Same Time Next Year

Chapter 28 - Year 7

Flashback to carnival weekend

Noah

As much as I wished I hadn't had to leave Elle tonight, there were things I needed to take care of back in Boston. I mentally made my to-do-list during the flight, trying to take my mind off the tears in Elle's eyes after I kissed her good-bye. First up, accept the job offer in LA and find out how soon I can start. Next, give notice at my current job and make sure I could get out of there quickly. After this weekend, I was ready to get back to California for good ASAP. Luckily the big case that had kept me working around the clock the last few months had settled a few weeks ago. I had plenty of other work that would need to be transitioned to someone else but I think it will all be easy enough to handle. The list in my head became a little overwhelming as I started thinking about getting my apartment packed up and finding somewhere to live in LA and all the little things that would need to be taken care of. But when I thought about what being in LA would mean, the fact that I would be near Elle again and that maybe we would finally be able to make us work, I forgot about stressing.

Elle made the comment as we were saying our good byes that this felt like one of our beach house weekends. Magical but fleeting, over before we knew it. It was my goal to prove to her that although this may feel like a beach house weekend, it wasn't going to end up like one of our weekends, with everything falling apart as soon as we were so far away from each other.  I needed to prove to Elle that my feelings for her had been there for the last six years, just like I know hers had been, and weren't going anywhere in the future. This wasn't just a weekend, I hoped this was for the rest of our lives. I focused on making sure Elle and I were able to talk everyday until I was back in LA. That may have meant that I had to take some late lunches or stay up super late, in order to find a time that worked in both of our schedules but none of it mattered when I heard her voice or saw her smile.

During our first phone call, the night I had gotten back to Boston, we had decided to wait to tell our families for just a bit. In the past, I had always liked to have Elle to myself and we were more than used to keeping our feelings a secret. This time was different though, and as much as I was ready to shout it from the rooftops, we both thought we needed to spend more than a few hours together before we were telling our families we were back together. As far as they knew, we had broken up over 6 years ago and had barely been talking to each other since then. Other than Lee, no one in my family even knew I had pushed my flight back or my real reason for spending last weekend in LA. I'm pretty sure my Mom was going to flip when she found everything out. Actually, I'm not sure we could ever tell her about our weekends at the beach house. I'm a little worried about what she would do to me if she found out I had been keeping that from her for all these years.  Not only the fact that I was in town and didn't see her, but also everything going on with Elle when I knew how much Mom worried about both of us.

Everything was kind of a whirlwind for me and Elle after that. I flew back the next weekend and the one after that.  We told our families while I was in town the second weekend.  I thought we should show up at the weekly family lunch on Sunday and surprise everyone at once but Elle wanted to tell our families separately so it wasn't as overwhelming.  So we decided to get it over with and tell everyone at the beginning of the weekend.  We started at my parents' early Saturday morning.  Lee was in on our surprise since he already knew everything going in with us. He had been getting it from both of us. Of course Elle told him everything but he and I had been talking a lot lately also.   I was thankful for the way he handled being a best friend to Elle and a brother to me.

The weekend we finally told our families, Lee made an excuse to visit my parents in the morning so he already knew they would both be home. Elle went into the house ahead of me, as if she was there to meet Lee.  I gave them a few minutes before I walked in, surprising them.  I could hear my parents happily talking to Elle before I walked in.  But I knew the moment Mom first noticed me because she stopped mid-sentence.