It was five o'clock on the dot as I pulled up into the driveway of Carter's apartment building. I walked up to his door, grinning like a little girl all the way. Sometimes I felt like I ought to pinch myself, the way my life had been going lately. There hadn't been any new problems with my family, Maggie was doing great- and I had the best boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. When I think about all the times he could have left, all the times I tried to push him away, I- well, I know I'm incredibly lucky that he's still here. I rang his doorbell, and he answered right away.

            "Ready to go?" I asked.

            "You bet," he answered. "I'll be out in one second. I just have to get my- uh, my keys.

* * *

            "I just have to get my- uh, my keys," I heard myself say. Nice, John, I thought to myself. Let's forget the ring, since the whole point of this trip is that I'm going to propose. I walked quickly into my bedroom, and opened up the bottom drawer of my dresser. There, in the same place it had been for the past five months, was the ring my Gamma had given to me. "Give it, or don't, to whomever you choose," she had said. Well, Gamma, I'm choosing Abby. I love her, and I can't even begin to imagine being with anyone else. All I can do now is hope that she feels the same.

            "Okay, let's go," I said as I walked back to the door. Abby smiled up at me as I gave her a quick kiss, then put my arm around her and strode to my car.

* * *

            "Are you sure this car's gonna make it out to this cabin? You know, it doesn't exactly have the best track record for staying together," I teased Carter.

            "Are you trying to say my jeep's a piece of crap?" he replied.

            "Wait, now, I didn't say that. Don't you go twisting my words around!"

            "Yeah, yeah, I see how it is."

            "Whatever, Carter. As long as it gets us there and back, I'm good," I told him.

            "Back? Who said anything about back? It'll get us there, but, who knows, we may just get stuck there for a while." We both laughed, but secretly I thought that being stuck in a cabin with Carter for a while might not be so bad at all.

            "At least this road trip, I get to be alone with you," he added. This road trip, I thought? What other road trip was there? Then I suddenly remembered- my mother, Oklahoma…and Rena and Luka, our respective then-significant others.

            "Oh, being in a car with Maggie for 20 hours wasn't your idea of fun, either?" I asked.

            "I don't know, it wasn't so bad. I mean, I did get to be with you for 20 hours too."

            "Shouldn't you have been more concerned with Rena at the time?"

            "Probably. I think she knew that too. So did Susan- both of those relationships ended because of you. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing," he added quickly.

            "I guess I really am a homewrecker, huh?" I teased.

            "Yeah, I guess so," he teased back.

* * *

            "I think we need some music on," Abby said.

            "What, I'm not interesting enough to keep your attention for a couple of hours?" I remarked. She laughed, and fiddled with the radio knob.

            "Ooh, I love this song," she squealed.

            "Oh, no," I mock groaned. "This doesn't mean you're going to start singing again, does it?" Of course, she promptly stuck her tongue out at me and turned the song up.

            "I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held on to…" she sang. Suddenly I gasped.

            "What?" she asked. "Is my singing really that bad?"

            "No, no, it's just…don't you remember?"

            "Remember what?" she asked, looking at me quizzically.

            "We-we danced to this song. Remember, that benefit thing I drug you to a couple of years ago?"

            "Oh, yeah, now I remember." She smiled softly. "That was a really fun night, actually."

            "Especially with all the illegal tire popping," I kidded her. She grinned, then leaned over and gave me a big kiss.

            "What was that for?" I asked, pleasantly surprised.

            "Everything." She shook her head, then added, "I love you, Carter." Yeah, I thought to myself, this is definitely who I want to spend the rest of my life with.