Holaaaa, everyone! Uploading on time today! Doesn't that make a nice change ;) haha. Well this should be quite a long chapter, and hope you all like it!

On another note (because I'm watching Disney's A Christmas Carol) anyone started Christmas shopping, or decorating? Personally, I can't wait. I just adore Christmas! (Cue the song and cue me starting to sing, 'Tis the most, wonderful time... of the yeeeaaaar!')

xx

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Chapter 7

Time always seemed to fly by impossibly fast when we were at the beach house.

Once we were all awake on Tuesday morning, the four of us decided to go further down the beach to where the crowds usually were for a change.       I usually hated when we went further down the beach. There were always volleyball games going on there – and I’d never been able to play volleyball to save my life. I almost failed gym junior year because of the semester we spent playing volleyball.

And, of course, Lee and Noah just loved to play volleyball.

And they also loved to see me trying to play, but getting smacked in the face or falling over. Not once had they ever let me sit out of a game; every time, they dragged me up. The people who were unfortunate enough to have me on their team didn’t really mind; they found my awful attempt to play just as funny as Lee and Noah did.

I couldn’t have been more grateful to have Rachel there that day.

“Are you playing?” Lee asked her.

“Um… Maybe later. I think I’ll sit this one out,” she said with a laugh that I thought sounded a bit nervous.

Lee shrugged. “Okay, suit yourselves. Elle, you playing?”

“No, I’m going to keep Rachel company!” I was so happy to finally be saved from volleyball, I yelled at him and grabbed Rachel’s arm, tugging her to me. Lee laughed, knowing why I was so happy, but Rachel just looked a bit freaked out, and laughed.

As we laid out our towels and settled down with a good view of the game, she said, “So you still don’t like volleyball?”

“What?”

“Junior year?” she said, giving me a look as if to tell me to remember. “I was in your class.”

“Really?” Thinking about it, I vaguely remembered. “Oh, yeah! Well, no, I still hate it. How about you?”

“Not my sport,” she said. “It’s just one of those ones I don’t like.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” I smiled and put my sunglasses on, settling back comfortably. Rachel led on her stomach, flicking through a magazine but occasionally looking up at the game. Volleyball really wasn’t so bad when you were sat on the side, watching… Plus, Noah looked even sexier than usual, something I’d never noticed before… What with the thin film of sweat on his broad shoulders, his dark hair flopping in his eyes, his abs…

He happened to glance over when I was staring at him through my plastic red five-dollars-from-a-gas-station sunglasses (which weren’t dark enough to hide the fact I was staring at him), and caught me checking him out. He winked.

“Oh my gosh, did you see that?” some girl squealed all of a sudden from behind me. “He totally just winked at me, right? I mean, that was so obvious, right? He totally winked at me.”

I looked at Rachel, who had glanced back at the girl with the high squeaky voice, and raised her eyebrows at me.

“You should so get his number after,” another girl said. Rachel’s eyebrows went up even higher. “You have to. He was totally coming onto you.”

I turned around, and the two girls looked at me. They looked at least two years older than me, probably in college. The one was bleach-blonde, and her roots were coming through. She said, in the high squeaky voice, “What?”

“He wasn’t winking at you. Just FYI.”

The fake-blond snorted. “Sure. What, you think he was winking at you?” She looked me up and down with the corner of her lip curled up. Bitch, I thought automatically, as she and her friend laughed – and not in a nice way.

“Um, yeah,” I replied.

“Oh, sure,” her friend scoffed. “He was looking at you.”

“Well,” Rachel said, “considering she’s dating him, I’d say he definitely wasn’t winking at you. By the way, I don’t know if you noticed, but your roots are showing.” Then, casual as anything, she went back to her magazine.

The two girls looked from each other, to Rachel, to me.

The second one flicked her hair back and scoffed. “Whatever. I’m so thirsty, Mo, let’s go grab a soda?”

I turned back around and leaned forward to Rachel. “Who knew you had such a blunt side, Miss Sunshine?” I didn’t say it in a mean way, though.

She bit her lip, her face twisting. “Well she wasn’t very nice! Both of them! They were just so… ugh, I don’t even know. Whatever. Besides, her roots were showing.”

I laughed. For someone so upbeat and friendly, I forgot how Rachel could be so blunt with people she didn’t like sometimes. We lay in the sun, chatting about all kinds of things, until the boys eventually threw themselves down in the sand next to us and asked if we were going back to the house for lunch yet.

“All you ever think about is food,” I sighed at Lee.

“Um… Yeah, pretty much. But on the bright side, I can play volleyball. Unlike some people I know.”

I rolled my eyes at that, but couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s only, like, eleven though. It’s too early for lunch.”

“Oh…” he said slowly, then some brilliant idea must have struck, because he grinned widely. “Time for brunch, then!”

**

Wednesday went by in pretty much the same way as Tuesday. We hung out down the beach, swam, lay in the sand doing nothing at all... It was great, don’t get me wrong; the days just went by too fast.

Wednesday night, Lee took Rachel out to see a movie and go to dinner afterwards. There was an art gallery opening in the town half an hour away, so Matthew and June went there. Which just left me and Noah alone in the beach house. Lee and Rachel had left in time for a five-forty showing at the movies, and since the galley was opening at half past six, Matthew and June had left quite early too.

I stayed in the pool, swimming length after length after length, long after Noah had gone inside and everyone else had left. When I did eventually get out, my muscles aching in that nice way after you exercise, I padded into the kitchen, dripping, with my towel wrapped around me.

“What are you doing?”

Noah was stood chopping vegetables and poking something pink around in a pan, trying to do both simultaneously.

“Cooking,” he said. “Or trying to. What does it look like I’m doing, writing a poem?”

I just shrugged, but before I could ask why he was cooking, he carried on: “I thought about ordering takeout but it wasn’t the same. And there are no cars left for me to take you out somewhere. So you’ll have to put up with it if I burn the food.”

I laughed. “But you don’t have to –”

“I told you,” he said, “I had something in mind for us to do. Voila. Now go shower and whatever, this should be ready in half an hour. I think.”

“Try not to chop your thumb off,” was the only thing I could think to say as I left for the bathroom. I’d never seen Noah cook before. I mean, I assumed he must cook for himself when he was home alone, but it was so sweet he was actually cooking a meal for us. I decided that it could be burnt to a cinder but I’d still eat it all, just because it was so adorable of him to go to all that trouble.

I swear, I’d never showered and dressed so fast in my life.

I had no idea what to wear; my only pretty dress, the yellow one, was in the laundry. I had shorts and tees, sure, but nothing I really wanted for a date…

Frantic, I had no choice but to call Rachel from the safety of the bathroom.

“You’re so lucky,” she answered, “I just went to the bathroom, I was about to go back into the movie. What’s wrong?”

“Noah’s making dinner and I have nothing to wear.”

I was really only after her advice as far as her telling me what outfit to put together and how o dress it up appropriately, since she knew practically the entire wardrobe I’d brought to the beach house.

What I didn’t expect was her to say, “The white halter neck dress in my side of the closet. Wear those cute black sandals you’ve brought, too. Now I have to go, the guy on the popcorn stall is frowning at me. Bye!”

“I owe you,” I said even though she’d hung up already. Hurrying, I found the dress she was talking about, and was so glad when it fit me. I didn’t have enough time to do much with my hair, so I threw it up into a ponytail. But when I looked in the mirror, I smiled, thinking that I actually looked pretty good, especially considering I’d only had half an hour to get ready.

I paused outside the kitchen though; taking a deep breath, and smiling to myself for no reason at all. When I breathed in, I could smell whatever Noah had cooked – whatever it was, it smelled delicious – if maybe a little burnt…

The kitchen light was out, but the soft light outside threw Noah’s silhouette against the glass doors. Still smiling, I walked out, but hovered in the doorway.

“It’s not that burnt,” he said, looking back at me. “I swear.”

I laughed. “I never said a word!”

He’d changed, since I’d walked past him earlier – now he wore a pair of black jeans, and a gray shirt that looked fairly smart. Even his messy dark hair was a little tidier than usual; like he’d run a comb through it. But I found myself thinking he looked cuter with it all messy, almost in his eyes; he looked more carefree with his hair untidy. And, of course, he looked as hot as ever.

“You were thinking it though,” he argued. “It smells burnt, too. You can’t really see it, because of the sauce, at least.”

I laughed again. “Who knew badass Flynn was such a chef?”

He winked, a smirk stretching over his face. “I’m a man of many talents, Elle, what can I say?”

“Don’t get too arrogant,” I warned him.

“Yeah, you’re right. Could give us food poisoning.”

“Exactly my thoughts,” I teased, and went around him to sit down. He disappeared back into the kitchen, and I took the chance to inspect my food. It looked good – no, it looked delicious, really, and it smelled fantastic, too. It was some kind of chicken casserole dish; vegetables, a thick reddish sauce.

Noah returned with glasses of pink lemonade.

“Pink lemonade?” I exclaimed, my jaw dropping. “I thought your mom said they didn’t sell it at the grocery store here anymore!”

Noah laughed. “I hid it. I can’t believe you still like this stuff. It tastes so weird.”

“It does not!” I protested. I’d only ever had pink lemonade at the beach house. The local store sold it and I’d never had anything better; Lee and I found some back home a few years ago, but it just didn’t taste right. It was almost like pink lemonade only tasted good when it was at the beach house.

He shot me a grin and put the glasses down before sitting down himself. “Okay, dig in.”

“I thought you said it might be poisonous?” I joked.

“Eh, you’ll survive.”

Even if we did end up with food poisoning, it would be so worth it.

“Tell me why you’re going to study computer engineering?” I asked. “You should so be a cook, this is awesome.”

He laughed at that; not his usual deep chuckle, but a proper laugh. “Sure, okay.”

We talked about random things. I don’t even really remember what, exactly. I just remember having a wonderful time, and laughing and smiling a lot, like I was on a constant high. Noah even went to get desert from the kitchen; he wouldn’t let me do anything, even put my plate in the sink. When he came back out, he had bowls of ice cream and strawberries.

“This is Wal-Mart,” he said. “I didn’t make it.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed again. “I guessed that much.”

Deserts finished, I was sat on the kitchen worktop while Noah dropped our dishes into the sink. Then he said, already halfway back out the door, “Come on.”

Jumping down, I followed him, and we walked down the familiar path we both knew by heart (which was just as well, given how dark it was already), our arms brushing against each other. At some point, our fingers interlocked too. Hand in hand like that, we walked down onto the beach.

The sky was dark; cloud had been gathering all afternoon to blot out the sky to a starless inky black. The water was just as dark, the white foam tips of the waves breaking on the shore. Neither of us spoke as we strolled all the way to the wet sand, walking where the sea washed up and over our feet. I was carrying my sandals in my free hand, dangling them from my fingertip. Noah carried his flip-flops, too, and had rolled his jeans up too.

As we walked along like that, we stayed totally silent, not saying a word.

And it was nice. Just being quiet, I mean. The only sound was the crashing water off to the side. You couldn’t even hear any trace of distant traffic. There was the occasional bark of a dog though – we spotted a few other people taking a nighttime wander on the beach like us.

I liked it, though.

Noah and I would talk about all kinds of things usually. More often than not, we’d end up arguing over something silly and trivial. I was kind of glad, in a weird way, we still argued; it had always been part of our relationship and our clashing personalities, and I guessed it always would be. But I did love that I could talk to him so easily now. I didn’t feel like I had to try and force conversation.

And the rare times like this – when we had nothing to say or just didn’t feel like talking – those silences weren’t awkward, or restless, like they had sometimes been before we’d been together. They were just… nice.

There was a grumble overhead.

I glanced up, craning my neck back.

“It’s probably not going to come to anything,” Noah said, meaning the thunder.

We walked along a little further before I decided to say, “Thank you. For doing all this, I mean.” My voice sounded unnaturally loud, even though I was talking kind of quietly.

“All we’re doing is walking on the beach?”

“No, I mean, cooking and stuff. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, and I heard the smile in his voice more than I saw it on his face. “I’m kind of enjoying doing all these couple-y things myself.”

I laughed a little. “Right. I keep forgetting you never do stuff like this.”

“Uh-huh. Not that I’m proud of it, much…” he added hastily, sounding almost apologetic.

“It’s okay,” I said, sounding surprisingly bright. “It’s who you are. I love you anyway, don’t I?” I bumped his shoulder, and he gave a bark of laughter, squeezing my hand.

“Now that’s the hopeless romantic I grew up with, right there.”

I laughed again. Then something cold and wet landed on my nose. Another cold, wet thing landed on my temple, trickling down beside my eye.

Leaning my head back, I looked up almost the same time as Noah did.

Then, those threatening, rolling clouds just ripped open, and torrential rain started beating down onto us all of a sudden. I let out a shriek of surprise. Noah was already running for shelter, dragging me behind him and running so fast I kept stumbling over my own feet. The sand we kicked up stuck on my legs, and my ponytail was coming loose, too.

The rain hammered down, soaking me through to the bone. My hair stuck around my neck, or was plastered to my face where it had fallen out of my ponytail entirely. My mascara had run, but it was clumped on my lashes and half-blinding me, which didn’t really help when I was also finding it pretty hard to see through the rain anyway.

Suddenly, Noah swung me around under the small canopied roof of an old wooden shack. It used to be a surf rental place, up until it went bust when we were about ten. Now, the windows were boarded up, and the wood structure creaked and groaned with the rain. A weird, skittering sound made me look down for a split second, long enough to see a teeny tiny crab scuttling off.

We were both of us breathing hard, and totally drenched. The rain wasn’t getting to us quite so much here, except for the occasional gust of wind that made it rain practically horizontally. Hopefully, it’d ease off just long enough for us to sprint back. But the roof above us only went out about a foot from the shack; Noah was crushing me against the thin, rough wall of the shack.

I got the sudden urge to giggle.

It passed over me like a wave; I could feel laughter bubbling up inside of me, right on the tip of my tongue, wanting to stretch out my facial muscles into a huge smile.

Even though there really wasn’t anything funny about the situation at all – we were stuck out in this storm, at least a twenty minute walk away from the house, and it didn’t look like it was going to ease up any time soon. Oh, and then there was the fact I think I had splinters in my feet. Yeah, not good.

But when I looked up from Noah’s chest, rising and falling a lot more evenly than mine was (I was still out of breath), to his face… I just couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh.

He cocked his head to the side a touch, the corner of his lip rising in a hint of a smirk. “What’s so funny?”

I shrugged, and said, still laughing, “I don’t know.”

Chuckling under his breath, Noah reached up and wiped his thumbs under my eyes. “You look like some kind of messed-up panda.”

“Gee, thanks.” But he was probably right, and that only made me laugh some more.

After about thirty seconds or so, though, I sobered up, the trace of a smile still on my face and found Noah looking me right in the eyes. Lovesick as it sounds, I felt almost hypnotized by his eyes; they were such a bright, clear shade of blue; and they were so intense, too. They made me feel, quite literally, weak at the knees – unless I was suddenly coming down with hypothermia from the rain. Everything about him was perfect in my eyes; from the look he was giving me at that moment, to the improbable fact he had an eight-pack, even to his crooked nose.

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again – then opened it. Like he wanted to say something, but thought the better of it, all the while stroking his thumb over my cheek. Before I could ask him what he was going to say, thinking it was probably something he’d class as ‘emotional crap’, he smashed his lips down on mine, his fingers tangling in my hair.

I could feel my body shaking and quivering – and not just from how his kisses really did make me weak at the knees – but from the cold, and the fact that my clothes were dripping. And my feet hurt, scratched from running on the sand and shells and pricked by the rough, weather-worn floorboards – but I wasn’t about to take any notice of that.

If I’d thought Noah was squashing me against the wall before, now we were kissing we were even closer.

“Ouch,” I said, jumping and biting his lip – hard – when something jabbed me in the back. Noah’s hold on me loosened enough for me to turn my head and see a jagged strip of wood halfway broken off from the wall.

“Ouch,” he retorted, chuckling softly, touching a finger to his lip. “Tough love, Elle?”

I ignored him. “What time is it?”

He contorted his arm, squinting to make out the face of his watch. “Ten?”

“We should get back,” I said, but he didn’t seem to be taking any notice of me, planting tiny kisses all over my face. “They’ll all be home soon, and wondering where we are…”

“Can’t leave now,” he told me. “It’s still raining.”

I glanced past his tall, broad frame, just to see for my own eyes that he was right.

“In the meantime,” he said, his nose pressing against mine and his breath tickling my face, “I’m more than happy to stay here and spend some time with my girlfriend.”

I laughed, pushing my hand against his chest playfully. My laughter sounded strange in all the rain and thunder, like it didn’t belong with weather as harsh as this. He scraped the hair stuck to my face back, tucking it behind my ear and smiling down at me. It wasn’t a very big smile, and it was more in his eyes than on his lips, but that only made my heart flip-flop even more.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I told him. Then I bit my lip a little, rethinking it and saying instead, “I love you.”

His hand stilled in my hair, where he was still pushing it away from my face, and he just looked at me with that smile in his eyes lighting up his face. He didn’t answer me at first, he kissed me instead. But he mumbled something just as the thunder rumbled, loud and clear, overhead. I didn’t need him to repeat himself though.

Instead, I just smiled to myself and kissed him back with everything I had.

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I'll try upload around Friday or Saturday :) Vote, comment, fan... :) Thanks, all! OOH! Also, there's a link to my NaNoWriMo page in the sidebar! xx