The last time Katie spoke to Dana was the day after Valentine's Day more than two months ago. It was now April 16th and Katie had spent the last two months reconnecting with both Ashley and Martina. She talked to them both on a daily basis. Ashley caught Katie up on everything going on back at Ridgeway, and Martina was there for Katie to talk to whenever she needed it.

Katie realized that living with her aunt wasn't all bad. She may have been away from her friends and the town that she grew up in, but that didn't mean that she didn't have those friends anymore. Ashley and Katie spoke as often as they could. Ashley would visit Katie nearly every weekend and Katie would take Ashley out with Lindley and Sierra. Katie called Martina every night and they'd talk about their days.

Katie was doing well in her new home. She was finally adjusting and was happy with where she was. She still had days where she missed her old home and school, but she was happy she didn't have to hide who she was in her new one. Katie's aunt didn't care that Katie had fallen in love with a girl. Katherine was just happy that Katie was happy. Katie told Katherine all about Dana and what they had gone through and how crazy they drove each other but, when they were together, how crazy they were for one another.

As soon as the final bell rang, Katie was in her Aunt Katherine's car. Jeremy and Chris weren't far behind considering it was Friday and everyone wanted to go home. Katherine went straight to pick up Marcus from school. She told Katie and the boys that they had errands to run. After running errands, Katherine took the four out to grab something to eat and then to see a movie. Katie didn't know why her aunt was taking them out so much, but she wasn't complaining. She didn't have any plans for her Friday night so she enjoyed spending the time with her aunt and cousins.

On the way home later that night, Katie dialed Martina's number and began telling her about her day. Katherine pulled into the driveway and turned the car off. All of the boys raced inside and Katherine followed behind, ordering them to head straight upstairs.

Martina was making Katie laugh over the phone, telling her one of her infamous outrageous stories. "Wait wait wait," Katie said through her laughter, "so you're telling me that you're more terrified of geese than snakes? Marti that doesn't even begin to make sense." Katie entered the house and dropped her bag on the ground, still having it from her day at school. She was about to make her way to the couch, but something else caught her attention. Katie stopped laughing and stared at what was before her.

"Katie?" Martina noticed the girl on the other line go silent. "Katie are you still there?"

"I'm still here..." Katie's voice was a cross between uneasy and curious. "Aunt Kat?" Katie called for her aunt but got no response.

"What's wrong?" Martina was unaware of what had caught Katie's attention.

"There's a trail... of rose petals..." Katie's eyebrows furrowed.

"Well follow them!" Martina instructed.

"Okay, okay." Katie slowly followed the trail throughout the house. It led her through the first floor. Through the living room, then the dining room, then the kitchen. Katie's eyes were glued to the ground as she opened the sliding glass door and ran out onto the deck. She didn't look up once as the trail of rose petals led down the stairs of the deck and to the stone path in the backyard. Katie lifted her head as she reached the stones lying in the grass. "Marti?"

"What is it? What's happening?"

"Can I call you back?" Katie didn't give Martina a chance to respond. She hung up the phone and slid it into the back pocket of her dark shorts.

Katie slowly made her way up the path, still following the rose petals. Standing at the end of the path was a wooden gazebo. The gazebo had fairy lights strung around every post. There were red roses and white lilies everywhere. Standing in the middle of the gazebo was none other than Dana Thomas, wearing a black tie suit.

Katie hesitantly made her way to the middle of the gazebo where Dana was standing. "What? Why? You...what?" Katie couldn't form any coherent sentences. Dana smiled at her with her signature smirk – the smirk that Katie had almost completely forgotten. Dana's smirk made Katie stiffen, her heart felt like it had stopped. "What the...hell...is going on...?" Katie's voice was low and breathy.

"Red roses are your favorite, right?" Dana still had a smirk plastered on her face.

Katie nodded. "And the lilies are yours..." Katie looked all around her. She couldn't possibly have enough moments in a day to take all of this in.

"I came to apologize." Dana could feel her heart begin to race, but she kept her composure. She was nervous. Even standing in front of Katie gave her anxiety after the last time they spoke. "You were right that I shouldn't have pushed you away. I shouldn't have just shut down when things got hard."

"Did you do... all this just to apologize?" Katie was still looking all around her.

"Well..." Dana swallowed and took a step forward, fully capturing Katie's attention. Katie's eyes locked on Dana's and she swore she could feel her own heart start to give out. "Not exactly. I wanted to make it up to you. And I know how much you miss all your friends back home. I didn't think it was fair to let them have all the fun without you."

Katie's eyes shifted between Dana's eyes and lips. Katie shook her head a couple of times, not understanding. Her eyes studied Dana harder than they ever had done so before. The green in Dana's hazel eyes glistened in the fairy lights. Dana sent Katie a soft smile, just big enough to show her dimples. "I-I don't..." Katie stuttered and struggled to get words out, and failed to say anything Dana could really comprehend.

"Katrina Marie Torres," Dana lifted her left hand, which was holding a red rose, "will you go to prom with me?" Katie's eyes kept shifting. "It doesn't have to be a date. Just as friends. So you can spend prom with the only people you really want to."

Katie slowly took the rose from Dana. "Yes."

Dana couldn't help the large grin that she now had. She turned to the deck, where Katie's cousins, aunt, uncle, and Ashley were all standing anxiously. Dana shot them a thumbs up, signaling Katie's response. The six standing on the deck all hollered in excitement. Katie couldn't hide the blush that was now on her cheeks. No one had ever done anything remotely that thoughtful for Katie in her entire life.

Katie wasn't over Dana by any stretch of the imagination. She was still very much in love with her, but she knew that she couldn't ask Dana if she wanted to get back together and try again. Katie couldn't put Dana through the same hell that Savannah did. Katie refused to let herself be with Dana until she was completely out and ready. She wasn't going to let herself hurt Dana.

Dana opened her arms, asking Katie for a hug. Katie shyly smiled and wrapped her arms around Dana's neck. Dana wrapped her arms around Katie's waist, almost losing herself in the embrace. Katie pulled away from the hug and felt a grin tug at her lips when she looked up at Dana. There was so much that both Katie and Dana wanted to say to one another, but neither one of them had the courage. So they just stood there, in that moment, for as long as they could. Dana was finally the one to break the silence and pull them both back into reality.

"Don't you have a sister to call back?"

☼ ☼ ☼

Three weeks had flown by since Dana asked Katie to prom. Katie and Dana had an agreement that prom was a one night thing. The two agreed that Katie was only going to prom with Dana so she could be with her friends. Katie told Dana that they should keep their distance from one another. Katie was afraid of getting too close to Dana again. She didn't want to get back together if she still wasn't ready to tell the world.

Lindley was lying on Katie's bed as Katie finished her make up for prom. Katie had gotten her hair done earlier that day and was finishing up getting ready. Lindley scrolled through her phone while Katie sat at her vanity getting ready. After finishing her make up, Katie slid on her red gown. She spun around searching for Lindley's approval. Lindley shot Katie a thumbs up.

Lindley and Katie made their way down the stairs to find Dana had just arrived. Dana was wearing a simple black gown with a slit down the left leg. A grin tugged at the corner of Dana's lips as Katie walked down the stairs. "You look beautiful." The words escaped Dana's mouth without any thought.

Katie smiled and attempted to hide the small blush she could feel forming. "You clean up pretty well yourself." Dana was holding a white corsage for Katie. Katherine handed Katie the red corsage meant for Dana. After Katherine got a couple of pictures out of the girls, Dana gestured towards the door. "Shall we?" Dana opened the door and Katie was surprised to find a limo parked in the street. Katie looked at Dana, almost puzzled. "Tonight's all for you. You deserve the whole nine yards."

Katie and Dana met at Grace's house for pictures with the group. Katie was surprised that Jesse was there, and without a date, but she figured that he was friends with Mason and a couple other people there so she convinced herself it made sense. After the group piled into the limo and ate dinner, they headed towards the hotel the prom was being held at.

The group – which included Mason, Ashley, Grace, Eddie, Katie, Dana, and Jesse – took a couple more pictures with each other as they entered the hotel. Grace pulled Eddie behind her as she practically ran to find the dance floor. Ashley linked arms with Katie and let Dana walk just barely ahead of them with the boys.

"I'm so happy you could come. I couldn't imagine prom without you." Ashley's smile grew as wide as it could.

Katie grinned slightly, looking at Dana ahead of them. "Well thank Dana. I wouldn't be here without her."

"Actually," Ashley shyly corrected, "technically you wouldn't be here without Jesse." Katie shot a look to Ashley, not understanding. "Dana didn't tell you?"

Katie shook her head. "Tell me what?"

"The school wouldn't let Dana buy a couple's ticket because you were both girls. She fought with them relentlessly and I'm pretty sure that they'll change the rule by the time the current freshmen have their prom, but for you Dana got Jesse to purchase your ticket. You're written down as his date, not Dana's."

Katie was surprised about what she was hearing. She didn't even know Dana had trouble getting the ticket, let alone needed Jesse's help. "Wow, Dana must've been really desperate to ask Jesse for help."

Ashley shyly corrected Katie once again, "They've been getting closer the last few months. They're actually pretty good friends now. Jesse's like a whole new person around Dana."

Katie was shocked. Somehow the fact that both of Katie's exes, who once couldn't stand each other, were now friends failed to get to Katie. She didn't know how Ashley, or even Dana, didn't tell her earlier. Katie had been gone for less than five months, but it seemed like a lifetime. She didn't realize how much things could change so quickly.

Katie caught up to Jesse as the group's tickets were being collected. "Jesse," Katie gently grabbed his arm to turn him around, "Ashley told me that I have you to thank for being with you guys tonight. I just wanted to thank you."

Jesse smiled at her. Katie's light brown eyes searched for something in Jesse's dark ones, but she felt like she was staring at an entirely new person. "I owe it to you." Jesse's thin lips parted as he searched for words. "I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am. I don't think I'll ever have enough words. You didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. And there's no excuse for it. I guess I just knew you couldn't want me the way I wanted you, and I saw that as a reason to act the way I did. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry – for everything."

Katie could tell Jesse was sincere. This night felt surreal to Katie. Everything about the night felt like a dream, and Katie didn't want to wake up.

As the night dragged on, the girls' heels eventually came off, along with the boys' jackets, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The music was upbeat and everyone in the group was dancing, except for Dana. Ashley walked up to Dana who was observing from the side of the dance floor.

Ashley handed Dana a drink. Ashley was well aware that Dana hated everything about prom. She hated dresses, and dancing, and pictures, and heels, and spending a ridiculous amount of money just for a few hours. "I know you hate this stuff."

"Yeah," Dana shrugged, "but she doesn't." Dana had a small absentminded smile as she watched Katie dancing.

Ashley couldn't help but smile at the thought of Dana and Katie. Ashley wanted more than anything for the two girls to be happy, and she knew that they were their happiest together. "So when are you going to ask her out again?"

Dana shook her head, "I'm not." She glanced at the ground before looking at Ashley, then back at Katie. "She made a point that I should leave her alone."

"We both know you're not that strong. You're a fighter, Dana. When did you stop remembering that?"

Dana looked at Ashley, clearly saddened by the thought. "This is just a one time thing, Ashley. I can tell." Dana knew that she couldn't ask Katie to be her girlfriend again, but Ashley was right. Dana wasn't strong enough to stay away. But as much as Dana wanted to fight for Katie, she knew she couldn't. She knew she shouldn't.

The song soon ended and a slow one came on. Mason walked over to Ashley and asked if she wanted to dance. Ashley happily accepted his invitation. Katie made her way to Dana and stuck out her hand. "May I have this dance?" Katie bowed, eliciting a small chuckle from Dana. Dana curtsied then took Katie's hand and Katie led them both to the dance floor with a smile.

Dana reached one hand to hold onto Katie's, but Katie wrapped her arms around Dana's neck instead. Dana moved her hands around Katie's waist and the two moved perfectly in sync with one another.

A strand of hair was falling in Dana's face. Katie pushed the strand behind Dana's ear. "I can't say thank you enough."

Dana shrugged. "You don't have to."

"But I do." Katie shook her head. "Ashley told me about you fighting for a ticket, and asking Jesse. Then you got the limo, and you just even thinking about bringing me here in the first place... I know how much you hate prom. But you did all of this..."

Dana smiled. "Well yeah. I can deal with one night. To see you as happy as you deserve to be, well that makes this all a lot more bearable."

Katie smiled back at Dana. "This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever even thought about doing for me."

Dana swallowed. She didn't want to say the wrong things, so she didn't say anything. Katie took a step closer to Dana and rested her head on Dana's shoulder. The two moved together the same way every other part of them fit together: perfectly.

Katie was completely content at that moment in time. She took a long breath in, letting herself remember all the times she had been in Dana's arms before. Katie thought for a moment. "No one's ever loved me the way you did."

"That's where you wrong, Katie." Katie lifted her head and looked up at Dana. Katie took a step back and tilted her head, questioning Dana.

"You used past tense."