When I got home the aroma of spaghetti filled the air. My mom asked how my girls night with Rain was and I said it was good. Rain totally covered for me.

I went upstairs to my room and called Rain to thank her and tell her about last night. She was just excited as I was. She said Preston called her when she got home last night and wanted to see how she was doing. Long story short she asked him to prom and he said yes.

When I got off the phone I sat down at my desk and looked at the drawing book Jamie got me. Everything with him just felt so good right now I almost forgot about the plane tickets I'd seen on his table earlier this morning.

I wondered if maybe he was going back already.

I tried to get my mind off it by finishing up my practice math problems. I was pleasantly surprised that I was solving them much easier than before.

I knew that in like seven days I would be taking the test that decided my fate, but I was okay with being in the moment for now. So I was all smiles when I saw that Jamie was calling me. I was so happy that mom gave me my phone back.

It felt like everything was starting to unravel in a good way.

"Hey!" I couldn't contain the cheerfulness in my tone. I was still on cloud nine from our time together.

"Hey, sweetheart." His voice was amazing. I loved how he said that. "I came to see you."

"What?" I asked. He had thrown me off. "I'm at the front door. Let me in."

I hung up in all the excitement and hurried downstairs. I was glad to see him when I opened the front door.

"Mmm. What smells so good?" He asked.

"I think Leonard is cooking."

He looked me in the eyes and smiled partially. "Where are they? Your parents."

"In the kitchen?" I glanced over in that direction. I was nervous all of a sudden. Was he already going to ask my mom? I mean I wanted him to propose in a way but I was kind of overwhelmed too.

"So they don't know I'm here then?"

"No. Why?"

He took my hand. "Let's go to your room."

"What? I said I'm not ready for something like that..." I was saying but he shushed me and practically dragged me back upstairs.

Once the door was shut behind us he leaned toward me. I backed up until my back met the door. I was a little overwhelmed still with the thought of him here to ask my mom for permission.

I mean I wanted this right? I did want to be with him. I was so happy to be his girlfriend. Things just felt like they were moving so quickly.

"I brought some gifts." He was reaching for his back pockets. "So the first thing, um, is actually really special."

He paused. "Actually let me have the ring you're wearing."

I had actually stopped wearing it because I was worried my mom would see it and ask about it. I walked over to my top dresser drawer where I was keeping it. I looked at the ring with shimmering embedded diamonds with a slightly larger one on top in the middle.

I handed it to him. I thought it was beautiful but besides being worried about my mom seeing it, I also started feeling weird about wearing a ring meant for his ex girlfriend.

He put the ring in his front pocket and then reached for his back pocket again. "First thing I wanna give you is this." He pulled out the plane tickets I had seen earlier this morning on his little kitchen table.

"Oh, tickets?" I was confused and intrigued.

"For the white party. The party will be at the Bismuth hotel. It's my dad's main hotel in Boston. I was hoping to get permission to take you tonight. We can leave after your graduation. It's a round trip so we could come back the next day. Unless you would want to stay."

"So we would be staying the night together?" I asked. Why did that make me so nervous? We just stayed the night together.

I also was a little overwhelmed by him asking me to move to another state and potentially live together.

I guess I was just more aware suddenly that he would want to do more than just kiss eventually too. I just didn't feel ready all of sudden for all this. I felt terrible because wasn't this what I wanted?

"Yeah. Is that not okay?"

"Oh, yeah." I was curious about what a white party was like and I would be meeting his dad. I was just riddled with anxiety having to decide on so much so soon.

He set the tickets down on my desk, and walked back over. He took my hands suddenly and his gaze met mine. "I have been thinking a lot all day about what we talked about last night, and how happy I was to wake up to you. I thought about just how wonderful that would be to do everyday."

"Aww, Jamie."

"Let me finish," He smiled. "I didn't think I would do this like this but I guess there's no better time."

He let go of my hands and got down on one knee.

"What are you doing?" I was shocked even though we talked about this. I guess I didn't think he would be so serious about it so quickly.

"I'm trying to ask you..." He chuckled. "I've never done this before so please don't give me a hard time."

I looked down at him on one knee in my bedroom. My heart beat was pounding in my ears. "Okay." I barely made it out.

He pulled a small black box out and held it up toward me. When it snapped open to show a little ring with one small diamond I was surprised.

It was a lot more simple than the other one he took back but I really liked it. It was really pretty and it felt more like me.

"When we met things were a total mess because of me. These past couple months I've grown so close to you I would've never thought that I would be doing this. Will you marry me, Peyton?"

I bit my lip. I wanted to say yes. How could I not say yes to this amazing guy in front of me?

My lips parted but nothing was coming out. That's when we were interrupted by my mom walking up the stairs saying dinner was ready.

After a moment Jamie got back to his feet and snapped the ring case shut. My mom knocked on the door behind my back. "Peyton, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, mom." I managed.

"Alright. Make sure you tell Jamie he's invited to have dinner with us if he decides to stay." With that she descended back down stairs.

We looked between each other. Was it going to be awkward now? I should have just answered him, and what bad timing was this with my mom?

"Um," I couldn't stop looking down at my shoes. "Would you want to stay for dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, okay. Let's go down stairs then." Without making eye contact I opened my bedroom door and we went down stairs.

My mind was spinning. Just say yes, I was yelling in my mind at myself. Don't you like him?

I thought about that looking over at him sitting down in the chair across from me as Leonard poured pasta onto a plate while mom stood back and smiled with her arms over her chest. I got the end of his joke and the beginning of her laughter.

Leonard and mom had this cute bantering. It was really sweet, and I was glad she was so happy.

Jamie was looking over at them too, and finally his eyes met mine just as mom exclaimed she forgot the parm and bread in the kitchen.

Leonard followed behind her saying making some sort of joke about pasta.

I just felt like so much was happening so fast. My heart was racing in my chest.

He wanted me to marry him and move in with him in another state, and just this morning my biggest worry was if I was going to graduate next month.

We were all alone in the dining room, and Jamie was staring at me. He had this sad expression. I think I just crushed his self esteem by not saying yes to his proposal.

Mom came back laughing and joined us at the table. "So glad you could join us, Jamie."

"Thanks for having me." He looked away from me as Leonard served everyone their plates. He was now going on about the summer he spent in Rome when he was fresh out of highschool.

"Have you ever been?" Leonard asked Jamie as he took a seat.

"It's been a while. My mom loved to travel when I was younger so I've been all over."

I guess they didn't hear the sadness in his voice, because they went on talking about Italy.

"So, Jamie," Mom said after Leonard stopped rambling and started eating. "How serious are you about my daughter? We didn't really get to talk about it much before."

"Mom!" I shot in her direction but she ignored me keeping her eyes on Jamie waiting for his reply.

"Very serious." Jamie looked at me. I actually think maybe he wasn't as much as sad as mad now.

"Honestly, I was always worried about our little Pey. She's never really shown much interest in people." My mom was now on an embarrassing rant.

I think Leonard noticed because he saved us from mom by asking her about where she would like to travel when I go off to college or whatever.

"Um, can I be excused? I forgot there was something I needed to do before I go home. Thanks for having me."

I watched him walk away from the table and my mom said to see him to the door. I got up with this heavy feeling. Did I ruin my relationship in a matter of days?

I followed a few feet behind. When he stepped outside, I shut the door behind us and now we were alone on the porch. The air was warm even though the sun had been down for over an hour.

I grabbed Jamie's hand, and I was surprised when he let me. He turned around to face me, still holding my hand. I didn't know where to even begin. I just didn't want him to leave.

He looked like he was struggling to find the right words too. His lips parted and then went into a tight line. He dropped my hand and went to step away.

Then his hands caught my face, and he was kissing me. His lips pressed hard against mine. A lot harder than he had ever before. As soon as it had started it was over.

He didn't say anything he just walked over to his car, got in, and drove away.

I stood on the porch watching the red of his taillights until they were completely out of sight. I could feel tears brimming my eyes. My heart was aching as I thought that I should have just said yes. I didn't just like this boy, I was in love with him.