A/N: Finally! I've been meaning to get this updated for forever so I am SO happy that I'm finally getting this chapter up. Major fluff warning issued for this entire chapter. I sent this to Jenn to look over and she thought that the ADA might need to issue a warning for this chapter considering how insanely fluffy it is. The song that Ryan plays for Kelsi is actually a combination of two different songs: Belongs to You by Emerson Drive & Center of My World by Chris Young. I couldn't decide which one to us so I sort of blended them together in a way that works and this should go without saying, but I don't own either one of them.I'm worried that the flow of this entire story has seemed a little random, though I will say that I've included all I've included for a reason. Heavy on the flashbacks, I know, but they all served a purpose. I thought that a good understanding of their background was important to the story. I wanted to show a bit of the journey Kelsi's taken, leading up to the party in the next (and most likely last) chapter. I'm going to try to get the next one up next week, but as always, we'll see. More updates coming, but in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and all the insanely mushy Ryelsi fluffiness it contains. Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated! :)

The lights had been dimmed and there were candles placed throughout the room creating an intimate and romantic atmosphere. Ryan was sitting on the couch tuning his guitar and for a moment Kelsi stayed glued where she was, mesmerized by the scene. He must have sensed her presence, however, because all of a sudden he stopped playing and looking back at her, an expectant and concerned look on his face. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What's all this?" she asked in response, avoiding his question for the moment. She watched his lips form a small frown as he shrugged.

"Part of your surprise. Come here. The pizza's on the table and I got plates and drinks and stuff," he told her, nodding to the table. "Come on. I don't bite, you know."

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, realizing that he was probably wondering why she hadn't moved. She made her way over to the couch and cautiously sat down a little ways away from him.

"Kelsi." He sounded calm as he set his guitar down, resting it against a nearby chair. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she answered.

"You're lying," he responded. "Something's bothering you. I can tell."

"Can we just eat?" she asked quietly. "Please?" She glanced at him, giving him a small smile. "The food's going to get cold."

"We can eat," he nodded, reaching over to open the pizza box. "We can eat and we can talk and you can tell me what's wrong. And then..." He smiled at her, causing a burst of butterflies to begin flying all around her stomach. "And then you can get your surprise."

"Does it involve your guitar?" she inquired, though she felt stupid a second later. Of course his surprise involved his guitar or he wouldn't have bothered to pull it out in the first place.

"It does," he confirmed. "I wrote a song about you and I want to know what you think about it," he added. "After we eat, that is."

"You wrote a song about me?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"I did. I started it a while ago, but got stuck…until today, that is," he said, handing her a plate. "I got inspired after we talked on the phone earlier and the rest just sort of came to me."

"You wrote a song about me," she repeated.

"Is that so surprising?" he asked with a chuckle. "You're my girlfriend and I love you. Why wouldn't I write one about you?" He paused, studying her. "I just hope you like it."

"I will," she said quietly, touched that he'd bothered to write a song about her in the first place "I know I will." She reached over for a slice of pizza at the same time he did and their fingers brushed against each other, making her freeze. A faint blush spread across her cheeks at the contact. It was pretty amazing, she thought absently, how much a simple touch from him could affect her. It felt like there was an electrical current running through her body, starting from her fingers and working its way throughout her. She instantly thought back to their kisses, feeling her cheeks growing hotter by the microsecond.

"I never get used to that," he murmured. "The way it feels whenever I touch you…especially when it's on accident. It's…"

"Electric," she whispered, pulling her hand away from his and grabbing the piece of pizza she'd been going for and trying to push the memories of their earlier make-out session from her mind.

"Electric," he echoed, giving her a thoughtful glance before grabbing a slice of pizza for himself. "Kelsi…"

"Nothing's wrong," she cut in weakly, taking a bite of her pizza.

"I didn't ask if anything was wrong," he pointed out. "I don't have to."

"It's just…" she trailed off.

"Just what?" he urged gently. "Come on, baby, tell me what's the matter. You know you can tell me anything." When she didn't respond, he frowned. "You do know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Of course I do," she answered quickly. "It's just…" She bit her lip, trying to work up the nerve to ask the question that she suddenly wanted to. "Ryan?"

"Yes?"

"Do…" She took a deep breath and when she spoke again, the words came out in a rush. "Do you think I'm a tease?"

"What?" he blinked, completely thrown by the question. He hadn't been sure what he'd been expecting her to ask, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Do you think I'm a tease?" Kelsi kept her eyes focused on her pizza, not sure she wanted to see the look on his face.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Well, it's just…I don't know…it's just that every time you kiss me, I just…it's so easy to get carried away and lost in the moment, but…well, I don't know, I'm just not ready to…well, for us…I'm…I'm not ready…Sometimes I feel like I am, but I'm just not. But…but it's so easy to get carried away and then I start panicking and I just…" she rambled. "I know that it's not fair to you, but I just…I'm not ready. I wish I was, but I'm not and it's not because I don't, you know, want to, I do, it's just…"

"You're not ready," he interjected softly.

"I'm not ready," she repeated. "And…and I feel like such a tease because I keep leading you on and then cutting you off and it's not…I don't mean to…I don't want to be a tease, but I can't seem to help it and I just…I don't know," she sighed, feeling her face heating up even more as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm rambling and I'm sorry that I'm a tease, even though I'm not trying to be one and I'm sorry I'm so insecure and -"

"Kelsi," he interrupted. "You may be many things, but a tease certainly isn't one of them."

"How can you say that?" she asked, surprised. "Don't you remember our little make out session a little while ago? Where I led you on, again, and then wigged out and locked myself in the bathroom? Do you remember that?"

"I do," he nodded.

"So how can you sit there and tell me I'm not a tease?" she challenged.

"Because of the way you respond to me," he answered simply. "Your reactions are far too genuine for them not to be real."

"So…so you're not mad at me for making us stop?" The question was asked timidly and she flinched when he brought his hand to her chin, gently tilting her face towards him.

"Kelsi, listen to me. I love you," he began. "I love you and it's okay that you're not ready. We're not on any kind of timetable here."

"But…but everyone else…well, a lot of our friends have already, well…you know…doesn't it bother you that we haven't?" she asked. "Don't you…well, don't you want to?"

"Of course I want to," he replied honestly.

"So…doesn't it bother you that we haven't? That I'm holding out on you?"

"Well first of all, I don't know if I'd say you were holding out on me. You're not ready…it's not the same thing to me," he shrugged. "And, look, I know that it seems like everyone else our age is already sleeping with someone or sleeping around or whatever, but I don't care about them. What I do care about is you and as much as I want to be with you, as much as I'd love to take you back into my bedroom and make love to you...I want to wait until you're ready. I don't want you sleeping with me because you feel like you have to or because you feel like you owe me. I don't want our first time to happen because you don't want to be a tease."

"But…but what about when things go too far and I freak out on you…that doesn't make you mad?" she wanted to know.

"Baby, I would rather have you freak out and make us stop than have you sleep with me and regret it the next morning," he answered. "We get carried away sometimes and that's okay. I don't want you to feel bad because you make us stop…and I don't want you to feel like you have to hide in the bathroom afterwards because you think I'll be mad at you." He nudged her shoulder with his. "Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, giving him a small smile. "I'm sorry…"

"Stop apologizing," he said gently. "There's nothing to apologize for." He paused as he thought about that. "Well, maybe not for you," he frowned. "I'm sorry if I push you too far sometimes."

"Oh, don't do that," she said quickly. "Don't apologize. We both get carried away and lost in the moment. It's not just you. I've never felt like you were trying to pressure me into doing something I don't want to do or that I'm not ready to do." Her brow furrowed as Charles came to mind. "I've been with a guy like that and you're nothing like him." Her eyes softened as she studied her boyfriend. "Me and Sharpay were talking about him earlier…talking about how me and you got together and that whole mess with Charles and all that. That's…that's probably part of the reason I freaked out on you so much…Charles got so mad at me at that party…but…but I should've known you wouldn't react the same way. I'm sorry."

"Charles was a jackass," Ryan declared, relieved when she let out a weak giggle in response. "And I thought I told you to stop apologizing," he teased her. "You don't have to."

"Even so…I should know you better. I'm…" she trailed off, smiling when he lifted an eyebrow at her. "I love you," she said instead.

"That's more like it," he grinned. "I love you too." He leaned in to give her a quick, soft kiss.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?"

"For loving me," she responded. "And for being nothing like Charles…and for being so sweet about me not being ready." She bit her lip. "Ryan?"

"Yes?"

"I…I may not be ready now, but…but that doesn't mean I won't be at some point…I don't know when that'll be, but I hope…"

"You hope what?"

"That you'll keep waiting for me…even if it takes a while," she finished.

"Of course I'll keep waiting for you, Kelsi. No matter how long it takes," he promised.

"Yeah? What if it takes a long time?" she asked.

"Then I'll wait a long time," he quipped.

"What if you meet someone else who is ready to be with you now?" she challenged.

"You're the only one I want," he said simply. "And you're worth waiting for. Whether it takes a few months, a year, two years…whatever. I'll wait until you're ready."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"I do," she nodded, though she bit her lip again.

"You don't," he corrected, frowning a little. "There's something else. What is it?"

"Don't you ever get sick of this?" she asked.

"Sick of what?"

"Constantly having to reassure me about one thing or another. I must be the most insecure person you've ever met," she sighed. "You deserve better."

"Better than you? That's not possible," he argued. "This is all Dawn's fault, isn't it?"

"A lot of it," she admitted. "But even so…"

"I wish you wouldn't doubt yourself," he began carefully. "I wish you could have more confidence in yourself and how much I love you."

"I knew it," she sighed, her face falling.

"You know why I wish that?" he asked.

"Because you're sick of always having to make me feel better about everything," she answered sadly. "Right?"

"Wrong. I wish that because I hate the thought of you feeling so bad about things. It's not about me, baby, it's about you. I want you to feel good about yourself and about us. Not because I'm tired of making you feel better, but because I love you. You can be so hard on yourself. Too hard." He ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "Way too hard. It makes me sad…you're such a beautiful and wonderful person and girlfriend and you can't see it."

"But Dawn-"

"Dawn is a petty, immature person who has to tear other people down just so that she can feel better about herself. She's an extremely insecure, cruel and jealous person," he cut in. "You know why she hates you?"

"Because she wants you."

"That's part of it," he conceded. "But more than that, I think she hates you because you are everything she isn't and she knows it. She's cruel, you're kind. She's selfish, you're about as far from selfish as a person can get. She's…not terribly unattractive, but not exactly attractive either and you are breathtakingly beautiful."

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes.

"What?" he asked. "You're gorgeous."

"I am not," she countered.

"Yes, you are," he argued. "I'll show you." Ryan took a few quick bites of pizza before setting his slice back on his plate, grabbing a napkin and wiping off his face and his hands before putting it back down and getting to his feet. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked, confused, though she put her slice of pizza back on her plate before getting to get feet as well.

"Just come on," he said, grabbing her hand and lightly tugging her towards the bathroom. He stepped as far away from the mirror as he could and gently turned her around so her back was to him and they were both facing the mirror. "Okay, now, forget about me – what do you see?"

"This is silly," she protested.

"Humor me," he urged, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her in place in case she tried to leave.

"I see me," she shrugged.

"Oh come on. You can do better than that. What do you see?" he asked again.

"I see a short girl with mousy brown hair and glasses," she answered, making him frown.

"What else?" he pressed.

"I see a girl with short arms and small hands and chunky thighs," she added.

"Hmm…" His frown deepened as he studied her in the mirror. "I think you might need a new prescription for your glasses," he decided. "Because we seem to be seeing very different things. Wanna know what I see?" He continued without giving her a chance to answer. "Okay, so yeah, you're short, but whereas you apparently think of that as a bad thing, I happen to like it. It makes it easier for me to cuddle you. And okay, let's talk about your hair. I love your hair. It's always so soft and shiny and bouncy," he said, making her giggle in spite of herself. "And it always smells really, really good and while it may be brown, it's hardly mousy. There's all sorts of shades of brown in there and it's beautiful. Especially whenever the sunlight hits it." He smiled at her reflection.

"You mentioned your glasses, but you neglected to mention your eyes. Your big and beautiful eyes that are easily the prettiest shade of blue I've ever seen in my life. They're so expressive, too. I can always tell exactly how you're feeling just by looking into them and speaking of which, I could spend forever looking into those gorgeous eyes. I love your eyes," he said softly. "Actually, I love your entire face. My favorite face in the entire world."

"Oh stop," she cut in, though a faint blush was spreading across her cheeks.

"What? You have those knockout eyes, those nice, high cheekbones, a cute nose, nice lips," he smirked. "Nice and soft and extremely kissable lips. And can we talk about your smile? Your smile which is missing at the moment. Let's see…I think I know how to fix that." He wiggled his fingers against her sides and grinned when she giggled. "That's better. You have a beautiful smile. You just…you just light up the room when you smile. You really do. Let's see what else? You have great skin. It's always so soft and glowy."

"Glowy?" she interjected, lifting her eyebrow at his reflection. "Is that even a word?"

"Probably not," he admitted. "But hey, it works. Now…I don't know why you think you have short arms, but you don't. They fit your body perfectly."

"What about my hands?" she asked, lifting one up to inspect it. "They're small."

"Perhaps," he nodded. "But I happen to love them because they fit in mine perfectly."

"Hmm," she smiled. "You have a point."

"Now, what else did you say you had? Oh yeah…chunky thighs," he scowled. "And again, I have to wonder where in the world you came up with that. There isn't anything chunky about any part of you, including your thighs."

"But," she started.

"But nothing. You have a great body," he informed her. "And don't argue with me," he added, watching as she opened her mouth to respond. "Baby, listen to me: you are an extremely beautiful and sexy woman."

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "You just think that because you're in love with me. But thank you." She grabbed one of his hands and lifted it up to kiss it.

"I don't think it, I know it," he countered. "I also know that there's a ton of guys who'd back me up on that point."

"Oh please," she repeated, looking at his reflection skeptically.

"Kelsi…if you only knew how many guys I've almost had to beat up because of the way they were drooling over you," he chuckled. "You walk through a room and there's always at least four guys watching you walk. I am dead serious." He gave her a gentle squeeze. "Like I said – you're gorgeous and that's without taking into account how beautiful you are on the inside. You have an incredible inner beauty that just radiates out of you and makes you even more breathtakingly beautiful."

"Oh Ryan," she sighed, leaning into his embrace.

"You have to believe me, Kelsi," he said softly. "I'm not just saying it because I'm in love with you; I'm saying it because it's the truth. Call any of our friends up and ask. They'll all agree with me, I know they will." He gave her another gentle squeeze. "I have something for you."

"Oh yeah," she smiled, blinking away the tears that had filled her eyes sometime in the middle of his little speech. "Your song."

"Well, yes, I still have to play you the song I wrote you, but this is something else," he said, surprising her. "Close your eyes."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Just do it," he ordered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a necklace when she obeyed. "Pull your hair up for me," he instructed.

"Okay," she said slowly, still feeling a little confused as she reached up to gather her hair in her hands and lift it up for him. He carefully reached around and slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened it for her.

"Okay," he murmured, giving her a soft kiss on her cheek. "Open your eyes."

"What in the world," she mumbled, her gaze instantly lowering to the necklace. The chain was silver and just long enough that she could see the handful of small charms that were dangling from it. "What's this?"

"It's a charm necklace," he answered. "I, um…I wanted to give you something after our phone conversation earlier. Something tangible that you could look at and hold that could remind you of my commitment to you…our commitment to each other. I know I've given you stuff before, but this is different. See, each charm relates to our relationship in one way or another. There's a couple that represent each of us and then some that represent some of the things we have in common." Ryan reached around to let the charms rest in one of his hands; spreading them out as well as he could with his other. "Zeke found that one," he informed her, pointing to a silver hat charm. "He thought it was appropriate since we both have what he referred to as an unhealthy obsession with hats."

"It's not an obsession," Kelsi argued.

"Of course it's not," he agreed. "I tried to explain that to him, but I don't think I got anywhere. But the charm fits us either way."

"I agree," she nodded, smiling when she studied the charm next to the hat, which was black oval with the word dance on the front in silver script. "That one must be for you."

"It is," he confirmed. "It seemed like the best charm to represent me. That one and this one, which is actually for both of us," he added, pointing to the next one, which was a silver charm of the comedy and tragedy masks used to symbolize the theater. "And this is supposed to remind you of the love we have for each other, so I had to have a heart," he continued.

"Of course," she said softly as she shifted her gaze to the pink heart charm. "And you had to include music," she smiled, looking at the next charm, which was a silver staff with a treble clef and a handful of music notes on it.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Now, you have the dance charm to remind you of me, but this one is all for you," he pointed to the following charm, which was a silver grand piano. "And I wanted to have the heart charm in the middle of the necklace, so I had to find another one to make it work and they had a bunch of nice ones, but I decided to go with the teapot. We drink more tea than anyone else I know," he laughed. "I thought you'd like that."

"I love that," she beamed, studying the silver teapot charm on the end. "It's so cute." She turned around in his arms and wrapped hers around his neck. "I love the necklace, Ryan, it's beautiful." She pulled his head down to give him a quick, soft kiss. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said quietly. "I just…I know you have your doubts sometimes and you get insecure about us and about yourself and I don't want you to do that anymore. I know I said that earlier, but…" He paused, changing gears as he went on. "It's like I said – I wanted to give you something tangible that you could look at and hold to remind you of my commitment to you. I, um..." he trailed off and she was surprised to see him looking a little nervous all of a sudden.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, it's just…sometimes I wonder if you have any idea how much I love you. I mean…okay, if I think about the future, you know my future…there's so many things that seem unclear. I don't know where I'm going to be in five years or ten or whatever. I don't know if I'll still be here in New York or back in New Mexico or somewhere else entirely. I don't know if I'll be taking Broadway by storm or what. There's a lot of things I don't know, but here's the thing. When so much about my future isn't clear, there is one thing that is: you."

"Ryan," she whispered, feeling her heartbeat begin to pick up as she wondered where he was going with all this.

"See, Kelsi, I can't imagine my life without you in it. I can't imagine trying to make it without having you by my side. I can't imagine living a life without being ridiculously in love with you," he said sincerely. "I never used to think too much about marriage or having a family and all that. But now…I look at you and I think about building a life and a family with you and it feels so right to me."

"Ryan," she repeated, her eyes widening as she gaped at him.

"I'm not proposing," he said quickly, seeing a wave of panic wash over her features. "I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready to be a husband and father just yet. I want to get through school and grow some more as a person, as a man so that I could be the best husband and father possible. So, no, I am not proposing right this second," he assured her. "But I want to make you a promise and I want that necklace to remind you of this promise. At some point in the future, I intend to trade that necklace for a ring. It probably won't be anytime soon, but it will happen eventually. That's the kind of love I have for you, Kelsi. The kind of love that lasts for a lifetime."

"Oh," she sniffled, overcome by a wave of emotion.

"I love you," he said gently. "I love you so much and I don't want you to ever doubt my love for you again. When I fell for you, I fell hard. I'm in this for the long haul and there isn't anything or anyone that could change that."

"Oh Ryan," she whispered. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I should be the one asking you that," he smiled, leaning in to give her a sweet kiss. "Come on."

"Come on?" she repeated, blinking away her tears.

"I want to play you your song," he told her, easing out of her grip and grabbing her hand.

"Oh goodness," she chuckled weakly, letting him lead her back to the couch. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble, you know."

"I disagree," he grinned at her as they sat down. "And it's not trouble. I love doing stuff like this for you."

"Don't I know it," she mumbled, making him laugh. "Well, you already made me cry," she added, watching as he picked up his guitar. "And somehow I have the feeling that you're going to do it again."

"I guess we'll have to see," he said, his eyes twinkling as he turned his attention back to her, absently playing a few chords while he gathered his thoughts. "I, um, well, I'm nowhere close to being as great of a songwriter as you are, but, well, I started this one a while ago, like I mentioned earlier, and I just got it finished up this afternoon. I think this might be the best song I've ever written which seems pretty fitting since I wrote it about the best person I know."

"Oh," she sighed, grabbing a napkin from the table. "I was right. You are going to make me cry again."

"I think I've made the point I was trying to make to you tonight and I think it's sinking in, but just in case it's not…maybe this song will help. I, um, it doesn't have a title yet," he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

"That's okay," she assured him.

"I hope you like it," he said, clearing his throat as he played the opening chords of the song. His voice was soft as he began to sing, slowly growing in confidence as he went along. "'I've wasted so much time believing that in this life you try to get all you can take. When all along what I've been needing was to find just one good reason to give myself, really give myself away. Every smile that lights my face, every teardrop, every trace, every secret hidden place belongs to you. Anything that's good in me, all I ever hope to be, every drop of every dream belongs to you. Oh girl, you're the center of my world, that place in my universe. To me you're every dream I dream, the air I breathe, my everything,'" he sang, "'It's like I live to love you, girl, you're the center of my world."

Kelsi dabbed her face with the napkin as he sang, wiping away some of the fresh tears that were rolling down her cheeks. Of course, those tears were quickly replaced by new ones as his beautiful song continued. "'I'm letting go, I'm letting go now of everything I've ever held onto. Every smile that lights my face, every teardrop, every trace, every secret hidden place belongs to you. Anything that's good in me, all I ever hope to be, every drop of every dream belongs to you. A ray of sunlight shinin' down, the point my life revolves around. It's like I live to love you girl, you're the center of my world. Every place I've ever been, every chance I'll get again. Every secret, every sin, belongs to you. Anything that's good in me, all I ever hope to be. Every drop of every dream belongs to you, the center of my world.'"

Kelsi sniffled as he played the closing chords of the song, feeling her heart flutter in her chest as he smiled at her. "Ryan…that…oh…" Her chin quivered and she waited, rather impatiently, for him to put the guitar back down. He opened his mouth to say something, but she flung her arms around him before he could. "Oh Ryan…"

"Does that mean you liked it?" he asked, sounding slightly amused and a little nervous at the same time.

"Liked it? Are you kidding?" Her voice was muffled as she spoke, her face pressed against his shoulder. "That was b-beautiful," she managed.

"I meant every word of that," he said softly, kissing the top of her head. "You…you're my everything, Kelsi."

"Oh stop," she mumbled tearfully. "You really have to stop talking or I'll never stop crying. I love you Ryan Evans. I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby."

"I know." She sniffled again as she eased away just enough so she could look at him. "I knew before, but after all this…" She shook her head at him. "I know. Believe me, after tonight I know."

"Good," he smiled. "Remember this…the way you feel right now. Remember it the next time you start feeling insecure about yourself or us or me or whatever. Then you'll know that there isn't any reason for you to feel that way because you know how much I love you, how much we love each other. Never forget that."

"I'll try," she whispered, giving him a watery smile.

"And then the next time someone..." He gave her a pointed look. "Like, I don't know, the human cockroach. Next time she tries to make you feel bad about yourself, you'll remember the way you feel now and her words won't seem as important. Because that's all they are, baby, just words. Words said by a mean and jealous person that aren't true and that don't mean anything. You don't have to let her get to you anymore, not as long as you remember this feeling and remember the way it felt when you punched me earlier." He lifted an eyebrow when she giggled.

"Sorry," she said quickly.

"Humph," he rolled his eyes playfully. "My cheek still hurts a little, you know."

"It looks like you're getting a bruise," she said carefully, biting back another giggle.

"Perfect," he sighed. "It'll serve as a physical reminder of how it felt when you punched me…me, your poor innocent boyfriend who just wanted to spend the night showing you how much I love you, even after you decked me."

"Hey, you told me to," she reminded him sweetly.

"Gee, don't be too broken up about it," he teased her.

"I said I was sorry," she pointed out, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"You're lucky you're cute, you know that?" he shook his head, wiggling his fingers against her side to make her laugh.

"I am sorry about that," she said once he stopped. "I really didn't mean to hit you so hard." She softly kissed the part of his cheek where the bruise was forming.

"I know you didn't," he assured her. "And hey, I'm happy to know that you know how to punch now. It's a good thing to know…not that I want you to ever have to punch someone, but you know. And see? I was right earlier. You are stronger than you think you are."

"Maybe I am," she conceded. "Hey."

"Hey what?"

"Thank you. For tonight, for my necklace and my song, for waiting for me, for being such a wonderful boyfriend. I love you so, so much…and…and you know what else?" The question was asked somewhat hesitantly.

"What?"

"When I think about the future and how so much of it seems unclear…" She smiled at him. "There's one thing I can see and that's you." She touched her necklace, watching as his eyes softened. "And this will help remind me that you see me in yours too…I'll remember your promise and I want you to know that I'm going to be holding you up to it. Someday."

"Well then," he said, brushing her hair away from her face with his hand. "Here's to someday." They leaned in for the kiss at the same time, going back in for a second one once the first ended.

"Here's to someday," she echoed softly.