Down the road of memories

Take a bullet to the heart

Noah POV

From the moment Elle and I entered the reception room where Greg and Abby's engagement celebration was taking place, we were surrounded. First, there were my Harvard roommates Elijah, Brian, and Steeve who remembered Elle when she visited me in the fall of my freshman year. Then there were Greg, Derek and Dan, my former football teammates who never knew her. It was weird after 6 years of being single that my friends got to know Elle! She seemed to fit in very well and laughed when my friends teased me about my ghost.

We were having a great evening until I heard behind me:
-Wonderful, you're here Darling! I'm finally going to be able to have interesting conversations at these boring parties." Chloe said as she walked past Elle and took her hand to lead her towards a group of girls in the distance.
-Oh no! You're not going to take my girlfriend away from me, Chloe!" I said to her taking Elle's hand in mine to hold her
- Relax Flynn!" Chloe said as she rolled her eyes. "I believe you are able of sharing!

Elle winked at me before following Chloe who then led her to a group of girls consisting of Abby, Greg's fiancée and Dr. Rebecca Doyle. I sighed in spite of myself, I was never good at sharing Elle...

I was sitting at the bar with 2 of my former football teammates making sure I always had Elle in my line of sight. Old habits are hard to break! According to my mother, I always did this with Elle even when we were kids. Looking back, I wonder why it took me so long to confess my feelings for her. My parents even told me when I was dating Elle, 8 years ago, that the day I saw her for the first time in the hospital, I would have declared that she was mine. Twenty-four years later, I would make that same statement! And I couldn't help but marvel at this girl who I consider extraordinary. She was talking with Chloe and Rebecca a few benches next to us. I was lost in thought when Greg said to me:
-Frankly Flynn, I doubted your sanity all those years when you told us you weren't interested in any girl. Today, I understand why! She's really awesome!" he said, glancing at Elle.

I couldn't help but smile.
- I've always wondered why you don't take advantage of your popularity to take any girl. I must admit that a girl like her was impossible to forget." Josh tells me.
- I told you guys!" I said, remembering one night in particular when the realization that I was only interested in her had made me live even harder with the reality of the breakup...

Flashback New York, Thanksgiving 4 Months After Breakup

It was easy to tell my mom that I wasn't planning on going to LA for Thanksgiving. I had a great excuse, we had a match last night in New York against Columbia and it made a lot more sense to stay there with Chloe and the guys than to rush to catch a plane to LA. Chloe's father was away on business, so we had the apartment for Chloe, me and 3 of my teammates.

On Thanksgiving Day, the guys and I went to a bar to celebrate in our own way since Chloe had been invited alone by her aunt. I was stressed with upcoming exams and also I felt guilty that I didn't make the effort to go home for Thanksgiving. But, I knew that I was far from over my broken heart and that if I saw Elle now, I was going to flinch and beg her to give me another chance.

I couldn't be selfish, I had to give her space and let her start college in peace. But, that didn't make it any easier. It seemed like the closer the holidays got, the more I figured I'd pay for an overpriced plane ticket to be with her.

In my mindset, I took more alcohol than usual and the guys took notice. We were all a little tipsy when a group of girls approached to make conversation and buy us drinks. The other guys were all single and started chatting with interest with the girls. For my part, I looked at my beer and wondered if I could go back to Chloe's father's apartment on my own. One of the girls in the group came up to me and said:
-Hi, I'm Joey!
-Flynn," I said without much interest.
-Glad to meet you. Your friends and my friends are going dancing. Would you come with me? We could get to know each other on the dance floor." She said, pressing herself against me in an unpleasant way, making her intentions known for the evening.
- No thank you! I have a girlfriend!
- Where is she?
- Not here!
- Oh, I won't tell her anything if you don't.
- I'm sure you'll find another guy to keep you company tonight, Joey." I said with a most false smile.