Same Time Next Year

Chapter 29 - Year 7

Back to present

As I pull into the driveway at the beach house, I realize that even though I am nervous about how things will go this weekend, this is the least stressed I've ever been heading into one of these weekends. I don't have to worry about whether or not I'll see Elle. I know for a fact that she will be there, she's coming straight after work herself. Although all of our past years of meeting at the beach house had been exciting and filled with the unknown – would she come, what would happen between us – this may be my favorite year yet. This year I know Elle is mine and I know exactly what I can expect from this weekend. Much of the same as most of the last nine months with Elle, since we "ran into each other" at the annual school carnival.

Now that we're back together, I wanted to make this weekend really special for Elle. I've planned a romantic dinner, much like I did the summer after Elle's graduation. Lately, I've tried to stop thinking of it as the summer we broke up. Because now that we're back together, I feel like it is more a step in our relationship than an ending. Although this dinner on the beach will be reminiscent of that dinner, I've really gone all out this time. And there is a reason for that. I have a very special question to ask Elle and I decided what better time to ask it than during our weekend.

But before I can do that, I have to make sure everything is ready. I pull my car around to the side of the house to make it easier to unload everything for my surprise.  I had done most of the planning in the weeks leading up to this weekend. I talked to my Mom to make sure the house would be ready for us. I tried not to put too much importance into it when I talked to her. The last thing I needed was for my Mom to get an idea of what I have planned. Sometimes my Mom is good at keeping secrets but when it is something really big and especially when it has to do with Elle, she's as bad as Lee at keeping secrets. Although I probably can't say that about Lee anymore. He kept his mouth shut about my reunion with Elle at the carnival and as far as I knew, he'd kept his mouth shut about everything we had discussed about my plans for this weekend.

I'm just heading back into the beach house after setting up some lights in the gazebo behind the house when I hear a noise coming from the driveway. I run through the timeline of deliveries coming this afternoon but none of them are supposed to be here quite yet. We made it clear with everyone that the house was ours this weekend. I storm towards the front door to see who it is and pull the door open to see nothing but grocery bags, hiding the person at the door.

Elle

It may seem silly to keep up with this weekend at the beach house now that we are back together but I couldn't think of a better way to spend it. Even though Lee doesn't go to Comic Con anymore and we're no longer trying to hide anything about our relationship, we wanted to still keep this weekend for ourselves. This time we have finally told our families that the house is ours this weekend so we don't have any unexpected company. We've dealt with enough barriers in our relationship, from now on we're both ready for smooth sailing. Which is why I want everything to be perfect for our first beach house weekend as a couple. I have big plans for this weekend.

I'm on my way to the beach house now, although Noah should still be at work for a few more hours. I want to get there in time to get my surprise set up. Our beach house weekend has always been special but now that we're back together, I want it to be perfect. Plus, I have a feeling this will be a weekend we will always remember.

I know Noah had always felt a little jealous of my relationship with Lee. My friendship with Lee always seemed so easy compared to how hard our relationship has always been. Not only did we always have that close friendship that he didn't really have until he met Chloe at Harvard but our relationship was pretty much unconditional. I mean, there was that time when Lee totally freaked out when he found out Noah and I were dating and again when he found out I wanted to go to Harvard. But, other than that, we were friends always and nothing was going to stop it. Whereas Noah and I both often felt like our relationship was precariously balanced and almost ready to fall apart. He had confessed to me that he often felt left out when we were little and even once we were dating. And it wasn't just the friendship part, I think sometimes he was jealous of how overboard I always went when it came to Lee. From the amount of time I put into planning gifts, or surprise parties, to our summer bucket list, and most recently, the work I went through to make his wedding special.