Hasty upload that hasn't been formatted or edited properly just because you guys deserve something from me at the very least! This is just a quick upload, so sorry for any errors, but I owe you! Sorry it's so late!

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Chapter 6

Up until the first night Rachel was with us, dinner hadn’t been the awkward event I’d worried it would be. I might’ve ended up flirting with Noah, but that was about as far as it went. It wasn’t all that much different from every other year, really.

            But that first night Rachel was with us, it was like there was a shift in the atmosphere or something. Rachel and I were both trying to fit in the mirror in the bathroom to do our hair, and our makeup. I put on the yellow sundress I’d ended up buying when I went shopping with Rachel and a couple of the other girls the week before, and threw on some gold jewelry too.

            I just had that feeling that there was something different about the dinner tonight. Mostly because I was dressing up for once, and partly because the boys looked a bit smarter than the usual shorts and tee ensemble. But there was also just that feeling in my stomach that made me feel like I did the first night – like it wasn’t just me and Lee, and his family. Like it was me and Noah, my boyfriend, and his family.

            My worst fears were confirmed just walking into the steakhouse we pulled up at – Noah slung his arm around my shoulders. Lee and Rachel were holding hands, of course they were, but it felt weird acting like a couple with Noah in front of his parents like this.

            When we were seated, I ended up next to Rachel, the boys opposite us. Their parents sat on the end by Lee and Rachel at least, so they took the brunt of the conversation. I was kind of glad.

            It wasn’t just that I’d never been in this situation before with Noah; it was the fact I’d never been in this situation before, period.

            Never having a boyfriend meant that I’d not only never been kissed, but I’d also never experienced the whole ‘Meet the Parents’ deal, either. And this situation wasn’t even really normal. I already knew his parents, they were like a close uncle and aunt to me. How was I supposed to act around them?

            I was just glad Rachel and Lee were between us.

            Even after we’d sat down though, it was still different. Noah’s leg was pressed against mine under the table, and every so often he’d do something like brush a strand of hair off my face or trace patterns on the back of my hand. Even when the food came, and conversation lulled, there were moments when I’d look up because I felt him watching me – and he’d have this warm, intense look in his bright blue eyes. I had to look back down at my plate, poking my food around with my fork, trying to hold a blush back.

            Everything was going totally fine, until we’d ordered desert.

            “Oh, hey!” Rachel said all of a sudden. “I never said congrats on getting into Harvard, Flynn. That’s so fantastic!”

            Noah shifted ever so slightly. I only knew because I felt his leg move against mine, but it was almost an imperceptible motion. “Thanks. I’m not sure if it’s for certain yet – checking out the campus in a couple of days.”

            “Didn’t your cousin work at Harvard?” Lee said.

            Rachel nodded. “Yeah! He loved it there. He was just working in one of the dorms for a while, but he said everyone was really great there, and the campus was really nice.”

            Noah nodded. It was the indifferent, uninterested nod that was so typically Flynn, and I poked him with my foot below the table.

            His dad seemed to notice. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” Matthew put in. “I know San Diego’s good, but… well, it’s no Harvard, is it?”

            “Exactly,” I added hastily. “You’d have to be crazy to pass it up.”

            Noah just looked at me.

            I stole a glance at Lee, managing to tear my eyes from Noah’s impenetrable gaze. My best friend shot me a sympathetic smile, but nodded at me like he understood why I’d said it. I wished again that Noah was as easy to read as his brother was. I knew he was just waiting for me to say, ‘Don’t go, I don’t want you to go. Stay here,’ but I couldn’t do that. I wanted to – but I couldn’t.

            “Lemon drizzle?” the waiter said, suddenly appearing with armfuls of carefully balanced plates.      “That’s me.” Rachel put up her hand a little.

            I caught Noah’s eye by accident; his mouth twisted like he wasn’t sure whether or not he should smile, and then he just clenched his jaw and looked away. Not for the first time that night, I wished he was as easy to read as Lee.

            I bit the inside of my lip, wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all. Or maybe if I should’ve said something encouraging – like, ‘It’ll be fine, you have to go, we’ll work it out.’ But now I’d left it too long to say anything at all, and the silence between us stretched out.

            I didn’t even order desert. I was full, but I would’ve loved something to distract me right now. I just felt like a complete idiot having to sit looking around with this awkward feeling in the air. Especially with Lee and Rachel talking like they were in their own world.

            “Here.” A fork was suddenly pushed in front of my face, a lump of cheesecake and gooey, delicious raspberry sauce on the end of it.

            I looked up, startled, and raised my eyebrows slightly at Noah, who was giving me a tiny smirk, one that tugged at the corners of his mouth, acting normal and ignoring the leftover awkward atmosphere of the college-talk. I felt my cheeks warm up, but leaned in to take the bite.

            I made an appreciative noise – the kind you make when the food is melt-in-your-mouth, oh-my-gosh delicious, which made Noah smirk at me. I swallowed, and bit back a laugh, and I could feel my eyes crinkling with a suppressed smile.

            Then Lee said, “Ew, cooties,” and I burst out laughing, the others laughing along with me. Forgetting the twist in my gut at the prospect of Noah and I breaking up in just a matter of weeks when he left, and the awkwardness that had been thick in the air before, I just laughed and grinned, Noah holding my gaze with that intense look, the sparkle of amusement in his eyes, and the mischievous quality in his smirk. Even if I did have only a few weeks more with him, I knew I was lucky to have this even for just a little while.

I tidied up a few of my things, like dirty laundry or tossed-aside sandals, and Rachel was unpacking the rest of her things on the other side of the bedroom.

            “So,” she said suddenly, “is he going or what?”

            I didn’t need to ask what she was talking about. I shrugged and said, “He says he’s not sure, but he’ll go. There’s no way he won’t go.”

            “I’d ask if you’ve talked about trying long-distance, but I know what your answer’s going to be. Unless you guys talked about it when I was in the shower and you were doing your hair?”

            Shaking my head, I laughed and said, “No,” but my laugh sounded forced.

            Rachel caught my eye to give me a pitying smile. “Life sucks sometimes, huh?”

            “Tell me about it.”

            She laughed. There was a knock from the bathroom door which made both of us jump, and we both started giggling again.

            “You ladies decent?” Lee’s voice was hushed, but muffled by the door; it was kind of hard to hear him. I rolled over to the other side of my bed, leaning over to open the door.

            “Now you’re all polite because your girlfriend’s here.”

            Lee just grinned. “But you know you don’t really count as a girl, Shelly.”

            I raised an eyebrow, but Rachel spoke before I could make some snide remark back at him. “What’s up? Did you leave something in here, or…?”

            “Oh, right, that. Room switch.”

            “Huh?” the two of us said, and shared a look of confusion.

            Looking back to Lee, he rolled his eyes at me. “Just get in there” – he jerked a thumb over his shoulder – “for like, an hour or something.”

            I opened my mouth, then closed it and frowned, then opened my mouth again. Then it clicked and I grinned, biting back a laugh. “Connecting bathroom between you guys and us girls isn’t exactly the best way to keep us separated, I guess.”

            “What they don’t know won’t hurt them. We’ll switch back in a bit. Now shoo.” I was already leaving, though, a smile forming on my face. I paused before I went into Noah’s room though, remembering I was in my pajamas. I didn’t care so much that I had no makeup on; the past few days I hadn’t bothered with makeup, since we’d been down the beach. But the threadbare gray shorts and the shapeless navy tank top which fit me like a sack wasn’t exactly the kind of thing I wanted my boyfriend to see me in.

            I looked at myself in the mirror a moment longer then muttered, “Whatever.” When I yanked open the door going into Noah’s bedroom though, I saw I didn’t even need to worry if he thought I looked terrible in my pajamas. The room was almost pitch black, I could barely even make out the bed. I threw a hand out to the wall, finding it after a few moments, and started walking forward tentatively, my other arm feeling around in front of me.

            “Noah?” I whispered loudly. I was afraid to talk too loudly in case we were all caught out.

            “Polo,” he whispered back, chuckling under his breath. “And you’re supposed to say, ‘Marco,’ you know.”

            I scowled slightly. “Couldn’t you have put the light on? I can’t s–”

            My foot caught on the airbed that Lee was sleeping on. I crashed down, arms flailing. My elbow whacked on the end of Noah’s bed and I let out a grunt as the air was knocked out of me. There was a long pause, like we were both waiting for someone to burst in.

            “Ouch,” I mumbled, face in the airbed.

            “Are you okay?” Noah whispered, half laughing. “Klutz.”

            “Jerk,” was my only comeback. He chuckled again and I felt a hand on my waist, an arm pressed against my back. His hand found mine, and I managed to get to my feet without falling over again.

            “Sneaking around again, Elle?” he said, mock-scolding me. His warm, spearmint breath tickled my face. I laughed quietly, and went to kiss him, but missed and ended up kissing his chin instead. He laughed, but then he kissed the side of my nose.

            I bit my lip to muffle a laugh, and Noah stepped back, pulling me along with him, until we were both sat on the bed.

            “How do you always manage to fall over, Elle?” he said, playing with the ends of my hair. My eyes adjusted now to the darkness, I could just about see Noah’s face, and it looked like he was smiling. Not smirking, but giving me that smile that showed the dimple in his cheek.

            I shrugged in answer. “Just call me the damsel in distress.”

            He chuckled, and his forehead rested against mine. “You’re such a romantic.”

            “Is that bad?”

            “Hmm, maybe. But not when it’s you. When it’s you, it’s just cute.”

            “Oh.” I laughed and suddenly his lips were pressed against mine, finding their target this time, and I curled my arms around his shoulders, trying to pull him closer. Noah’s arms went around me, too, pulling me into him, until we were led on our sides facing each other, our legs tangled up of their own accord.

            “Your feet are freezing,” he commented.

            “Maybe your feet are abnormally warm.”

            “No, it’s just you.” I laughed again, trying not to be too loud. Then, in that ominous tone that told me he wanted to actually talk about something serious, he said, “Elle.”

            I had a feeling I knew what this was going to be about. I half hoped I was right, because we really did need to talk about it, try and sort something out, but the rest of me wanted it to be something else, because there were so many things he might say that would break my heart.

            “What?” I whispered back eventually.

            “What… what are we gonna do? When I go to – college?”

            It was that brief moment of hesitation that made me completely sure; he’d been about to say ‘Harvard’, I knew it. He was set on going already. Seeing the campus was just a formality more than anything else. Saying that he ‘hadn’t really decided’ or ‘wasn’t totally sure yet’ was a lie. But now I was one hundred and three percent sure.

            He was waiting for me to answer him now. Even though it was dark enough that he probably couldn’t really see my expression, I composed my face. I shrugged in his embrace. “I don’t know. I don’t want you to –” I bit my tongue momentarily. “I’m going to miss you. But you have to go.”

            This time, he was silent for a while. “Maybe. But that doesn’t solve us.”

            Now was my chance to ask him – to say that we could at least try long distance. But I was so afraid that he might not want to, that it might spoil the rest of the time we did have…

            But before I’d already made my mind up on what I should say, my mouth was already working and blurting out, “We could try long distance. We could at least give it a shot.”

            I clamped my mouth shut before I said something really stupid, like, ‘Unless you’d rather break up.’ Lucky for me, Noah didn’t seem to notice that my mind was freaking out more than a little bit, and he shrugged.

            “I don’t know. I mean, I kind of want to, but at the same time, I think we shouldn’t…”

            Oh, great. Now you’ve gone and done it, Rochelle. Now he’s going to say he doesn’t want to because you should both move on and he might meet other girls in college and –

            “I mean, I feel like I should let you… have boyfriends and just be a teenager without waiting around for me to come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. It’s not fair on you that I’m all the way across the country in Massachusetts.”

            My heart skipped a beat.

            He was more worried about me waiting around for him to come back home than the fact he might meet someone who was prettier, smarter, all around better than me?

            “I know that’s rich coming from me.” He said it kind of grudgingly; he hated this kind of ‘emotional crap’ talk. “Considering I was so protective of you about guys and stuff. But… it’s not fair on you.”

            All the cons of trying a long distance ran through my mind, and I’d have bet that Noah was thinking about them too: we’d hardly ever see each other; we could meet other people; we’d be at opposite ends of the country; there was a time difference, too…

            But I loved him.

            Aloud, I said, “Yeah, but…”

            “Yeah. I know. But.”

            For a couple of minutes, neither of us said anything. His thumb drew circles on my side, where his hand was resting.

            Eventually, I broke the silence, saying, “Whatever. Let’s just – cross that bridge when we get to it, at the end of summer. Yeah? Right now we’ll just have fun and be teenagers and we’ll figure something out in September.”

            Noah was silent for a second or so, but then he chuckled. I felt it resonating through his chest. “So much for being a hopeless romantic, Elle.”

             I swatted his arm. “Shut up.”

            He only laughed again though, and kissed my forehead. I snuggled closer, burying my head into the crook of his neck, and his arms tightened almost reflexively around me. Despite the fact that not even two minutes ago, I’d been wide awake, now I yawned, and my eyes were suddenly so heavy – I was asleep in seconds. And I barely even stirred when Lee came back in, only to be shushed by Noah before I was deep asleep again.

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Hope you all liked it!! Let me know what you thought :) I'll try and get the next chapter up Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be able to keep to that one, haha! (Again, I'm sorry it's late!!)

xx