Kissing Booth: Another Take

Chapter 13

AN: Thank you again for all the great feedback and votes!

IMPORTANT REMINDER: This story is rated M , from this chapter on there will be "XXXXXXX" indicating the beginning of an explicit scene that you can choose to skip and it will be ended with the same XXXXXX without missing important dialogue.

Italics are Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do.

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Noah's POV

I heard her when they got home. She had yelled goodnight to someone as she came up the stairs. I was disappointed when I heard a door open and close signaling her going into her room. I needed to talk to her.

My frustrations were short lived when I heard my door open.

"Noah?" she whispered. "Can I get some light? A liiiitle too much to drink for a blind walk." I sat up and turned my light on to see her standing in one of my old Harley Davidson t-shirts that just barely made it mid thigh. She smiled big at me and hopped onto my bed, her tan legs quickly making their way under the covers.

I frowned at her. I didn't know how to start this conversation.

"Where did you go?" she said tracing patterns on my arm. "You disappeared."

I shrugged.

She sighed. "Just tell me what's wrong Noah." Elle used to be a lot more passive than this, I was actually grateful for her directness.

"You and Marco..." I trailed off. Her face fell and she bit her lip nervously. The look made me disappointed. I guess I had hoped I was wrong.

"We kissed," she admitted, "Once, after a DDR competition we did together."

I nodded, waiting for the 'and'.

"And that night we..." she paused. I didn't need her to finish the sentence to know where it was going. I tried not to let my imagination wander. "We hooked up some more but...nothing happened like that..."

I nodded. I felt the jealousy recede as quickly as it had risen up inside of me.

This was my problem. I always let my mind trigger me into some sort of angry response instead of thinking reasonably. I didn't care if Elle hooked up with someone while we were apart. What I did care about is if the feelings were still that between the two of them. If maybe it would be easier for her to be with Marco, who she obviously had a lot in common with and who didn't live 3000 miles away, than to be with me.

"Do you have feelings for him?" I asked, hating the way I couldn't look at her when I asked.

She sighed. Obviously she had thought about this before. "Maybe in a world where you and I never existed, he and I could have been something," she whispered sadly. "But here I am, in your bed. I thought about you all the time. Being with you now, I can't really picture being with anyone else but you," she bit her lip. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that made her so honest or if this was just her now, but either way I was grateful for it.

My silence must have unnerved her. "But if it bothers you too much... my relationship with him... then you and I will never work," she stated finally. "It was already too much the first time, with Lee ignoring me for weeks. I couldn't do that to Marco. I won't choose," her voice was defiant.

This is the girl I loved, the one who just didn't give up on people. I knew I wanted to make her choose but what did that say about me? This was something I needed to work on in myself, not for her to pick.