The Notebook: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

When Allie opens her eyes, she finds that she and Noah are sitting in the middle of a small lake. Their canoe is surrounded by thousands of beautiful white swans and Canada geese. The two of them look at the birds in silence for a while and feed them some bread that Noah has brought along. When they hear thunderclaps in the distance, Noah begins steering them back toward the creek. Allie, still amazed, asks Noah what the birds are doing here. Noah says that they migrate south each winter to a nearby lake nearby and must have been thrown off-track—he tells Allie he has faith they’ll find their way back there, driven by their instincts. 

Rain begins to fall. Though the drops are light at first, Noah and Allie are soon caught in an all-out downpour. Allie tilts her head back and laughs, enjoying the feeling of the rain on her face, neck, and body. She feels aroused as she senses Noah watching her enjoy the storm—and looking at her soaked-through dress. After leaving the canoe at the dock, Allie and Noah head for the house hand in hand. Allie thinks about sleeping with Noah and wishes she could feel his hands all over her body. She realizes that she has fallen in love with Noah all over again—or that maybe she never fell out of it in the first place.

Up at the house, Noah fetches Allie some loose cotton pants and a shirt to change into. Allie goes up to Noah’s bedroom to get dressed, feeling aroused as she strips naked in the room where he sleeps. She puts on Noah’s clothes, hangs up her wet dress, and brushes out her soaking hair. She heads downstairs to find Noah building a fire, and she silently watches him work for several minutes. After the fire begins roaring, Noah turns around, surprised to see Allie in the room. He offers her some tea, but she asks for bourbon. As thunder booms outside, Noah fixes the two of them drinks. Allie sits on the floor in front of the fire, and soon, Noah joins her.

As Noah sits on the rug beside Allie, he finds himself captivated by her and full of longing to touch her. He tries to distract himself by asking her what she remembers best about their summer together—the same question she asked him earlier. Allie is quiet for several moments before answering that she remembers the wonderful feeling of making love with Noah. Both of them reminisce about the shyness they felt in the moment. Allie squeezes Noah’s hand and tells him that she loved him that summer more than she has ever loved anyone.

Allie tells Noah that she became sad when she never got any letters from him. She reveals that she came to New Bern to ask about him—but he had already left to go up north. Allie assumed he’d left New Bern to try and escape his memories of her, so she never tried to contact him again. In every relationship she has ever had, though, she has found herself looking for Noah. She confesses to writing him many letters that she never sent. Noah says he wishes she’d sent them, but Allie confesses that she was afraid she’d be different from how Noah remembered her. Noah says that she is—but because she’s sweeter and better than he remembers. Noah declares that he loves Allie and always has. Before Allie can respond, a log in the fire snaps. Noah gets up to add another log and stoke the flames.

When Noah sits back down beside Allie, Allie confesses that she has never had sex with another man—Noah is the only person she’s ever been with. She is flooded with memories of the last time she and Noah saw each other on her last night in New Bern—he said little, but he gave her a note which declared that their souls were connected and that even if they never met again, they’d see each other in the next life. Now, Allie believes that Noah may have been right. As lightning cracks, lighting up the sky, Noah and Allie kiss at last.

Noah and Allie have sex tenderly, slowly, and passionately. They spend the entire day in front of the fire in each other’s arms, drinking, talking, snacking, and having sex again and again. That night, as they fall asleep together on the floor, they declare their enduring love for each other. Noah tells Allie that he never wants to be apart from her again.