Everyone decided to go to a nearby mall after their meal. As soon as they got there everyone pulled in different directions. Justin, despite Emily's pleads, dragged her over to Abercrombie and Fitch. Deanna pulled JC to American Eagle, hoping to find a new outfit. Lance and Hallie just started walking no where, just trying to talk things out while Joey, Vanessa, and Alex walked awkwardly to some stores. Chris and Hollis were a different story.

"Chris where are you taking me?" Hollis almost shouted as Chris pulled her around. Chris hurried along, determained. He was on a misson. They stopped at a mall directory and Chris told Hollis to turn around. She did as Chris's finger scrolled down the list of jewelry stores. After finding what he was looking for he grabbed Hollis's hand again and went running through the mall.

"Ok we're here." Chris finally said. Hollis stared into the jewelry store and gave Chris a confused look. "Go on. Pick one. I told you I would get you a better ring." he smiled. Hollis quickly enveloped Chris in a hug and then ran into the store. After looking in everyone of the clear cases, Hollis had seen so many she liked that she just couldn't choose.

"Chris..." Hollis started.

"Did you find one?" he asked quickly with anticipation in his words. She shook her head.

"I want you to pick. Just like if we were really going to get married." she begged. Chris sighed and started looking through the glass. Hollis waited patiently outside, not wanting to know which one he was going to choose. After about 10 minutes she heard Chris's shout.

"What size are you?" he laughed. She smiled and quickly called her size back to him. Her heart was beating fast. She couldn't wait for the ring. No, it wasn't even the ring, she couldn't wait for Chris to slip it on her finger and then she would know that they would be together forever. Finally, Chris walked out of the store with a small black velvet box. She tried to grab for it but he quickly slipped it in his pocket.

"No...I want to do this right." Chris almost whispered. Within a couple silent minutes, they were sitting outside. As if someone was controlling the weather, the sun came out and warmed up the temperature. Chris slowly pulled out the box and opened it. Hollis slowly took in the small silver band embelished with her birthstone and a diamond. With a deep breath, Chris got down on one knee and took the ring out its case. Holding it out he slowly spoke.

"Hollis...you are everything I ever wanted in a girl. And I...I...I love you." Chris breathed while slipping his old ring off her finger and replacing it with the slim silver band. Hollis felt a tear slip down her face as the ring was placed on her finger. Chris stood up and wiped the tear away. Before she could say anything, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her passionately.

One Week Later -- Deanna POV

After getting home from Seattle, everyone went their own separate ways. Emily and I went back to Chicago like we were supposed to a week earlier. JC and Justin accompanied us on the trip. My house was like a hotel. JC and Justin in the basement and Emily in the guest room, a room she was used to staying in. Fresh Justin pictures were on the wall, from when she had come for my graduation.

Everyone else had stayed in North Carolina. Chris wanted to stay with Hollis for as long as he could before having to go back from his break. Lance and Hallie were taking it slow, one step at a time, making sure that they were right for each other. Joey wanted to stay mainly to be with Alex. They had a growing friendship and he wanted to see if he could keep that going.

It was hectic back in Chicago because both of us were trying to spend as much time with our guys as possible. They were leaving in 3 days and it was going to be tough. Though they asked repeatedly, there was no way Emily and I could come stay with them in Orlando. School was just too important, especially to Emily. College has been her dream forever.

The depart was particularly hard for Emily. She was still scared of what was going to happen when he went away. Even scared that he would leave without saying good-bye. We had these midnight sob sessions over what was going to happen in the next week, hoping that they didn't hear us in the basement. Everything was just happening too fast.

Two days passed with the quickness of a speeding bullet as JC and I went to see various things around the area. We had spent a day just hanging around the house watching movies that we had rented. I even took him into a nearby Baskin Robbins (hehe) my favorite hangout of last year. He laughed when I showed him the guy I was crushing on before I met him. It was a fun day.

It was now the day before they were going to leave and I was determined to make it special. Emily and I stayed up late the night before planning on what to do. It had to be special, it had to be romantic, it had to be memorable, it had to be perfect. We had finally decided that a trip to Chicago would be the best thing to do and get out of the house. After waking up at the crack, Emily and I set up to make the day perfect.

"De...has anyone told you that you are not a cook? Look at the mess?" Emily shrieked when the flour dumped onto the counter. I filled a palm with a small amount of the flour and slowly put it on her head. It was an easy target since it was so much below mine. After a slight yelp, she shook her head making the flour go everywhere. We were trying to keep it down since we didn't want to wake up JC and Justin who were sleeping in the basement. I wasn't worried about JC, but Justin was a light sleeper.

"Emily...shut up. Justin's going to wake up." I whispered as she gave me an angered look.

"You're going to pay for this later." she threatened. Almost silently, I made a comment about how scared I was. We continued giggling while trying to mix the pancake batter best we could. When everything was ready, we stepped back to take a look at our master piece. The table was all decked out, with a stack of pancakes and other breakfast items in the middle. There was a plate on one side and a bowl with some cereal poured in it for Justin. This breakfast was specifically for Justin so he could start acting like a human being right away. We put a little note on the table, that read:

The next step was to get them up. The night before we had crept in the basement and put their debut cd in the cd player downstairs and turned the volume as loud as it went. We found our selves creeping around the basement this morning placing 2 notes on JC and Justin's sleeping bodies telling them to go in the kitchen. When the notes were in proper place, Emily grabbed the remote to the cd player and we snuck over to the stairs. Leaning far over, she hit the power button and the whole system lit up. Then Emily hit play after checking to make sure the volume was still way up. We quickly ran upstairs laughing as we heard "Tearin' Up My Heart" fill the room at full power. I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces.

Emily and I ran outside and peeked around the house. There was a small window by the kitchen that we could look in, to see everything that was happening. About 10 minutes later, we saw 2 figures walk in the kitchen. We figured that they had been looking for us – either to find us or to hurt us because of the music. I watched as JC picked up the note and read it out loud. A smile crept up on his face as he passed the note to Justin. He read it, put it down and immediately started in on his cereal, pouring milk into the bowl. Both of us had our ears pressed against the little window trying to make out bits of the conversation they were having. Finally, about 10 minutes after that, they got up from the table and started towards the front door. Emily and I quickly ran to the back of the house, where my basketball hoop was and started shooting a few. Previously, we had taped a note on the porch to come to the back. I was so involved in watching Emily shoot that I didn't even hear JC creep up behind me. I jumped as I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist and saw Justin sweep the ball out of Emily's lifted hands which were preparing to make a shot and he made a quick lay-up.

"Hey! I was going to make that shot!" Emily shouted at him. Justin shrugged as he came over and gave her a hug.

"What's in your hair?" he asked after looking down on it. I started laughing as Emily shot a glare in my direction.

"Deanna and I had a fight in the kitchen over the flour." Emily gritted between her teeth while taking her pony-tail out. After her hair was down, she shook her hands through her hair trying to get all of the white powder out.

"So did you enjoy the breakfast?" I questioned trying to change the subject a little. JC responded by pressing his lips to mine. "I take that as a yes." I laughed after we parted. I turned around to see Justin trying to teach Emily how to shoot a basketball correctly. He stood behind her as their hands were both on the ball, preparing to make a far shot. My eyes watched the ball travel toward the net, making it swoosh.

"You know this was a bad idea. You're never going to get Justin away." JC whispered in my ear, making me laugh.