TKB - The Time Apart

Chapter 12- Elle's Spring in London

A/N: You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out who's joining them for dinner :-)  A little suspense never hurt anyone, did it?  

I hope you enjoy some Elle time.  And don't beat me up too much about my lame London references.  Someday, maybe I'll make it there myself, and I'll have a clue what I'm referring to!

Elle POV

Ben called the next afternoon and invited me out for the following Saturday.  He was a little vague in what we'd be doing, but said he wanted to show me a nice time in England.  The fact that I had a few days to get ready was definitely a good thing.  It had been a long time since I had a date, and I was really nervous.  Lee was supportive, but was not above teasing me about the entire thing.  I think he was also a bit nervous that our big trip abroad together was falling apart, and that I'd leave him stranded.  I know us, and I promised him that this certainly wasn't going to happen.

Before my date, I had my big start to classes.  Lee and I don't have any actual classes together, but most of them were in the same buildings around the same time.  So, it was nice to at least walk with him.  If we had been at Berkeley together, we wouldn't have had any classes together either.  Fortunately, even though they don't have a formal video game design program, they have enough courses in my major for me to stay on track.  Its a fairly heavy courseload, but I am sure I can manage it.

Ben picked me up just before lunchtime on Saturday, and I had chosen a blue sundress for the occasion, with fairly natural makeup.  After all, I wanted him to get to know the real me, even if I had no idea what we were going to be doing.   He arrived on his Vespa, and I was a bit taken aback at first - this was very much like a motorcycle, and it took all of my effort to hold back thoughts of being on the back of Noah's bike.  He was casually dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, but I noted that his shirt seemed surprisingly ironed and stain free.  He asked if I had ridden before, and I awkwardly said that I had.  Being on the back of his bike was so strange for me, because it feels like such an intimate thing - not what I expected for a first date.    I'm not complaining though, and the view from back here isn't so bad either.

Ben asked if I was hungry, and I was, so assumed we would be headed to a restaurant for lunch.  Instead, we started riding and we ended up at Hyde Park, right in the center of London.  We found a small Cafe, where we ordered some lunch to go, and Ben carried our food through the park for a picnic.  It was really nice to sit and chat, while taking in the incredible view. Oh, and the park wasn't too bad to look at either (wink, wink).

I enjoyed talking to Ben.  He asked me about my week so far and how I was enjoying London.  He knew Kelsey, so he knew about our parents, so that was a topic of conversation.  We talked a lot about how I felt about the upcoming wedding, and if I was excited or upset.  His parents had divorced, and his dad had remarried as well, and he hadn't taken the news well. He had refused to visit his dad for a few weeks after the announcement, and it took several years for him to have a cordial relationship with his step mom.  This made me feel better about the relationship I had with Linda, and even moreso about my relationship with Kelsey.  The timing of this trip, and getting to know her couldn't have been better.

Ben and I walked for a long time after lunch, taking in different parts of the park.  I especially enjoyed the rose garden.  Afterwards, we found a tea shop, where we continued our chat over tea and scones.  I was enjoying the afternoon and I didn't particularly want it to end. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I had successfully pushed Noah Flynn from my mind, and I was happy. That is, until we got back on the bike...

For the next few months, Ben and I made a tradition of sightseeing every Saturday, unless one of us had another event.  Sometimes Lee joined us, sometimes Kelsey and her roommates joined as well.  I felt like I was really making the most of my time here, meeting new people, seeing what London and the rest of England had to offer.  One of my favorite parts was taking one of those big red double-decker buses on a tour around the city.  

I enjoyed getting to know him, he was kind, funny, and rather charming.  He had grown up outside of London, but went to school here, and had graduated from school about a year ago.  Being with him seemed easy, almost like hanging out with Lee - who, I may add, got along with him much better than I had expected.  Sometimes I thought that Lee was trying to date him!  He seemed to 'get' my relationship with Lee too, and it didn't seem like he was the jealous type, like other guys are, who would always assume there was something more going on.  

In April, Kelsey and I went dress shopping for the wedding.  Since there wasn't going to be a true Bridal Party, we were given free reign for our gowns, as long as they were tasteful and didn't clash.  Because Lee has such experience shopping with me, of course he joined us.  I hadn't done much shopping in London yet, so Kelsey took us on a bit of a shopping spree.  I ended up with a navy blue one shoulder dress, and Kelsey picked a light purple strapless gown.  Both were gorgeous and immediately got Lee's approval.

The closer we got to the summer, the stronger my feelings for Ben were becoming.  We'd spent so much time together, and I really enjoyed his company.  Our weekly get togethers turned more serious, where Saturday afternoons regularly became a group thing, and Saturday evenings were reserved for just the two of us.  The question was, what was next for us?

The theoretical question became an actual question when the invitation to my dad's wedding arrived, addressed to Miss Elle Evans and Guest.  Was I bringing a guest?  To any other event, Lee would probably have been my 'date', but in this case, he was already invited.  

Ben and I had been enjoying each other's company, but we were both keenly aware that I was planning to head home to LA at the end of the semester.  I have done the long distance thing, and I wasn't sure that we would be able to make that work this time around.  But, we were having a good time. Weren't we?

I brought up the wedding on one of our Saturday tourist adventures when we were alone.  The wedding was slated for mid June , and I was planning to head home at the end of May when my semester was over. I casually asked Ben if he had any interest in taking the trip out to LA with me, I knew he hadn't ever been, and I thought maybe he would be interested.  Smart guy responded, "well, Miss Evans, are you asking me to be your plus one for a special event you may have coming up?"  He caught me... Apparently he had seen the invitation, but hadn't wanted to pressure me into anything.  He was so sweet like that.

In the end, we decided Ben would come for two weeks.  We'd head home together the week before the wedding, and he'd stay for a week after.  After that, we'd talk about what the future holds. We had both been honest with each other, that neither of us was looking to move permanently. 

If nothing else, this tall handsome man can help act as a distraction from another tall handsome man that I'm expecting to see at this wedding.

But there was a question nagging at the back of my mind.  Was I bringing him home to make Noah jealous?  Was that fair to Ben?  And I pushed those thoughts aside and reminded myself that I really liked Ben, and this was for me.  I deserved to be happy, no matter what anyone else thought.

I had an idea that Noah was seeing someone, but Lee would never tell me.  I could just tell that there was something he wasn't telling me, and there was something about his upcoming trip for Noah's graduation that seemed off.  He's visited Noah before, but this one seemed different - like he was slightly dreading it and wanted to talk to me about it less than usual.  It had been a long time since I had looked at Noah's social media, and I wasn't about to start now. Chloe wasn't much help either.  She actually came over here for spring break. Her mom was still living here, so it was nice to see a friendly face.  Even if things seemed a little strained.  She did meet Ben though, and told me that she was happy with my choice.  Honestly, I'm not sure if she was just saying that to be a good friend, or if she truly meant it.

Before we knew it though, Lee and I were packing up our apartment in London.  The plan was for us to ship the majority of our stuff back to LA, and he would take as little as possible to Boston with him.  Kelsey had offered her couch for the next two weeks, so I wouldn't be by myself.  There was the added bonus that her couch was also Ben's couch.  I still didn't know what was going to happen with us after the wedding, but it would be nice spending more time with him before we have to figure things out.

I had been staying there for a few days, when I was woken up by a call from Lee.  Well, multiple calls, because, you know, I was asleep and all.  Was he not aware of the 5 hour time difference between Boston and London???

I answered on the 4th call, and heard "Elle, I'm going to kill my brother...."