Same Time Next Year

Chapter 21 - Year 5

Elle

During supper, Noah and I both tried to tell Lee and Rachel that we were going to leave and let them have the beach house to themselves for the weekend, but Lee wouldn't hear of it.  "Stay, please.  As long as you two are okay staying here together? How long has it been since the four of us have had a chance to all hang out?"  Lee looked so happy in that moment I didn't have the heart to argue with him.  And really, he was right.  The last time we had all been together was the summer we spent at the beach house after our high school graduation.  And even Lee, Noah, and I had hardly been together over the years, other than holidays.  Rarely had it been just the three of us without the rest of our families around also. 

Being all together like this was taking me back to high school, although I wasn't sure that was a good thing.  I couldn't stop myself from watching Noah and wondering what he was thinking of all this.  Was he a little bit jealous of Lee and Rachel getting back together, like I was?  Did he wish he had me all to himself this weekend, like I did with him?

After Lee and Rachel excused themselves and headed up to their room for the night, I walked outside to listen to the waves.  If I wasn't going to get my time with Noah here this weekend, I was for sure going to get my time with the ocean.  I let myself get lost in the sound of the water and could feel my body relax.  A few minutes later, I glance up as I hear the door open to find Noah standing there.

"Noah, you shouldn't be out here.  What if Lee sees us talking?"

Noah smirked as he sat down on the outdoor couch next to me facing out towards the waves.  "Not gonna happen.  They've probably already forgotten the two of us are here.  There's a 0% chance of Lee and Rachel leaving their bedroom tonight.  And even if they did, what would Lee think was going on with us?  We're  just talking, Shelly."

"I guess so."  We may be just talking but that didn't mean I wasn't hyper aware of how close Noah and I were sitting. That if we both just moved a couple inches closer to each other our bodies would be touching. It was making it hard for me to concentrate.

"So how bummed are you about us having company on our weekend here?"  Noah asked seemingly unaffected by the proximity of our bodies.

"Very."  I answered honestly.  "I was looking forward to spending time with you.  But I guess they'll keep us from doing anything we'll regret."

We had been sitting next to each other but both facing towards the ocean, our views focused on the waves.  Before Noah replied this time, he turned to look at me.  That movement of his body caused his arm to brush against mine, making me turn to look at him and see how serious his expression had become. "I've never regretted anytime we've been together here.  I've only regretted the way things have gone wrong afterwards."

The burn of his eyes on body was too much and I had to look back out on the ocean before I responded. "I know, I guess I can't say I've regretted them either.  But sometimes we jump into it a little to quickly and we've been doing so good as friends this year, I was hoping we could stay that way.  So I'm just saying, maybe they'll keep us from doing anything stupid."

"I know what you mean.  But you know, having other people around has never stopped us before.  We're good at sneaking around."  I didn't have to look at Noah to know his expression, I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Noah, you're not helping."   I was worried what would happen if we continued with this conversation, so I changed the subject.  "So, what should we do the rest of the weekend."

"Well, I'm going to have to see my parents now that Lee knows I'm here.  If he tells Mom I was in town and I don't see her, I will never hear the end of it.  Maybe we can surprise them at the family lunch on Sunday?"