Decisions | Noah Sebastian

Chapter Two

As always, I'm up before the rest of the house. It's been a week since the boys have arrived and it's been the same every day. They sleep in, scrounge for breakfast, fuck around most of the day, I cook dinner and we all do our own thing. Noah hasn't warmed up at all, Nicholas and Jolly both have spent a good chunk of time on the phone.

I decide to make breakfast while I wait for everyone to wake up. I threw some shorts on and left my sleep shirt on because I'm not planning on going anywhere today. The smell of bacon and pancakes fill the house as I mill around the kitchen to the fridge. I decided I'm going to make cheesy eggs for Nick if not anyone else.

I'm sipping my coffee slowly cooking the eggs, when I hear clomping footsteps coming down the stairs. It's not Nick, that much I know, he's a light walker like I am, even going down stairs. I don't bother waiting to see who it is as I turn to the cupboard we keep our plates in to pull out the five plates I'll need. When I turn back around and set the plates on the counter next to the stove I see Noah sitting at the bar. He's just staring at me. I give a small nonchalant wave as I walk over to the coffee maker for another cup. "This for us?" He asks as I finish the eggs and start to plate the food. "Yes." I say. I put two pancakes, three slices of bacon and a scoop of eggs on each plate before passing one to him, along with a fork and napkin. I turn off the stove and hop up to sit on the counter opposite the bar with my coffee cup. I'm looking down into my cup while I wait to hear more signs of life in the house. I'm about to get up and start wake up call when Noah coughs. "Are you not going to eat?" He says it without much tone, stoic more than snide. "No." I say simply as I slide off of the counter. I'm setting my cup in the sink when he speaks again. "Why?" I sigh. "Why what?" "Why aren't you eating?" I turn to face him and this time he holds a look of curiosity. I start my path to my grandmother's room as I call back. "Not hungry." I keep it short. I'm not in the mood to explain my personal shit today. I knock gently on her door before opening it a crack. "Nana, breakfast is ready." I say loud enough to wake her. "Okay baby. I'll be out in a bit." I smile and shut the door. Next, I head towards the stairs to go wake up the boys. Noah is still eating, downing the last piece of bacon and his eggs gone.

I climb the stairs and gently knock on Jolly's door, calling out that breakfast is ready before moving on to the last two. I knock on their door the same as the others, saying the same. I hear shuffling inside before I head back down stairs to start on the dishes. I'm almost done when Noah talks again. "Why do you make everyone's plates? You also fed yourself last last night. Why?" Blinking at his question, I keep on my task as I shrug. "I was raised that way." He sighs, seemingly annoyed with my answer. "Can you elaborate? I know I've been a dick, but I'm trying to be polite at least until the others come down." I roll my eyes. "And they say gentlemen don't exist. It's going to sound misogynistic, but I was raised to make the plates, whether I cooked or not. You typically start with your spouse, then move to your children making your plate only when they're taken care of. This rule changes for guests. You take care of the 'man of the house'," I use air quotes as I dry my hands, "and then move on to the other men. After you take care of the men you move on to the others. Children, other women, then yourself. I've always done it, and probably will until I can't." I sit where I was earlier on the counter, finally taking in his reaction. He looks horrified, and I can't help but chuckle. "I told you, misogynistic." He shakes his head, about to say something when the rest of the house finally decides to join us. "Every plate is made the same, forks next to them with the napkins. Dig in." I say, getting down and heading up to my room.

Noah

I'm still reeling from what she just told me when Folio sits down next to me. I nod my head in acknowledgment, before he starts talking. "So, can we not misplace anger onto my baby cousin?" I knew this was coming. i've been an absolute dick. I thought to apologize but I'm not in the habit of doing so. Nodding again I respond. "Yeah, I know. I spoke to her this morning trying to break the ice. Did she seriously grow up making everyones plates?" I'm not going to get over that any time soon. He laughs and nods before taking a bite of his bacon. "Yeah. It's a southern thing. I remember trying to help one Thanksgiving and all the women shooed me out of the kitchen and told me to go sit down. I stopped trying after I got swatted the third time I tried to at least make my own plate." I scoff shaking my head, remembering another question I have. "Why didn't she eat breakfast?" He immediately stops eating. Okay, shit, I think I just ratted her out. Putting his fork down he slowly stands up, "I'll be right back, make sure those heathens don't get a hold of my food." With that he runs up the stairs. I totally just ratted her out. "She's hypoglycemic. She has to eat or her blood sugar bottoms out and she'll cause more harm than good. She knows better than to not eat but she doesn't like it. He's about to tear her a new one and will probably bring her down.." Nana is interrupted by shouting. I shoot up, not sure what I would do anyway, when Nick comes around the corner and down the stairs with Emerson slung over his shoulder. She's fighting like hell, kicking her legs and beating his back shouting for him to put her down. I'm about to say something when I notice her shorts. They've ridden up and now half of her ass is hanging out.

I can't help but notice how nice it is, and then I see color. Oh my god, she has an ass tattoo. As they're about to hit ground level I realize I'm staring. My gaze shoots back to where Nicholas and Jolly are sitting and I notice they're also looking quite intently at their food, a dusting of pink on their cheeks. Folio finally gets her to the bar and throws her into the chair he was sitting in next to me. The second her ass touches the chair she's glaring at me. Fuck, she's pissed. I go to say something, but Folio beats me to it. "What do you want to eat." "Not hungry." She counters. I feel like we're about to witness these two go to war. Sighing he pulls some bread from the bag and pops it in the toaster. "You know better. You can't just 'not be hungry'. You don't have that luxury, Emerson." Rolling her eyes, finally turning her anger to Folio instead of me she retorts. "I'm not your responsibility Nick. I'm an adult, I can take care of myself." The tips of her ears are red and I can see she's on the edge of blowing up. He needs to stop talking. "If you're going to be stupid and pretend that you don't have a condition that can seriously hurt you than clearly you can't. What if you had been walking down the stairs, or in the shower." Idiot, he's an absolute idiot, and she's...crying. She's beet red and crying. The toast pops loose and he grabs the peanut butter. Once it's made he sits it in front of her on a napkin. She takes a deep breath and just stares at it for a few seconds before I finally say something. "You're a really good cook. There's no sense in you wasting that on us if you're not going to feed yourself." Her head snaps in my direction, but she's not angry. She's embarrassed. Folio embarrassed her in front of all of us. Nana left the table at some point in the argument and Nicholas and Jolly now in the living room, trying to at least pretend they weren't listening. I was the only one left.

I give her a gently smile, trying to not look sympathetic, but understanding. Finally, she gives in and picks up the toast, taking a bite. Folio nods before turning back around and reaching into one of the cabinets, pulling out two bottles. He opens them and knocks one of each into his hand. He grabs what looks like a protein drink from the fridge and sets the drink in front of her, gently placing the medication on the top corner of the napkin. She gives a curt smile before setting down the toast to take the pills. I'm pulled out of my trance when I hear my phone start to ring. I roll my eyes and get up, taking my plate to the sink before stepping out the back door. I don't even have to look at the screen to know it's Veronica. I answer right before it goes to voicemail.

"Hey babe!" She says, as chipper as ever. She's been getting to be a lot lately. She was fine in the beginning, if not a little clingy, but it was cute then. Slowly, it turned into her checking my phone, yelling at me if I was out 'too late' with the guys. I can respect boundaries, but control isn't something I'm blind to.

"Hey Veronica. What's up?" I had asked her for space before I had left, even though I knew it would start a fight. And fight we did. She lost her mind. I know the guys thought I was in a foul mood because she wasn't coming, I never even invited her, bringing its own set of issues. She scoffs and says, "I can't just call my boyfriend? I wanted to know how it was going. What have you guys been up to?" Translation; What has Folio's cousin been like towards me. I sigh. "I asked for space, Veronica. I wasn't joking when I said that. I need time to think, and I can't think when you're calling and texting me constantly." "Well then why are you even with me!" She shouts into the phone. Why am I with her? I go to respond but apparently she has more shouting to do. "I don't understand why you need space. Are you going to try to sleep around on me? Is that it? You want to hook up with his slutty cousin. Do you think me not being there is a free pass? If that's the case..." "Veronica!" I cut her off, yelling. I hate yelling, but I'm drawing a line. "You haven't even met the girl, have no clue how she's acted towards me and you're being horrible about her. I'm sick of the controlling nature and you turning everything into a fight. I'm just done. Get yourself together and figure out how to be a decent human." I say hanging up. I sigh blocking her number and turn around to go back inside, shooting my buddy Bryan a text to ask him to change my locks. I don't want any surprises while I'm gone. I pocket my phone and walk back inside to a room full of eyes. I guess Nana went to run errands and all the guys have taken over the living room, but now they're staring at me. "Finally come to your senses?" Nicholas asks. I just shake my head and head to my room. It's not even noon and it's already time for a nap.