June 15, 2009
Ash's House
3:00 p.m.


I took a deep breath as I rang Ash's doorbell. Yesterday, we decided that we were just going to tell his mom that we loved each other and were going to be together. And she would just have to face it.

Although, I still couldn't believe we were back together. It was like one of those things where you hate someone, yet love them at the same time. I couldn't be with or without Ash. I was so madly in love with him, that I could hate him at the same time and we would still end up together. It was like, no matter what happened, we were meant to be. And I liked knowing that.

"Hey," Ash said as he answered the door. "Come on in,"

"Who is it?" I heard Ms. Monglia call out from somewhere in the house. Then she stepped out of the kitchen, coming into sight. When she saw me, her eyes went cold. "You'd better be here to apologize for what you did to my house."

"Actually Mom, she's here because we're back together. For good this time. And we won't let you tear us apart again. That's the only reason that we broke up in the first place. But you can't tell us not to love each other." Ash informed her.

"Ash, don't be stupid." she barked. "This girl's not worth your time. You don't really love her, you just think you do. It's just an illusion. And what about that Julianne girl?"

"She meant absolutely nothing to me, Mom. I broke up with her. And I know it's not just an illusion, because this is different than anything I've ever felt before. It has to be love."

I was touched by Ash's persistence to be with me, and by his sweetness. "He's right, Ms. Mongolia. And I'm truly sorry about what my friends and I did. It was stupid and immature. But we only did it because we were angry about what you said to me." I told her. "You had no right to call me that and I think you should apologize."

She looked at me as if I were crazy. "Yeah, right! I don't have to apologize to you!"

Her rudeness was beginning to aggrivate me. "You're right, you don't have to. But it would be polite if you did. Oh wait, I forgot! You're not polite at all, in fact you're the complete opposite of polite! You're rude, spiteful, and just plain mean."

Both the Mongolia's eyes widened in shock at my outburst. "How dare you speak to me that way." she said.

"No Mom, she has every right to say that to you. Because it's true! It's all true." Ash told her.

She turned her head away and I heard a small sniffle. She was crying. "Fine, then leave. Both of you, just leave. Go pack up your stuff, Ash."

"But Mom, I'm your son!" Ash cried. "How could you do this to your own son?"

She shook her head, "No you're not. Not anymore. Because sons don't betray their mothers the way you did to me. They don't hate their mothers."

"Mom, I don't hate you." he said softly, his eyes glistening with tears that were on the verge of breaking loose.

"I'm going to end up loosing you anyways. So just get out!" Then she walked off down the hallway.

Ash closed his eyes and clenched his fists, taking deep breaths. "I just wish she could understand." he said. "I wish she understood how I really feel about you."

"Ash, it's ok. She'll come around." I told him soothingly.

Then he trembled in fury, "Stop saying that!" he shouted.

I took a step away, feeling like I'd just been slapped. Ash had never gotten so angry before. He's never yelled at me like that.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I just hate when you say that, because I know it's never going to happen. She won't come around, Evalynne! She thinks I hate her! So now she hates me."

I bit my lip, "Well you can always choose her over me if that's what you want. I'm not going to stop you."

"No, because I love you. I'm not going to give you up just to satisfy my mom."

"Well I have a feeling that this isn't going to work out, Ash. We've been at this from the day we met and nothing's working."

He took a deep breath and stared at me for a moment as if he had something important to say, but was too afraid to actually say it. He decided against it and walked off down the hall to pack.

When he came back, we walked over to my house and he went into the guest bedroom to unpack. My phone rang and I answered it, "Hello,"

"Hi, Evalynne,"

"Oh, hi, Kristy," She didn't sound very happy. "What's wrong?"

"Don't act like you don't know." she hissed. "You broke my cousin's heart after he did you a favor just so you could get back together with Ash. What's your problem, Evalynne? All you care about is Ash! Even after he broke your heart, you still go back to him. You're pathetic. You're desperate and pathetic. Well I hope you really love him, because now, he's all you've got. Don't call me or text me either, because I'm blocking you from my phone." Then she hung up.

I stood there in shock. And I knew that this time, Kristy wasn't going to get over it. She was really mad at me. She might even hate me.

I flipped my phone shut and put it back in my pocket. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Kristy and I were no longer friends. And we never would be friends. Ever again.

Ash walked in about twenty minutes after Kristy's call. "Hi," he said.

"This is like de ja vu." I said. "Your mom got mad and kicked you out and Kristy hates me."

"Why does she hate you?" he asked, sitting down next to me on my bed.

"Because I broke Cole's heart to be with you. That's what she said anyways. But it's not fair! Cole was all over me! You were an eye-witness. I would have told him to leave me alone either way. But he probably told her some sob story so that she'd feel bad for him." I rolled my eyes and sighed. "And this time, she's not going to forgive and forget."

"Either is my mom." he said. We just sat there in silence for a moment, not knowing what else to say. "Well I'm going to go get the rest of my stuff from my mom's house." Then he stood up and left.

Later that night, we sat there with my parents, eating dinner in silence. Mom and Dad weren't exactly happy when I'd told them that Ash was going to be staying with us. But they hadn't gotten a chance to yell at me about it, because Ash was standing there the whole time.

When dinner was over, Mom asked if I could help her clean up in the kitchen. I unwillingly agreed and stepped into the kitchen with her. Dad came in soon after I did.

"Where is Ash?" I asked Dad.

"He went up to his room." he replied.

"Oh, ok." I said.

"Speaking of Ash, what were you thinking?" Mom burst.

"That Ash needed a place to stay and since we're boyfriend and girlfriend, I would let him stay with us." I told her.

Dad was shaking his head, "No, Evalynne! He already broke your heart once, I'm not going to let him do it again!"

"He won't, Dad! And it was my fault anyways for breaking up with him." I informed him.

"Well I don't want him staying here. I don't trust him." Dad said.

"Yeah, I don't trust anyone who was raised by that woman." Mom added, saying "that woman" with disgust.

"He's nothing like his mom." I told them.

"Fine, we'll let him stay here, but if he does anything to hurt you, he's going to be living on the streets." Dad said.

Mom sighed, "Richard, I really don't think-"

"Holly, relax." he interrupted her. "Just because you don't like his mother, doesn't mean you have to hate him too."

"Yeah, Mom, he really isn't similar to her in any way." I added.

"Fine," she muttered. "He can stay."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried, hugging both my parents. Then we finished cleaning up dinner and I went up to my room.

Ash was waiting for me at the door, "Hi," I said to him.

"Hey, can we talk?" he asked.

"Uh, sure," I let him into my room and we both sat down on my bed.

"Evalynne, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to always know that you love me too. I want to be sure that you'll always be mine." he said.

I felt like I knew where this was going, but told myself that it couldn't be.

"And I don't care what my mom says. You're more important. I just want you to always know that I love you. Even when we're apart." Then he got down on one knee and I felt my heart stop. He pulled out a ring and asked the infamous question, "Evalynne, will you marry me?"

I felt light-headed. This was all happening way too fast. I'd only known Ash for about two weeks. We couldn't get married already! "Ash, it's too soon. I've only known you for two weeks."

"So what? It doesn't matter how soon it is. It matters whether or not you truly love me. And I love you, Evalynne. And it's not like we have to get married today. We can have our wedding in a month. I just want to be sure that you'll always love me. I want to love you forever. So what do you say?"

I couldn't believe what I was about to do. I knew I should have told him no. But I was in love. "Yes," I choked out through tears. "I'll marry you."

He smiled and slid the ring onto my finger. "Look at the inscription." he said.

I looked closely at the ring and read it aloud. "EC+AM=4ever," Then I leaned in and kissed him. And I knew that I had made the right decision.