The Kissing Booth - Chasing Noah

Chapter 3

A/N: This is the edited version of Chapter 6 and 7.

...

Noah wouldn't stop telling me how much he loved what I was wearing. Noah had left hickies everywhere he kissed me and I had no idea how I was going to hide them from my dad. I hoped that this wasn't the only alone time I got with Noah, but I knew that my boyfriend had more important things to worry about. And so did I. I hadn't even thought about college applications since Noah had gotten here. Given, that had only been yesterday, but I still had to get a move on if I was going to get them in before deadlines. Once we were able to pulled ourselves apart from each other and I could put some actual clothes on - to Noah's disapproval - I snuck out the back door after giving Noah a kiss goodnight. I was worried about Lee, but Noah promised to text me when he got home safely. I thought about calling Lee myself, but I thought that it might be a bad idea if he was with Rachel. He seemed happy when he said he was going to see her, and he had been nothing but cold towards me all day. I couldn't blame him, but it still hurt to see that my best friend didn't need me.

It was late and I knew my dad and Brad would be in bed so I tried to sneak it, but when I walked in the front door my dad was sitting at the kitchen table. He knew I had been at Lee's so I wasn't scared he was mad that I was coming in late, but I was still worried what he was still doing up. Lee's and my dad had been a part of each other's lives since they married our moms. Mr Flynn was there for my dad when mom got sick. And every day since. I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for my dad to see someone else he loved in pain.

"Hey there Elle. I didn't even hear you come in," he sniffled as I walked into the kitchen. There were tissues all over the table and pictures of the Flynns and us before mom died. I put a hand on dad's shoulder and looked at the photo in his hand. It was all off us at Halloween, Lee dressed like some ridiculous movie character, me as a cowgirl, and Noah rolling his eyes at the both of us. Mom was fixing my cowboy hat while Brad played with his toys on the front porch, and Lee's mom was yelling at him for not standing still for the picture. Our dad's must have been behind the camera. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I remembered the day. Mom was so happy. She wasn't pale or tired. It was just before we found out she was sick.

"That was such an awesome Halloween. Lee and I got the biggest candy stash ever. Mom made us share it with Brad though because he got sick and couldn't go trick-or-treating," I remembered. My dad laughed and patted my hand.

"You should get to bed. You should be with Lee tomorrow," he said. I nodded and said goodnight, even though I could see that he was silently weeping as I left.

~~~

The next morning, I was so tired I could barely drag myself out of bed. I hadn't slept at all, too worried about Lee, Noah, Mr Flynn, Mrs Flynn, my dad, school. I tossed and turned and when I finally fell asleep, my alarm rang a few minutes later. I shut it off and went back to bed. When I woke up a few hours later, it was already noon and I knew that I should probably get my day started. I shouldn't be wasting what little time I had with Noah. I also wanted to talk to Rachel and see if I Lee had told her what I thought he was going to. I got dressed and mumbled a goodbye to Brad on my way out, completely forgetting to stop for food. When I got to the Flynn's, Lee's car and Noah's bike were the only ones in the driveway. Was I ever going to see their parents? I walked in without knocking and made my way upstairs, glancing in Noah's bedroom first. His blinds were still shut and I could hear him snoring softly. I giggled and crawled in next to him. He rolled over lazily and wrapped his arms around me.

"Mmm. I'd like to wake up like this more often," he murmured.

I laughed and said, "I don't know. Your morning breath is pretty gnarly." He sighed and pulled me in tighter.