Hello all! WOW, I am so sorry I was gone so long. I had absolutely no life or motivation left in me between working full-time plus perpetually typing papers for my class this past semester. But, I just finished this semester and my next class doesn't start until July 1st. In short, now I can FINALLY get back to my writing! AGH, it's been so long! Lol. XD I know it seems a bit dramatic, but I have missed being here and it feels so great to be back! So. without delay, let's hop back in with Noah's perspective right after he and Emma had their first time together the previous chapter. Call this the 'morning after' chapter if you will. Haha. ;) But, all the same, I hope you enjoy getting Noah's take. :)

(Noah's POV)

Woah… I was really out cold.

I don't think I slept that well since that first night I moved into my place after being mentally exhausted by both my parents, well mostly my mom if I'm being honest.

But, why is my hand warmer than usual and… wet?

Huh?

I finally cracked one of my eyes open until both of them went wide when I saw Casper licking and slobbering all over my left hand that was hanging over the edge of my bed.

Immediately I sat up, retracted my hand, and shook it out as I said reflexively in grossed-out annoyance, "Ugh, dude, seriously?! If I wanted a spit shower then I'd just go find Harold and have him ramble at me… as well as completely bore me to death."

But, I should've known that was only the start of it since he decided apparently to take that as an 'invitation' to just jump halfway onto my bed to pin me down and start licking my face.

I immediately started trying to push him off since he was sinking his weight onto my chest to make it not quite an Owen-level crushing me to near respiratory arrest… but close. Eventually, I was able to push him off enough to sit up and knit my eyebrows at him after he decided to give me a 'slobber bath' that I didn't ask for to wake me up.

But, just like whenever Owen mildly annoyed or grossed me out with his 'Owen-tics'… I couldn't stay mad at him for long as I scoffed with a smirk before scratching him between the ears and remarking, "Luckily, I still haven't showered yet. But, thanks for trying, buddy… I guess?"

Casper just kept wagging his tail and panting as I smirked a little more and shook my head.

I was about to swing my legs over to sit and put my boot on to go to the bathroom, until my eyes went wide when I realized something.

Uh, wait... why am I naked?

I know, this coming from the guy that usually walks around in boxers and a t-shirt in his condo when no one else is around because what's the point of putting in effort to fully get dressed when no one else is here, but last time I checked I usually sleep with a t-shirt and boxers on at a minimum, so…

All of a sudden the realization hit me as I heard what I was definitely sure was the sink going next door in my bathroom and my eyes felt like they were going to fall out of my head.

Oh…right…

It was like that moment of idiocy blocking my thoughts like a firewall finally collapsed as 'the obvious' all hit me harder than getting a dodgeball to the head.

Because how the hell could I have possibly blanked out possibly the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life last night? And I'm even talking way better than the time I won my first online gaming tournament with my alliance when I was 10.

Emma and I finally had sex last night.

Which… sure, was it awkward?

Oh yeah, not gonna lie there since denying that would make anyone delusional.

At first, all I was doing was trying not to keep myself from pretty much 'moving it or losing it' since even I could tell she was trying to get 'comfortable', or at least I knew she was uncomfortable at first.

I mean, if Emma digging into my shoulders with her nails like I was a human pin cushion when we started meant anything… yeah, even I would have to be dumber than Tyler getting points off on his final literacy exam by forgetting to write his name at the top of the answer sheet to not notice.

And I would know considering the guy actually admitted that to me and Owen when we were on season 3.

But, either way, I knew Emma was definitely uncomfortable and I was just trying not to do anything stupid to mess anything up. Given my 'track record' for situations between us between me blurting out my virginity during a makeout session and busting up my ankle the last time we almost had sex… yeah, it is somehow a million times more pathetic than my reality TV career.

And that's definitely saying something.

Especially since it somehow got even more awkward after she finally got a little more 'comfortable' (or close enough to it since she's way too stubborn to admit anything like that anyway) when we were trying to figure out exactly 'whatever the hell we were doing'.

But, once we stopped moving as awkward as a newborn horse trying to walk for the first time and I finally got to her pace…

Whoa…

I ran a hand through my hair before gripping it as I thought back to everything.

Sure I didn't last as long as I was hoping and felt like I was 'overcompensating' worse than Chris McLean in pretty much anything in any attempt to make up for that with her.

Seriously, it was just… whoa.

Ugh, this is so stupid that I have no other way to describe it other than that. But… that's because I really don't know how to describe how it felt to be with Emma like that.

At least to me it was… awesome. Almost so much to the point that it makes me feel like an absolute drooling moron like my brothers when it comes to this crap.

I know I always thought any form of physical activity was pretty much laughable and below me.

But, after experiencing that with Emma… I get it.

Honestly, if that is what having sex feels like… maybe not all 'physical activity' is that stupid.

I decided to shake the thought out as I managed to get my boxers on and started to put my boot back on since all I could think about was finding Emma and just seeing her until I heard a familiar, "Hey."

I whipped my head over and saw Emma leaning in the doorway of my room in her tank top and shorts that she usually wears at night. I guess she probably brought it in her overnight bag since we didn't really change last night for obvious reasons.

I stopped mid-strap on my boot as I sat back up and just stared at her for a second.

Finally, I got my head together enough, even though I swallowed hard as she just crossed her arms with a slight smile on her face.

Dude…

Look, this really makes no sense and shouldn't even be a big deal after seeing her naked a million times before we even had sex last night, but I can't get over how amazing she looks when she's wearing something like this.

Even in a tank top and shorts, she looked… beautiful.

Finally, after staring at her like some kind of idiot with half a brain cell (otherwise known as any of my brothers) for a few moments, I smiled back a little before starting, really trying not to ruin this by being awkward like I usually end up looking around her even now, "Hey."

She smiled back at me a little more and I also noticed her blush a little bit which made me do almost the same thing as awkwardness just kicked in full force and I looked down as my face felt like it was burning, even though I felt like a total moron immediately after that.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

You literally had sex together last night and you can't even just look at her right now?! Dude, c'mon, get it together!

I tried to recover as I just scooted back on my bed and leaned a little back before looking back at her and giving her a nod, hoping she's 'take the hint'.

Then I felt like a car, or maybe even just Owen, was lifted off me when she seemed like she 'picked up' on what I was hoping for since she walked over to me and sat on my lap before snuggling up to me a little as she rest her head against my chest, making me smile a little as I wrapped my arms around her and rest my chin on top of her head.

Again, not that I'm complaining here and I know keep saying this to myself, but… seriously, what is my life anymore?

Before I met Emma, I never in a million years thought I was going to be anywhere near anything like where I'm at now. And I am still definitely not complaining.

Especially after last night… yeah, definitely not complaining.

We just kind of stayed like that for a couple of seconds until I smirked when I felt her move one of her hands over my chest, knowing she was playfully running her fingers through my chest hair a little bit that I'm finally letting grow out for the first time since I was 16, and commented, "Noticing how much I finally decided to just give in to the 'wolfman gene'?"

I heard her snort out a slight laugh (making me almost smile a little on reflex) as she said, "Well, first off, I never said anything. But, I did internally make the 'educated guess' a couple of weeks back that this was just an extension of your decision to grow out your beard. Unless you just decided to grow it out to stay warmer?"

I looked down at her and waggled my eyebrow a little bit with a smirk as I responded, "Pretty decent guess. But, honestly, I've just kinda gotten used to having a beard so much at this point and I'm no longer on TV or changing in a gross school locker room for PE anymore to have people comment about it. I mean, when you have a chest, arms, and legs that end up looking just as bad as the floor of a barber shop that hasn't been cleaned in a few days… yeah, I'd much rather take a pass on that to not give people more mockery fuel than necessary. After all, no one can make fun of you for something if you don't give them anything to go off of. So, between that and outsmarting everyone is a pretty decent strategy to socially survive. That and maybe the hair on my forearms will keep people from recognizing me out in public like my beard, so… Hey, might as well embrace looking like a human 70's shag carpet."

After a second she snorted out a laugh as she smirked at me and playfully quirked up an eyebrow before responding, "Well, I wouldn't say 'shag carpet'. But, it's just something I've noticed recently."

I smirked back before saying, mostly messing with her, "Should I take that as a positive or negative 'code' for how you feel about it?"

Her eyes went wide for a second before settling out as she said back in a similar tone with a smirk, "Why do you assume I hate it? Sounds like you're just throwing more false accusations at me now."

I kept up my smirk as I shrugged before responding, "I wouldn't say that. Just want to make sure you're giving me your honest opinion about me finally giving in to being a 'Canadian Wolfman' like the rest of my family. Besides, don't I always admit you're more qualified than me in that department at least? Pretty sure I clarified that last night too."

We were pretty much mirroring each other's expressions at this point until we both eventually let it ease out until we laughed it off.

Well, until I felt her put her hand on the side of my face, making my eyes open and bringing my full attention back to her. We were making direct eye contact and I was completely locked in when I felt her thumb smooth over my cheek as she smiled a little at me, seeing her blush a little bit again.

Dude, seriously, she looks so… beautiful right now.

At this point, I felt like I had zero thought process as I couldn't stop myself from leaning closer and seeing her immediately reciprocating until we kind of 'met halfway' and kissed, feeling her hand slide to the back of my head until she was running her hand through my hair a little.

Oh yeah, still definitely not complaining.

After a couple of seconds, she pulled back, and even though I was kinda disappointed she cut things off there, I felt her go back to snuggling up to me as she rested her head against my chest again and I couldn't stop myself from settling back into too and smiling slightly to myself.

We just kind of sat there in silence for a few seconds and even though I was feeling pretty good, but it was like the silence was starting to make stuff sink in and resurface.

Noah, it's going great. Just shut up. DON'T say anything!

Then, for some reason, I just blurted out from my subconscious, "So… how was it?"

Right after that flew out of my mouth, I immediately felt like I wanted to rip off my face for whatever that was even supposed to mean.

Ugh, seriously, what kind of question is that?!

Seriously, I have known Emma for almost an entire at this point and I still have ZERO idea what it is about her that makes my brain operate on 'idiot capacity' and feel like I have 'word vomit'.

Because that was not how I wanted to say that and I have no idea why the hell I even said it right now and ruined this?!

Sure, I mean, I did want to know what she thought about last night, but why the hell did I decide to ask it like that and say that now and kill the whole moment that was going so well?!

Oh yeah, I just officially pulled the biggest 'dunce cap' move right now.

But, right as I wanted to just crawl out of my skin for the millionth time whenever I said something moronic like that around Emma to make things beyond awkward as we continued to sit in now awkward silence, I was surprised when I actually heard her respond, "It was… nice."

Almost immediately, I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head.

Wait… what?

Fortunately, she was able to cut me off before I asked anything else completely stupid as she continued, backing away from me a little to look at me, "I mean, I guess it wasn't what I was 'expecting'. Well, not that I had any idea what to expect either. But... I don't know? I thought for neither of us having any idea what to expect, having no idea what either of us were doing, and you still needing to guard your ankle… I thought it was pretty nice."

Then as my eyes felt like they were going to fall out, my entire head felt like it was going to fall off when she ran her hand over the side of my face and gave me a small smile again before giving me a peck on the lips, getting off my lap, and walking away.

I felt my entire being twisting in total confusion until she grabbed my crutches and shirt off the floor before handing them over to me.

Then I was right back to feel like my eyes were going to fall out again when she put her hand on the side of my face again before saying, "But, how about we have breakfast for now and we get back into this next time?"

Wait… next time?

Almost like to 'close out' the conversation, she kissed me on the cheek and smiled a little at me again before walking out. But, not before she stopped at my doorway and looked back at me with a slight smile before she walked out.

I just sat there for a second as I processed 'all of that' until finally I smirked and put my shirt back on before getting my crutches under me.

Well, at least I know I didn't screw everything up… and that there is a 'next time'. Sure I have no idea when that 'next time' is?

But, hey, if Emma liked what happened last night between us and still wants to be together? And still wants to have sex with me?

Again, no complaints here... at all.

Okay, I know this was more of a 'subdued Nemma' chapter, but I kind of wanted to make a realistic, lowkey chapter for a morning-after situation between Noah and Emma. But, I hope you enjoyed more of Noah's awkward, unintentional word slips that we all know and love when he was very unsubtly asking Emma if she 'enjoyed herself' during their first time as much as he did. Because to me… the characteristic awkwardness, and cuteness just add to this ship's charm from the show and I always like to show it in a modified way here in this fic. Anyway, we are REALLY in the home stretch now going forward. In these last few chapters, I'm going to be covering the next major parts of Noah and Emma's evolution as both individuals and as a couple. I'm talking about parents meeting eachother to career highlights to other 'major life events' (stay tuned). Anyway, I still hope you all enjoyed this latest installment as look forward to some more updates coming VERY soon. ;) As always, thank you all so much for stopping by to read and continuing to support this fic. Have a lovely week and see you all in the next update that I will start typing as we speak.

Stay classy all!

Dexter1995