"Elle, you're going to be fine. You've got this. And I'm right here, okay?"
"Okay, but like, don't distract me," Elle pleads.
"Hey, I promise, I won't distract you. You can do this. Just take it slow. Easy around the corners, like last time."
"Okay."
Elle readies herself and then we're off, me as her passenger on the bike. We've been going on longer and longer rides this week, getting her confidence up, but this will be the longest by far. We're heading back home for lunch with our families, something we haven't done since going to stay at the beach house. So, it's the perfect opportunity for Elle to get some extra time on the bike, and for me to make sure she's competent in the highway traffic before I leave in a couple of weeks.
Lunch is going to be a little weird, I suspect. We haven't seen much of our parents these past few weeks and the conversation might be a little awkward. But concentrating on Elle's driving is a good way to avoid thinking too hard about that for now. At least lunch is at the usual restaurant, and we'll be able to make a quick getaway if needed. We hit some traffic, but Elle copes just fine, and we even arrive a little early thanks to us leaving plenty of time to get there.
"I did it!" Elle grins as she kills the engine.
"Of course you did, Shelly. You're a natural. Plus, you know, you had a great teacher," I smirk.
"Shut up," Elle laughs, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair.
Damn if she doesn't look hot doing that, in her leather jacket, her top riding up a little to expose a band of skin above her jeans. I'm still sitting on my motorcycle as I pull her to me by the lapels of her jacket, crashing my lips against hers. One of my hands snakes around her lower back under the jacket, the other holding her face. Elle's hands find their usual spots, one curled at my shoulder, one on my cheek. We don't come up for air until someone clears their throat nearby.
"You do know our parents will be here any minute, right? You might want to switch it to PG mode?"
Elle untangles herself from me, red-faced and giggling, as I flip Lee the bird.
"How come you're here early, anyway?" Elle asks him.
Lee shrugs. "I went to see Rachel this morning, but I had to leave when she and her family went to go see her grandma. No point going home first, so here I am."
"Everything cool with you two?" I ask, as Elle pulls Lee into a quick hug.
"Yeah, we're good," he grins over Elle's head.
Elle draws back and looks at his face, pinching one of his cheeks. "Aww, you're so cute when you're in love."
Lee sticks out his tongue and threads his arm through Elle's as they turn to walk towards the restaurant. "Better cute than disgusting like you guys."
I flip Lee off for the second time today as I trail behind them.
We've only been seated for a few minutes when my parents, Mike, and Brad arrive. Mom spots us immediately and rushes over, a big smile on her face. I stand up to meet her hug before she moves on to Elle. Dad's next, his hand landing on my shoulder. "You look good, son. The beach agrees with you."
Yeah Dad, I think, as I smile and nod in reply. It's the beach, and not the fact that Elle's there with me. The face that appears next makes me want to banish all thoughts of Elle from my mind, though. Mike gives me a wary smile, holding out his hand for me to shake.
"Noah."
"Mr Evans," I reply quietly, shaking his hand firmly, doing my best to look him in the eye respectfully, definitely not thinking about his daughter and all the times I've seen her naked over the last few weeks. Or even the last few days.
Before my overactive mind can betray me, Brad ducks around Mike and inserts himself between us.
"Noah!" he grins up at me, grabbing onto my arm. I let him pull me away as he plops down in the chair beside mine. I give Mike a 'what can you do?' shrug, and he just shakes his head and moves along to greet Elle. Brad starts talking non-stop, only requiring half of my attention to keep him going. The rest of my brain is thinking about the fact that at least two out of three of the Evanses like me. A majority is a win, I guess.
All us kids end up sitting on one side of the table - Lee, Elle, me, then Brad. Mom sits between Dad and Mike on the other side, Mike closest to Brad. Which means that he's also close to me, and I can feel his gaze every time I touch Elle. Which I find myself doing a lot, without really consciously thinking about it. My hand finds hers where it rests on the table. I squeeze her knee when she bumps it against my leg. My arm moves to rest on the back of her chair once we finish eating, fingertips grazing her shoulder. When she leans into me, my lips drop a kiss on top of her head before I even register I'm doing it.
Mike's not the only one watching us, but his expression is less friendly than my mom's. Her smile is hard to miss as she looks at Elle and I together and I catch the flicker of her eyebrow when I look up from where I'd been tracing patterns on the back of Elle's hand with my thumb. I roll my eyes at her slightly and Mom purses her lips like she's trying not to laugh.
We're all standing up to leave when Dad catches my eye. "Noah, there's some college paperwork needs signing if you've got some time this afternoon? We probably should get it in the mail tomorrow if we can."
I frown, thinking he could have just brought it with him, but fine. I glance at Elle while I answer. "Sure, yeah, we could stop at the house before heading back?"
"Actually," Elle says quietly. "Why don't you follow your parents home and maybe Lee could take me back to mine for a couple of hours?" Her voice dips even lower as she almost whispers, "I feel like I should probably spend some time with Brad and my dad..."
"Okay, yeah," I nod, looking over at Lee. "You good with that?"
"Absolutely," he grins, ruffling Elle's hair and winking exaggeratedly at her brother. "Brad and I have been dying to kick Elle's butt at this new video game, haven't we, buddy?"
"Sure have," Brad nods excitedly.
"Good, that's settled," Mom smiles as we move towards the exit.
Elle pauses next to my bike and I pull her into a quick hug.
"Text me when you're ready?"
"It's okay," she replies. "I'll just get a ride back to your house later with Lee."
"Fine," I pout, making Elle shake her head at me.
"You're being ridiculous, Noah Flynn."
"You're banishing me, Shelly," I say in a mock-wounded tone.
"I am not," she giggles, using her head to indicate towards my mom. "You're just afraid to face the one woman Spanish Inquisition alone."
"Can you blame me?" I smile blandly.
"Why do you think I'm taking Lee with me?"
"Wow," I grin. "Using my brother as a human shield, huh?
"I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that," she giggles. "More of a buffer, I'd say."
"Uh huh, sure, Shelly. Remind me to never underestimate your deviousness."
I kiss her forehead and push her gently in the direction of Lee's Mustang.
"Go, before I change my mind and take us both back to the beach house."
"Bye, babe," she grins, putting a little extra roll in her hips as she walks away, knowing full well that I'll still be watching. Damn, she makes it hard to be good sometimes.
I follow my parents home, trailing downstairs to Dad's study once we arrive. I take a seat across from him and we go through the last of the paperwork; final admissions forms, dorm and meal plan registration, insurance waiver for football, the list goes on. We also sort out some banking stuff and book my flight to Boston. One way.
And that's when it finally, really, hits me. I'm leaving soon. With no concrete plan to return, just a vague notion that I might be back to visit at Thanksgiving.
Visit.
For the first time ever, I consider that word in a different context. Whenever I've travelled before, I was visiting that destination, and coming home to LA. But in a few weeks, I'll be moving to Cambridge, and I'll only be visiting LA from then on. A part of my brain is screaming 'well, duh, idiot' while the rest of me is busily reconciling the notion.
"Are you okay, Noah?" Dad's quiet baritone interrupts my thoughts.
"Yeah, fine," I say quickly. "It just seems real all of a sudden, you know?"
He gives me a half-smile, coming around the desk as I stand up. "It's normal to be a bit apprehensive about a big life change, son. But it's going to be fine." Putting his arm around my shoulders, we walk towards the kitchen. "Besides, your mother and I are only ever a phone call away. Remember that."
Mom materializes at that point from wherever she's been lurking, and turns to face Dad. "The baseball's on in the den, why don't you go ahead and we'll be in soon?"
Dad nods, already drifting in that direction, and before I know it, I'm sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, Mom pushing a soda across the bench towards me.
"Are you okay?" she asks, eyeing me cautiously. "You look like you're about to freak out."
That snaps me out of my spiraling thoughts and I frown. "When have I ever freaked out?"
"Good point," she smiles. "But there's a first time for everything. Speaking of firsts..."
She raises an eyebrow at me, and my frown deepens. Subtle, Ma. Real subtle.
"Don't scowl at me, Noah," Mom chides. "I wanted to check in with you to see how things were going with you and Elle, but after seeing you two together at lunch, I don't think I really need to, do I?"
I can't help the smile that creeps across my face, replacing the frown. "No. We're good. Really good."
"Mmm, I know," Mom smiles, reaching out to put her hand on mine. "It was nice to see you like that, you know?"
"Like what?"
She shrugs lightly. "Happy. Content. Loving."
"All right, you can stop now," I groan, moving my hand away and turning on my stool.
Mom laughs briefly before coming around the island to stand in front of me, her hands landing on my shoulders, her expression still light, but when she speaks, her tone has enough steel in it to make me listen.
"Don't ever think that being affectionate with people you care about is a sign of weakness, Noah, because it's the exact opposite. I can't tell you how proud you made me today, the way you were with Elle."
"Proud?" I ask, a little confused.
"It might be a little hard for you to understand, but as a mother of boys, my greatest hope for you and Lee has always been that you'll grow into kind, thoughtful, and loving young men. More than anything else, any other measure of strength or success."
She brushes the hair away from my eyes, leaving her hand on my cheek.
"The world needs more kind and thoughtful people, Noah. And Lord knows it would be a better place with more men who aren't afraid to show the people they care about, just how much they really love them."
"I think Elle's good for me," I mumble.
"For sure she is," Mom agrees. "Elle seems to calm something restless in you." Her thumb strokes my cheek. "But you're also good for her, too. You make her stronger, more confident, I think."
My voice is quiet when I respond. "I hope so, Mom."
"Come here," she smiles, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. I hug her back, maybe a little tighter than normal. It's not only Elle I'm going to miss when I leave. My mom has been a constant in my life, always so supportive, while at the same time gently guiding, making me stop and think, pushing me to be better. In light of our discussion...
"Thank you," I say quietly, knowing it'll be easier to do this without having to look her in the eye. "I'm going to miss you."
She squeezes me hard, a little catch in her voice. "Oh honey, you have no idea how much I'm going to miss you."
I spend a peaceful few hours with my parents, watching the game, just lounging around. I don't text Elle, as much as I want to, because I know it'll make her feel like she needs to rush back.
When she and Lee do arrive, I'm sprawled out along one of the sofas, and Elle comes and sits on the floor near my head.
"Hi," I say quietly, reaching out to play with the ends of her hair.
"Hi, yourself," she smiles.
"Did you have a good time?"
Elle nods. "Yeah, it was nice. I think Brad might even have missed me."
"Really? Are you sure?" I chuckle.
"Well, no. But I feel guilty bailing on him for the whole summer so far. Actually, my dad asked if I could babysit on Thursday night? He has some thing after work and won't be home 'til late."
"Okay, sure. I could come with you, if you want? Unless you want it to be just you guys?"
"No," Elle says quickly, grinning. "I'd love to have you there. I mean, you know Brad likes you waaay more than me, anyway. More than Lee, even."
"Hmph," Lee snorts from where he's sitting nearby. "Yeah right. Me and Brad and like this," he says, crossing two fingers together.
"Well, I can't have Lee replacing me as Brad's favorite Flynn. So it looks like you're stuck with me."
"Are you sure? You don't have to."
"Of course I'm sure. I want to be wherever you are, Shell."
I pull Elle closer to kiss her, but the moment's ruined as Lee makes retching noises. Elle giggles against my lips, making me smile too, but I discretely flip Lee off for the third time today behind her back.
It's getting dark by the time we leave to head back to the beach house, and we're in our normal positions on the bike, Elle's arms wrapped tightly around me. The ride back goes quickly, and soon we're raiding the fridge for leftovers to have for dinner, before curling up on the couch to watch tv. Both of us are a little lost in our own thoughts, and I wonder if Elle's dad said anything to her that's making her feel guilty about spending so much time away.
Elle's very close with her family, probably more so because of Joni's passing. She also feels a fair bit of pressure to help her dad look after Brad, but I'm not sure how much of that comes from Mike, versus how much Elle puts on herself. Either way, I don't think it's fair on her, but it's not my place to say so. I suspect Elle also misses her dad and brother a little, and that today probably made her realize that.
We head upstairs to bed pretty early, Elle curling up next to me as I wrap an arm around her, holding her close. Sleep takes awhile to find me, even after I hear her breathing slow and deepen. Thoughts keep swirling through my head, and I can't shake a nagging feeling of unease. As great as it is to be able to stay here with Elle, shutting out the rest of the world, today was a reminder that time hasn't stood still while we've been hiding away. The future is going to find us, whether we want it to or not.