Mom was waiting for me in the hallway.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on yet?” I asked, pushing up the sleeves on my thermal.
“Nope.” She pivoted around. “Follow me.”
Beyond curious, I followed her back downstairs and to the kitchen.
“Put these sneakers on.” She motioned at the pair by the door. “And then go outside.”
“I’m a little freaked out at this point.” I slipped my sneakers on. “Like I’m about to walk into a trap.”
“Now, why would I do that to my daughter?”
I shot her a look over my shoulder but opened the door anyway and came to a dead stop.
Sebastian was waiting outside on the patio Mom never used anymore, dressed like me with the exception of the leggings. He had on sweats and a slouchy gray knit hat. Over his shoulder, I thought his backyard looked brighter than normal, but then I saw what he held in his hands.
A corsage—rose petals in a vibrant, dewy red and in full bloom, sprinkled with baby’s breath and fresh leaves.
I dragged my gaze to his.
A shy smile tugged at his lips. “Since you didn’t go to homecoming, I thought we’d do something better.”
My brain completely emptied of all thoughts.
“Be good.” Mom passed both of us a long look. “Have fun.”
With wide eyes, I turned back to Sebastian as Mom closed the door behind us. “I thought you were going to homecoming.”
He shook his head as he walked over to me. “Nah. We can always do prom, right?”
We. The way he said that... “Right,” I whispered.
“May I?” he asked, and in a dumb daze, I held up my arm. He slipped the corsage over my left hand and secured it to my wrist. “Looks good on you.”
Blinking rapidly, I gave a little shake of my head. “Thank you.”
“You can’t say thanks yet.” Taking my hand, he led me off the cracked cement, toward the gate between our yards. “So, I came up with something I thought would be much better than a dance.”
With a knot in my throat, I followed him, absolutely stunned.
“I’ve actually been wanting to do this for a while and figured this was the perfect chance.” He pushed open the gate and tugged me through. “What do you think?”
My mouth was hanging open as I took in the sight in front of me. Twinkling lights were hung from the shed to the trees, casting a soft glow on the narrow yard. In the center, several feet away from the patio, was a tent. A light flickered inside it.
“Camping?” I whispered.
Sebastian let go of my hand and shoved his hands into his pockets as he nodded. “You remember doing this when we were younger?”
“Yeah.” Of course I did. “Every Saturday night. Either your dad or mine would come out here and set it up for us.”
“We’d make s’mores.” He nudged me gently with his shoulder. “Until that one time you caught your hair on fire.”
“I didn’t catch my hair on fire!” I laughed, and it was a real, deep laugh that shocked me into silence. When had I last laughed like that?
“I stand corrected. It was only a few strands. Same thing.” He leaned into me this time, and I turned slightly, dropping the side of my head against his arm. “We’re not roasting s’mores tonight, but I got the next best thing.”
“What?” My voice was hoarse.
“You have to wait and see,” he answered. “It’s a surprise.”
“Another?”
“Another.”
Oh God.
Lifting my right hand, I rubbed my palm over my eyes. A slight wetness clung to my lashes.
“You okay?”
“Of course.” I pulled it together as I stepped away and glanced at the back door. “Where are your parents?”
“They’re doing date night. They’ll be home later.”
“And they know about this?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Mom wanted to hang around and take pictures of us standing in front of the tent, since she feels she got cheated out of the senior homecoming pictures.”
Another laugh burst out of me, shaking my entire body, and as the laugh faded like ashes in the wind, I saw Sebastian staring at me in the glittering lights.
“I missed that sound,” he said, angling his body toward me. “Your laugh. I missed it more than I even realized.”
Feeling a little breathless, I brought my gaze to his. “Me, too.”
“Good.” His eyes searched mine and then he exhaled heavily. “Ready to check out the tent?”
Toying with a string of baby’s breath on the corsage, I started to follow him when suspicion suddenly blossomed, and I stopped to look up at Sebastian. “Did you...talk to Felicia?”
He grinned, hands still shoved into the pockets, obviously pleased with himself. “Maybe.”
“You did!” My eyes widened. “That’s why she let me go home two hours early. When did you do it?”
“Thursday night I swung by and asked,” he said, eyes glimmering in the low light.
“And obviously you talked to my mom.”
He nodded once more. “A couple of days ago. She said, and I quote, ‘You’re such a sweet boy.’ Not that I needed to be told that.”
“You are a sweet boy.”
Chuckling, he peeled back the flap of the tent. “You first.”
I toed off my sneakers, then ducked inside the tent and was able to stand straight. Sebastian wasn’t able to as he stepped inside, so he knelt beside me as I inhaled the musty scent, immediately swamped by memories of the long summer nights spent in a much smaller tent.
There was an air mattress on the ground, along with two sleeping bags and a comforter I vaguely recognized from Sebastian’s house. Pillows were stacked at one side of the mattress. A little LED lantern sat on a plastic folding table. A pile of food waited in the corner—chips, sodas, Tupperware containers and even a bag of Funyuns.
That was pretty much when I knew I would forever be in love with Sebastian.
Sebastian reached over to the pile of food, picked up a container and popped the lid open. “Mom made s’more brownies.”
My mouth watered. “S’more brownies? That sounds like heaven.”
“They are amazing.” He put the lid back on and picked up another. “The last time she made them, I ate so many I thought I’d vomit.”
I laughed as I watched him open another lid. That one had strawberries and pieces of watermelon in it.
“Cut them up myself,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. “I think I deserve a pat on the head for that alone.”
Grinning, I patted the top of his knit cap and then looked around the tent again. Emotion closed up my throat. This was amazing, perfect and so incredibly thoughtful.
I kind of wanted to cry. “This is...”
“What?” Sebastian looked over at me.
“Thank you.” I dropped down on the mattress beside him. Leaning over, I clasped his cheeks. “Thank you so much. I never expected you to do anything like this, and I know I don’t—”
“Don’t say it.” He folded his hands over my wrists. Our eyes met. “There will be none of that tonight. At all. It’s just you and me and a ton of calories waiting to be consumed. Nothing else. No past. Nothing.”
I just stopped thinking. Right then. Right there.