The Missing Years - a kissing booth fan fiction

Assured

Noah

Fall semester of my final year started with a search for a new roommate. Chloe accepted a job at a firm in New York so I was having to sublet her room. James is a medical student at Tufts and his placement work meant that he would be out most nights. If I have to have a stranger for a roommate, James is the perfect one - quiet, tidy and hardly ever around when I am.

Hayley and I have most of the same classes together and outside of class, she spends a lot of time at my place. We study and sometimes we...distract each other. She is equal parts wickedly funny and kind. For my birthday, she arranged for Chloe and her new boyfriend Charles to come to Boston for the weekend and go to a concert with us. Nobody's ever done anything like that for me before.

A week or so later I decide I need to make a phone call home.

"Hi honey," Mom's voice appears after a couple of rings.

"Hi Mom."

"Is everything okay?"

I roll my eyes. It's not like I don't phone her every week anyway. "Yes Mom, everything's fine. I just have a question to ask you."

"Oh?"

"I'd like to ask Hayley to come home with me for Thanksgiving and I wanted to check first if that was okay with you?"

"Really? Well of course she's welcome, Noah. I'd like to meet this Hayley of yours."

"Okay good. I'd like you and Dad to meet her, too."

"Is this serious Noah?"

"Not yet Mom, but it might be."

"Would you like it to be?"

I smile. "Yeah, I think maybe I would."

"Well then I definitely want to meet her."

"Okay. Be nice."

"Noah!" Mom admonishes me. "I'm always nice.

"I know. Just no embarrassing stories, okay? Or pictures."

She laughs. "Oh honey, now you're taking all the fun out of this for me."

"I'm going to go now. Love you Ma."

"I love you too, Noah."

I can't wait to ask Hayley now. When I do, she's thrilled. "Really? Oh I'd love to come meet your family." She throws her arms around my neck and looks at me speculatively, head cocked to one side.

"What?"

"Well," she begins, "I'm just wondering if that means you'd like to come home with me for Christmas?"

I smile and kiss her. "I guess that's only fair. Of course I'll come."

"Yay! I can't wait for my family to meet you."

Of course I do actually want to meet Hayley's family. But there's also a small part of me that's glad this arrangement works out perfectly to keep me away from my house this Christmas, too.

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My dad collects us from the airport and Hayley has him charmed in about 5 minutes. My mom greets us at the door. Hayley gives her a kiss on the cheek, "Oh Mrs Flynn, it's so lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for the invitation."

"We're so glad to have you, Hayley. Please, call me June." Mom puts an arm around Hayley and guides her into the house.

"What lovely photos!" Hayley says as she walks through the entry. She looks back over her shoulder at me. "Oh, look at you, too cute. Who's this then?" She asks, pointing to one of Elle with Lee and I.