Childhood Sweethearts. (part one)

"Marry me," he whispered in my ear.

"What?!" It came out worse than I had meant. I was shocked and caught off guard.

"Marry me, Brooke. You can go to college while I work on my music career after we graduate, live here and you'll never have to be away from me again. Eventually, we can even pop out a couple of kids like we always talked about. Please, just say 'yes'. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Andrew finished.

Andrew and I had been childhood sweethearts. The only problem was when we were in the fifth grade, I moved away from our small town in Kentucky to the big city in Pennsylvania. I went back a few times a year after that, but we weren't ever together because neither of us could handle a long distance relationship. We were about 12, what could you expect from us?

On each of the trips, I always tried to make to see him. He was, after all, my boyfriend still...in a way. I always thought about him and everytime I talked to an old friend, they always told me how he was and how much he missed me. As we grew older, my feelings grew stronger. When we hit high school, I was madly in love and knew it. No one could ever take Andrew from my heart. No one. I dated at my school a few times. I even tried making something work with people my friends had set me up with, but none of those boys were Andrew.

Before I left "home", Andrew was the typical popular boy. He played football, had a cocky attitude, and every girl wanted him. The way I had always seen it was their problem because I was his girl. He was the cutie of the school--spiky brown hair that was the perfect length, shocking blue eyes that melted the heart of anyone who looked into them.

I was the typical popular girl. I was a cheerleader back then, although I wasn't stuck up nor did I think I was. I was pretty much friends with everyone and was always willing to help out when I could. I had long, light brown hair to the bottom of my bottom, and a gorgeous pair of blue eyes to match my love's. We were perfect.

Everyone wanted to be us; or at least be WITH us. The girls swooned after Andrew and the guys showered me with gifts just to be their girlfriends. I was flattered and honoured, but I always let them down easy. Of course I mentioned I was with Andrew, but I never rubbed it their faces. I was a sweet and caring girl. Andrew was another story. He rubbed it in his buddies faces that we were together. I knew it, but I chose to ignore it. Either way, I don't think it would have mattered. He was still my Andrew and nothing was going to change that. Our moms joked that they were planning our wedding and when we got the chance, we talked about how our future was going to be. It went something like this: he was going to go professional with his football and become so rich, I would get to be a stay-at home mom. HE was going to take care of ME and our little girl we wanted. This big house in the middle of a huge field would be ours. That way our babies would have plenty of space to play and grow and play football, just like their dad. It was perfect. WE were perfect.

My parents were divorced and had been for seven years. My dad was off in Pennsylvania with his family while Mom and I were in Kentucky with her family. Despite the fact they were divorced, they stayed really good friends. Then one day, Mom asked if I wanted to go live with Dad. Not just me, but she was going to come, too. They would get back together if I said the magical words. And I did. I wanted to know what it was like to be a happy family and to live somewhere different. I was growing tired of my cousins and the same routine every day.

So, Mom and I went to Pennsylvania the summer before I started middle school. To my surprise, it wasn't all I thought it would be. I was depressed and didn't have friends. I stopped cheering and gained weight. I wasn't who I used to be. I never had a boyfriend while I was there. I made lots of friends and lost contact with most of the people I knew in Kentucky. At one point, even Andrew. We stopped talking for nearly a year. Then one day, he called and I knew things would get better.

After I started high school, we made trips less frequently so I could focus on my work, but when we went, I always called Andrew. We hung out every time I was there, even if it was for just an hour. Every look he gave me, everytime he touched me, I got butterflies and weak knees. He was my everything and I was in love and it was killing me. I couldn't be with him. When we left to go back to Pennsylvania, apparently something was bothering me and Mom could see it.

"Brooke, what's wrong? Why are you about to cry?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't miss it here, but, there's something..." I sighed.

"Your feelings have gotten stronger haven't they?" she said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" I defended myself, knowing what she was talking about and she was right.

"Andrew. Your feelings have gotten stronger as you've gotten older, right?" she answered.

"He's my everything, you know. I do love him. He's all I've ever known. I miss him so much. I wish he'd move out with us or something so we could be together. He makes feel so good about myself. I don't think of my appearance when I'm with him and it's like nothing can come between us. It's ecstacy. We're perfect," I
breathed with tears welling in my eyes.

"I know, hun. Everything will be okay," she muttered, looking straight ahead to the road while putting her arm around me so I was leaning over the console, resting my head on her.

~~~

When it was our Junior year, Andrew had changed a lot since I had met him. He was slacking in school, focusing on music instead of sports, doing drugs, smoking, and drinking. He wasn't who I left in Kentucky. I blamed myself for that. Maybe if I hadn't left, he wouldn't have ever gotten off track. No matter what his imperfections were, he was still Andrew; he was still the love of my life and I was going to stand beside him forever.

It was on one of these trips I got to spend the whole day with him. We went to his house and hung out. He was living in a little house by himself next door to his mom. So he had some responsibility and freedom without being too far away for his mom to worry. It was actually a lot tidier than I expected it to be. It could have used a little straightening up, but it was cozy. There was only two bedrooms, a bath, an itty bitty kitchen, and a living room big enough for a couch and a tv.

I was looking around and noticed he had a small DVD collection in the corner of the living room. I saw he had "The Notebook" which was my all-time favorite love movie. I smiled and started making fun of him. He grabbed me and started tickling me until we fell onto the couch. Here we layed together, laughing and cuddling. It was great to be in his comfortable embrace once again.

"Marry me," he whispered.

"What?!" It came out worse than I had meant. I was shocked and caught off guard.

"Marry me, Brooke. You can go to college while I work on my music career after we graduate, live here and you'll never have to be away from me again. Eventually, we can even pop out a couple of kids like we always talked about. Please, just say 'yes'. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Andrew finished.

"Andrew, I don't want to live here. Ever. I left for a reason and you're the only thing that keeps me coming back," I began, welling with tears. Finally, the moment I had been waiting for since I was six years old and I couldn't say yes.

"Fine, we won't live here. I'll tell Mom. She knew I was going to propose and we decided on all the other stuff, but if you don't want it, we won't have it. I can move to Pennsylvania with you and the rest can take place from there. All that matters is I'm with you." With that, he produced the most gorgeous diamond and ruby ring I had ever seen in my life. It was my perfect ring. Attached to the ring was a key. I gave him a quizzical look and he told me there was a lockbox in the guest room.

I slowly walked back to where he said the box was not knowing what to expect. My makeup was running down my face with the tears that stained my cheeks. I was full of emotions. Was he really ready to give up everything here just for me? Could we make it work? What was in the box? When I was in the room, I saw an orange safety box at the foot of the spare bed. I knelt in front of it, trembling with fear. Slowly, I turned the key...