CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE / *

[noah everett cervantes]

it was disgusting. really, it was. in the same way that eating a tub of frosting was disgusting or the way that watching a child gorge itself on cool whip was disturbing. it was just so saccharine sweet that noah honestly thought that was going to keel over and die whilst puking up what little of his sanity still remained after trying to deal with adaline and her 'other man', icarus koufidakis. or at least that's how he referred to him - the other man that had been taking up his roommate's time, the one who had been stealing her away and bending her emotions in ways he'd actually never seen a guy do before. adaline wasn't exactly a soft girl. she was hard and strong and independent, and it was one of the things that noah honestly liked about her. she wasn't constantly in need of someone to mold her into some lovesick piece of shit; in fact, she laughed at people like that. but then along comes icarus fucking koufidakis and suddenly she had stars in her eyes and her heart pinned on her sleeve.

it was sickening, really. like the guy didn't even care that he was ruining the independence of one of the most beautiful women in connecticut. had noah not been threatened by said woman if he dared to interrupt their privacy that night, he would have punched him.

it wasn't that he didn't like to see adaline happy. no, he loved to see her the way she was now because of icarus, with a smile on her face and a song on her lips. he had honestly never seen her like that before while sober, and it was nice to wake up to her dancing around the kitchen singing to the radio and making pancakes. it was the extraneous things that icarus did to her that he didn't like. making her giggle over texts and blush about compliments. causing her to ditch out on movie nights to spend the day with him. giving her one stare and having her melt into a puddle at his feet. he made adaline taylor pathetic, a feat that no one in the world had yet to accomplish. and noah hated him for it. he hated him more than he hated asparagus and keanu reeves, more than he hated the matrix sequels and incredibly bad acting. it was a bit irrational, sure, but since when had noah ever done anything - especially thinking - rationally? the only thing keeping him in his place really was that one, he knew from experience that adaline could kick extremely hard if she wanted to and two, icarus had brought a friend.

his name, as the other man had so excitedly told him, was morgan murdoch, and he was short, bearded, and sassy. not noah's usual type by a long shot but he was entertaining enough, though his sexual appeal was noticeably lowered due to his close affiliation with adaline's other man. he had been by his side pretty much since they had been introduced (probably threatened under death, same as he, if he were to interrupt the happy couple) and had made to be quite the conversational partner. that being said, he did approve of icarus and adaline skipping around like two little kangaroos in heat, which also lowered his appeal, but seeing as most of the other people in the room were horribly boring business friends of adaline, he'd make do with what he had. besides, stamp of approval given or not, morgan took well to noah's insults about the entire thing, and that tolerance was enough to put him in his good graces.

"i just want to punch his stupid face in," noah mumbled as he nursed a beer, watching his friend with narrowed eyes as she stood watching the clock with icarus, her head rested on his shoulder, his arm around her. morgan turned to take in the same sight as the taller man beside him and raised an eyebrow.

"you can't even see his stupid face right now."

"no but i can imagine it, and it makes me want to punch it."

morgan laughed and took a sip of his own beer, lowering the bottle slowly. "you're a little obsessed with this whole icarus thing, dude," he said, amused. "have you got a little thing going for uh...?"

"adaline's a chick."

"no i meant the other one. stupid face mcgee or whatever you're calling him now."

noah's face immediately distorted in disgust. "not in a million years."

morgan shrugged. "i dunno. i'd tap that."

"well whadduya know. there's a gay out there more promiscuous than i." in spite of himself, he grinned. "i never thought i'd live to see the day."

they fell silent and watched their friends for a while longer, each taking a sip of beer every few minutes. ada turned and started talking lowly to icarus, who chuckled and smiled down at her like she was some sort of precious being from above. he planted a kiss on her forehead, said something that made her blush, and they looked back at the clock again. noah continued to glare.

"you have to admit," morgan said, breaking their silence, "for all the bitching and whining he did about this whole...relationship...thing...they do look good together." he tilted his head to the side, studying the two like they were a particularly interesting painting. "sort of like a christmas card."

"christmas cards are staged so i guess that makes sense." noah actually heard morgan choke on his beer next to him.

"choking on beer - not cool. no more comments like that when i'm drinking." noah turned and gave his new acquaintance a smile before fixing his eyes back on his friend's familiar blond head. they fell silent for a beat or two before morgan spoke up again. "you really don't think they look good together? like even just talking strictly about aesthetics."

"well aesthetically they fit rather nicely," noah offered up, staring the couple up and down critically, "but it's not always aesthetics that make a good couple."

"yeah? what do you know about what makes a good couple? the most romantic you've ever gotten was a blowjob in the bathroom as a reward for staying in a relationship for a week." noah cast him a sidelong glance and morgan winked. "at least, that's what i've heard."

"mm, koufidakis tell you that one?"

"taylor, actually. she has a lot of interesting stories about you."

five minutes to midnight. icarus pulled adaline in closer, and she rested her forehead against his shoulder, lips moving to form words noah couldn't make out. admittedly, they did make a good pair. something you'd want to photograph or paint or film or capture in some medium to show people. like an actor and an actress that had good chemistry or the complement that was a sunset on the horizon of the dark blue ocean. his lips pursed. morgan looked up at him and laughed, nudging him with his shoulder. "they're going to be like that no matter what you think. you know that, right?"

"shut up, murdoch."

"no way, cervantes. icarus worked hard to get the courage to make shit right with her. i'm not going to sit here and let you ruin it by being a little shit." he drained his bottle of beer. "i like you. i think you're funny if not just hilariously rude and you wind up icarus so tight that sometimes i think he's going to explode. and i admire that. but i also like adaline and i think she's good for my boy over there. if you don't think they'll last then fine. but let it fall to shit naturally. i want to watch this play out."

three minutes. noah sighed. "i feel like a parent with her sometimes."

morgan nodded. "i feel ya. which is a little ridiculous. but i won't threaten your daughter with a chastity belt if you don't threaten my son with a shotgun." the corners of noah's mouth twitched at the analogy. "deal?"

"depends," he responded, crossing his arms, eyes still trained on the couple in front of them, "how do you plan on securing that deal?"

the shorter man just laughed and never responded, but it honestly didn't mean much to noah. morgan was one he thought he could get away with not sleeping with if it came down to it, though if he kept mouthing off to him he would definitely find an adequately satisfying way to make him shut the fuck up. he was far more concerned, though, with what was happening with his best friend as he watched her turn into a lovesick sack of shit right before his eyes as she stared up into icarus's face and counted down to midnight with him. and then as the clock struck midnight, he watched with a horrible possessiveness as the pair hesitantly brought their lips together. a chaste kiss but a kiss that sealed his best friend's fate.

his lips were pursed so tight, they were nearly a straight line. but he couldn't go back and change adaline's actions even if he wanted to, and beside him, he could hear morgan breathe out, "kids these days."

[/justify]