Blake's hand gently caresses my inner thigh as we drive to a secret location for dinner. I rest my head on the back of the chair and gaze at his silhouette. Headlights from oncoming cars flicker past, creating a blinding light show.

"We're almost there."

I squeeze his knee, "Okay."

He turns the volume of the radio up so that the car is filled with a catchy pop tune. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. If we dive for much longer, I might fall asleep.

I attempt to listen to the music in order to stay awake but by the third song, Blake flicks the indicator on and we pull into an almost abandoned car park. There's only one other car parked which makes me worried; I wonder if the food is good considering the lack of customers.

The small, dimly lit car park is eerily quiet and doesn't appear to hinder Blake's enthusiasm towards the restaurant.

He parks and jumps out, races around to my side and opens the door. I take his hand and pull myself out of the car. Blake locks it and we walk across the gravel and towards the building.

The dull brick exterior is covered in vibrant green vines which gives the building a homey, yet dated feel. If the flickering light bulb was exchanged for the glowing sun bursting through the surrounding foliage, it wouldn't look so creepy.

Blake grabs the door and scoots me inside. I walk to the front desk and smile at the waiter. He grabs a couple of menus and walks around the desk to greet us.

"Hi there, would you like a table for two?"

"Yes, that'd be great." Blake nods.

"Right, just follow me, thanks."

The waiter directs us towards the backside of the room which has a cluster of smaller tables. In the center of the room has long vacant tables with reserved signs on them. This section is dimmer than the center, but it does have a cheesy romantic feel to it.

While Blake and I take our seats, the waiter places our menus on the table.

"I'll give you a few moments to decide before I come back." With a fake smile, the waiter returns to another couple situated across the room.

Contemporary classical music softly plays in the background and the aroma from the kitchen saunters it's way to us. The lingering smell awakens my stomach and it begins to growl with hunger.

I tear my gaze away from the yellow walls in order to view the menu.

I flick through the menu and weigh up my options. The chicken and seafood options look tempting and so does a pasta dish, but once I see homemade pizza, I instantly know that's the dish I want to order.

How can you go past homemade pizza? Although, it needs to be covered in pineapple to be perfect.

"Okay, I'm ready!" I slam the menu shut.

Blake frowns, then laughs, "Did you find the pizza?"

"Yes." I grin. "How about yourself?"

"Hm, I was tossing up between four dishes."

"Four?" My head falls back as a small groan escapes my lips. "It's going to take you at least fifteen minutes to decide. I can't wait that long!"

"Just for you." Blake chuckles. "I'll pick something quicker."

"I love you, Blake." I kiss the air.

"Hm, I love you too," he mutters.

I recline into my chair and wait. The waiter walks around which makes me anxious. I wish he'd just come over and ask us for our order.

So, I attempt to make eye contact with the man until he gets the clue and wanders over. He takes a notepad from his pocket and the pen from behind his ear.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes."

The waiter shoots me a weird glance, but I ignore it.

"I'd like to order a side of garlic bread and the supreme pizza, thank you."

"And for you?" He glances at Blake.

"The Penne Arrabiata with chili."

"Okay." He completes the order on his notepad before taking our menus.

Once again, we're left alone. I look into the kitchen and wonder how long it'll take. It isn't busy and the other table have their meal . . . just depends on how much cooking they have to do, right?

"Chilli? Is that so I can't eat your food?"

"Maybe." He winks.

"Meanie!"

"Are you going to share your pizza?"

"Ahh . . . You're evil."

"Says the one who wasn't going to share their food." Blake shakes his head.

I pout in response; there's nothing else that I can say. He's right after all.

"So, how'd you find this place?"

"Someone recommended it, actually. There's also a nice driving trail perfect for viewing the city lights. Maybe we could go there after?"

"Ah." I smile. "That would be fantastic. I love looking at scenic views."

The one thing I love about overlooking city lights is the mystery behind the light. Some of those lights are from houses with people living in them, thus a story to be told. I ponder about their story, their life, their everything. I suppose it's weird, flickering lights in the distance representing people.

I shake that thought from my head, I need to focus on Blake.

"Tell me about your day, how was it?"

"Slow, uneventful, boring and terrible." He sighs. "I spent the whole day wishing I was with you."

Blake leans across the table and grabs my hand. He laces his fingers through mine and we smile. I squeeze his fingers which causes him to do the same.

"How'd your day off go? Please tell me you did something fun?"

"Well, I saw Char," I admit.

Blake squeezes my hand.

"Are you okay? I wish Kyle would stop asking so much of you."

"I'll be fine." I shrug. "Besides . . ."

There's nothing to say, even though so much time has passed, I still feel the severity of the wound. Sure, time can heal anything, but it doesn't take the pain away from the wound. It's there forever.

"Ava, you can talk about him with me."

I look up from the white tablecloth to say, "Do you know he'd be one and a bit by now?"

"Yes."

"I feel torn up because we didn't do anything, guilty because it feels like we're forgetting our son."

I don't know if there's a right way to remember Ivan, but it feels like I'm doing it all wrong. There's pressure to do it better, but I don't know how to properly remember him!

Blake sharply shakes his head with disagreement. "We aren't forgetting him; we could never do that."

"But -"

"I'm the terrible parent because I assumed you didn't want to do anything. If you want to celebrate Ivan's birthday, then we'll host a party every year."

"We don't have. . ." I pause. "Okay, that would be nice."

Blake's eyes light up, then he pulls his hand away to gesture something grand.

"How about we throw a makeup party for Ivan? Something exciting at the house or we could rent a venue somewhere else."

"Wouldn't it be strange? His birthday passed and you know . . ."

"Considering the events we've been through, I've begun to question what is normal. If you feel better throwing our son a birthday party, that's what we'll do. Anyone worth caring about will support you and besides, it'll be an awesome birthday. We can hire a bouncy castle for the kids."

"The bouncy castle sounds pretty fun." I smile.

"See, this'll work."

"Okay, this sounds like a good plan."

Blake dives into grand plans, colour scenes, and most importantly, the flavour cake I'll be making for the party. I begin to glow internally by watching the excitement grown on Blake.

In the middle of our conversation, the waiter delivers the food. I instantly grab the largest slice and begin chowing into the piping hot pizza. The sauce burns the roof of my mouth, but it doesn't stop me from consuming the delicious meal.

"Thank you for this." I moan with delight. "Going out for dinner was the perfect way to kick back!"

"Just wait until we get to the scenic tour, it'll be the highlight of your night."

"Are you sure? I doubt you'd be able to top how amazing this pizza tastes." I wink.

"I'll endeavor to try," he promises.

"More date nights like this would be a great places to start."

"Maybe," he teases.

It's nice to dress up and escape the house, even if it's just for a couple of hours. My four day weekend isn't something I could get used to because I don't think it'll ever happen again. Of course, I can keep hoping that one day, we'll get to be young, free and perhaps a little wild.

Once Blake and I finish our meal, we pay and exit the restaurant.

Blake jogs ahead so that he can open the door. I can't remove the smile from my face because I'm thrilled to be spending the time with him.

"Thank you," I say while climbing into the car.

Once seated, Blake leans down to kiss my forehead.

Blake rushes to his side and jumps in. The engine is brought to life and soon enough, we're driving further up the road to his mysterious scenic tour.

"Do you ever wonder about the lights? Who the people might be, or?"

"No, but I've always wonder about you." He smiles.

"Oh." I sigh.

When we get to the scenic route, Blake parks on a graveled area at the top of the peak. It's a prime spot that directly overlooks the city and the surrounding area. There are millions of blinking lights which get me wondering.

Blake turns the car off, leaving us in a peaceful silence to take in the view.

It's breathtakingly beautiful, and even in that description, it's an understatement.

"This is beautiful."

"Come on, let's get a better look."

We get out of the car and lean against the warm bonnet. Blake wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me closer to his chest.

"Did you have a good night?"

"Yes." I nod. "Just spending time with you is lovely."

"I agree with you, Ava." He kisses my cheek. "In fact, I wanted to . . ."

Blake's cheeks begin to redden.

I look around and begin to panic, "I don't adventure out of the bedroom. Public spaces are too scary."

"Bedroom? What are you . . . Oh, no, it's something else." He shakes his head.

"Oh." I gasp. "Don't worry about it then."

Blake removes his arm so that he can stand in front of me. I place my hands on his hips and smile, though, he still seems so nervous.

His green eyes gaze into mine and then he cups my cheek with his hand. I lean up and press my lips against his.

"Whatever you're nervous about, don't be. I love you Blake and if there's something wrong, just tell me!"

"It's nothing bad, it's just."

"Just?" I bite my lip. "Now you're beginning to worry me. It's the house, eh? Do we need to sell it?"

"Shh."

"Okay." I roll my eyes.

"I had this perfect speech worked out, but fuck it."

One of Blake's hands remains cupping my cheek, while the other slips around my waist. Our eyes remained locked as Blake fights the courage. My heart is about to burst out of my chest.

"You have taught me that life is a series of directions. In the beginning, you showed me how to take baby steps, together we took a colossal jump and then we started moving forward to this new step, one I hope we can take together," he rattles on. "So, what I'm trying to say is, I hope you'll take this little leap and agree to this . . ."

Blake swiftly gets onto one knee and produces a blue ring box. "Will you marry me?"   

"Yes," I scream without thinking. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Blake opens the box and produces a simple diamond ring which takes my breath away. Maybe I had been wrong on both accounts. The night has gotten better and this is one of the best moments I'll ever remember; Blake on one knee vowing to take the biggest commitment with me.

Our hands are shaky, but somehow, Blake manages to slide the ring onto my finger. Blake softly tugs my hand to his mouth so that he can kiss the ring.

"You look so sexy with this ring on." He smirks.

"Not sparkly?" I move the ring back and forth.

"Just very sexy."

When Blake stands up, I leap into his arms. We spin around and then I bring his lips to mine. It's a scramble of passion and the need to breathe between kisses.

"I can't believe I didn't see that coming!" I gasp.

"That's because I never told anyone." He laughs. "Our family doesn't keep secrets so well."

"No, they don't." I giggle.

"It was hard because I kept wanting to call and ask for help. I didn't realise I'd have so many bloody choices." He shakes his head.

"Aw." I kiss his cheek. "You couldn't have picked a better ring, baby."

"Thanks, but now." He grabs my hand and pulls me to the car. "Let's celebrate!"

"No," I whisper-yell.

My feet skid against the ground, then they're chasing after Blake and we're getting into the backseat of the car.

Does anyone need some tissues for that great speech?