Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight. (A noco fanfiction)

Noah's birthday

Life never did return to normal after Total Drama.

Noah studied like crazy when he got home, putting TV shows and fanbases behind him and replacing them with exams and 5000-word essays. That's not to say that he forgot everything that he had gained from the reality show, Owen was the best friend he'd ever had, and he kept in contact with many of the other contestants, talking online or even just following their life on social media.

Cody especially.

Even after all that they'd had together, their friendship remained strong, if not stronger, as the months went on. Cody was struggling at home, and Noah helped him through it, and in return Cody kept him sane through his final year of high school. Unfortunately, with such busy and conflicting schedules, he didn't get to visit Cody in person, only speaking via phone calls or skype messages.

Cody remained with Trent for a few months, until the spring of the next year, and the two parted on good terms. Noah bit down the irritating voice in his head telling him that he had a chance again. Because nope, he wasn't going there, he'd spent months trying to get over Cody, and he was succeeding right now.

Even though they'd broken up, that didn't stop Cody and Trent forming a band, the Drama Brothers, with Harold and Justin of all people. Apparently, they'd played around with the idea during action, but Noah hadn't been aware of it. And overnight, Cody was back in the papers and fan sites, their songs a hit and Cody lapped it all up, enjoying every second of fame and touring that the band gave him.

Truthfully, Noah found the songs kinda bad, and a bit cheesy, but he would never actually tell Cody that. More than anything, he was just proud of the guy. Even when the group disbanded because of Harold and his 'solo career', and the partying went too far and they ended up doing community service, Noah never made fun of it to the other.

Noah graduated that summer, a year ahead of all his peers and with outstanding marks. He was home for five minutes then his phone was buzzing away in his pocket, Cody calling to scream at him about how happy he was for Noah, making the sarcastic boy cry. Thankfully only Owen caught that, not his whole family, or else he would have been hearing about it for another ten years.

Noah decided to take a year of work experience, getting a lucrative offer into show business via an apprenticeship, instead of going straight to University. There was no point going if he wasn't at least 18 when he went, he reasoned. Still, the call from Chris was a shock, and Noah dithered about it for a few days. Eventually he called up Cody, swearing him to secrecy and in the end, Cody convinced him to go for it, it was a prime offer, even if it was from that nutcase. Unfortunately, with his new job, that meant Noah missed the Total Drama reunion held at Gwen's house that happened in August, seeing the photos of all his friends having fun without him. Rumour had it that Cody had hooked up with Justin that night, but Cody wouldn't confirm.

Autumn passed by quickly, Noah getting the hang of running errands for the guy who had previously made his life hell, finding it mundane and boring one minute, frantic and exhilarating the next. Cody spoke with him regularly, stressing about his final year, and he managed to find a girl who he liked for a couple of months as well before breaking up in the middle of November. Noah met a handsome Greek guy at an event he attended with Chris, the son of some movie producer and the two hit it off.

Noah didn't tell Cody about him though, and he didn't know why.

Noah ended up going even further with that guy, Nikos, than he had with Cody, losing his virginity in the back of a tour bus with a guy who's last name he couldn't even pronounce. When it was over, Noah felt empty and shitty with himself, knowing he shouldn't have done that, it wasn't who it should have been with. He called things off with Nikos the next day, and that was it.