Careful what you wish for

guestroom.

I had driven on, letting the others sleep, thinking about folio and I's conversation and the others in the back seat. Nicholas of course and how nervous I was to meet the people who practically became the only family Noah had growing up. Nick had fallen asleep on the window an hour in, reaching his hand through the door frame and the seat to hold Aliyah's.
It was disgustingly adorable.
"Good morning" I say to the group as I stop at the gas station off of the exit.
"Mm-morning" Noah reaches up to touch my shoulder. "Where are we?"
"like 20 minutes from Nicholas" I respond.
"Cool." He nods. Noah wasn't a morning person. he was the type to wake up from a nap, hair a mess, lines across his face, asking what year it was.

everyone had gotten out for a bathroom break and to stretch their legs. As we got back in,
Aliyah drove. Nick in the passenger seat. Jolly , Noah and I in the back.
I watched as the building and houses got smaller. The trees even looked different. I'd only ever been on the east coast a couple times in my entire life. It fascinated me, the way everything was just, slower.
"Take a left here" Noah signals to Aliyah. "Now go through this stop sign and take a right and it's the fourth house on the right."

We pulled up to a smaller house with a couple cars parked out front.
We had left our bags in the trunk, piling out like clowns.
Noah led all of us up to the door just walking inside.
I guess that's okay when you practically grew up here.
"HONEY, WE'RE HOME" he yells openly.
Aliyah and i shared a look among ourselves. We shared a mutual nervousness.
"Lillian, Aliyah, this is Nicholas' mom." He says.
"might as well be yours too Noah." She smiles and smacks his chest lightly. "Hi girls. noah and Nicholas have told me so much about you. Come on in. Make yourself at home." She says walking us all into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna go find nic. jolly you wanna come too?" Folio asks.
"Let's do it man." jolly follows.
I let my hand grab Noah's, intertwining my fingers nervously.
"This is one of my daughters, Nicholas' sister. Danielle." Mrs.Ruffilo says.
"Oh hi." Danielle greets us. She was just a small as Nicholas, with medium length brown hair, you could tell that they were siblings.
"That is my que." Noah says turning to go up the stairs
"Hi. I'm Lillian. I'm -" I start before getting cut off.
"NOAHS GIRLFRIEND?!" Danielle says excitedly. "And you MUST BE ALIYAH." She smiles.
"That's right." I laugh.
"Welcome in. I'm gonna tell you now. the boys are gonna forget that your here." She sits at the counter.
"we need a break from them anyway." Aliyah laughs.
"Wanna see where you guys are sleeping?" Danielle asks
"Lead the way." I smile.
She leads us upstairs, I studied the walls, looking at the various portraits hanging.
"Is this nick and Noah?" I point to a photo on the wall.
"Sure is. they were, still are, a couple of idiots" she cackled
"Aliyah, you and Nick are here." She winks. "And, you and Noah are here , Lillian."
"Please call me Lilly." I suggest.
"You guys can get settled, just come back down whenever you are ready." She smiles turning away.
I sit on the bed in the room. Looking around. The walls were white, which made the room bright.
The blankets were linen, so was the rug beneath my feet.
I snapped out of my observation when I seen a hand grip the door way.
"hey you? you okay?" it was Noah.
"Yeah I'm good. you didn't tell me they were so.. nice." I lie back on the bed and Noah falls beside me.
" What do I need to expect for the next week Noah?" I sigh.
"Well, expect ALOT of kisses." He laughs getting up to lean over me. "A lot of dinners. Hanging out."

"Are you gonna show me around? I wanna see where you went to school. Where you hung out." I say putting my arms around his neck.
"But.. I don't wanna show you." He falls over next to me again.
"Why not? I'm curious. I wanna see where you grew up." I say.
"I was once a terrible person. Who did awful things. an angry, terrible awful person." He sighs.
"Show me every terrible thing you did Noah. Let me love you anyway. Just show me." I say.

"Hey- love birds." Nicholas pops his head through the door frame.
"WhATT NICHOLAS" Noah groans.
"Mom said to come down stairs and eat before folio gets to the table" he laughs.
We make our way downstairs and the house looked and sounded more alive than ever.

"Come on" Noah smiles extending his hand to me.
he leads me to the kitchen. I don't think I'd ever seen a whole family sit at a table before. I mean, my dad never did that at our house.
"LILLY! come sit." Danielle exclaims.
I walk over to her and Aliyah, who were sitting at the bar talking about god knows what.
"I'll be right back. I'm gonna say hi to your brother" I smile.

"so you just not gonna hug me or say hey to me Nicholas. I see how it is." I cross my arms. I see Noah look at jolly and then at Nicholas.
"get your woman." Nicholas says to Noah.
"No dude she is YOUR problem now." He laughs.
He stands there blankly for a moment and then charges toward me.
"Ahh." I scream as Nicholas picks me up into a hug.
"I missed you, ya shit" he tightens his grip.
"Nicholas... I can't ..breathe." I cough. "you know what I'm about to ask."
"I'll give you a tattoo when I go to the shop in a few days" he laughs. "Have any ideas ?"
"Oh absolutely. the references are in you email." I nod.
"You never cease to amaze me" Nicholas giggles
"Time to head outside, foods ready." Danielle says.
"Outside?" I look to Noah.
"come on." He grabs my hands and bring me to the back yard. That had been decorated with rustic lights.
before us sat a long white acid washed table, each place sat beautifully. On the left, jolly, Danielle, nicholas, his niece. On the right, Noah, I, nic and Aliyah.
at the ends of the table, were nicholas' mom and dad.
we all sat eating and chatting amongst ourselves.
"jolly?" Nics mom spoke.
"yes, mrs.R ?" Jolly looked up from his plate.
"when is Charlotte coming dear?" She asked.
"tomorrow. Her flight lands at 5 pm." He smiles.
I nearly choked on my food. I thought he'd been kidding about her this whole time.

I seen Noah lay back slightly to say something to folio.
"Bet you $100 she isn't real and doesn't show." Noah says.
"Boys!" Mr.R exclaimed. "Not bets at the dinner table."
"How about we shut the heck up." I break the conversation. "Give the guy a break. I bet she is pretty." I say.
the rest of dinner went smoothly. By that time, I was exhausted.
"Not gonna stay for the party lil?" Nicholas yells from across the yard.
I just nod my head and go inside.
I get up to the guest room, change into something more comfortable than the jeans and shirt that I had been wearing and crawl into the bed.
The blankets were soft and the room smelled like a salted caramel candle. like comfort. I let the warmth of the white linen blanket grasp me like I'd never felt it before. Letting it rock me to sleep.