For about twenty minutes Noelle could only hear Jacob talking a mile a minute. From the bits and pieces she gathered he was practically going through every toy he had in there and showing them to Cole. Cole. His warm presence seemed to have seeped through the entire house. His words affirmed her and brought her more relief than she thought she needed.

He hadn't said it out loud, but all signs pointed to him being interested in her. At least she was about 60% certain. Not certain enough to do something about it. Maybe more time would up that percentage of certainty. She certainly didn't mind the idea of seeing him more. She still felt like she didn't know how to be herself around him and that was an issue. What if the moment she showed her true self to him, he ran the other way? That was the tough thing about new connections. The uncertainty was unsettling. Especially to someone like Noelle who thought and then overthought everything.

As she went about the house, straightening out and organizing things she worried Cole might see, her phone buzzed. When she saw it was her brother calling she hesitated before answering. Did she want him to know who was in her home? How would he react? Would he go into big brother mode or fanboy. She didn't want him to think she was ignoring him so she answered after a few more seconds and a deep breath.

"Hey, Ma said you guys were going to Kingston farm today?" Noelle didn't know if he was being accusatory or just curious but she was quickly on edge and she didn't know why.

"Yup. We just got back a little while ago. What's up?" She wanted to change the subject quickly or get him off the phone before he asked to talk to Jacob and Jacob spilled the beans.

"Just wondering....you should have let me know sooner. Jenny wanted to go back sometime."

"Oh," was all Noelle could respond with.

"Yeah. Oh." Max replied sarcastically.

"Is there anything else you wanted?" She looked at Jacob's room just in time for both he and Cole to step and and head towards her.

"Just wanted to see what was up," he sounded sheepish. "If you go again, let me know butthead."

She chuckled and agreed to let him know, but before she could gracefully exit the conversation, Jacob chimed in.

"Is that nana?" He yelled loud enough for Max to hear on the phone.

"No, it's your uncle,"

"Let me talk to my nephew. He's cooler than you," Max interrupted in the phone. After a heavy sigh Noelle handed the phone to Jacob who took it excitedly and began talking a mile a minute. She knew Jacob would spill the beans rather quickly.

"It was so fun!" Jacob yelled into the phone. "It was a little more crowded than last time, but I think it's cause Cole was there with us." And there it was. A moment passed before Jacob spoke up again. "Yeah him! He's here too, wanna talk to him?" Noelle wanted to fall into the sofa cracks and hide. She definitely wasn't prepared to see Jacob take her phone and hold it out to Cole who was standing near her with an amused look on his face as he graciously accepted the phone then held it to his ear.

"Hello?" Noelle wanted to laugh at his generic greeting to her brother. "Hey man. How are you?" More pleasantries followed by silence on Cole's end. She didn't notice the serious look on Cole's face take over before he responded. "I was invited." The tension was noticeable then. "I appreciate the concern, but I don't think that's any of your business." Uh-oh. He must have gone the big brother route. As much as Noelle wanted to appreciate it, she didn't need her brother deciding anything for her. "Yeah nice talking to you too," Cole said quietly and with a small frown on his face before he turned and handed the phone back to her.

When Noelle put the phone up to her ear she was ready to ask Max what his problem was, but he beat her to the punch. "You invited someone you hardly know to your house? Are you dense? I don't care if it's the King of England, you shouldn't have done that," Max scolded her. It irritated Noelle immediately and she decided to defend Cole who had done nothing wrong and was probably left feeling guilty now.

"Shut up," she cut him off. "You don't get to decide what we think is best and Cole has been nothing but kind and generous to Jacob and myself. He's turning into a great friend and Jacob wanted to show him his stuff and there's nothing wrong with that. If you have a problem with that, that's all on you. We're good here. I'll talk to you later." She ended the call before her brother got to respond and to be honest, she didn't want to hear anything else he had to say.

Jacob and Cole were looking at her one with a confused expression and the other with a worried one. Cole even had a blush spread across his face. She hoped he didn't feel guilty about being there.

"I'm sorry," Max said quietly. "I just worry about you, you know? You've never had someone around Jacob and I don't know...do you think Cole Kingston hates me now?"

Noelle had to snort at her brothers worries. "Depends what you said to him. He doesn't look like he wants to be best friends with you anytime soon though," Noelle joked to her brother. Hearing his groan made her laugh. He deserved worse for making someone feel bad about something innocent.

"Tell him I'm sorry. And if you guys hang out again let me know so I can drop by unexpectedly. And tell Jacob we'll have a guys night soon."

After she hung up with her brother not promising anything to him she looked back at Cole and Jacob who were now sitting on the sofa in silence. Jacob seemed to be in his own daydreaming world while Cole watched her worriedly. She gave him a soft smile and sat next to him.

"He's sorry for whatever he said and hopes you don't hate him," she said with a smirk as she watched the relief spread across his face.

"It's okay. I just didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable position with your family. You alright?"

Was she alright? She couldn't answer that fully. She was alright of course with Cole being there. He fit in easily and it Noelle worried about that part. Did he feel comfortable with them there? He's used to having to put on a facade in most places so he could easily be doing that here with them. She didn't think he'd do that to Jacob though. The uncertainty ate at her.

"I"m fine, he's just an idiot."

"He cares. There's nothing wrong with that."

"It's wrong when he makes someone I care about uncomfortable." She wanted to slap her hand across her mouth after admitting that, but it was too late. She felt her face heating up immediately as the smile on Cole's face intensified.

"So you care about me, eh?" All Noelle could do in response was groan.

"A real gentleman would have let that slide you know?"

"Mom what's for dinner?" Jacob interrupted before Cole could respond.

"Since we had a heavy lunch, how about something light for dinner. What do you think about soup? Maybe we can split a grilled cheese with it."

Before Jacob answered, he poked Cole and asked, "Are you staying for dinner?"