---
It was a cool day, the afternoon of the second Wednesday in February to be exact, as Aaron rushed excitedly through the front door of the Atwood home. Shutting the passenger side door of the SUV, Ryan was right behind him.

"We're home!" Ryan called to Taylor.

"I'm in here," Taylor sang from the dinning room. The pair joined her and she looked up from her laptop.

"How'd it go?" She beamed, hopefully.

"I got it!" Aaron was uncharacteristically excited, as he held up the papers which proved he'd passed his drivers license exam. "I passed," he smiled.

"Congratulations, Aaron!" She stood up – as quickly as her bulging body would allow her – to give him a hug. Aaron gladly reciprocated.

"He passed with flying colors," Ryan smiled, as he patted Aaron's shoulder affectionately. "Congratulations," he echoed. "Now you can take Amanda out for her birthday without a chauffeur," Ryan smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, I'm excited," Aaron replied.

"How's the planning going?" Taylor asked. Ryan busied himself making a sandwich.

"I have it all set up," Aaron said. "I have the tickets to Dashboard Confessional for this weekend, and I'm surprising her with them tomorrow, since it is her actual birthday. I haven't listened to much of their music but they are one of her favorite bands. I hope she, ya know, likes it." He finished a bit sheepishly.

"She will, don't worry," Taylor assured him with a bright, loving smile. Aaron felt better.

"So, I can take a car to school tomorrow?" He asked.

"Of course," Ryan interjected. "What's the point of having a driver's license if you don't use it? Just be careful."

"I will," he replied. "I'm gonna go finish writing a paper for my biology class. Thanks for taking me, Ryan."

"You're welcome, Aaron. It's my job."

Aaron left the room and headed upstairs as he had said. Ryan placed his sandwich on a plate and sat down in the chair next to his wife at the table.

"What's going on?" He asked casually.

"Just finishing up my article for the paper," she responded, leaning in to kiss him. "You're never home at this time on a weekday. It's usually just me, flapjacks and Oprah," she smiled as he kissed her again. "This is nice," she replied breathily as he parted their lips again.

"It is nice," he smiled. His breath was warm on her face, which was still close to his. "I'm not losing you to Oprah, am I?"

"Never," she giggled.

---
The next morning, Aaron drove the Range Rover to school. He found a decent spot in the student lot, slung his backpack over his well-dressed shoulder, and walked in through the doors closest to Amanda's locker. He glanced down at his watch. He still had twenty minutes before classes started, he figured he'd have just enough time. There were a few people in the halls, but it was early yet.

Stopping in front of locker number 678, Aaron set down his bag and kneeled to unzip it. He knew the combination by heart, he'd seen her do it so many times over the past few months. Plus, he'd been watching extra carefully the last few times to make sure he had it right. He spun the lock, 15 left, 20 right and back to 0. The handle lifted, and the door opened without issue. Inside he placed a bouquet of flowers, a card and one of those semi cheesy, "Happy Birthday" balloons filled with helium. He surveyed the scene, and when satisfied, he shut the door.

"Hey Aaron," came a familiar voice from behind him. It was his friend, Dave. Dave was tall, an average sized guy – not stick thin like most high school guys and not too big either. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He a fellow football player, fairly popular, surprisingly intelligent, and recently, a pretty decent friend of Aaron's. They also had first period Bio together.

"Hey, Dave."

"So, today is the big day, huh?"

"Well, actually Saturday is the big day but today is Amanda's actual birthday so I figured I'd do a little something for her today as well. I just worry about Saturday."

"It should be an awesome concert, so I wouldn't worry about that."

"It's not the concert I'm worried about. I just don't know if she'll say yes, ya know?"

"Dude, of course she will. She's totally into you. You don't even have to lead off with asking her. Just lean in and kiss her, she can take a hint. Then she'll bring it up."

"I don't know, we'll see."

"Are you gonna stick around and see her open the locker?" Dave asked, pointing to the silver metal wall of lockers.

"Well, mine's not too far down," he pointed. "So, I think I might just hang out there for a few minutes. She should be here soon. She's on time for classes and what not." He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes to class. Aaron noticed that there were suddenly more people around. "Wanna help me make it look convincing?"

"Sure," Dave replied. The pair walked down the fall about twenty feet and crossed to the other side, where Aaron spun out his own combination and began changing books out from his bag. "Did you score your license yesterday?"

"Yeah, it was no big deal. Drove the Range Rover today. It's in the lot out back. I'm glad to have it. Makes taking Amanda out a lot easier now that I don't have to depend on Ryan and Taylor all the time."

"You got a pretty sweet deal with those two, Aaron. What I wouldn't give to be in your place. I mean, my folks are cool and all, but yours are pretty much loaded." Aaron rolled his eyes.

"They've done a lot for me, no doubt. I don't think about how "loaded" they are. It's not like I'm gonna rob them or something. They are much better parents than my actual parents ever were."

"Isn't that weird? Do you ever miss them?" Aaron was started to get a little weirded out by Dave's fairly emotional questions. He was almost as bad as Gracie, but he answered anyway.

"It's been quite a ride. I still don't call them mom and dad to their faces. Mostly because I just don't know how appropriate that is. It still feels a little awkward. I don't know if that will ever change, ya know?" Aaron spotted Amanda entering the doors out of the corner of his eye. "As for my actual parents," Aaron sighed, placing a book into his locker and zipping his backpack up, "I wish I could say I cared. My Mom ran out on me, and my Dad never cared and thought I was a total screw up. Maybe I was, but the Atwood's see something more in me. They've helped me a lot. I'm grateful."

"That's cool," Dave replied. Aaron eyed Amanda as she had just arrived at her locker.

"Well, you're lady awaits," he added. "I'm gonna go turn my bio paper in and leave you two alone," he smiled knowingly.

"Thanks. See you in class," Aaron replied. At that precise moment, Amanda spun the last number on her lock and opened the door, revealing the surprise. She let out and audible sound. It wasn't a shriek, or a gasp, per se but it was some noise of surprise. She picked up the flowers and smelled them. A smile spread across her face. They were her favorites, pink carnations. She looked around, having not yet read the card, wondering who these were from. Dave walked away, revealing Aaron standing at his locker.

He smiled. She knew. Aaron made his way over, trying not to be too obvious about it, for fear that she still did not know.

"Did you really do this?" Amanda asked, holding her flowers adoringly.

"I might have," he replied coyly with a smile. "Happy Birthday, Amanda."

"Thank you!!" She smiled and suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a hug. A bit surprised by the gesture, Aaron quickly caught up to her embrace. She lingered a moment, then a moment longer and pulled back slowly. Aaron made a mental note of the length of the hug. It was encouraging. "These are beautiful, Aaron. You have no idea what this means to me. I didn't expect anyone at school to remember. My parents barely remember or do anything to celebrate."

"You're welcome. How could I not? It's one special day a year, just for you."

"Oh, that reminds me, did you get your license yesterday?"

"Yep," he nodded with a smile.

"Congratulations."

"Which is why, this is possible," he said, pulling out a small white envelope from his coat pocket and handing it to her.

"What's all this?" She asked as she opened the envelope. Her eyes moved from left to right as she read the tickets. "Tickets," she murmured. "You bought Dashboard tickets?! Oh my god, Aaron!" Her eyes lit up and yet another smile crossed her face. She looked up at him and he felt another hug coming on. Indeed he was correct. He was prepared this time. "This is amazing, Aaron. You know I love them! I heard they were in town, and I was bummed that I wasn't going to get to see them because I didn't have anyone to go with."

"Well, now you do. That is if you want to go with me," he added.

"Of course, I do, Aaron." She seemed genuinely happy and excited. For that, Aaron was glad. "I should probably get going to first period Spanish though," she sighed.

"Yeah, I've gotta head up to Bio."

"I'll see you at lunch?" She asked, shutting her locker door and gathering up her bag and flowers.

"Of course," Aaron replied.

She brushed past him towards her class and momentarily caught his hand. Her touch was so gentle, he wasn't sure that she meant to be doing it. "Thanks again for the flowers. They're gorgeous." The pressure of her hand increased, her eyes brightened and she walked off to her class.

---
The two days of waiting between Thursday and Saturday night were, in Aaron's opinion, dragging on endlessly. Thankfully, Aaron had agreed to help Ryan paint the newly repurposed nursery on Saturday morning. They got up early and began the work. It was to be a surprise to Taylor.

A few minutes before noon, Taylor came padding in to see where her husband had gone so early. When she entered the room, she saw them both painting diligently, and they seemed to be discussing something about Amanda. Ryan was wearing a pair of old, torn jeans and a paint covered t-shirt. She thought he looked especially rugged and if Aaron wouldn't have been there, she would have told him so. Maybe done a bit more. Aaron had pulled out a wife beater, something she hadn't seen him wear since he came to stay with them. It brought back memories.

"Hi," she quietly interjected.

"Hey, honey. Surprise!"

"That shade of pink is lovely, Ryan. I love it." Aaron smiled and continued painting.

"I knew this was one of the last things that needed to be done since all the furniture and toys are on their way over tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said leaning in to kiss him. She grasped his shirt tightly and whispered in his ear. "You should dress like this more often. Suits are good, but you're looking mighty manly right now, Mr. Atwood." The tension between them was palpable. In a good way. Ryan wrapped his arm around her and roughly brought her close to him. He kissed her mouth hard. He broke the kiss and his eyes did the talking that he couldn't do.

"Go on, now. Get out of here and let the men finish this up. Besides, the paint fumes aren't good for the baby." Ryan smiled and Taylor smiled back.

---
Aaron and Amanda arrived at the concert venue and parked a few blocks down. Their twenty minute drive had been somewhat quiet, but pleasant enough. They had listened to a mix CD of Amanda's favorite Dashboard Confessional songs to get Aaron acquainted with them. He decided that they were pretty decent. However, he was just glad to be there with her.

Now, they were waiting inside the event center for the concert to start. There was about an hour now, so Aaron had ordered Cokes for them and they sitting at a table in the back drinking them and talking about school and what Amanda had done with her family for her birthday.

"You know, I'm really glad you're here with me," Amanda smiled.

"I'm glad you're glad," he replied. Immediately he hated that that was his response, but it was out there. The two just sat there a moment or two. Amanda took a sip from her drink and looked up coyly, straw still in her mouth.

"What?" She giggled as he looked at her. "What?" She demanded again playfully.

"You look amazing, tonight. That's all." He smiled, and leaned forward onto the table.

"Well, it's nothing much," she stopped herself. She realized she needed to learn when to take a compliment. "Thanks," she blushed, moving a bit closer to him herself. Perhaps unconsciously, perhaps not.

The two continued silently for a moment, neither really moving, both transfixed on the other. Slowly, Aaron leaned forward. He lingered a moment, his lips dangerously near Amanda's. She didn't say a word but the look in her eyes encouraged him. He closed his eyes and caught her lips with his. To his relief, she kissed back. Moments later, they both pulled back a little, still wrapped up in the moment. Though it was brief, there was no denying that the kiss had changed this night and their relationship forever.

"I ----" Aaron began.

"Shh," Amanda raised a finger to his lips to stop him. "It's okay. I know. I've known. Let's just have fun, tonight. Okay?" Aaron was relieved as she said these words and as she pressed her lips to his again. "Let's get a good spot," she said standing up and offering her hand to him. He took it, lacing his fingers through hers, with a smile and the two walked – hand in hand – towards the stage.

---
AN: For the uninitiated, For You to Notice is the title of a Dashboard Confessional song.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I felt we really needed to start seeing Aaron's life outside of the home more than we had. I wanted to introduce Amanda officially and get their relationship off the ground. I'm sorry it's not more Taylor/Ryan-centric but there will be plenty of time for that soon enough with the baby on the way.

I leave Thursday, for Ireland for the entire month of January (taking a "class" and traveling there), so I won't be able to update for a while. However, please, please, PLEASE review if you are reading and let me know what you think, etc. I know that many more people are reading than reviewing and I'd like to hear more thoughts than I'm already getting. Thanks again for sticking with the story!!