Alright, first off! WOW! You guys are all rockstars for both your feedback and your patience THANK YOU! Okay, you all have waited long enough so we'll get right into the latest chapter. It picks up right where the previous chapter left off. Except we're going to pick up with more 'Emma centric' content. Hope you all enjoy and thanks again for being such wonderful people! :)

({No POV})

After a very 'awkwardly stressful dinner' with her parents, Emma hardly felt in the mood to do anything else as she changed to get ready for bed.

She was just about to climb into bed and more than anything try to will herself to sleep… until she looked out the window for a brief second and saw a truck she didn't recognize pull into the driveway.

Well until she saw Owen and Kitty get out of the truck, making her realize she forgot Owen had a driver's license now… which also secretly still terrified her.

Emma kept looking outside and saw Kitty and Owen both going around back to the flatbed of the truck, making her realize Kitty put her toboggan in the back of Owen's truck. While Emma still wasn't cracked up about Kitty using said toboggan that put her in the hospital for going down the local sled hill blindfolded when she was 10… she was at least happy about her transporting it in a 'safer manner' than just tying it to the roof of her car or something of that nature.

Again, one of the odd reasons she approved of Owen and Kitty hanging out more after the race since Owen didn't seem like a completely 'bad influence' to her.

But… she couldn't help but watch when she caught something peculiar.

Kitty looked like she was about to hop into the flatbed of the truck to grab it until Owen put a hand on her shoulder and said something as he smiled at her, almost looking like he was saying he'd get it as he reached in and got the toboggan out of the flatbed.

He grabbed it before carrying it over his shoulder and putting it against the side of their house.

Meanwhile Emma was slightly annoyed that they vanished for a second until they eventually walked back into her view. They looked like they talked and then laughed about something for a second before hugging.

Which didn't seem too out of the ordinary since both Owen and Kitty were friends… as well as both of them being 'huggers' regardless with practically everyone they met.

But right as Emma was about to go to bed as Kitty headed into the house… she caught something.

Emma was focused on Owen who just kept standing there as Kitty walked away and kept standing there long after she walked into the house and the 'way' he was looking in her direction.

She also couldn't help but notice Owen smiling before putting his hands into his coat pockets, making her quirk up an eyebrow in intrigue at what she noticed.

But, Emma was determined to get some sleep as she shook her head and climbed under the covers.

The following morning

(Emma's POV)

For whatever reason, Kitty talked both Noah and I into going out for coffee this morning with her and Owen.

But, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Kitty may be onto something.

It could be good for us to get out of the house, especially after last night.

I shook my head to try ignore yesterday as We all walked up to the counter and Kitty and Owen were both ordering. Noah already said he was going to pay for me which is really sweet but… ugh, I don't know?

Last night just keeps getting stuck in my head and I have no idea why Noah is still here after that.

I love my dad, but he just gets so presumptuous… and this is where Kitty would call me out as a hypocrite and says I'm the same way.

Which… yeah, she's not wrong but still!

And everything Noah's dad told me when we were visiting, I just… Then I heard Kitty groan as I looked in front of me and saw her rifling through her bag as she said in slightly embarrassed annoyance, "Oh come on, ugh, sorry I think my wallet fell out of my bag at home. Never mind on the coffee."

Then Owen got out a credit card as he said, "No, here, put her coffee on my order."

The barista gave him a thumbs up and called the order out.

Kitty immediately looked over at Owen as she said, "Owen, seriously, that's so sweet but you didn't have to do that. I'll pay you back."

Owen just shrugged and said, "That's okay, Kitty. Don't worry about it. It's just six bucks. Besides, I owe you for coming with me to my driving test."

Okay, seriously… am I missing something?

I looked over at Noah again and saw him looking at his phone and scrolling through something and looking almost 'focused'.

"What's going on?" I asked, wondering why he looked so zoned in. He just shrugged and said, "Eh, don't worry about it. With Christmas going on, I didn't know what I was expecting."

Expecting?

Expecting 'what'?

Before I could even ask about anything else, I felt my arm get snagged as Kitty started, "Em, c'mon! Let's go take a picture by the Christmas tree! I need another pic to add to our "Sister's Christmas" album."

Then before I could respond she pulled me close and got set for a selfie as she said, "Say, Christmas!"

She snapped the selfie as I brushed off, "Kit? Seriously?!" I put some space between us and straightened out my coat before crossing my arms.

Kitty just smiled and shrugged as she said, "Hey, I wanted to take a picture with you by the community center like we do every year, but someone decided to pass it up by not going sledding. At least Owen took a picture with me."

"Order for Owen!" We heard a barista call out as Owen went up and grabbed everything and got out a 'Thank you'.

"There you go!" He said as he gave Kitty her cup of coffee as she smiled like usual and said, "Aw, thanks so much, Owen! Seriously…. OH, wait! Jade's here? I'm gonna go annoy her really quick. Be right back!"

I looked off to where Kitty went on instinct I watched her walk off until I head Owen say behind me with a slight sigh, almost like he was talking to himself, "No problem…"

I slowly looked back only to see Owen just smiling and looking at Kitty across the shop.

Again… am I 'missing something' here?

But, right as I looked back at Kitty, Owen walked away and sat down at a booth with Noah.

Hmm…

(Noah's POV)

Ugh, why do I keep looking at this stuff?

I literally made my resumé last night and applied to a few coding and IT jobs in Toronto. It's Christmas Eve and even if it wasn't Christmas Eve, it's not like any of them are going to respond.

I kept looking at my phone on the table as I heard Owen ask, "Um Noah… what are you doing?"

As I kept scrolling through the job listings, I responded matter of factly, "What does it look like? I'm finally selling out."

"Huh? What do you mean?" He said in total confusion. I didn't even try to cover anything up as I responded straight out, "I'm looking for a job."

Then I immediately cringed and receded into myself as he immediately shouted in usual dramatic Owen fashion, "YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A JOB?!"

Well… should've seen that coming.

After recovering from losing my hearing for a second, my stomach dropped when I realized everyone in the café was looking at us… and Emma and Kitty were right there.

Emma was looking at me wide eyed as she said, almost not believing what she heard, "Noah, are you really looking for a job? Since when?"

Well… crap.

But, I decided not to ignore it since I knew Emma was WAY too smart and stubborn to me drop the subject.

Instead I just played it cool as I shrugged and responded normally, "Eh… just recently. Now that I'm pretty much blacklisted from TV for breaking my contract, I need to find something else. That and I need to get the hell out of my parent's house. So, I applied for a couple gigs in Toronto for a few programming companies. And hey, gotta move on some time right?"

Yeah, I'm never gonna tell her the only reason I started looking for a real job was because I didn't want her to think I'm a loser and eventually break up with me for some doctor or lawyer guy or something, but again… Emma doesn't have to know that. She kept looking at me in shock before saying, "But… why didn't you say anything?"

I knew she was probably talking about that awkward as hell dinner last night with her parents when her dad was pretty much grilling me.

Again, I decided to keep my cool as I responded, "I didn't really want to say anything until I got a job. Luckily a lot of the positions can be done remotely, but I'll still probably wait to look for apartments in Toronto once I land a gig. I mean, you're gonna be in Law school for another 2 and a half years so might as well cut my commute down to see you while I'm at it. That and my parents are driving me insane anyway, so it's probably good all the same that I'm moving out anyway."

Honestly, that last part… not even remotely a lie.

Besides my parents have been trying to get me to move out, go back for grad school, or get a real job since I was 19, so… yeah, it's kinda just time.

That and it's not like I can move in with Emma right now anyway.

One, she's in the University Living System, so it's not like I can move into her apartment with her anyway since I'm not a student.

Besides, even if I could, I know she wouldn't let me live with her anyway since she needs zero distractions from studying and we haven't even been dating for a year yet.

At first I didn't know how she was going to react until she slowly smiled and leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek as she said, "Noah, that is so great. We'll need to get you 'interview ready'! New suit, list of references separate from your resumé, college transcript…"

Well, until Kitty cut in, "Em, maybe wait until after Noah hears back before you start 'planning his life'?"

Emma scoffed, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes as she said, "Coming from the person who never plans for anything. Do you know how many times I had to make sure she had everything packed for school every morning growing up?"

Kitty immediately rolled her eyes before exasperating in annoyance, "Oh c'mon Em, chill. I forget my Math book at home one time and you have to hang it over my head forever. I didn't even need it anyway that day!"

Emma immediately gave her a look and responded, "That's why you should have just left it in your locker. Mom gave us those magnetic dry erase agendas to stick in our lockers for a reason so we knew what to leave or bring home every day."

They just kept going back and forth until I eventually looked at Owen just looking at and smiling at Kitty next to him.

Oh yeah… forgot about that for a second.

But, hey, the big guy's gotta figure his whole thing for a Kitty out on his own.

Considering I can bet more money than my brother Ben has functioning with brain cells that he hasn't even talked to her about it yet.

Again… not really my problem.

Besides, I got other stuff to think about now. Like my life in general right now.

But, if I want to go anywhere and stay with Emma and even though I still feel like a sell out… I gotta do this.

Well, looks like Emma's kind of starting to 'see the signs' of Owen's newly formed crush on Kitty. But… stay tuned to see how this all goes down. I also hope you enjoyed seeing Noah's rationale for why he came to terms with needing to evolve and 'grow up' by making the decision to start looking for a job and moving out of his parent's house. As much as he still doesn't like the idea and feels like a 'sell out' from his perspective… he sees he needs to apply himself and grow up a little more in order to keep his relationship going with Emma. In short, he is mainly doing it for Emma… and also now seeing the advantages of getting away from his parents to have his own place where he can stay up and game online in his free time without anyone criticizing him for it. But, Noah's making progress! :D Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and constructive reviews are ALWAYS appreciated. In times like ours, I hope you all are staying safe, well, and being kind to one another.

Stay Classy!

Dexter1995