Down the road of memories

I used to travel the world

Elle POV

I woke up this morning with the morning sun on my face. I could see the sunrise through the window having left the curtains open last night in the hotel room. I also saw the representation of the Eiffel Tower from the Paris hotel located just opposite our hotel. I looked up to see Noah still sleeping next to me. His light snoring told me he was probably still sleeping soundly. I then extricated myself from his arms to go out onto the bedroom balcony.

I breathed in the morning air, remembering that it's July 5th, 7 years since Noah and I broke up on top of that hill overlooking LA. The anniversary of this day has always been for me the only day in the year where I allowed myself to experience a certain nostalgia, I even believe that I have cried every year, about what we could have been if life had been different. I also forced myself to realize what life had taught me during the last year.

The first year, I was at the top of Kilimanjaro and I realized that I needed freedom. The second year, I was in Rome and I had just been admitted to medicine, which taught me that I could do great things. The third year, I was in Vancouver and I had just realized that I was still haunted by my relationship with Noah. The fourth year, I was in India and did a C-section alone for the first time when Noah wrote to me to tell me he had won his first case. I realized that both Noah and I were becoming who we were meant to be. Then the fifth year... I was in Thailand mourning what my life could have been if I had made a different decision...

Flashback Chicago one day before Thanksgiving, 19 months before the meeting in front of the Kissing booth

-Come on Elle wake up!" Brad shouted to me from the ground floor of my father's new house in Chicago.

I struggled out of my sleep. What's wrong with me? I felt tired and nauseous. I would have given a lot to be able to rest a little longer. I arrived from Baltimore last night to spend Thanksgiving with my father and brother. Lee and Noah both begged me to go spend Thanksgiving in LA. Lee saying he had a very important thing in his life that he needed to show me and Noah telling me he starts to go crazy when he doesn't see me! But my father and my brother were always very insistent, telling me that since I was going to college so far away, I had to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I don't particularly like Chicago and I always felt uncomfortable with Linda's family. The cold of late November hit me as soon as I left the airport.

In addition, I am in the final stretch of my time at medical school before the start of my internship. I'm still waiting for responses to my intership's applications. Dad wanted me to apply to the Chicago Medical Center. Lee being back in LA wanted me to apply anywhere in LA. But when I completed my applications, I was surprised to apply to the Children's hospital in... Boston.

Since the weekend I spent in Atlantic City for Noah's party, I have let myself think that... maybe we don't have to wait until after my studies and maybe Noah and I could pick up where we left off in our relationship at the top of that hill in LA... This weekend had been perfect, I thought. I said blushing. Even with Noah and I's pseudo-relationship, we've been able to confide in each other about what we're going through and encourage each other. But a slight unease persisted despite me... we never spoke in detail about what happened between us during that famous summer before I left for college. Like we put that in the future while focusing on what we can be in the present. But, a part of my brain kept telling me that this could be an obstacle for our future...
-Elle, stop lying around in bed!" Brad said to me again from the other side of the door.

I got out of bed and was surprised by a gagging that almost sent me running to the bathroom. I should never have eaten that reheated pizza on the plane yesterday. I was too hungry and probably would have eaten anything. But today I will probably pay for this imprudence.