JENN'S P.O.V.
I went and opened the door, not even giving Noah a chance to knock. He walked in like he owned the place. His signature dark jeans, a black plaid shirt, and a black leather trench coat. His dark hair was loose and Armani sunglasses rested on top of his head. He looked around with a condesending air, finally settling his glance at me.
"J! You look good." he whistled.
I blushed, "You look pretty good yourself, I see you haven't changed your clothing selection since the last time I saw you."
"Are you kidding? This is a brand-new one of a kind jacket. Premium leather." He pulled me into a hug. I gave him one back, and kissed him on the cheek.
I heard Rydel gasp, and practically everyone else's jaws drop. I pulled back from Noah, and faced the group. Ross had this look in his eye, like when we were talking about Kyle. Now would probably be a good time to do introductions.
"Noah, this is Ross, Rydel, Riker, and Cora," I pointed at each of them in turn. I gestured at Noah, "Guys, this is Noah. My cousin." They all visibly relaxed.
I walked over to Ross, "Noah, this is my boyfriend, Riker and Delly are his brother and sister. He has two more brothers but they are in the pool. They are all my friends, and this is Cora. My best friend, since ever. You've heard me talk about her." I grinned.
Noah blinked. "Geez. You finally found a social life. I never would have thought it. Nice going J."
I glared at him. "Actually, I'd like to rephrase, -this is my super annoying cousin."
Everyone laughed. Noah fake-punched me. "Fine, maybe I won't give you your gift."
I gasped. "You wouldn't! I'll tell mom!! Speaking of, where are her and dad?"
His face went from joking to concerned. "You mean you don't know?"
My heart dropped. "What do you mean? What don't I know? Are mom and dad okay? Did something happen?"
Ross wrapped his arm around me comfortingly, and the others moved closer. Noah put one hand on my shoulder. "Chill cuz. why would you think something is wrong with them?"
I swallowed. Crap. He didn't know about Sheila. and I didn't want him too. He'd probably hire half the country's police to go after her. He was over-protective, and way to lenient with his multi-billions. Excuses, Excuses... ah! "No real reason. Just the look on your face. It looked so foreboding."
He gave me a sad look. "Well, something is wrong. But not with them. Estranged three-times-removed, Aunt Rose died this morning."
I gasped. Aunt Rose. I mean I didn't know her. But I knew of her. She was our family legend. She'd managed to marry herself into our family, three times. At the same time. Then divorce all of them, and retired with 2 houses, 3 cars, 5 pets, and a boatload of settlement money.
"OhmyGod. How? and what does that have to do with my parents?" I was so confused.
"She had a case of food-poisoning. She was 103, and it quickly escalated to a fatal fever." He paused, and lead me over to a chair. probably a good thing, since I felt a little light headed. "I don't know what your parents had to do with it. I just know that they got called down by Leila, Aunt Rose's lawyer, and they asked if I could watch you until they got back."
I looked at him doubtfully, "They asked you to watch me?"
"Yah. I'm the closest relative. and they trust me."
I laughed, "You..hahaha..trusted..haha..that's...haha...funny..hahaha!"
He looked hurt. "Hey, what's so funny about that?"
I looked at him, "They trust the guy who blew 10 million dollars on a 1 1/2 day trip to Italy?"
Everyone stared at him. He looked sheepish. "I was new to being a billionaire. Geez, no one has let that go. It was four years ago!"
He gave me a stern look. "Anyways, we should probably head back to your house. Come on. Say goodnight, and then we can go."
I stared at him. "Holy Crap. You just told me what to do. You've never told anyone what to do!" I was in shock.
"Exactly, so i mean it. Say bye-bye." He made a little sassy wave with his fingers. I smacked him lightly. Then turned to Ross.
He made this asorable sad face at me, motioned that we'd be right back, and lead me into the kitchen.
"What are you doing Ross?"
He grinned at me, "Saying goodbye properly." He lifted me up a bit, and pressed me against the counter, pressing his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in even closer. Our lips moved in unison, and we were pressed tightly together.
A noise of surprise came from the doorway. We stopped kissing, but still stayed close together. We looked guiltily at Noah. I think he was shocked. He was just staring at us, with his mouth wide open. I took a step closer to him, and Ross moved with me. "Noah? Are you okay?"
He slowly jerked his head no, then backed into the other room. I turned to Ross. "Sorry about that. I think he's dealing with the fact that I'm not the little-barbie-and-princess-obsessed little cousin he's used to."
Ross smiled, dimples appearing. "Apparently, he's taking it pretty hard."
I nodded. "Apparently. Even though I haven't been like that for quite a few years... I just don't think it ever really sank in. Until now. It's kinda hard to avoid it when he saw us kissing..."
Ross smiled even wider, nodding in agreement. Then he leaned for a gentle kiss. I melted into him for a moment.
"What did you do to the hot guy in the front hallway?" Rocky's voice broke in.
Ross and I seperated again, grinning. We walked towards Rocky, and I patted him on the shoulder. "That guy is my cousin, Noah. He saw us um, kissing."
Ryland looked up and raised an eyebrow, "Probably more ike 'making out', based on that 'um'. Am I right?"
Ross nodded. I blushed, and we headed past the two into the hallway. Noah was sitting there, with a stunned look on his face. Rydel was slowly waving her hand in front of his face. It didn't register.
I walked up to him, bent down to be face-to-face with him. I peered in his eyes. I stood up. "Well, there is only one thing to do." I grinned evilly, then smacked him upside the head.
He snapped out of it. He jumped up, saw all of us standing there, focused on Ross and me, and almost sat down again. I raised my hand threateningly. He blinked, "Can we leave now?"
I nodded, "Yeah, sure. Let me just finish saying goodbye." I gave everyone hugs, promised to text with details for tomorrow, and left with Noah.
