My alarm wakes me mid-dream on Saturday morning, and for a few minutes after silencing it I chase the last wisps of the dream, managing only to recall that we'd all been at the beach house. All including Elle, of course, and while I may not remember any details of my dream, I do remember every moment of last night. We said we'd talk today, and that prospect is as good a reason as any to make myself get out of bed.

I'm still groggily walking to the stairs when I hear Elle's voice coming from the kitchen—she really is always here, and I don't know how I ever thought that was a bad thing. I hesitate before continuing, glancing at myself in the mirror. And then, as much as it makes me roll my eyes at myself, I return to my room to brush my teeth, comb my hair, and put on something nicer than what I slept in. Lee would absolutely roast me if he ever found out, but that's not even in the top ten of reasons Lee can't find out about whatever this is Elle and I have gotten ourselves into, at least not yet.

The door to Sanj's guest room remains closed when I exit my room again, which gives me a chance to hang out with just Elle and Lee for breakfast. And, if I can get rid of Lee long enough, maybe Elle and I can make plans to have that conversation we've promised each other.

When I finally make it downstairs, this time it's Lee I hear, and I freeze when I realize what he's talking about.

"You were at Anna's last night, right?" Lee asks.

"Yeaaah," Elle answers slowly, her voice hesitant.

"Did you see Noah?"

Shit. I never mentioned my destination when I left the house yesterday. So Lee's question is... worrisome.

"No—why, was he there?"

I'll give Elle credit for sounding convincingly nonchalant in her reply to Lee. I just hope she didn't turn her usual scarlet as she said it.

"Oh yeah," Lee laughs. "Check out what Tuppen just sent."

Also worrisome. I definitely don't recall seeing Tuppen last night, or anyone else from Country Day, but this can't be good. And maybe I should check my own phone before I walk into whatever's awaiting me in the kitchen—which is how I discover a message from Tuppen sent late last night, reading Welcome home, bro. Glad college hasn't reformed you.

So, that's a very bad sign. Because I can't think of anything I did last night that could inspire that comment, other than the not-insignificant time Elle and I shared that lounge chair. I don't remember seeing anyone anywhere near us, but I also wasn't paying particularly close attention to anything beyond Elle. Shit.

The question is what exactly Tuppen saw, or rather whom. There's only that one message from him, and that's encouraging—Tuppen would surely have had a lot more to say if he'd spotted me with Elle. And, at the very least, there's no way his message to Lee involved Elle, or Lee would have sounded a hell of a lot less entertained by it.

I could silently retreat up the stairs and let Elle deal with Lee on her own, but that doesn't seem gallant. So, walking into the lion's den it is.

I enter the kitchen just in time to hear Elle complain "Eww, why would you think I want to know about that?"

"Know about what? Lee, are you making Elle watch gross videos again?"

I'm going to pretend I have no idea what they're talking about for as long as possible. Elle looks alarmed to see me.

"I don't know, Noah, is there a video? Because that seems over the line even for you." Lee snaps.

Whoa, that escalated. "Excuse me?"

"You and flavor of the week. Guess your friend was wrong about that secret Harvard girlfriend. Or maybe he wasn't, it's not like that would stop you."

I have no clue why Lee is being such an asshole—especially if he doesn't know Elle was involved—and I reflexively take a step at him. "What the hell are you on about?"

Instantly Elle is at my side, a hand on my arm. "Noah—calm down. Lee, Noah has no idea what you're talking about." Elle stares hard at me as she says it. Yeah, clearly that joke about Lee watching gross videos was the wrong way to go.

I exhale and take a step back. "No, I don't. So why doesn't one of you tell me what I've done wrong now?"

Lee looks ready to fire back, but Elle jumps in before he can. She's still staring intently at me with a look that I'm certain means I should be quiet and let her handle this.

"Apparently you were spotted at a party last night. With a mystery girl."

"Uh huh."

Mystery girl sounds good. Mystery girl means Elle wasn't recognized. I should continue to shut up and let her do the talking. Trying to appear disinterested rather than relieved, I pour myself some coffee.

"And here's the really funny part—apparently, this was the same party I went to."

"You were at Ryan's?" Hopefully I'm not overdoing my surprised tone.

"Yeah, although I understand your confusion, since you clearly weren't paying attention to much besides your mystery girl."

That's extremely true. "Can you blame me? She was hot."

Elle barely stifles a giggle as I give her my best smirk, and I top off my comment by stealing a piece of toast from her plate. Elle's indignant smack at my hand isn't quick enough and she has to settle for glaring as I take a triumphant bite.

"So, that's why you're so mad at me?" I ask Lee, turning back to him. "Because I had a date last night?"

"Date, right," Lee rolls his eyes. "Would it kill you not to be a sleazeball for once in your life?"

"Come on, Lee, Tuppen just said he was making out with some girl. That's, like, normal Noah behavior." Elle mutters that last part awkwardly, then shoots me an apologetic look.

"And that girl at Harvard is cool with this?" Lee still sounds scornful.

"For the last time—there is no girl at Harvard. And I have no idea what story Tuppen is spreading, but if it's anything beyond me kissing a fully-clothed, entirely sober, appropriately-aged, and extremely willing girl, he's lying."

I mean, there were some roving hands, but I think we can agree that still falls within the commonly-accepted bounds of kissing. Elle looks like she's trying desperately not to laugh.

"I'll send you Tuppen's message," Elle manages to say with a straight face. "It's not anything crazy. Lee's just being cranky."

"Whatever," Lee shrugs dismissively. "You're right, just typical Noah."

Lee's gibe sticks in my throat, but it's hard to deny without creating worse trouble. I settle for a withering stare.

"So, who was she?" Elle casually asks.

I come close to choking on my toast. Elle's expression is the picture of innocence, but there's a devilish light in her eyes.

"None of your business, Miss Nosy." Two can play at this game.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you forget to ask her name?" Elle teases.

"I was busy. But I'm sure she'll tell me tonight. At dinner."

"You have a date with her? Really?" Elle quirks an eyebrow at me.

"I will once I ask her. And I'm pretty sure I got her number."

"And you just assume she's going to agree? Maybe she's already gotten what she wanted from you," Elle scoffs.

"I'm willing to bet she wants more."

It's Elle's turn to nearly choke on her coffee.

"Oh my god, Elle, stop encouraging him," Lee groans. "He's unbearable enough as it is."

I have about ten different replies in mind all involving Elle's eager encouragement of me, but instead I just grin at Lee.

"Fine. I'll be upstairs, getting myself a date."

It takes Elle approximately three minutes to show up in my room, and another few seconds to quietly shut my door before cornering me. Her hands grip the arm rests of my desk chair as she looms over me with that look of classic Shelly fury I shouldn't enjoy as much as I do.

"See, I told you she wanted more," I grin at her.

"You are insufferable."

"That's a very big word, Shelly."

"Big word for an even bigger ego."

"Look, I'm just stating facts here."

"Facts, hmm? Seems to me the facts are that you don't actually have a date for tonight."

"Hey, Elle, want to get dinner tonight?"

Elle returns my smirk. "I'll think about it."

My move to pull her into my lap catches her off-guard, and a burst of giggling escapes her.

"Is this your plan for convincing me?" Elle asks slyly, her lips now irresistibly close.

"No, I just didn't like you staring down at me like that. It's unnatural."

It's holding Elle like this that should feel unnatural, but it doesn't.

"So, do I need to convince you?"

"No, dinner sounds good. I mean, we said we'd... talk. And we can't really do that here." Elle's earlier laughter has quieted; she sounds less assured now.

"Yeah, probably not."

Elle must have come over right after showering, because her hair is still damp and the brush of its stray wisps against my cheek is beyond distracting. Even if she's already agreed to dinner, I'm incredibly tempted to try and convince her further... until I remember the near-disaster we just escaped from.

"So, that was a close one. With Lee, I mean."

"Oh my god—I nearly died when I saw that message. Did you have any idea Tuppen was at the party?"

"None. I'm just glad he didn't recognize you."

"Are you sure he didn't?"

"He sent me a message, too, and he'd have had a lot more to say if he'd known it was you. Trust me."

I look forward to Tuppen finding out, actually. Just... not before we've dealt with Lee.

"You are a lot easier to spot from a distance than I am," Elle grins.

I'm sure staying curled against me the whole time, using the chilly night as her excuse, made Elle particularly hard to spot. But Shelly using me as a blanket is not what I need to be thinking about right now.

"So. Dinner. Is that horrible pizza place on the Pier still your favorite, or did the health department finally shut it down?"

"Sal's is still there," Elle glares, "and I'm telling him you said that. But we can't go there tonight. Lee was just saying he wants to hit the arcade, and that's too close to Sal's."

"Okay, so nowhere near the Pier. That diner you like?"

"No—there's always people from school there on the weekend."

More reasons Elle and I need to hurry up and have this discussion, because I'd rather not spend all our time worrying about being seen.

"This isn't a top-secret spy mission, Elle."

"I know, I just... don't feel like dealing with people knowing," Elle sighs. "Wait... I've got it. Duncan just told me there's a Miyazaki marathon at UCLA tonight. I'll tell Lee we should all go, I'll back out at the last minute with a headache, and then you and I can eat at Sal's in peace."

I'm pretty sure Elle just turned Duncan's attempt to spend time alone with her into a scheme to clear the way for our date. I'd gloat, but it's probably wiser not to point this out and just silently take the win.

"Excellent. Invite Sanj along too, then I won't have to feel bad about ditching him."

Elle seems skeptical. "Won't it be weird that I'm not also inviting you, then?"

"No, because I have a date. With that mystery girl Tuppen just told everyone about. Wish I'd gotten her name before she started distracting me, though."

Elle blushes, and I love how every mention of last night does that to her.

"Alright, I should go find that textbook I told Lee I needed to grab from his room before he comes looking for me," she finally says.

"Ah, so that's what you told him. I was wondering."

"Seemed like a better option than the truth," Elle shrugs wryly.

At some point we're going to have to come clean, but not until we've talked about what that truth is, exactly.

"You'll let me know if Lee goes for your movie plan?"

"Yeah, definitely. And if he doesn't, we can come up with something else."

Elle starts to stand, then hesitates, giving me just enough time to kiss her while she's still within reach. She doesn't seem at all surprised, and for a second, when her hand tightens at my shoulder, I think she might even be swayed to stay a little longer. She could just tell Lee it took forever to find that book because she stopped by my room to get more gossip out of me about last night. Which... is basically the truth. Inevitably, though, Elle pulls away, giving me one last impish smile before disappearing from my room.

I'd been debating how to respond to Tuppen when Elle interrupted, but before getting back to that I need to make a quick update to my contact list. Sweater Thief has become Mystery Girl, and I've got a date to plan.

A/N: Did I recycle my favorite chapter title from Birthday Flowers? Yes. Am I sorry? Not even a little.