Noah Sebastian x OC Word Count: 3.4k Warnings: none Authors Note: This is PART 5 I melted writing a certain line in this If you guys have things you want to see, let me know. I think this might be less of a series and more just...snapshots about them as I think of things? I don't know, not 100% set on how I want this to go yet so all ideas welcome pt 1 pt 2 pt 3 pt 4 Tags: @platespaghetti @itsfarbettertolearn @lowergroundfloor @leosunshine @mrslumi @lifeirreverent If you want to be added to the tag list, let me know.
Noah: I wrote a song today.
Zoey: Should I be worried?
Noah: Only if you're worried about being the reason I couldn't focus on anything else.
Zoey: You're flirting.
Noah: I'm practicing.
Zoey: For what?
Noah: The day you stop looking at me like I need supervision.
*
Zoey: You're very confident for someone who got repeatedly rejected
Noah: Actually, that's where the confidence comes from. I survived weeks of rejection and kept showing up.
*
Noah: What are you doing?
Zoey: Reading.
Noah: I knew it.
Zoey: Knew what?
Noah: That you had a hobby besides ignoring my texts.
*
Noah: I still can't believe you agreed to another date
Zoey: Don't make it weird.
Noah: I'm trying but every time you text me back I feel like I won a Grammy.
Zoey: You say nice things for a living. It's suspicious.
Noah: No, I write nice things for a living. The stuff I say to you is the part that scares me.
*
Noah: You know what's unfair?
Zoey: What now?
Noah: I spent months trying to convince you to give me a chance, and now you're making me like you even more
*
Zoey: How was rehearsal?
Noah: Terrible.
Zoey: That bad?
Noah: No. Nick just spent twenty minutes asking if I picked out my outfit for seeing you.
Zoey: Had you?
Noah: That's not the point. My friends are never letting me live this down.
*
Noah: I made the mistake of telling the guys you were texting me.
Zoey: And?
Noah: Now they're acting like I got engaged. Hope you’re ready for this.
*
Zoey: Your friends don't like me very much, do they?
Noah: No, they love you.
Zoey: Really?
Noah: You've been humbling me for months. They're having the time of their lives.
*
Noah: Jolly asked if I finally stopped writing sad songs.
Zoey: What did you say?
Noah: I told him we're not there yet.
Zoey: Good answer.
Noah: Thank you. I enjoy staying alive.
*
Noah: I got roasted at dinner tonight.
Zoey: What for?
Noah: You.
Zoey: I wasn't even there.
Noah: Exactly. Yet somehow you were still the main topic.
*
Zoey: Your guitarist seems scary.
Noah: He's actually the nicest one.
Zoey: Really?
Noah: He just looked me dead in the eye today and said, "Don't screw it up again."
*
Noah: My friends have started calling you "hotel girl."
Zoey: Hotel girl?
Noah: "Did hotel girl text?" "How's it going with hotel girl?" "Are you seeing hotel girl this weekend?"
Zoey: That's ridiculous.
Noah: That's what I said.
Zoey: And?
Noah: They reminded me I've talked about you every day for months.
*
Noah: Folio says I can’t stop smiling these days.
Zoey: Why are you smiling?
Noah: Because I'm texting you.
Zoey: Your friends tease you for that too, don't they?
Noah: Baby, my friends tease me for breathing in your general direction.
*
Noah: I told the guys you agreed to another dinner.
Zoey: And what did they say?
Noah: "Don't be weird."
Zoey: Can you do that?
Noah: No. That's why they were concerned. You clearly haven't seen my search history from the last few months. 'How long should a man stare at his phone before she replies?
[Noah’s POV]
Three heads snapped up in my direction as I walked into the studio for the first time this week and I immediately knew I was screwed. I shoved my phone into my pocket and ignored them all as I walked to the mixing board.
Folio grinned. "There he is."
"Don't," I said immediately.
"She’s texting you, isn’t she?" Ruffilo asked.
"Look at the smile on his face," Folio said. "She’s definitely textin him."
I groaned, running a hand through my hair. "I hate all of you."
"She texted him," Folio announced to the room.
Chaos ensued from the three goons.
"Oh, my God," Ruffilo said.
"Finally," Jolly muttered.
Folio cheered, "Nature is healing!"
I dropped into the chair behind the sound board with with more force than necessary.
"Can we just get started?" I begged.
"No."
"Nope."
"Absolutely not."
Folio spun his drumstick between his fingers. "How's your girl?"
I groaned, leaning my head back. "She's not my girl."
Jolly quirked his brow. "Interesting. That's not what you were calling her the rest of tour."
"That was back when she wasn't speaking to me."
"Fair point."
Ruffilo leaned forward conspiratorially. "Have you asked her out yet?"
"I’ve had coffee with her."
The room went silent and then they all exploded.
"You've had coffee."
"And one dinner."
"How many coffees?"
I hesitated and the guys immediately started yelling over each other.
"HOW MANY COFFEES?"
"OH MY GOD."
"COUNT THEM."
"It's been a few."
"A few?" Nick repeated. "A few is three. You've got the face of a man who's been on at least seven coffee dates."
"Eight," I muttered.
Chaos ensued and I could hardly keep up.
"Eight?" Ruffilo asked.
"Eight coffees!?"
"Dude, you're dating," Nick said.
"We are not dating," I protested.
The guys all just stared at me, before Ruffilo said, "You spent six months begging this woman for a second chance."
I narrowed my eyes, fidgeting with the knobs in front of me. "I did not beg."
"You absolutely begged."
I defended myself, "I was persistent."
"You wrote songs."
I shrugged. "Occupational hazard."
"You drove two hours to an animal shelter because she posted about it."
I narrowed my eyes. "That was a coincidence."
Everyone laughed at me and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks.
"Sure."
"Absolutely."
"Most believable thing you've ever said."
I rubbed my hand across the back of my neck, uncomfortable with their attention. "Can we move on?"
Nick pointed a drumstick at me. "No. When are we meeting her?"
I groaned.
"There it is."
Jolly murmured, "We knew it was coming."
"You people are unbelievable."
"We've earned this," Jolly said with a shrug.
My brow furrowed and I asked, "Earned what?"
"Meeting the woman who turned you into a functioning human being."
They all nodded, like this was something of heavy discussion in the past.
Ruffilo relaxed in his seat, spreading his arms along the back of the couch, as he said, "Seriously. Before her, your personality was basically black coffee and bad decisions."
Nick cackled. "Now look at you."
Ruffilo said, "You smile."
"You answer texts," Jolly pointed out.
"You even use emojis now," Nick agreed.
The guys all over exaggeratedly shuddered like they had the heebie jeebies.
"The emojis were hard to witness."
“I need new friends,” I muttered."You're not meeting her."
Ruffilo gasped. "Why not?"
"Because she's already nervous enough."
That shut them up for exactly two seconds before Jolly's expression softened.
"She's nervous?"
I shrugged. "Obviously."
The guys exchanged glances and their teasing disappeared almost instantly because beneath all the harassment, they weren't actually dickheads.
"Well," Nick said, "tell her we're normal."
I barked out a laugh. "No chance."
Nick shrugged. "Fair."
Ruffilo crossed his arms. "Look, we're not saying drag her to the studio tomorrow."
"Good."
"We're saying if this thing is actually going somewhere, eventually she's got to meet us."
Jolly and Nick nodded.
"And we should probably meet her before she realizes what a disaster you are and leaves your ass."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Nick pointed a drumstick at me. "Besides, we need to make sure she's real."
I laughed, "She's real."
"We've never seen her."
"You've seen pictures."
"Those might be AI," Ruffilo argued.
I stared at them.
"Bring her to dinner," Nick pushed.
"No."
"Bring her to the bar,” Ruffilo offered.
I groaned. "No."
"Bring her to a barbecue."
"No."
"Bring her anywhere."
"No."
Nick smirked the kind of smirk that meant trouble.
"Okay."
"Okay what?"
He shrugged. "We'll ask her ourselves."
I snapped my gaze to his and narrowed my eyes. "You don't even have her number."
"No," he agreed. "But you do."
The room erupted into laughter again and I pointed menacingly at them. "If any of you scare her off, I'll replace every single one of you."
Nick shrugged. "You can't."
"Watch me."
"You cried during a dog food commercial last week."
My jaw dropped, faux betrayal crossing my face. “You promised never to mention that."
Nick shrugged. "Invite her to dinner and we'll consider it."
[Noah’s POV]
I’d been at Zoey’s for about 2 hours now, a random horror film playing for the last forty five minutes that I hadn’t been paying attention to at all. She was stretched across one end of the couch, her feet tucked beneath her while I sat on the opposite side, one arm thrown over the back cushion, as I lazily scrolled through my phone.
"You've checked your phone six times in three minutes."
My eyes flicked up to meet hers."No, I haven't."
Zoey laughed softly at me, arguing, "You absolutely have."
"Nope," I said with a pop.
"You're doing it right now."
I immediately locked the screen and she smiled at me.
"What's wrong?"
I shrugged. "Nothing."
She pointed at me. "Liar."
I groaned, throwing my head back. "Why do you always know?"
"Because you're bad at hiding things."
"I'm actually very good at hiding things."
She stared at me and the silence stretched.
I sighed. "Okay, that's fair."
She grinned victoriously at me. "There it is."
I tossed my phone onto the couch next to me, watching it bounce once against the cushion and looked at her for a minute, trying to decide the best approach, knowing she was easily spooked. I watched her suspicion grow.
She groaned. "Oh no."
"What?"
Zoey pointed at me. "That face."
"What face?"
"That’s the face you make when you're about to ask me something."
my eyebrows lifted in confusion. “I have a face?"
"You absolutely have a face."
"I don't," I protested.
"You do."
I laughed softly, loving the way her nose did that little scrunchy thing and then I looked down, suddenly oddly nervous.
That was new, as a man who could stand in front of thousands of people without blinking. Somehow asking Zoey things always seemed to make me extra nervous.
"Okay," she said carefully. "What is it?"
I tapped my fingers against the back of the couch, before going for it and blurted, "The guys want to meet you."
She blinked slowly. "The band?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
I immediately started talking, I couldn't stop myself. "There's no pressure."
"I know."
"And you don't have to."
"Okay."
"And if you're not comfortable-"
Zoey laughed. "Hey." I paused. "You look terrified."
The words whooshed out of me, as I admitted, "I’m terrified."
I watched Zoey’s head snap back, caught off guard. "What?"
I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. “They've been asking about you for months."
Zoey sat up straighter. "Months?"
I groaned. "Don't make it a thing."
"How long have they been asking?"
I avoided looking at her, my eyes catching anything but her gaze.
"Since they found out I found you at the cafe."
I watched Zoey’s jaw actually drop.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Zoey started laughing and I felt my face get redder, which only made her laugh harder.
"Oh my God."
I groaned. "They're annoying."
"You've known them for years."
"I know exactly how annoying they are."
Zoey could barely beathe, she was laughing so hard. "They've been asking since then?"
I leaned forward, my body relaxing. "Relentlessly."
I watched as a smile settled across her face as she realized it meant I had been talking about her consistently. Enough that my best friends had become invested and that they wanted to meet her.
I could see her starting to spin out over the thought. "Don't read into that."
"Into what?"
"The fact that they know who you are."
She folded her arms across her chest. "How much do they know?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not answering that."
"How much?"
I shrugged. "A normal amount."
"That sounds like a lie."
"It is a lie."
She laughed again and I pointed at her. "See? This is why I didn't want to ask."
"Why?"
"Because now you're enjoying this."
"I am."
"Traitor," I said with a smile, showing her it was a joke.
Neither of us looked away, but silence settled into the room and the movie played across the screen, forgotten.
My expression shifted, not longer teasing or nervous, just pure honesty.
"I'd like you to meet them," I said softly.
This felt different, bigger than what we had done up until now. Not exactly a milestone, but sort of close to one. It was about meeting the people who mattered most to me, the people who'd been beside there long before I’d met her.
Zoey paused, a thoughtful look on her face as she examined me. "They're important to you."
I shrugged. "Yeah."
"And they already like me?"
I grinned. "Oh, they're obsessed with you."
She groaned. "That's not reassuring."
I laughed. "It should be a little reassuring."
"It's not."
"It is."
She threw a pillow at me and I caught it easily while laughing.
After a moment, I quietly asked, "So?"
She pretended to think about it.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Oh, come on."
She tapped her chin, pretending to think. "Hmm."
"You're enjoying this way too much."
"A little." She held her finger and thumb less than half an inch apart.
I nudged her foot with mine, prodding, "So?"
Zoey smiled. "Okay."
The answer came so fast I was blinking to try to register that she had agreed.
"Okay?"
She shrugged. "I'll meet them."
For a second I just stared at her before relief settled into my body. I watched her smile brighten.
"You were worried I'd say no."
I blushed harder.
"No, I wasn't."
Zoey giggled. "You were."
"No."
"You absolutely were."
I opened my mouth, closed it, and then I sighed, resigned.
"A little."
She laughed.
"A little?"
"A lot."
Something sweet settled into the room, as the reality of what this meant to me settled between us. I know she knew what it was really saying.
Not that I was worried about dinner, I was just worried because this mattered to me more than I thought it would. Despite everything we’d built over the past few months, part of me still wasn't completely sure she was staying.
Zoey reached across the couch and squeezed my hand. "I'm not going to run away from your friends."
My gaze dropped to our hands, then back to her. A soft, small smile graced my lips. This was real.
"Good," I said softly, pulling her closer to me.
She raised an eyebrow, pushing softly against my chest. "Unless they're as annoying as you."
I grinned. "Oh, they're way worse."
Zoey rolled her eyes. "Great."
"You're going to love them."
"That's what I'm afraid of,” she murmured.
I leaned down and softly brushed my lips over hers, and she relaxed into my chest.
[Zoey’s POV]
"I can still leave."
Noah glanced over from the driver's seat.
"No, you can't."
I shrugged. "I absolutely can."
"You made it all the way here."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"It means everything."
I stared out the windshield at the cute little two story house not far of a drive from the beach. It wasn’t the house that was intimidating to me, but the people inside it were. At least they felt intimidating.
For months I'd been hearing stories about these men who had apparently spent months watching this idiot pine after me, which meant they knew things. Somehow that made me more nervous than anything.
On my left, Noah reached his hand over and nudged my knee. "They're excited to meet you."
I sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."
He laughed. "They're idiots."
"Those are your best friends."
Noah shrugged. "Exactly."
I narrowed my eyes accusingly. "That wasn't reassuring."
"It wasn't meant to be."
I groaned and he grinned. Annoyingly, that grin did make me feel a little better. A few minutes later, Noah got out of the car and met me at my door, carefully opening it before reaching for my hand. We walked slowly to the door, my nerves eating away at me.
Before I knew it, Noah was pushing open the door and ushering me into the living room, as three heads snapped in my direction, as they all immediately froze.
"Oh my God," one of them whispered.
"No way."
"She's real," the other whispered back.
I blinked.
Noah muttered, "I hate them."
Nick, I realized by the drumstick in his hand, pointed. "She's real."
"I'm standing right here," I said.
His eyes widened. "She talks too."
A guy with medium length hair gasped dramatically. "This is huge for us."
Noah tossed his head back and closed his eyes, groaning. “I’m leaving."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
Medium length hair guy stepped up and held out his hand. "I'm Nick Ruffilo or Ruffilo. That’s Nick." He pointed. “That’s Jolly.”
I shook his hand. "I'm-"
"We know."
I paused, quirking a brow. "...You know?"
All three men looked at me like I'd asked whether the sky was blue.
The drummer, Nick, laughed. "We've known your name for months."
Jolly, who hadn’t said much yet, nodded.
"Months," I repeated softly, looking at Noah who looked away, almost embarrassed.
Nick looked at his friend, grinning. "An unhealthy amount of months."
Noah groaned and I let a wide grin spread across my face.
Nick groaned. "Oh no."
"What?" I asked with a laugh.
Nick said, "You think we're kidding."
"We're not kidding,” Ruffilo said solemnly before he pointed at Noah. "This man has been absolutely unbearable."
Noah groaned. "Guys."
"No."
"Please stop,” he begged.
"No."
Jolly crossed his arms, stubbornly. "You have any idea how many sad songs we had to sit through?"
I looked at Noah and watched his eyes widen. "Don't listen to them."
"Six." The bassist held up six fingers.
"Six."
"That is not true," Noah protested.
"Five and a half."
I tilted my head, confused. "How do you have half a sad song?"
Ruffilo shrugged. "He gave up halfway through because you finally agreed to a date."
The room exploded into laughter and I had to laugh, even though Noah’s face turned bright red.
I giggled. "Oh, this is fantastic."
Noah pointed at me accusingly. "You're supposed to be on my side."
I furrowed my brow and bit my lip. "Why?"
"Because I brought you here."
Nick pointed at me, like it was a victory. "Excellent question."
I smiled sweetly before I shrugged. "Honestly, I'm just excited to hear all the stories."
The room went dead silent and the guys collectively lost their minds. Nick dropped into a chair, Ruffilo doubled over laughing and Jolly slapped his thigh with a loud laugh.
"Oh, she's one of us," Nick cackled.
"No,” Noah said shortly.
Ruffilo grinned. "She absolutely is."
Noah stared at me with a look of betrayal. "You don't even know them."
I shrugged. "They seem trustworthy."
All three men shouted, "THANK YOU."
Noah looked like he was reconsidering every decision he'd ever made. Ruffilo wiped tears from his eyes.
"You know what my favorite story is?"
"No."
"Remember when you swore you were over her?"
Noah immediately pointed. "Nope."
"Then you accidentally liked a six month old picture."
The room erupted into hysterical laughter again and I whipped around. "You did what?"
Noah wouldn’t look at me. "It was an accident."
Nick cackled. "It was not."
Noah grunted. "It absolutely was."
Jolly nodded, a serious expression taking over his face. "He called me in a panic."
I gasped. "You called someone?"
Nick grinned. "He called everyone."
"I needed advice." Noah shrugged, suddenly shy.
"You needed therapy."
Laughter, real laughter, bubbled up. The kind that I couldn't stop from pouring out of me and suddenly all my nerves about walking into this house, had disappeared. These guys weren’t scary. They were just the people who knew him the best. The people who loved him enough to give him hell and apparently, now that I'd walked through the door, they were more than happy to let me join in.
Across the room, Noah caught my eye. Despite all the complaining and the clear embarrassment written all over his face, he was smiling at me with a soft, helpless smile. The kind that said he couldn't quite believe I was here with him, getting along with his friends.
I felt a sense of belonging. I smiled back carefully, before I turned to Nick and leaned in.
"So tell me more about the sad songs."
Noah’s horrified groan was drowned out by the cheers.




















