up."

"That's no fun," Riley pouted, turning around and sitting straight up on the floor. "You give up. Mum follows and then I'm left looking like an idiot."

"Maybe that's because you are one?"

"Hey, that's my son you're talking to. Nobody gets to call him an idiot but me," I declared, trying to keep the grin off of my face.

"You both are idiots," Riley said, crossing his arms.

I said, "Watch your words, young man. This is your mother you're talking to," just as Noah said, "I wonder where all your free ice-cream will go. Maybe I can actually make more money now."

"I'm the child but you two are the ones that are acting like children!" Riley exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air with frustration.

"Do you hear something?" I asked, turning to Noah with an inquiry look upon my features. "I think I heard a little buzzing noise."

Noah frowned before shaking his head. "No, I didn't hear anything. Maybe it's just an insect that got into the house."

"Probably," I said. "Insects can be annoying. You know, I heard from my dear friend Jiminy Cricket, that insects like to play really strange games so that the adults can get distracted and not notice the time on a school night—"

"You're terrible, Mum," Riley grunted before he stood up. "I'm going to bed now."

"Wait, wait," I said in an airy voice before I grabbed his arm and pulled him down towards me. I smacked a sloppy kiss on his cheek as he moaned, "Ew, Mum!" I hugged him tight, absorbing in his freshness—he had taken a bath half an hour ago—before he wriggled out of my embrace.

"Goodnight baby," I called as Riley stormed away to his room. Turning to Noah, I said, "Kids. You got to love how dramatic they are sometimes."

"Or how dramatic their parents are sometimes," Noah retorted.

"Watch your mouth, young man," I warned, wagging my index finger for emphasis.

"Absolutely, because the tone you use on your son will totally work on me," Noah replied, an amused smile on his lips as his voice laced with thick sarcasm.

Rolling my eyes, I shifted closer to him and leaned my head back on the seat of the couch. A roll of silence washed over us and I closed my eyes, soaking in the small moment of peace I had attained this week. Classes were driving me crazy and it wasn't just the classes that were time consuming. It was the assignments that I tried to finish before the weekend. The procrastination bone in my body has never been weaker than it was this week and I know part of it had to do with the fact that I wanted to try my best this last year and graduate with a quality education but I also knew it had to with the fact that this entire weekend would just be Bruce and I. The mere thought of him kissing me was enough to send me into a temporary blissful heaven.

"Hey, Noah," I called out, opening my eyes slightly, biting down on my lip before I threw away my hesitation. "Can I ask you something?"

"Oh no, Mads," he groaned.  "What did you do?" He looked at me sceptically as he sat up straight and gave me his undivided attention.

"Why would you assume that I did something wrong?" I asked defensively, crossing my arms over my chest and shifting away from him.

"You asked me if you could ask me something. You never ask for my permission," he said pointedly, like those two sentences were self-explanatory.

"So?"

His reply was raised eyebrows and silence.

"Fine," I sighed, rolling my eyes and putting my hands up in dramatic surrender. "Okay, so uh, the thing is... I invited Bruce for Christmas dinner and I don't know if I should have just kept my mouth shut or not."

"You did what?" Noah exclaimed, his eyes widening with surprise and shock. "You asked a man who you've only just started dating to meet your parents?"

"Hey! Technically I asked him if he wanted to spend Christmas with me," I quickly rushed in but I already knew how stupid I was and any attempt to defend my insane reasoning in that moment would be in vain.

"Oh Mads," Noah said, a bemused smile on his lips, "Maddie, Maddie, Maddie."

"I screwed up, didn't I?" I exasperated, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Well," Noah said in that tone that told me that I indeed messed things up. "You know what?" he said before he took my hand and looked at me seriously, "It doesn't matter. Bruce didn't run away. He's still here and if I remember correctly he was the one that was adamant on having you rather than the other way around."

"That's a good point," I said, my voice lifting as I tried to convince myself. "I didn't do anything wrong." One look at Noah's half-convincing smile had my confidence crumbling down in seconds. "Damn me and my big mouth. I always say the wrong things at the wrong time. God, at least you'll be there to cover a portion of my humiliation."

"Right," Noah said, his eyebrows lifting and his face lighting up as realisation dawned it, "About that..."

"What? Don't tell me you're bailing out on me. You cannot do this. Noah Watson, you are a complete and utter arse!" I declared hotly and by the way his lips were pressed down together I could see that he was trying his level best to suppress an amused smile, which obviously only made me feel more agitated. "Does my situation amuse you, Noah? Because if it does, you know where the door is. Please be kind and go ahead and use it."

"Yes, I do know where the door is," Noah began solemnly but as he was unable to hold back his grin, his serious expression fell away and gave rise to an entertained one. "Do you know where it is?"

"Noah!" I shouted in exasperation before hitting him on the shoulder repeatedly.

"Ow!" he yelled. Glaring at me he said, "I have a valid reason for not coming to the Christmas party."

"And what could that possibly be?"

"You say it like I have nothing to do except run my café," he said whilst doing a good impression of a hurt expression.

"Do you?"

"I do!" he argued. "In fact, I have a date and that's why I can't come on the twenty-fifth."

"You're ditching Christmas for a date with...what? Your receipts? Your sales journal?"

"Why, aren't you so healthy for my ego," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Noah, come on! Why aren't you coming?" I asked, all playfulness disappearing.

He paused before he smiled like a child who got a big ice lolly. "I have a date."

"Shut up, you're serious," I spluttered. "You actually have a date? You never go on dates. Oh my God! Did you ask out Veronica?"

"There's no other girl for me," he replied, his grin widening and his teeth coming into view. His toothy grin made me all the more excited for him and I launched forward. Flinging my arms around him, I hugged him tightly before releasing him from my embrace and holding him at an arm's length.

"I'm so proud," I sniffed. "You asked her out!"

"Actually, I don't know. I think we asked each other out," he laughed.

"Oh my God, Noah," I whispered, sitting back down on the floor and looking at him. My heart was beating fast and hard. I felt excited, thrilled and so bloody happy for him. "You're going on a date with your best friend. With Veronica."

"I am, aren't I?" he echoed, like he was struck by an epiphany. "I'm going on a date with my best friend."

"Oh sweetheart," I cooed, "I'm so happy for you. Now that you told me you finally grew some balls and asked her out, tell me everything! I want all the details! Dirty talk included."

Noah laughed and leaned back on the couch. He beckoned me forward by holding out his arm and after snuggling close to him, he began to tell the long tale of how Veronica Myers asked Noah Watson out on a date because he was too shy to do it himself, and by the tone he told the story I could tell that he was extremely content.

I was happy for him as I listened and yet a small part of me couldn't help feeling jealous—not because he was giving his best friend a shot instead of me all those years ago but because that feeling or that emotional attachment he had wasn't the same attachment I had with Bruce Vela, the man who I thought was my Prince Charming.

Perhaps he truly was my Prince Charming and I was looking too much into my emotions. Perhaps.

* * * * *

"You're the most difficult person ever!" I exclaimed, throwing the shirt onto the bed.  After Noah locked up his café the very next day I went to go see him and Riley insisted that he tagged along instead of being babysat by Sophie Carmella who was one of his most reliable babysitters. Actually, his only reliable babysitter—that was when she didn't bring her boyfriend, Andrew, along as well. Riley said that he didn't mind sleeping over at Noah's so we both packed up fresh clothes for school the following morning and his bag before heading over to Noah's apartment.

If I had known that an extremely stubborn man would meet me that night then I would have stayed at home and finished my Statistics assignment.

"What?" Noah defended, looking down at the shirt I had thrown onto the bed. "It's striped and it looks terrible. Have I ever worn that? When did I start owning that terrible piece of clothing?"

"One," I replied tartly, "you've worn in before. Two, you've been owning it for the past four years. Or five. Whatever. The point is, you've had this shirt for a long time and I've seen you wear it a total of six times. No one sees you in this shirt. You should wear it on the date! And three, it's my picking so obviously it's a good shirt."

"One," Noah said, mimicking me in a terrible high-pitched girly voice, "I haven't worn that. Two, You're not a reliable source so I'm never going to take your word for that. Three, what if in that total of six times that I'd worn it Victoria saw me wearing it? And four, I beg to differ. Your taste in clothing is horrendous."

"Why did you ask me to do this? You don't even listen to me," I sighed, turning away from him and facing the bed which had pieces of clothing strewn across it. Shirts, jackets, jeans and shoes adorned the bed in such a fashion that if a stranger had to walk in this very minute they would assume that Noah was the messiest and most unorganised person on this planet when he is was the exact opposite. Noah was the tidiest and most organised person I knew. A perfectionist to an extent.

"I did not ask you to come over," Noah clarified. "You insisted that you help me find an outfit for my date. You even brought Riley over. The poor boy has school tomorrow."

"Duh, that's why he's staying over," I replied, rolling my eyes in a childish manner.

"He's staying over? That's why he has a duffel bag with him. Oh God, Mads. You didn't even ask me!"

"Would you have said no?"

"Of course not."

"You just proved my point," I replied before shooting him a smile.

"You're a witch," he stated. "You have these strange magical powers and you somehow twist people's words and situations to suit your needs and wants."

"Oh my God, he's found out. My secret is out in the open. What ever shall I do?" I talked to myself in a high pitched voice, laced with worry as I feigned a terrified expression.

"You're going to be the death of me," he exhaled tiredly, rolling his eyes before he located his chair in the mess that was his room and sat down on it.

"Don't you mean Veronica is going to be the death of you?" I teased.

"Piss off," he grunted, extending his hand to his desk where it landed on a magazine. He threw it in my direction and I swatted my hands in front of me, slapping the magazine out of harm's way.

"Noah! Would you really hurt a woman like that?"

"Please go home," he pleaded.

"I am home," I winked.

"What? You're staying over too?"

"Do you truly think I'd go anywhere without my boy? It's Friday tomorrow and Finn's coming to pick him after school. And...I'll be too busy in the weekend to help you pick out an outfit," I explained, giving him a toothy grin.

"Riley's going to always be a Mama's boy. Poor him. He's going to be so embarrassed when he invites his school friends over and dearest Mama decides to show off some baby pictures."

"Oh, shush. I'm not that terrible," I said, grabbing the magazine that Noah had earlier flung at me before throwing it at him. "Plus, I've only got about five hundred baby pictures."

He caught it smoothly without having to flail his arms like I did. I frowned before he said, leaning forward on his chair, "You're really giving Finn a chance, aren't you?"

"He deserves it, Noah," I replied looking down at the bed. Finding a good spot, I pushed some clothes out of the way and sat down. Before Noah could scold me for spilling some clothes onto the floor—with his expression set I could tell he was ready to jump into an argument—I said, "I've been too harsh on Finn."

"He deserved it," Noah said unconvincingly.

"Did he?" I pushed. "Come on, you don't have to hate him because of everything that happened between him and I. I don't even hate him. Plus, I saw you two bonding over a repeat of a football game during Christmas last year."

"Hey," Noah defended, rising from his chair, "It was a very frustrating game. Arsenal and Chelsea were playing and—"

"Any more sports talk and I'm leaving," I said firmly as I cut him off.

"Great, you'll leave? So where was I? Right, Alexis Sánchez had the ball and I swear the way that man handles his balls has got—"

He was cut off by my interruption of laughter. His words echoed through my mind and I couldn't stop laughing. Tears sprung to my eyes and my cheeks begun to ache as my stomach began to hurt. Placing a hand over my stomach, I forced myself to quell my laughter and look at Noah. But even looking at him made me want to laugh. He was looking at me like I had grown two heads, and neither of my heads were sane.

"What the hell was that?" Noah questioned, his expression one of that of bewilderment.

"The way that man handles his balls? Come on, that's funny!" I giggled, falling back on top of the bed, above all the clothes.

Noah sighed before I heard him say, "You the most immature adult I know of. You're twenty-six, you have a child and you're laughing your arse off because I said something about a man handling his balls."

"You're such a downer. Have a little fun and let loose," I said, sighing dramatically for effect as I felt the bed sink in beside me. Turning my head I saw that Noah was lain beside me, arms stretched up and below his head with his eyes trained on the ceiling.

"I don't like avoiding my problems. I'd rather face them now than ignore them to only have them bite me in the arse when I least expect it," he said softly and by the abrupt change of tone and the way he was concentrating on the ceiling, like he was avoiding any eye-contact with me, I knew there was a double meaning behind those words and that the double meaning was directed towards me.

"What are you getting at, Noah?" I questioned, sitting up.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" he asked, still successful in avoiding my eye.

"Is there something that I'm hiding from you? Because if you know something that I apparently don't then please be kind enough to tell me about it," I snapped, glaring down at him.

Finally facing me, he sat up straight. "You just seem unhappy," he confessed.

"But I'm not unhappy," I remarked defensively.

"Okay...not unhappy. Just not entirely happy," he said.

"Isn't that the same thing?" I retorted. "What are you getting at, Noah?"

"I'm not getting at anything," he said softly. "I'm concerned. This entire week you've been dating Bruce but there's something that's wrong. I don't know what it is but I know that you know what it is. For example, on Wednesday after your classes you came over to the café with Riley, and Bruce showed up an hour later for a coffee break. I joined you guys for a moment and learnt that he'd be heading back to the office. Apparently he was going to be working late. And for the few minutes that I was with all of you, I noticed something about you that was out of place. Bruce was talking to Riley about their favourite DC superheroes and I think Marvel was mentioned too but you know that I honestly couldn't be bothered with that stuff. I saw that you kept looking at Bruce the entire time."

"So? He is my boyfriend," I replied, my voice holding a cautious tone, "It's not a sin to be looking at my boyfriend." I knew what he was hinting at but I pretended to be oblivious to what he was talking about. The more I ignored it the better things would turn out for me. For Riley.

"So," Noah said, taking in a deep breath after his long rant, "you weren't looking at him with those girlfriend-crazed loving eyes. You were looking at him like you were questioning him in your mind. You're not content about something, Mads, and I want to know what the problem is."

I stood up abruptly and gave my back to Noah. My heart began to race and I wasn't sure if it was because I was nervous or because I was infuriated. I clenched my fists on either side of me before I whirled around, some of my blonde hair catching in the grasp of my mouth, before I stared evenly at him. Clearing my vision of the strands of hair that were in the way, I bit out icily, "There isn't a problem, Noah. Bruce is amazing. He's kind, he's funny. God, do you know how funny he is? He's absolutely brilliant and how could a girl not be happy to be with a man like Bruce Vela. There is no problem, Noah. At least I thought there wasn't." Taking a deep breath, I said accusingly, "You told me that you would give Bruce a chance. It's been almost a week since we started going out and you're already at his neck. What is your problem, Noah? Bruce is a good man. Why are you trying to find reason to separate us?"

Throughout my heated confession, Noah gaped at me with his eyes widened in shock. "Uh," he sputtered, blinking his eyes rapidly. I learnt that it was something he did when he was trying to collect his thoughts and clearly now he was unable to do that. "I don't know... What? Maddie, I..."

"What excuse are you trying to conjure up?" I inquired with my hands placed on my hips and my eyebrows drawn upwards in question.

"Look, Mads," he started, sighing deeply, "I told you that day that I was going to lay off Bruce. And I have laid off him. You assured me that nothing was going to change expect the possibly that you and Bruce may work out in the long run. I trust your assurance and I've treated Bruce as I'd treat most people I like. He's a very likable man so that's not a hard task. What is arduous is seeing you not happy."

"I am happy, sweetheart," I whispered, looking down at Noah with a look of desperation. I wanted him to believe me. Heck, I believed me, and I didn't know why it was so hard for Noah not to believe me. Yes, I did have a few doubts about my feelings for Bruce but I liked him. I liked him very much and this I was being genuine about.

"Okay," he nodded but by the disapproving look he had in his eyes I could tell that he wasn't happy with my confirmation. "As long as you're happy then I have no reason to bring up arguments."

"Exactly," I concurred. "And, I am sorry for coming without calling."

Noah looked like he wanted to say something about that. I had always called if I was coming for lunch, dinner or to hang out with him. I had never been here unannounced. I knew it had to be along the lines of that but instead, Noah said, "I have to wake up early. It may not be known to you but I have to work unlike some people."

"Ha-ha," I barked out sarcastically before rolling my eyes. My lips turned into an easy smile slowly and I gave him a nod. "Thanks Noah. You always look out for me even when it's an excruciatingly tiring job," I whispered.

His lips pulled up into a half-smile. "You're like my sister, Mads. It's my duty to look out for you whether I like it or not. It actually feels rather honorary to be looking out for you."

My smile grew wider. I honestly didn't know where I'd be if Noah hadn't been with me all these six years. He had helped me more than I'd given him credit for but Noah and I rarely ever got touchy-feely on our relationship and when we did it was always heavy with emotion.

"I'm going to go check on Rye now," I said. "Come and say goodnight after you've cleaned this mess, alright?"

"Excuse me?" Noah barked. "I am not going to be cleaning this mess. You created it. You clean it up!"

"What's that?" I asked, leaning over a little and straining my ear as I cupped it with one hand. "I think Riley is calling me. Do you hear that? I think he's saying 'Mum, help me. I'm being eaten by a dinosaur!'"

"MADDIE!" Noah roared.

I giggled as I ran to the door and closed it just in time before the clothes he hurled at me hit me. "I can't let my son be eaten by a dinosaur!" I yelled, knowing that he could hear me through the closed door that was in between us.

I heard a grunt and a thud which I assumed were more clothes being hurled frustratingly at his door. I couldn't help but laugh as I turned away and walked towards the guest bedroom with a silly smile on my lips. Noah always complained about how dramatic I was and here he was orchestrating how dramatic he was.

"Oh my God!" I started, startled by the sight that greeted me upon opening the guest bedroom door. Riley was on the floor sound asleep surrounded by a mess of his own. Sweet and chocolate wrappers circled him and his mouth was smeared with chocolate, brown staining his face. Rushing towards him, I bent over and scooped him into my arms. "Riley," I cooed, shaking his slightly. "Come on, baby. Let's get you cleaned up."

He groaned in reply and turned over in my arms, cuddling next to me. "All right, kiddo," I resigned delightfully as I hugged him tighter to my chest and cradled him in my arms. He was becoming bigger and bigger for me but with him between my arms I felt content. I felt safe. Riley was safe and if he was safe then I was safe.

"We shall get you cleaned up in the morning but let's hope we get to the shower before Noah because we all know how long Uncle Noah takes in the shower," I whispered, dragging a lazy hand through my son's thick brown hair.

When his snores were my reply, I nuzzled him closer and closed my eyes.