+++

"Baby, I can see our guests, can open the door please?"

Mum questions from the kitchen. On cue, the doorbell rang. I stand as a heavy sigh leaves my mouth. Today, the King family were invited for dinner. Since the day when I ran into Noah at dad's business event and hurt myself I kept away from everyone. 

I locked myself in my room and refused to come down since my family lied about the whole thing. I only came down past midnight, but even that failed since I came down one night and was caught by Leo who had a talk with me on how sorry everyone was. 

Throughout the whole talk, I kept biting my lip as I tentatively listened. It wasn't long until both mum and dad came and said sorry. You could imagine how much tears were spilled that night. By the end of the talk, we were all smiling, well... me half smiling. 

A few days later, both Zoe and Callum came over and personally apologised on behalf of Noah. It really didn't make a difference since it wasn't him who apologised but I guess it made me feel a tiny bit better. As a truce, mum invited the whole family for dinner, hence here they were. 

I finish off the last Lindor chocolate as I pat down my black, fitted dress. Combing a hand though my hair, I trod towards the door, my heels making a soft click clack noise behind me as I approached the door. 

Taking a deep breath and a weak smile plastered on my lips, I opened the door and came face to face with the King family. At the door, Callum and Zoe, stood in front; Callum held a bottle of wine whilst Zoe held a bunch of flowers; I give them a small smile as they return one back, 

"Come in, the living room is just on your right,"

I speak softly, I step aside opening the door wide as they walk in; Joshua, Mia and Wendy stepped in not shortly after behind them. I give them a smile also, Wendy sees me and gives a small squeal, 

"Lily!"

"Hey Wendy,"

I say, Wendy's smile flatters as she pouts looking up to her mum. They all walk towards the living room without a word, I was about to close the door but a small voice called out,

"STOP! Wait for me!"

I stop as I reopen the door, a rushing Jake comes in, his parents also following shortly, 

"Hi Lily!"

He speaks happily hugging my legs,

"You look pretty,"

"Thank you Jake"

I comment only for him to pout at me, 

"You didn't call me handsome"

"Oh..."

I hesitate but was replaced by a small gasp,

"Handsome you're here!"

Jake turns as he smiles wide, 

"Cupcake!!"

He replies back with the same enthusiasm as Wendy. They both run into each other as they hugged each other. Wendy whispered into his ear, laughter shortly following. I look back at Luke and Claire, as they both give me a worried look, 

"You okay Lily? You know.. after what happened?"

I give them a pained look before I nod once, trying not to remember but every time I tried it always backfired, 

"Can we not talk about it? Come in; the King family just got here"

They both smiled as they stepped in. I guide them through the living room seeing everyone sat around the sofa; Leo and dad joined as a light conversation sung in the background. Callum stood up giving Luke a manly hug, chuckles roaming around not long after.

Taking the initiative to take a step outside, I head for the kitchen seeing mum add the final touches to the food. The table in the dining room extended, cutlery all set, chairs ready to be filled, 

"Mum do you want me to do anything?"

She looks up and gives me a smile, 

"Baby can you fill up the glasses with wine while I greet our guests?" 

I nod once moving around the table as I fill the glasses. I hum a little to myself before strings of talks become louder, indicating that they were close by. I step away from the table as I wipe my hands together, sweat piling up already,

"Sarah it smells delicious! I can see myself having seconds already"

Callum beams in delight. They all walked in and gave me a smile. Everyone gradually took a seat as another string of conversation floated around the table. I move to stand near the door, now picking up the voices of Jake and Wendy. Their giggles quiet but heard.

+++

Mash, steamed veg, gravy and chicken were passed around; a light talk weaving through here and there. I look around, every person I see are either smiling, throwing their head back in light laughter or having a glint of happiness in their eyes.

I try staying focused on the chatter but found myself daydreaming off as my fork played around with the mash, that was until my name got called. Callum looks at me with a smile on face as he spoke, 

"So Lily how did you find it at the company when you were working? You can be as honest as you want."

I bit the inside of my mouth, placing my fork down, a stutter taking place, 

"Um okay I guess. I word that I would use to describe it would be 'busy' and 'non-stop' but it was only busy and non-stop as Noah's PA"

Callum scrunched his eyebrows as he spoke, 

"Only as Noah's PA? What do you mean?"

"Oh you didn't know? Before becoming Noah's PA I used to work in Luke's department. I was in charge of writing up reports from different competitors and potential stakeholders. Before becoming Noah's PA, I was still editing the annual report"

"Wait that was you?"

Joshua spoke taken back. I nod a couple of times as I watched him in surprise,

"You need to go back and fix that annual report. Whoever is doing it now is so shit honestly,"

A smile fights my lips as I bite my bottom lip. Tell that to Luke, he's the one who said he'd do it for me. Joshua leaned forward on the table, the curiosity unable to be kept in,

"So, I don't know if I'm the only one who wants to know but how did you become Noah's PA?"

Luke coughs as I blink a couple of times. The answer to your question goes back to Luke, that inconsiderate bastard. He made me meet Noah. Oh not to forget, meet him by slipping on water which only resulted me falling in his arms. I smile sweetly as I replied, 

"Luke called me aside and said that there was an opening and recommended me. I didn't even know how Noah looked like until I bumped into him a couple of days later"

Mia chokes on her food as she looks as me with wide eyes, Zoe also giving a strangled cough,

"You didn't know what Noah looked like?"

I frown at the mention of his name as I shake my head no, 

"No wonder he why he was reacting like that"

"What?"

I question at no-one in particular. Mia looks at me with a wide smile. I face Callum as he also holds a shocked expression. My heart fastens as blurt out randomly, 

"Why was I meant to know how he looked..."

Just as Callum was about to open his mouth, the doorbell rang. All eyes looked at the door that led out to the hallway. Mum placed her fork down and started to stand but I stop up abruptly, grabbing everyone's attention, 

"I'll get it mum, you continue eating. I'm done eating anyways."

I say almost too quickly as I look down at my food seeing nothing touched. I push the chair and make a beeline for the door, hearing the doorbell go off once again. I do a little run to the door and open it, instantly coming face to face with emerald eyes once more. 

My breath hitched as I stood frozen, his facial expression mirroring mine for a second. He blinked first, his eyes leaving mine as it racked my body; from head to toe before looking back at me once more. He whispered delicately, 

"Kitten"

It was my turn to look away, my eyes now racking his body. He wore black jeans, black buttoned shirt and vans. Even wearing causal he looked good. He held a gift bag, a few flowers poking out. I don't say anything as I step aside allowing him him walk in. 

Once he was inside, I closed the door, already feeling his eyes on me. I somehow manage to avoid his gaze and start to walk back to the kitchen. I prayed in my head, hoping that he was following behind me. 

My prayer was answered as I heard the light patter of his feet behind me, indicating that he was following me silently. As I reached the opening of the kitchen, I hesitated by the door frame seeing all heads now face me,

"Who was at the door baby?"

Mum speaks. Upon my presence, Zoe looks at me before her eyes shift to the side of my head. I couldn't say anything but my body did; by burning up. Without having to turn around, I knew that Noah's presence was behind me close, 

He stood too close to the point that I could feel his body heart radiate and his breath fan ever so lightly on the nape of my neck. My stomach clenched with the mere thought of him being behind me. 

My legs felt like they lost all sense of balance and I could feel them physically shake a little, attracting a few stares from Leo, Joshua and Callum. Trying to push their stares away, I proceed to take a step forward but my legs became weak making me buckle a little loosing balance.

I felt like a toddler taking their first steps as I took a step forward. As I took a step forward, I knew I lost all balance, as my hands tried to grab something for support. In my mind, I felt like I was falling but that came to a halt as I felt two firm hands placed on my waist, pulling me back up.

I place my hands on top of the ones that were holding my hips, the heat stirring up butterflies in my stomach. The hands pulled me back until my back was now pressed to their front. A gasp leaves my mouth as my eyes widen at the sudden touch. 

Breathlessly, I'm met with Noah's face as we stood centimetres away, our noses slightly brushing at our distance. My lips part and he looks down, his own lips parting a little making our breaths mix. 

I take a sharp intake, inhaling his Hugo Boss and Sandalwood infused perfume. We stay like this for what felt like forever. The sound of my heart beating loud as our breaths moved in sync. My eyes fall to his lips and I swear my heart skipped a beat. 

Our lips were inches away from touching. It was like a waiting battle, we both kept looking at each others lips and eyes. We both came to a stop as I only stare at his eyes, him mirroring me as his eyes held a little guilt. 

I pull my face back, creating a distance as I cleared my voice. I dropped my hands from his and took a step away from him. I wiped my hands on my dress, my eyes roam around the kitchen... everywhere but the people present in the room, 

"I'll give the kids their food-"

"Sorry I'm late-"

We both speak in sync. We both looked at each other, without saying another word. Our eyes only fought in the silence. Looking away, I cleared my throat and walked towards the table. Everyone at the table watching me, their faces holding amusement even from my parents. 

Quickly placing enough food on two plates, I turn back around and walk back to the door, my eyes glued to the floor. From the corner of my eye, Noah takes a step aside allowing me to walk past him. Even though my eyes were on the floor, I could still feel his eyes solely on me. 

As I walked past him, my mind pictured him snaking his arm around my waist effortlessly, my body dipping at his touch. He also dipped his head and stole a kiss... but... that only remained alive in my mind. 

I leave the kitchen, only to release a breath that I didn't know I was holding. I stop mid-way before looking over my shoulder, seeing Noah longer stood by the door frame. Letting out a sigh, 

I walk into the living room seeing both Wendy and Jake both snuggling with each other whilst they watched a cartoon show on the TV. I smile as I call their names, 

"Jake, Wendy"

They both face me as they gave a shy smile, 

"I got you both some food. You can eat here whilst you both watch."

They both nodded their head as they moved towards the coffee table, sitting under two pillows. I placed the food in front of them and they started eating, Wendy spoke, 

"Lily, are you angry at us?"

I give her a pout as I question, 

"Why would I be angry at you?"

She takes a bite of her mash before she spoke, 

"Because you don't call us cupcake or handsome like before"

My eyes soften as I moved to take a seat with them. I sat down with my legs crossed,

"You think I'm angry because I haven't called you cupcake or handsome?"

They both at each other before looking down at their food in shame almost,

"Hey... look at me, never and I mean never think like that again okay? I love you two so much that it hurts me that you think that."

They both look up as I usher them both over making them sit on my lap,

"I'm just not feeling a little happy but both of you will always make me happy. No matter what. Always remember that okay?"

They nod their heads as they move to hug me, as I also hugged them back. Wendy breaks first as she questions innocently, 

"Is uncle Nono here?"

I give a small smile as I bop her nose, 

"That my cupcake I can answer as yes"

"Do you like him?"

Jake asked almost instantly. Wendy quickly grabbed my face in her hands, suddenly excited as she exclaims, 

"No handsome not like, you love uncle Nono!"

She said happily a laugh shortly followed after, 

"No like!" 

"No love!"

They bickered continuously as they ate,

"Lily tell us which one?"

Upon hearing the question, my mind played flashbacks of all our times from before our goodbyes. Even now what happened outside the kitchen replayed in my head and I found myself smile involuntarily as the words escape my lips, 

"Maybe I do..."

And that when I knew, I couldn't deny it anymore. The constant battle in my mind won,

I loved Noah King and there was no going back.