Time after time

Elle POV

On this Wednesday afternoon, Noah and I went to the Logan Airport to wait for our family. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and since Noah has a game against Brown at Harvard this year, the whole family decided to come celebrate Thanksgiving in Boston. Brad spent the week texting me to see if there was snow in Boston. The temperature was cold around 58 degrees during the day but with the sun it will be comfortable for tomorrow's football game. But no snow...

I was so excited to see the family! We hadn't seen each other since Noah and I left LA for our road trip in July. Lee arrived 40 minutes before everyone else having flown from San Francisco to Boston. It was great to see my best friend again, I said to myself as I hugged him. We've updated each other almost every day since I left LA. I was happy not to have returned to the radio silence of last year. Most of the time we text each other and sometimes we talk on the phone. The 3 hours time difference is sometimes an obstacle to communication. I was happy to know that his second year at Berkeley was going better than the first. We went for coffee while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Noah had gone to the bathroom leaving Lee and me alone when the latter surprised me by saying:
- Rachel wrote to me to tell me that she was in LA for Thanksgiving and that she would like to see me. I was happy to tell her I was going to Boston.

Lee had told me a few times about the conversations he had with Rachel. I knew they hadn't seen each other since Noah and I got married. Lee also told me that he was hesitant between forgiving Rachel and resuming a long-distance relationship or completely mourning the relationship. The feeling he felt during the breakup of being abandoned really held him back from getting back into a relationship with Rachel.
- Why were you happy to tell her you were going to Boston, Lee?" I asked him.
- Because I felt bad telling her the real reason why I couldn't see her!" he replied uneasily.
-And what is this reason, Lee?
- I started seeing another girl!" he said to me, looking at his hands. "Her name is Elena and she is from Colombia.

I was silent for a few minutes before asking softly:
- Are you in love with Elena, Lee?
- I appreciate her. She is sweet and makes me laugh. But I think it's too early to know if I'm in love with her.
- Lee" I said to him, taking his hands. "You are the only one who can know what you want! Just be sure you're not doing things for others. Don't fix things with Rachel because you want to imitate Noah and me. Don't stay in the relationship with Elena because you want to make everyone think you're over the breakup. Take time to heal and think about what Lee really wants.

He nodded and our conversation was interrupted by Noah arriving with the rest of the family.
- Elle, Lee!" Brad shouted before throwing himself into Lee and I's arms.

It was great to see everyone again ... even Linda. We split up in Noah's Jeep and the car Matthew had rented to head back to our apartment. The chatter between Lee, Brad and I in the car made Noah laugh a lot as he tried to concentrate on driving in Boston traffic and at the same time not lose the parents who were following behind us.

Linda, June and I made dinner together. The women were impressed with my improved cooking skills. Noah and I had become better, challenging each other to make new culinary discoveries. New proof that we are becoming an outstanding team...

Noah POV

I was alone on the terrace cooking on the grill the skewers that Elle had prepared for the whole family. Lee then took his coat and came to join me on the terrace with two bottles of beer. I wondered why he wanted to talk to me in private... over beer.
- Are we going to have a conversation requiring a beer, Lee?" I asked him, taking the bottle he handed me.
- If I have the courage!" he said to me before sighing.

We started by discussing our respective university lives then he asked me :
- Have you ever regretted marrying Elle, Noah?
- No why?" I told him, practically choking on my beer.