Chapter 6

A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait. Life got really busy and it doesn't help that I suck at time-management and that my chapters are quite long. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this next part! <3  (I think there'll be two, maybe three more chapters after this.) 

NOAH

Waking up in Elle's bed feels too good to be real. But this time, it is real.

And last night? Incredible. And also real.

Noah rolls onto his side and presses himself to her warm back. "Morning," he mumbles into her shoulder when she wakes, his lips barely leaving her skin. Lifting his head, he sees the corner of her mouth turn up. "You know, this is much, much better than waking up at my parents' house," he adds.

"I would hope so."

"Although I do appreciate some of the amenities at mom and dad's place. You know, like curtains."

"Will you stop it already? I'm going to put some up!"

"Uh-huh." Noah slides his fingers under Elle's shirt and fans them across her stomach. He loved the sounds she made when he kissed her there last night. Loved the need in her voice when his mouth traveled lower and lower.

Noah can't believe he gets to kiss her again, touch her, have her.

Just when he's about to take things further, have her again, the alarm on her phone goes off.

"Why do you have an alarm set on Saturday?"

"Ugh. I need to pick up some prints for work that I need first thing on Monday. I'll be back in an hour, tops. Sorry." She turns to press a kiss to his lips and hops out of the bed. "I'll bring us back some breakfast."

Noah groans. It's already too much information and entirely too little Elle this morning. He reaches out, wants to drag her back to bed, but she tilts her hips so she's just out of reach. She winks at him and pads into the bathroom. Noah laughs at how predictable he is and considers following her into the shower.

"And don't follow me in here! I really need to go!"

Twenty minutes and many lingering kisses later, Elle is out the door. Noah decides to use the time to catch up on e-mails. Just as he opens his laptop, his phone springs to life. Shit.

"Mom, hey!"

"So, my son was supposed to get in from Boston last night but never made it home. Have you seen him?"

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot."

"To come home?"

"I guess," he chuckles. "Sorry."

She sighs, but Noah knows it's for dramatic effect only. "Well luckily, I have one son who talks to me. One who also talks to your girlfriend. That's the only reason I didn't send out a search party."

"I'm glad Lee was useful for once."

"I'm expecting you two at lunch tomorrow. It's ridiculous how long it's been."

You two. Elle and him. Family lunch. They haven't been to a family gathering in six years. Separately, yes. But not both of them, together.

"Noah?"

"Yes, ma'am."

After hanging up, Noah makes some coffee. He realizes that he has no idea how Elle drinks hers now. He somehow doubts that she still takes a latte with "a lotta latte and a lotta sugar". He's going to find out soon. He can't wait.

He pours himself a cup and lies down on the sofa. A glance at the weird cat-clock-thing reveals that Elle's been gone for 45 minutes.

Noah takes out his phone and writes a quick text.

"Thanks for talking to mom last night. I totally forgot. No thanks for that karaoke stunt you pulled, you dick."

"Haha, I'm actually really proud. Hope you guys had a good time."

"Best night of my life."

"I'm going to assume that you're not talking about my karaoke. So, EWWW."

"Sorry not sorry."

"(I'm happy for you. But eww.)"

Noah hears a key in the door and gets up to greet Elle. She was gone for almost an hour, after all.

He has her half naked and panting against the living room wall five minutes later, croissants and muffins forgotten on the floor. When he slides his fingers down the front of her underwear and bites the back of her neck, she moans his name. It's the best sound he's ever heard in his life.

In the bedroom, there isn't enough time to cover up the window before Elle yanks open his pants. He pushes into her on the floor, under the window, just out of sight from the outside world. It's hard and frantic this time and they don't give each other any chance to catch their breath.

It's nothing like last night, but it's amazing all the same.

Noah bites her shoulder when he comes, much too early for his liking. His head is spinning as he shudders against her, fingers clenching in her hair. But he's not ready to have it end. So he keeps pushing into her, the carpet stinging his knees. He grabs onto her hips, tilts them up a bit, letting Elle's moans guide him.

Noah leans down, his mouth next to her ear. "Come for me," he whispers and bites the lobe.

And she does.

*

It's early in the afternoon when they decide to take a walk. Her neighborhood is not too bad, after all.

"So, mom wants us at lunch tomorrow," Noah says, kissing Elle's knuckles as they wait for a pedestrian light to switch to green.

Elle turns to look at him, eyes wide. "We haven't been to one of those... both at the same time... in forever."

"I know. But this time I'm supposed to bring my girlfriend. Do you think she's available?" Her response takes a bit too long and Noah tugs on her hand. "Shelly?"

"Sorry, it's just... things are happening so fast right now."

"I guess I could cancel? Or go alone?" he offers quickly. He should've known that it's too soon. Well, he does know. But mom didn't get the memo.

"I... love spending time together. But family lunch... I mean, this is still so new."

"I guess. But it also kind of isn't, right?" Noah tries. He should've kept the girlfriend part to himself. That was stupid. Why did mom have to put that in his head?

"I suppose, yeah."

"Look, if it makes you uncomfortable, you really don't have to come." Having Elle comfortable is what's most important. She already took a huge step in asking him to stay with her. He shouldn't push it. Except that he kind of wants her to come, to show up there together again.

They walk in silence for a minute and Noah doesn't like it, at all.

"Please don't freak out about this, okay? This is just my mom, seeing an opportunity to get everyone together for lunch. It's really not a big deal."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay. I won't freak out."

Noah decides to leave the question of whether she'll come for later.

***

ELLE

On the way back home, they stop at a bakery. The cookies they buy are amazing and Elle wonders how she never noticed the shop in the past months. Maybe because she's never felt like a neighborhood stroll before.

She tries not to think about the lunch invite. But of course, she fails miserably. They haven't even talked about what they are. And now they're supposed to show up at a family lunch together? How can Noah be so casual about this? He's played a huge part in how they managed to avoid each other at Flynn-Evans gatherings, after all. The other part was her making Lee always tell her whenever Noah would visit so she knew to have plans for those days.

Noah waves another cookie in front of her and it breaks her out of her thoughts. She can't resist another bite. She also can't resist the lingering, sugar-flavored kiss Noah gives her. And when he takes her hand in his again, smiling that smile, she really can't help herself and forget about what she's so worried about. At least for now.

*

On Saturday night, she takes Noah to the restaurant they'd planned for Friday. The food is great and it's... nice. All of it. Really nice.

She'd missed this. Not that they'd gone to many restaurants together before, but spending time together, out, talking, without thousands of questions and three shades of weirdness looming like only two weeks ago.

Elle takes a sip from her wine glass. "I feel very grown-up right now. Eating at a restaurant, drinking wine and then taking you back to my apartment, without having to worry about curfews or parents potentially catching us."

Noah laughs. "Good times, though. Remember when I snuck into your room that one time and you told your dad that the noise outside your window was a racoon?"

"Of course I do. And how Brad put on his softball gear and went looking for it?"

"I think I spent a solid 45 minutes hiding in your closet that night."

"Well, I did make it up to you, though, if I remember correctly."

"You did."

If Elle didn't know any better, she'd think that the faintest of a blush appears on Noah's face. But whatever it was is gone five seconds later. She remembers that night well and she also remembers how Noah would hint at for months during late night calls from his dorm.

Elle can't wait to get him back to her place and see if she can make that maybe-blush reappear. However, they're only halfway through their meal, so thinking about Noah stretched out on her bed, naked and shaking, is not the mental image she needs right now.

"So, how about watching a movie after this?"

Noah smirks. Because he knows. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, we can always look for something on Netflix."

"Sounds good."

*

They actually end up watching a movie. Elle lets Noah pick something silly and she can't remember the last time she had this much fun watching a movie. Well, she always has a lot of fun when Lee comes over to watch movies. But she doesn't also kiss Lee every couple of minutes – nor does she want to – or run her fingers through his hair. She also doesn't get a kick out of it every time he laughs out loud, like she does now, when it's Noah.

Another benefit of movie night with Noah? The many little kisses to wherever his mouth can reach. She's sure he isn't even aware of half of them. Elle loves that he's still like this with her. Still so open and affectionate, like no one would ever believe he always was.

Elle sighs when she feels kisses on her stomach, where her shirt had ridden up. She expects there to be two, maybe three or four little kisses, before he lies his head back on her stomach. But the kisses don't stop. Instead, they linger, get wetter, hotter. He's definitely aware of what he's doing now.

Noah's thumbs hook into the waistband of her pajama shorts and pull them down slowly. His kisses move lower, lower still, and Elle holds her breath.

Elle isn't sure how exposed the living room window leaves them, so she throws a blanket over them. Noah chuckles and the vibrations send jolts of electricity through her body. Within a few minutes she falls apart, with his fingers pressed deep inside her and colors exploding before her eyes.

When he comes up from under the blanket, hair tousled, eyes heavy, lips shiny, Elle thinks it's the hottest thing she's ever seen.

She hasn't fully recovered when he slides into her, slow and steady, pushing against the little aftershocks still rippling through her body.

Elle grabs the blanket again and throws it over them. She doubts anyone can see past the back of the sofa but it feels appropriate.

She wants to hide them from the world.

*

Afterwards, they continue watching the movie. Noah is pressed against her side and judging by the sound of his breathing, close to falling asleep.

She could spend every weekend like this.

A message from Lee has her grabbing her phone. "Wanna go to the beach after lunch tomorrow?"

Right. Lunch.

Beach would be nice. It's been entirely too long since she's kissed Noah in the water.

"Hey, what time is lunch tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Noah looks up at her. "I think at the usual time. Why? Are you considering going?"

"I am."

"Okay." Noah smiles up at her.

"Lee asked if we want to come to the beach afterwards."

"Yeah, sure, if you want to."

"I think I do. It's been too long since I saw you in your trunks."

"So, you're sure you're up for lunch then?" he asks, ignoring her last comment.

"Your mom knows about us, I presume?"

"Yeah. No details, but yeah."

Elle takes a deep breath and nods to herself. "Okay, let's do it."

She loves how her answer makes Noah smile.

"I'm glad," Noah says. "And I'm sure it won't be as awkward as we fear it to be. Besides, it'll be good practice for the week after next."

Elle blinks. Huh? "Week after next?"

"Mom's fiftieth birthday. You didn't think you'd be able to skip that one, did you?"

"No, I... Are you going to be here for that?" Will he be back in another two weeks?

"Yeah." Noah smiles at her. "You gonna put me up again?"

"You know what, I just might. You've proven yourself to be a very good house guest."

On Saturday, Elle does sleep through the night. She sleeps better than she has in years.

*

When she wakes up on Sunday morning, it's to Noah's arms around her and his breath in her hair. She could use a sip of water but staying right here and not moving a muscle takes a priority. Noah's arms tighten in his sleep, confirming the fact.

His breathing lulls her back in. She's almost drifted off when she hears it, his voice low and breathy, yet it cuts clear as sky through her sleepy haze.

"I love you."

*

The drive to the Flynns' makes Elle nervous. He notices, of course, and takes her hand in his. "Don't worry, it's going to be fine. I bet nobody will even say anything."

They haven't talked about what happened this morning. About how he told her he loved her. For all she knows, he could've been asleep still. For all he knows, she could've been, too. He seems relaxed and in a good mood, so it must be one of those.

She calls her dad to give him a heads-up about lunch. Because pretending that there's nothing going on between her and Noah seems ridiculous. Especially since it's the first time in six years that they'll both show up.

Her dad doesn't seem all that surprised. Well, a little maybe, but not much. Or he's really good at hiding it. Or maybe June let something slip.

In any case, Elle's glad that Noah keeps the PDA to a minimum. Even if she misses his hands and kisses and has to remind herself multiple times to not touch him so much.

Other than that, lunch turns out to be surprisingly uneventful. And sitting next to Noah, joking with him, stealing some of his cake and laughing with their extended family seems surprisingly normal and familiar.

Nobody makes any comments about them or asks questions. Aside from a few glances from June, it almost feels like not much has changed. Like there aren't some big and scary variables left between them.

***

NOAH

He's missed the beach. Before moving to Boston, he'd never fully realized how lucky he was to have grown up close to the beach, in a climate that provided beach weather for at least half of the year, no less.

Noah stretches his long legs in the warm sand.

"What's up with your knees?" Lee asks from the towel next to Noah's.

"Huh?" Noah takes a look. "Oh. Yeah. I fell and scuffed them up."

"Uh-huh. Those look suspiciously like rug burns. Do I even want to know?"

Noah squirts some water from his bottle into Lee's face.

"Mom really held back at lunch today," Lee remarks, wiping his face. "Did you say anything to her?"

"I might have."

"Good call."

Noah nods. He leans on his elbows and watches Elle and Rachel, standing in the knee-deep water and talking. He could get used to spending days at the beach again.

"Have you decided on a job yet?" Lee asks.

"I think so. But I need to talk to Elle first."

Lee nods. "Soon?"

"Yes, soon. I need to pick the right time, though. She already freaked out over the lunch invite, so... yeah."

"Yeah," Lee agrees. "How long are you here, anyway?"

"Till tomorrow."

Noah looks up and blinks at the sun. Sure, there's still some uncertainties left. But other than that, this feels like a perfect way to end the weekend.

And when Elle jogs back towards him, wet from the ocean, glowing from the sun and smiling just for him, he kind of doesn't want to spend Sundays any other way ever again.

*

"I hate that I can't drive you," Elle tells him Monday morning. "Or see you off in a taxi at least."

"It's totally fine, really. You have work." Noah zips up his bags and presses yet another kiss to her lips. "I've had the best weekend. Thanks again."

"Me too." She grins and Noah has to kiss her again.

After, he fishes her car keys out of the bowl next to the door and hands them to her. "Go! Or you'll be late for your presentation."

Elle grabs the keys. "Yes yes, I'm going! Why did you have to book such a weird middle-of-the-day flight anyway?"

"Shelly! Go!"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"I'll call you tonight."

"You better." Elle pulls him in for one final kiss and then she's out the door.

Noah spends the next couple of hours not thinking about whether he should've told her the real reason for booking an afternoon flight out.

After his appointment, he heads to the airport early, where he continues not thinking about whether he should've told her.

He also continues not thinking about the fact that he told her he loves her and she didn't react.

Maybe she really was asleep.

***

ELLE

On Tuesday morning, Daria is back at the office. Elle tells her about the weekend. About Noah. About the curtain rods he hung yesterday before leaving.

"So, basically, this guy is like, the dream. And you're happy."

Elle smiles. She's not going to argue with that.

"And what about his job situation? Is he going to move here or...?"

"I don't know. He hasn't said yet."

"You need to ask him. He's probably scared to bring it up with you. Maybe he's already decided on LA?"

That's kind of what Elle's afraid of.