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“You two go ahead,” Cora replied, waving us on like she couldn’t get rid of us fast enough.

Chase took my hand and pulled me away. I was surprised by how natural it felt to hold hands these days, but it had been hard to get used to at first. I’d nearly died the first time he’d done it in front of my dad, but Dad was gradually coming around to the idea of Chase and me. He’d almost started encouraging our relationship when he saw that Chase hadn’t been lying about helping me with school. I was almost a solid A student this semester, which was something I never would have believed possible. It probably helped that Chase acted like every one of my successes and failures were his own, and he wanted me to succeed more than anything.

“Where are we going?” I asked when I realized we weren’t heading for another spin on the dance floor. Instead, he was pulling me toward Bart’s room. “Just so you know, I’m not down with making out in your gramps’ room.”

Chase laughed and gave my hand a little squeeze. “I swear you think the worst of me sometimes.”

“Always,” I corrected, drawing a smile out of him.

“So, what are we doing in here?” I asked as he flicked on the light.

“Well, I sort of got you a present.”

“You did, did you?”

He nodded. “Since Connie and Bart had their commitment ceremony today, I thought I’d do something to show my commitment to you too.”

“What is it?” I could barely contain my curiosity.

His eyes brightened, and he walked over to the bed before bending down to pull something out from beneath it. My excitement only increased when I saw a large frame in his hands.

He peered over his shoulder at me, still hiding the contents of my present. “Are you sure you want to see?”

I laughed and nodded. “Yes, of course, I’m sure!”

He grinned and slowly turned around to reveal what he’d done. My jaw slackened, and a flicker of confusion ran through my eyes. There, behind the glass, was a familiar pink poster.

“You framed the plan?” I asked, tilting my head as I tried to figure out why. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what had prompted the idea, but as I looked more closely, I could see he’d made some alterations. Instead of “Operation Pest Control” it now read, “Operation Relationship Success.”

I moved closer as I went to inspect it. He’d left a lot of the bullet points alone but had really fleshed out the ones under “Step Three: Relationship.” I laughed as I read his first addition. “Always let Ally get her way, unless she’s being an idiot.” It wasn’t the worst piece of advice.

He’d also added: “Tell her she’s beautiful and you love her every day” and “Never forget that she’s the best thing that ever happened to you.” His words wrapped me in warmth, and I felt my heart expanding as I took them in. The part I really couldn’t take my eyes away from though was where he’d crossed out “Step Four: Getting Caught” and replaced it with “Step Four: Repeat Steps One – Three Forever.”

“What is this?” I asked, finally looking up at him.

He put the poster down on the bed and turned to me, taking my hands in his own. “I know how much you like plans in life, so I thought it might be a good idea if I had our plan written down. You already accomplished the first part, but I needed to fix up steps three and four.”

I shook my head at him, disbelief still coloring my eyes as I glanced at what he’d done once more. “You really did this for me?”

“For us,” he replied.

“There’s just one small problem with it,” I said, focusing on him once more.

His face fell. “What is it?”

“Well, I think it needs a step five.”

“And step five would be…”

“If all else fails, throw the plan out because sometimes the best things in life happen when your plan falls apart.”

A slow smile started to form on his lips. “Are you talking about us, princess?”

“I’m talking about us.”

* * *

The End

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