Madison Ave. [Cayden]

[Noelle Adae Blanchard]

On their way to 5th ave, Cayden and Noelle had stopped by a cute little cafe to grab a bite to eat. With their bellies satisfied, Noelle dragged Cayden out of there quickly, determined to hit the shops down Madison Ave. Noelle looked into the windows of some of her favorite boutiques gaping at the adorable fall fashions and wanting to go into every store. She had to keep herself from doing so because she didn't want Cayden to get bored. They passed by DKNY, Valentino, Versace, D&G, Moschino, Bottego and so many stores, Noelle had to take her gaze elsewhere to not want to go in. They finally made it to Barney's on 61st and she opened the doors, feeling the warm air and getting a whiff of Channel no.5 coming from the cosmetics section. The newest handbags were on display and the whole place was splashed with color from the many designer fabrics. Noelle started for the clothing and looked around at the many dresses. She pulled a few randomly from the racks and looked up at Cayden. He looked so confused and out of place, it was impossibly adorable. She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her eyes adorably. One of the salesclerks gave her a look of disaprovement and came over to her.

"May I help you?"

The clerk asked in a curt tone. Noelle raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the sales clerk and shook her head. She tried to hold back a grin by biting her cheeks.

"No thanks."

She said, matching her tone and when the sales lady turned around, Noelle burst into a fit of giggles. She flashed a grin at Cayden and held out her selections.

"I'm going to go try these on."

She said, smiling.

[Cayden Alexander Caine]

Cayden followed Noelle through the streets of New York, eyes wide at all of the stores that she passed up. If he had been here with Della, she would have insisted on stopping at every one of them, even though few would have clothes that actually fit her small shape correctly. She was just that type of person, too persistent to let go of the prospect of cute clothes.

As they arrived at Barney's, Cayden followed Noelle to the clothing, biting his lip as he watched her scanning the racks for Dresses. He had heard from Della that Noelle was going to homecoming with Zack, and that made him a bit uncomfortable. He had been friends with Zack for a long time, and knew that he was a bit of a player. I mean, anyone with a brain knew it, Zack wasn't exactly good at hiding that part of himself. He thought he was God's gift to the world, and Cayden just hoped Noelle wouldn't get stuck over her head with a guy like him. She needed someone who wasn't going to flirt with every other girl in the room, someone who cared only about her.

As a salesclerk came over and spoke down to Noelle with a disproving tone, Cayden couldn't help but let out a snicker. The women around here all thought they were better than everyone else, even when they didn't know who they were dealing with. Noelle announced that she was going to go try on the dresses she had found, and Cayden nodded, gesturing for her to lead the way to the dressing rooms as he had no idea where they were.

"Sounds good, let's go." He said, raising an eyebrow as he saw all of the different pieces that Noelle was planning on trying on. They would be there a while, that was certain. Good thing he was patient sometimes.

[Noelle Adae Blanchard]

Noelle grinned at Cayden. Dresses in hand, she lead the way to the change rooms, passing by the rows and rows of designer fabrics and hand bags. Noelle had to bite her bottom lip to restrain herself from going to go look at an adorable pair of Minolo's as they passed the shoe section. She made her way through the aisle, determined. Noelle knew this store like the palm of her hand and she knew that the change rooms where close to the elevators which went upstairs to the lingerie section. Speaking of Lingerie, Noelle definitely needed to check out the new La Perla panties that she saw in the Barney's catalog. They finally made it to the change rooms and Noelle signaled for Cayden to sit down on the plush chair in front of her dressing room.

"I'll be right back."

She said with a smile, opening the thick, red curtain.

"Try not to miss me too much!"

She teased, giggling softly and shutting the curtain. After undressing herself, Noelle looked up at her selection. Her hand was on her bare, slender hip and her finger on her chin. She took a black dress off the hanger and slid it on. It was an ultra mini, strapless D&G cocktail dress. Noelle stepped out of the change room barefoot, looking at Cayden before looking at her reflection in the mirror. The dress hugged every curve perfectly and it fit like a glove. Her legs looked endless in the short hem line. She wrinkled her nose.

"waaayyy too slutty."

She said, laughing softly. She tilted her head to the side as she adjusted the front, not wanting to flash all of Barney's.

"Although I'm sure Zack wouldn't mind that."

She joked, rolling her eyes and turning around to look at Cayden. She liked Zack, but he had a reputation. She would never date him, but he was fun to have around for a fling or something. Anything to get her mind off a certain someone. She bit her bottom lip as she noticed Cayden was looking at her and suddenly felt self conscience.

"uhhm- I'm going to go try on some more."

She said a bit awkwardly as she went inside, shutting the curtain quickly. What was wrong with her? Noelle was never the one to lose her cool in front of people, especially Cayden. Cayden knew all the embarrassing things about her and he's seen her with no make-up and just a t-shirt on for gods sake! She shouldn't be making things awkward between the two. It was just... Cayden. She sighed as she slid off her dress. She was so hopelessly falling for him it wasn't even funny. No boy had ever made her knees so wobbly like Cayden did. Simply hearing his voice made her nervous and ramble like a blubbering idiot. Noelle would have to get over it though because if she continued at this rate, Cayden would definitely find out. She re-composed herself and straightened her back, lifting her head up high. She did not need to over think things. She had serious shopping to do, she reminded herself.

Noelle went through about a dozen dresses, each one getting more ridiculous than the next. Every time she showed Cayden he would give her his verdict (thumbs up or down) and it turned out to be really fun, like their own private fashion show. Some of these dresses were just plain bizarre. But others were really gorgeous. Just no homecoming dress, yet. She looked up at her remaining dresses, letting out a long sigh. She was sure she would find the perfect dress today: Barney's never let her down. She plucked an off-white Marchetta chiffon gown off the hanger and fingered the delicate fabric gently. She slid it on, the white looking great with her still-there summer tan and dark hair. It would look better if she could zip it up but she couldn't reach it. She shuffled over to the curtain and poked her head out to look at Cayden.

"Hey, can you zip me up?"

She asked and then turned around so she was back inside the small change room, her back to the curtain so Cayden could come and zip her up.

[Cayden Alexander Caine]

Cayden trailed after Noelle as she headed towards what he assumed were the dressing rooms, watching as she confidently strutted through the store like she owned it. That was one of the great things about Noelle - she never had low confidence. She was always the perfect balance of confident, not too self-absorbed and not too skittish. That was a great thing for a girl to be, and was a hard quality to find. Of course, Cayden hadn't really searched all that much, but the girls he had come across were always too vain.

Flopping down in the plush chair outside of her change room, he waited patiently as she tried on the first dress, bursting into a quiet fit of laughter at how out of place the dress looked on Noelle. "No way, no how. Go change, I can't bear watching you looking like a whore. Doesn't matter if Zach would enjoy it."

As she continued to go through the dresses, Cayden gave his opinions, rejecting quite a few ugly dresses as she searched for the perfect one. When she peeked her head out of the changeroom and asked for his assistance, he got up and took the zipper of the dress in his hand, tugging it upwards delicately so that it didn't pinch her skin. Once it was zipped, he stepped back and raised an eyebrow, waiting as she turned around. A small smile appeared on his face as he saw how flawless she looked in it. Her tan was glowing, and she looked like she was a model.

"You look great." He said softly, reaching up to brush a stray bit of hair out of her face before taking a step back and nodding. "Yeah, I like that one the best."

[Noelle Adae Blanchard]

Noelle bit her bottom lip, waiting for Cayden to zip her up. She felt his familiar hands tug gently on the zipper, and a tingle ran down her spine as he zipped it up. She grinned and then turned around. When she saw the smile on his face, a burst of butterflies pounded on her rib cage. She smiled confidently and then turned around to look in the mirror. It was the type of dress that looked weird on the hanger, but once you put it on, It was gorgeous. Once she turned to face him again he told her she looked great, and reached to brush a strand of her hair away. She could feel her body melt, but her stepped back a few steps, pulling he out of her trance. She looked back in the mirror, twirling around and looking over her shoulders at the dress.

"Yeah, I'll take it."

She said, smiling genuinely at Cayden through the mirror. She traipsed back into the change room and wiggled out of the dress. She took two other dresses that she liked as well and stepped out of the change room with her three dresses. She smiled at Cayden and they both headed over to the cash register.

After a few more shops Cayden and Noelle were heading back to the penthouse. She was happy she got to spend the day -alone- with Cayden for once. They didn't have much time to that lately; they always seemed to be stuck in groups. Sipping on her caramel machiatto, Noelle inhaled the sweet, sugar-y scent and smiled to herself. She turned to look at Cayden, swinging her shopping bags in the other hand.

"Thanks for coming with me, I know that was absolute torture for you."

She teased, giggling.

"But I'm serious..."

She added.

"Thanks."

She said softly, smiling warmly. Noelle knew Cayden wasn't into stuff like shopping. But she knew he cared about her if he would put up with it, and she really appreciated it. As soon as they arrived to the front of the building, the door man- Giles- tipped his hat.

"Good Evening, Miss Blanchard."

Noelle smiled at Giles and led the way inside. They went inside the elevator, heading for the top floor.