"Yes!" Fawn squealed. "This dress is perfect!"

No, stop. Before you get ahead of yourself, it was NOT my wedding. It was just Prom. But, Flynn was taking me to it. And paying for my dress.

Fawn had picked out a floor-length pale pink dress that admittedly looked very good on me. "Yeah, this is definitely the one I'm getting." I agreed with her and checked the price tag. It was on sale for $70. Not too shabby.

We marched out of Dillard's with huge grins on our faces and shopping bags in our hands. Fawn's was full with itty-bitty clothes for her baby boy that was about to be born, and mine had my dress and it's accessories packed neatly into it.

Piling into the silver buggy that Flynn had given me for my birthday, we turned the radio up and sang very off-tune to the songs that were played.

Over the past few months, Fawn and I had become close friends. She was like a sister to me. She told me that she was going to make Flynn and I the godparents of her child. Which would be totally awkward if we broke up. But I knew we weren't going to; I was absolutely positive. We had forged a strong relationship, one that was even stronger than before all the drama. They say that the couples who can make it through everything and come out even stronger are the ones that are meant to be. Shout-out to us.

The past year had been the most interesting one I had ever experienced. Sure, it had its ups and MAJOR downs but it was the best year of my life-so far. It mostly had downs, but in the end it was all worth it. I wouldn't do it again for the world. I wouldn't change one thing. Because in the end, I got the best gift I had ever received. Flynn Blaise Chaste, the terribly annoying hotshot that I was proud to call my boyfriend. Boyfriend. It felt great to say. It felt right. I didn't think it was possible for Flynn to get any better, but apparently when you were in a relationship he treated you with the utmost respect. For the most part. We still had our typical arguments that ended with him calling me ugly and me calling him an idiot. In short it was perfect.

We had decided to take it nice and slow, unlike most couples these days. Flynn just didn't want to mess up. He beat himself up about all his past relationships; just leaving girls after a day or so. He told me that he never wanted to lose me.

"Hello?" Fawn was snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Madeline? Anybody home? Still fantasizing about your boyfriend?"

I felt my face heat up. "Pfft...no. I don't know what you're talking about." I murmured, embarrassed that I had been caught.

"I always know when you're thinking about him. You have this look of total bliss on your face. Like you're thinking of the best thing in the world." Fawn remarked.

"I am." I responded without thinking.

"AWWWW!" Fawn squealed. "You guys are so cute!"

I blushed deeply again. "So, you were saying?"

"Oh, right!" Fawn's face lit up in excitement. "I want you to help me pick out the name for my baby."

"Why don't you ask Gaige?" I suggested.

"I tried, Madeline. I tried. All he came up with was Gaige the second. Or, as he phrased it, 'Gaige the Great'. He's an idiot."

"Trust me, I feel you." I grinned. "I can TOTALLY relate. I'll bet Flynn is even worse than Gaige."

"We should have a contest one day." Fawn laughed.

"We should." I agreed. "But now for the topic at hand: finding the perfect name for your child."

"You know what would be cute? Gaige's middle name." Fawn said dreamily.

"Am I supposed to know that?" I asked.

"Nah, I was just thinking out loud. His middle name's Ryder."

"That's perfect!" We exclaimed together and pulled into her driveway. We were going to take at least three hours to get ready. We chose to get our dresses last minute because Fawn insisted that it would be magical if Flynn didn't see me until he came to pick me up. She ushered me up to her room and closed the door behind us.

She opened up drawer after drawer of makeup. "Alright," Fawn finally glanced up at me. "We're going to curl your hair because it's always straight and your makeup is going to be natural. Which only makes sense, because you're a natural beauty."

I smiled, swatting her arm. "Real smooth, Fawn. Real smooth."

"Am I smoother than Flynn?"

"Not quite. Nobody's smoother than Flynn."

My phone buzzed. 'U tell her, babe ;)' Flynn had texted me.

'R u here?' I texted back.

'Yeah. Gaige and I are outside of the door.'

Fawn gasped and ran over to the door, throwing it open. Only to have Gaige plant one on her. He had learned that he had responsibilities as a soon-to-be father. His eyes shining, he placed his hands on her stomach. "So, did you guys pick a name?"

"Yeah," Fawn informed him. "Ryder."

"Ah, still kind of named after me," Gaige pretended to ponder the possibility. "I guess I could live with that."

"Now, scram!" She commanded. "The ladies need their beauty time."

"Yeah, especially Madeline." Flynn winked at me with one of his million watt smiles.

I groaned. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I just said."

Fawn slammed the door shut. "Boys. Am I right, or am I right?"

"You're absolutely right."

-

Just like we had predicted, it took around three and a half hours for both of us to get ready. Fawn had curled my naturally straight hair to perfection and slathered on just about all of her makeup. I had fishtailed her hair to side-artfully messy. At least, I thought it looked good. I had used a minimal amount of makeup, letting the pregnancy glow do its work.

Around seven, we descended the staircase to find Flynn and Gaige waiting by the door. Flynn had on a tuxedo and a bright blue tie that matched his eyes perfectly. Maximum level of hotness? Achieved. With a shirt off was a whole other story, though. But let's not talk about that.

Gaige cleaned up pretty nice, too. He had on a red tie to go with Fawn's dress. How cute was that?

"You look gorgeous," Flynn's eyes scanned me up and down. "How'd you do it, Fawn? Oh, wait. I can clearly see the fifty different layers of concealer. I got it." He winked at me and walked over, throwing his arm around my shoulders. "But really," He huskily whispered in my ear. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

I blushed right down to the roots but somehow managed to play it off. "You're not too bad yourself, Chaste."

He gestured to the door. "Shall we?"

"We shall." I found myself already smiling. I never stopped smiling when he was around.

He opened the door and slipped his hand into mine. We walked out and climbed in the limo that he had rented for the four of us.

Fawn and Gaige soon followed suit and we took off. I was ready for prom. I was ready to have the time of my life. I had never been to Prom before. Much less asked to go.

The limo dropped us off in the front of the school. Flynn and I walked in hand in hand. Meghan stared from the sidelines enviously. I hated her guts. With a passion. Flynn must've felt me tense up because he squeezed my hand and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just...Meghan." I muttered and he glanced over in her direction.

She glared at him, full of jealousy. Slowly, Flynn raised his middle finger up in the air and flipped her off. I giggled and we continued to go talk to different people around the room.

After about an hour, Flynn walked away with a mumbled excuse. As I was talking to Sara, a girl on the dance team, I heard a familiar voice speak into the microphone.

"Hey friends!" Flynn yelled cheerfully.

"Hey!" We shouted back.

"So, a lot of you don't know this about me, but I sing. And play guitar. Which is, uh, probably why I'm holding a guitar." The crowd laughed. "Tonight, I'm going to sing to you guys. But the person I'm singing FOR will need to come to the front. Madeline Rose Schultz, please proceed to the front of the stage. I repeat, Madeline Rose Schultz, AKA the other part of the unstoppable team Chatz, please proceed to the edge of the stage."

Rolling my eyes, I obliged.

"Okay, now that you're here, I'll announce the song I'm singing," Flynn smirked down at me. "I'm singing Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars."

"YAASSS, FLYNN, YAASSS!" Gaige yelled from somewhere in the crowd, bringing a wide smile to my face.

"This song's for you, Gaige!" Flynn pointed him out. "You the real MVP!"

"Thanks homie!" Gaige shouted back. "That really touches my heart."

"No prob." Flynn smiled at me. "But, in all seriousness, this is dedicated to my girlfriend, Madeline. Who is truly amazing."

I felt tears start to rise. This was too perfect. Then Flynn launched into song and I realized that I had never heard him sing before. His voice was melodic and soulful; he hit all the notes and kept up with the beat on his guitar. It was an AMAZING rendition. Do you see what I did there?

Before I knew it, the song was almost over. "Cause girl you're amazing...Just the way you are." Flynn sang the last line, ending it while standing right in front of me. He bent down to my level and said through his grin, "Yeah, amazingly ugly."

A tear finally slipped out and slid down my cheek. Flynn wiped it off and looked into my eyes. And for the first time, he pressed his lips on to mine.

A/N: so if we get 30 votes there will be a bonus chapter...

and thanks so much for reading :) I love you guys <3

OMG MY BOOK THE HANGING TREE IS 53 IN MYSTERY/THRILLER?? HOW?? THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO READ AND VOTED, I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE