Ashton made sure that this date made up for the last one. He was the epitome of a gentleman, even asking me if he could kiss me. I would always say yes and even told him that he didn't have to ask me, but he did anyway. I could tell he was trying to make up for the bad ending of our last date.

We had become a couple, and it seemed that everyone knew that. Everyone at school would talk about us as a couple, even my parents had noticed. They had requested to have dinner with Ashton.

The door bell rings and my stomach does a flip at the thought of the person standing on the other side of the door. I walk quickly to the door, make sure I still look presentable, and open the door.

Ashton stands there in a deep blue polo and khakis. The dark blue shirt makes his eyes shine out brighter and I watch his eyes trail over me as I just did to him. The smile on his face mirrors mine.

"Hi sweetheart." Ashton says, his voice an octive lower than it normally is.

I clear my thoat, "Hi."

He steps inside and reveals what was behind his back, which is funny because I didn't realise he was hiding something behind his back. A bouquet of red roses appears and I gasp.

"These are so pretty." I exclaim as I lean towards them. I've always loved the smell of roses.

Ashton smiles, "Not as pretty as what I am looking at." I look up and see that he is staring at me. I feel a blush crawl up my cheeks.

He leans down to give me a quick peck on the lips, but is stopped by my father's voice, "Minimum of three feet apart please." I turn around and see my father staring at us with a smile on his face. He gives me a wink and turns back towards the kitchen to help my mom finish.

I glance at Ashton and see him smirking. Before I can ask what he is thinking, he quickly leans down and pecks me on the lips. I can't help but smile, but then have to hold in a chuckle when Ashton winks and puts a finger to his lips.

"Our secret." He whispers. I put my hand over my mouth to make sure my laughter isn't heard by my parents. Ashton hands me the roses and I start walking to the dining room. I hear the door close behind me and then I feel Ashton's presence behind me.

"Hello Ashton, oh my goodness, those are pretty. Evangeline, go get a vase so they don't dry out." My mom takes a second out of her rushing around to smell the roses. She then shoos me towards the farthest cabinet where we keep the vases. Opening the cabinet, I see that someone decided to put all the vases on the top shelf. I brace my hands on the counter to jump up in order to reach them.

"Here, let me." Ashton says from behind me. One of his arms goes around my waist as the other reaches up and grabs a vase. He sets it down in front of me but doesn't move. I lean into his chest as his other arm goes around my waist.

"Stupid tall person." I say quietly, hoping Ashton does hear me. He laughs at my insult.

Someone clears their throat behind us and we turn to see my dad shaking his head, "Three feet, I thought I made that clear." His face looks serious but I can see the amusement in his eyes.

I feel Ashton's arms fall away and his body heat disappears as he takes a step away from me. I sigh and glare at my dad.

"He carried me in when I was sleeping. We were closer than three feet then." I continue to glare at him.

Dad shrugs, "Since this is the official meet-the-parents, there is going to be a minimum distance between you two."

"You're ridiculus." I mutter at him and make a big show of grabbing Ashton's hand. I start walking towards the sink with the vase, and Ashton trailing behind me, to get water for the roses.

Filling the vase up with water, I feel Ashton's arms around my waist, "You know," I remind him, "this isn't three feet."

"You know," he responds in a whisper, "your dad isn't looking." I have to hold in my laugh again.

With the vase filled and the roses nicely arranged, Ashton follows me as I walk to the table and place the roses in the middle. I walk around the table and seat myself to which Ashton follows my example and sits next to me.

As soon as we sit down, both my parents start placing food on the table. They had created a feast with ravioli, salad, bread sticks, mashed potatos and gravy. I inwardly groaned at their obsession for a big meal. Glancing at Ashton, I watch him as he scans the food in front of him. By the look in his eye, I have a feeling that we made just enough food.

My parents sit down across from us, with my dad sitting across from Ashton. Before it gets any more awkward, I quickly start serving myself and, slowly, everyone follows my example.

With everyone's plate full of food, my dad starts the conversation, "So Ashton, how did you meet Evangeline?"

"At school, dad, where else?" I hiss at him through my embarrasment. Glancing at Ashton, I watch as he raises his eyebrow.

"Now Evangeline, I was asking Ashton." Dad scolds me, but I can tell he's not serious. He turns back to Ashton and gestures for him to talk.

With a side smile in my direction, Ashton answers his question, "Like Evie said, I met her the first day of school. We have a couple classes together."

"Which classes?" Mom butts in.

"US History and Gym. First and last classes." Ashton responds.

Dad looks at me before asking his next question, "So how come only now have you guys started hanging out together?"

Ashton also looks at me before answering and his hand reaches underneath the table and grabs mine, "Truthfully, Evie and I had a rough relationship at the beginning. I wasn't the right kind of guy for her and I messed up. Truely messed up. And I will be forever in her debt because of that."

"So you mean to say," dad interrupts Ashton's mini speech, "that you treated my little girl wrong?" Disappointment is evident in his voice.

Ashton winces and turns to look at me while he squeezes my hand, "Yes sir. I did not treat her the way she deserves. And I will regret it until the day I die."

Dad sighs, "Well I guess that's it," he stands up, "it was nice to meet you Ashton. Evangeline, I need to talk to you alone."

My mouth falls open at my dad's blatent rudeness, "Dad! What the heck, dinner just started!"

"No, I understand Evie." Ashton's voice sounds defeated. He stands up to leave but I grab his arm and pull him back in his chair.

"Sit down Ashton. You're not going anywhere until this dinner is over," I direct this at Ashton but then look at my dad, "you need to hear the whole story. I wasn't the nicest to him either. We both had our troubles."

With a resigned sigh, dad sits back down, "Please explain Evangeline."

Ashton's gaze bores into mine and I take that as my confidence, "We didn't get off on a good foot. For some reason, I didn't like him, at all. I thought he was rude, arrogant and just plain mean. Before I even had a decent conversation with him, I had already judged him as one of those playboys."

I look back at Ashton at the end of my spiel and see his gaze. Respect and awe cover his features as he once again scans over my face. Taking my hand, again under the table, he gives it another squeeze. Ashton meets my eyes again and I can see nothing but happiness and awe shining in them.

Our stare is broken by my father's sigh, "Well, darling, do you have anything to say?" He directs the question at my so far silent mother. I glance at her and see that she has been listening and waiting for the opertune moment to share her views.

"Ashton, what do you see in my daughter, now?" She asks, her voice not betraying what she is thinking.

"She is the most wonderful girl I have ever known. Whenever she smiles, she lights up the room. Her spirit is bright and strong, she stands behind the things and people she loves. I am the luckiest guy on the world to call her mine." Honesty shines from Ashton's voice and I can't help but look at him in awe. I've never heard him say anything like that to anyone, let alone me. I feel a smile stretch across my face and soon Ashton's smile mirrors mine.

"And what if we, meaning her dad and me, told you that we wouldn't allow you both to be together?" My mom's question breaks the trance between us.

Ashton turns to her, "I would respect your decision but ask you to reconsider. I want to make it up to her, in every possible way I can. She deserves that and much more." The sincerity in his voice shocks me.

"Do you respect boundaries?" Mom continues her interigation.

"Mom!" I hiss as a blush crawls up my neck and cheeks. I glance over to Ashton and try to control my embarrasment at her question.

"It's a logical question Evangeline." Mom reasons but she doesn't take her eyes off Ashton.

Ashton's hand gives mine another squeeze, "Not in the past. I had pushed Evie past her boundaries on our first date," he laughs probably remembering it, "but don't worry. She definetely made it be known that I went past her boundaries."

"How?" My dad looks at me, curiousity showing on his features. I blush and glance at Ashton.

Ashton looks at me and laughs again, "Go ahead, tell them. It is quite funny."

I blush again, "I kind of slapped him."

Both my dad and mom start laughing and dad tries to talk during his laughter, "That's my daughter."

Their laughter quiets down a couple seconds later and serious expressions immediately return on both their faces. It's almost comical how fast their expressions change from joyous to serious.

"And now?" My mom asks.

"Now, Evie is all I care about. She is in complete control of this relationship and I will follow her every wish." Ashton says calmly, honesty shinning out of his voice.

I openly gape at him. Part of me thinks that I only wanted to hear that, while the other part is absolutely overjoyed at hearing what Ashton said. Luckily, Ashton is still looking at my parents and hasn't noticed my shock at his words.

"Close your mouth, Evie, you don't want to catch flies." Ashton says teasingly before turning towards me. He winks at me and I immediately close my mouth and try to hide my blush.

"Well," my mom starts, "I think I am done with my questioning. Dear, what do you think about this young man?" She looks at my dad.

He doesn't respond for a moment and instead looks at Ashton. I watch as my dad silently assesses Ashton before saying anything. I have to give credit to Ashton because he calmly watches my dad as this is going on. Nerves wrack my body with the long time my parents are taking to say anything. I want them to approve of Ashton, but I can't help thinking that even if they don't, I would still be in a relationship with him.

My dad nods, "Ashton, we cannot look over what happened in the past, at least not yet. I want your word that it will not happen again."

"You have my word, sir," Ashton says to my dad but he turns his head and looks at me, "I really like your daughter and intend to make everything up to her in every way I can."

After Ashton's declaration, dinner continued with a much more lighter tone. We had gotten on the topic of favorite and least favorite movies. The time seemed to move much faster with the lighter topic and soon it was time for Ashton to leave. My mom had convined my dad to go upstairs to give Ashton and I a moment to ourselves.

Finally by ourselves, I let out a deep breath, "I think that went well."

Ashton gives a short chuckle, "Well, I'm still alive aren't I. Though I suppose that's only due to you. Your dad was ready to kick me out of the neighborhood."

I smile, "He wouldn't of kicked you out of the neighborhood. Maybe just ban you from coming back to my house."

He cups my cheek and I am met with two deep blue eyes, "And even that wouldn't be able to keep me away from you."

"Ashton," I say in a whisper, "my dad did bring up a good point. Why now?"

He sighs, and before responding, he gives me a small kiss, "I want to wait to have this conversation, please. We will have it, I promise, just not right now. I would prefer to have it at my house."

I hesitate, remembering in the past when Josh, and even that doctor, had avoided my questions or had diverted the conversation. It seemed like so many people were keeping things from me. I didn't realize how much that bothered me until now, when I realized that Ashton was also keeping things from me.

"What are you thinking about, sweetheart?" Ashton whispers as his other hand cups my other cheek and he rests his forehead against mine.

"Why can't you tell me? If it involves me, I should know." I say quietly.

Ashton looks regretful, "I can't, not right now. I will, I promise I will."

I step away from our embrace, "Why can't you tell me right now? What's wrong with right now?" I realize I sound a little whine but it seems to be all I can do to keep the irritation out of my voice.

Ashton sighs, but then a smirk covers his face. Before I can say anything, he rushes forward and holds my head as he kisses me. For a moment, I forget about what we were talking about as his lips move against mine. The kiss is short and sweet and Ashton slowly steps back from our embrace.

"Loser." I mumble, knowing that he was trying to distract me. The fact that it worked irritated me further but I pushed it out of my mind.

Ashton let's out a loud laugh, "You make me laugh, sweetheart."

I scoff and try to hide my smile, "And you irritate me, playboy."

Ashton cuts his laughter off and playfully glares at me, "We're going to have to talk about that nickname, sweetheart."

"Why? Because it's true?" I challenge playfully.

He gently grabs me and turns me so my back is against the closed door. His lips descend upon mine and I fall into the kiss once again. It's slow and very romantic, but before I can really get into it, Ashton breaks the kiss and leans his forehead against mine.

"Not anymore," he whispers staring into my eyes, "there's only you." He kisses me again, this one shorter and I tiny bit more rougher, but I find I enjoy it more than the last one.

"Only you."