Chapter 15

Chapter Twelve
Take My Room
I spent another night at Noah's.
We all did. When people were going to head home including Ezra and I, Noah's mom had just gotten home.
A beautiful women who was aging gracefully but still looked younger than she was, stepped into the house, the door shutting loudly behind her. She exhaled a deep breath as she closed an umbrella that she was holding.
That's when she looked up and noticed a bunch of teenagers looking at her.
"Hey, Mrs.Coates," Luke and Charlie both grinned, saying hello to Noah's mom.
"Oh, hello kids. I didn't realize Noah had friends over." She smiled politely and then looked at Jade who was putting her coat on. "Where are you headed? You're not headed home, are you honey?"
Jade looked confused as she realized Mrs.Coates was smiling and talking to her. "Oh, yeah I was actually. It's getting quite late and my parents are probably wondering when I'll be home."
Mrs.Coates shook her head, looking between all of us in the room. "It's terrible out. The roads are hideous and the wind is very strong. You all should stay the night which I'm sure you'll parents would suggest as well. I'm fine with it so make yourselves at home." She smiled before walking off.
"Ah yes!" Leo leaned back on the couch, propping his feet up on the table. "Fucking slumber party. Thanks Mrs.Coates!" He yelled out. We distantly heard her chuckle.
Jade looked at Noah with a questioning look, "we're all staying the night?"
Noah shrugged, not fazed, "Yeah, whatever. I don't care. There's only two guest rooms and Adriel's room isn't much of his anymore since he moved out and only has it when he comes back to visit. Take whatever you want."
Eventually it was all sorted out. Well, kind of.
Ezra said he'd crash on the couch which nobody protested because he had been comfortably taking over a recliner the whole day anyways and he seemed very relaxed.
Joy and Kai took one of the guest rooms and Jade took the other. Charlie said it was weird to take Adriel's room even if it wasn't his so he would was going to crash on the ground in the guest room Jade was taking but Jade insisted he just take the bed with her saying they had been friends for years and the group always had sleep overs anyways so it wasn't a big deal.
Leo said he didn't care and would crash on the couch.
"What about you?" Leo looked at me causing everyone else to also look at me.
"What?"
"You never said where you'd crash. I want to make sure you don't end up sleeping on the floor," he laughed.
"Oh," I muttered, my face straight. "I don't care, it doesn't matter. I don't think I'll be doing much sleeping anyways." I mumbled the last part under my breath but Ezra caught it and gave me a knowing look.
I looked away from Ezra who I knew wanted to say more - just not in front of everyone else.
"You can take the bed with Jade," Charlie said. "I'll take the other couch or ground."
"No, no," I shook my head. "I'm fine on the couch or whatever. You guys already got it all sorted out, don't worry about it."
"I don't want you sleeping on the couch," Luke mumbled, swinging an arm around my shoulders. "You can take the bed in Adriel's - well his old room."
I shook my head, "no... I'm okay. Seriously, don't worry about it."
I didn't care because it was one night and aside from that, I knew I wouldn't sleep much anyways.
I couldn't, actually.
I needed my sleeping pills which I could not sleep without and they were at home. I already knew I was going to have a restless night.
"But-"
"Just take my room." Noah cut Luke off. Everyone looked at him in surprise, including me.
"What?" My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Why would I take his room? And why the hell would he offer his room?
"What?" He looked between all his friends, giving them annoyed looks at their surprised faces. "You fell asleep there last night anyways. I'll just take the recliner in my room, no big deal."
"But-"
"Not up for discussion." Noah cut me off firmly. Then he turned and walked out of the lounge room, making it clear that it really was not up for discussion.
"Oh my god," Joy came over to me, practically squealing in my ear. Everyone else had gotten busy in other conversation or starting to play video games. "That's so cute. Noah giving up his bed like that, I mean the boy loves his sleep."
"It's true," Jade grinned cheekily as she started wiggling her eyebrows in my face. "One time he was late to an exam because he wanted to sleep in."
I looked at the two of them with my eyebrows pulled together before I groaned and shook my head frantically, "you people are reading too far into this. Relax. And Jade, don't get me started on you and Charlie sharing a bed." I looked at her and smirked when her cheeks started to tinge pink. "What? Not going to say anything now?" I started chuckling.
"Nothing is going on with Charlie!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice so the boys wouldn't hear.
"Are you sure?" Joy asked with a bright, suggesting smile.
"Yes. We have been friends for years," Jade responded firmly but avoided both our gazes.
"That explains the lovey looks and how clung together you two've been all day," I retorted, grinning.
Jade groaned as she leaned further back into the couch as if it would swallow her whole. "Whatever," she grumbled.
"I'm going to go see if Noah needs help getting extra blankets and stuff," I said, standing up and laughing along with Joy at Jade who was now embarrassed.
"Yeah, yeah," Joy winked. "We all know what that's code for."
I rolled my eyes, "it's code for making sure our in-house camping trip is comfortable with enough pillows and blankets, Joy."
I was walking past the kitchen to go find Noah when I was stopped, "Tiffany, is it?"
I looked over to see Noah's mom in the kitchen. I walked over to her and smiled politely, "Oh, hi Mrs.Coates. Sorry I didn't see you there. I was just seeing if Noah needed help."
She smiled, "Colton and Noah have mentioned you. My boys seem to be very fond of you."
I looked down at my feet, smiling lightly, "I'm nothing special but I like your boys too..." I looked at her sheepishly, "just don't admit that to Noah."
She chuckled, "Of course not, no reason to feed a growing mans ego, right?"
I laughed in response. "No, ma'am."
"Call me Amanda," she gave me a warm smile that made me melt because it was anything but what I was used to. I guess you could easily see she was nothing like my mother. "But it is nice to finally meet you, Tiffany."
"You too, Mr- Amanda." I smiled as she placed a hand on my forearm. "Do you have any idea where Noah went?"
She nodded towards down the hallway, "Down there."
I gave her another quick smile before I headed off.
It must be nice to have a mother like that. She was similar to my dad who was kind and friendly, easy to talk to but anything but similar to my mother.
I wondered what Noah's dad was like. Noah and Cade both had told me they didn't get along with him. I wondered how that could be because his parents were still together and his mom was such a sweetheart that it was hard to picture he with a cold man.
Then again, it was like my parents. Except that my parents split up.
"Woah!"
I was so lost in thought that I hadn't seen Noah coming right my way. Of course his view was blocked off by the mountain of pillows and blankets he carried, which were now all on the ground.
Noah's hands had found my arms, catching and stabilizing me. "Sunshine. What are you doing here?"
I looked at him, frozen for a moment. "I was just... oh, uh - looking for you? I mean, I wanted to see if you needed help... with the pillows and blankets." I looked at the ground where they all laid scattered in the hall.
Noah laughed, "I guess I could use some help." We both bent down and started gathering the items, splitting the load before heading back to the lounge.
It was a bit later at night when we were all still sitting in the lounge room eating mac and cheese that Amanda had made us.
Everyone was honestly a little thankful because we couldn't order pizza due to the weather and roads and we were a little sick of all the junk food we had been feasting on all day long.
"No, I believe in the cliché that every school has to have a mean girl." Joy stated firmly in a tone that said you wouldn't be able to change her mind.
"That's just the movies," Kai shook his head. "We just happen to be the odd school that falls into that cliché."
Jade spoke up, "Okay, well let's see then. Tiffany, at your old school in Saratoga did you have a mean girl?" All the eyes turned to me.
I slowly chewed and swallowed my food before I shrugged, "Hannah. She wasn't anything like Madison but thought she was better than everyone, talked a lot of shit behind everyone's backs and walked around like she owned the place. She didn't fuck with me though."
Ezra laughed, "Yeah because nobody messed with The Tiffany Vos back in Saratoga. I'm sure after the events this week nobody at Grove High will mess with you either."
"Not after she put Madison in her place like that," Luke said, laughing and causing everyone else to grin and laugh at the memories of me and Madison arguing.
"Wait, did you say Vos?" Joy looked between me, Ezra and Charlie. Her jaw slightly dropped, "Your mom's Catherine Vos?"
Joy had connected the dots. I guess none of them knew since Charlie had my dads last name - Rhodes while I had my moms. It also made sense because the size of our house made it stand out.
They knew both sides of our family was quite wealthy but didn't know just how wealthy the other side was since they didn't know our other half was Vos.
"Catherine Vos?" Jade inquired, a little confused. "You mean the fashion designer who also runs the biggest magazine company in New York and basically all of the US?"
I looked at Charlie who was grinning lightly, amused at how shocked his friends were. He didn't seem too fazed.
Ezra looked at me with a small frown, knowing I didn't like holding conversations that had to do with my mom. He also apologized through his eyes, feeling guilty because he was the one who let the Vos part slip.
I shrugged and gave him a small smile to let him know it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't because people took advantage of the fact that she was my mom, it was because I didn't have a very lovey mother-daughter relationship with her so I didn't exactly like listening to people gush about how amazing she is.
I caught Noah's gaze. He was looking at me with his eyes narrowed as if he were figuring out what was going on in my head. I looked away from him.
"Yup, that's the one." Charlie murmured.
"How do we not know this?" Leo muttered, confused. "I mean we've known you for years."
Charlie shrugged, "like I said, Tiff and I basically had two separate lives. It's not like I'm really close to my mom or anything."
I scoffed, "that makes two of us." I realized I should've bit my tongue when everyone looked at me.
"You two aren't close?" Kai asked without thinking. "I mean, it was just the two of you right? Sorry, I assumed you'd be close like Charlie and your dad."
Joy smacked his arm, giving him a look that said 'shut up you idiot'.
I shrugged lightly, "It's fine. We were fine, she just worked a lot and had a busy life." That was all said before stuffing my face with mac and cheese, hoping my brushed off comment would be enough for the conversation to come to an end.
Ezra cleared his throat, "Did you steal my fucking soda, Lucas?!"
Luke looked at Ezra with wide eyes, "What?! No! Of course not!"
Ezra gave him a flat look, "it's right in front of you."
Luke grinned sheepishly, "My bad."
Everyone burst out in laughs as Ezra and Luke started fighting over the Coke bottle.
Everyone had kind of settled in and started dozing off because it was last midnight and everyone was somehow tired.
I offered to clean some of the mess when Noah went to go find more blankets for Luke who was complaining about being cold.
I was putting some of the empty mac and cheese bowls away when Ezra came into the kitchen.
"Are you going to be okay tonight?"
I turned around when I heard his voice. I gave him an odd, confused look, "uh, what do you mean?"
"You don't have your sleeping pills, Tiff." He mumbled softly. Oh, right.
I sighed, "yeah, I'll be fine. It's just one night of no sleep, nothing new. They don't always help me sleep anyways."
Ezra frowned, "I'm worried about you."
I chuckled dryly, turning back around and putting dishes in the dishwasher. "Don't worry about me, Razzi."
"I can't do that, Tiff. You know that." His voice was soft and concerned, not something other people were used to hearing from Ezra. "I can always go bring your sleeping pills."
I turned around abruptly, "Are you stupid? No! Do you see the weather outside, Raz?!"
Ezra put his hands up in defence, grinning a bit, "Relax, Tiff. A little rain doesn't hurt anymore."
"Say that to the multiple car crash victims from today. Did you not see the news or hear what Amanda said?"
"But you can't sleep without your pills." He argued, crossing his arms over his chest.
I gave him a flat and stern look, "No. I'm fine, now go sleep or whatever."
Ezra looked at me hesitantly for another minute sighing and leaving.
Hardly a minute later, another voice caused me to turn away from the dishes again, "you need sleeping pills?"
I looked at Noah, my face straight and void of any emotion although I was surprised and a little panicked that he heard. "Yeah... uh, I mean, kind of. It's just... new house, new bed, new mattress. I lived in the same house my whole life, you know. I'm just not completely used to being in Long Grove yet so the pills help me fall asleep. That's all."
I looked at Noah, waiting for a response. His eyes narrowed as he suspiciously scanned my face. He didn't look like he believed me.
"It's not polite to eavesdrop, you know?" I mumbled as I turned around because his gaze was starting to piece through my skin like it was made from lasers. I hoped he wouldn't ask about the pills.
Noah lightly chuckled behind me, "It's my house. I didn't realize I was interrupting."
I nodded but didn't say anything as I finished putting the dishes away.
"You know you don't have to clean all this up." He said softly, coming behind me. I knew because he somehow got so close to me as he stood behind me that I could feel his warm breath on my ear.
I froze, holding a bowl in my hand.
"I do appreciate the help, though." His voice was low, his arms coming around me as if he were hugging me from behind but instead, he took the bowl from my hands, his hands on top of mine before taking it out of my grasp and placing it in the dishwasher himself.
After my quick moment of freezing in spot, I went back to my usual unfazed attitude as I turned around, "Ca-" I barley got a word out, stopping when I realized turning around was a terrible idea because I was now only an inch or two away from Noah.
I looked up at Noah as he was taller than me. He was looking down at me with a grin playing on his lips and his eyes lit up with unclaimed emotions alongside of amusement.
Both of his arms were on either side of me, holding the counter so I was trapped. I couldn't move because he was almost pressed up against me.
He quirked an eyebrow as he waited for me to continue saying what I had started to but I was numb and frozen, for the first time unable to form any words.
I was trying to ignore our close proximity but that was a little hard when I could feel his steady, warm breaths on my face.
Should I knee his man jewels and make a run for it?
That sounded like a pretty solid idea...
Expect for the fact that I physically felt unable to move.
"Loss for words sunshine?" His voice was low and quiet, not much above a whisper. He was amused seeing me speechless like this. I hated giving him that satisfaction. It was very unlike me to just stand here and not saying anything.
I narrowed my eyes, "Even heard of personal space, Noah?" Finally I somehow spoke, my voice quiet like his.
Noah smirked, "Seeing as we're in my house, I don't mind breaking rules."
He was way too cocky and entertained for his own good. I licked my lips, about to speak and tell him off when my breath got caught in my throat. Noah had glanced at my lips for a brief second, his face coming further down and closer to mine.
Because it wasn't close enough already? What bad karma is this for?
His lips hovered above mine, one side of his mouth twitched upwards in a grin.
"Who knew I'd be able to leave The Tiffany Vos speechless?"
I blinked.
I don't know what happened but it was like a switch was pressed and instantly I snapped back into my senses.
Who the hell does he think he is?
I narrowed my eyes in glare and pushed him away from me.
He stumbled backwards until his back hit the island. He looked at me with the same amused smirk still on his face.
"Personal. Space. It's called personal space." I muttered coldly before walking away from him and out the kitchen.