As the song ended, I felt all tingly inside. I had never sang before, and I was nervous. Everyone clapped, so I took that as a good sign. I set the mic back in its place and looked at the three boys. I looked over them. Nathan was my first love. He always will be. We'll never forget what we had together--at least, I won't. He always made dreams seem possible. Darnellel was kind. He knew what he wanted. But he was also a little bipolar. Mason was funny, cute, understanding. He could have any girl he wanted, and yet, he chose me.

I knew who I loved. I knew who I wanted to share every kiss with, trust my heart and soul with... I knew who I wanted to hold me in my arms and tell me they loved me. I knew. But what was I going to say? How was I gonna break it to him? How would the others react? But most importantly... What would they say, when they found out that the man I loved, wasn't standing before me at this very moment?

I didn't want to be with Nathan, Darnellel, or Mason. Because, what I failed to mention was during my recovery, I had a certain visitor. Ryder had come to see me.

I woke up and the nurse was standing by my beside, checking my vitals. Then Ryder came to the door and asked the nurse if he could come in and talk to me. I nodded at her, telling her he was nice and safe. Kind of a wacko, but he was funny. The nurse walked out and Ryder sat next to me. He took my hand and looked at me.

"I heard about you on the news," he said.

"Where's Anabelle?" I asked, noticing she wasn't here.

He swallowed and looked down. Tears slid down his face. "She was attacked. Some worlocks were mad at her and killed her."

"Ryder, I'm so sorry," I whispered.

He shook his head and swallowed. I pressed my lips into a line, so I wouldn't cry. But I couldn't controll it. When they overflew, Ryder held me and we cried together. Anabelle was my best friend. She was sweet, fun... I'll never forget her. We cried for about thirty minutes--well, I did--before finally carrying on with our conversation.

"So when I heard about you, I had to make sure you were alive," he said.

"I thought you didn't like me," I arched an eyebrow at him, wiping my nose with a tissue.

"Of course I do. We've fought, but we're cool like that," he smirked.

I nodded.

"I'm glad you're okay. Really," he said.

"Thanks for the concern," I smiled weakly, wiping dried tears away.

Then the look he gave me, made my heart melt. He gave me a look of genuine concern and compassion that I didn't know existed. He looked at me as if I were some flawless girl who was lying in a hospital bed. And then the realization crashed down on me, like someone hitting me on the forehead saying I should've had a V8. It was Ryder all along, but we never knew it.

"So who is your true love?!" a girl in the front row yelled at me, making me snap into reality.

I sighed as guesses filled the crowd.

"I hope it's Nathan."

"Girl, please. It should be Mason."

"Darnellel is hot."

"Okay!" I laughed. "The thing is..." I looked at the three of them. "He's not here."

"What?!" the girls asked.

I looked away from the three boys and looked out into the crowd. I was getting yelled at for being so stupid. Then a girl said, "Why don't you want someone that's right in front of you?"

"That's it," I said. "I do."

"Huh?" she asked.

"The guy I love, hasn't exactly 'been' there for me, but every time I've seen him... I recently just fell for him. And I can't tell who, because I don't know if he's here, and if he is, I don't want to accidentally put him on the spot," I explained.

I walked off-stage and ran so Nathan, Darnellel, and Mason couldn't catch up to me. I tripped and bumped into someone. I looked up, and was about to keep running when I realized it was Ryder.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hi," I whispered.

"He's a lucky guy," he shrugged.

"Excuse me?" I chuckled.

"Whoever you recently fell for," he said.

My jaw dropped. "You...heard that?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Oh, um--"

"Him?!" Nathan yelled.

I spun around and Nathan was out of breath. I looked at Ryder and back at Nathan.

"What?" Ryder laughed.

"She loves you!" Nathan yelled, still looking at me.

"I have to go," I said running away, but Ryder caught my arm.

"This true?" he asked.

I couldn't breathe. Tears streaked my face as I yanked my arm free and kept running.

"Kate, wait!" Ryder's steps ran after me.

My throat began to burn and hurt, because I was running way too fast. I was about to collapse when Ryder caught me and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around him as I cried harder just below his chest. He rubbed my back and set his head on mine.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"Because I feel like a whore," I mumbled.

"Kate, you're not a whore," he looked down at me. "You change your mind. That's how hormones are supposed to work."

I looked down and wiped my tears. "I just... Anabelle just died and I don't want us to happen because she's gone."

"Kate, do you remember that day you found out I was human?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Remember how I told you that I hadn't told Anabelle?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"She didn't know, because I was afraid of her reaction. We didn't have a 'healthy relationship.' I've told you more things than I told her," he said.

I swallowed. "So... You've liked me...for how long?"

"I don't think I realized it till the hospital visit. But deep down inside, I had something. I knew I had some feeling. I didn't know what is was, but it'd go away whenever I saw you. I would get warmer inside. I didn't understand it. But, I realized what it was, the moment I walked out of that hospital," he said.

Every word that rolled off his tounge, I couldn't believe he'd said. He'd had feelings for me all along. He really loved me. I breathed and really looked at him. He had the cutest half-smile on his face. I didn't realize that he was holding both my hands until I looked down. I looked back at him and smiled. He stroked my cheek with his thumb.

Suddenly nothing else existed. I forgot we were in a crowdful of people. I didn't even know what was going on, or what time it was. And I didn't care. Things fell into place. Everything was clear. I had wasted time with the wrong guys. I felt like such a moron. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up at him, lightly kissing his chin.

"Someone's a teaser," he chuckled.

I just gave him a look. Not an offended one, or anything. He chuckled pulling me into him. He bent into my ear and whispered, "I wanna show you something."

We went back to his house and he was very tidy. We were running--not sure why--so I didn't get a good look at his interior. We went into his room and he set me on his bed.

"Don't go anywhere," he said.

I shrugged, and he disappeared. I saw that he had a bathroom connected with his bedroom. I looked around. His walls were brown, his room was slightly messy. He had a flannel shirt on the floor, and a Coke can next to it. Does he watch TV without a shirt? I laughed as Ryder came back out. He had something in his hands. He sat next to me and opened it up. It was a scrapbook.

"You had this in your bathroom?" I chuckled.

"No, my closet. My room is built weird. But anyway, I wanna show you my parents," he said.

I remembered something he'd said: My parents just didn't want me and dumped me here

The couple he showed me, didn't look like the kind that would dump their kids just anywhere. They looked normal. Happy. Like they would love their kids. Looking at them and at Ryder... Ryder's eyes showed sorrow. Like, real sorrow. I held his hand and rubbed his arm. He kept flipping through the pictures, explaining each one to me. But I was focused on him.

I took the scrapbook from him, closed it, and set it aside. He looked at me confused. I just kissed him. I didn't want him to cry. I wanted him to be happy and not think about his parents. He laid me down on the bed and I pulled him on me. I could feel his excitement. (Litterally). Our lips parted, so we could breathe. He looked at me with kind eyes and got off me.

"You okay?" I asked.

He nodded. "I just don't feel right--doing this to you."

"What?" I chuckled.

"I don't want to do it with you because I was a little upset at memories. I want our first time to be special," he took my hand.

"Me too," I smiled.

He kissed my lips for a second. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I said.

The sun was setting outside. My eyes grew heavy and Ryder smiled wider at me. I yawned--and hid my face as I did so--and giggled.

"Why'd you hide your face while you yawned?" he asked.

"Because I look weird when I yawn," I said.

"Let me watch next time," he said.

I stuck my tounge out at him and we laughed. I laid down and closed my eyes.

"Sleepy?" he chuckled, playing with my hair.

"Mhm," I hummed.

He wrapped an arm around me and I felt his chest press against my back.

I didn't have a dream that night. It was peaceful. I opened my eyes, to find Ryder's arm still wrapped around me. I felt strands of my hair being played with. I turned my head to look at him, and he was half-smiling to himself. When he saw me, he kissed me.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You look pure sleeping," he said.

"Thanks?" I laughed.

"What do you wanna do?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Anything."

"Then I have just the place we can go," Ryder smiled, jumping out of bed, and running to his bathroom.

I was left sitting on his bed, confused as to what he was thinking.