A/N You guys are awesome! I love all of my reviews. You guys seriously have no idea how much they mean to me. And unless you were in my place, maybe you can't understand my need to be told that I'm actually worth something. No, my depression is not completely gone…and that's part of why I took five days to update instead of one or two. Lately I've just been feeling really angry at everything and everyone, especially myself, and when I'm like that, I can't write fluff…only tragedy. And right now I needed to write fluff. Today my grandma is going to the Cardiologist and that makes me really nervous cause her heart isn't doing really good right now. So I just sat down at the computer and started writing. I hope you like it. The song used is, Wouldn't It Be Nice? by The Beach Boys. And I couldn't help but put the last line in. It gives you guys something to think about. R/R, enjoy!

I'd have to say that my favorite part of making love to Ryan is actually right afterwards, when we cuddle together. There are no raging hormones, no one to please, just me and Ryan together with all of our problems aside. It's almost like we're in this little world of our own, the rest of the inhabitants on the planet nonexistent. I don't have to worry about reaching expectations from my mom, avoiding Steve, forging an awkward relationship with my dad, pretending to be interested with Summer, or worry about doing the right thing with Ryan. Instead it's Ryan and I staring into each other's eyes, the candles lit, our bodies pressed tightly against each other. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect moment.

Ryan and I lay there under the covers of his bed, his arms snugly placed around my naked body, my head rested on his bare chest. I listen to his heartbeat, calm and steady, and let myself smile largely. One of Ryan's hands runs through my hair tenderly, making me feel completely relaxed and at ease. After about ten minutes of just laying like that, I turn my head so that Ryan can see my face and he smiles lazily at me. "You are…" He murmurs, trailing off. By the way his eyes stare off, I know he's trying to find the right words to convey how he's feeling. He looks back into my eyes and softly says, "You are amazing…do you know that?"

I smile and whisper, "You're not so bad yourself…" He grins, earning himself a kiss. Our lips meet sweetly and then I pull back and murmur, "Actually…you're perfect." I stare deeply into his eyes like he always does to mine, trying to make him feel my love for him. "And I couldn't have asked for a better first time with you." I tuck some of my hair behind my ear, and then lean in and kiss him gently, climbing completely on top of him. We make love once again, and then fall asleep contently in each other's arms.

Wouldnt it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldnt have to wait so long
And wouldnt it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong

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I awoke the next morning to the sounds of a shower running. I try to remember where I am and what happened, then slowly the night's events creep into my mind and I smile to myself. I sigh as I look at the empty room, disappointed that I didn't get to wake up in Ryan's arms. Regardless, I get up, pulling the sheet around me, and go to the bathroom. I turn on the faucet and grab the toothbrush Ryan had bought me, then brush my teeth. I spit out, then rinse my mouth. When I'm done with that, I glance at the shower, seeing through the clear shower, getting a peak at naked Ryan through all the steam. I consider going into the shower with him, then shake my head to myself and go back to the bed. I may be ready to make love with Ryan, but I'm not ready for hot shower sex just yet. One step at time.

A few minutes later I hear the water go off, and anxiously await Ryan's arrival. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep, wanting to see what he'll do. I hear the door open, and then footsteps. The next thing I know, Ryan's in bed, wrapping his arms around me. He kisses my back, then my neck, and then I finally turn around and smile, staring into his eyes. "Good morning," he murmurs, leaning in and kissing me tenderly on the mouth. The butterflies in my stomach return, and I shiver slightly from all the feelings evoked by just that small kiss.

He pulls back and looks into my eyes lovingly. I lean in and peck his lips once again, then kiss his chest and cuddle against him. I sigh happily and close my eyes, getting lost in this moment. After a few minutes I softly say, "I love you." I turn and look into his eyes, those sparkling crystal blue eyes of his, and it amazes me how just one look can effect me. I wonder if this is what you're supposed to live for, this feeling. Are we put through hell so that when we do find love, it makes our life worthwhile? Or are we all just randomly given a stack of cards, and if you play them right, then you get to have this amazingly strong connection with someone?

"I know," He whispers gently, leaning in and letting our noses graze. "And I love you too." His lips against mine are soft and gentle, yet passionate. He climbs on top of me, but supports himself so I don't feel any of his weight, and continues our amazing kiss. "No regrets?" he murmurs, pulling back and staring into my eyes, searching for something that shows I don't want this. How can he seriously think I would regret anything with him?

I shake my head. "No, no regrets," I reply quietly. My hands rake through his hair gently as we stare at each other, and it causes him to grin happily at me. We're both quiet, content with the silence, but then I break it by asking, "So what are we going to do today? I really, really want to go to the beach."

He laughs and rolls his eyes, moving so that he's laying next to me instead of on top of me. I take one of his hands and start to play with it, tracing the lines on his palm. "You are very predictable sometimes," He says through his laughter. He nods, answering my question. "We can go to the beach if you want to."

I smile happily. "I love the beach, and I need to work on my tan."

He shakes his head and says, "No, you don't. You are completely perfect the way you are." I blush slightly, feeling the heat creep to my cheeks, and his eyes sparkle from my obvious embarrassment. He decides to keep going, seeing how uncomfortable he can make me. "Not to mention you are amazing in bed…" Now I can't look at him, I'm so red. I turn and stare at the wall, shrugging slightly. He leans down and places feather light kisses along my collar bone. "And there's also the fact that your body is completely indescribable." He turns my face so that I'm staring into his eyes and whispers, "Then, of course, you're adorable when you blush." His lips press against mine, and suddenly all of my embarrassment vanishes, left with a growing desire.

You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

I pull back from the kiss, and untangle myself from his arms. Ryan groans frustratedly and I smirk, getting off of the bed, still completely naked. I pick up a shirt of Ryan's and put it over my head, causing an even larger groan. "What?" I ask innocently.

He glares at me and says, "Way to ruin the mood."

I giggle and walk over to him, leaning in and touching my lips against his softly. "I have to get ready for the beach. There's plenty of time for other activities later."

"What if I want the other activities now?" he asks, trying to pull me back to the bed.

I laugh and pull away from his lips. "I guess you'll just have to wait." I wink at him, walking over to my bag. "So, I need to choose a bikini," I say, glancing over at him.

He shrugs and says, "Wear the red one."

I shake my head and say, "I didn't bring it though. So you have to choose from these two." I pull out a yellow one, and then a dark blue one, about the same color as his eyes when he gets very…er…happy. I take off the shirt of his that I'm wearing and his eyes go wide. I try to keep a straight face as I hold one up to my body. "Does this look good?" I ask him innocently.

He nods enthusiastically and huskily says, "Yeah."

I take that one away from my body and he swallows hard at my naked body on display in front of him. I walk a little closer to him and ask, "Or is this one better?" I hold the blue up to my body, and he stares at me for a minute, his eyes scanning my almost naked body.

"Hmm, the blue one, definitely," He says, looking up at my face. I put on the top of the blue one and Ryan pulls me over to his body, sitting me on his lap. I feel just how much he loves my bikini right now. I giggle and he says, "But I think you should take it off now…"

"Oh really?" I ask, a few small giggles escaping my mouth.

He nods and pulls down the straps so that he can see my breasts. He grins, then looks up into my eyes. "Yeah, you won't be needing it, believe me…"

Wouldnt it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through

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A while later, Ryan and I are walking down the pier, balboa bars in hand. After making love once again in the pool house, we had gone to the beach as planned, then decided to walk on the pier. We both finish our ice cream and throw away the stick. Ryan reaches for my hand and laces our fingers together. I lean my head on his shoulder, smiling to myself at everything this past day. Everything had worked so perfectly that it made me wonder if my bad luck was officially over. Maybe I would get that happy ending I'd been longing for after all.

"Big or small wedding?" I ask Ryan after a long, comfortable silence. I turn and look at him, wanting to judge his reaction. Would he get freaked out and changed the subject? Would he just shrug and ignore me? I know he loves me, and he may have picked 'our song,' but that didn't mean that he was ready just yet to talk about marriage. Just because he gave me a promise ring doesn't mean that he's ready to talk about a set in stone arrangement.

He shrugs and says, "Um…I've never really thought about it." He glances over at me, and must see some kind of disappointment in my eyes because he quickly adds, "Not that I don't want it…" I shrug, pretending like it doesn't care. He sighs and says, "I am a guy, after all. Guys don't plan weddings in their head."

I shrug once again and say, "I get it. I just asked you a simple question, you don't have to defend yourself." I glance at him and give a small smile.

He nods and smiles back. He stops and wraps his arms around me, leaning in rest his forehead against mine. My heart beat starts to increase, and he softly says, "Um, to answer your question….I'd like a small one. But it's completely up to you."

I raise my eyebrows and say, "You do realize that when we do in fact get engaged, you are going to help me plan it, right?"

He nods and murmurs, "I wouldn't have it any other way." His eyes gaze into mine, and suddenly I see it; our wedding. He's on the beach in a tux, and I'm walking down the aisle towards him in a simple yet stunning white dress. His eyes find mine, and the whole world suddenly disappears. He lifts the sides of his mouth into a small smile, meant for only me to see. I reach him, and take his hands, warm and soft, yet rough at the same time. Our eyes stay connected throughout the whole thing. I say something about him being my knight in shining armor, saving me when I didn't think I could possibly be saved. He speaks of how I completed his life and made him feel like he finally belonged, even though he supposedly had so many friends. We are pronounced husband and wife, and Ryan leans in and kisses me, murmuring something about me being Mrs. Atwood.

I come back to the present, on the pier, and see that Ryan's observing me thoughtfully, trying to see what I'm thinking. I nod and smile at him, finally touching my lips against his. After a minute, Ryan pulls back and I say, "I think that we should get married on the beach."

Happy times together weve been spending
I wish that every kiss was neverending
Wouldnt it be nice

He looks off into space, contemplating it in his mind, then smiles and turns to look at me again. "I think that's a good idea."

"I have no idea who all of my bride's maids would be though," I say with a frown.

We start to walk along together again and Ryan says, "Well, we have at least three years to think about it." I raise my eyebrows, amazed that Ryan would consider marrying me at such a young age. It's one thing to talk about it as if it was in the distant future, but actually setting a minimum limit on it is a totally different thing. Would I even want to get married right out of high school? I think about how much I love Ryan and decide that I would, as long as he wanted to. I'd go marry him now if I could, to make sure that nothing could ever come between us. He gets a serious face and says, "But there is one thing that we have to think about that is really, really important."

I look at him worriedly and ask, "What?"

"Our honeymoon," He says, breaking out into a smile. I roll my eyes and laugh. "What? It's a very serious subject," He jokes, defending himself.

"As long as I'm with you, we could be in the middle of the desert and I wouldn't care," I say honestly, not smiling so that he could see the seriousness in my eyes. He stops smiling and stares into my eyes lovingly, stopping us by the railing so that we don't bother people.

He leans in and softly kisses me, his lips showing me just how much he loves me. And without words, he tells me that he'd go anywhere that I want to go, anytime at all, as long as I'm there beside him. His tongue finds his way into my mouth, turning the kiss more passionate, and I wrap my arms around his neck tightly, never wanting to let go. His hands lightly touch my face, his fingertips feel like they're burning my skin. I pull back for air and he murmurs, "I can't wait until then. Until all this talk is for real."

I'm surprised that he'd come out and say that, but smile nonetheless. "I agree," I whisper, pecking his lips quickly.

"Just think about it, spending everyday together. We wouldn't have to worry about your mom and dad…" He smiles as he starts to dream about our life together. "We'd move into our own place, and I'd be an architect. I'd make sure you never have to work a day in your life. We'd have two children, a boy and a girl. We'd be the best parents ever." He looks into my eyes deeply and asks, "How does that sound?"

My heart soars at his words, at this wonderful life we could have together. "It sounds magical," I say softly. He nods. He kisses my lips, then my cheeks, forehead, my neck. I think of an assignment that we had to do when I was in the second grade. We were supposed to ask five people what word described us, and then make a poster or something out of it. My words had been cute, funny, adorable, loving, and cool. I wonder what Ryan would say about me. "Ryan?"

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldnt be a single thing we couldnt do
We could be married
And then wed be happy

"Hmm?" He murmurs into my neck, his hot breath sending shivers throughout my body.

"If you could use only one word to describe me, what would it be?" I ask quietly, curious yet nervous. What if he uses a totally cliché word? Or something that isn't serious? What if he thinks this is completely stupid?

He pulls back from my neck and looks out at the water behind me. He sighs and I see that he's thinking heavily. "I could say that you were beautiful," He starts, and I feel disappointed. "But that would be an understatement." He still looks out into the water and I smile, happy that he didn't use that. "I could say that you're adorable…" I frown again. "But that wouldn't suffice." I grin. "I could say that you're difficult, because you can be…" I roll my eyes. "But that again, wouldn't be good enough." He looks at me and smiles, his eyes shining with amusement. "If I had to choose one word in the whole world to describe you, it would be…mine."

Out of all the words in the entire universe he could've chosen, I don't think there could be a better fit.

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Wouldnt it be nice

After we make love that night, we lay together, our limbs all tangled together. We stared into each other's eyes for the longest time, not speaking, not even moving for the most part. In Ryan's eyes I find love in the purest form possible. He looked at me as if I was the reason for his existence, as if I was the most important person in the entire universe. His eyes told me so many things; that he loved me, that he couldn't believe I was actually here with him, that he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. As we stared into each other's eyes, our souls were speaking to each other. Everything was out there in the open, every ounce of love being transferred through one unbreakable gaze.

We turn on the TV after about a half our of just staring at each other, and I cuddle up with Ryan, both of us naked, but neither of us that embarrassed. I used his chest as my pillow and I watched as some guy came onto the screen wearing sunglasses. It sparked a sudden question and I asked, "Hey Ryan…why don't you wear sunglasses?"

"Because my mom would wear sunglasses when she was trying to hide how she really felt, and I don't want to be like her and hide my feelings to you," he said quietly. I turn and face him.

"I think you'd look sexy with sunglasses though," I say, trying to make him smile. He doesn't, and I quickly say, "I'm sorry…if it's a sore subject with you…"

He shakes his head and says, "It's fine. I just don't like sunglasses. The day you see me wearing them is the day that I lose hope in the world. That's what my mom did."

"I don't want that to ever happen," I say, barely audible.

He nods and says, "Neither do I."

I lean in and peck his lips lightly, then say, "Then it won't. Promise?"

He nods and says, "As long as you're with me, I won't lose my hope in the world. But without you…" He looks away from me and bitterly says, "Well, then, I have no reason to be here."

Of all his surprising comments, this one has to be the worst. It stings my heart to know that he would just give up if I wasn't there. But in the same situation, I have to wonder, would I give up too? Yes. "Don't speak that way."

"I can't help it," He states frustratedly.

"Hey.." I say, putting my hand on the side of his face. He looks into my eyes and I say, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" He asks.

I nod and say, "Yeah, I promise." At the time, I was completely sure.

You know what they say though…promises are meant to be broken.

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Wouldnt it be nice

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I don't feel like doing a certain reviewer of the chapter, so anyone can ask me anything this time.

Individual replies:

Juzzy88 - I'm glad you liked it.

Nichole - Thank you about my sister, and it is funny how we share that name. Spelled the same way too. And I'm glad that you thought chapter 24 was perfect.

girlz-rule - How can you not have read Twilight? Your sister hasn't pressured you to read it? So the weirdness of writing was paid off? Cool.

tegan - Why thank you.

francesfresh007 - I'm sure you're a good writer. And the author - AKA me - is in fact 14, and very happy that you think they're an incredible author.

newportz-princess - hehe, G, you caught that line! Yeah, the difference between me and her though is that my grandma gave me the thong (crazy woman), and I have not had sex…so there you go.

J7chick18 - I am glad you caught that. I don't think I could've made it more obvious for everyone, lol. Glad you commented on that.

sailaway - I see that you are very thankful, lol. I needed Seth to get out of the house, so he magically made friends. And I can assure you that you don't need to worry about Hallelujah being their wedding song because it's not a big deal. And I love it when you give me your long reviews, so you don't have to worry about that. I will tell you that Ryan's career for the Army (yes, US Army specifically) will be slightly different from the real guys', but it will have the overall same ending. For example, the real guy was in the Navy, but I just wanted it to be the Army. He will be in camp for a while, then he will be stationed elsewhere…out of country. Who knows where? Oh wait, I do! You'll just have to see how it all plays out.

najeda - I am very glad you liked it.

elly - I guess we'll have to see.

ry.and.riss.for.ever - Hehe, I love how you guys keep saying it's perfect. Really makes me more confident.

myRyRy - Why thank you, I happen to enjoy some of your stories too.