Same Time Next Year

Chapter 5

When Noah decided to go for his run after our talk, part of me was worried he was running away.  Running away from our break-up, running away from all the hurt he caused me, running away from me. In reality, I knew this was how he liked to work through whatever is bothering him. Running was what he needed to be doing right now. So, I tried to just take a step back and think of what he must be feeling. That had been a lot to spring on him all at once. Especially when I usually keep things like that to myself. I know he needed a little time to process it. 

Truthfully, I also wanted some time to think about what Noah had confessed to me. I can't believe he was honestly worried that I was going to want to leave Harvard and him because I missed Lee. How did he not realize how important he was to me?  Yes, Lee was my best friend but I was in love with Noah.

I wracked my brain trying to think of what I could do to get things between us back to the way they had been before our talk. The weekend was short and I didn't know how we would end up after Sunday. I wanted us to be able to enjoy what little time we had left together, just the two of us.

It had bothered me when Noah thought his plan for my life had worked out so well. Even though I knew how upset he would be when I told him the truth, I was done hiding things from the people I loved just to make it easier in them. I felt like a little of the heaviness I had been carrying for the last year had finally been lifted from my chest. Now he knew how I had felt but I didn't want to spend the rest of the weekend dwelling on it. I wanted us both to be happy together.

Noah had always been the one to make grand gestures in the past. The prom, giving me plane tickets to Harvard, the dinner at the beach house. Even though all of them had fallen through, he kept trying to show his love for me in big ways. This time it was my turn. I wanted him to know that no matter how much he had hurt me and how long we had been apart, he would always have a piece of my heart. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I was guessing I had about an hour before Noah would be back from his run. That should give me enough time to throw it together. It won't be as fancy as Noah's set up was last summer, but I don't think he'll mind.

Noah

Elle met me at the door with a kiss when I got back from my run. She told me to grab a shower and meet her out back. Not sure what she had up her sleeve, I did as I was told. I had tried to work through everything we had talked about this weekend in my head while I ran. She told me that she had gotten past it and for her sake I didn't want to ruin the rest of the weekend by staying upset, but it had been a lot to take in. A big part of the reason I hadn't apologized to Elle sooner was because I knew how much I had hurt her and I couldn't face hearing how badly it had affected her. It wasn't until my Mom told me how well she was doing at school that I had the guts to think about facing her to apologize. And even then, it took this chance meeting for me to act on it. I knew I had handled things between us terribly and I was terrified to find out that I had screwed up things for Elle. When I found out that she was doing so well at school and was happy, I honestly thought that breaking-up had been the right thing for her. When she explained how wrong I was, I felt horrible and knew I had a lot to do to make it up to her.  But I decided for the sake of this weekend alone we had lucked out to get, I would try to stop worrying about it, for now at least.

When I walked out towards the beach after I had gotten cleaned up, I was shocked by Elle's set up. It looked almost exactly like the private dinner I had planned for her last year, from the candles and twinkling lights to the table set for two. The dinner we never got to have. Elle had gotten herself ready while I had been in the shower. She was wearing a pretty yellow sundress with a flower print. The dress was short, showing off her tanned legs and all of her curves.  She looked sexy as hell and I almost wanted to skip the dinner and just carry her back inside and to the bedroom. As soon as I reached her, I pulled her to me and brought my lips to hers before asking, "What is all this for, Shelly? I feel like I'm the one who should have done something like this for you."