He smiled and said, "Okay fine! I love you Bailey Stark! This isn't how I planned to tell you but there it is."

"Awwww!" Jolie said out loud, causing Blaze to cover his face with his hands.

Bailey scrunched her eyebrows. "Blaze McDaniels are you actually embarrassed? I never thought I'd see the day! Blaze the badass that tells off the teachers and doesn't give a crap what anyone thinks of him is actually embarrassed?" Bailey asked. "You shouldn't be embarrassed though. I've literally been in love with you since the 5th grade. What I'm trying to say is, I love you too Blaze."

Blaze lifted his head from his hands and looked over at her with a surprised expression. "Seriously Bailey? You love a screwed up idiot like me? Are you sure?"

She smiled at him and said, "Yes I'm sure and you're not a screwed up idiot Blaze. You would do anything for the people that you love. You are caring and loyal and smart when you want to be and then sarcastic and edgy and strong the next. You're not like anybody else I've ever met. That's why I love you."

"I love you too," he said, leaning over and giving her a kiss.

A minute later a very rough looking character with a shaved head covered in tattoos and large ear piercings that was about 6'3 and broad like a football player approached their table. His arms looked as round as tree trunks and he smiled like cigarette smoke.

"Blaze," he said in his deep gravelly voice. "Can we have a word with you for a minute?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of a table across the diner where a few more rough looking characters were sitting.

"Yeah sure," Blaze said reluctantly. "I'll be right back guys," he told them, sliding out of the booth and following the man over to the table. Jolie watched and noticed that the expressions on everyone's faces at that table looked angry. There was a man sitting across from Blaze and he was pointing a finger in his face and staring at him threateningly.

"What do you think they want?" Jolie asked.

"Well they're not happy with Blaze because he's not dealing for them anymore since he's been with me and he's been trying to clean up his act. It looks like they're not too happy about it," Bailey said quietly.

A minute later Blaze slid back into the booth beside Bailey and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Everything ok?" she asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, it'll be fine," he said, but he didn't seem very convincing.

"Hey, why don't we just eat really quick when the food gets here and then go?" Austin asked. "I want to get back home and ice my shoulder and pass out. I'm really tired."

Jolie nodded and said, "Sure Austin. We can do that."

When the food finally came out, the table was pretty quiet as they all ate. The food at the diner was pretty delicious.

When it was time to go Jolie said, "Ok we're all meeting at my house tomorrow at 6:00, then we'll go eat somewhere and go to the dance."

Bailey and Blaze agreed and then Austin got up to pay the bill. He was in a hurry to go.

Bailey looked at her and narrowed her eyes and whispered, "Have you two ...... you know?"

Jolie's face flushed and she said, "No we haven't. I would've told you if we did. You're my best friend."

"I'm your best friend?" Bailey asked in shock.

"Yeah," Jolie laughed. "I don't know why you're so surprised. You're pretty awesome. Have you two ....... you know?" Jolie asked, gesturing between her and Blaze.

"No!" Bailey answered quickly.

"Not yet," Blaze added with a mischievous smirk, getting a swift smack and a laugh from Bailey.

Austin appeared back at the table and held out his hand to Jolie, "You ready?"

She smiled up at his handsome face and blue eyes and said, "Yeah I'm ready," sliding her hand into his and he helped her out of the booth.

Austin wrapped his hand around hers and led her outside into the cool night air and out to the parking lot where the Jeep was. He walked her to her side and opened the Jeep door for her. Before she climbed in she leaned forward and kissed his lips.

On the way back to the house Austin held her hand and said, "Are you very disappointed that I don't want to hang out tonight? I'm just really sore and tired."

"No I promise. I'm not disappointed. I'm actually pretty tired too."

He pulled the Jeep up in front of his house and walked around and opened her door, taking her hand and leading her over to her house.

"Good night. I can't wait to see you in your dress tomorrow," he said with a smile, leaning in and giving her a kiss, "and to take it off of you tomorrow night," he whispered, raising his eyebrows up and down teasingly.

"Austin!" she said, smacking his chest and shaking her head.

They both laughed and then he turned around and started walking away before turning around and saying, "I love you."

"I love you too," she said with a smile before turning and going into the house.

Her Mom and her Grandma were in the living room and her Mom was wearing her pajamas with a bathrobe on and her hair was a big mess. She had a box of Kleenexes in her lap and her nose was all red and her eyes were watery.

"Hey honey," her Grandma said to Jolie with a smile. "How was the game?"

"It was good. We won. Mom are you okay?" she asked.

Her Mom started shaking her head and talking in a whiny, crying voice that she couldn't understand before she started sobbing.

Her Grandma got up off the couch and walked over to Jolie and whispered, "She's having a tough time dealing with the divorce and finding out your Dad's girlfriend's pregnant and they're getting married. I think it's all just starting to sink in."

"Oh," Jolie nodded, looking back over at her Mom who was blowing her nose in a Kleenex.

"Can I talk to you for a minute in private?" her Grandma asked.

"Sure. Ummm. We could talk in my room. Follow me," she said, leading the way upstairs.

She went inside and shut the door and sat down on her bed and her Grandma sat beside her.

"Honey, your Mom told me about you and Austin and about your plans for tomorrow at Homecoming."

"She did?" Jolie asked in shock, her face flushing red and feeling completely embarrassed. If it was hard talking about that stuff with her Mom it was a million times more awkward talking about it with her Grandma.

"Yes she did and I wanted to talk to you about it. You've only known this boy for a month and you've been dating for a couple weeks. I know right now it may feel like your head over heels in love and that you're going to be with him forever and ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Don't get me wrong. That could happen. Your Mom said he's a great guy and he's really handsome and smart. But do you mind if I give you some advice from an old woman that's lived for a lot longer than you?"

"Sure gram. Go ahead," she said reluctantly.

"If he's really and truly the right one then there's no need to rush into getting physical so soon. If he's the right one today, he'll be the right one in a month, a year, two years. You get my point. It actually might cause issues and tear you guys apart doing that too soon because once men have that physical connection they tend to stop working on the emotional connection and falling in love. That's why it's best to wait until you're both completely, madly in love with each other before you get physical if you want a long-term relationship and maybe even to marry this man one day. That's just my two cents."

Jolie took in what her grandma was saying and thought about it.

"Yeah. That makes a lot of sense," she nodded.

"Well, like I said. I've lived a long time and seen plenty of relationships around me come and go through the years and I've learned a thing or two."

"Thank you grandma. I'll definitely think about it," she told her, leaning forward and giving her a hug.

Her grandma squeezed her and said, "Oh I'm just so glad to have my girls back home." She released her out of the hug and looked into her face and said, "Your poor mama is going through a really rough time right now and it's going to take both of us to help her through and your Aunt. I talked her into going and seeing a therapist this week and she agreed to go. I'm just really worried about her. She's so heartbroken."

Jolie took a deep breath in and let it out.

"Yeah she is. It's so sad to see her like this because she's usually such a strong woman that cheers everyone else up. Now it's our turn to do it for her."

"Yes it is," her Grandma said, getting up off the bed and patting Jolie on the shoulder. "Good night pumpkin. I love you," she said, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head.

"Love you too Gram," Jolie said as she watched her walk out the door. When she flipped her light off and rolled onto her side, she could see a dim light coming from Austin's room and he was laying face down on his bed with a bag of ice on his shoulder and she could see the muscles in his back from here. She thought about what her grandma said and she remembered the embarrassment she felt at the doctor's office when she said 2 weeks and she wondered if she really was rushing into getting physical too soon.