||NOAH||

To be honest, I was sort of relieved when Brad said that Annabel and he haven't had intimacy. Just the scandalous thought of having my best friend having sexual activity with Brad just makes me feel slightly unnerved. But I should definitely know that Annabel wouldn't be that type of girl. Just then, someone knocked on the door. Brad and I looked to see my mother standing in the door frame. "How are you two boys?" She asked sweetly.

Brad and I glanced at each other for a second before looking back at my mother, I cleared my throat, "w-we're alright," I nodded. Brad gets up and stands to my side, giving a small nudge to my arm, his face having a perky grin with a brow raised. Only now have I noticed the scent of my favorite perfume when Brad neared himself. "The food is ready, come down and let's eat," My mother shined her pearly whites as she went ahead. The two of us stood silently for a second before I motioned Brad to come with. As we stepped into the hall, I turned to him, "wearing my perfume?" I said. He nods and remains quiet but kept a smile. "You can have it if you want," I uttered.

Brad looks at me in surprise, "really?" His happy expression lifts but then falters after having a few thoughts, "I-I can't accept..." he mumbles.

"Why not?" Where is this coming from? He didn't hesitate to receive my hoodie before. He shook his head in denial. We both stopped on the stairs before declining any further, "no really, you can have it," I smiled.

"But-" he begins again to which I slowly poked in the middle of his chest and interrupted him.

"No buts, it's okay, just... think of it as a gift from me to remember, along with my hoodie," I looked at him through my eyelashes.

He sighs though as if he feels guilty but nods, "alright then, I'm so gonna give you my stuff next time in return," he grins and proceeds to ruffle my hair, again.

I looked at him annoyed but didn't bother to fix it, "why do you keep messing my hair..." I groaned with slight aggravation. We reached the bottom of the stairs.

"You're just fun to tease with," he lets out a small hearty laugh. As we keep up, we finally arrived in the dining room and was greeted with slightly more than usual amounts of food on the table. My Mom and Dad immediately stopped their random discussion and turned to see us. We greeted all together before Brad and I took our seat, the exact spots as last time when we had breakfast. Brad checked out the spread out food across the table filled with luxurious t-bone steaks, desserts, vegetable salads, and a side of fish. His eyes had a hint of stupefy in it as he continued to stare. "We didn't know what exactly you eat because Noah hasn't really been talking about you, so we thought we'd just have a variety prepared," my mother says, catching Brad's baffled face. I took a slice of the beef and some salad. Brad stayed put, acting as if he was waiting for orders. "Don't be shy, enjoy yourself," My Dad waved and focused back on his platter.

"So what do you do Brad? Activity wise?" My mother says as she took a piece of cheesecake from her fork.

"Erm... I play sports mam, mainly football," Brad replied before bitting on his food.

"Ah, I see. Do you like sports?" My father then asked.

"Yes sir, I do."

I kept quiet for the entirety of this section and let them converse things out. It mostly consisted of what qualities about what Brad had; what he likes, how he does in school, (which he never mentioned anything about his history grades) Brad even voluntarily said that he is Bi which my parents found interesting. Later on, the gossip then started adding me to the topic, "what are your intentions with my son?" My dad asks with a semitone of seriousness.

Brad gives me a strong look of admiration before answering, "I want to be with him for a very long time. He makes me feel happy every time I see him, and I'd to give him the happiness he deserves in return."

The whole table fell very quiet. My parents looked at each other intently. I was also speechless as I found his words very heartwarming and endearing that I actually felt my mouth quiver and eye form a tear. My parents then gave a nod at Brad as if they seemed approving. "We appreciate that," said my mother. Brad gave me a huge grin as if he looked victorious. I gently smiled at his sweet demeanor. Is it crazy that my heart is acting wild for him?

"Did you know that Noah had a girlfriend back then during middle school?" My mother blurted out of nowhere.

"What?! Mom!" I looked at her wide-eyed.

Brad was a little taken back at what she said as he looked at me confused, "you did?"

"Well... things make more sense now since I've never seen him make any moves or even hold hands with her," she giggled.

"I-I 'dated' her because I felt bad for turning her down..." I mumbled and shrunk in my seat.

Brad blasted out his laughter so hard. He held his belly, "you fake dated a girl?! Oh man!" He progressively got louder and appeared almost out of breath.

Way to pull out embarrassing stories mom...