An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

37) Merry Christmas

"Morning Noah" Adrienne said, turning her head to the side to see Noah lying flat on his back, his eyes open as he stared at the ceiling. He slowly turned to look at her and smiled, "Merry Christmas love" he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Adrienne furrowed her eyebrows together, he was never one to be sweet to her unless they were out in public, so this display of affection slightly shocked her. But she smiled back nevertheless, wishing him a Merry Christmas. The both of them took turns in the shower, and once they were dressed, they were about to make their way downstairs when Noah suddenly grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him.

"You know I love you right?" he asked out of nowhere, his blue eyes piercing into hers. Adrienne gulped lightly, meeting his gaze, "Y-yes"

"Do you love me?" he asked.

Of course she didn't, she was in love with someone else. "Course I love you Noah" she managed to stop her voice from wavering before standing on her toes and pressing a kiss to his cheek, "You're my husband, this is our forever" she said in an attempt to soothe any suspicions he may have of her love. Noah bit his lip slightly before letting go of her wrist, "I'm sorry I hurt you the other day"

Once more her eyes widened, this was very uncharacteristic of him, "It's fine, doesn't hurt much anymore" she reassured. "Everyone's waiting for us downstairs, we better hurry" she urged, leaving him standing alone in the doorway as she made her way down the stairs.

Noah leaned against the doorframe, his fists and jaw clenching as all the anger from yesterday came pouring back into him. How dare she? It wasn't as if he hadn't fucked countless girls from bars who weren't Adrienne in the first year of their marriage but he was never in love with any of them. He came back home to Adrienne every night, but she had fallen in love with another man and had probably been fucking him right under his nose.

He tried to calm himself and made his way downstairs where all the Weasleys, Adrienne, Harry, Hermione and Oliver were gathered. He made sure to greet them all a Merry Christmas.

"Merry Christmas Fred" Noah looked straight into his eyes, if looks could kill, Fred would be a dead man. Fred returned his gaze, his jaw clenching tightly, he hated Noah more than he had hated anyone in his life. "Merry Christmas Noah" he said stiffly. The tension in the air was palpable but Mrs. Weasley quickly broke it, ushering them all to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Oli, Addie, Noah, you lot are going to experience Christmas the Weasley style" George grinned, seating himself at the head of the table.

"Weasley style includes mum forcing food down your throat till you can't take it anymore" Bill laughed, passing a dish of pancakes around.

"Oh shh the both of you, I don't force you to eat" Molly said, sitting down at the table too, "Here Hermione, you have to try these mince pies, won't let you leave the table without trying some" she said sweetly, handing her a plate of mini pies. All the Weasleys stared at her for a few moments before bursting into laughter and Molly blushed.

"Oh alright, but that's only because I love all of you and I want you to be well fed!" Molly huffed.

"I know mum, and we love you too' Fred grinned, leaning over to press a kiss on her forehead. Adrienne almost melted at the sight, trying to bite her lip to control her smile. It warmed her heart to see how tightly knit the Weasleys were, just like the special sweaters that Molly made.

What she didn't notice was that Noah was keeping an eye on her the whole time, watching her every little move. He started to notice the small things, the subtle glances her and Fred shared, the lingering touches, the way they smiled at each other. All of it made his blood boil.