N   I   C   H   O   L   A   S

       WE'VE BEEN running around for the last hour, getting all the last minute touches done and most of the people are here already which I'm relieved about because Tori just messaged me to tell me they are leaving soon. Everything has worked out perfectly and I can't be happier. The white walls are covered with balloons in Noah's favourite colors, black and green with hints of gold, not to mention the mass amount of balloons on the ceiling.

"Maybe we over did it with the balloons?" I think looking up.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' banners are placed everywhere and there are pictures of Noah from him as a kid until now with Tori, most recently from their engagement party. Mom insisted on the pictures, which I know he'll be embarrassed by the baby pictures hanging up, but I'm not the one he'll be killing, that will be her.
There's a table near the far end, covered in a black cloth with a two tier cake -  the numbers '35' on top and all the presents people have bought so far next to it. The faint sound of music is playing from the raised floor near the back and I'm just happy Aaron was able to get a decent DJ for me. Dotted around the room are round tables that sit five to six people, matching the colour scheme of black cloths with green accents. The chatter around the room between all of our family and Noah's friends mutter lowly, a warm feeling inside me thinking how we was able to pull it off.
The restaurant looks bare with the temporary tables and chairs, but at least the bar is fully functional. It was always the plan to keep everything simple so that Noah can pick everything he envisioned in his dream to make it now a reality. I just hoped he loved it.

"Mr Greyson?" A voice says, pulling me from my thoughts as I look around the room at all of the guests. "Everything is all set, food will be served on your cue sir," the dark haired, brown eyed girl says to me.

We had hired a party planner to deal with everything while Nat and I concentrated on making sure the building wasn't going to fall down, but the only problem was that this girl keeps trying to flirt with me. No matter how mean I am towards her, it's not working to get the message across that I'm not interested. It's like she gets a kick out of my coldness towards her, turning her on in all the right ways. But she's not her, she's not Ryan. And she's the only girl I want.

"Fine," I say coldly waving my hand at her. I don't know where Chris found this women, but the constant flirting, the eye winks, the lip biting, the short skirts and low cut tops she always wears, showing off her smooth mocha skin is not only unprofessional in my eyes, but desperate.

"Anything I can get you sir?" She says, biting her bottom lip and flicking her hair over her shoulder as she drinks in my appearance with lust.

"I know where the bar is Tiffany," I tell her not even looking at her. I know I'm cold towards her, in all honesty I'm just not interested now I have the girl I've always wanted. If Ryan wasn't in the picture then I'd jump at the chance just to get my dick wet because it's been awhile, but there's no one like my princess.

"Well, you know where I'll be if you need me," she says, placing her hand on my shoulder, "for anything," she whispers in my ear.

"This bloody woman," I think as I roll my eyes at her.

I know what your thinking. A beautiful women is throwing themselves at you and your completely ignoring her, but I've never been the one to like women who throw themselves desperately at me. I like the chase. The early stages of courting and flirting with a women before I do anything with them. Call me old fashioned but, I've always preferred the more reserved kind of women than the women who are confident and in charge from the get go.
I've always liked the challenge of bringing out their inner vixen and every women I've been with has been like that, including Melanie and now Ryan. The only women I've been with that was outside my normal box of what I find attractive is Samatha and I always learn from my mistakes.

"Can you make sure there is enough champagne for the guests, my brother is on his way and I want everyone with a glass before he arrives," I say with boredom.

"No problem," she says and walks away with a sway in her step, leaving behind her sickly sweet perfume.

"Wow..." I hear Nat chuckle, "someone wants you."

"Don't."

"What?" He laughs, handing me a tumbler with dark liquid inside and sitting next to me. We're sitting on a table on the far side of the room, the large floor to ceiling windows in front of us with a great view of the street and the main entrance so we'll see when Noah and Tori turn up.

"You know what Nat..." I warn, "all she does is flirt with me, we're paying her to throw a party not get in my pants," I huff out.

"You always hated the overly confident ones," he smirks, taking a sip of his beer.

"Just wish Chris was here to deal with her, he's never going on vacation again," I groan and I back the whole glass of whiskey Nat handed to me, the liquor burning my throat as it slides down and my face winces. Thank fuck we hired a car to drive us to and from home, I'm drinking more than enough so driving is definitely out of the question.

"It's his summer vacation Nic," he chuckles, handing me another glass. "He'll be back next week and you can strangle him then."

Suddenly we hear the door open and my heart skips a beat a little, thinking it's Tori with Noah. I can't stop my nerves and every time the door goes I think it's them. Peter walks in with a black suit and crisp white shirt, holding two boxes in his hand while the other is holding the door open for Carrie who looks lovely in a long pink dress, but it's the girl behind her that makes my heart stop and my mouth go dry.

"Fuck," myself and Nat whisper together, standing up from our seats to get a better look at her.

Her hair in curled, flowing down her side, her neck fully exposed on one side and her make up naturally done, only to enhance her beauty even more. Her smile captivates me as she spots Sophie, Jackson and Mathew on the far side of the room. Peter takes the white boxes she was carrying in her hands, giving them to Tiffany who greeted them at the door and disappears into the kitchen. That's when I notice what she's wearing, the outfit she wore when I knew for certain I liked her more than I should. The outfit we both knew we liked her more than we should.

"You notice what she's wearing?" Nat mumbles.

"Yeah..." I smile, "she looks more beautiful now then she did back then."

"Is that even possible?" Almost like she knew where we were or felt our stare, her head snaps towards us, her eyes meeting mine and then at Nat, shuffling between the two of us; I can't help the smirk playing on my lips as she slowly rakes her eyes over us.

She looks back at her friends, they all nod at her and she slowly walks over to us, a small sway in her hips. My instincts tell me to grab her and kiss her like my life depends on it, but we're surrounded by our family who don't know that somethings going on with us; not to mention that if I kiss her the way I want to, not only will I not be able to stop, but Nat would want to as well.

"Princess," I smile when she nears in a husky tone.

"Beautiful," Nat says, matching my husky voice, clearing thinking what I'm thinking.

"Hi," She says softly as we both scan her body wearing the black dress with lace that we bought her for prom and not forgetting the black vans she wore that night to go with it. She keeps walking towards us, stopping to reach her arms up and each one wraps around our necks, pulling us into her.

"You look amazing beautiful," Nat kisses her cheek

"Absolutely stunning baby girl," I whisper in her ear, "too bad we have an audience though because as gorgeous as you are in this dress, I'm sure Nat will agree we'd rather have you naked before us. Our tongues devouring every inch of you."

She pulls back, her cheeks tinged with a pink hue and I can't help the chuckle escape my lips, "you guys need to control yourself, we're surrounded by our families," she says thought gritted teeth.

"Champagne for the gorgeous lady?" A tall waiter says, with blonde hair and I feel my temper flare when he flirtatiously stares at our girl.

"Thanks," she smiles going to grab the last glass on his tray, but I grab it instead, "hey?!"

"Make sure everyone is served a glass," I say with gritted teeth. "And your being paid to serve drinks, not flirt with the guests, understand me?"

"Yes sir," he says and scurries away.

"Harsh much," Nat chuckles and I just smirk.

"I am when something that is mine is involved."

"Didn't need to scare him Nico, the guy almost shit his pants," she sighs, looking towards the blonde kid as he picks up another tray of drinks.

"Language princess."

"Sorry," she says looking down, but perks up when she tries to grab the champagne flute from my hand.

"Your not twenty one yet."

"Sophie and Matthew have a glass," she points behind her and sure enough they both have a flute in their hands, "even Jackson has one. I'm going to be twenty one before all of them."

"And as much as Matthew will enjoy it, I can't spank them for being disobedient when I don't want them to do something, can I?" I say lowly and I see her visually gulp with the memory of her bent over my knees as I spanked her.

"Come on Nic, stop teasing her and give her the champagne for the toast at least," Nat chuckles and I chuckle myself as I place the flute in her hand with a wink.

"I'm still gonna bend you over my knee for swearing princess."

"Well don't you boys look handsome," Carrie says as she walks towards us with Peter next to her and I see Ryan's eyes widen, maybe thinking her parents heard me because I sure as hell didn't whisper what I was going to do.

"Carrie, looking lovely as always," I say greeting Ryan's Mom with a kiss to the cheek and she passes me for Nat to do the same.

"Oh this old thing," she chuckles and looks over at her daughter. "Ryan? You okay sweetie, your cheeks are flushed red honey?" She questions and all I can do is smirk at my girl as she looks away.

"I'm fine," she squeaks.

"Boys," her Dad says and shakes my hand before shaking Nat's. "Great work you've done here, your Mother told us how hard you've both been working to finish it," Peter smiles as he places a hand around Ryan's shoulders and tucking her in under his arm.

"Thank you sir, we just hope we haven't disappointed Noah."

"Nonsense Nathan, I'm sure your brother will be overcome with gratitude," he smiles just as my phone pings in my pocket with a message.

Tori:
We are a block away!

"Speaking of my brother," I breath out nervously, "Tori just messaged me... they're a block away."

"Places everyone, the birthday boy is almost here!" Nat says at the top of his lungs and everyone hush's softly, the entire place just a low murmer of chatter as we wait for their car to pull up.

As I look over to my left our Mother walks towards us, dressed in a light pink dress that stops at her knees, a glass of champagne in hand with a smile. The look of happiness is overwhelming on her face and I crack a small smile towards her as she stands between Nat and I. "You did good my boys, really good. This place is absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of you for doing this for your brother, I can't wait to see his face."

"Thanks Mom," Nat gushes and she hugs us both. When we pull back from her I see Tori and Noah walking towards the door of his new restaurant and my anxiety starts up again. I take deep breaths, swigging back the whiskey I've been holding for the last ten minutes and wince from the burning of the liquor falling down my throat. "Ready?!" Nat says as he looks around the room at everyone and the multiple faces smiles around us.

A small hand grips onto mine, a reassuring thumb caressing my hand as I shake from nerves, when I look down I follow the length of the arm up until I reach the eyes of the person holding me. My blue orbs meet green and my heart skips a beat as I get lost in those emerald eyes I love to stare at, instantly calming me down.

"Don't worry, he's going to love it," she whispers with a smile and I wink at her, tightening my hold on her hand.

The door opens, Noah holding the door for Tori to walk in first and he follows behind her, never noticing the familiar faces around him as he looks down at his phone. A giggle from the corner makes his head snap up and his eyes widen once he spots faces he recognises. He catches my eye, then looking next to me at Nat before the room erupts into a cheer.

"SURPRISE!!!"

"Happy birthday baby," Tori says, pulling his neck into a hug.

"Wha-... ho-... oh my god," he tries to say, but he is lost for words and people start walking up to him, hugging him or shaking his hand as he smiles at everyone around him. "How did you pull this off?"

"Secret meetings with Nic and Nat."

"Baby, your too much," he tells Tori as he pulls her in for a hug and a kiss to the cheek.

Slowly he pries his way from everyone, walking towards us as he stops in front of Mom and she pulls him towards her, kissing his cheek, then wrapping him in a hug, "happy birthday son."

"Thanks Mom. I thought you was sick?" He chuckles.

"Had to tell you something to throw you off the scent of your surprise party."

"Happy birthday bro," Nat interrupts them and he pulls back, punching Nat in the shoulder before pulling him in for his own hug.

"You asshole, I can't believe you hid this from me?!"

"I can't believe you never noticed," Nat chuckles and Noah pulls away, leaning towards me, but I stop him before he can hug me as well.

"Wait... I have a speech prepared and I need to do it now before I back out," I say. I feel Nat's eyes snap to me relieved I'm still doing the speech and not him.

"Okay," Noah tells me with a confused look.

"Come with me?" I whisper to Ryan. I need her near me while I give my speech and eventually the keys to Noah's dream. She's the only thing keeping me calm right now and I need her near me, "I'm a nervous wreak princess and you holding my hand is reassuring," I smile.

"Okay," she softly whispers, her green eyes twinkling at me and I walk over to the DJ booth, Ryan trailing behind me as people look at us in confusion, walking pass people. When I reach the end of the crowd I step up to the booth, grabbing the microphone and never letting go of her hand that's wrapped around mine.

"Ladies and gentlemen can I have your attention please?" I start and the room quietens down again, this time no one says a word, only the sounds of the people in the kitchen out back and the bartenders making drinks. "Most of you know that I'm a man of few words, and some of you know I'm a man of no words," most of the room smiles and a few people chuckle, so I continue. "Only tonight, I have something important I want to share," I say out loud, looking at Noah.

I gulp feeling everyone's eyes on me. I'm not nervous about speaking, I've done it countless of times in meetings, excepting awards on behalf of my Mother and Grandfather many times. It's just the end of the speech I'm worried about and how Noah will react to his birthday present.

"Noah..." I smile at him, "...for as long as I can remember you've taken care of not only Mom when she needed you most, but also myself and Nat. You've done everything you could to keep us safe and alive... Although I still think we could of made that jump over the canyon on our skateboards when we were kids," a light chuckle echos around the room from our guests, a cheesey smile on Noah's face from the memory of his freak out as he pulled Nat and I away from the edge of the deep hole.
When the room settles I continue my speech with a smile, "there isn't a time or place you haven't been there for Nathan or even for me when I've been at my worse," I pause, memories flooding my mind of my darkest days and Noah being there. I see Noah's eyes glisten, Nat standing next to him with the same look as he wraps a arm over our brothers shoulders and I can't seem to speak until I hear a gasp next to me. My grip on Ryan's hand had tightened as I try to push all the bad things away, but I soften, knowing she's near me.

"Nico?" Ryan says softly.

I turn my head to her and nod, stroking my thumb over her skin reassuringly. Composing myself I carry on with the speech, "you're the best big Brother anyone could ever ask for and I'm grateful to call you my Brother, my family, my protector, my blood... I'm just glad Mom decided to keep you rather than take mine and Nat's advice to ship you off to the circus," I joke and the room giggles once again while I try to think of the more funnier times in our lives rather than the bad.

"Hey!" Noah laughs looking at Mom and she nods her head, confirming the conversation, plus the presentation board we both did for her.

"No-No," I whisper with a smile, calling him the name we used as kids because we couldn't pronounce Noah. He smiles back, he's eyes tearing up looking between me and Nat. "You've done your big Brother duties and now it's time Nathan and I paid you back for everything you've done for us with the one thing you've wanted since you was a kid. Nat?" I gesture to him and he pushes Noah towards the raised platform where I'm standing next to Ryan. "These are the keys to this building. A building we've designed, put our blood, sweat and tears into... just for you. So you can live out your dream of having a restaurant. A restaurant with a menu you've created, with a kitchen you can call yours and will have whatever name you decide above the door... ..." I pause a moment, looking at Nat as he beams at our older Brother proudly. "And most importantly, Nat and I are your first investors. Anything you need, we will help you with. All we ask is that everything is on the house when we do stop by," I chuckle with a grin and Noah just looks on at me with wide eyes. "From your baby Bros, Happy birthday."

The room erupts to applause, Noah's shocked face blinking at me and then at Nat as he dangles the keys in his face. Tori who is just as excited at everyone else rushes over to Noah, hugging him tightly as he tries to get his head round what's just happened.

"No?" Noah shakes his head in disbelief.

"All yours man," Nat says.

"No?" Noah says again and a tear runs down his cheek as his face lights up, hugging Tori close to him. He takes the key from Nathan, a silver keychain with a green ribbon attached and his face lights up.

"We told you we would," I tell him and he lets go of Tori, pulling me and Nat in for a big hug.

All the nerves I had was for nothing and I breath out a sigh of relief, chuckling to myself at how nervous I was only a few hours ago. When Noah pulls away he scans the room properly, looking at every details of the large space he now calls his. His eyes pooling with tears, holding tightly to Tori with the biggest smile on his face. I've only ever seen him this happy once before and that was the day Tori agreed to be his wife. This restaurant has been his dream for so long and I can't be any happier that myself and Nat was able to give this to him.

"I can't believe you did this," he chokes up.

"We always said we would build you your dream," Nat smiles at him and I remember the promise both of us made to him as young boys one Christmas when he was fourteen.

"Yeah... at five and four years old," he chuckles.

"Only this ones better than the Lego version, huh?"

Noah chuckles at me and can't hold in his tears as he happily weeps at the walls around him that he can now call his own, "I can't believe you did this, that this is mine."

"All yours man, c'mon, I'll give you the tour," Nat says and pulls him away with a smiling, giddy Noah.

"I told you he would love it," a soft voice whispers and I turn my head to see Ryan still holding my hand, her body leaning into me with a half hug. "You had nothing to worry about."

The corner of my lips tug into a gentle smirk and I finally let go of her hand, snaking my arm around her waist. "Thanks for keeping my nerves at ease," I tell her and then bring my lips close to her ear, "I'm definitely going to be rewarding you later princess," I whisper and can't help but suck her earlobe between my teeth.

*word count - 3573*

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I love Nathan... I really do but there's always something fun
about writing Nicolas P.O.V.
I don't know why???
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Hope you liked this chapter, it took me awhile to write it because
I kept writing the speech then deleting it & then rewrite it differently. I just couldn't get
the flow right I guess.

Please don't forget to vote & leave me a comment.
Stay safe,
CeeCee
xoxo
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