The Kissing Booth ended with Elle (Joey King) and Noah (Elle) getting back together, but it’s also possible that Lee (Joel Courtney) is secretly in love with his best friend. Based on the novels of the same name written by Beth Reekles, Netflix’s rom-com trilogy follows a trio of life-long pals navigating love and life in California. The franchise has recently wrapped up with The Kissing Booth 3 where all three main characters were revealed to have been established adults after a six-year time jump. But while Lee is seen happily reunited with Rachel (Meganne Young) after splitting up before college, she might not be who he truly loves.
Premiering in 2018, The Kissing Booth actually kicked off Netflix’s rom-com trend, with films like Set It Up and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before following suit. While the movie was a miss with critics, it became popular with viewers, and soon after, the sequels were greenlit. The Kissing Booth 2 was released in 2020, and just a year after, The Kissing Booth 3 dropped on the platform, rounding up the trilogy. While the movie’s premise focused on Elle and Lee’s friendship, her romance with Noah eventually took over, effectively becoming the movies’ primary narrative.
Belatedly, The Kissing Booth also gave Lee his own love interest — Rachel. While introduced in the first film, she’s the most prominently featured in The Kissing Booth 2. Like Elle and Noah, they, too, end up back together at the end of The Kissing Booth 3, although the threequel entirely skipped how. Still, based on some of Lee’s reactions and actions, one can’t help but wonder if he’s harboring secret feelings for Elle.
Lee and Elle’s Relationship Explained
Lee and Elle’s relationship started with their moms being best of friends. The Flynn and Evans matriarchs first met when they were both at U.C. Berkeley, and from there, they became inseparable. Not only did Lee and Elle grew up with each other, but they also share birthdays, so it was easy for them to become best friends. By the time Elle’s mother died due to some illness, Sara Flynn (Molly Ringwald) stepped in to be her pseudo-mom, making her almost like a family. Spending time together, Elle and Lee created all sorts of fun lists such as a friendship rule guide, as well as, a bucket list — both of them factored into The Kissing Booth movies. While the former helped them establish some ground rules, it was also a source of friction, especially after Elle’s relationship with Noah and her subsequent decision to go to Harvard broke some of those promises.
Lee Became More Controlling When Elle Started Dating Noah
The whole primary premise of the original The Kissing Booth movie revolved around Elle coming to terms with her growing crush for Noah. But knowing full well that dating family members of her best friend is prohibited according to their list, she tried to control her attraction. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Noah is also quite smitten with her. After learning about this, the pair started dating in secret, delaying the inevitable about coming clean. Before they could decide how to do it, however, Lee caught them, which, expectedly caused a massive conflict between the brother and the best friends. Interestingly, however, even after the younger Flynn came to terms with the idea of Elle and Noah as a couple, it continued to be a problem for him in The Kissing Booth 2 and subsequently, The Kissing Booth 3. It doesn’t make that much sense – considering the fact that he, too, had his own love life – to be seemingly jockeying for Elle’s attention.
Lee Is More Concerned With Elle Than Rachel
Admittedly, Lee started to loosen up in The Kissing Booth 2 as he officially started dating. In fact, it was Elle who’s overly clingy at this point as she struggled with her long-distance set-up with Noah. So, it’s was surprising when he became much more controlling in The Kissing Booth 3, especially after his best friend decided to choose to go to Harvard with her boyfriend than to U.C. Berkeley. For starters, it didn’t feel right that Lee had such a massive reaction to Elle’s choice – after all, everyone knew that she applied to both schools. After her harrowing experience during Noah’s first year away, it’s almost predictable that she was going to choose Harvard. In any case, the fact that she even tried getting into the East Coast-located university was already a massive sign. But what makes Lee’s aggressive reaction more dubious is the fact that he didn’t have any problem with Rachel going to Rhode Island for college — which is also on the other side of the country. If he’s able to give his girlfriend the liberty to make a life far from him, how can he not do that with Elle?
Why Wouldn’t Lee Confess His Feelings For Elle?
If Lee was in love with Elle, why couldn’t he simply confess his feelings? Ultimately, it may have to be because of his real feeling about Noah. It’s possible that Lee has long been in love with Elle, but since they’re good friends, he was hesitant to make a move, afraid that it would ruin their relationship and make it awkward if she doesn’t reciprocate. Lee could’ve chosen to settle being her buddy since it’s the safest way to keep her close to him. Things changed, however, when she and Noah started dating. It’s clear from the get-go in the original The Kissing Booth that the Flynn brothers don’t have the best dynamic. Noah is often regarded as the hotshot in high school, while Lee was forced to live in his shadows. But, that didn’t bother him at first since he was happy minding his own life with Elle. Now, when Noah started a romance with her, it further triggered Lee’s inferiority complex, feeling as if the older Flynn was taking Elle away from him. This couldn’t be farther from the truth since she was already harboring feelings for Noah long before she found out that they were mutual. He tried shifting his focus elsewhere in found Rachel, who has had her eyes on him earlier. Between that and Noah’s absence in The Kissing Booth 2, Lee was able to effectively bury his feelings for Elle. But once his brother was back in The Kissing Booth 3, he started acting up once again.