What would it take? - A Kissing Booth Fan Fiction

Twenty-four

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to vote on the last chapter, I really appreciate it. Also need to (belatedly) celebrate the fact that this book has reached over 10k reads! Thanks again to all of you for following me down this AU rabbit hole! I'm doing my best to keep updating regularly as we grind through the last few weeks of the year, but life is BUSY on all fronts, so please bear with me! Much love, Jo x

Elle

"I can't believe you still have this!" Lee giggles, holding up one of my old t-shirts against his chest like he's measuring it for size.

My bestie and I are currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, surrounded by all my clothes that I've just pulled out of his chest of drawers. I'm trying to sort through them to see what to keep - elsewhere. I thought this would be a quick task, but as I started taking things out of "my" drawer, I realized just how much stuff I've stashed away in there over the years. By the look of some of it, like the My Little Pony tee that Lee's holding right now, I'm not sure I've ever actually thrown anything away.

"Yeah, well, Twilight Sparkle was my favorite," I laugh, throwing a pair of old socks at his head, which he ducks easily and they continue to sail across his room, rolling into the far corner near his desk. "And I remember you used to love playing with Pinkie Pie, so don't even start."

"Hey, what's not to love about magical horses?" he grins, tossing the tiny shirt in the growing trash pile.

I keep sifting through the stack of sweatshirts in front of me, adding the too-small ones to the heap nearest Lee, and placing the few I want to keep to one side. When I see the familiar Country Day colors on the hoodie at the bottom of the pile, my face starts to feel warm.

"What is that?" Lee jeers, grabbing the sweater before I can hide it and holding it at arm's length out of my reach. "Is this Noah's?"

"It was," I pout. "But he gave it to me when we were at the beach house the summer after his freshman year. It was cold that night and you thought it would be hilarious to push me into the pool while I was wearing the only sweater I'd brought with me. Between the two of you, you'd already used up all the hot water and I was freezing."

Thinking back, I can still remember my teeth chattering so badly I thought they would all fall out for sure. I also remember, in vivid detail, how Noah had stood in the doorway of the room I shared with Lee, while I sat on my bed, huddled up in the comforter trying to get warm again. His arms were folded over his chest and he had that lopsided frown he got when he felt guilty about something. He'd grown like four inches taller that summer, made obvious by the way his wrists were visible, sticking out below the cuffs of his sleeves.

"What do you want, Noah?" I'd whined, embarrassed about getting upset in front of everyone at Lee for pushing me in the pool and that now Noah was just standing there, looking at me.

He'd glanced down at his feet before looking back at me, his expression now apologetic. "I'm sorry there's no hot water. And, um, for the record, I think Lee's a dick for pushing you in the pool."

His casual cursing made me blush, but the fact that he was taking my side made me feel warm inside as well. "Thanks. But I'm fine. Just cold."

Noah's eyebrows drew together before his hands moved to the hem of his sweatshirt, pulling it over his head. I remember tucking my face into the blanket even more after I got a glimpse of his tanned stomach as his white t-shirt rode up. Which was stupid, thinking about it, because I'd seen him all summer wearing nothing but boardshorts everyday on the beach or around the pool. But somehow this just felt different. He stepped closer, holding out the hoodie, offering to me with a small smile.