Home and Holidays

chapter 23

Noah was currently over at Ella's house, practicing with her for their upcoming performance. He was seated on the side of her bed, watching as she tied her wavy hair into a ponytail with a hair tie that she had been previously wearing loosely on her wrist.

"Can we practice Mistletoe one more time? I really want to make sure I get that one right." she said, sitting down on her bed right next to Noah. They had been practicing for a while now, but their hard work was certainly paying off, since they sounded amazing.

"Sure. I don't mind." Noah replied, smiling at her.

Ella used her phone to play the instrumental music as she and Noah began to sing. Noah couldn't help but glance over at her quite a few times during the song, his eyes eventually just lingering on hers as he sang, feeling a rush of emotions as he internalized the romantic lyrics.

Ella blushed deeply under Noah's intense gaze, feeling a million butterflies as her voice harmonized beautifully with his. And by the time they finished the song, Ella felt as if she had melted into a puddle with the way that he was looking at her. She found herself looking down at her hands as she avoided his eyes for a moment.

"You're such a good singer, Noah. Wow...." she complimented him, not knowing what else to say, her voice soft as she blushed a bright red.

"Thanks.... so are you." Noah replied, his cheeks also beet red.

"Thanks. That was probably the best rehearsal we've done so far. I mean.... you just sang with the perfect amount of emotion. It was like you were feeling every lyric. You made me feel every lyric too...." Ella shyly expressed, her blush only deepening as she finally met his eyes again.

Noah felt his heart rate speed up from what she had said. "Well, that's because I was feeling every lyric."

"Really?" Ella softly asked, a gorgeous smile finding it's way to her face.

Noah shyly nodded in response. "Really." he said. He and Ella just sat there for a moment, grinning at each other and blushing before being interrupted by a light knock on Ella's room door.

"Hey you two, we brought you some water, since we figured all that singing probably made you thirsty." Emily said as she and Steve walked into the room.

"We're very proud of you both, by the way. I know you two have been practicing really hard. You're going to do amazing on stage." Steve added, handing Ella a glass of water while Emily handed one to Noah.

"Thank you so much." Noah gratefully said before taking a drink of the refreshing water.

"Yeah, thanks dad, thanks mom. You guys are so supportive." Ella said. "I was a little nervous about singing on stage at first, but I'm not really worried anymore. I have the best duet partner so that makes me feel better." she added, looking over at Noah with a soft smile.

He blushed as he smiled back at her. "Thanks, Ella. But I'm the one who has the best partner." he spoke, referring to her, which made her giggle cutely.

"Anyway, thanks for the practice session, Ella. And thanks for the water, Mr. and Ms. Peterson." Noah thanked Ella and her parents. "I should probably get going now, so I can be home for lunch." he added.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Noah." Ella said. The two of them hugged each other before Noah shyly kissed her cheek, making her blush. It was the first time Noah had been the one to initiate that kind of physical affection with her, and it made Ella's heart flutter.

Noah blushed a little himself when he realized that he had just done that right in front of Ella's parents. But thankfully they didn't seem to mind.

"See you later, Ella." Noah said, giving her a cute smile before leaving the room.