••• TWENTY-NINE •••
Ashton

I remember the day I realized that I was starting to fall in love with Sophia. Patrick and I were getting ready to go to the flower shop to pick out corsages for our dates to senior prom when Mrs. Lincoln forced us to take Sophie along so we wouldn't pick out ugly flowers. Patrick was going with this girl, Andie, and I was forced to go with her best friend so we could double date.

I begrudgingly climbed into the passenger seat of Patrick's car and sighed impatiently as Patrick paced back and forth in the driveway while he argued with Andie on his cell phone. "God, could they be any more annoying?" Sophie huffed as she climbed into the backseat and I smirked as I turned to agree with her, but the words got stuck in my throat the second I saw her.

Sophie was wearing the prettiest yellow dress with little white flowers on it, her long brown hair had been curled, and she looked absolutely breathtaking as she grinned at me. "Are you okay?" She chuckled, her voice breaking me from my thoughts and I shook my head as I took in a staggered breath.

"Oh, um, yeah," I chuckled as I shrugged nonchalantly and glanced back out the windshield to see Patrick still arguing on the phone. "I don't even understand why they're dating when all they do is fight all the time." I admitted and Sophie giggled causing me to turn around to watch her laugh. How had I never noticed how beautiful she looked when she laughed?

"Love will make you do crazy things, I guess." She shrugged and I raised an eyebrow at her in surprise.

"Oh, yeah? And what does little Sophie-Lophie know about love?" I teased and she rolled her eyes as she sat back in her seat.

"Please stop calling me that, in case you and my brother have forgotten I'm not a little girl anymore." She reminded me and I fought myself from checking her out as I nodded.

"You're right, you are definitely not a little girl anymore. I'm sorry." I apologized and pointed at her dress. "You look really pretty today, Sophie." I complimented and Sophie blushed slightly at my words as she bit her lip to hide her smile.

I quickly turned around in my seat when Patrick opened the door and cursed at myself for flirting with my best friend's little sister. What in the Hell was wrong with me? I've seen and talked to hundreds of pretty girls, but not one made me feel like Sophie did. I peeked at her in the rearview mirror and she was smiling at me, but turned a bright shade of pink when my eyes met hers and quickly looked away.

Jesus, when did she get so beautiful? I thought to myself as I stared out the window. "Andie is driving me nuts about this damn corsage, dude." Patrick huffed as he started his car and then pulled out of the driveway.

"Thankfully her friend texted me earlier saying it just has to be a blue one." I rolled my eyes and he chuckled.

"You're going to have fun with her, Ash. She's hot and really nice." He assured me and I glanced back in the rearview mirror to see Sophie staring out the window with a blank expression on her face. "Thanks for coming to help us today, Soph." Patrick said and she shrugged.

"I don't want you two idiots to pick out ugly flowers and embarrass your dates." She teased and we both laughed.

"Well, thank goodness you'll be there to take care of us." I smirked and Sophie met my stare in the rearview mirror. She scrunched up her nose as she tried to stop herself from smiling, making me chuckle at how cute she looked.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the flower shop, I quickly hopped out to open the door for Sophie who climbed out with a smile on her face. "I love flowers." She sighed happily as she walked inside the shop. I chuckled as I followed after her.

The flower shop was packed with other kids from our school trying to buy flowers and Ashton groaned. "Damn it, there won't be any flowers left by the time we get up there." He huffed and Sophie rolled her eyes.

"That's what you two get for waiting the week before prom to buy your flowers." She scolded us and looked around the shop. "Luckily, there's a couple of really pretty corsages up there. Ashton needs a blue one and Patrick what color does Andie want?" She asked and Patrick shrugged.

"She didn't say, she just said to get a pretty one." He said and Sophie sighed as she shook her head at him disapprovingly.

"What color is her dress?" She asked and he shrugged again causing Sophie to completely snap on him.

I shook my head as I watched them argue, but I couldn't take my eyes off Sophie. I probably looked like a weirdo just staring at her, but it was like I couldn't stop. She was like a sunset, you couldn't walk by and not admire how beautiful it looked. I shouldn't be thinking about her this way. Not only would Patrick kill me, but my parents would literally flip if they found out I was attracted to Sophie.

They've been accusing me for the last year or so that I had feelings for Sophie, but I always denied it because it wasn't true. Now it was going to be way harder for me to deny because I was definitely developing feelings for her.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and swore to myself that I would stop thinking about Sophie this way. She's off limits and just my childhood friend and that's all she'll ever be. I looked back over at Sophie and Patrick to see that Patrick had somehow found the only free florist to help him and Sophie was holding a bouquet. "Do you need help picking out a corsage, Ash?" Sophie asked, looking up from the bouquet and I shrugged.

"What kinda flowers are those?" I asked as I approached her and she smiled.

"Oh come on, Ash. They're daisies, everyone knows that." She teased and I shrugged.

"I didn't know, I swear." I defended myself and she chuckled as she shook her head at me then held the bouquet up to her face and closed her eyes. I watched as she breathed in the scent of the flowers and I swear no one could look as beautiful as Sophie did at that moment smelling those damn daisies.

"They're my favorite." She smiled at me as she opened her eyes and I swear to God my heart nearly stopped.

"Hey, Ash! Come pick out a corsage quick before they're all gone!" Patrick's voice called out to me, breaking me from my trance and I let out a nervous chuckle as I backed away from Sophie.

"You better come help me or else I'll get the wrong thing." I said and she smiled as she nodded and followed me towards the counter. From that moment on, Sophia Lincoln had stolen my heart and I knew damn well that I was never going to get it back.

My mind was racing from the memory as I pulled into the hospital's parking lot. I didn't want my heart back. I wanted Sophia back, I thought to myself as I ran into the emergency room. I found Mrs. Lincoln pacing the room frantically and ran up to her. "Mrs. Lincoln, where's Sophie? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?" I asked and she grabbed my hands.

"She's okay, Ashton. They're both going to be okay." She assured me and I let out a strangled sob as I engulfed her in a bear hug. I cried in her arms for a couple of minutes before finally releasing her and taking in a ragged breath.

"When can I see her?" I asked and she sighed.

"She's in surgery right now, the doctor will update us as soon as they can." She said gently and I nodded as I collapsed into a chair.

I closed my eyes and thanked whoever was listening for protecting Sophie and our baby, now the only thing left for us to do was wait.