Over the next week, mom and Max lightened up a bit. They finally let me move around the house on my own and do things for myself. Their only stipulations were that I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than a book and mom refused to let me out of her sight if we went anywhere. Even when I just wanted to be alone on the beach I still had to stay within view of the house. Which was super annoying but I knew she'd eventually lighten up. I just had to wait it out. This exact same thing happened when I broke my arm in junior high. Max brought his dog over to get used to us and I instantly fell in love with the beautiful pooch. I assumed Thorn did too because he wouldn't stop licking me and he would follow me anytime I left the room and whine outside the bathroom door when I went to use it. Max said he'd never taken to someone so quickly.

Mom and Max decided that they wanted to have their wedding in a month's time under the full moon. When I questioned mom as to why a night time wedding she explained that Max had a condition (I couldn't even repeat the scientific name if i tried) that prevents him from being in the sun; he was also on medication that reacts to sunlight and would cause him to blister in minutes if exposed.

"Come to think of it, I never did see him during the day!" I thought to myself

She also told me that she had hired a manager and a few more employees for the bake shop so that she could spend more time with Max.

When I asked if I still had a job, she laughed and said I could work whenever I wanted but that I didn't have to worry about money because she was giving me half of the company. She also said she wished to move in with Max after the wedding and that grandma's house would be mine if I wanted it.

"You are more than welcome to move in with us, if that's what you decide to do." max said

"Oh honey, I think it's time for her to be on her own. After all, she's almost 20." My mom replied, giving him a look of disapproval to the idea of me living with them.

I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do. Honest; it felt like everything was moving so fast. I was about to tell them just that when the doorbell rang.

My mom opened it to find Marco standing on the other side with a boutique of flowers. He wasn't wearing his typical outfit of leather chaps, dirty jeans and a crop top under his colourful jacket. Tonight he was wearing clean dark blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt under a plain leather jacket that I assumed he borrowed from one of the other guys because it was a bit big on him. His hair was tied back in a neat ponytail but you couldn't really tame those wild curls.

"Hi Ms. Parker." he said while handing her the flowers "May I take Devin out this evening?"

He sounded so polite that I knew my mother would just adore him and let me go. She turned to me with a smile and said "Sure but have her back by 1am."

"2?" I piped up and asked.

she sighed before saying "Fine."

It dawned on me at that moment that I was still in the pjs I had been wearing for a few days so I asked Marco to wait a bit while I changed. I ran up the stairs to my room and quickly showered. When I came out my mom was holding up a dark blue sundress with purple flowers and a light purple cardigan.

I gave her a look of disgust to which she replied "Oh come on, you're going on a date with a cute boy, put these on and I'll help you curl your hair."

I sighed knowing I wouldn't win and quickly got dressed, she then handed me a pair of strappy heeled sandals but I glared at them and put on a pair of my purple converse sneakers that I had dyed myself. She rolled her eyes but didn't say a word and began curling my hair. she braided the sides and tied them back behind my head.

When I made my way back down the stairs, I saw Marco and Max talking. They seemed to be pleasant with each other but you could definitely feel some tension between the two. The minute Marco saw me his eyes went wide and he smiled

that cute cheshire smile.

"You look so beautiful." He said as he held out his hand for me.

I smiled back and took his hand, he leaned towards me and tucked a pretty purple flower into the braid in my hair, which made me blush.

The two of us made our way to the door and mom shouted "Wait, I want a picture!"

We turned to see her holding a Polaroid camera and she quickly snapped a photo. Before anyone could look at it Max snatched it and rushed us out the door.

"Well that was weird." I said to Marco.

Marco just shrugged it off and said "Maybe he wants it to be a surprise or something."

He then hopped onto his bike then turned to help me on. I pulled up my dress and bunched it up in my lap so it wouldn't get caught in any of the moving parts of the bike.

"Hold on tight." he said before firing up the mechanical beast. I guess he didn't like where I was holding because he grabbed my hands and pulled them around his torso then patted the back of them before taking off down the driveway and out onto the street.

The thrill of being on the back of his bike with the wind whipping my hair was exhilarating, it made me want a bike of my own. We finally came to a stop at a little pizza joint just outside of town. He helped me off his bike and then held the door open for me. We sat in a booth in the corner and waited for the waitress to come around. I was nervous as hell and had no clue what to say or how to strike up a conversation with him, we quickly fell into an awkward silence.

I could tell he was just about to say something when the waitress finally showed up to take our order.