Gray thanked them for the meal after they dropped him off, and they agreed to meet again soon. Keeley's exhaustion skyrocketed the moment he was gone.

"Ugh," Aaron groaned, echoing her thoughts perfectly. Ugh, indeed.

"I don't think he expects to be part of our holiday celebrations, so I think you're safe on that front," she informed him.

"He better not. I don't even like the idea of him meeting our kids. But the idea of having him go to one of Violet's shows was clever; he won't be able to get her alone there."

Keeley smiled briefly before succumbing to her weariness and leaning her head against the back of the seat. She really hoped they wouldn't have to see Gray very often, and that it could usually be without the kids present.

Violet and Nathan were fairly busy these days, but what about Kaleb? He'd barely been dumped; he wasn't in the mood to socialize, no matter how much he played down the breakup.

Keeley knew her son. He wouldn't have been moping around in his pajamas all day and begging his siblings to hang out with him since getting back if he wasn't upset. He had always been very social. If he was in a good mood, he'd be out enjoying New York's nightlife every night. Poor kid must have really liked this girl.

"It should be fine. Besides, there's a decent chance someone else will go see her at the same performance. You know most of our friends go to a few of her shows a year," Keeley reasoned.

"You have a point," Aaron sighed. "But I hope he knows his place and doesn't get too forward."

She patted his thigh to comfort him. It really should be fine. Gray wouldn't risk doing anything that would make Aaron hate him; she was certain of that.

When they got home, Kaleb was still watching TV, and they offered to play a VR game with him. He immediately brightened and went to get his headset. Spending time with their oldest son would perk them both up. It was so nice having him home.

Noah was more than a little annoyed that he hadn't seen Violet alone since Kaleb returned. First, he crashed what Noah planned as a date, trying to get her to see him differently. Then Kaleb prevented her from going out to eat with him unless he came along. Their casual talks and game playing were also invaded by Kaleb. What was he even doing? Normally, when he visited, he did his own thing except for a few family dinners to appease his mother.

Noah was ready to lose his mind by the time Cinderella's opening night arrived. At least he knew Kaleb wouldn't come; he hated ballet. If he ever supported his sister, it was always at a later showing, after much internal debate.

Her parents usually attended later shows too, reasoning that fewer people came then. Opening night and closing night were always the most crowded.

But Noah liked being there at the beginning and the end. Violet always seemed happiest during those shows.

As he sat in the audience and the lights dimmed, he focused on his best friend's performance. He appreciated her artistry, but this time he had to restrain himself from laughing at some of her facial expressions. They reminded him of their conversation the night he crashed her rehearsal. She had looked so cute massaging her face in irritation after smiling too much. Normally, she was much more composed.

"Cute" wasn't a word most people would use to describe Violet Hale. Typically, people thought she was elegant, intelligent, beautiful, or aloof. She only showed her cute side around her family, and by extension, him.

Noah considered himself lucky to see Violet in her full glory. She let him see what others didn't. Even her family probably didn't know or understand her as well as he did; she'd told him as much.

Violet did really well as Cinderella. She took her craft seriously, even if she did have to put on a sad or happy mask while dancing.

Noah blushed during the scene where she danced alone with the prince, remembering his brief stint as a stand-in, especially the almost-kiss that had kept him up for a week.

Since Violet had dated before and he hadn't, he knew she'd kissed others. But that tiny lip brush during her dance practice had been his first.

He'd tried getting over her, but it never worked. When he was younger, he expected they'd marry someday because his parents talked about them being best friends. Little Noah figured marrying your best friend was standard.

As he got older, he realized the love of his life treated him like a brother. He'd been devastated at first.

Once she started dating, he realized most men didn't trust a woman with a male best friend. He concluded that if she ever married someone else, he'd need a girlfriend to appear non-threatening and remain part of her life.

But that was a horrible thought. He didn't want to be with anyone else! He couldn't even see other girls; their faces passed in and out of his head without meaning.

Trying to get a different girlfriend was pointless. He'd concluded that a couple of months after Violet broke up with her last boyfriend a few years ago.

She was his one and only. No one else would ever understand him the way she did. All he had to do was make her see that they were meant to be romantically, not just as best friends.

(The final paragraph about stolen content has been removed as it is not part of the text needing grammatical correction.)