The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

27

"Hello, Mrs. Beck. It's nice to see you again," I said as she opened the door.
"Merry Christmas, honey. Please come in. You must be Griffin," she replied, wrapping us both in a hug.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am. Thank you so much for having us," Griffin said, handing her the cherry pie that I had made earlier that day.
"This is so sweet of you guys. You didn't have to bring anything," she began. "Noah! Your friends are here!"

Noah bounded down the stairs and wrapped me in a hug before greeting Griffin. "Hey, guys. Come with me." He led us into the living room where the rest of his family was sitting. "These are my sisters, Tatum and Haley, and that's my dad. Guys, these are Griffin and Grace from school."
Tatum didn't hesitate to hug me. "It's really good to see you again, Grace. Noah was constantly talking about you, but he never had an answer when we asked why he didn't just invite you over."
I chuckled. "It's nice to see you, too, Tatum, and it's nice to meet you, Haley, Mr. Beck."

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Beck yelled from the dining room. Noah led us there, and he sat on one side of me while Griffin sat on the other.
We sat and ate together. I looked around the table before stopping to look at Griffin. It had been years since we had sat at a dining room table and eaten dinner with a family. It was nice, yet bittersweet because it wasn't our own family.
"So, we know a little bit about you, Grace, but what about you, Griffin?" Mrs. Beck asked.
He shrugged. "I play baseball. That's really the only thing different from Grace."
She nodded. "I understand that. Are you planning on going to college, or are you interested in the workforce?"
"I'm actually going to Indiana State University to play baseball," he said, taking a bite of his ham.

The conversation continued in that direction, and Noah rubbed my knee under the table. "You okay?" he asked.
I nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You just look like you're thinking really hard about something," he whispered back, taking his hand off of my knee.
"I guess I'm just thinking about my parents." Noah nodded like he understood, and I grabbed his hand. "Thank you for forgiving me, Noah."
"Of course. Like you said, life's too short."

We finished the meal, and I stepped into the kitchen to help his mom with the dishes. "He really likes you, you know."
"What?"
"He was hurt after you two went to homecoming, but he wouldn't stop talking about you," she said, scrubbing the plate that was in her hands. "I've never heard him talk about someone the way that he talks about you."
I was still kind of shocked. "I really care about him, too. I messed up with him, and that is my biggest regret."
"Don't worry, sweetie. He told me that he's ready to forgive you. He understands that when you find something special, you can't afford to let it go."
We finished up the rest of the dishes silently, heading into the living room where everyone else was waiting.

"Hey, Grace. Dixie called, and she wants to talk. I'm gonna head over to her house. Do you want me to drop you off at home on the way, or do you want me to come back and get you later?" Griffin said as I sat down on the couch between him and Noah.
"Would you mind picking me up later?" I asked. "I don't really want to sit at home alone with you're at Dixie's."
Noah interjected. "I can always take her home later, too. Go see Dixie, Griff."

I curled into Noah's side as his mom turned on a Christmas movie. I knew that I shouldn't get so attached because everything could change at any moment, but I felt safe with Noah. I always had.
Mrs. Beck looked over at us. "I'm glad that you're here, Grace."
"Me, too," I replied, smiling at her before I looked up at Noah. His eyes hadn't moved from the television, but his arm tightened its grip around me.

As the movie ended, I yawned. "Tired?" Noah asked, watching me.
I nodded. "Very."
"Okay. I'll take you home," he said, standing up and pulling me to my feet.
"Thank you for having us, Mr. and Mrs. Beck. Dinner was lovely," I said, and Mrs. Beck pulled me into a hug.
"I hope that we'll be seeing more of you before the two of you graduate," she whispered. "I like seeing how happy he is with you."

Noah and I got into his car, and he held my hand as he drove, stroking my thumb with his own. "This was really nice, Grace."
"Yeah, it was. I really missed spending time with you, Noah."
"I want to start over, Grace. Get us back in the swing of things, and then we can try being a couple. It might take some time, but I think that we're worth a shot," he said as he pulled into my driveway.
"I would really like that, Noah. I've got a lot to do these next few days, but I'll see you at Bryce's New Year's Eve party, right?"
"Of course. Do you want me to walk you up to the door?"
I shook my head. "No, I'll be okay. Thanks though."

I started to open my door, and Noah stopped me. I turned to look at him. He pulled me close, placing a hand behind my neck. His lips were soft against mine, and I groaned into the kiss. I had missed this.
As he deepened the kiss, I was brought back to reality, and I pulled away slowly. "I should go inside. Griff turned the porch light on as soon as we pulled in."
"I'll call you," he laughed.

When I got inside, Griffin was sitting on the couch, but it looked as though he had just jumped there as I opened the door. "Hey, Griff. How was Dixie?"
"Um, she wants to get back together. The real question is how was Noah?" he replied as though he knew what had just happened.
I shrugged. "He's Noah. Why did you ask it like that?"
"Hmm, probably because you guys pulled in fifteen minutes ago, and you're just now coming in."
I chuckled. "Night, bubs."