"Alright, Allison, we're here," Zach said gently.

In the time it had taken to get there, the sun had completely set and it was fairly dark out. Allison had a hard time seeing anything outside of the beams of the headlights, even when straining her eyes as much as she could.

"I can't see anything. Where are we?" she asked.

"You'll see."

He grabbed her arm and the two slowly walked away from the car. She could tell by the way her careful steps sank into the ground and the distant roar that they were near the ocean. Allison huddled closer to Zach as the wind began to whip at her.

"Zach," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I think a storm's coming."

"So do I, but it should hold out."

As they drew nearer to the shore, Allison noted how violently the waves were crashing against the nearby dock as Zach led her in that direction.

"Shit," he quietly and fearfully breathed out.

"Zach, what is it?" Allison frantically asked.

The wind ripped at her clothing as he grabbed her hand and dragged her back towards the car.

"I want to know what is going on!"

"Did you see that wood by the dock or the rope dangling in the water?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So what?! That was our boat! We were supposed to be out on the water in that thing right now."

"Oh...I see. Well..." Her voice trailed off as she silently thought for a moment. "My God! We'd probably be dead right now!"

"That's what I was just thinking about. We'd be stuck out there in the storm, fighting the water to keep from drowning. And it would be so cold and dark and hopeless...and all of this if we gotten here just a little earlier." He paused. "You didn't think I was that upset about losing that dinky boat, did you?" He smiled, trying to coax the worried and shocked expression from Allison's face. "Baby, don't worry. We're okay. Everything's alright and now we can do something else."

Allison stood still and thought to herself, "This isn't right. If I were too die, I would want Kevin to be the one with me, I have to stop hiding my feelings."

"Honey, it's okay," he said as he hugged her. "I'm sorry I scared you by saying we came so close to dying. We really didn't."

"I'm not even thinking about that and I'm not scared. I realize we really didn't even come close to injury, let alone death. I'm just worried about not doing what I want to do with my life. I want to get a job and have a family. The only thing I have done in my life is got to school. Where is my life going?"

"I had this all planned out so perfectly in my head, but things are never how you planned them. So...it was supposed to be so different...Ali?"

"Yes, Zach?"

"I love you so much and you have been the biggest part of my life recently. Will you...marry me?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

As soon as she heard the words, a thousand thoughts flew through her head. Most were about Kevin; she knew by saying yes that meant she was giving up on all chances of getting together with him. Although she didn't want to do that, she considered the chances she had with him. He seemed to be serious about Madison and was convinced that they would soon be engaged and married. She concluded that she had no chance with him, but still she couldn't give up on him. Anything is possible, right?

"Zach, you're a really great guy and everything...but, well, this isn't right. I don't see myself settling down with you...it's been great dating though," she said with as much as confidence as she could.

An expression of great sorrow enveloped Zach's face as her response registered in his mind. He slipped the back into his pocket and retreated into his silence while Allison did her best to appear sympathetic.