Ruthie moved around frantically looking for something to wear on her date. She had told her parents about her and Martin earlier and at first they weren't too thrilled but after awhile they liked the idea of them together. Nothing looked right for tonight, she sighed sitting on her bed. She had 30 minutes to get ready and she had nothing to wear.

"Need some help?" Lucy asked looking at the mess that Ruthie made.

"Yes." 5 minutes later Lucy had picked out the perfect outfit. Ruthie just starred at her sister in amazement. "I love you and thank you."

"I love you too; now go get ready for your big date." Ruthie rushed to change and finished getting with 5 minutes to spare and then on cue Lucy and her mother were at her door.

"You look great Ruthie."

"Thanks mom."

"So where are you and Martin headed?"

"We're going out to dinner."

"That should be fun."

Downstairs

Martin grabbed the door handle not even bothering to knock because the Camdens had told him that he could just come in.

"Hello Martin."

"Hey Mr. Camden."

"So where are you and Ruthie headed?"

"Dinner and ice cream afterwards."

"No later than 11."

"Of course sir, Ruthie will be home before curfew." Just then Ruthie appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Martin looked at her and she was absolutely beautiful. He grabbed his jacket and they left. When they got into the car Martin leaned over and kissed Ruthie sending shivers down her spine. She loved being with Martin and he loved being with her. Neither of them was thinking about what was going to happen when Martin had to go back to school. They were too busy enjoying what time they had together. They got a table at Pete's and saw Mac and Megan sitting just a few feet away making out for everyone to see.

"So do we invite them to join us?" Martin asked looking in their direction.

"No let them have some time alone." The waitress took their orders and they talked a little but much before their food came.

"So what's going to happen when you have to go back to school?" Ruthie asked biting her lip fearing the worst.

"I'm not gonna break up with you if that's what you're thinking." Martin took a sip from his drink.

"I wasn't thinking that." Ruthie said defensively.

"Yes you are, you're afraid that I'm gonna go back to school and find someone better than you, but trust me when I say this, there is no one better than you." He looked deep into her eyes as she smiled. "You see Lindsey broke up with me because she saw you as competition. The minute I boarded the plane to go to school I had feelings for you and I think that they were there the whole time but we lived together so we pretended like there was nothing there but there was."

"I know."

"So see? Nothing will tear us apart; this relationship has been in the work for almost 2 years."

"Yeah but how are you going to handle not seeing me for a long time?"

"Just how Mac does, I mean he's been faithful for 5 months after only dating Megan for 2 weeks."

"And how does Mac do it?"

"By being more concerned with school and baseball than girls. I mean I did it for 3 months until I met Lindsey." At the mention of her name Ruthie's smile disappeared. She didn't like the fact that Martin had had a girlfriend and was happy while Ruthie sat at home every night thinking of him hoping he would call. Martin saw Ruthie's smile disappear when he said her name and he didn't think she was that jealous. "Were you jealous of Lindsey?" He asked with a smile spread across his face.

"I just didn't like the fact that the guy I liked was going out with someone who was probably prettier, smarter, and older than me and if that makes me jealous then fine I was jealous. I mean while you were playing baseball and going out with Lindsey I was sitting at home praying that you would call because I couldn't like or date anyone else for that matter because I couldn't stop thinking about you and I couldn't hang out with Megan because all she talked about was Mac and every time she brought him up it further rubbed it in that you didn't like me." She looked away from Martin blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"Ruthie don't cry." He got up and sat next to her. "I more than like you." She looked at him as he looked deep into her eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"Truth?"

"That would be nice."

"I don't know what I'm saying, my heart's doing all the talking." She knew exactly what he was trying to say but he couldn't find the right words.

"I love you too Martin." His smile grew as she kissed him. He finally had the right words to say it.

"I love you." They just sat there in silence with Martin's arm around her shoulders. Martin looked at his watch to see that they had been sitting at Pete's for 3 hours. It was already 10:30 and Ruthie had to be home in 30 minutes.

"Hey let's get some ice cream on the way home."

"Okay." He grabbed her hand as they headed to get some ice cream. They made it to the house with 10 minutes to spare. They walked in the house and sat in the living room watching TV and eating their ice cream. Ruthie was glad that she and Martin had sorted things out and that they could just hang out without even talking to each other to have a good time.

"Hey I'm gonna go." He said getting up and heading to the door with her close behind him.

"Okay." She opened the door and they just stood there smiling at each other. He leaned in to kiss her as she said, "I love you." They kissed for a while before Annie came to check on them.

"Did you two have fun?"

"Yes mother we had fun."

"Good night Mrs. Camden, Ruthie."

"I love you." She mouthed as he walked away.

"I love you too." She blew him a kiss as he walked back to his house preparing to tell Mac everything that had happened on their first date. He walked into the house and it was too quiet and Martin got the sense that something was wrong.