Undercover

Chapter 53

The next few days were there and gone in a flash. They had been fun and full of activities, full of memories, and they would forever be grateful for it all. When they had woken up after their trip to the palace they spent the day in bed playing trivia games on their phones taking silly pictures and watching movies for the rest of the night. It was just the 3 of them and it was their own little paradise. Their little escape from reality.

The following day they went to Lake Misurina approximately a 2 and a half hours away from Venice via a minivan guided tour. They had made stops at Dolomite peaks and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo as well but their favorite was Lake Misurina. The trip had taken up their entire last day due to the 5 hours in drive time and all the stops made but it was beyond worth it.

On their flight back they couldn't stop looking at the countless pictures they took. They had gotten plenty of photos of the 3 of them thanks to the other generous tourists and they had gotten a ridiculous amount of silly pictures, and good one shots of all 3 of them. Olivia's favorite so far was the one that someone had taken of the 3 of them standing on the beach with the lake and the mountains behind them. They both had a hand on Noah's shoulder, one on the left one on the right, they looked like a family.

They looked like an average family and an average couple who had taken a wonderful vacation. She did happen to get a single photo of just the 2 of them. Noah had offered to take a photo of them and when they initially just gave each other a side hug he told them that they were boring so Elliot turned his head to place a kiss on her cheek just before Noah snapped the picture. It had caught Olivia off guard and the excitement and the happiness was plastered all over her face because of that.

When they land back in New York Noah is still slightly nervous as the nose of the plane touches down but when Elliot and Liv both wrap an arm around him it settles his nerves. When they arrive they all feel grateful yet kinda sad to go back to their normal lives. Elliot helps them home but ultimately has to return to his own house.

As soon as Elliot leaves Noah's already asking when he'll be back. When they're going to see him again. When they're all going to go on their camping trip. "I don't know baby." She takes a seat beside him on the couch and wraps an arm around him, hugging him into her side. "But you said we could go?" He asks with a defeated tone in his voice. "I know baby. But Mommy has to return to work. And so does Elliot."

She can feel a tantrum coming when she sees the look on his face. "This is stupid!" He exclaims as pulls away and storms off to his room. She's left in the living room. Feeling completely and utterly alone. She can't even be mad at Noah because she feels the same way. She feels the same anger and sadness that he does about Elliot not being there.

She knows he has his only family to tend to but that didn't stop her from missing him, not for a single second. She wishes that there was an easy answer that kept everyone happy, but Elliot can't abandon his family.

Eli hadn't even finished high school yet and someone still had to look after Bernie. She begins unpacking her suitcase trying to distract herself. When she comes across her robe and remembers the feeling of his skin touching her when he took it off, the feeling she felt in her stomach, the butterflies when he eyed her in the robe from across the room, or the way his eyes filled with desire as he slipped it off her body and took her into his arms.

She sits on the bed and continues reminiscing as she looks at the robe in her hands. The memory carries a weight and a happiness that she can't contain. It weighs so heavily on her heart, in the best ways-in the worst ways too. She's so grateful for every second that she spends with him but when he's gone her heart feels shattered until his return. 

She wasn't sure if the way that she felt was normal. She wasn't sure if it was crazy to want someone so badly so quickly. The thought still worries her. She's never been this woman. She's never been this vulnerable with anyone. The closest she had ever become was ironic with Elliot but that was a whole other lifetime ago, and even then, the depths of her vulnerability and trust hadn't reached nearly as far as what they do now.