After the stress of the pregnancy scare, Noah hasn't said anything more about our talk with Lee. I know he feels awful about how stressful that was, even though it was obviously both of our faults. I know he thinks it would help if we came out and told everyone about us, and he's probably right, so I appreciate the fact that he's trying not to stress me out anymore after the week we've had. We will tell Lee, just not right now.
I was studying in my room when my Dad yelled up the stairs, "Hey Elle, someone is here to see you."
"Send him up," I yelled back. It's weird that Dad said anything about Lee getting here, usually he just sends him straight up. I went back to what I was doing, as I waited for Lee to come to my room. We were supposed to be studying together tonight. I heard footsteps and felt a pair of hands grab me around the waist, pick me up and kiss my neck. That was definitely not what I was expecting. "You're not Lee!" I yelled as I turned around.
Noah chuckled, "What gave it away? You better say it was the kiss."
"What are you doing here? How did you talk my dad into letting you come up to my room?" Noah tried to pull me in for another kiss, but I jumped away from him, taking a nervous glance towards my door.
"I told your dad that we have a project to work on for the English class we're in together." Noah sat down on my bed as he answered. With his hand around my wrist, he pulled me over to him until I was standing in between his legs.
"But, we don't have English together," I blurted, confused.
"Your Dad doesn't know that." Noah smirked as he responded. I could tell he thought he was pretty hot shit for coming up with this excuse to see me tonight. I sat down on his lap and kissed him, wiping that self-satisfied smirk right off his face.
I knew this was kind of risky for us when my Dad is right downstairs but I couldn't help myself. I tried to keep the stern look on my face, but I couldn't stop from breaking into a grin. "You don't have any books."
Before answering, Noah pulled me in for another kiss. He finally stopped long enough to answer me, continuing to rub his hands up and down my back. "Very observant. Your dad noticed that too. I told him that you had everything we needed for the project because you're the one who keeps us organized and that's why I picked you for my partner."
"But Lee's supposed to be here any minute." I jumped off of Noah as soon as the thought of Lee popped into my head.
The smile fell from Noah's face when he replied, "Sorry, Elle, he's not coming. I heard him tell mom he was going to the movies with Rachel. I knew you said this morning that you were supposed to study together, and I know how bummed you get when he ditches you. So, I thought I would come over as a replacement. You have to admit, I'm way better than him anyway."
"You should have told me you were coming. I would have gotten ready. I look like trash right now." Not only was my hair up in a messy bun, I had an old t-shirt and shorts on. Not how I would have planned to look if I knew I would see Noah tonight.
"Come on, Shell, you look cute, like always." Noah reached up and tickled my thigh at the bottom of my shorts. Okay, so the shorts were old and probably at least a size too small, so super short. As Noah's fingers continued to trail around the bottom of my shorts, I guess I could see where he would have a thing for them.
After "studying" for a while, we heard my Dad yell up the stairs, "Supper will be ready soon. Noah can eat with us if he wants." I met Noah's eyes questioning. He shrugged his shoulders in response, leaving the decision up to me.
"Okay, we'll be right down." I called back to Dad.
I saw Brad's eyes light up when Noah and I sat down at the table. Brad insisting that Noah sit next to him, leaving me to sit across from them. "Thanks for letting me stay for supper, Mr. Evans." Mr. Evans? I appreciate Noah being polite around my Dad, but I don't remember ever even hearing him call my Dad that before.
Dad tilted his head towards Noah when he answered, a confused expression on his face, which told me he hadn't missed Noah's uncharacteristic formality. "It's no problem, Noah. Your Mom feeds Elle half of her meals, the least I can do is feed you after the two of you have been studying together."
My Dad asked Noah some questions about Harvard, when he was able to get a word in around my brother's constant babble. Noah's answers sounded a little forced causing me to wonder if he was nervous around my Dad? He's usually pretty laid back around him, he has known him all his life. I guess now that he's his girlfriend's Dad, instead of just his parent's friend Mike, it's not quite the same.
Occasionally our eyes would meet across the table and Noah would shoot me his big smile, showing off his dimple. Noah and I had eaten hundreds of meals together growing up, but this was probably the first time Noah had eaten with my family on his own, like a normal boyfriend. I'm sure this thought wasn't lost on him.
Noah continued acting a little too uptight around my Dad, though, and I needed to do something to stop that. I'm sure my Dad is going to wonder what is going on with him. I think he is already curious about the amount of time the two of us have been spending together lately, with Noah driving me everywhere these days and coming to all of my soccer games. Right after Noah drops another "Mr. Evans" and I think I'm going to have to resort to kicking him under the table, my Dad gets a call from work that he has to take and he excuses himself from the table.
As soon as Dad walks into his home office and closes the door, I come up with an excuse to get Brad away from the table. "Hey, Brad, I bet Noah would play catch with you before he leaves if you can find your football in the garage."
"Really?" Brad asked after practically leaping out of his seat. He looked over at Noah for confirmation and as soon as Noah nodded his head, Brad ran to the garage. My little brother couldn't find something he was looking for if it was a foot away from him on an empty floor. I knew I just bought Noah and I at least a few minutes to talk.
As soon as Brad was gone, I whisper yelled at Noah across the table, "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" Noah asked, obviously confused.
I rolled my eyes at his denseness. "You're acting like you've never met my Dad before. What is all the Mr. Evans crap?"
"He's your dad. I'm trying to be polite."
"Since when have you ever acted like this around my Dad. Are you nervous?"
"I don't know what it is. All I can think about is him finding out about us someday and thinking I'm not good enough for you. I mean think about how many times he's heard my parents complain about something stupid I've done. I just realized tonight that I need to make a good impression on him before we tell everyone about us."
I open my mouth to respond, when Brad shows up in the doorway. "Elle, I can't find it."
"I swear it's in there, maybe in the corner by your baseball stuff." I answer Brad, who runs back into the garage, before responding to Noah. "You know, if you don't quit acting like you're on a job interview, we're not going to need to tell anyone about our relationship because my Dad's going to figure it out." Noah gave me a sheepish grin and I felt a little bad for coming down on him about this. It is sweet that he wants to make a good impression on my Dad. Reaching across the table, I squeezed his hand. "I'm sure Dad won't think you're not good enough for me. Did you listen to all of those questions he just asked you about Harvard? You can tell he's proud of you for getting in."
"That's not what I'm worried about. I know how my reputation proceeds me and I'm sure your Dad knows about it too. I just don't want him to think that I don't have good intentions towards you."
"Oh, Noah." I know how proud Noah had always been of his reputation and I almost felt bad for him now that it was coming to bite him in the ass. I listened for my Dad still talking in his office and my brother banging around in the garage before getting up and walking around the table to put my arms around Noah. "When we finally tell everyone, my Dad is going to realize, just like I do, how good you are for me. He'll be able to tell you love me as much as I love you."
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The night after Noah's surprise study session, we had plans to hang out at my friend Allie's house. She and I had become pretty close since I told her about my relationship with Noah and she was still my only friend who knew about us. Allie knew Noah by reputation alone and by the comments she would occasionally drop about him, she didn't think very highly of him. I wanted to give her the chance to get to know my Noah, not Flynn.
Once we were at Allie's, I realized that this was the first time since we started dating that we were able to act like a couple in front of someone we knew. It was surreal to hold hands or steal a kiss and not worry about the wrong person seeing us and finding out our big secret. Allie was a sports fanatic and had been grilling Noah about his plans to play football at Harvard next year. Noah has become quite the fan of our soccer team after coming to all of our games this season and when he started trash talking about some of our biggest rivals, I could almost watch as Allie's opinion about him changed.
When I Allie and I were in the kitchen together, rounding up snack food, I couldn't wait any longer to see what she thought of him. "So, what do you think of Noah?" I interrogated. "He's not what you thought, is he?"
Allie turned away from the cupboard to face me, putting her hand on her hip, as she replied, "You know, Elle, when you first told me you were in a relationship with Flynn, I didn't believe you at first. Girl, I thought you were straight up crazy!" Allie giggled at this point, I'm sure noticing my grimace. "Based on his reputation, I thought he must be using you or treating you terribly after all the rumors I've heard about him. After spending time with you two today, I'm shocked. And it takes a lot to shock me. Honestly, Elle, I cannot believe how sweet he is with you. You too are adorable!"
"Well, I'm glad you finally get to see what he's like and don't think I'm an idiot anymore." I know I've been telling Noah for awhile now that I'm ready to start telling everyone about our relationship. And I have been ready, in theory, but not at all looking forward to it. After spending this afternoon with Allie and not having to hide anything, now I know I'm ready. I want everyone to know that Noah and I are together.