Home and Holidays

chapter 5

"Thanks again, Noah. For finding the book for me, and just for talking with me about books and stuff. You're really fun to be around." Ella told him once they were walking out of the bookstore, David and Lisa walking a little bit ahead of them.

"No problem, Ella. You're fun to be around too." Noah replied with a sweet smile, carrying Ella's bag of books for her.

"Do you have anywhere to be right now?" she asked him out of nowhere, seeming a little hesitant about the question.

"No, I don't have any plans. Why?" he said, maybe a bit too quickly.

"Well.... I was gonna ask if you'd wanna stay over at David and Lisa's house with me tonight, you know, until my parents get back from work and pick me up." Ella hopefully offered, walking a tad bit slower now as she awaited his reply.

Noah instantly smiled at her. "Sure. Yeah, I'd love that." he spoke, sounding more eager than he had meant to.

"Cool. Maybe we could read one of my books together when we get there." Ella suggested, her excitement evident in her expression.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." Noah replied. The two of them had paused their walking since they had gotten pretty distracted talking to each other, only just now realizing that David and Lisa had already reached the car. David opened Lisa's passenger side door for her, letting her in the car, while he just stood next to it, waiting for Ella and Noah. He didn't want to interrupt their moment, so he just gave them a little smile before pretending to be busy with something on his phone.

"I think they're waiting for us." Ella pointed out, blushing a little.

"Yeah, I guess we should probably, um-" Noah stammered out, smiling shyly at her as he blushed as well.

"Yeah." she finished his statement for him with a quiet chuckle before they both made their way to the car.

"Hey, is it ok if Noah stays over for a while too? I wanna hang out with him some more before my parents pick me up later." Ella asked David and Lisa once they were all in the car.

"Of course, Ella. That's no problem." David said, easily agreeing to her request as Lisa agreed as well.

On the ride home, Noah and Ella were so excited to read, that they couldn't even wait, just getting one of the new books out and starting on it right at that moment. Noah held the book in his hands and began to silently read through the pages, while Ella did the same, sitting close next to him as she read over his shoulder, lightly tapping his arm whenever she was ready for him to turn a page.

"Alright, we're here." David announced once they arrived home. But Ella and Noah were way too focused on their book to even register what he just said. "Guys? We're here now." he repeated with an amused smile as he finally got their attention.

"Huh? Oh, right, sorry." Noah awkwardly stammered, he and Ella finally looking up from their book before Noah got out of the car, opening Ella's door for her yet again.

The four of them walked inside the house, David closing the door behind them. "Lisa and I will be in the kitchen if you two need us." David said, going into the kitchen with his wife while Ella and Noah just sat down on the couch, going back to reading, occasionally chatting with each other about parts of the story.

"This is the best chapter so far." Ella commented.

"We're still on chapter one." Noah lightly pointed out, smiling a little in amusement.

"Yeah, but still." Ella playfully defended before they both went back to reading. They weren't even sure how long they had been sitting there, completely immersed in the story until they finally looked up from the pages after they completed three whole chapters.