Noelle thought things were moving in a good direction all throughout the night. They hadn't said anything concrete, but the lingering stares, the physical touches that they shared seemed electric. Maybe it was just on her side, she decided. She wouldn't fault him for not feeling what she felt, but it left her with a hollowness all the Colee.

What hurt her heart even more was that Cole left so abruptly, her brother and sister in law looked confused and worried and it made her feel insecure. Her mother and father were busy preparing to leave and probably head to bed at a ridiculously early time, but even Amelia looked slightly perplexed for a moment when she didn't see Cole next to her. She didn't linger though and it made her slightly relieved.

The third and final blow to Cole's departure was Jacob. His energy had been zapped right out of him when he learned that Cole had to leave and wouldn't be attending dinner with them. He ordered his favorite foods and then proceeded to push them around his plate and stare into the abyss. Noelle thought maybe the energy of the day was what had done him in, but when he asked once more why Cole had to leave and no one had a legitimate answer, his eyes turned misty.

Later that night, after tucking Jacob into bed, where he mindlessly listened to his story of the night, and then rolled over with a quiet 'goodnight', Noelle fell into the couch to overthink once again. She checked her phone to zero new notifications and tossed it to the other end of the couch. For a moment she worried about Cole and if he was truly okay. It only lasted briefly before frustration and embarrassment took place. She was so close to going all in this evening and it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water over a candle.

Maybe Cole had seen the look in her eyes. The want and the needs she had for him. And if he only wanted to be friends he may have felt that tearing things off like a bandaid would be best. That is when the embarrassment took the lead in Noelle's feelings tank.

However, the thought of how rude he had seemed when he took off made anger rise up in her. If he only wanted to be friends, he still could have said something. He could have waited just a few more minutes to at least say goodbye to Jacob. This was her biggest worry, getting close to someone only for her son to be the one heartbroken at the end. Only this hadn't even begun and he was already hurt. That was the thing that once more put an ache in her chest. She couldn't do that to her sweet little boy. He didn't deserve her failed attempts at love affecting him.

She checked her phone once more and decided to send Cole one final text. Then she'd move on and worry about the only important thing she needed in her life. Her son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The days before Christmas seemed to fly by with different tasks to get done as well as piling on work to avoid thinking about anything negative. Noelle figured if she was too busy to think, then it was better for her. The day after Cole decided to bail on them, Noelle felt an emptiness in her. It was similar to the emptiness when her ex, Jacob's biological father, left her claiming he didn't want to be a father. This emptiness felt different, though. The hollowness in her felt larger, more consuming. It worried her, especially to be feeling such a way during the holidays, but since she was familiar with it, it was easier to take a deep breath and hide it from everyone else.

It appeared to be working with everyone other than her brother. During their Sunday lunch at their parents, Noelle thought she had done a great job at being present and social, but when Max cornered her later that day and demand to know what was wrong, she felt vulnerable. When she tried to make excuses of it being the holidays and work making her stressed, Max looked at her for a few moments before shaking his head and leaving her be. She knew he didn't buy it, but she was grateful he didn't call her out on it anymore, especially in front of anyone else. He did shoot her piercing looks occasionally, as if to say that he had his eye on her and knew something was wrong.

Other than avoiding moments alone with her brother, her work and the holidays, did in fact have her overworked. She took on a few extra projects she had pushed to the new year and started them early and went extra hard in the holiday spirit. Their home had already been decorated, but thanks to this new, anxious energy Noelle had added even more to the already eclectic decor. Since Jacob loved the holidays he was fully on board and had even more fun making decorations and bringing anything he made at daycare home for them to put up.

Two days before Christmas was supposed to be a lazy day for Noelle and Jacob. She had planned on letting him sleep as late as he wanted and then spend the afternoon baking cookies and pastries for Christmas Eve breakfast at her parents home, so when someone knocked on her door around 10 in the morning she was confused. Usually anyone in her family would call or message that they were on their way, but she knew her parents were visiting her Aunt and Uncle and wouldn't be back until the afternoon and her brother and his family were spending the day similar to hers.

When she opened the door, a man who looked familiar, but she couldn't fully place stood outside the door. He had a large stature and commanding presence, but she still couldn't single him out. When she opened the door just a crack and poked her head out, the man looked at her with intense blue eyes and at that moment she knew. The same eyes belonged to another person she spent a week and a half forcing out of her mind.

"Can, I help you," she croaked, internally scolding herself for sounding so weak.

"Hello, ma'am. I know you don't know me, but my name is Zach Kingston-"

"I know," Noelle cut him off and then covered her mouth with her hand. She didn't want to snap at him, but she didn't want to waste anytime figuring out why he wast there.

Zach Kingston only chuckled and his eyes softened. The intensity he carried gone in a flash. He resembled his brother in many ways, but once that was gone he seemed like a more carefree and fun version. The type that would have a dating profile. "Sorry, I know you've spoken to me through an app," he said with quotes in his fingers. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. I thought it was a terrible idea, but Cole doesn't know how to change course when he sets his mind to things...." He sighed and then muttered, "at least that's what he used to do."

There was a pregnant pause before Noelle decided she needed some clarification. "Umm...why are you here, Mr. Kingston?"

Zach Kingston's lip lifted on one side and a gleam in his eyes appeared. "I'm here to help you get my brother's head out of his ass."