Same Time Next Year

Chapter 8

Elle

After supper, Noah and I were cuddled together outside, watching the waves and talking. Catching each other up on the last year of our lives. Since we hadn't stuck to the rules and had stayed in contact over the last year, we both knew a little about what had been going on with the other but we both still felt like we had missed out on so much. Noah talked about how much harder the classes for his major had gotten towards the end of the school year and how he knew next year would be even more difficult as he got closer to graduation. He was getting ready for his Senior year of college and he had decided that he was for sure going to go to law school.  He had recently taken the LSAT and had spent every free hour he had studying for it. He'll be finalizing his law school admissions in the next few months. He had decided to stay in Boston this summer because he landed an internship at a law firm there with a great reputation and offices across the country, which he was hoping would help him find a job once he was done with law school.

With as busy as he's been between classes and preparing for law school, he's hardly made it to LA much since last year.  It had been hard enough for him to keep in the little bit of contact we'd had.  I don't think Noah felt the same way, but I was glad of our decision not to be in an actual relationship.  We were both too busy to be able to devote the time needed to keep a long distance relationship working.

My summer has been pretty similar to last summer. I was living at the Beach House with Lee. Although I was putting in some hours at Dunes again this year, my main focus was on taking summer classes. I was determined to graduate on time, even though I had started a semester late, so I was going to need to take classes this summer and next, along with taking a full load during the year in order to do that.

Lee got a summer job this year, so he could get some experience in his field. With Lee and I both working, we hadn't been able to spend as much time together as we did last summer. As much as we hated to admit it and as long as we had tried to hold on to them, we were starting to feel like we were losing the summers of our youth. I can't imagine that we'll both end up at the beach house together next summer. I'll miss this time with Lee but I know that we'll always make the time to spend together. If I'm honest, what I most worry about not spending the summer at the beach house is missing this weekend with Noah, our weekend. Whenever I was sad or stressed during the year, I found myself looking forward to our weekend.

We had stayed up late talking and crashed in Noah's room once Noah could no longer hide his yawns and how tired he was from traveling today. Our first night together went by far too fast and before I knew it I woke up to a room lit up by the early morning sunlight. Noah's arm was around me and I debated nuzzling in closer and letting him sleep. Instead I decide this would be much more fun if he was awake. I slowly turned around, quietly to not wake him up yet, stopping when I was face to face with him. I started at his neck with light kisses, moving to his chest and finally to his abs. He started waking up when I was at his chest and when I reached his abs, I heard his gravely morning voice say, "Am I dreaming? I'm pretty sure I've woken up from this dream before."

I giggled as I moved up to for a quick morning kiss. "No dreaming, do you want me to pinch you to show you you're awake?"

Noah pulled me closer, deepening the kiss before pulling away, smirking as he said, "You can do anything you want to me, Shell. Anything at all."

I took that invitation and ran with it and our reconciliation that morning was amazing. I mean it would have been amazing anyway, the first time we had been together in a whole year. I had tried something new, something I had never done with Noah before and I could tell how much he loved it, he hadn't held anything back. Once we came down from our highs, though, Noah seemed especially quiet afterwards, which I was surprised about. We cuddled without talking for awhile, until my growling stomach forced us up for breakfast. I tried to figure out what was wrong with Noah, but even with my prodding, he was still barely answering my questions.