When Lucas finished his conversation with Cory, he felt like he was walking on air. Never before had he felt so freed from the stresses in his life. He hadn't realized that Cory could help him so much, but now he didn't know why he didn't meet with Cory in the first place.

Lucas was on his way to Riley's house with a huge smile on his face. He had the best news to tell Riley, and he couldn't wait to see her reaction when he told her he was staying. As he walked down the street, he looked around and saw all the people walking with frowns and sour looks. At one point, he even stopped a lady to tell her that it was a beautiful day and that she should smile. The lady looked at him weirdly and said, "Try living in reality."

Lucas let the lady pass, but didn't let her attitude phase him. He continued to smile all the way to Riley's bay window. When he knocked on the glass, Riley looked up, confused. She hadn't expected to see Lucas that night.

Riley went to the window and opened it.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, delightfully surprised.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Lucas asked her.

"Of course, but I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow."

Lucas climbed into Riley's room and then kissed her.

"You're certainly in a good mood! What was that for?" she asked.

"I have some news," Lucas said. "About college."

"Oh," Riley said. She sat down at her window and Lucas sat next to her. "Go on," she said.

"Well, I stayed after school today to have a meeting about it," he started.

"Yeah, I know."

"I met with your dad."
"My dad?" she asked, confused. "Why didn't you tell me you were meeting with him?"

"Because I didn't want you to be worried about it. But that's not important right now."

"Okay," she said, nodding for him to continue.

"So I told him about the problem I've had with choosing colleges, and he told me to make sure I have no regrets. Good advice. And I told him that I didn't want to disappoint or hurt you or me or anybody else, so I wanted to make the right choice," he rushed through the conversation.

"Right," Riley said.

"Then I asked him if he'd be mad if I left you here."

"Oh," Riley said, looking down.

"And he said no, because he wants me to make my own choice. He wants me to follow my heart. Then, he said the thing that made up my mind."

"What did he say?" Riley asked.

"He said that you would be okay if I left. He said that eventually you would move on."

Riley looked down, sure that this was Lucas saying goodbye.

Lucas lifted her chin up and said, "No, don't be sad. Because do you know what I realized when he said that?"

"What?" Riley asked quietly.

"I realized that you would move on without me. And then I realized that I could never let that happen."

Riley looked up.

"I realized that no matter what, I'm never going to leave you, Riley. Because I never want to be out of the picture. I want to be in your picture forever."

Riley smiled widely and her eyes glistened with tears.

"But what about Davis?" she asked, the smile fading from her face. "I thought we went over how I'm not going to let you go to NYU if you don't-"

"But I want to go to NYU. I don't want to go to Davis. Because you're not at Davis. See, that's another thing that I realized there. Davis isn't my future, Riley. You are."

Riley began smiling again and she reached over to hug Lucas tightly. Tears escaped her eyes, and she quietly said, "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," he replied, hugging her just as tightly.

When their long embrace ended, Lucas took Riley's hands.

"Do you believe that we're going to be together forever?" he asked her.

"Of course," she said. "I know we're just kids, but if we love each other enough for you to do that, then I don't know what in the world could stop us."

"You're right," he said, smiling at her deep brown eyes. "And that's the last thing that I realized with your dad."

"What?"

"That we love each other. We love each other so much. I love you so much, Riley."

"I love you, too, Lucas," Riley said, wondering where this was going.

"So, uh," Lucas began. He looked around and then stood up, pulling Riley's hands up so she stood too.

"When I was talking to your dad, he told me that he gave me his permission to follow my heart. Well, as long as I didn't get a face tattoo," he said. Riley giggled.

"So, Riley Matthews," he began. He knelt down on one knee and took a box out of his pocket. He opened the box to reveal a simple, but very beautiful, diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"

Ahhh! I wanted to write this chapter so much that I couldn't wait, so I did it today! So, it finally happened! He proposed! I loved writing this chapter, and I hope you all love it too! It just leaves us hanging with what happens now… What will Riley say? What about Cory? Yep, some big things are going to be happening!

Please review and let me know how you liked the chapter!