There she was, clear as the day.
Her slender fingers danced upon the ivory keys; each sonata perfectly in time and rhythm. He took a deep breath, exhaled and opened the door.
"Sounds good…"
And it started from there.
"Are you ready?" Henry called up the stairs. He was standing in the foyer of the Goodman's house with Natalie's parents, waiting for his prom date to descend.
"Almost!" Natalie called down from her room, fumbling with the clasp of her necklace and flattening another crease in her dress, she stood from her vanity and smiled at her appearance in the full length mirror. Her soft blue gown was flawless. Her hair perfectly intact and her white teeth formed a perfect, happy crescent. She held the railing as she stepped down the stairs, her heels making soft thuds on the carpet. Dan held a video camera as Diana snapped away on her digital camera.
"And here she comes!" Dan announced as Natalie came into view of the foyer he zoomed out on his camera, at the perfect angle to see Natalie beaming at Henry, and he to her.
"Hey" she whispered as she leaned against him.
"Hey" Henry smiled and unboxed a corsage for his date. Slipping it onto her wrist then kissing her on the cheek. Natalie looked into his eyes, "You look beautiful" she blushed, and then she kissed him, on the lips this time.
Dan cleared his throat, and Henry broke away. "Sorry Mr. G"
Dan smiled, he loved his daughter, and he loved when she was happy, which was whenever she was with Henry. He loved the fact that someone as caring and brave as Henry loved his daughter, too.
"Now you kids be careful tonight," Dan's parent, authoritative voice returned.
"You got it Mr. G," Henry flashed him a smile and a thumbs up.
"I mean it," he said.
"Daaaaaad" Natalie rolled her eyes. "Can we go now?" she asked, slowly making her way towards the front door.
"Have fun tonight kids!" Diana waved giddily as they started to leave, snapping just another picture.
Dan stopped Henry on his way out, "You take care of her, Henry."
"You know I will. I would never do anything that you wouldn't want me to."
"You really love her."
"More than anything" Henry nervously smiled and dashed off to catch up with Natalie.
The prom was now in full swing. The lights were twinkling and the DJ was playing a good selection of songs. Henry was dancing like he was drunk and Natalie was giggling at each ridiculous dance move he tried to pull her in to.
After an hour of dancing like crazy, a slow song came on and Henry brought Natalie closer to him. They started to sway when he pushed a few stray hairs from her face. "You're beautiful, you know" Natalie never really knew how to respond when he said that. Does she thank him, or disagree? She just smiled and looked into his eyes, like she normally did when he told her that. But for once she was starting to somewhat believe it. "I love you" she whispered, he smiled, and kissed her. Everything was perfect. And perfect is everything when you're in love.