Nothing felt better than being kissed the way Ava kissed me by the car and then being asked to be her boyfriend. She made it official and she made my whole life. I couldn't see anything separating us now. We both seemed like reasonable people who would always think before letting anything get between us.

I drove us to the arcade and for the next several hours, we played every game we could to see who could beat the other. Ava was extremely competitive. She took out a little notebook and started keeping track of who won what game and started giving us points based on how many games we'd won.

She won quite a few, but still not as many as I did. This arcade was one I'd spent a lot of time with. I'd run off with Theo, Vidal, Evan and Romeo several times just to come here. We were still kids at the time, but old enough to go off by ourselves. I'd also brought Arabella here several times and let her win at every game just so I didn't have to handle the temper tantrum that would follow if she lost.

So the bottom line is, Ava never really stood a chance. I was experienced at all these games. I was so confident in myself. Winning game after game until Ava started winning too many for my comfort. I began to realize that just setting her mind to it meant that Ava might actually win this challenge.

That's when things got serious. We transformed into little kids. We were no longer our rational adult selves, we were two stubborn children competing for a grand prize. When it came time for air hockey, I kissed my victory goodbye. This was the one game I always lost. Ava was only one point behind me and I saw the end of my winning streak approaching rapidly.

As I expected, Ava destroyed me and won herself another point, leaving us tied at twenty points each. We decided to play one more game to break the tie and then head off and finish our date elsewhere.

We walked around, trying to find a game we had yet to play and Ava found one that I felt solidified my loss. Whack-a-mole.

"No, Ava. This one is dumb." I said, knowing that this was going to make me lose miserably.

"Please! I've never been good at this one!" She said. "I don't think anyone is... so whoever wins will deserve that win."

"Fine." I sighed.

"Hold on. After this... can we use all the tickets we won to get a prize from there? For the winner of course." She said to me.

"Yes." I nodded. "Let's do that." I smiled, handing over all the tickets I was holding so I could go first.

I grabbed the little hammer and started the game. The music was so irritating, if the stupid machine could shut up, maybe I could focus on these hyperactive moles. I ended up getting possibly the lowest score anyone had ever gotten in a game they actually tried in. Then Ava went after me and killed it. She almost hit almost every single mole and I felt quite irritated about this loss.

"Prize for me!" She cheered, taking my hand and pulling me towards the spot where we could input all of the tickets we won and get her a prize. She put all of them in and then it let her pick a prize. I watched her smirk and then pick a package of face paint. She smiled at me as her prize fell through the gap.

"Why face paint? You could've gotten something so much better." I said to her.

"Nope. This was the best option. Are you ready for your face to be painted?" She asked me.

"Nope. No. Absolutely not, Ava." I said.

"Come on. Please! I won't do anything crazy. I promise." She said to me.

"Fine." I said with a sigh, making her jump up happily and kiss me.

That brought a smile to my face, despite my loss and my hesitation to let her paint my face.

She dragged me out of the arcade and back to my car.

"Hey, can I drive?" She asked me.

"Do you have a license?" I asked her.

"I do." She smiled.

"A Canadian one?" I asked her.

"Yup!" She smiled.

"Alright." I gave in, handing over the keys to my car.

Her eyes lit up and she got into the drivers seat, adjusting my seat so much that I couldn't help but dread putting it back in place.

"Where are we going?" I asked her as I buckled my seatbelt.

"To the beach. The beach is the best place to be, you've got to admit." She smiled.

"I agree. It had been pretty cold this week though." I mentioned.

"It has." She nodded. "But that's why we're gonna go get some firewood and matches." She told me.

"Really?" I asked her.

She nodded and started the car. We drove to the store and we went in. We got some firewood, got some matches and fire starters and we even bought a light blanket to keep us warm in case it was extra cold at the beach. Unfortunately, my stubborn girlfriend insisted on paying for everything no matter how much I tried to argue.

I plastered a pout on my face, letting her pay and following her out of the store and towards the car. She was looking at me the whole time, waiting for the pout to disappear.

"Gabe..." She said cautiously.

"No. I'm sad." I said, being petty.

"Why because I didn't let you pay?" She asked me.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Aw, please don't make it a big deal, Gabe." She sighed, pulling me closer and wrapping her arms around me.

"I wanted to pay." I said to her.

"I wanted to pay this time though, because then it would really feel like I took you on this date. Not the other way around." She explained.

"Does it mean that much to you to pay on the dates you take me on?" I asked her.

"Yeah. I was so scared you'd have to pay for the food, but luckily they let me pay online." She smiled.

"Why does paying matter so much, though?" I asked her.

"It does because people have reached a really irritating point where the man is expected to pay for everything and do everything and I hate it." She told me.

"I don't mind paying for everything, as long as I know you're willing to help out if I ever can't pay." I explained.

"Yeah but... why can't I ask you out? Make the first move... plan a date and pay for everything. I mean, I invited you on this date, Gabe. I better be paying." She said.

"That's fair. I won't be sad. But you won't ever try to pay on a date I take you out on, right?" I asked her.

"Right." She nodded, making me smile and planting a kiss on my cheek. "Now, lets go make a little campfire and paint your pretty face." She smiled.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked her.

"I'm very sure." She giggled, opening the car door for me and making sure I got in.

"No kiss?" I asked, when she started retreating so she could close the door and go to the driver's side of the car.

She laughed and shook her head, closing the door and going around the car. Then when she got into the driver's seat, she pulled me closer and kissed me.

"Happy?" She asked me.

"Very." I smiled.

She started the car and started driving off to the beach.

"Hey, Ava." I asked her as I controlled our music.

"What's up?" She asked me.

"I have a question about... your father..." I said to her.

"Huh?" She asked, glancing over at me for a moment before she focused back on the road.

"Does he know about me?" I asked her.

"He knew about you the day I met you." She smiled at me.

"Really?!" I asked happily.

"Yes, really." She giggled.

"I've been thinking about your parents actually and what they'd think of me. I feel like I should talk to them... so they know you're in good hands and so that I don't feel like a jerk for not talking to them about being with you and getting their blessing." I said.

"Aw... you wanna talk to them on the phone?" She asked me.

"I guess so. I can't really fly to New York right now, can I?" I laughed.

"You can call them now from my phone." She said, offering it to me.

"No, no. Later... but could you send me their numbers?" I asked her.

"Of course." She smiled. "Just grab my phone and take the numbers."

I did exactly that, taking her parents' numbers and planning on calling them. Ava had spoken to them in my presence, and they knew she was seeing someone, but they hadn't met me yet. I wanted that to change. It was important to me that her parents trusted me.

Ava was a very good driver, I felt very comfortable with her driving. She took me all the way to the beach without any problems. We found a nice spot to sit and Ava immediately started digging a hole. I got down beside her and started digging as well. We built the little campfire and then Ava grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders and sitting on my lap, facing me. She was ready to paint my face.

"Ready?" She laughed as I wrapped my arms along with the blanket, around her.

"Yeah." I sighed, letting her start her painting. I knew it was going to be embarrassing, but we'd both had bad days, and the smile I was seeing on Ava's face was making this one of the best nights ever. I didn't mind a little embarrassment if it brought a smile to my girlfriend's face.

It took her a while and I just watched her face and how concentrated she was. It was almost like the first time I met her when she was stitching up my arm. Except now, whenever she caught me staring, she'd smile and give me a short peck on my lips. No matter how many times I asked her what she was painting onto my face, she wouldn't tell me.

Once she was done, a big smile formed on her face. She snapped a picture on her phone and then on my own. She started scrolling through my phone and I peeked to see what she was doing. I found her sending the picture she'd taken of me with butterflies all over my face, to my family.

"Ava!" I objected.

She giggled and ran off, sending the message off and sticking her tongue out at me.

When I caught her she squealed and tried to free herself.

"It's your turn now, Doctor." I said to her.

"No." She said, giggling as I let her go.

"Yes." I said, pulling her back to where we were sitting a few seconds ago.

"Fine. But nothing too crazy! Please!" She begged.

"I'm going to try my hardest." I smiled.

"Ok." She nodded, sitting down in front of me wrapping her arms around my neck, making me pull her up onto my legs so I didn't have to bend at a strange angle.

"Do you have makeup on?" I asked her.

"No." She smiled. "I don't usually wear it... but it does help me sometimes at work. People tend to underestimate me when I don't have makeup on. I think I look a little older and more... put together with makeup on."

"I think that's stupid, though. They shouldn't judge based on how you look." I sighed.

"Well, they do... I know I'm young, but I know what I'm doing. That's why sometimes when I'm not in a good mood, I'll put makeup on so people don't bother me about it as much." She explained.

"But you're such a cutie without it." I said, kissing her cheek as I put some black paint on the brush I was using.

"That's the point. I can't be a cutie at work." She laughed.

"You're always a cutie to me." I laughed.

"You're ridiculous." She laughed, brushing my hair away from my face. I focused on her drawing, but I watched how her eyes scanned over my face multiple times and how they seemed to focus most on my eyes.

"You know what, Ava?" I asked her.

"What?" She asked me, smiling.

"One day, you and I are going to get married. I'm going to be open to anything with you, Ava, because you make me feel safe enough to do that. And I don't care if that makes me sound weak or stupid... it's just the truth. I want to go on dates like this every night of my life. I want to see you at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I want to know everything about you and tell you everything about me and eventually, we'll get married, and we're going to live a damn good life together, too." I told her, kissing her on her cheek.

She just stared at me for a while and I let her have a moment to process how strongly I felt about her.

"I believe you." She finally spoke. "I believe that we are going to get married. That we're going to have an amazing life together. We'll argue because you're so annoying and crazy sometimes, but we'll make up because we always talk to each other. That's the best thing about our relationship." She told me.

"Talking?" I asked.

"Yeah. Because somehow... I just know my secrets are safe with you. You're so understanding and so trustworthy. It feels so good to talk to you, tell you how I feel and hear how you feel and what's happening in your life." She told me.

I smiled at her, adding the last bit of blue paint to her face and then taking out my phone. She smiled at me, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. I laughed at how adorable she was and took the picture, immediately setting it as my lock screen.

"Alright. You wanna see?" I asked her.

"Yes." She smiled, turning in my lap so that she was leaning against my chest. She looked at the picture on my phone and she gasped.

"Wow! It actually looks so good!" She cheered. "I didn't know you were an artist."

"I'm not." I laughed.

"Gabe, painting someone's face is difficult, but you killed it!" She smiled.

"Thanks." I chuckled.

"It's almost as good as mine." She laughed, making me roll my eyes in amusement. "Come on, Gabe. You know I'm always the best. Don't try to beat a doctor at anything, you'll only disappoint yourself."

"Says the girl that almost lost to me today." I said.

"Key word. Almost. I didn't lose. I won." She said.

"I'm gonna beat you at something today, Ava." I insisted.

"Really? And what is that going to be?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Just as she said that, Romeo texted back and I looked down at it.

R - Wow. What did you do to Ava's face to deserve such embarrassment?

I laughed and showed her the text. She took my phone and rested against me, texting him back,

G - This is Ava, he lost a huge competition we had at the arcade. But his face-painting skills aren't bad.

Ava took a selfie and sent it off to the family group chat.

R - Oh wow. Gabe's got some artistic skills!

G - We need your help. Gabriel insists he's going to beat me at something tonight... what should I challenge him in?

R - You guys need to release your inner children... build sandcastles, send pictures here and the family will judge who the winner is.

G - Aw, what if you all vote for me because I'm more likeable?

R - Haha, we'll vote blindly. Don't tell us who built which one.

G - Sounds good. Thanks, Romeo!

R - No problem! Also, you can call me Remi.

Ava chuckled and threw my phone at me, running off to begin her sandcastle.