Chapter twenty-four head above water
Elle's POV
Noah wasn't jealous, he understood how Lee was feeling and why he had kissed me. For the first time ever, Noah probably understood Lee better than I did at that moment.
Noah got a bit angry when I told him that Lee had kissed me, but it wasn't in the way I had expected him to.
"Lee shouldn't have done that. He knew you would kiss him back, just so you wouldn't hurt him" he said, disapprovingly.
"It was my fault too." I admitted, quietly.
Noah held me and kissed me, showing me that he understood and wasn't angry at me.
"Well, we have to deal with it as a family. We need to talk to Lee, sort this out as a family." He said with a sigh.
I nodded. I knew that we had a lot to deal with. I hadn't even told Noah's parents that I wasn't going to Harvard yet. But I wasn't ready to deal with it all. I just wanted to hide from it all.
Noah seemed to understand how I was feeling. So, we stopped talking about Lee and spent the rest of the night just enjoying each other's company.
The next day, Noah went with me to my doctor's appointment. It was a very embarrassing occasion. Noah was allowed to sit in on my appointment, after I had said it was OK.
"How long have you been sexually active?" the doctor said, looking straight at me without smiling.
"Umm, nearly two years" I replied, feeling mortified.
He nodded, seeming to take me at my word.
"Well, there's a few forms of contraception you can go on." He said, and he wheeled a cart over, that had a few medical instruments on top of it.
"There's this." He held up something that looked like a rubber paper clip.
"We insert it into the arm. And it stops pregnancy for up to three years." He said.
I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't like the thought of something being put into my body like this. It looked nasty and unnatural.
"No" Noah said from beside me. I felt relived that he had spoken up. It made refusing the item a lot easier.
The doctor looked at him sharply.
"I think, that its really up to Elle to say yes or no." he said sternly.
"Noah's right. That's definitely not for me." I said.
"Before you dismiss this, let me first tell you the benefits of this. So, this will not stop you from sexually transmitted diseases. But it is 98% affective against pregnancy. Once it is in. you won't have to worry about it. You can continue to be sexually active with partners you know are clean." The doctor said, without a trace of embarrassment.
I did consider the product. It would be ideal. I wouldn't have to think about it. Or worry once it was in. That was its main appeal to me. Noah could see, that I was considering it.
"It stops her period. Causes mood swings and weight gain. A lot of research has shown, that it has a negative affect on the body." Noah said, meeting the doctors gaze.
I scrunched up my face in displeasure. I didn't want all of those symptoms – especially the weight gain.
"Those symptoms only happen in a few cases. Most people have no effect from this and…" I cut him off. "No, Noah's right. That's not for me thanks." I said and the doctor could see that I was serious. So, he put the instrument down and moved onto the next.
"This is a female condom it…" he began, but I interrupted him again. "No way" I said and he put the giant condom down with a sigh.
"Ok then, what about this one? It's an IUS" he said, and held up something that looked like a fishing rod.
"I don't want anything that's going to be inserted into my body" I said sternly. Noah rubbed my shoulder to comfort me.
"Well then, your only options are. The monthly injection. Or, the pill." He said. Showing the needle and the pack of tablets.
I knew what I wanted before he even asked me which one. "The pills, ill take the pills." I said, relieved that finally, there was a less drastic contraception.
"This pill is more than 99% affective. But I do warn you. It is only affective if you take it every day. You need to continue to take it, even if you aren't sexually active for that day." He warned.
I nodded in understanding. I didn't want to be pregnant and ruin my dreams. I new that I would forget to take the pill. Noah smiled at me and squeezed my hand. The doctor gave me the prescription and instructed me on when to start taking the pill.
When we emerged from the doctors, I felt better, lighter, like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. There was still some weight on my shoulders, and I wanted to get rid of it.
"So, back to the hotel?" Noah purred in my ear. I shook my head, and I saw a flash of disappointment cross his face. "We need to sort this mess out and start planning our wedding." I said, and he beamed at me.
Lee's POV
I waited at home and hoped that Elle would talk to me soon. I still kept calling her once every hour. My heart leapt, when once, it didn't go straight to voicemail, but rang a few times first. I knew that meant that Elle must have had her phone back on. But, when I called again, deciding to keep consistently ringing until she answered. It had gone straight to voicemail again.
I didn't give up though, I knew that Elle had to talk to me sooner or later. I stayed up the whole night, looking through my phone at pictures of Elle, and deleting the one of Racheal.
I had almost drifted off to sleep, when I heard the front door go and bolted up. I heard Noah's voice drift up the stairs and felt disappointed. But then, I heard my mum say. "You look lovely Elle" and I ran down the stairs, two at a time.
Me and Elle looked at each other. Everyone was silent. Elle walked over to me and took my hand gently in hers. I let her pull me away from my parents. To my disappointment, Noah followed us.
Well, I don't care. Noah can't stop me….