Nochelle - Our Stories

D A T I N G 2

~Season 7~

They're dating.

It happens after their tenth Friday night, their eighth Saturday night, and about fifty meals together (including the times he had brought her food to their rehearsals last year).

Her parents were away on a business trip in Barcelona, so her mum was checking in over the phone when his usual four knocks came at the door, right at 7:30. She opens it, smiles at him before turning around back into the kitchen.

"Yes, mum." She says, rubbing her forehead.

He holds up the takeout he brought and she smiles at him before turning back to her conversation.

"Sweetie, you need to take a break at some point, you could've come this weekend."

"I know, Mum. I've just been really busy."

"All you do is work, Richelle. Do you ever have fun?"

"I have tons of fun, Mum."

She ignores the snort coming from Noah and takes chopsticks out of one the kitchen drawers, tossing them at him, pointing towards the living room.

He mouths, 'tons of fun?' at her before he moves down the hall, and she rolls her eyes at his back.

She follows him there once she grabs their drinks out of the fridge and plops down next to him on the couch.

"Are you sure? Should I call Michelle to come check on you?"

"Mum! I'm perfectly capable of having fun without Michelle babysitting me." She takes the pair of chopsticks and shoves orange chicken in her mouth, frowning at the television when Noah stops at something she doesn't want to watch.

"I feel like I don't hear about anything going on in your life nowadays. What about boys, have you been dating?"

If Richelle was paying attention, and not silently arguing with Noah because she did not want to watch 100 Grossest Things People Eat, she wouldn't have said the following words.

"Yes, Mum, I have a boyfriend."

As soon as it comes out of her mouth, she winces and looks at Noah, who's looking just as surprised as she feels.

"Gotta go, Mum, talk to you later, love you!" she says over her mother's delighted squeals, hanging up.

"So..." she says, suddenly nervous and fighting the urge to fidget with the fabric beneath her.

"Look at you, defining the relationship." he says, grinning at her, his hand coming up to play with the ends of her hair.

She lets out a breath and gives him a shaky smile. "So you're good with that?"

Noah rolls his eyes and gives her a duh expression. "I've been waiting for you to be good with that. I've always been good with that."

"Good. So we're..."

"We're dating, Richelle."

They share a silly grin before he dives right back into the takeout, his feet going back up on the coffee table.

"How do you think we should tell the team?" she asks, changing the channel to something less gross because he changed it back to 100 Grossest Things People Eat when she wasn't looking.

"Not my problem anymore..." Noah snorts, taking the remote from her hands, only earning him a slap and a scowl. "Plus, they already know."

"What?!" she exclaims, whirling around to face him. "But we kept it a secret!" She knows she's pouting, but she can't help it. She thought they were doing so well at hiding it, too.

"Didn't stop them from having a studio-wide bet about how long it would take us to get together after I left."

"Why are you so cool about this?"

Noah shrugs, eyes still focused on the television.

"Oh my God, you put money on when we'd get together, huh?"

Noah just grins slyly at her, and Richelle throws her head back in exasperation.

"Did you at least win?" Richelle asks after a few minutes when her pride isn't so ruined.

"Yep, by a mile."

"Can we split the pot, at least? I'm half of why you're winning, anyway."

"I don't know, do I get a kiss? I'd feel cheated if I didn't get a kiss."

"If I have to."

~~~
Cute banter makes my heart 💓