A/N: Thanks so much to sweets09 and hairspraygirl for the ideas for this chapter!
Chapter Nine:
Never Leave Me Without Love
Ten months later…
Penny stood in her doorway, silently surveying the stacks of clothing on her bed. Blouses…skirts…underthings…She bit her lip and rooted around under her pillow for the t-shirt.
It's college, she thought. I'll be able to come back and see him every weekend… just not every day, whenever I want him… whenever I miss him…
She grabbed the shirt, folded up, and placed it at the bottom of a stack of blouses.
Nodding with an air of satisfaction, she headed out of her room and to the front door to appease her Seaweed craving… but didn't quite get there, as she was pummeled by a hug from behind.
"MY BABY'S GOING TO COLLEGE!" her mother wailed, squeezing tighter.
"Mom," Penny huffed, "you've been doing this every time I go out all summer. I love you, but it's getting ridiculous."
Her mother sighed and reluctantly let go. "I know. But I guess your old mother is going to get lonely here after a while." She sighed again. "I almost miss your grandmother."
Penny patted her mother on the shoulder. "I'll come back to visit, I promise."
Mrs. Pingleton smiled sadly. "All right, go ahead."
Penny kissed her mother on the cheek and hurried out the door. She was having dinner at Seaweed's, and she really didn't want to be late.
"SURPRISE!"
"What…?" Penny was utterly confused. She had knocked on the door to Seaweed's house, found it open, and let herself in… only to be greeted by Tracy, Inez, Ms. Maybelle, and Seaweed popping out from behind furniture surrounded by balloons.
She was surprised, all right.
"What is this?"
Tracy frowned at her. "Penny, it's July twenty-first."
"But what…?" Penny gasped. "My birthday! I completely forgot!"
Inez laughed good-naturedly. "You forgot your own birthday?"\
Penny smiled sheepishly. "I guess I did. I've been really busy lately with packing and stuff." Seaweed's face clouded over for a second, but he was grinning again within moments.
"C'mon, let's eat!" he exclaimed eagerly. "Momma made fried chicken, Penny; your favorite."
Seaweed fidgeted all the way through dinner, and by the time Penny started opening her presents, she was afraid he might actually explode. Thankfully, she only had two gifts to unwrap: one from Tracy and one from Ms. Maybelle and Inez.
She opened Tracy's present first: it was a framed picture of the two of them as tiny girls, in maybe the first grade. There was a card attached, and it said:
Best friends: Past, present, and future!
Love ya,
Tracy
"Aww, thanks, Tracy!" Penny said, leaning over to give her friend a hug. "I'll put this up in my dorm room!"
She proceeded to open the present from Ms. Maybelle and Inez. "Oh, my goodness!" she exclaimed, lifting the silver bracelet out of its box. "It's beautiful! Thank you so much!"
"Read the card!" Inez insisted.
Penny looked at the card inside the box and gasped. On the front of the card was a detailed pencil sketch of the Stubbs family, plus one. Ms. Maybelle had her arms around her two children and Penny, who was leaning her head on Seaweed's shoulder and holding Inez's hand. "Inez, this is amazing!"
"I had Momma and Seaweed sit for me, but it would've ruined the surprise if I asked you to pose, so I had to draw you from memory," Inez explained. "Read it."
Penny opened the card. Inside it read:
Thanks for being a great big sister. This should go great with your necklace!
Love,
Inez and Ms. Maybelle
Penny was puzzled. "What necklace?"
Seaweed's eyes widened. He jumped up and grabbed Penny's hand. "Uh, I think we should probably head back to your place now, Penny." A chorus of agreement went up among the rest of the party-throwers.
Penny frowned. "My curfew isn't for another hour."
Seaweed pulled her to her feet. "Still, we should go."
"Okay… bye, everybody! This was wonderful… thank you!"
And they left.
They were walking up her street when Seaweed suddenly stopped. "Um… do you want to open my present, Penny?" he asked, almost shyly.
Penny smiled. "Seaweed, you didn't need to get me anything. I—"
He cut her off. "Yes, I did." He guided her to a bench on the corner, and they sat down. He handed her an oblong red box. "Open it," he urged her.
Penny carefully lifted the lid off the box and unwrapped the tissue paper inside, revealing a diamond ring on a silver chain.
"Seaweed," she gasped, "this… this is gorgeous!"
"It was Momma's," he said simply. She started to put it on, but he took it gently from her hands. "Allow me," he whispered. He undid the clasp and, with more tenderness than Penny would have ever thought possible, placed the chain around her neck. He sat back, and she leaned up against him, inclining her head on his chest.
"It's beautiful, Seaweed," she murmured. "Thank you… but why?"
He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "It's called a promise ring," he explained softly, "and I gave it to you for two reasons. One," he held up his index finger, "it's me promising you that someday, when we can even think about it… I'll ask you to marry me."
Penny's eyes widened. She smiled, gave him a kiss, and let him continue.
He held up two fingers. "Two, it's you promising me that you won't ever… forget me." He said this last part very softly, almost so that Penny couldn't hear him. But she did.
"Seaweed, I won't forget you, ever. Don't act so sad. I'm just going to University of Maryland. I can come back every weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break…"
"But that's still one hundred and fifty-four days that I can't see you."
"You counted?"
"Hey, I'm not packing—I've got time on my hands."
Penny sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. "Seaweed, you're smart. You could go anywhere you wanted to for college."
"No, I couldn't," he said. They both knew it was true. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"I love you," Penny said softly.
Seaweed looked at her, surprised but pleased, no, elated. Could it be that was the first time she had ever used that exact phrasing with him?
She didn't have much time to think about it. "I love you too," he whispered before leaning down and gently kissing her lips.