Chapter 482) Memories Of Last Night

“If you loved the wrong one so much, just imagine how much you can love the right one.”

~Brandon Stanton

Newcrest
Alessa Russo & Holly Taylor's Home

It was very early on Sunday morning, still dark out.
Noah woke first.

Blinking his eyes open, instantly a smile crept onto his lips when he realized he wasn’t alone in bed. Of course not, memories of last night popped up in his mind making his smile bigger. This was Holly’s room at her place with Alessa. The boys had come over again for a movie night with snacks and some booze. And more.

The special kind of ‘dessert’.
This time not just for his brother. It had finally happened for Noah and Holly too.

It had taken Noah and Holly forever to level up to their first night together.

Looking at Holly, Noah realized now what his dad, brother and even Cousin Connor always meant when they told him ‘when you know, you KNOW’ about a girl.

For the longest time he had thought Emilee was the one who got away. Now he knew that their break-up had seemed like the rock bottom of his life, yet had it not been for that, he would have never met Holly. Now Noah KNEW. Holly was quietly special, not the bright neon signs out, loud and proud kind. Being around her did something to him. Something good. REAL good. And, unlike Emilee, Holly was totally cool with him being what he was. Every aspect of it.

He now gently tickled Holly’s nose.

Somehow, he wanted her to be awake, to enjoy the moment with her talking and … being together. Last night had been big to him. Somehow, he felt his entire world changed again and nobody could see it but him.

“Morning …” she mumbled with a sigh.

“Morning! Hey, don’t go back to sleep!” Noah told her when she snuggled back into the pillow.

“Some of us need sleep. You wore me out last night and I am not a vamp.” she mumbled drowsily, making him smirk.

“Well, this is YOUR home, I am your guest, and I would love some coffee. I can’t just go downstairs and ransack your kitchen. So, be a good hostess and make coffee. Chop, chop, woman!” he chuckled, knowing this would definitely generate a response from her.

“Seriously now? First of all, you and your brother practically live here. You both almost know better where everything is than Alli and I do. Secondly, we ARE downstairs! Who have you been spending nights with UPSTAIRS, one wonders!?”

“Myself. In the guest room, which is UPSTAIRS. Remember, I wasn’t officially allowed in your room until now, except that one time, fully dressed many months ago, but all we did was talk from an armlength away.” Noah refreshed her memory.

“Oh. Right. Wow. Well, Noah, just go and make coffee then.” she whined.

“Fine. Service in this place SUCKS. Can I at least get a kiss?”

“No! I haven’t showered and I probably have morning breath!”

“Oh, jeeze! Now I REALLY need coffee to deal with the girly nonsense so early in the morning.”

In that moment both froze when they heard screaming from upstairs.

“That’s Alessa!” Holly determined alarmed, fully awake now, but then relaxed when her friend screamed a couple more times and it didn’t sound like an emergency.

“I would hope so, cos if that is Nolan at that high pitch, Alessa must have ripped his balls off, probably deserving, but still.” Noah annotated dryly.

“Should we go check on them?”

“Nah. Do you want to walk in on whatever it is they are doing? If I had to guess, they are doing the naughty and I am not crashing that party. I don’t need to see all the facts out from either Alessa nor my brother, thank you very much.” Noah shrugged.

“You think it’s harmless? He didn’t … like .. bite her, right? You know like, lost control?”

“That only really ever happens to recent turns who haven’t learned how to control their instincts. If he did bite, it was probably some love bite during nookie, not THAT type of biting you’re thinking of. If a vamp means serious business, you wouldn’t get a chance to scream for obvious reasons. Nah, my money is on either Nolan said the wrong thing and she is – let’s call it: correcting – him, or she is experiencing moments of burning passion. I don’t need to be front and center for either. But man, your walls really are paper thin.”

Noah looked back at Holly, when she asked.

“Should we take their hint and … ya know … do you want to … ya know … go again too? I mean … unless coffee is more important …” Holly smiled at him, giggling.

Noah didn’t get the chance to accept Holly’s offer, because the room door burst open, causing both of them to jump out of bed, startled. Noah was in his boxers and Holly in his shirt, when Alessa rushed into the room, hugging her, bouncy and cheering incoherently.

Nolan appeared in the doorway looking a little embarrassed.

“Alessa! Get out of there. Let them get dressed and all!” he grumbled.

“Why? I have seen Holly in her underwear a million times and I have seen you naked, so Noah wouldn’t have anything you don’t. Chill! Holly, he proposed! LOOK!” Alessa stuck out her new jewelry for Holly to admire.

Noah followed Nolan out to the kitchen to make coffee.

“Thanks for the heads up, bro, about popping the question. Congrats, I guess then.” Noah grumbled.

“Don’t act so surprised, I told you I bought her a ring! I even showed you and Connor. You think I was gonna wear it?” Nolan defended himself.

“You said you’d wait with that.”

“Well … oops. That was the plan, plans change, I had no choice. Alessa was about to pop the question first! I couldn’t let that happen, seeing how I literally had the idea too and bought a ring. Well, evidently, so did she. Check this out!” Nolan showed his newly ringed hand.

“What? You both proposed to each other? And your girl gave you a ring too?! Who does that?! WTF?!”

“We do, apparently. Yeah, she was seconds from popping the question and I was like ‘oh hell nah!‘. So, I popped it first, luckily I had that damn ring on me. She was VERY excited – I am sure you both heard! I collected MAJOR brownie points. Yay me! Nolan Grainger, the official women whisperer. Speaking of whisper, gotta make the rounds to the parents later.”

“Yeah, we heard – and they probably did too. Was lot more than a whisper, I was afraid all the neighbors called the cops because of the massacre happening here.” Noah told him dryly.

“I know I slayed it man, and after all the months Alessa and I have been together now, just over a year, and as many times as I have spent the night here NOT sleeping, they’re all used to her screams of pleasure. Speaking of … congrats man. Considering you’re rolling in nothing but your sexy breeches and Holly was in your shirt, I guess it’s safe to assume congratulations are in order? Finally! So, can we all officially call her your girlfriend now without you flipping out so hard correcting us that you need an exorcism every time? Cos if you nailed her, you claimed her. It’s the rule.” Nolan grinned.

“Wow Sherlock. Yup, Holly and I went there and we’re more than official now, Nolan. Do you need to go all medieval and check the bedsheets to confirm?”

“Has grandpa not taught you anything about history? That was for marriage, you idiot, to confirm it was consummated and the girl was a virgin. No offense to Holly, but I’d be looking for a long time there for that kind of proof.”

The girls joined them now, both all smiles.

With an evil grin at his brother, Noah turned to Alessa.

“So, when’s the wedding?”

Alessa’s smile faded, giving way to a panicked look.

“Oh my god. OH. MY. GOD! I have to plan a wedding now! That can take YEARS! I don’t even know where to start! OH GOD – I gotta call my mom! And my brother! Holly, next weekend – no, this week after work, clear your schedule, we are going to check out some wedding boutiques. And I need to buy some magazines, I don’t even know my options. I need to check on some stuff!” Alessa frantically rambled on, looking distraught.

Immediately, she ran up to her room, Nolan shot his brother a death glare.

“Nice going, Noah. Thanks much. I was thinking several years of engagement, sounds like if I am lucky, I make it out of this month unmarried and not single again, thanks to you, Dingbat!” Nolan shoved his brother slightly.

“You said she was gonna propose to you. And you heard her, takes years to plan an Alessa-approved wedding. You got ” Noah shrugged.

“You said she was gonna propose to you, so I thought she was more prepared. And you heard her, takes years to plan an Alessa-approved wedding. You got plenty of time, man.” Noah shrugged, while Holly was looking confused.

“Wait what? I didn’t even know she was going to propose to you this morning! I swear she said she wanted to wait for a special moment and a special place. Like Avalon Park where you met or whatever.” Holly looked from Noah to Nolan, but Noah was the one to respond.

“Well, join the club, she sure did, gave him a ring and all. Don’t worry, I didn’t know that fool was proposing to her either.” Noah added, pointing at his brother.

“Well guys, I don’t know what you want me to say here. Maybe it was a very special roll in the hay last night and it made her realize that was what she wanted for the rest of her life.”

Nolan shrugged at both of them, Holly rolled her eyes.

“So much for best friend and twin brother sharing important things – not. I am taking a shower now.”

Holly turned and walked towards her bathroom, Noah following her, wrapping his arm around her.

“Wait up, I’ll come with you, scrub your back and such while we cry together about my shitty brother and your sucky friend. Oh, and Nolan, you’re taking the four of us out to a REAL nice dinner tonight. Get planning and bring plenty of credit cards. It’ll be a bash.”

“YOU pay, Noah! You’re the celebrity among the four of us, you are the one rolling in the dough, it’s definitely not me, not after paying for that ring!” Nolan called after them.

Nolan was left in the kitchen, sighing, but smiling.

“Well, congrats to me – at least more coffee for me while everyone else is losing their minds. You never see THIS in those rom-coms! And holy shit, I am engaged to the most beautiful crazy firecracker. Mom and dad are gonna freak.”

Author's Note:
In game, Alessa DID pop the question first, per notification pop up in game while I was with another household, and I got another pop up from Holly about her wanting Noah to move in with her as soon as I switched to his household. 
Impatient lil suckers of mine, but it's all good.