New place in town: Llantano Villa (banquet hall the college uses for all their dances/banquets)

It was Friday morning, and everyone was excited for the evening's events. Matthew got ready for school, hoping the day would fly by so he could be one step closer to seeing his love's face when she received her surprise.

At lunch, Dani did something she doesn't normally do; she sat with Matthew. He was telling Shane all about is big plan for tonight. Shane was happy to finally see Matthew accepting the fact that he belonged with Destiny; a fact that everyone else on the planet had known since the moment the two met.

"Ok, so the pre-party starts at 7 at Capricorn. From there the party bus is bringing everyone at the party to the Llantano Villa for the dance at 8. Claire gave me the tickets before her first class this morning." Dani continued, "Mrs. Evans has the dress and the shoes at her house, doing her best to keep them out of Destiny's sight until tonight. I figure we get you to Des's by 5:30, maybe a bit before, have Roxy get there at 5:45 to do her hair and help her get ready. Roxy should be done by 6:30, so that'll give us 15 minutes to take pictures and 15 minutes travel time. Did you get anything special for Des?"

Normally Matthew hated how organized Dani was, but today, he loved it.

He replied as he pulled out the box, "Got it right here!"

Dani saw the necklace and said, "It's so cute, Des will love it!"

He stuck the box back in his bag. "Hopefully everything goes perfectly."

"It will, and even if something does go wrong, Des will see how much effort you put into this and will love you for it." Shane added, trying to make Matthew see that she'd love him no matter what.

-VVV-

Claire was at her apartment getting ready when she heard a knock on the door. It was Dani. She looked so cute in her little teal cocktail dress with the matching shimmery heels.

"Nate will be here soon. You almost done?" Dani asked as she came in.

"Just need to find my shoes." Claire replied.

"Looking for these." Dani heard a very familiar voice.

Mac was standing in Claire's bedroom doorway, holding a pair of green sandal heels.

"Thanks baby!" Claire said, kissing her man.

"Mac! When did you get here?" Dani exclaimed, hugging Mac as Claire put the shoes on to match her dark green single shoulder dress. Mac loved the way that dress looked on her, especially the bottom. The angled cut of the dress made her legs look great, and the flowy ruffles gave her the look of a ballroom dancer.

"I got here this morning." Mac replied.

"Your boyfriend got here this morning and you didn't think it was important to tell me." Dani scolded Claire jokingly.

"I didn't want you to be so enthusiastic about Mac that Des's surprise wouldn't be as important." Claire explained.

"Claire, the only way I could be any less enthused is if Des decided to go with someone else."

"Don't even say that?" Claire exclaimed.

Just then, Nate walked in. "Don't say what?" He asked as he hugged Dani.

"That Destiny will go tonight, but with someone else." Mac said, holding Claire in his arms.

"Please don't…if that happens I'll never hear the end of it. I was the reason Matthew couldn't show her how he felt months ago. If tonight doesn't go well for Matthew I will feel even worse than I already do." Nate said.

Everyone knew tonight needed to be perfect, not just for Destiny, but for Matthew as well.

Claire's phone buzzed, and on the screen was a text from Bo.

It read: Just a small gift from Red and me, go downstairs to get it.

"Bo just sent me a text saying there's a gift downstairs from him and Nora." Claire told the group.

"Let's go see what it is!" Dani said, grabbing her purse and heading out the door. Nate, Claire, and Mac soon followed.

Downstairs, the doorman gave Claire an envelope. In the envelope was a letter.

She read the letter aloud, "Your gift is waiting for you outside. Hope you guys have fun, but not too much fun. See you in a few. Bo and Nora."

When they all walked outside, they saw the limo pull up. The limo driver got out, opened the door, and said, "You guys ready to have some fun!"

"Not too much!" They all laughed as they got into the limo.

On their way to pick up Matthew, Dani realized she forgot something.

"I forgot to bring my overnight bag for our "after party"!" Dani exclaimed.

"Uh oh, me too." Nate added.

"No problem, I'll just have Nigel pick them up from your houses and bring them to my place." Claire said casually. "He's picking up Matt's and Des's anyway."

"Thanks." They said in unison as the limo pulled up to Bo and Nora's apartment building.

-VVV-

Matthew looked at himself in the mirror. Black shoes, black pants, black short sleeve button down, white tie. His hair was done the way he knew Des liked it. He felt like a million bucks.

"Lookin good son." Bo said, giving his son the thumbs up of approval.

"Thanks dad."

"Oh my baby boy is going to his first college party." Nora gushed.

"Mom!" Matthew said, wishing his mother could be less corny. "My friends are downstairs, I gotta go."

"Alright. Just be sure to take lots of pictures." Nora said.

Bo added as Matthew walked out the door, "Tell Destiny we said hi!"

He walked downstairs, and was thrilled to see a limo out front. Once he got in, he saw his friends Claire and Mac sitting there, along with Nate and Dani.

"How did we get a limo?" He asked.

"Gift from your parents." Claire said.

Matthew immediately took out his phone and texted his parents: THANK YOU!

Soon, they would be at the Evan's, and his surprise would be in full swing. He could wait to see Destiny…and tell her how much she really meant to him.

-VVV-

Des sat comfortably on the couch wearing her soft puffy bathrobe, sweats, and her favorite slippers. In the middle of watching reruns of her favorite show, Fraternity Row, she heard a knock at the door. It took all her strength just to get off the couch, but once she was up, she went to the door to see who it was. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Shaun, and Vivian, all eavesdropped from the other room as they heard the door open.

"Matthew?" Des said, still slightly mad at him.

"Yeah. I have something to tell you. Can I come in?" He asked.

"Whatever." She let him in, "Why are you all dressed up?"

"I'm going to the winter wonderland dance Llanview University is having."

"Oh so you're starting your college girl search early I see." Des replied angrily.

"No. I'm going to show all of those girls that I'll be dancing with the most beautiful girl there. That is, if she'll go with me." Matthew said, giving Des the smile that always makes her heart race whenever she sees it.

When Des realized he was talking about her, she replied, "I thought me and the baby were holding you back from living your life."

"You and our baby are my life…and I wouldn't want it any other way."

Matthew hugged Destiny, and then the two shared a passionate kiss.

"Matthew, I can't go with you. I have nothing to wear. The only dresses I own are from before I was pregnant." Des complained.

"Yes you do. Check your room." Mrs. Evans said as she came out of hiding.

As Destiny was about to go check her room, Roxy barged in.

"Where's my cute little snow princess?" She asked.

"Roxy, what are you doing here?" Destiny asked, shocked and confused as to what was going on.

"I'm here to help you get ready. My best girl needs to look perfect for her perfect night." She replied.

"Everything you need is in her room." Shaun said, also coming out of hiding.

"What the hell is going on?" Des asked as Roxy dragged her up the stairs to her room.

As Matthew waited for her downstairs, the rest of the gang came inside.

"Where's Des?" Dani asked, concerned as to the outcome of the night.

"She's upstairs with Roxy getting ready." Viv said reassuringly.

Matthew paced back and forth the entire time Des was upstairs. He just wanted her to hurry up and come back so he could see how beautiful she looked. He pictured in his mind what she would look like, and in every image she was stunning. Then he turned around and saw her at the top of the stairs. She was even prettier than in his thoughts. Her white dress made her look like an angel, and the small snowflake clip Roxy used in her hair to accent the flowing curls glistened as if to be the halo above her head. As she glided down the stairs, Matthew's heart raced. In his mind, everything was in slow motion, and him and Des were the only two in the room.

He walked over to her, held her hand, and said, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," she gave him a hug, "for everything."

Roxy explained everything as she helped Des get ready. Matthew was the one who planned all of this.

"One more thing." Matthew said as he reached in his pocket.

"Matthew, you didn't need to do anything else, this surprise was enough." Des said.

"Just look." He said, opening the long velvet box, showing the necklace inside.

"Matthew…it's beautiful." Des said, awestruck by the necklace.

"Here, let me." Matthew said as he took it out of the box.

"Why is there a red stone in it?" Des asked as Matthew put the chain around her neck.

He clipped the chain, and moved his hand onto Des's stomach, "It's our baby's birthstone."

She was thrilled that he was not only thinking of her, but their baby too. "It's perfect."

Des leaned on Matthew, who had her fully wrapped in his arms. She laced her fingers through his, already placed on her stomach; feeling the baby move under the beautiful white dress. The two locked eyes, and he said something he had wanted to say for 3 years, "I love you."

The two immediately kissed. In both of their minds, this was the way it was supposed to be, and it took them way too long to get to this point.

After lots of pictures, the gang was on their way to what was going to be the best night of their lives.