[A/N: Sorry for the late update. I already wrote it and just needed to post it but passed out from exhaustion yesterday after pulling an all nighter the day before. 
Songs for the chapter:
- Taylor Swift // Today Was A Fairytale
- We The Kings // Say You Like Me]

Winter break had only just begun and I was already sprawled on the couch, home alone with nothing better to do than flick through Saturday morning cable channels. The lonely silence that echoed throughout the house was a painful reminder that my friends were enjoying yet another date whereas I hadn't even been on my first. Grumbling into my bowl of Cheetos, I tried to rake a hand through my curls but my fingers got caught up in the tangles, trapped inside the bird's nest I hadn't washed for two days.

I hadn't even bothered to shower this morning, opting for the crazy cat lady look with pyjama shorts and a crumpled tee that belonged to my father. Of course that did nothing to ease the blinding fact that I had nothing to do all day besides shift my position on the couch every few minutes to avoid an inevitable back pain.

Currently I was hanging upside down with my legs propped up on the back rest. Blood rushed to my head, darkening my entire face a deep shade of pink but at least the cookery show that I had settled on was more amusing to watch when the appetising lamb chops were upside down.

"This is pathetic," I grunted, hoisting myself up and flopping down so that I was laying with the armrest cushioning my head.

Lapsing into enough boredom to make me delirious and yawning every five moment, I wondered if it was possible to go crazy and spontaneously die from having absolutely nothing to do. Pair that with my torrent of thoughts about Tyler and there was no surprise regarding the dull ache in my head.

After our triumphant A grade in the assignment, Tyler had kissed me again before my next class and it was by far the best. My chest had been lurching nonstop since I got home and I could barely sleep last night. What failed to make sense was the status of our relationship.

I thought he would whip out the question and finally ask me: "Ashley Rose Martin, would you do me an honour of allowing me to be your partner in crime for the rest of eternity?"

Okay, maybe not that extreme. I guess Blake held the blame for making my expectations so high with his endless collections of rom-com's but I'd never had a boyfriend before and I just wanted everything to be special.

Maybe I was dreaming too much but what was so wrong about that. Every girl wanted to be asked out in an extravagant way. Or was that just me?

Problem was, the toll was at three kisses. Three kisses in three days and I was going out of my mind trying to figure out where I stood with Tyler. He currently liked me enough to make out with me in front of Mr Reid so I guess I meant more than his usual flings.

Just as I was going to try out another Olympic gymnast worth position on the couch, my phone vibrated, shooting irritating tingles up my thigh. Snatching it from where it was buried, I prayed that I hadn't butt-dialed anybody and scrolled through my most recent texts.

I'm picking you up for a surprise in ten minutes. Dress warm munchkin.

Confused, I scanned the words and knitted my eyebrows together. Surprise? What surprise? My birthday was over three months ago and Christmas was two weeks away. Was there a special occasion about this Saturday in particular?

Frowning deeply, I read Tyler's text three times before glancing at the clock. I had wasted a minute already. Springing into action, I peeled myself off the couch and bolted up the stairs two at a time. Tyler was going to be at my house in ten minutes and I hadn't even showered. Smelly, gross and starving beyond belief, I was sight to look up - kind of like a demonic beast that had spent three thousand years in hibernation.

"Crap," I groaned, wrenching my hair out of its messy bun and sprinting to the bathroom.

I jumped into the shower and managed to haul myself back into my room in record time. I still had two minutes to throw on clothes and towel dry my curls which was doable, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Or so I thought.

Fifteen minutes later and I was pulling a longer face than Ghostface from the Scream movies at my dressing table mirror, trying to apply mascara without stabbing my eyes out. Tyler was nowhere to be seen and I even had time to change my outfit twice; finally opting for stylish denim dungaree shorts, an oversized mesh sweater and my white Dr. Martens. I had to wear two tights to fend off the cold because when I opened my window to air out my stuffy room, a chilly wind numbed my cheeks in less than two nanoseconds and I genuinely scrambled back to avoid getting frostbite.

Glancing at the time on my phone screen, I shrugged on my coat and snatched my keys and wallet before I darted out of the house. A gust of wind hit me the moment I turned around after shutting the door behind me, chilling my bones and making my teeth chatter uncontrollably. I wrapped my arms around my chest, scouring the driveway for Tyler's car before I took a seat on the porch steps.

"Where are you?" I mumbled under my breath and a breath fog lingered around my mouth with each exhalation.

Burying my chin into my coat, my eyes ran over the deserted road in search for Tyler's familiar sports car. Ten minutes later when my nose had turned blue with frostbite, a revving engine forced me glance up and squint at the horizon. I raised an eyebrow when a scarlet Camaro appeared out of nowhere, screeching to a halt just outside the brown picket fence that circuited my house.

The rumbling engine purred for a few seconds before it was cut off. Tyler slid out of his car with a sub from Subway in his left hand and I scoffed. Unbelievable! I fought through heaven and hell to look presentable for him and all this time he was filling his tummy up with a scrumptious sandwich.

I arched an eyebrow and stood up, rubbing my clammy palms on my thighs to conceal that his outfit was making me flustered. Clad in a white converses, snug black jeans and a burgundy hoodie under his leather jacket to fend off the spine-chilling wind; I focused on his grey beanie and bit my lip at just how sexy he looked with his hair pulled back.

"You're late because you went to get food?" I echoed incredulously as he approached me with an easy grin.

My gaze lowered to the sandwich he held. My bottom lip quivered with hunger at the oozing southwest sauce, chicken tikka, lettuce, cucumbers, jalapenos and olives that threatened to explode from his sub. Curling fists squeezed my stomach until it rumbled and I rubbed my abdomen to ease my hunger.

"I got hungry?" He replied sheepishly, handing out his half eaten sub as a truce.

Snatching it out of his hand, I took a mammoth sized bite and chewed angrily as we strolled back to his car. Tyler chuckled and draped an arm around my shoulder, plastering me to his side.

"I missed you," He murmured into my hair, planting a kiss on my temple before he dropped his arm and unlocked his car.

A rippling shiver coursed through my skin where his lips had brushed my temple and I sighed into the sub sandwich, biting back a giddy smile when I slipped into the passenger seat of his car.

"You have a funny way of showing it," I held up the sub and he chuckled at my sarcasm.

The crisp warmth inside his car made my muscles loosen up and I propped my feet up on the dashboard, leaning back as I devoured my early lunch. Tyler wrinkled his nose at my white boots, raising an eyebrow as he flashed me a look of disbelief.

"At least you have your shoes on this time," He remarked sarcastically, referring to the homecoming dance as he peeled out of my driveway and drove in the opposite direction to downtown.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, grabbing the paper napkins he had discarded on the dashboard and dabbed my mouth. "Are we leaving town?"

Tyler kept his eyes trained to the road, flicking his blinker and taking the first left at a busy intersection to enter the highway.

"Where are we going?"

Once again, he ignored my question, turning up the volume of the radio to drown out my voice as he hummed along.

"Tyler?" Frustration seeped into my voice but he failed to pick on anything besides the road. "Tell me where we're going, please? I hate surprises."

He rolled his eyes. "No you don't. It's the curiosity you hate."

I grunted and continued to bombard him with questions that he effortlessly ignored. It was like my voice blew over him like the wind and it put me in a foul mood. Anyone else would've been itching with excitement but dying curiosity just made my mood darken because I hated not having control. It wasn't deliberate, but ever since the tragedy of my tenth birthday I just hated being stuck in a car with no idea where I was going. Not having control in a vehicle terrified me at times but I wasn't going to tell Tyler that. So I just brooded in silence until he pulled over in the middle of the highway, parking the car to side so that it sat on the grass that formed the beginning of a perpetual, yellow field.

He cut off the engine and hopped out of the car, zipping up his leather jacket when the chilly wind threatened to bite his skin off. I jumped out of the car and shuddered at the sudden change in temperature. Why were we here? The car was a million times warmer.

"This feels like a scene right out of Jeepers Creeper," I shuddered at the thought of being murdered in an open field by a skinny beast with a long, pointed tongue.

He shot me an amused grin and it was lopsided enough to render me speechless when he trudged into the field, holding the towering grass out to create a path for us to walk through.

"You watch too many horror movies," Tyler laughed, wading past the tall grass and casting me another disarming grin.

"Blame Blake," I grunted despite my small smile as I jogged to catch up to his long-legged strides.

Ten minutes later and even I was fed up with my constant complaints, struggling to keep up with Tyler as we continued to wade past the towering stalks that loomed over us. They got taller and taller the further we kept walking. Suddenly, the field of tall grass came to an abrupt end and all that stretched out for miles in every direction was freshly trimmed grassy hills but that wasn't what me clamp a hand to my mouth.

"Holy mother of Jesus!" I echoed, coming to a halt as I gawked at the red and yellow, striped hot air balloon that was perched on the closest hill just fifty yards away from us.

Tyler didn't bother to stop this time, especially after I made him pause four times beforehand so I could catch my breath.

"Ashley if you mention your tired legs one more time–"

He spun around and his scowl flipped around when he registered my astonishment.

"You have got to be kidding me right now!" I choked, craning my neck to get a bigger glimpse at the hot air balloon.

Gigantic and devastatingly beautiful, it loomed over us, gloriously clad in tan wicker basket that a middle aged, thin lady was tending to. She waved at Tyler when she spotted us.

"Nope," Tyler grinned from ear to ear, holding a hand out to me which I gratefully took. "Taylor once told me that this was the first thing you guys had on your bucket list for whatever crazy summer you both had planned for the end of senior year. So I thought we cou–"

The entire time he rambled, my lips stretched up to my ears until I lost my shit and pounced on him. I literally threw myself at Tyler; legs, arms, head, everything. My entire body slammed into his and I wrapped my legs around his waist, clinging onto his shoulders as I buried my head into his neck and sighed happily. Startled, his hands clamped my thighs in an attempt to keep me in place as he staggered backwards, almost tripping over his feet.

"As far as first dates go, this is the best! Not that I have anything to compare it to but this is without doubt the most thoughtful thing anybody has ever done for me," I murmured against his skin, inhaling the addictive scent of lemons, soap and sandalwood.

When he planted me back onto the ground, my entire chest was on the verge of exploding at all the lengths he went to pull this surprise off.

"First date huh?" His lips tugged up into a smirk and I felt my cheeks heat up.

He didn't mention anything about a date but I just assumed that...Oh god, talk about awkward. Nothing was official between us; I mean, what if we were just hanging out like we always did? Just in a more fancy fashion. Did that mean we were still friends?

Tyler burst out laughing at the look on my face.

"Chill Ash, I was just messing with you," He draped an arm around my shoulder. "This is my first first date too."

I raised an eyebrow we approached the hot air balloon. "Yeah and I'm Beyoncé."

He laughed but his eyes remained serious. My jaw slackened.

"You're lying."

"Nope," He popped the 'p' and chuckled and motioned me to close my gaping mouth. "I mean, I've taken girls to parties and all that shit but I've never found a girl I've liked enough to take on a real date. I never found a girl to replace you."

My jaw dropped even further until Tyler clipped my chin and forced it close.

"Fuck," I breathed with wide eyes. "You're actually being serious."

"Yeah," He replied sheepishly, pulling the edges of his beanie down to cover his pink ears. "I mean, why would I waste my time and money on a girl I have no intention of seeing after the night?"

Considering his numerous one night stands and the crazy stories I'd heard about the girls he'd had flings with, of course it was understandable that he never took them out on actual dates. Tyler just got straight down to business; he got what he wanted and moved on to the next pair of boobs and ass. But what I couldn't wrap my head around was the fact that he and Michelle never went on an actual dates. I figured that he'd at least made an effort to treat her to nice things like this.

What kind of relationship did they even share?

I shuddered.

I'll give them a heads up for making it look perfect and happy on the outside but if she felt the need to sleep with other guys to get back at him for barely paying her attention to her, then I probably should have realised something was amiss.

"Come on munchkin, in you get."

Two hands suddenly clamped my waist and hoisted me off the ground. I let out a squeal of surprise but by the time I registered Tyler's hands, they were already gone and my feet were safely inside the basket. He smoothly jumped into the wicker basket and flashed the woman a charming smile.

"Sorry we're late Andrea," He held out a hand and she shook it, already falling for him charm.

"Don't sweat it kid," She turned to me, blue eyes twinkling with excitement. "Let's just get this show on the road before the wind gets worse and blows us away."

Her joke put me on edge as I visualised the horror of getting swept away and landing somewhere far out at sea. Tyler sensed my sudden panic and placed a hand on the small of my back, rubbing soothing circles until Andrea managed to lift us off the ground by a hundred feet. By then I was clinging to the edge of the wicker basket, leaning over the edge to catch a glimpse of ground.

It wasn't long before we were high up, overlooking the entire town as the blinding sun beamed on us. The wind picked up and my curls billowed into my face, obscuring my vision until I wrenched it into a messy bun and enjoyed the view. Breathtaking and picturesque, the skyline of the town dotted the horizon making me hold my breath and look at Tyler in awe.

"Pretty sweet right?" He murmured into my hair, peering at the world from above my head.

"Yeah," I breathed with a giddy smile.

The proximity between us made it hard to concentrate and I grinned when he snaked his arms around his waist and let me lean against his chest.

"You cold?" He asked after a few minutes of silence, squeezing my waist gently but I shook my head.

If only he knew the raging, pulsating heat that made my skin prickle every time his nuzzled his face into my hair. Unable to focus on the captivating beauty before us, I covered his hands with mine and traced his cracked knuckles.

"I have a question for you that I've been meaning to ask you for years," Tyler whispered into my ear and I shivered when his warm breath tickled my skin.

Curiosity sparked through me like electricity when I realised he was anxiously twiddling his thumbs beneath my hands.

"Alright shoot."

He pried our hands away from my waist and turned me around. Startled by the nervous way he scratched the back of his neck, I arched an eyebrow to coax him to speak.

"Before I chicken out, or shit myself - whichever happens sooner - I need get this out."

"If you shit yourself I will personally throw you overboard," I flashed him a flat look although my teasing tone made a small smile curl his lips up.

Tyler leaned over me and glanced at the ground before gulping.

"We are pretty high up."

"Exactly."

He sighed, suddenly remembering that he had a question for me. Sea green eyes focused onto my face, drinking in my open smile and bright eyes. Tyler fondled with the curling hair that escaped his beanie and I smiled even wider when he took it off and shook his hair. Gold, white blond and straw strands glinted in the bright sunlight until his hands raked through them, clamping everything in place as he slipped his beanie back on.

"I've been planning this date for about a month," Tyler chuckled at my reaction when I gawked at him. "Don't worry, this was a surprise even when we were just friends but I still hoped, that you know, maybe we could go back to how we used to be."

My chest lurched when his eyes found mine and I looked over him where Andrea was pretending not to listen.

"Call me a pussy or whatever, but I've never committed to anyone before and I wanna do this right," A faraway look glazed his eyes as he glanced over my shoulder and drank in the blue sky and wispy clouds. "Ever since you broke your arm in the park when we were ten and cried in my arms in the ambulance, this very question has nagged me. I mean, I've always liked you but that day something just clicked. Even though there was snot all over me, all it took was one broken arm and...I don't know Ash, but I was a goner. When it came to you and your cute smile, I was honestly a lost cause. I didn't know how to respond to such strong feelings, so I began to tease you more, constantly begging for your attention. And when we hit fourteen, you actually started to like me back and we had the best summer together. I should have asked you right then, but with Taylor cockblocking all the time and everything that went down during freshmen year, I couldn't ask you anymore. But now that the past is the past, and we're both here..."

A blistering current surged through my veins, setting my skin alight when his gaze snapped back to mine, nervous and uncertain. He pulled a loveheart candy out of his pocket and placed it in my palm.

"Be mine," I read aloud before popping it in my mouth and mumbling my thanks before it clicked.

It clicked like a key turning in a lock and I let out a breathless gasp. Tyler's nervousness increased although amusement lit his eyes when I spluttered and choked.

"Is that a yes?" He asked, reaching a hand out the push my hair out of my eyes.

I nodded eagerly, my head bobbing up and down as I bit back a scream of delight. My chest fought back against the wild beast that threatened to break free and I held my breath when Tyler leaned forward and pecked my lips lightly. Short, cute and lingering, the kiss made my knees knock together and I gripped the straw ledge of the wicker basket to hold myself upright.

"Good," He grinned and ran his thumb along my cheek. "I bought five packets to find that damn sweet."

"What did you do with the others?" I arched an eyebrow.

Tyler flashed me a dimpled smirk and patted his stomach.

***

The engine's rumbling ceased when Tyler turned off the ignition and snapped off his seat belt. We remained silent for a few moments before he opened the door and slipped out of his car. I followed suit, pushing my curls back as the wailing wind sent it flapping about. Slowly, we strolled to my porch and he turned around to face me, tucking stray golden strands back into his beanie before he drummed his fingers against his thigh.

"Is this the cliché part where you kiss me goodnight?" I laughed when he eyed my mouth.

He scoffed and jerked his chin to the bright, blue sky that falsely gave off the impression that today was destined to be a serene, sunny day. Sure it was sunny, but the harsh wind nipped at our skin like vicious claws, leaving Tyler's lips redder than usual and his cheeks flushed with pink.

"Oh, that's a shame, my bed time is in like six hours," I feigned dejection, my shoulders deflating as I rummaged through my jacket pocket to find my house keys. "Too bad about that kiss."

Tyler scoffed again, clipping my chin and forcing my hand to freeze in my pocket. He dived forward for a swift kiss but I turned my head so his lips landed on my cheek. Suppressing a giggle at his wide eyes, I drank in his surprise and continued my act.

"Like I said Ty, too bad about that ki–"

Soft lips cupped mine and I felt his smile before he laughed into my mouth, murmuring at me to shut up as his hand curled around my waist, rooting me in place. I slid my hand out of my pocket and brought both of them to his cheeks, holding his head in place as I deepened the kiss. Heated shivers coursed through my veins like honey, sweet and viscous until I felt the warmth curl my toes.

We pulled away, breathless and itching to dive back into another kiss. But I guess Taylor also told her brother much more than our bucket list for the upcoming summer. He knew just how much I valued a perfect first date and I wasn't sure if I was embarrassed or overwhelmed by that small fact.

"Goodnight Ashley," Tyler joked, pressing his forehead against mine before he pulled away and sloped down the cobbled pathway.

I stood on my porch, lightly tracing my lips with a dazed grin until I watched his car disappear around the corner.

"Goodnight Tyler," I whispered.

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[A/N: So who wants to give Tyler the boyfriend of the year award because I do! I've been having so much fun assigning songs to all my previous chapters but it's taking hours. Still, I love it. Went to an early screening for TFIOS and it's 2:45am rn and I'm still sobbing my heart out. Think I might go and see it again because the feels are killing me. Maybe I should reread it again because I have a signed copy of the book, idk...I'm just feeling really emotional right now.

Chapter 49: Whenever You're Ready, I'll Plant My Seed

Vote, comment and fan. See you tomorrow when I'm not breaking down into convulsive sobs.

- Kaddy]