Elle's POV
After a long day of traveling, Noah and I finally made it into our room at the resort in Cancun, Mexico. I walked ahead of Noah into the room and went straight to open the curtains to the balcony and gasped at the view. I yelled to Noah to come out to the balcony with me and we both stared out at the view of the beach and blue waters in front of us. Noah takes a seat on the chair and pulls me onto his lap and we sit there together listening to the waves crash into the beach. I never want to leave this spot. I've been so stressed out getting ready for this trip, now that we're here, all I want to do is lay on the beach and relax. I feel kind of bad because I know Noah wants to be off doing some kind of excursion while we're there. He is always so active and I know he would love to go parasailing, get out on a boat, or just explore. But, at this point, I really only want to sit on the beach and soak up the sun and relaxation. I hope he isn't too frustrated with me. This is our first vacation together as a couple and I want it to be perfect, especially with everything he has going on at work and after things were so weird between us last week.
After ordering room service and enjoying our privacy the first night of the trip, we spent most of the rest of the next day and night with Lexi, Darren, Aaron, and Josh. We didn't do much besides lounge on the beach, with the occasional swim in the ocean or pool. The next day is much like the day before, although we went for walks up and down the beach and did a little more exploring of the resort. Lexi and I had talked about listening to one of the bands at the resort after supper tonight, but for some reason Noah said he didn't feel like it. Darren told Lexi that he wanted her all to himself tonight, which is fine, they're still newlyweds. But we've all been hanging out all weekend, I'm not sure why Noah wants to do something different tonight.
There does seem to be something up with Noah tonight. I can't figure out what his deal is. He almost seems nervous but that doesn't make any sense, we're on vacation, he shouldn't be worrying about anything. This is the most relaxed we've been in months. I know he's still stressed about his job, but he's promised he's not going to worry about it while we're here. Noah did take me to a very romantic restaurant for supper tonight and we're heading out for a walk on the beach. He's been very sweet all night, so I've pretty much forgiven him for not wanting to listen to the band, but I was in the mood to dance tonight.
We walk a little way down the beach to a quiet spot. Being on the beach likes this makes me think of the night that Noah and I walked the beach in LA and finally resolved so many of our issues. We are so happy together now, so different from that night where we had only finally started talking to each other again. Now we are holding hands and laughing together. Suddenly Noah stops and turns to me. I look around to see what made him stop. We're still holding hands and Noah rubs the back of his neck before he grabs my other hand.
"Elle, you have been in my life as long as I can remember. I was lost during those years when we weren't together. I felt like I was just marching in place waiting for you. I kept myself busy finishing school and going to work, but the whole time I was waiting. You have made me so happy these last few months since we found our way back to each other. I know now that I want you in my life for the rest of my life." He paused for a second, he was staring into my eyes. He looked like a younger version of himself in that moment, Noah before he gained all of his swagger. I was getting ready to respond to him when he swallowed and gave me his big smile, showing his dimples. All of a sudden, he let go of my hands and took a step away from me. I gasped in shock as he got down on one knee in front of me. "I love you, I'll always love you. Elle, will you marry me?" He reached in his pocket and took out a ring box.
I looked down at him in shock, tears starting to form in my eyes. In my surprise, I just stared at him a little too long.
Noah got a little bit of a worried look on his face. "Shelly?"
"Oh Noah, of course, yes!" Noah immediately jumped up and picked me up, kissing me. We were both laughing and crying at the same time.
Noah put me down, opened up the ring box, and put the ring on my finger.
"Noah, it's beautiful!" I whispered, looking in amazement down at my hand.
"It's perfect for you then!"
Walking back towards our resort, I couldn't stop staring at my left hand with the ring on it in wonder, amazed at how far we've come in the last few months. "We need to tell everyone! Should we call our families now?"
"Maybe we can keep the news to ourselves for tonight and tell everyone tomorrow? I think our families will be together for family lunch, maybe we can call then?"
"That's a great idea. You are so smart, that's why I'm marrying you! Maybe we should go back to our room and break in our engagement?"
Noah grabs me around the waist and pulls me in for another kiss. "Now that's a good idea, let's go!"
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We met Lexi and Darren for breakfast the next morning and had plans to relax on the beach all day. I was almost bursting as we met our friends at the restaurant.
I couldn't wait any longer, as soon as we sat down, I blurted out. "So, we have some news!" At the same time, I held my hand out to them.
"Oh, you two, I'm so happy for you!" Lexi immediately jumped up and hugged me, then Noah.
"Glad to see you didn't chicken out. You were looking a little nervous there for awhile yesterday afternoon." Darren said to Noah as they shook hands.
Lexi and I both looked at the guys with our mouths hanging open in surprise. Lexi turned to her husband. "What? You already knew this was going to happen and you didn't tell me?"
Noah laughed and explained to me and Lexi why he needed Darren's help in all this. As we ate breakfast, Lexi and I started talking about wedding plans. She was an expert now that her wedding was over and she promised to tell me everything she had learned. Noah and I knew we had a lot to figure out before the wedding, but for now we were just enjoying knowing the fact that we would be getting married sometime in the near future. I didn't want to get bogged down with all the details yet.
I wanted to call our families as soon as we got done with breakfast. We decided that Lee was probably up by now and called him first. I Facetimed him and he answered after a couple rings.
"Are you guys enjoying the beach while I'm back in Boston in the winter studying all weekend?"
"Aww, Lee, are you still mad that I brought Noah with me instead of you?"
"I may be a little jealous of you guys right now. Is Noah there with you?"
I moved the phone over to the side a little, so he could see Noah too.
"Hey man, how's it going?" In the time that Noah and I had been back together, Lee and Noah had gotten closer again too. They would usually chat a little anytime I was on the phone with Lee, which was pretty much every day.
"No complaints here, just enjoying the beautiful view." Noah said with his eyes on me the whole time he was talking and a smirk on his face.
I moved the phone back so I was in view. I loved that Noah and Lee were talking, but I needed to tell Lee our news now! "So, we had something we wanted to tell you." I was moving my hair out of my face with my hand with the ring trying to be as obvious as I could about it.
"What's that?" Lee apparently wasn't going to get this on his own.
"We're engaged!" I stuck my ring right up to the phone, so Lee couldn't miss it anymore.
"What?!? Are you serious?" I could tell Lee was shocked. The look on his face was hilarious and it gave me the giggles.
"Yes! Noah proposed last night."
"Wow, congrats you two! That's awesome!"
We told Lee some of the details of the proposal and about the fun we'd had so far in Mexico before we let him go. We had plans to meet in LA for our Spring Break and I was looking forward to seeing him and all of our families again then. We waited until our parents would be all out to eat together to make our next call. Noah called his Mom and asked her to put him on speaker to tell them the news. June started crying and they passed the phone around the table so everyone could congratulate us. Brad asked if this meant Noah would be his brother, he was pumped Noah was joining the family and I could even tell that my Dad was happy about the news. June told us she would love to help with our wedding plans as soon as we were ready to get started on them, I knew I would be talking to her a ton in the upcoming months.
Later that day, Lexi and I were sitting on the beach under a big umbrella, watching the ocean waves, while Noah and Darren were getting us another round of drinks. We could see them in the distance at the bar, laughing together. Lexi and I started laughing too, watching the guys acting goofy together. Lexi looked over at me. "You know, I'm still amazed at the difference between Noah now and the Noah we knew at Harvard. I mean we never saw this side of him, sometimes he seems like a completely different person."
"I just feel lucky that we were able to get past everything from the break-up and were able to get back together. I'm still not sure it would have happened if we wouldn't have seen each other at your wedding. So, I think we have you to thank."
"You can bet that I'm going to take the credit for that!"
I had told Lexi before about how lucky I felt that Noah told me to look her up at work, at that family lunch months ago. I had never had a close girlfriend before and we had become even closer after Noah moved to Chicago, the four of us have plans almost every weekend. I know I'll miss her when we move back to LA. Not that we're in any hurry to move, we have loved being in Chicago, but we've already talked about wanting to be closer to our families when we're ready to start a family. I know that, with the engagement, we're probably one step closer to moving back to be close to our families.
Lexi and I were still talking about our guys, as we watched them at the bar, when a couple of men stopped in front of our lounge chairs, temporarily blocking the sun. "Here are a couple of lovely ladies. And they're sitting here all by themselves? Is there room under that umbrella for a couple more?"
Lexi and I giggled when we saw it was Aaron and Josh. "Well, we were waiting for our guys to bring our drinks, but you two are hot, I think we could let you take their places." Lexi joked.
Aaron and Josh must have had a late night last night. This was the first we've seen of them today and we were getting ready to eat a late lunch. I hadn't had a chance to tell them our news yet.
"You might be able to take the place of Lexi's man but my fiancé will be coming back to claim his seat soon." I grinned at the guys while very obviously waving my left hand in front of my face.
"Elle Evans, you aren't serious? I knew that man was whipped from the moment I met him. And I don't mean in Chicago. I could tell he was still in love with you the first time I saw the way he looked at you at that lunch with your family in LA." Aaron grabbed my hand for a closer look at my ring. "Look at that rock! Looks even better on your finger than it did in the store!"
"What! You knew this was going to happen too?"
"Noah may have asked for some advice in picking out the ring. How do you think you ended up with such a perfect ring?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Noah did ask me to look at the ring before he bought it, but all I did was tell him it was perfect for you. He already knew exactly what you would want. And he didn't tell me anything about when or how it was going to happen, so you better spill all the details!"
"Congratulations!" Josh came in for a hug while Aaron was still teasing me.
"I'm happy for you sweetie, you guys deserve this!" Aaron finally gave me a hug, just as Darren and Noah walked back to us.
"Hey, did you tell them our news without me?" Noah was trying to act upset but he was doing a horrible job. He couldn't stop smiling today. He shook hands with Aaron and Josh before sitting down behind me on my lounge chair, so I could lean back on his chest.
Aaron and Josh sat together on the seat that had been Noah's and we told our engagement story for the third time today. Sitting there with Noah and our friends, I couldn't think of a time I had been happier. After all of our ups and downs, I realized that Noah and I would finally have our happily ever after.
A/N – That's the last chapter before the epilogue! Sorry it took so long to post. It will be a couple more weeks before I get the epilogue posted too. Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed it!