*A few months later*

The sound of my phone ringing woke me up.

I groaned,feeling around for my phone. Grabbing it,I answered without even looking and put it near my ear.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I winced."God, Cole it's freaking three in the morning."

"It's ten in the morning! Why aren't you up yet? We called you like five million times."

I just grunted in response.

"Wow. You're welcome," he said sarcastically. "Here, El wants to talk to you."

"Happy birthday,Ashley! Now hurry up and get dressed.We're picking you up in half an hour."

"But E-"

She hung up.

Sighing, I put my phone away. Maybe I could sleep again? Ten more minutes wouldn't hurt...

My phone started ringing again.

I groaned. Why was everyone calling me?Didn't they love me? Why wouldn't they let me sleep?

I answered without looking again,ready to snap at whoever it was.

"Happy birthday babe."

Or not.

"Aaron,you already wished me," my lips automatically turned up into a smile.

He had. He had called me at midnight so he was the first one to wish me.

"I know I just miss you," he answered.

I could imagine him smiling goofily and it made me smile. I finally opened my eyes and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm not there with you."

I bit my lip. I missed him so much.

"It's okay, Aaron. It really is. Besides,you were the first one to wish me," I said,trying to hide how much I missed him.

He was away for a match and wouldn't be back at least for a week.

He chuckled. "I'll make it up to you,I promise."

"Sure. When are you coming back again?"

"I-Okay. Hey,Ashy I gotta go. I'll call you later. Have an awesome day."

"Okay, bye."

And with that he hung up.

I sighed,looking at the wallpaper on my phone. It was a picture of Aaron and me,him kissing my cheek.

I smiled. It was my favourite picture of us.

Putting my phone on the bedside table, I got up and decided to get ready.

I was just going to go shower when my parents came into my room.

"Happy birthday,honey!"

"Happy birthday, sweetheart."

They both said simultaneously, hugging me.

"Thanks you," I smiled,hugging them back tightly.

"We came to wish you earlier but you were sleeping," Mom said as we pulled away.

"Thank you for not waking me up," I laughed.

Dad ruffled my hair. "Always the sleepy head. "

"Okay sweetie,we'll leave you to get dressed. I left your present in your closet," Mom smiled.

"Aww,thank you so much," I smiled and gave her a quick hug.

They left me to get ready and I went to take a shower.

I got out of the shower and opener my closet.

I smiled when I saw a pretty white dress hanging among my clothes.

I put the dress on and paired the dress with a denim jacket. I put a little bit of makeup on and let my hair down.

Just as I was grabbing my bag, the door opened.

"Happy birthday, girl!"

It was Elena.

I smiled,pulling Elena into a hug. "Thank you El. Where are the guys?"

"Well, Trent has gone to pick Amanda up.They'll meet us in a while.And I made Cole wait downstairs. I figured you might need some time to get ready."

"Oh, you didn't have to,I'm ready."

"Wait," she said,taking a step away to look at me.

She shook her head. "Pretty but not ready yet. Sit down."

I tried to protest but she wouldn't let me say anything. She curled my hair and put more makeup on my face till she thought I was "ready".

"Lovely! Now put your heels on and we're ready to go."

Shaking my head,I put my heels on. I gave myself a onceover in the mirror.

"You did a good job," I said,staring at my reflection in the mirror.

I liked how I looked.

"Oh,come on now," she said,grabbing my arm as she took me downstairs.

"Wow,you look even uglier now that you're older."

This was the first thing Cole said when he saw me.Elena smacked the back of his head.

He laughed,pulling me into a hug. "Happy birthday, Ash."

I hugged him back. "Thanks,Cole."

We had breakfast with my parents. Amanda and Trent joined us after some time.

By the time we left my house,I had a pile of gifts in my room that my friends and Dad had given me.

"So..."

"What?" Trent asked. He was driving.

"Where are we going again?"

"We're going to-"

"Oh crap,Trent! Can you please head to my house first?I forgot Ashley's present at home," Amanda suddenly interrupted.

"But Amanda you just gave me one," I reminded her.

"Oh that was from both Trent and me. I got you this one specially. C'mon, it won't take long I promise."

I looked at her in confusion but didn't get to ask her more about it because Cole engaged me in a conversation about ducks. Don't even ask.

Trent soon pulled into the Woods' driveway.

"You guys, come on in. You can wait inside."

"Nah,we're good," I said.

"I need to pee," Cole blurted out and hurriedly got out.

"He needs to pee," Elena said and got out too.

What?

"C'mon we should go too," Trent said.

Shaking my head, I got out too.

I had weird friends.

I followed Trent and the others inside.I checked my phone to see if Aaron had called. He hadn't. I let out a small sigh before going inside.

"Ashley!Happy birthday honey!"

It was Joanna.

"Thanks Jo," I smiled,giving her a hug. I had missed her.

"I didn't know you were coming or I would have made you something," she frowned.

"Don't worry we're not staying for long anyway. Amanda just had to get-"

"Ashley?Ashley!Come here!"

Amanda was calling me.

Shooting Joanna an apologetic look, I went upstairs where Amanda was. The others were nowhere to be seen.Maybe they were in Amanda's room.

"Can you please do me a favor and come with me to Aaron's room. I can't find your present anywhere!"

"It's okay,Amanda.It's not-"

"Please?" she looked so sad that I shut up and followed her into Aaron's room.

I took in a deep breath.

His smell.

It made me miss him even more.

"I'll look near the closet,you look under the bed. I'm such a jerk for making the birthday girl work. Sorry, Ashley."

"Oh come on, Amanda. Don't be silly.Where are the others?" I asked,bending to look under the bed.

"Oh they're looking in my room."

That explained why they had disappeared.

There was nothing under the bed. Literally nothing.

"There's nothing here Amanda."

There was no reply.

I got up to see the room empty.

I decided to look around for a bit longer.It did have Amanda so stressed out.

Maybe she kept it in Aaron's closet?

Just as I opened the closet,someone pounced on me.

"BOOOOOO!"

We both fell on the floor with a thud.

I screamed before seeing who it was.Then I screamed again.

What the....

"AARON, YOU ASSHOLE!"

He laughed. "Got ya," he whispered pulling me into a kiss.

I kissed him back,pulling him towards me. Our lips moved in sync and I weaved my fingers through his hair,heart fluttering.

Ismiled against his lips. "You came," I whispered,still unable to believe he was really here.

"How could I miss your birthday?" he grinned,planting a kiss on my cheek before getting up and helping me up.

I flung my arms around him. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more," he whispered.

I pulled away so I could look at him.God,how I'd missed that gorgeous face

"Wait," he said, heading towards his closet.

He came back,holding a box in his hand. "Your present," he grinned,holding it out.

I took it from him and unwrapped it, revealing what was inside.

"Aaron this is so sweet."

It was my favourite picture of us, the same picture that I had set as the wallpaper on my phone.

"Yay!" he said enthusiastically.

I put it aside, giving him a brief kiss on the lips.

"Thank you Aaron. I really loved it."

"Oh, I almost forgot."

He gave me a bag that was lying on his table that I hadn't noticed before.

The bag was full of chocolates that I loved.

"Wow. Can you get any more awesome?"

"I think so, yeah."

I smacked his head before taking his hand in mine. "Thank you."

"Enough with the thank yous," he said as he sat me down on his bed."Sit."

I happily obliged, holding his hand firmly.

He didn't say anything. He stared at our intertwined hands for a while, as if contemplating something.

"Is everything okay?" I asked when he didn't say anything for a while.

He looked up, gave me a small smile,reached into his pocket and took out a small box.

Woah, how many things had he gotten me?

"What is..."

He winked at me and opened the box,revealing a beautiful ring. It was a pretty silver ring with a heart shaped diamond.

"It's so beautiful," I stared at it in wonder.

"You like it?"

I nodded my head,hugging him. "Thank you so much Aaron. I really don't know what to say."

He chuckled,pulling away. "Don't worry about that, I'm not done yet."

"What?"

Was he for real?

"We need to talk."

My heart sped up. That was never good.

"Aaron what-"

He placed a finger on my lips. "May I?"

I nodded silently. He was making my heart beat at a very...not normal rate.

"Ashley. Ashy. I know it's not been that long since we started going out and I know you probably still think I'm too hot to be real," he paused to see my reaction but I was too anxious to laugh or even smile. "That was a joke..." he glared at me playfully.

"Anyway, like I was saying I know it's probably too early to be saying this but I am. Ashley Forbes,you amazing,beautiful girl. You've made my life so fucking awesome. I could never have imagined being as happy as I am with you."

"I could also never have thought I'd become a cheesy ass guy who does things like this," he gestured to himself, making me let out a small chuckle, although it sounded like I was choking to be honest.

"But well, here I am and I don't really care about that anymore...I like making you happy. I love seeing you smile. It makes my day. It keeps me going when I don't want to. Just thinking about you turns my whole day around. I'm fucking crazy about you,Ashy and it's been driving me insane. So,Ashley Forbes what I want to say is that..." he paused and stared right into my eyes. "I'm in love with you."

My heart. My heart was going crazy. I took a deep breath as I stared at him in bewilderment.

Did he...did he actually just....

"What?" I croaked out.

"God, don't say I have to repeat everything I just-"

"No. At the end. What did you...What did you say?"

He looked right at me. "I love you."

I looked into his hazel eyes,seeing nothing but love and sincerity. It somehow made my adoration for him increase even more.

"I love you too, Aaron."

I didn't even have to think about it.I had wanted to say it for quite a while too now and the fact that he felt the same way made me feel all kinds of giddy.

His eyes widened like he couldn't believe I actually said it back.

I placed my hands on his face and moved closer to him."I love you, Aaron," I said slowly.

His face changed from surprise,to relief,to delight. "I love you too,Ashy," he grinned, pressing his lips against mine.

I kissed him back eagerly,my heart still beating fast at the thought of being the girl he loved.

We stayed that way for a while till Aaron leaned in and kissed my forehead "Come on,we have to celebrate. We can make out later," He winked.

I chuckled."You're stupid."

"But you love me."

I did. I really did.

I smiled happily. I couldn't seem to stop smiling.

I put my hand in his and he tugged me downstairs,where all my friends along with my parents and Aaron's dad were waiting.

"Happy birthday!" they all sang in unison, making me blush and grin at the same time.

I could see a big cake sitting on the dining table with candles all around it.And food.God,there was so much food and pizza,of course there was pizza.

"Thank you so much you guys," I smiled,feeling overwhelmed.

"Time to cut the cake!" Aaron announced,taking me towards the dining table excitedly.

I laughed, trying to keep up with Aaron.He sat me down on the chair and handed me a knife.

I started blowing the candles.When I was about to blow the last one, Aaron stopped me.

"Wait,did you wish for something?"

I smiled back at him.

"I can't think of anything I want more than this," I replied truthfully with a huge smile on my face and blew the last candle out.

***

And it has finally come to an end.😭😭😭

I am too overwhelmed to write anything right now.

But I am going to say that I am so,so grateful to all of you.Thank you so much for reading,voting,commenting and if you're like me,falling in love with Aaron Woods.

I'm going to miss all these characters terribly.I really,really am.

But I don't think there's going to be a second book.I am sorry you guys but I just think it would ruin this book.

If I do consider it though,I will let you know.

I would also like to apologise for making you all wait so long for the epilogue. I've had no time these past couple of months.

But well, it's finally here and I hope you all like the ending.

Also, big shoutout to @RiaRite for the awesome cover and to @angelicious101 for helping with the editing.

Once again,thank you all so,so much for the love and support.