Friday morning is when Auggie decided he wanted to sit mom down to talk to her about his future. We all listened to him talk about his plan. My dad and I supported him instantly, however, my mom took a little more convincing. As soon as she sees some of the pictures he's taken, her eyes widen in amazement. She couldn't believe that he was this talented with a camera in his hand.

The rest of our Friday, none of us wanted to go out with it being the Friday after Thanksgiving and places being crowded. We wanted to enjoy a quiet night in, so we decided to have a family game night and play monopoly. However, my mom's competitive nature with mine did not make for a quiet night.

Auggie never liked playing because he said it took an unnecessarily long, so it wasn't a surprise after two hours of playing he quit and went up to his room. Monopoly can be an intense game, especially when you have two people like my mother and I playing against each other. My dad played the mediator throughout the night to make sure things didn't do too far. The three of us played until midnight. We had to call it a night because of Nathan's game in the morning.

When we get to the football field the game had already started, we scan the bleachers for Nathan's parents. It takes a minute or two to find them waving frantically at us.

"Nathan is going to be so happy to see you guys," Jessica says as we take our seats next to them.

"We told him we'd be here. Sorry that we're late. We had a hard time getting someone up," I look at Auggie.

Jessica and Michael laugh, "We know what you mean. We practically need to drag Nathan out of bed by his feet to get him up," Jessica says.

My dad looks at into the field, "Speaking of Nathan, what number is he?"

Jessica, Michael and I scan the field, "He's number 47. Right there," I point to the right side of the field.

I try to keep my focus on the game at hand, but mind is elsewhere. I'm looking for a certain someone. This is where I told Farkle to tell Lucas to meet me. He can make it a little before half time if he comes here straight from the airport. Maybe it wasn't the greatest idea since he'd have to carry his luggage around with him.

Throughout the first quarter, we all cheer for Nathan on. He gets benched for the second quarter to give other players a chance to play. I've been to many of his games. He'll play the first quarter sit the second, and come back in during the end of third and finish the game. During the time, he isn't playing, I keep pulling my phone out from my coat pocket to see if I have any new texts or calls from Lucas, but I don't. Nathan's team is down by a touchdown when halftime rolls around. Auggie leaves to go get something from the snack bar, and my parents and Michael and Jessica go down to the field to go say hi to Nathan.

I don't leave the bleachers; I stay in my seat looking over everything. Shouldn't he have been here by now? I pull out my phone to look at the time. It's been an hour and a half since his flight landed if he made it.

"Are you waiting for a call from someone or something? You've been checking your phone like clockworks," my dad says climbing the bleachers back to me with the others right behind him.

I smile and look at my mom who is already looking at me smiling. Michael, Jessica, and Auggie are confused, but my dad catches on and smiles too. "Lucas," he whispers and I nod.

They get settled in their seats on the bench. Time continues to go by, and still no sigh of him. I look up and see Nathan's head keep turning in the direction of the other team's cheerleaders. I nudge Jessica who is sitting next to me.

"Did he get a flower?" I whisper just for her to hear.

She smiles, "Yes, he has it in his bag. I told him let me hold it, so it doesn't get smashed. But he insisted on keeping it close to him. Do you know who it's for?"

I look at her, "You don't know?" she shakes her head. I let out a small laugh, "Just watch him and look wherever he looks."

Jessica turns her attention to the field and keeps her eyes on Nathan. I watch as she turns her head slightly every time she turns her head every time he does. Her eyes widen after a few minutes of following his gaze. She turns to Michael to whisper something in his ear, and they look at each other and smile.

"You know who the girl is don't you?" I whisper leaning over to them.

Michael clears her throat, "Her name is Ellen. She was in the same foster home as Nathan when we adopted him. When we first brought him home, he cried because he missed one of his friends. After a few days of nothing being able to calm him, we went back to see if adopting the other child was a possibility," my eyes widen, I didn't know any of this. "But she was adopted a day after Nathan, we tried to get information but they couldn't tell us anything. It was hard on him for a couple of months."

"But this school year," Jessica starts talking, "he said that his class had a new student this year, and her name was Ellen. His attitude changed. He was always so happy to go to school and after he was like in a daze. He only mentioned her name a few times though." She looks back at the field and at Nathan who was putting his helmet on to take the field. She smiles, "Some people are just meant to be in your life. They spent years apart, and now they are back in each other lives."

I can't help the smile that consumes my face. The three of us turn our focus back to the field to see Nathan run out. I look at parents and Auggie who are watching the game and back at Michael and Jessica who are having the same. To think the six of us, seven with Nathan, could have been together if I didn't keep secrets.

We all scream and shout when Nathan's team scores a touchdown, tying up the game. The energy amongst the boys is high as well as the fans. They want to win this game, this is their rival team. It's still tied by the time the fourth quarter comes. My eyes follow as the boys run the ball, but stop as soon as they land on him and I can feel my heart rate quicken with excitement. He looks flawless.

Lucas eyes sweep through the bleachers, and I wait for them to land on me. It takes him a minute, but his eyes land on mine. A smile that makes me melt on the inside spreads across his lips and I return it.

"Is that Lucas?" my dad says loud enough for all of us to hear. I'm too focused on Lucas to reply to him.

My mom nudges me, "Go to him," she smiles.

"It's about time. You've been smiling at your phone the whole time I've been here. It was kind of sickening to watch," Auggie teases.

"You mean the way you smile at your phone when you text Ava," I tease back. He rolls his eyes.

"Wait, that's Lucas?" Jessica asks wide eyed. I nod. "He came into our café not too long after you had Hope. It was when you had let her adopt her. I remember him because he was in complete awe with her, and I couldn't help but notice his eyes and how Hope's eyes looked remarkably like his." I can't help the tears that start to well up in my eyes.

"He asked if he could hold her. I don't know why, but I felt like he needed to hold her. The way he looked at her my god, you would have thought Hope was his daughter," Jessica smiles and grabs one of my hands as my mom grabs my other. "Lucas met Hope."

"He met his daughter," I smiled through my tears. Lucas looks at me and I keep my smile.

"Go to him," my mom whispers.

I slowly rise from my seat and maneuver through the people. My heart feels like it going to jump out of my chest the closer I get. As soon as I'm in reach of him, he grabs me and pulls me close with one arm. I fit perfectly against his body, this is where I belong. It's where I've always belonged.

He pulls away slightly and I do the same. His green eyes lock with my brown orbs. He starts to lean in, but gets startled when the crowd starts to cheer and immediately pulls back. We look out into the field, and I can see number 47 jumping around in excitement.

I turn my attention back to Lucas, and he slowly turns back to me. Before I lose the nerve, I take his face between the two of my hands and press my lips against his. I try to pull away but he deepens the kiss and I melt into it. This is what I've been waiting for.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he says when he pulls away. "I went to go get these for you," he pulls out a small bouquet of roses from behind his back.

"I see you went to get her flowers," a voice says approaching us. I follow the direction of the voice and see Nathan approaching us. He looks at me, "He was here when I was on the bench. I got up to get something to drink and bumped into him. He told me sorry he wasn't paying attention, but the whole time he wasn't even looking at me. I looked to where he was looking and saw you. So, I told him what you told me, girls like flowers." I look at Lucas who is already looking at me smiling. "I told him to get you flowers if he wanted you to like him."

I can't help the smile that escapes from my lips, "Thank you, Nathan," I smile. "Nathan this is Lucas, and Lucas this is Nathan."

"Nice to meet you," Lucas holds out his hand and Nathan takes it in his.

Nathan turns to me, "Is he the reason you've been happier since you came back from New York?" I nod my head. "Well I guess he is okay then," he teases.

I laugh, "Good job out there! You did great!" I say holding my hand out for a high five. "Are you going to give her that flower now?" He nods, but doesn't move. "What's wrong?"

"What is she doesn't like me?"

I open my mouth, but Lucas beats me to it, "I was scared too when I first gave Riley here a flower, but I'm glad I did. You won't know if she does until you try."

"What he said." I still see that he is hesitant. "It'll be okay. I'll be here, and look," I gesture to Jessica and Michael who are making their way down with everyone else behind them, "they are here too. But from what I hear you've known her since you were little."

He nods and a smile exudes from his face, "I'm going to do it."

We watch him walk away. Lucas clears his throat and I look at him. "Why did you want me to meet you here at out of all places."

"Because I wanted you to see that," I gesture to Nathan as he walks over to the cheerleader that he is smitten with.

"Why?" he smiles.

"Just watch."

I look behind me and I see the rest of them giving me and Lucas our space. I turn back just as Nathan reaches Ellen. I see him holding a white daisy behind his back. I grab Lucas by his hand and pull him so we can stand in a place so we can see both kids' faces.

I can feel Lucas' gaze on me, but I nod my head in the direction of the young boy and girl. We can't hear what they are saying, but we can see the smiles the explodes from both their faces. We see the nerves on the Nathan's face and the smile that won't go away on Ellen's. He nervously and slowly pulls his hand from behind his back, and this makes her eyes shine. I can't help the smile that starts to form on my face as she leans in and hugs him tight.

"The expression on his face was the same one you hand when you first gave me a flower." I look at him and he is smiling. "The day that we all had detention in 7th grade with Missy, you walked me home. The whole way we didn't say much. I don't know if it was nerves, but to be honest even in the silence I felt comfortable around you. When we were outside my building, you decided to talk. You asked what should you do for a girl to show you that you liked her. I'll admit I was a little heartbroken because I assumed that you were talking about Missy."

He smiles at me and it makes my heart flutter, "I was talking about you."

I laugh, "I didn't know that then, but I told you to give her a flower because girls like flower. Well when we had our school play that Farkle ruined, after the halls were empty and it was just you and I you came up to me. I remember being so incredibly nervous. You were talking so fast I was barely able to keep up with what you were saying."

Lucas starts laughing, "I was nervous."

"So was I!" we laugh. "You pulled out a purple dyed daisy from behind your back, and you tried to say something but you were stuttering so much the words weren't making sense," we both starting laughing. "Instead of trying to finish what you wanted to say, you just handed the flower to me and-"

"And your eyes twinkled the way the little girl's eye did. You had the same smile," he stepped closer taking both my hands in his. "I was trying to say this is my way of telling you I liked you."

I smile at him, "I wanted to share this with you. Watching a little boy that I am very fond of basically recreating a moment you and I shared."

He smiles coyly at me, "You were always such a romantic."

"Only with you," I capture his lips with mine. I reluctantly pull away, "I want you to meet some important people to me, and then I want to take you somewhere special."

We walk hand and hand to where they were all standing. My heart quickens with every step with the way my hand feels in his.

"Hi Mr. Matthews and Mrs. Matthews," he gives them both hugs. "Hey Aug," him and Auggie do a handshake that they made up.

Jessica and Michael turn the attention away from Nathan and Ellen to me and Lucas.

"Lucas this is Michael, Michael this is Lucas." I watch as the shake hands.

Lucas' shift his gaze to Jessica and his eyes widen, "I know you. I met you years ago, right?"

Jessica nods and smiles, "I'm Jessica," she holds out her hand and Lucas takes it.

"I'm Lucas." He looks like he is searching to find where he knows her. "Where do I know you from?"

I clear my throat, "I can explain that, but not here. I want to take you somewhere. Will you come with me?"

"I'll follow you anywhere, Riley."