All

Chapter Thirty-Four

Alex and Charlotte politely waited in the kitchen while Noah and I got cleaned up and dressed. After a quick shower without washing my hair, I handed him a clean towel and his white T-shirt back.

"Not much I can do about your pants, though," I smirked, looking down at the wet patch that he promised he'd covered when he bumped into my flatmate and her fiancé quietly creeping back into the house so as not to wake me.

Sticking his tongue out and biting his top teeth against it, Noah scrunched his nose.

"I'll just have to go commando," he said with a cheeky grin, before heading to the bathroom.

Both looking presentable and, more importantly, no longer naked, Noah and I headed into the kitchen where Charlotte and Alex were deep in conversation.

As I began to make coffee, Noah pulled out a chair and sat down next to his friend. I watched from the corner of my eye as Alex raised his eyebrows at Noah, who playfully punched him on the arm in response. I couldn't prevent the brief thought of how good it could all be from flashing across my mind; two sets of best friends, both getting married and growing old together.

What the fuck, Abi! My subconscious screamed, internally slapping me around the face. Did you really just say marriage?

Shaking my head at the thought, I was still smiling at the prospect of us all at least hanging out together as a foursome. After all, Noah and I were now officially a couple. Well, at least I was pretty sure that was what we'd agreed.

As I joined them at the table, there was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds before Alex broke the ice.

"So... are you two...?" He raised an eyebrow across the table as he absent-mindedly stroked Charlotte's hand with his.

I looked over at Noah, who looked back at me with a wide smile before turning to Alex.

"Yep, we're a couple."

"That's awesome, man!" Alex smiled back. Charlotte was smiling too, but through eyes that looked red and tired. I wondered how her parents had dealt with their crisis meeting. She and Alex had arrived back pretty early that morning, so I couldn't imagine it had gone all too well.

My ears pricked up at the next question Alex directed at Noah. "Have you told Karen?"

Who the hell is Karen?

"No, not yet. You know what she's like." He replied.

"Well, you better tell her soon. With the label and tour and everything else."

"Yeah, I will. Don't worry."

I couldn't take any more mention of the mystery woman. "Sorry, who's Karen?" I interrupted.

"Our manager," Alex replied.

"I thought your manager was called Tom?"

"They're married," Alex explained. "Karen was there from the beginning though, always had a soft spot for our Nomeo, though. He's told you about that I guess?"

Alex grinned, ruffling Noah's hair. Rolling my eyes at them I turned to Charlotte. "So, how did it go with your mum and dad?" I asked..

Her chest heaved deeply. "Not good. Not good at all," she began. "They wouldn't listen to any of our reasoning, wouldn't even give us a chance. We ended up having a huge fight and checking into a hotel by the station so we could get the first train back."

"Her dad nearly swung for me at one point," Alex said, taking over the story. "I'd only told him how much I cared about her and how this year was going to be a big one. You know, with the band stuff and marrying the love of my life and all that."

Charlotte's face softened as he spoke about her in such a way.

"They said they won't support us," Alex continued. "They offered some money towards us getting a place together first maybe, rather than getting married. But they said if we go ahead with this they won't have anything to do it.

A small smile crept across his lips. "So after about four hours of being told what a piece of shite I am for their daughter," he continued, "I'd had enough."

"Fuck's sake Al, what did you do?" Noah sighed, his thumb and forefinger pinched tightly against the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing physical," Alex protested, throwing his hands up in defense. "I may have told them to stick their money up their arseholes though, before accidentally breaking the front door on the way out."

Stunned silence hovered in the air for a split second, before a snort of laughter from Charlotte started us all off. As we gradually stopped laughing at their 'meet the parents' nightmare, Charlotte's face turned slightly more serious.

"The thing is, we're still going ahead with it no matter what they say," she said, reaching for Alex's hand across the table. "We love each other and we want to be husband and wife, but we're not going to make a big thing of it. If we look like we're doing it for show, my parents will only think they were right."

"So, what are you planning," I asked.

"We're going to do a simple ceremony at the Town Hall," she replied. "Only four guests allowed in the room at one time."

"Oh, wow," I responded, slightly hurt by the fact that I would no longer be able to see her get married.

"I've only got my Ma to worry about," Alex interjected. "So she'll be flying over for it. My dad's not one for travelling, see."

"And then there's you and Kris," Charlotte continued, smiling softly as my face lit back up. "I couldn't not have you guys there, you're my besties."

"So that just leaves you, Nomeo," Alex grinned. "It's not like you'll be able to pull the bridesmaid now, seeing as you've already done that. But I wanted to ask if you'd... if you'd be my best man?"

For all the nonchalant exterior he liked to normally hide under, Noah's guard dropped instantly at the question. With a look of pride spreading across his face, he pulled Alex into a bear hug and kissed him firmly on the cheek.

"You're my brother, Al. Of course I will," he beamed.

Whatever they had been through together in their early years in London, Alex had clearly always been there for Noah. And it made my heart swell to see Noah promising to be there for him in return. Like he'd told me before, if it wasn't for Alex taking him into his flat and getting him the audition for the band, who knew where he would have ended up?

The thought alone made me shudder, although I didn't quite know why. After all, Noah had only told me a few details about that period of his life. It's not like I even knew the full story of just how 'bad' things could have been for him. Considering the warnings he liked to dish out about his past, I wasn't one hundred per cent sure that I even wanted to know the whole truth.

As I zoned out slightly to allow them to enjoy their moment, I sat back to sip my coffee and listen to Noah chatting with his best friend and his fiancée. I still had so much to learn about him. Deep down, I battled to ignore the niggling fear that there would be plenty of things from his past I'd end up wishing I didn't know.

But for now, he was officially mine and I was his. No more baby steps, no more running away. Just me and Noah, giving it a go. Whatever that might mean.