Updated Twice. Make sure you read the one before this if you haven't!

"Hunter told me you are in a nursing program. That's really cool." I made conversation with Hunter's sister Haley.

"It's been a lot of hard work but I enjoy it. And helping people is something I've always been passionate about."

It was a bit crazy sitting here beside her after all these years. She was so grown up it baffled me.

"I could never. I get squeamish around blood."

"It actually took me awhile not to want to pass out when I drew blood or say something horrible during my internships." I couldn't imagine the things she saw, definitely not for me. Before I could say more an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"So what are you doing with my brother gorgeous?" Hunter's younger brother, Dylan spoke above me as he perched on the side of the couch next to me.

"Are you seriously flirting with Mia?" Haley rolled her eyes at her brother.

"What? Someone's got to free her from our brother. Mia," He used his arm to turn me to face him. "Blink twice if your being held hostage."

It was hard looking at Dylan and not picturing the dorky 13 year old boy I use to know. Even back then he was a flirt but now he had the looks to go along with it. Gone was the chubby, braces, kid. And in his place was a tall, fit, charming 18 year old. I had a feeling he knew he was hot, couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing quite yet.

It wasn't surprising he looked the way he did. The good looking gene in this family ran strong. Everyone was blessed with looking like models.

"Damn she didn't blink." I laughed at the crest fallen look on his face.

"Sorry but I am with your brother willingly."

"Just means I have to up my game." I knew he was joking and the eye roll from Haley she knew too.

"Glad to see you haven't changed Dylan." I patted his arm.

"But I have dear Mia." Dylan hopped off the couch and came further into my view. "See." He then preceded to lift his shirt, showing off that he now had a 4-pack. I nodded my head as if I was impressed, not wanting to hurt his feelings and say his brother had a 6-pack. Hunter's body was way more impressive.

"Are you showing your abs to my girlfriend?" Hunter asked as he came back into the room. I concealed a grin as Hunter came up to his brother.

"Just showing her what she's missing out on by being with you." Dylan shrugged, dropping his shirt.

"You mean with this?" This time it was Hunter who lifted up his shirt, showing off his well defined abdomen. The same abdomen I was kissing just last night. I watched amused as Dylan's mouth slammed shut and he glared at his brother.

"You're embarrassing yourself in front of my future girlfriend."

I sat there watching the two stare at one another before Hunter swiped his arm out and hooked it around his brothers head, drawing him into a head lock. Instantly Dylan was cursing and wiggling in Hunter's hold.

"Are we going to let this happen?" Haley asked next to me, watching her brothers wrestle each other. Our heads turned at the same time and looked at one another. A single look passed between us making us grin.

"Yep." I answered.

The two of us sat there comfortably on the couch, sipping the lemonade Hunter's mom made, while watching the two boys wrestle in front of us. It was actually quite entertaining. Of course neither of them were going to hurt each other but that didn't stop them from putting each other into head locks or throwing each other to the ground.

It was clear that Hunter had the upper hand. I mean he was bigger and stronger than Dylan. Plus Hunter was use to being tackled by bigger men.

They continued on wrestling, grunting and cursing at each other, until a new voice echoed around the room.

"And what is going on here?" At the baritone voice we all froze. Dylan was laying on the ground on his back, Hunter had his legs wrapped around him in some hold with his hands on Dylan's head. Slowly both of their heads moved towards the voice of their father.

Nathan James stared down at his two sons on the ground, eyebrow raised. He didn't look at all fazed by what was going on.

"Hunter started it!" Dylan spoke first.

"You were flirting with my girlfriend."

"I think you mean MY girlfriend." Dylan taunted him. Hunter's father sighed.

"Fine, continue." He said with a wave of his hand. Dylan's eyes widened when he realized his dad wasn't coming to his rescue. With a grin Hunter went back to squeezing the life out of his brother.

Shaking my head at the pair, yet smiling, I stood up. Now with everyone in the living room I had my chance to go and talk to Hunter's mom alone. Leaving the boys to wrestling and Haley and her dad on the couch, I made my way to the kitchen.

I knew the moment I agreed to come meet Hunter's family again that I would have to talk to his mom alone. I think we both needed closure after thing, to start fresh. With the way she hugged me earlier I think she believed the same as me. Neither of us wanted to bring up the past or continue down that road. We needed to have a talk without everyone else around us, and it seemed now was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Taking a deep breath I entered the kitchen. Almost like Hunter's mom had super hearing, she glanced up from what she was doing at the counter.

"Mia." She greeted. I didn't miss the way her eyes looked behind me as if she expected someone else to follow after me.

Just say it Mia. Do it.

"I uh...I was wondering if you had a moment." I stumbled over my words.

"Sure." Even she seemed a bit nervous about us talking. "How about we go out onto the patio?" Alice suggested. I nodded following after her. The further away from everyone the better. I wasn't sure what was going to be said and the last person I wanted to hear anything was Hunter. I did leave a few things out about what happened between his mother and I. He didn't need to hear any bad mouthing about his own mother from me. I wasn't that cruel of a person.

The two of us awkwardly sat down out on the patio. I took a moment to marvel at the view of the ocean. There was a path from the backyard that lead straight to the beach and it literally made my feet itch to be in the water.

A minute passed of silence and I knew I had to be the one to talk first. If I didn't I wasn't sure if I would say all that I wanted and needed to.

"Mrs. James-"

"Call me Alice."

"Alice." Clenching my hands in my lap I forced myself to look at Hunter's mom. "I wanted to talk to you alone without hovering from everyone because I know things between us haven't been....great."

You got this Mia. Say everything you need to. With a small amount of confidence I continued.

"When we first met 5 years ago you didn't like me. It was clear that you didn't like me and thought I wasn't good enough for your son. You never gave me a chance to prove how much I adored your so. Your mind was made up the second you saw me and you deemed me unworthy."

"Mia I-" Alice tried to say but I quickly put my hand up.

"Please let me say what I need to." She nodded and stayed silent.

"For months I tried to gain your approval. I acted different, dressed different, I even asked Hunter what some of your interests were so I could make conversation with you. But every time I spoke you were there to cut me down. To make me feel horrible about myself. To make me feel like I didn't deserve to be near your family."

The words hurt to say out loud but they were true.

"I already had so much hate on campus for being with Hunter and when you added on top of that..." I swallowed thickly. "I did break up with Hunter because of you. Because of your words and how unworthy to made me feel to be with your son."

A tiny part of me felt happy to see Alice's head bent down, shame written clear on her face.

"At the time I couldn't see why you would say and do such horrible things to me but now...now I understand it. I don't think it was the right thing to do but I understand." At my words Hunter's mom looked back at me. "You were protecting your son. You saw his potential to be the best quarterback the league has ever seen. You were doing what you thought was right for Hunter. I see that now."

"We can't change the past. As much as I'd like to go back and not let your words to get me I can't. But I need you to know something Alice." I sat up straighter as looked her directly in the eyes. I needed her to listen.

"I love your son. I love him with every ounce of my being and I can't imagine life without him. I won't imagine life without him. I don't want to drive a wall between you and your son but I am not going to let him go again. You can say every hateful thing under the sun about me but I will NOT make the same mistake of letting that man go."

"I want to put the past behind us and start over. I don't want to hate you or have you hate me either. So I guess...I guess all I am saying is I would like to start over with you. If you'd like to do the same."

I said all I needed to and it was now up to Alice if she would be able to start over.

"Mia the first thing I need to do is apologize." I tried not to let my slight shock show on my face as she started talking.

"I shouldn't have done what I did back then. It is inexcusable what I did to you. I thought I knew what was best for my son and somehow got it in my head that you were wrong for him. That every ounce of hard work he did for the past 12 years were going to be ruined if he was with you. But Mia...I was wrong. So very wrong." I sat there frozen as Hunter's mom sat there with tears in her eyes.

"I didn't notice how happy you made Hunter until after you broke up. I watched as he became a shell of himself. When we'd visit or he'd come home he'd sit there silently. He stopped interacting with everyone, including Dylan who he always teases. For years I sat back and watched as he threw himself into football. I knew it was all my fault."

"He would spent hours upon hours at the gym or on the field. Even after he won the Super Bowl he kept going, like he was trying to chase something. Like he had something to prove. I didn't know it at the time but what he was chasing was you."

"Me?" I croaked. Hearing how the break up affected Hunter hurt more than I thought it would. He told me a bit but he never went into detail of anything.

"It was like he was trying to achieve everything so that maybe you'd come back to him. If he was the best at everything then maybe he'd be good enough for you." Tears gathered in my eyes at her words. Hunter thought he wasn't good enough for me?

"I'm sorry it took me this long to realize that you two were meant for each other. Without you in Hunter's life he isn't the same. You two are made for each other. I know sorry can't change the past but I promise to make it up to you and to Hunter." Alice reached over and placed her hand over mine.

With a watery smile and softly squeezed my hand.

"I see the way Hunter looks at you and the way you look at him. I would love for you to be apart of this family and to start fresh with you."

I squeezed her hand back and nodded shakily. I knew there was still a lot of making up to do but honestly that was all I needed to hear to forgive Alice. None of it mattered anymore. She knew what she did was wrong and I knew she was going to do it again.

"I'd love to be apart of your family."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After Hunter's mom and I talked for a bit longer we finally went inside to be with the rest of the group. Things weren't going to be instantly rainbows and unicorns between us but I had a feeling things were going to be just fine.

When the two of us walked in side by side it caught everyone's attention. Hunter looked between his mother and I with a curious expression but didn't say anything. I instantly went to his side and he wasted no time in wrapping his arm around my waist. I could tell the rest were curious as well but thankfully Haley started talking about something else.

"Is everything okay?" Hunter whispered in my ear. I brought my own arm around his waist and gentle squeezed.

"Everything's perfect."

We spent the next few hours sitting around talking and exchanging stories. Because of how much Hunter's mom hated me at first I didn't hear too many stories about Hunter as a kid. So as we sat around I heard story after story about Hunter and his siblings as little kids. Hilarious moments of Hunter getting hit in the face with a football when he was 10. A story very similar to how we met and it made the two of us exchange grins. I heard stories of how Hunter tried to get his first girlfriend but failed when he tripped and stuck an ice cream directly in the girls face.

This was exactly what I wanted. Sitting around his with family telling stories and laughing at bad memories. Even when Hunter and I shared our own story about how we met with the football to the face, everyone laughed and teased. It was everything I had hoped would happen this weekend.

When it came time to make dinner Hunter's parents practically shooed us out of the house. Dylan went to do god knows what, Haley got on FaceTime with her boyfriend, leaving Hunter and I to ourselves.

Hunter wasted no time in grabbing my hand and tugging me out the back to towards the beach. The moment my feet touched the sand I let out a sigh. I loved the beach, ever since I was a kid I would beg my mom to take me. In High School I would spend weekends at the beach just listening to the waves and squishing the sand between my toes.

Completely forgetting about Hunter I dropped his hand and ran towards the waves. Like a little kid I ran into the ocean, the waves hitting my shins making me squeal. The water was so cold but felt amazing.

With a giddy smile I twirled and ran a bit, splashing in the water. I finally came to a stop and faced the sea. Closing my eyes and spreading my arms out I took a deep breath. The smell of the ocean filled my sense instantly calming everything in my body. Now this was perfection.

"If I had known coming to the beach would make you so happy we would have come sooner." Hunter spoke behind me. Glancing over my shoulder at him I held my hand out.

As soon as his hand clasped mine I felt like the world was right. Nothing else mattered but the two of us and standing here with no one else around it felt like we were the only two people on the planet.

"Everything is okay between you and my mom?" Hunter questioned after a few minutes of silence.

"It is. We had a good talk and...settled things between us." I have been debating the last few hours if I should bring it up but Alice's words were eating at me. "She did tell me something though." I kept my gaze straight ahead.

"She said that she felt like you were chasing something. That you pushed yourself to be the best at everything so...so if I ever came back you'd feel good enough for me." I said the last part so softly I was afraid he didn't hear it. When he didn't speak for a whole minute I started to grew anxious. Okay maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"When you left I..." Hunter struggled for words. "I felt like it was my fault. That I wasn't good enough to keep you." It literally broke my heart hearing him say that. That he felt that way, just like I did. "So I pushed myself to be the best. To make sure I was at the top of my game so I could prove that I did in fact deserve you."

Turning on my heels I gentle tugged him to face me. Gripping his hand tightly in mine I gazed up at him.

"You have always been good enough for me. In fact probably too good for someone like me. We've both had it in our heads that we didn't deserve each other but if I have learned one thing in the past four months is that we do deserve each other. You were always meant to be mine, even if it took five years for us to get back to each other." I brought one hand up and caressed the side of his face.

"And like I told your mom, I'm never letting you go. Your three month subscription has also expired." I used his words from earlier back on him. The smile that appeared on Hunter's face made my heart feel like it was going to burst from my chest. I would never grow tired of seeing that smile.

"Move in with me." He suddenly said. I stared up at him in surprise. Out of all the things he could say I wasn't thinking that would be it.

"What?"

"Move in with me. I know we said we were going to take things slow but I don't want to spend another night without you in my bed. Without waking up next to you. I already know I'm going to marry you one day, and since it is too soon to propose I want you to move in with me."

"You already know you're going to marry me?"

"Whether it be today or in two years, yes." The conviction in his tone made me smile. He was beyond serious too.

We did agree to take things slow but I knew without a doubt that if he proposed today or in two years my answer would be the same. A life without Hunter was not a life worth living for me.

"If I move in with you what do I get in return?" I took a step closer to him.

"Breakfast in bed, shower together, endless 'training' sessions." With each word he pressed me closer to him, his hands moving to my waist and then slowly up my back to my neck.

"Hm I think I can deal with that." The idea of waking up every single day to Hunter made my heart pound.

"So is that a yes? You'll move in with me?"

"It is a yes. And whenever you do propose....the answer will be the same."