Chapter 118
Friday 2nd October, 2020.
Noah
Words could not express how excited I was for my date with Star. Harper had been kind enough to enchant the place I had chosen for our date beforehand so he did not have to stick around during the date. That would have been awkward. I would not have been able to romance Star in front of her twin.
“Where are you taking Star on your magical date, Noah?” Asked Eli curiously at breakfast in the dining hall.
“The library,” said Zaya promptly.
My two younger brothers laughed. I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous you two,” said Jonah sternly, seemingly coming to my defence. “There’s no lingerie in the gift shop at the Viper Moon library,” said Jonah seriously.
Eli and Zaya were beside themselves.
“Don’t you have feet picks to look at? You’re usually scrolling through social media about now,” I said slyly.
Eli and Zaya snickered.
“There is only one pair for me. I’m taken,” said Jonah.
“Something is wrong with both of you,” said Zaya softly looking at me and Jonah.
“Won’t it be a little awkward having Harper there? I’m the closest to him and I’d still be nervous if he was there chaperoning,” said Eli.
“He’s not coming. He enchanted the date place for me already,” I said, keeping things vague.
They could hear about it after from Star. Star had blabbed about each and every date so far the moment she got home from one. She loved to gush about the time she had had. She called every date “the best date ever” which meant that none were. I appreciated her making efforts to ensure we did not squabble over her though. We were a bit more quarrelsome than some of the other Alpha multiples I knew. The Triplets were like three peas in a pod. I wondered if they ever argued at all.
My eyes searched for Star. She was sitting with her Mom and Dad today, chatting animatedly with her Mom about something. I knew they had a very short time in which to plan her parents’ wedding and then Star would be coming back to Viper Moon, making every moment with her relatives all the more precious right now. I smiled at my Luna. I felt she was up to something though. She had a mischievous glint in her eye.
Harper entered the dining hall and marched right up to us. He had a huge grin on his face. Holly was tucked under his arm as usual but they were flanked by two she-wolves I did not know.
“I have the best news ever,” said Harper triumphantly.
“You miscounted who won the snowball fight and it’s actually me?” Guessed Zaya.
“No!” Said Harper, his grin unwavering. “These two young ladies behind me are the best party planners ever! They have so many great ideas for the Bachelorette and Bachelor Party and they’re making it all happen tomorrow night. I know it’s short notice but everything is in place already,” said Harper. “My bandmates are coming too! Holly, you’ve never properly met them, have you?”
Holly shook her head.
“Can the snowmen come?” Asked Jonah excitedly.
“Why the f**k not!” Exclaimed Harper who seemed to be in full rockstar party mode and out of regal mode.
The Queen’s eyes widened at his language and his ripped jeans.
“I haven’t been to a real party in ages,” commented Harper.
“Not since the one where you danced with St…” began Zaya but suddenly his own hand shoved a heaping spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth.
“Zaya, don’t talk with your mouth full. I can’t have my bro choking before the big night,” chuckled Harper.
Zaya growled lowly after he had finished the spoonful of oatmeal.
“Who exactly are these young ladies?” Asked the Queen suspiciously.
“They’re Mina and Tina!” Said Harper and Holly in unison.
The Queen started at them blankly. Mina and Tina grinned at her expectantly.
“She doesn’t have social media,” whispered Harper to the girls apologetically.
The girls nodded in understanding.
“They’re highly recommended by Luna Chasity, the mate of the Alpha Triplets of Winter Moon,” added Holly brightly.
The Queen actually smiled.
“That’s lovely!” Exclaimed the Queen.
“Maybe we should invite the triplets and Chasity,” suggested Jonah.
Mina and Tina squealed.
“She’s our bestie,” said one of them.
“Our girl loves bachelorette parties! She loves performance art like exotic dancers!” Said the other.
I was not too keen on exotic dancers gyrating near to my precious Luna, Star. I frowned at the list, trying to peek at it. The girl snapped the notebook closed, making me jump.
Jonah and Harper were clearly into this party. Jonah was trying to invite everyone and their mother and the snowball they kept frozen in their freezer from last Christmas. Meanwhile, Harper had Mina and Tina making a list that he kept gesturing for them to add every suggestion to, including Jonah’s big guest list.
“Should we invite the Principal? It might be polite. He helped out Star,” said Jonah.
Mina or Tina began to write something and Harper raised his palm.
“Um, maybe not the Principal,” he suggested.
Mina or Tina scratched that off the list.
“Who is Mina and who is Tina?” I asked hesitantly.
They were actually very different looking though they behaved like twins. Jonah gasped.
“You don’t watch Mina and Tina?” Asked Jonah.
“It’s a really good show,” said Holly.
“Holly is ahead of you with the times, Noah. Think about that,” said Jonah.
“Star’s shoe closet was looking disorganised this morning. You have a lot to do today, don’t you Jonah?” I said.
He scowled and turned away from me. Harper and his entourage went over to Star without telling me who was Mina and who was Tina.
“Which one is which?” I asked exasperatedly.
“Oh, I dunno,” said Jonah.
“You said you watched the show?” I said indignantly.
“Yeah, but it’s confusing. I forgot,” said Jonah.
He looked at me suspiciously.This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
“Is Star’s shoe closet really in disarray?” He asked, lowering his voice. “I wouldn’t mind organising it for her,” he mumbled.
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind either,” I chuckled. “But her shoe closet is not in disarray.”
“Oh,” said Jonah with a sigh. He had probably gotten his hopes up about rearranging Star’s shoes.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. I was on tenterhooks, anticipating my date with Star. Nightfall could not come fast enough.
Star
Just like all his brothers, Noah refused to tell me where we were going so once again, I had no idea what to wear. I opted for an elegantly casual dress. It was a babydoll silhouette, cream in colour with white embroideries. It had a vintage feel to it. I debated on whether or not to wear heels and eventually decided against it, slipping on my beige ballet flats. I checked my makeup and hair in the mirror. I was a tad nervous. Noah and I had gotten so little alone time together.
There was a knock on my bedroom door. He was early just as I expected. Typical Noah. I smiled to myself. I opened the door for him. His face lit up when he saw me. He looked so handsome in a simple black shirt and black trousers. I was finally wearing something appropriate for the date. Noah had something behind his back.
“Flowers?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.
“Guess again,” he said.
“Chocolates,” I guessed.
He shook his head. He revealed a teddy bear. It was a fuzzy light brown bear with a shirt on. The shirt was a vibrant blue speckled by silver stars.
“It made me think of you,” he said sheepishly.
“It’s adorable!” I squealed, taking the bear and giving it a squeeze. “I love it, Noah. Thank you!”
Noah smiled. He cupped my face and kissed me slowly. We wrapped our arms around each other.
“Come on,” said Noah, taking my hand and leading me out of the castle and into the courtyard. There was a car waiting for us.
“If I guess correctly where we’re going, will you tell me if I’m right?” I asked.
“Ok,” said Noah with a mischievous grin.
He held the door open for me and I got into the backseat with him. The driver took off.
“The museum?” I asked.
That seemed like an intellectual sort of date.
“Nope,” said Noah, putting an arm around my shoulders.
His other hand was on my knee. He was absentmindedly stroking my knee softly with his thumb. It was innocent enough but it was making me excited.
“Lingerie shopping?” I asked.
Noah laughed. “In the nighttime?” He said.
He was right. Very few stores remained open after night fall in Ice Moon. The winter nights were even colder than the winter days. No one wanted to venture out in the bitterly cold darkness.
“Um, I give up!” I g*****d. “Just tell me!” I said excitedly.
“We’re here,” he laughed.
I rushed to look out the window. There was a huge building with many glass windows. It seemed extremely dark inside except for tiny glowing lights within that seemed to drift of their own accord.
“Where is here?” I asked, giggling.
“You’re one minute away from finding out,” he chuckled.
He helped me out of the car. We walked up to the Planetarium. There was one of Harper’s snowmen bouncing around near the entrance. Somehow, the snowman was able to use his twig arm to open the door for us. We went in and the door shut behind us.
Darkness consumed us. This darkness was too dense to see anything at all.
“Noah?” I mumbled softly, feeling a little afraid.
Noah tightened his grip on my hand, interlacing our fingers.
“Just one moment, ok,” he said soothingly.
“Ok,” I said, trusting him.
Slowly, a small sphere of light appeared in the distance. I breathed in sharply. We were in a very high-ceilinged room and the sphere was far above us. It floated, making a perfect circle. Another small sphere of light was born and another. They began appearing all around us. Some of them were in groups and others were alone. Much bigger spheres with surface markings and different colours appeared. It was magnificent. A huge glowing ball appeared in the centre. It was too bright to look at directly. All the other spheres seemed to rotate around it. I looked at Noah, the tiny lights were reflected as specks in his deep green eyes.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
“Harper enchanted the Planetarium for us,” revealed Noah.
I gasped. That made perfect sense. Why had I not realised this on my own? The small spheres of light were the stars, lone stars. Groups of spheres were constellations.The bigger spheres were the planets and the unbelievably bright sphere in the centre was the sun. All the planets revolved around it.
“It’s amazing, Noah! Did you pick this place?” I asked.
Noah nodded bashfully.
“I love star-gazing,” said Noah.
“That’s so romantic,” I said softly.
“I wanted to show you all my favourite stars. They’re all runner-ups though. First place is taken,” said Noah.
I giggled, blushing slightly.
Suddenly, a blanket appeared out of thin air on the floor next to a flameless lantern. A picnic basket appeared.
“Aww, Noah, this is so sweet,” I said, sitting down on the picnic blanket.
Noah sat behind me and gathered me into his arms, holding me from behind. I leant back against him and sighed contentedly. I was mesmerised by the stars and the planets as they slowly moved through the vast dark expanse.
“It’s hypnotic, isn’t it?” Asked Noah. “I always feel like I can’t look away when I go to the planetarium back home.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Does it look as real as this?” I wondered out loud.
“No way!” Blurted out Noah, shaking his head and bursting into laughter.
I laughed too.
“Magic made it next-level,” said Noah.
“Like we’re really there, floating through space,” I said.
Noah showed me a few of the stars, naming them. He pointed out some of the constellations. I could only identify the planets.
“That’s Saturn right? With all the rings,” I said.
“Yep,” said Noah excitedly. “Seven rings.”
“What’s your favourite planet?” I asked him.
“I swear I’m not being gross or cheeky but it’s Uranus,” he said.
I burst into a fit of laughter.
“But why?” I managed to ask when I stopped laughing.
“It’s one of the two Ice Giants. The other one is Neptune. When I was a kid, I would imagine Uranus and Neptune being inhabited by alien polar bears and alien penguins respectively,” explained Noah.
That was the weirdest explanation for anything I had ever heard.
“So why isn’t Neptune your favourite?” I asked.
“I like polar bears slightly more than penguins but penguins are great too,” said Noah.
“Noah!” I exclaimed. “You’re crazy. You picked your favourite based on stuff you made up,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, I guess that’s a little weird,” he admitted, his cheeks flushing.
I kissed his cheek and then his neck, finding the spot where I had marked him. He g*****d as I sucked on the spot. I pulled away.
“You’re so different than what I thought initially,” I whispered.
“What did you think initially?” Asked Noah, furrowing his brow.
“That you were stuck up and bossy!” I said bluntly.
“Hey!” He said, widening his eyes.
He tried to tickle me but I wiggled away.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Come back,” he said, opening his arms wide. I crawled back into his lap and snuggled up to him.
“Hungry?” He asked.
“A little,” I said. “What is there to eat?”
“Whatever you want,” he said, grinning.
“Huh,” I said.
“Just say what you want to eat when the picnic basket is closed and it’ll be there in the picnic basket when you open it,” explained Noah.
That was so cool. I had to marvel at my twin’s magic though he did have Holly’s help and she was so much smarter than she gave herself credit for.
“Chocolate mousse,” I said.
“Of all things?” He chuckled.
“Why not?” I said, with a shrug.
I looked inside the basket and squealed in delight. A cup of chocolate mouse with chocolate shavings on top had appeared. There was a spoon and napkins. I took a bite. Delicious! Creamy and sweet but mild.
“Oreo mousse,” said Noah.
“Hey! You dissed my chocolate mousse and you got mousse too,” I said, swatting his chest.
“You made me think about it,” he said defensively.
After the mousse, we summoned actual food. I was amazed at the picnic basket. It worked on beverages too and cutlery.
“Noah, tell me about Madison Fong,” I said, not able to help myself.
Noah snickered.
“Eli and Jonah warned me about this,” said Noah.
I covered my face with my hands. “Oh no,” I g*****d.
Noah pried my hands away from my face so he could meet my eyes.
“Madison was my study buddy. She had a crush on me. She tried to k**s me and I wasn’t really interested. She ended up dating Eli because I guess the attraction was physical so it didn’t matter which Quad she got though she and I did have a lot in common,” admitted Noah.
“So why didn’t you want to date her?” I asked, looking at his expression closely.
This was a slightly different story to what Eli had told me but stories always varied greatly based on the perspective.
“She was kind of…intense. She was very regimented in everything she did. Being her study buddy was stressful enough. If we were supposed to start at 7:15pm and we started at 7:30pm, she would super angry,” said Noah.
“Ahh, I see,” I said.
“I like academics but I also like peace,” laughed Noah.
I giggled.
“You have a really calming effect on me, Star. When I’m around you, I feel really at peace with the way things are,” he said.
“I’m a fan of the present moment too,” I said with a wink.
Noah grinned.
“Is this actually happening in real time? These movements?” I asked.
“Yep!” Said Noah, grinning widely. “It’s an accurate reflection of how the planets are moving right now.”
“Hmm, are the stars aligned where we are concerned?” I asked slyly.
“That’s astrology not astronomy but…yes!” Said Noah.
He kissed me. I kissed him back. Before I knew I it, he was lying on top of me, his hands tangled in my hair. He nipped at my lower l*p and I m****d, granting his tongue entrance to my mouth. I tightened my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I could feel his hard muscles under his shirt as they pressed into me. I could also feel how excited he was. I broke away breathless. I spotted something in the corner of my eye. I sat up. Noah sat up too.
“What’s wrong?” He asked quickly.
“Nothing, it’s just a shooting star,” I said.
Noah and I watched the star leave a trail of light as it hurtled through space.
“Make a wish,” whispered Noah.
I thought about it. I remembered something strange my mates had said.
“What did you wish for?” Asked Noah curiously.
“I wished to figure out what you guys have planned for February 28th,” I admitted.
Noah looked panicked.
“Don’t think I forgot about the ramblings of drunk Jonah,” I said slyly.
Noah remained silent.
“What did you wish for?” I asked.
“My wish already came true,” said Noah, brushing his nose against mine.
I caressed his face.
“I love you, Noah,” I said, staring into his eyes.
“I love you, Star,” he breathed. “And I always will.”
Noah
Star was everything to me. I had been so afraid from the moment I realised she was mine that I would lose her to the curse. Now that the curse was behind us, there was nothing left to wish for. I had everything I had wanted for so long except maybe sealing the deal but that would come soon enough.
The stars around us were all so magnificent. I used to think their brilliance was outmatched when I was a boy. Now that I was of age, I knew one thing for certain: the most dazzling one of all was my Star, my Luna. I cupped her face in my hands and brought her closer for a tender k**s amidst all the other stars.