The Kissing Booth - Chasing Noah

Chapter 14

A/N: This is the edited version of Chapter 32 and 33.

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Elle's POV

I had to fight every instinct in my body telling me to run into Noah's arms and beg him to forgive me. But the truth was, he wasn't the one who had to do the forgiving. I didn't do anything wrong. He had showed me a side of him that I never wanted to see and I didn't want to deal with any of it right now. If I went back up to my room I could hide until he left. I took a deep breath and got ready to sprint back to the elevator. When I turned to start running, I ran face first into a very strong chest. I hit my nose against their rib cage and my hands flew to my face.

"I'm so sorry," I groaned, clutching my nose. It wasn't until I heard the familiar laugh that I opened my eyes. My nose was making my eyes water, but I could still see a blurry Noah. A blurry, smirking, sexy Noah. God, why did he have to make it so hard for me to be mad at him? We just stared at each other for a while. I didn't know what to say to him. Come to think about it, he didn't even apologize when we ran into each other. I mean it was his chest that was causing me pain.

"How've you been?" he asked. What a stupid question. Oh you mean since you pretty much broke up with me...over the phone? Just peachy.

"That's it?" I snapped.

"What?" he asked, shocked. I'm sure he assumed that once I saw his gorgeous face I would forget everything that had happened.

"That's all you have to say?" I asked harshly. He let out a strained sigh.

"Did you want me to lead with I'm sorry instead?" he replied.

I snorted. "So you are sorry than?"

"Well, I mean I'm sorry about how I reacted, but I still want to talk about Trinity. I want to make sure that you looked at all your options," he insisted. I don't think I had it in me to convince another person that Trinity is the right choice for me. I could be hearing back from them anytime now, and I didn't want anything tainting my excitement when that letter came through.

"It's not up for discussion Noah. My decision is final. I've looked at all my options, and contrary to your belief, Trinity is the best fit for me," I explained firmly. I didn't want to get frustrated and blow up. I wanted to try to talk about this as calmly, but as brief as possible.

"Elle, I know that you want to be with me, and that this long distance is hard on you, but I seriously don't think sacrificing your future for us is the right thing to do. If you just-"

I cut him off, "Okay Noah. I know how hard it is for you to admit when you're wrong, but I just can't do this anymore. You're making this way harder than it needs to be. If you can't get on board with my decision, then you don't need to be a part of my life anymore." His eyebrows practically lifted off his head. I guess he thought I would back down before I broke up with him. If I really was going to Trinity just to be with him, then it wouldn't be worth it if we just broke up in the end. But I was standing by my choice. And that was all he needed to be convinced because he finally admitted defeat.

"Elle. I don't want to lose you. If you're really doing this for you, if this is really what you want, then I trust you," he told me.

"Obviously you don't Noah," I scoffed. His eyebrows furrowed together.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well if you really trusted me, we never would have had this fight in the first place. You would have trusted me to make the right decision. But instead of being happy for me, of being proud, you questioned my values and my reason for doing it. If you had trusted me, I wouldn't have to do this," I sobbed. Tears were falling down my cheeks so fast I couldn't wipe them away. I knew that this was the right thing to do, but it didn't make it hurt any less.