"Are we there? Where are you taking me? Can I look yet?"

"Almost," I laughed. "You're so impatient."

"You hadn't figured that out about me yet?" Mitchie smirked.

She'd been asking questions constantly since dinner, but I wanted to take her to the perfect spot. There was a place in the middle of the gardens that was full of roses, and in the candlelight, I knew she would love it. I hoped so, at least, because I was trying to get the balls to tell her that really like her.

"Okay, we're here," I told her.

I took my hands away from her eyes so she could see where we were. She gasped and looked around the garden. She liked to act tough, but I knew even she couldn't pretend she wasn't impressed.

"Wow…Nate…this is…this is…" she stuttered.

"Beautiful?" I offered.

"Yeah."

"Perfect?"

"Yeah."

I bit my lip nervously, hoping I didn't regret asking this. "Romantic?"

"Yeah," she agreed again, still looking around at the gardens. "What made you bring me here?"

I hoped that would have been obvious so I didn't have to say it. Maybe if I hinted at it enough, she would get the point.

"Well…we've just been spending so much time trying to convince everyone else that we're together and we know each other so well…I thought it would be nice to spend some time alone so we can actually get to know each other," I explained, and then I kind of started freaking out that it seemed like I was forcing her to get to know me. "If you want to, I mean. But if you don't, that's totally…"

"Nate," she interrupted me with a giggle. "Of course I do. Why do you always act so nervous around me?"

"Do I?" I laughed uncomfortably. Was it really that obvious?

Mitchie shrugged. "Maybe I'm just not used to hanging out with gentlemen."

"What do you mean?" I asked casually. I figured that comment was either really good, or really bad.

Mitchie sat down on a bench near us. I sat down next to her, not as close as I wanted to, but hopefully that would change soon. She smiled at me and ran her fingers through her hair. She rested her hand gently on my thigh, which released the butterflies in my stomach I thought I had pretty well contained.

"You remind me of my dad." Great. She laughed – apparently I didn't hide my disappointment very well. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I mean…you remind me of how my dad treated my mom when she was…" She stopped for a moment. "When she was alive. He bought her flowers every Friday on his way home from work. He always did things like that. They were so happy. I used to tell myself that I would never settle for a guy who didn't try to make me happy like my dad did for my mom. I guess at some point I stopped believing there were still guys like that around."

That, I think, was definitely a good thing. Even though I didn't know what to say, I couldn't help but smile. It meant a lot to me that she could talk to me about her family, even just a little, for all the time she spent trying to keep people away from the subject.

"I…" I started, still unsure of what the right thing to say was.

Luckily, I didn't have to figure it out, because she interrupted me – she kissed me. She kissed me – and I mean really kissed me – with nobody around. No cameras, no reporters, no fans, no friends. Just us, alone, not trying to prove anything to anybody. It was the perfect moment to tell her how I felt about her.

"Mitchie, I…" I started when she broke the kiss after a couple minutes.

"We're always talking about me. You must think I'm so full of myself. It's your turn," she interrupted me.

"Mitchie, I've been trying to…"

"What made you start playing the guitar? How did you meet Shane and Jason? What about your sister? Taylor, right? What's she like?" she asked.

I sighed. My brief surge of confidence had come and gone. What the hell was I so afraid of? She just kissed me. That should have been enough to convince me that she at least liked me a little. But I was still afraid that she was just…I don't even know. Messing with me? Trish said she liked to do that. I didn't think it was that way with me, because she told me about her brother, but what if it was? Maybe I would just make a fool of myself if I told her how I felt. If I didn't tell her now, I would still have a couple more days to show her why we should really be together.

"I started playing the guitar in the fifth grade."

A/N: sorry, kind of short chapter. I don't have the next chapter written yet, but I have it pretty much planned out, and I actually have time to write for once! So, it should be coming soon (the more reviews I get, the more motivated I feel…*wink wink*) and the two after that are mostly written.