"Take a deep breath," I said to Parker, as I stood up on the coffee table to adjust to his tie. "Everything's going to be okay babe."

He didn't answer.

I fixed his collar around his tie before handing him his suit jacket. "You look very handsome by the way."

"Do I look teenager handsome or guardian handsome?"

"You have an older man sexy appeal to you."

He rolled his eyes, letting out a chuckle as he shrugged into his jacket.

"Okay, hold on," I said, hopping back up onto the coffee table to fix the part in his hair. "Remember that you have to sound professional."

"Obviously."

"You can't say that you were chilling with the boys Saturday night."

"I'm not an idiot."

"I'm just giving you some pointers." I patted his chest before hopping back off the coffee table. "You are a jock at heart my dear."

"Shut up."

I just smiled at him, handing him a travel mug of coffee. "Would you like the newspaper as well?"

He rolled his eyes at me again, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You look very sophisticated." I rose up and kissed his cheek. "You're going to kill it."

"You're going to be late to school," Parker pointed out.

"School, schmool. You're more important."

He gave me a kiss, sending a tingle up my spine.

"Go get ready," he said, grabbing his keys. "I'll call you once the interview is over."

"I feel like we're a married couple and you're headed to like an important job interview right now or something."

He shook at his at me, checking his phone as he left the apartment.

I was worried about him.

He hadn't slept at all last night. I'd heard him pacing the apartment, and he didn't even go on his morning run.

And I knew that he was scared to death, but he wasn't letting it show.

This was Lee we were talking about, his baby brother. I couldn't imagine what would happen if the state actually did take Lee from Parker.

I don't think Parker would be able to continue to function.

But I didn't want to think about that as I went back to my bedroom to get ready for school.

It usually took me about 25 minutes, on a good day, but today it only took me 15.

No makeup, hair in a messy bun, and leggings and an oversized Victoria's Secret hoodie.

This was my don't mess with me outfit.

I grabbed a granola bar as I went to leave the apartment. I was actually taking my own car to school today, which was pretty rare.

It seemed silly to me to have three people that live in the same apartment drive three separate cars to school.

I was late to school and had to fill out a tardy slip, getting death glares from the receptionist.

As if me being late was practically the end of the world.

All morning I anxiously awaited a phone call from Parker.

Eventually I just wanted him to excuse himself from his meeting and call me, just to let me know what was going on. Because this waiting thing was torture.

"You look like you're awaiting your death row sentence," Michelle informed me, as we headed to lunch.

"What?"

"What's the matter?"

"You're a strange person."

She just smiled at me as we entered the cafeteria.

I went over to my lunch table to dump my backpack before getting in the incredibly long lunch line.

We need another lunch period in my opinion.

And then I saw someone waving me down out of the corner of my eye.

I turned to see Emmett waving me down. Sitting at his table was Parker.

Parker turned to see me, and he immediately stood up.

He was still wearing his suit pants and button-up shirt, but he'd ditched the jacket and tie.

That son of a bitch didn't even call me.

He waved me over as well.

"I'll be right back," I said to Michelle, storming to the other side of the lunchroom.

"Uh-oh," Emmett said, as I got closer to their lunch table. "She's pissed dude."

"I brought you Chick-Fil-A," Parker informed me, gesturing towards his lunch table.

And there was indeed Chick-Fil-A sitting there, for me.

"You didn't call me!"

"I checked into school less than two minutes ago," he defended. "And I knew that this was your lunch period."

"You said that you would call me."

"You were in class."

"I would've gone to the bathroom or something."

"Well I'm here now. With Chick-Fil-A," he added. "Want to go outside?"

I nodded, and he scooped up my lunch and headed outside, even holding the door open for me.

He didn't seem to be in a bad mood, which was a good sign.

"So how did it go?" I asked, as we took a seat at one of the empty tables outside.

"I basically got a slap on the wrist," he said, taking a sip of my lemonade. "And lectured on partying and underage drinking. I mean, since my breathalyzer test was 0 and my drug test was negative, they really can't charge me with anything. So I'm just on their hit list now."

"So you get to keep Lee?"

"He's all mine."

I jumped out of my seat, leaning across the table to wrap my arms around his neck and place a kiss on his lips, letting out an excited squeal in the process.

"Emily Winston!" Mrs. Verone called, the lunch monitor.

I pulled away from Parker, shooting her an apologetic smile.

Not that I was sorry at all.

"So I think we should celebrate," Parker said, with a smile.

"And how do you think we should do that?" I asked, as I took a bite of my one of my chicken nuggets.

"Tonight, you and me."

"Well that's not very specific."

"Just be home by five."

"Okay," I agreed, taking a sip of my own lemonade.

And then I realized Parker drank out of it first.

"Gross," I complained, handing it to him. "This is all yours."

"You kiss me but you won't drink after me?"

"I won't drink after anybody," I informed him. "So no."

He chuckled, taking another sip of my, well now his, lemonade. "Your loss."

"Asshole."

~*~

I was running late.

No shocker there.

I slipped into the apartment at 5:18, my eyes scanning the kitchen and living room.

Empty.

I knew that Emmett was at soccer practice for his travel team, but Parker could be anywhere.

I tip-toed back to my bedroom, hoping that Parker wouldn't notice that I was late.

I opened my bedroom door, and sitting on my bed was a floral and lace dress.

I picked up the note attached, my heart pounding in my chest.

Because I knew you'd be late, we're leaving at 6. You could wear this, or whatever the hell you feel like because you're beautiful no matter what.

I'd never had a boy do something like this for me before.

I picked up the dress, trying it on.

It was tight through the bust, which had a white background and was patterned with spring colored flowers.

Then it flowed out into a lace dress, stopping at about mid-thigh.

I absolutely loved it.

Of course now I only had about thirty minutes do my hair and makeup.

I let my curling wand heat up while I did my makeup. I kept it light, feeling as though light makeup matched this dress more than heavy.

Then I curled my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders.

To finish the look, I paired the dress with a pair of pink pumps that had straps across the top and bows on the side to match the pink flowers on the dress.

They were my absolute favorite pair of heels, but I never had anything to wear them with.

I peeked out into the hallway, but Parker still wasn't visible.

I'd finished with five minutes to spare.

I clicked down the hallway, heading into the kitchen.

And he was there, leaning across the counter.

He'd been concentrating on his phone, but when he heard my heels, he'd looked up to see.

Parker's eyes widened when he saw me.

He was wearing a pair of khakis and a blue button-up with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows.

"You look gorgeous," Parker said.

"I love that color on you," I said, reaching over and fixing his collar.

He gave me a light kiss before grabbing his keys. "Ready to go?"

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to love it," he promised. "Well, at least I hope so."

"Well that's promising."

He held my hand on the way down to his car, causing a smile to cross my face.

"How did you know my dress size?" I asked him, as we rode the elevator down to the apartment lobby.

"By looking at your other dresses?"

"So you went into my closet and looked at my dress sizes?"

"With your brother's help," he defended. "So if you're going to get mad at someone, get mad at him." He leaned against the back of the elevator. "I was just going to wing it. But Emmett said I had to actually put some effort into it."

"Well I'm glad you did."

He just smiled at me.

"And I love the dress," I added. "You have good taste." I raised an eyebrow at him. "That is if you actually picked it out yourself."

"I mean I had a say in it."

I rolled my eyes, laughing as the elevator doors opened.

"So how far are we going?" I asked, tucking my left leg under my right as Parker started up his car.

"About 45 minutes?" Parker guessed, pulling out of the apartment complex.

I fiddled with the radio, settling on a pop radio station much to the disgust of Parker.

"Is it a museum?" I guessed, after a few minutes.

"No."

I watched the scenery out of the window for a few moments, trying to decipher where we were headed.

"Is it a restaurant?"

"Sort of."

"What does sort of mean?"

"You'll find out."

"Let's play twenty questions," I suggested.

"This is like a car ride with Lee," Parker informed me.

"Okay, I'll go first."

He chuckled.

"What's your favorite color?"

He pondered the questions for a few seconds, drumming his fingers on the center console. "If I had to pick one, probably blue."

"Why blue?"

"That's another question," Parker accused. "But I'll let it slide. Blue because it makes me look sexy."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at him.

"Okay, who was your first kiss?"

I thought back. "Um, I think it was Brad Daniels."

"Brad Daniels, the Senior?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"He's in my English class," Parker informed me. "How did you know Brad Daniels?"

"He was my next door neighbor as a kid, when I actually lived in a house with my parents."

"Aw, next door neighbor childhood love. Too cute."

"Shut up."

I looked out the window again, trying to get an idea as to where we were going.

"Are we going to the theater?" I asked, looking back over at him.

"Is that your question?"

"Sure."

"No."

I let out a sigh, looking back out the window. "Will you give me a hint?"

"Okay," he agreed. "It's not the theater or a museum, but it is kind of like a restaurant."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He chuckled.

"Ask me a question," I said.

"If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?"

I stared out of the window again, thinking about his question.

That was a good one.

"I'd want to have the niceness ability," I said, looking back over at Parker.

"What?"

"I'd want to have the ability to make everyone just be nice to each other. Oh you don't like him? Boom, now you do. Oh, you two are fighting? Boom, now you're not."

Parker busted out into laughter, laughing so hard that tears began to trickle down his cheeks.

"I'm serious!"

"I know you are," Parker agreed, wiping the tears off his cheeks. "That's what makes it so damn funny."

"You're so mean to me."

He just laughed at me again.

Parker pulled off the highway, and I began to recognize my surroundings.

"Are you taking me to the aquarium?"

"In a sense."

"Why am I wearing heels to go to the aquarium?"

And then it dawned on me.

He said that we were sort of going to a restaurant.

"Are we having dinner at the aquarium?"

Parker let out a sigh. "Well so much for a surprise. I really need to reign in my hints."

"This is so exciting!"

We pulled up to the aquarium, and Parker led me inside.

"I didn't know you could eat here," I commented.

"You sort of can."

What does that mean?

Parker saluted the guy that was working the front desk, and the front desk guy nodded in return.

And then Parker led me to the back, where the sign read Employees Only.

"You do realize that neither one of us work here, right?" I asked, as I followed him.

"Just trust me."

He reached out and took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers.

In this back little room, a two-seat table was set up, lights strung around.

The table was located next to a glass window, peering into the habitat of different types of fish.

"This is for us?" I asked, my heart swelling up.

"No, it's for the other couple sneaking into the back of the aquarium to have dinner next to the fish," Parker teased, smiling at me.

I wrapped my arms around him, kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

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

So what did you guys think about Parker's nervousness before going to see Social Services? Were you nervous too? What about Social Services decision? Did that help lift a weight off your chest? And then Parker's surprise date with Emily?

The picture up there at the top of the chapter was created by delilah_jane. What do you guys think?

So my laptop only works if it's plugged in, and as soon as the plug comes out it immediately turns off. Which sucks. I have to order a new battery.

Teaser: It's prom season! Who's asking who? (As if you can't already guess.)