Am I overdressed? This is too much. Mistake. Mistake. Panic was beginning to buzz in his head. Noah wasn't giving anything away, per usual. To an outsider, he looked serious, composed, unreadable. Just how he had looked to MC on that first day at the villa, when he hadn't stepped forward for her.

He had been too nervous. And once all the other guys had already stepped forward it seemed overconfident for him to do it. As though she would choose him over all those other lads. Hope came right to him. He didn't even have to muster the courage to step forward. It was something he liked about Hope. She made sure he was included. While he would have normally faded into the background in a group like that, Hope made sure he was one of the leading men. A power couple in the Villa.

Noah hadn't seen MC in person since the reunion a year and a half ago. They had both been happily paired up with other people at the time. They had been distant, social media friends since then. Although Noah wasn't very active, and MC hadn't been posting much in the past 5 months or so. He did occasionally look at her profile and see what was going on with her. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Bobby hadn't been in any of her pictures lately. Her posts had shifted more towards social issues and scenery. The few that she actually posted anymore. When he heard that they had broken up, he had a surge of tingly panic jolt through him. That can't have been easy for either of them. It gave him an aching in his chest to think how they both must be feeling right now. He was also desperate to take the opportunity to get closer to her. To have his chance finally. He was buzzing with this news, unsure of what his next move should be. He didn't want to just swoop in out of nowhere. Didn't want to give away his ulterior motives. But he didn't want to wait too long. They could get back together. Or she could meet someone new.

He found out she was performing nearby, and knew this was his opportunity. Her classical music career seemed to have taken off since leaving the Villa. Her claim to fame was the cello, but he knew she played a variety of other instruments, and had a nice singing voice too. He was excited to see the performance, and it was a great excuse to see her.

Things had always been perfectly chaste between them at the Villa. Mostly just furtive, quiet moments here and there. Extended eye contact. Soft smiles. Eye contact during a shared laugh. He remembered once he caught himself gazing into her eyes smiling while holding Hope. There was a shared appreciation between them. But they were in other relationships, and they were supportive of one another. Bobby, Hope, Noah, and MC were each other's best friends in the Villa.

But there was an unspoken romance too. When they'd had too much to drink, they often found themselves flirting. MC would call him over to hang out with her, or pretend to be pouty if he left the group, or went to bed. One particularly tipsy night she said to him, "Oh Noah, you know I just like you so much." It made something deep inside him soften. He was in a good mood the whole next day.

MC needed to keep up her playing over the summer, so they let her store her cello in the Hideaway. It was rarely used compared to other parts of the villa. Early on, Noah had been exploring the Villa alone, and he had stumbled upon one her sessions. He followed the sound, already missing the opportunity to listen to music all day they way he normally did. It was the general opinion that he came off as antisocial when he tried to do the things that normally relaxed him. Reading, listening to music, being alone. The Villa was a tough environment for an introvert like him, and he often craved to get away. Even his downtime was dominated by Hope. That's why he had been taking the walk in the first place.

"Oh, sorry!" he said when they saw each other and startled. "I heard the music. I'll-"

"Oh no problem! I was just in my own world! How's it going?"

"Good, just trying to get some headspace."

"So you heard the sound of someone else and came looking?" she smirked.

"Fair point. I was missing music to be honest, so I couldn't resist."

"Oh! Well, you're welcome to hang out here and listen! Can't promise it will be entertaining, but you'll at least be left alone!"

He was skeptical, because she came off quite talkative and bubbly. Honestly, reminded him of his little sister a bit, and she had never been able to stay quiet for more than 2 minutes if someone else was in the room. "She can talk to a wall" his family used to joke. MC could definitely talk to a wall.

But she didn't talk. In fact, she ignored him. He thought a few times she might have forgotten he was there. She became so focused on her playing. It was intensely calming to him.

"Sitting in silence is an act of intimacy" he had quipped to her on the 2nd day in the villa. He thought she was going to come graft on him that night and try and turn his head so she could stay in the villa after Priya had picked Bobby. But instead she asked him to tell her something about him that she didn't know.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." He told her about how he reads to kids every Sunday at the library. Does the voices and everything. He realized he was trying to impress her, and he thought she'd probably like that. He always liked to tell his dates that fun fact in order to gauge their response to kids. MC's eyes lit up when she heard that one. She loved kids. Had grown up next door to a daycare where she spent a lot of time helping take care of the children. And she had worked with kids before, which suggested patience. They started talking about children's books. She knew them well, and you could tell she genuinely liked them.

Hope had interrupted that conversation though. He recalled her rigid body as she wrapped her arm around Noah. "Oh look...a snake in the grass" A huge overreaction to him talking to a friend at a party on day 2. He had sighed irritability. "Its not a big deal, babe. MC was just standing alone and I thought I'd keep her company."

Noah began to make a habit of occasionally sitting in on her practice sessions, and would mostly just sit and read while she played. Hope had been a little skeptical at first, but Hope and MC had become fast friends, and it was clear that MC was smitten with Bobby.

It wasn't all shared silence, though. They often chatted, bonding over music, books, favorite tv shows. They discussed old stand up acts that he used to listen to on his dad's old LPs, like George Carlin and Richard Pryor. She was also surprisingly well-read.

One day, Noah had been playing Name That Tune with Hope, and MC came and guessed every song right away. Noah went off on one about Toto. MC didn't say much about it at the time. But then a couple days later she surprised him with a cello version of Hold the Line. That had gotten a rare belly laugh out of him. She sang the lyrics along to help him recognize it and her voice was lovely. Husky and old fashioned, but not over affected.

They both knew that they could have worked well together, but that's not how it was playing out. Each time, they kept choosing their respective partners and their friendships. And that was okay! They were each very happy.

Although it would be a lie to say he wasn't a bit envious. Bobby and MC were fun together. They played off each other and cracked everyone up. They weren't jealous, and they were also very affectionate towards each other. They would flirt with others in the group and then make it clear that no one held a candle to their number one. Noah had been subjected to being a prop in that game several times. MC would make a little flirty comment or touch his arm, and then she would cross the group and sit in Bobby's lap, laughing, kissing his cheek.

Bobby was ecstatically happy with her. There was no way Noah was going to take that away. The lads could all tell he was done for on day 1. He'd overheard Bobby trying to play it cool, saying it was early days and all. But then he focused all his attention on her. Being over the top clear that he only saw everyone else as a friend. When given any opportunity to try something new, Bobby would immediately make it clear that it "wasn't going to be a blazing romantic couple" or that they were a "friendship couple" or that he considered the other girls "ridiculously gorgeous friends". Friend friend friend friend friend friend. Noah was not going to take away Bobby's one love interest.

Honestly, he was staying away from MC out of loyalty for Bobby as much as Hope. The girls weren't the only ones charmed by Bobby. The guys did not want him sad, since he kept the group light and happy. And they really liked him and wanted to look out for him. The fact that MC was so fiercely loyal to Bobby made her even more perfect for him, and even more attractive to Noah. He'd seen the way Hope looked at Lucas. And the way Lucas looked back. It made him feel threatened.

Sometimes all four of them would hang out in the Hideaway together while she played. Those were some of his favorite times in the villa. He liked Hope even more when she was around MC. She brought out the best in her. She seemed to do that to everyone.

After the show ended, they had watched the episodes back, and there had been several moments between Hope and other guys that did not please Noah. Some dirt was exposed on their relationship. But, oh man, MC came out looking amazing. She had been so good to Bobby, so devoted. She had been good to her friends, too. When Bobby and Priya suggested Operation Nope, MC made it clear that she couldn't get behind that plan. Noah thought it must have been hard for her to chastise Bobby in that way, and his stomach flooded with appreciation for her. It was really watching the show back that had confirmed Noah's affection for MC.

And as a result, he was standing in the lobby of an old-timey venue, wearing a suit, hoping to catch her. When he finally saw her, he was bowled over by her beauty. She was wearing a formal, beaded gown. Her hair pulled up in intricate loops and braids. A look beyond his own braiding capabilities. She had gained weight since he'd last seen her, and it suited her. Her curves were somehow even more inviting. He loved that she hadn't used her newfound fame and wealth to try to make herself smaller. Some of the other girls had become gaunt in their time since the Villa, bending to the pressure of the public eye. Instead, MC was nourishing herself. Treating herself with care. Her face was glowing and pink. Her eyes sparkled.

This formal look was quite different than the vibe of the Villa. MC had always looked great, and put a lot of effort into her style. But this was a more elegant look. He felt like he was in that scene of Wizard of Oz where Dorothy first lands in Oz and suddenly everything is in color. He was glad he had worn his suit.

Her jaw dropped when she saw him. In the 2 seconds it took for her to process who she was seeing, Noah squirmed in anxious agony. "Noah?!" she laughed. "Come here you!" She rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around him. His brain flooded with warmth as he returned the embrace.

"I can't believe it! You're actually here! Oh my God! Wait, you live around here don't you?"

"I do." He responded quietly, smiling at her enthusiastic chatter. It instantly set him at ease. He had forgotten how nice it was to be near her.

"I'm a total cow. I should have reached out to let you know I was going to be in the area! Well, you found me anyhow! Lucky me! Can you possibly forgive me?"

"It's no problem," he laughed. "I saw that you were going to be in the area and didn't want to miss a chance to see a real deal performance. Personally, I liked the Hideaway versions where you stopped every few seconds and said 'fuck' and 'bloody hell', but you sounded good tonight too!"

She threw her head back in laughter. He loved how she laughed. She wasn't exactly a pretty laugher, but that's what he loved about it. She laughed with her whole body, face scrunching up, head thrown back, hands clutched to her chest. Pure joy.

"So what are up to now?" she asked.

"Now like, in life? Or like, right this second?"

"Well, both, but first, right now? Well...I'd say we could go get a drink, but I have my cello, and you know how it can be in public now. I'm not really in the mood to discuss the Villa with enthusiastic strangers tonight."

"Do you want to come to my place? It's not far from here. I can carry that for you" he said gesturing to her cello case.

"Um" she hesitated, "yeah, sure! That would be great." She handed the large black case to Noah.