"Alex enough, can you just bring me now?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Sure, as soon as you change." He says raising his eyebrows and I sigh.

"It's just a skirt!" I protest. "I wore a dress the other night!"

"That was to a public restaurant, you can't wear that to just hang out with Nate." He huffs.

"Why not?" I ask. "It's cute, and this is a special date. I can't go over there in a pair of sweats."

"Alexi, enough." Mom says walking past us in the foyer. "Take her to Nate's, please."

"Fine." He mumbles, grabbing his keys. "But I don't-"

"Yes, you don't approve and I appreciate your concern. But this is my date, now come on." I say, pulling him out the door and down to his car. He laughs and pulls away, driving down the road.

"So what makes this date special?" He asks and I sigh.

"I have no idea, but he said he cooked something? Knowing Nate, this is a pretty big deal. He never cooks." I tell him and he laughs.

"Well I'll believe that, he's pretty bad at sealing Varenniki." He laughs and I smile, thinking back on that day. That was so wonderful, mom hadn't done much right by me in a long time. But since I came home she's been surprisingly......mom-like again. And she was really being wonderful to Nate.

"Well I'll have to pray." I tease and he nods.

"He's bringing you home tonight yeah?" He asks and I nod. "What time?"

"I don't know, late." I say and he sighs. "What now?" I whine.

"Nothing just-"

"Be carful?" I ask and he nods. "Alex I haven't seen him much this week and this is some of the only time we get together." I tell him and then I turn to look at him. "If you and Nik could please butt-out of mine and Nate's personal lives I'd appreciate it. I don't ask you or warn you about anything that you do with the girls you see, please extend me the same courtesy."

"Alright, alright." He says and I smile. "I just.....I look out for you."

"I know, and you know I love you." I say. "But you just need to trust me."

"Okay." He says and pulls up outside of Nate's and I smile, excited to be there. "Call me if you need a ride or anything." I nod and open the door, stepping out and giving him a wave.

"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow." I tease and he shakes his head at me, making me laugh.

I quickly run up to Nate's door and knock once before it flies open in front of my face.

"Hey baby." He whispers and I smile, accepting a small kiss.

"Hi." I whisper and he smiles leading me inside. I take off my coat and look around, seeing where his parents were so I could say hello to his mom. "Where are your parents?" I ask and he smiles.

"Weekend getaway." He says with a devious look and I feel my stomach knot up.

"Really?" I ask and he nods. "Seems like your parents go away a lot."

"Well they asked if I minded, it was their wedding anniversary so I said of course not." He says and I laugh walking over to the living room. "I figured I could do something really special for you instead."

"What did you cook?" I ask and he smiles leading me to the dinning room.

"Something you love." He says and I smile as he pulls out my chair. "I just finished it, so I hope it's alright." He whispers, kissing my cheek and pushing my chair back in behind me.

He disappears to the kitchen leaving me to take in the dining room. He's lit a few candles and set the table nicely, I had to give him credit, it was all very romantic.

"Ready?" He asks and I nod. "Alright close your eyes." I laugh and shut them tight.

"It smells nice." I say, enjoying the mix of spices. It almost seems....familiar. "It sort of smells like-"

"Open them." He whispers, setting the dish down and I almost cry. Sitting in front of me was a perfect bowl of Shchi, just like it would be if mom had made it herself. I smile feeling my body tingle, I was flattered by the gesture. He even served it with sour cream.

"Oh my god." I whisper, putting my hand over my mouth.

"Is that a good 'oh my god'?" He asks, crouching next to my chair and I wrap my arms around him.

"Of course it is." I whisper and he laughs. "Thank you."

"It's your mom's recipe." He tells me and I feel tears well up in my eyes.

"I can't believe you did this for me." I say, pulling back so I can look him in the eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too, I'm glad I didn't mess it up." He says and I laugh.

"You're the best." I tell him and he nods, giving me a quick kiss.

He comes back a few seconds later with his own bowl and sits next to me, taking my hand.

"Give it a try, tell me how it tastes." He says and I smile, scooping up some of the soup. I taste it and I'm instantly warm on the inside and feel shivers work their way through me. It was perfect, tasted exactly like home.

"It's perfect." I tell him with a huge smile, that even I can't wipe off my face. "This is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it." He whispers. "I wasn't sure if it would turn out very well."

"Even if it tasted awful, I'd still love it because you made it for me." He smiles and gives my hand a squeeze.

This has to be the sweetest thing he's ever done for me. Going to my mom for the recipe and spending the afternoon making it for me just because I told him I loved it.

"Thank you for this Nathan." I whisper giving his hand a squeeze and he nods.

"I'm glad you're happy." He whispers back.

"I'm always happy with you." I tell him and he nods, finishing off the last of his soup. He then turns to me, grabbing both of my hands and looking me in the eyes.

"You know I love you right?" He asks and I nod.

"Of course I do." I tell him and he sighs.

"There's a reason I wanted tonight to be special." He says quietly.

"What is it?" I ask eagerly.

"Your nationals competition....it's in Boston right?" He asks and I nod. "Baby I'm really sorry-"

"Can you not afford to fly out?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No, but my regionals......it's that weekend too." He says and I feel my smile leave my face. "I've tried to figure out what I can do but.....it's just not possible."

"So that means I can't watch you play either?" I ask and suddenly my brain clicks into place. "Or my brothers.....this is awful, I didn't even know." I huff, putting my face in my hands.

"It's not your fault." He says and I nod.

"No I know, but I love you I know this is a big deal for you. It just sucks that I can't watch you." I tell him, feeling guilty. Once again skating doesn't fail to drive a wedge into my plan and put me between a rock and a hard place.

"I was really looking forward to watching you." He says, putting his hand on the side of my face. "I know how hard you've been working and that this is what you've talked about since we were six years old. I want to be there to watch you take a step to making your dreams come true."

His words make me feel like I'm made out of jelly, he was saying everything I wanted to hear, everything that made my heart sing.

"And I don't even want to watch you because I'm your boyfriend, I want to watch you because I know it's your dream. Because we used to sit on my bedroom floor and talk about you going to the Olympics one day. This is the first step and I can't even be there." He concludes, sounding disappointed and I get up from my chair, leaning over and giving him a hug.

"Like you said, it's not your fault." I tell him and he nods, pulling me down to sit in his lap.

"You're going to be amazing next weekend." He whispers, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "I know it."

"We'll have to keep each other updated, talk every night." I tell him. "God when was the last time we didn't see each other in person for three days in a row?" I groan and he chuckles a bit.

"It's certainly been a while." He admits. "I love you.....I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"Me too." I whisper, kissing his cheek. "I would've loved watching you."

I felt awful, I couldn't support him in one thing. A huge thing that was a big deal to him and my brothers, and it was impossible to be there.

"Nik offered to break the news but I told him I'd talk to you." He says and I smile.

"So you could butter me up with dinner first?" I tease.

"And a present." He says, pulling a box from his pocket. I laugh, knowing Nate had just lightened the mood. "Come on open it, no more sad stuff." He teases and I laugh, taking it from him.

I pull off the string and open the lid seeing a beautiful chain bracelet inside. I run my finger over the chain and smile, it sparkled wonderfully under the candle light. I furrow my eyebrows when I see whats's at the front, a small, almost cone of metal sat in the middle of the chain with the large flat side facing out.

"Does it mean anything?" I ask and he smiles.

"Put it on and you'll see." He whispers. I do up the clasp and smile, looking at it. It could be a plastic zip-tie and I'd be happy to wear it. "Ready?" He asks and I furrow my eyebrows.

I watch as he rolls up his sleeve and shows me one on his own wrist that looks exactly like mine.

"Aw, they match?" I ask and he smiles.

"Better." He whispers and moves his wrist next to mine. I watch at the two flat edges come together and stick. "They're magnets."

"This is so cute." I say and he smiles, giving me a quick kiss.

"It's just a reminder that even when we're miles apart....that we're connected. I know it doesn't make up for everything-"

"I love it." I tell him and he smiles. "Thank you." I whisper and give him a quick kiss. "It's really too bad we can't see each other next weekend, but this is an amazing night. You make everything better."

"That's what I do." He whispers and I smile.

It broke my heart that I hadn't noticed that, especially when it was so soon. It really hurt that my brothers would most-likely get the short end of the stick in this situation. Either dad would go with me and mom would stay home, which I knew mom wouldn't allow. Or they'd both go to mine and no one would be there to support my brothers in their biggest game all year. I knew mom would never let me go to Boston alone.....but maybe she'd let me go with Kate?

Usually my trainers would stay in a separate hotel and weren't responsible for me when I had out-of-state competitions. But I was older now, and Kate was someone I really trusted. I'd have to ask her about it.

"What are you thinking?" He asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Just how romantic this all is." I tell him and he laughs a bit. Nate made me feel so special, he always wanted me to feel safe and I knew he supported me in everything.

"Not a bad date?" He asks and I shake my head.

"It was a perfect date." I whisper and he nods, pulling me closer and pressing his lips to mine.

Kissing Nate was amazing, it instantly took away all of my stress and made me forget everything. My mind would go blank and would instead be filled with thoughts of him. I didn't think about anything when we did this, I just felt relaxed, excited. It was a beautiful feeling.

Suddenly the kiss deepens and I feel myself starting to smile. I feel warm all over and like the air around me is humming. My heart beats faster and faster now as I sit up and wrap my arms around the back of his neck.

"You said.....your parents are gone....right?" I whisper and he nods with a smirk.

"They are." He whispers.

"Well we could......" I start and then feel my cheeks heat up. I always felt so embarrassed when I spoke to him about any of this.

"We could what?" He asks leaning his forehead on mine. I press my lips together and sigh, wanting him to take the hint. I was horrible at instigating anything, it made me feel so strange. "You have to talk to me Sash." He whispers.

"Go upstairs." I whisper, looking away.

"What do you want to do upstairs?" He asks and I groan making him laugh. I sigh and get together every once of confidence I have in my body. I take his face in my hands and take a deep breath.

"Nathan." I say quietly and he nods. "I want to have sex." I whisper and he smiles, kissing my nose.

"I want that too." He whispers back and I feel my stomach tangle up into knots. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I whisper, dragging my thumb over his bottom lip. "I love you. Take me to bed."

He instantly stands up, taking me with him. He blows out the candles and leaves the dirty dishes where they are.

We were finally going to do this, I had they one guy I wanted most in the world. The only one I'd ever loved and we had all the time in the world.