Cecelia's POV:
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*8 Months Later*
"Get up," Ashton whines.
"It's summer!" I growl in protest. "I don't have to."
"It's almost noon. It won't kill you," he argues.
"But I might kill you," I grumble and open my eyes.
"Do you know what today is?" He asks with the smile I fell in love with on his face. It's hard to be mad at him when he looks at me like that.
"Should I?" I ask hesitantly.
"No," he says and his smile grows wider.
"Okay," I trail off. He props his head up on his hand and continues smiling at me. "Are you going to tell me?" I question.
"Oh! Yes," he says with a sheepish look on his face. "Guess what we haven't done?"
"A lot of things," I say with a roll of my eyes.
"You are a horrible guesser," he pouts. "I'll just have to tell you then. We haven't gone on a date. So, I'm taking you on a date."
"We go out all the time," I argue.
"Yes, but we have never been on a date," he argues back.
"There is literally no difference. Besides, aren't you supposed to ask me?"
"No, don't be ridiculous. I'm not giving you a choice," he says with a laugh.
I stare at him like he has grown two heads. "Why not?" I ask angrily.
"Because then you might say no, and I cannot have that," he says seriously.
I look at him softly now. I smile and move so I can rest my head on his chest. "Why in the world would I say no?"
I feel him shrug as he plays with my hair. "Well, in case you wanted to know, my answer would have been yes."
My eyes drift close as he continues to play with my hair. "Good to know," he mumbles.
A few minutes later he stops and sits us up. "You need to go get ready," he commands.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask as I stand up and stretch.
He comes around the bed with a mischievous smile and wraps his arms around my waist. "Like I would tell you," he teases.
"I need to know what to wear, you dork," I pout.
"I got you something. Well, technically mom did, but what can you expect. I'm a guy. I have no idea what you would like. Actually, that's not entirely-"
"Ashton," I say to cut off his rambling.
"You don't have to wear it," he says with a slight blush on his face.
"I'll check it out," I offer playfully.
He smiles and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "It's upstairs. I have to go do something, but I will be back in an hour to pick you up."
"I'll be waiting," I promise.
He bends down to give me a kiss before bouncing out of the room. I giggle excitedly and flop on my bed so I can call Caroline. I'm so nervous even though I shouldn't be. We've been out before, but this time feels different.
"Hey hoe," she greets.
"Caroline," I greet excitedly.
"Woah, are you sick? This must be an alternate universe. The Cece I know is never awake before noon and she definitely isn't excited about it," she teases.
"I have a date," I squeal.
"So that's why Mcallister looked so excited," she ponders.
"Wait, you saw Ashton?" I ask.
"I'm in your house bitch," she says as if I should know.
"Of course you are," I laugh.
"There's this really nice box up here. Did you get a gift and can I open?" she asks.
I roll my eyes. Only Car. "It's from Ashton and no you can't. Bring it down here."
"On my-" she starts but is cut off by a loud crashing sound.
"What was that?" I ask worriedly.
"You're brother and that idiot Emmet just broke something. To be honest, I don't even want to know," she tells me and I hear loud voices in the background.
"Me either and that idiot is your boyfriend," I tell her.
"Don't remind me," she says and hangs up.
None of us were all that surprised when they got together. Emmet made it pretty clear that he liked her. She, on the other hand, gave him a run for his money. I can't even count how many times he asked her out. In true Caroline fashion, she made him wait.
She claimed she was waiting for the right time. I wasn't there when she finally said yes. I have no idea what happened to make her say yes and she won't tell me. She loves her mysteries, I'll give her that. I'm not going to lie, though, I am pretty damn curious as to what went down.
"Open it," she says as soon as she opens my door.
I roll my eyes and take the box from her. I set it on my bed and take the lid off. I pull the paper back and pick the material up. Caroline gasps.
"You lucky bitch," she says playfully.
"I am," I laugh. The dress is beautiful. It's a navy blue lace top with a white skirt. I'm skeptical of the open back. I can admit that it's not something I'd normally wear. Today, however, I am very excited to wear it.
"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to put it on?" Caroline asks sarcastically and gives me a little push towards the bathroom.
I quickly undress and slide into the dress. I zip it up and I'm shocked when I look in the mirror. I look like a girl. Not that I normally don't, but I look soft. Not the girl with mud on her face and throwing a ball. I feel beautiful.
"Would you hurry up. Not that I don't like being fashionably late, but we do need to do your hair and makeup. Just so you know, by we I mean me," she shouts through the door.
"So impatient," I chide as I step out.
"Wow, you look amazing Cece," she says when she sees me.
"Thanks," I laugh.
"I'm thinking ponytail," she tells me as she forces me to sit in front of my vanity. "An elegant one though. And natural makeup. You're beautiful enough without it, but it's a date and all," she says as she starts tugging at my hair.
"Oh really now?" I ask with a laugh.
"Yes, stop complaining," she orders.
"I wasn't complaining," I protest.
"Close enough," she mutters. "Have you talked to your dad?"
"Of course, I have. He never stops calling," I tell her.
"He worries. You can't blame him either," she says.
I watch in the mirror as she teases my hair and carefully pins it up. I check the time and start getting nervous when I see we only have twenty minutes left. We are running out of time.
"I know and I honestly don't mind," I say fondly. "I miss him and talking to him is nice."
When I got out of the hospital, I was surprised to find my dad home. He was in the kitchen, cooking as though he'd been there for weeks. I cried of course. The butthead could have told me he was coming.
To say he was surprised to see Archer was an understatement. It was really emotional and it was the first time I'd seen my dad cry in a really long time. We got our explanation, though. Archer and I were really sad when he had to leave after three days.
The good thing that resulted from everything that happened is he gets to call me a lot. Which he likes to take advantage of. He called me three times one day. One of the times was to make sure I watered the flowers. We don't have flowers.
"Do you know when he's coming home?"
"A month and a half," I tell her excitedly.
She moves on to my face and I'm relieved that I can't feel what she's putting on. I don't like it when I can feel the makeup on. "That is going to be so weird. There's been no adult supervision around here for awhile. That means no more Ashton sleepovers," she says and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
"Stop that!" I laugh. "We've agreed to wait."
"Aww, you guys are literally goals," she says. We hear something loud come from upstairs and she gives me a look. "I swear I'm dating a five-year-old."
"A very lovable five-year-old, though," I offer.
"He alright," she shrugs.
"You love him," I tease.
"It's whatever," she says but she blushing as red as her hair.
"Emmet and Caroline sitting in a tree-"
"I will poke your eye out," she interrupts. "You and Ashton need to stop singing that."
"Never," I smile mischievously and she rolls her eyes.
"Finished," she says and steps away.
I stand up and turn to look in the mirror. I smile at the girl I see looking back. Caroline did a fantastic job. I turn around and she's standing there with an evil smile. She pulls a pair of heel out from behind her back.
"No way," I deny immediately.
"I was wondering why Ashton had asked me to bring a pair of heels. Now I know," she says.
"I cannot walk in those," I protest.
"I've seen you walk in heels and you are a pro. You're wearing the damn heels. You're already late," she says exasperatedly.
I furrow my eyes and look at the clock. My eyes widen when I see it's ten after one. "Give me the damn heels," I say as I rush over to her.
I grab the heels and start putting them on as I walk. Caroline laughs at me as I hop around with one heel to get my phone and purse. I stick my tongue out at her as I put the other one on.
I follow her out of my room and the butterflies erupt in my stomach. God, I'm so nervous. I've known the idiot almost my whole life. I should not be nervous. I keep telling myself this, but it does nothing.
When we reach the top of the stairs, we can hear the loud voices of the boys. The nervousness turns into excitement when I hear Ashton's voice. Caroline turns to look at me and I can't hide the full blown smile on my face. Not that I really want to.
I take a deep breath and step into the foyer. Ashton turns his head and I watch as his smile grows. The butterflies from before go into overdrive. I can't stop the blush from reaching my cheeks when his eyes sweep over me.
"Brother in the room," Archer says with a grimace.
"Make that two," Emmet says and shivers in disgust. Caroline grabs his ear and drags him out of the room. She yells have a good time as she goes.
"What are your intentions with my sister?" Archer says with a menacing face, but I just laugh.
"Down boy," I order.
"You know I can take you," Ashton jokes.
"I'm watching you Mcallister," he warns. He leans down and gives me a kiss on my head. "Have fun," he whispers before walking away.
I take a deep breath and hesitantly raise my eyes to meet his. He gives me a smile and laughs. "I am so nervous right now," he says.
"That makes two us," I murmur.
He walks over to me and rests his hands on my wrists. "You look mesmerizing," he breathes.
If it's even possible, my blush deepens. He's wearing blue jeans and a white button. He has a couple buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. I very much approve.
"You clean up okay," I tell him with a lazy smile.
"Just okay?" He asks with playful disbelief. "I worked a whole 15 minutes on this look."
"Please, we both know that isn't true," I tease.
"You could have at least pretended. I mean, I look great. I could've taken 15 minutes."
"But you didn't," I sing-song.
He laughs and he's close enough that I can see his eyes crinkle. He swiftly leans down and gives me a long, slow kiss. "I believe we have a date to get to," he says after he pulls away.
"Hey, you were supposed to wait until after the date to kiss me," I protest as he takes my hand and leads me out the door.
"I didn't hear you complaining while I was kissing you," he teases. My jaw drops and the blush that had disappeared comes back. He glances at me and throws his head back laughing. I try not to smile, but I fail.
He opens his truck door for me and helps me up. I giggle to myself once he closes the door. This feels so weird, but a good weird. A really good weird.
"Don't even ask where we're going," he commands.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I defend innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he says teasingly.
"This is outrageous. I did nothing," I defend, but there's a smile playing on my lips.
"Yet. You did nothing yet. Which is why I warned you before you did because I'm not telling you."
"You can't blame me for being curious," I pout.
"Just relax. You'll know when you know," he tells me.
"Thank you captain obvious," I snort.
He just smiles and grabs my hand. I watch the scenery moving and try to guess where we're going. I'm in a dress, so that eliminates a few things. Restaurant? Most likely, but which one.
I'm surprised when he turns on a back road that leads out of town. There definitely isn't a restaurant out this way. I turn to look at him and squint my eyes. He just gives me a smile and turns his attention to the road.
I pout and pull my visor down to block out the bright sun. I jump when his hand abruptly leaves mine to change the station. I swivel my head and he gives me a sheepish look.
"I don't like that song," he explains, but he's suddenly nervous.
"How did you even know what song it was? You didn't let it play," I joke.
"I just knew I guess," he laughs tightly.
"Are you okay?" I ask with concern lacing my voice.
"I'm fine," he says and blows out a shaky breath. "Just nerves I guess."
"Silly boy," I murmur.
We drive for the next thirty minutes in a comfortable silence. He finally turns off an on old dirt road. I get more confused when I don't see it leading anywhere. He suddenly veers off the road and I yelp.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Driving through a field," he says calmly.
"Why?" I drag out.
"I'm not telling you," he sing-songs.
"You are nuts," I mutter and settle back into my seat.
"And you don't mind," he points out.
I almost sigh in relief when a barn comes into view. Fields are not that comfortable to drive on. He puts the truck in park and gets out. I watch him jog around the front and open my door.
"Sometimes I don't understand you," I say as I climb down.
"It makes me interesting," he boasts playfully.
"Sure it does," I laugh and pat his back sympathetically.
"What are you doing?" he asks as I start taking off my heels.
"I am not wearing these," I scoff.
"I figured, but it was worth a try. You were taking off your shoes no matter what."
He grabs a picnic basket and blanket out of the back and I smile. "We're having a picnic?"
"Is it lame?" he asks nervously.
"No, it's awesome," I assure him.
He hands me the two items and I watch him get in the front of the truck. A couple seconds later I can hear the music coming from his speakers. "If you're truck dies, I will cause you bodily harm," I warn.
"Wouldn't it make for an interesting story, though?" He asks mischievously.
"No, it wouldn't," I deny and I follow him.
"C'mon, it wouldn't be that bad," he argues as he spreads the blanket out. "You'd have me."
"Not helping."
"Offensive," he mutters.
He sits down and tugs on my hand so I'll do the same. "What'd you pack?" I ask curiously.
"All of our favorites, duh," he drawls.
We eat and banter for awhile and I have to say this is the best date I've ever been. Not that I have any official ones to compare it to. It's still amazing.
"Did you have this planned?" I ask as he packs up the food. "Like, in advanced."
A slow smile spreads across his face. "Yea, I've known I was going to do this for awhile."
"You sneaky devil," I chide.
"Hold on," he tells me. "I'll be right back. Don't move."
I watch curiously as he takes the basket back to the truck. He smiles nervously as he comes back and gestures for me to stand. "I need you to put this on," he says as he pulls out a blindfold from his back pocket.
"Why?" I ask cautiously.
"I can't tell you that, obviously."
"This better not be the part where I find out you're a serial killer," I warn as I turn around.
"That would be really unfortunate for you," he teases as he ties it around my head.
"That's not funny," I whine.
He laughs and I feel him move in front of me. "No peeking, okay?" he commands.
"I'll try," I shrug.
"Cece."
"Okay, okay," I laugh. "I promise."
His presence disappears and for a couple of minutes, all I hear are a bunch of noises. I don't recognize any of them. I have no idea what he's doing. It's official, he crazy.
I hear his truck door open and then his speakers are blaring. "You still there?" he asks, out of breath, as he approaches.
"No, I left. You are seeing a robot," I say sarcastically.
"Be nice," he chides as he takes off the blindfold. "Can I have this dance?"
"You are so weird," I comment as I wrap my arms around his neck.
He just hums in response. "Do you remember this song?" he asks as we sway.
I listen intently and hear the beginning lines of Burnin' it Down by Jason Aldean. "How can I forget?" I smile.
"We were at a party," he starts.
"You were being all moody," I interject.
"I wouldn't say it like that," he defends. I give him a look and he sighs. "I was being kinda moody. I had a reason, though."
"What reason is that?" I ask curiously.
"I was jealous," he tells me seriously.
"Jealous?" I snort. "Of what?"
"You and Wesley. I was really confused. I wasn't supposed to be jealous. You were my best friend. I mean, I had had a crush on you when we younger, but I thought I had grown out of it."
"You had a crush on me?" I ask teasingly and he blushes.
"How could you not know?" he asks with a laugh and I shrug. "Anyways, I felt bad and I went to find you. I was a real jerk and I knew it. I saw you with that guy and I was jealous, again. I asked you for that dance as a way to say sorry."
"And then you went and serenaded me," I laugh. "You made me so confused."
"I made myself confused," he laughs along with me. "I found Emmet as soon as I left you."
"You went to Emmet for advice?"
"He's actually really helpful when he wants to be," he defends. "He made me realize something."
"And what's that?"
He spins me and brings me back into his chest. "That I love you. Hell, that I'm in love with you. That night changed everything for me."
"You knew that you loved me then?" I ask and he nods. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"You didn't love me. Not yet. You couldn't even acknowledge the fact that you could have feelings for me," he explains. "I didn't want to scare you. I didn't want you to push me away."
"I don't deserve you," I tell him.
"You're wrong. You do deserve me. You deserve the world," he tells me. "I have something for you. Turn around."
I want to question him, but I do as he says. "Turn around," he says after awhile. I can hear the nervousness and excitement in his voice.
I turn around and my eyes immediately land on the cutest golden retriever I had ever seen. I look at Ashton and he smiles at me. "What's this?" I ask.
"This is a dog," he says as he comes closer with it.
"I can see that. Why do you have a dog?"
"I think the better question is, why do we have a dog? To which the answer is simple, why not?" he says seriously.
"We?" I ask disbelievingly.
"We," he confirms.
I drop to the ground and pet his head. "His name is Harley."
"Harley," I say, testing it out, and he wags his tail in response. "I like it."
"I know he's not a puppy, but I figured he needed a home," Ashton says as I start running my hand through Harley's fur. My fingers brush against something cold and I grasp it. "Our home, eventually."
I bring the object up to inspect and I'm so shocked I drop it. "What are you doing?" I panic and stand up.
He pulls the string off of Harley's neck and looks at me. "I am absolutely crazy in love with you, Cecelia Anderson. I love you to a point beyond comprehension. I never want to stop loving you. Which is why I want to give you this promise ring," he tells me and I take a step back from the impact of his words. He takes two steps toward me and grabs my hand.
"I promise to love you forever. I promise that I will always be by your side. I promise to love you unconditionally. I promise you that I will not always be perfect, but for you, I promise to try. I promise that I will marry you one day Cecelia and that we will spend the rest of our lives together."
At this point, I'm crying and he uses his hand to gently wipe my tears away. His eyes have unshed tears in them. "Do you accept this ring?" he asks softly.
"Does that mean I have to marry you one day?" I ask.
"That's the idea," he says with a smile.
"Then yeah," I laugh. "I accept. Happily."
He takes my right hand and slides it on. It's beautiful, no doubt, and I love it. I don't even think I want to know what he paid for it. A few hundred?
He tilts my chin up so I'm looking at him. "Do you like it?"
"I love it, but-"
He kisses me, effectively cutting me off. I don't hesitate to thread my hand through his hair and kiss him back. He pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. We stay like that for a minute and I enjoy the peace that washes over us.
We break apart and Harley barks, reminding us he's there. He suddenly takes off and the leash is ripped from Ashton's hand. I laugh as he chases after him.
In this moment, I am happy. I feel safe and loved. I have never felt better in my entire life. I have my friends, I have my family, and I have Ashton.
I don't know what the future holds. I don't know what is going to happen in the next hour or in the next year. I just know about what's happening now and who is with me when it does. I think that, in the end, that's all that really matters.
The End