The Prince

Part 24

"Is it compulsory to look like a supermodel to be part of your family?" Noah stood in awe of Skye's extended family who all resembled the perfect Hollywood model. There went his hope of snagging Raymond, he thought forlornly. Who could compete with a family of supermodels? He jumped when he felt Skye's elbow nudge him.

"What?"

"You're going to hurt yourself staring. Get used to being around their strange behaviour that will come out at some point."

Get used to all of this, he thought. There was no getting used to Skye's family. They were loud and boisterous and were constantly teasing or joking. It was a different Skye he was seeing and it was easy to see that they treated him like he was their whole world. And he thought he wasn't a prince.

"Grandma, do you think you could help us get some clothes for Noah," he quietly asked, carefully looking at Gillie across the table, while they were eating. It seemed as if their lives revolved around food, he thought.

"Oh, oh of course! I'll make the arrangements, just wait for my call!" She lovingly looked at Skye who seemed to have grown up overnight into a very serious young man, so different to the happy boy they'd always known.

"Does that mean you're not going camping with us," Damon, Gillie's husband asked.

"Of course not Grandpa, I guess you two have had time to plan something?"

"Just you wait and see boy, you're going to love what we've come up with. Of course, your friend should come along as well," he excitedly gestured to Noah.

"I think that we should ease Noah into your particular brand of camping," Raymond interjected.

"Yeah, Little Buddy, watch out for those two. They nearly killed me," Jackson warned.

After lunch they all lounged about the sitting room, talking, when a young African woman took a seat next to Noah,

"Hey Noah, I'm Skye's aunt, Kelley,"

"Oh, hi Kelley," he said uncomfortably, his eyes darting to Skye who had gotten up to leave the room.

"Tell me, what's Skye like at school?" Her question threw him for a bit as he wasn't expecting it.

"Eh, well, he's fairly popular but mostly keeps to himself. He has the biggest fan club at school," he chuckled to himself. Maybe he should be joining that fan club as well after being rescued so many times.

"And what about you, are you a fan?" Her dark eyes seemed to look for an answer in his.

"Hardly, he's too temperamental. Sorry," he immediately stopped himself. He shouldn't be saying things like that to his aunt. "What I meant was, he's hard to get to know, but he has a good heart and is a fiercely caring friend."

"Well, I'm glad he has you as a friend," she smiled as if satisfied by what she'd heard. "Now, what are you going to do about your problem?"

"You know about my brother? Did Skye tell you?" How could he, wasn't what they talked about private?

"No, you just did," she smiled. "Don't worry, Skye will never repeat anything you say, unless you're in danger. But if you feel you want to talk about it, you can always give me a call, Skye has my number."

"Hey, Babe, are you hogging the little kid now?" Eric, her husband called from where he was slouching on the couch.

"Eric, stop. You're embarrassing yourself." she laughed.

The afternoon carried on in this lighthearted vein until Jackson decided it was time to hit the road. After a drawn-out and chaotic farewell, they were on their way home. Noah was surprised at how normal Skye's family seemed amongst all the craziness and chaos.

"Eh, Love?" Jackson started, sparing a quick glance at Raymond who was sitting next to him. "Skye and I've planned to hang out with Eric next weekend if that's okay with you."

"You're going to take him to the track again, aren't you?" He asked suspiciously, slightly turning to see Skye looking out of the window as if he wasn't interested in their conversation.

"Me, lie? What would give you that idea? It's a father and son bonding weekend; or are those against the law now?"

"Maybe I should tag along with you, seeing that I'll be at home for the whole weekend."

"What? No, that's not what I meant. I mean, Skye and I haven't really had time to bond, so I think a weekend away would be good. Anyway, I don't think Little Buddy is much into cars, so maybe you should take some time to entertain him."

"You spent more than two months together bonding, what else is there to bond over? I'm sure that Noah wouldn't want to spend the whole day with me."

"I think you may be mistaken there," Skye commented from the backseat, casting a glance at an excited Noah.

"I don't mind, Mr cook," he quickly interrupted, not looking at Skye who snorted. Okay, so his hormones were doing the talking, but Skye's dad was a pretty sight to behold, he thought.

Once home, Raymond and Jackson went out again, leaving the two boys alone at home. Skye had locked himself away in his room which meant that there was nothing else for him to do but study. Not that he minded, he'd fallen so far back that he was struggling to catch up; the only catch was that it was getting more and more difficult to find a study group. Most were halfway through their work and didn't want a late arrival that would derail their plans.

An hour later, he was ready to throw the book out of the window, but since it wasn't his house, he had to be content with slamming it shut on the desk. He wasn't getting anywhere trying to make something stick that he obviously didn't understand. He did, however, have a living textbook next door who could help him out.

Getting up, he purposefully opened the door, but when he stood in front of Skye's his courage gave in. Pacing up and down, he reconsidered his options, but asking Skye for help was still the best idea he had. Deciding to bite the bullet, he walked up to Skye's door and raised his hand to knock, but before he knew it, the door opened so fast that he fell forward, toppling on top of Skye.

"What's with you falling all over the place?" Skye asked, pushing Noah off him to get up.

"That wasn't my fault!" He immediately corrected, slightly embarrassed at being caught in such a compromising position.

"Sure," he drawled. "What has you stomping outside my door the whole afternoon?"

"I wasn't stomping, and it wasn't for the whole afternoon. Anyway, I was wondering if you could, you know, help me."

"Help you with what?" He aksed suspiciously.

"Well, the thing is, I haven't been able to find a study group since it's so late in the semester, so I'm struggling a bit and thought that maybe you, you know, maybe you could help me."

"Help you find a study group? They're all on the school's noticeboards. Why do you need my help?"

"It's too late to join a group and with term exams coming up nobody is willing to take anyone new. Please Skye?" He begged.

"And what's in it for me?" He asked morosely.

"The knowledge that you were a good friend. Please Skye, don't make me beg or tell your dads."

"Why you little weasel!" Skye made to grab him, but he quickly jumped out of reach. "Fine, you win, I'll help you today, but you're going to have to clean the kitchen for me tonight."

"Anything wise master," Noah bowed to him, grabbing his arm and pulling Skye to his room. Now that he had the opportunity, we wasn't going to let Skye go until he got what he wanted.