I won't be able to see Harry much for a few days; I'm like a robot during finals week. I always throw myself completely into cramming for my finals, brewing huge pots of coffee each night and holing up in my room, studying until I can't stay awake any more. I sleep until it's time for an exam, go and take the test and then come back to my room to crash. After a few hours, I repeat the same cycle.

In the midst of my rigorous routine, I catch a few moments to think about Harry. How can I not think about him? I think about his gorgeous hair. The memory of his kisses comforts me between exams. I replay our many conversations in my mind.

However, I'm a little unsettled about what Harry said to his sister: "I don't think Kate is ready to marry me yet."

Well, obviously!

But it kind of makes me wonder, am I over-thinking this whole thing between us? He kissed me but maybe that doesn't mean anything serious to him. After all, how many people marry someone after they kiss a few times, right? Or even have a serious relationship? He's going back to Madison after the holidays so maybe this is just a vacation fling for him. But what I feel for him is so much stronger than a fling.

I've been telling myself all along that I can't be in love with him yet, so I can't figure out why his comment bothered me. Sure, I know he likes me, but maybe I'm moving way too fast in my own heart. Was he saying that as a way to subtly tell me to slow down? I think back to my conversation with my dad. He had also told me to be careful, not to let my heart go too fast.

We've only known each other a few weeks, I think. I really do have to slow my heart down.

On Thursday, I sit on my bed, breathing a sigh of relief once my last final over. The exam had finished at 10:00 AM, and I'm already back in bed back in my pajamas. I'm seriously thinking about sleeping until I have to get up tomorrow afternoon for my trolley shift.

I conclude that it will be best for me – and for everyone else around me – if I get some more sleep. Surviving on an average of three to four hours of shut-eye for the past several nights, I've become quite cranky. My family and friends have pretty much learned to just leave me be when I get like this.

I hear a knock on my door and I yell, "Come in!" I start to snuggle under my covers and figure that whoever needs to talk to me can do it through my comforter. They had better do it quickly or I will fall asleep on them.

My mom comes in and says, "Harry is here."

I guess I can stay awake a little longer.

Just as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I realize that I'm in my pajamas and that I haven't washed my hair in far too long. I don't even remember the last time I brushed it. I've been conveniently keeping it out of my way with a ponytail holder or a small cap. And no makeup. I'm not sure if Harry has ever seen me in my full freckled glory. I hope he's not frightened off.

"Have you gotten any of my texts?" Harry asks with his classic dimpled grin. "I've sent like a hundred over the past three days."

"Harry, I told you I had finals this week," I say, realizing my voice is whiny but I can't quite correct it. "I haven't had time to go out and do anything or hang out and talk or whatever. You may have finished your finals last week, but I haven't had time to do anything but study and sleep." I sound far more annoyed that I intend to, but I'm just so tired.

"Kate, show me your phone..." he says softly.

"It's in my room," I grumpily reply and then plop myself down on the couch. I can't believe I'm talking to him this way, but I can't restrain myself. "You can go and get it if you want it. My room is the one on the very end." I feel a little guilty that I've sent him – with crutches – upstairs to get my phone. But not guilty enough to go get it myself.

Harry returns in no time and shows me my inbox. Every single message is an encouragement from him:

Good luck, Katie!

You'll do great!

I believe in you

You rock

You've got this!

The list goes on and on and on. All from Harry. All to let me know he was thinking of me.

I am suddenly ashamed of my behavior. I look up at him and whisper, "I'm sorry."

He sits down next to me and kisses my forehead as he takes my hand. "I forgive you," he whispers.

I lean my head against his shoulder and let out a bizarre little laugh. "It's a good thing you're not really serious about me, right?" I ask and roll my eyes dramatically.

"What are you talking about?" Harry touches my chin and gently turns my face toward his beautiful green eyes. How I've missed them over the past few days. "Why would you think I'm not serious about you?"

I suddenly feel like a little kid and whimper, "You told your sister we weren't serious. I guess I was stupid enough to think maybe we were." I bite my lip as the tears threaten, another sure sign of my exhaustion.

"Well, if you remember, I said that maybe you weren't ready to marry me yet." He looks at me and continues with such sincerity that I can no longer doubt his words, "I've been serious about you since that first night I met you." My heart leaps.

"Oh, yeah, you did say that, didn't you?" I laugh a little sheepishly. "Man, I'm such a mess when I don't get enough sleep. Sorry I'm so emotional. I kind of made a big deal out of nothing. And I'm sorry I'm so grouchy. I'm just so fried from finals week."

I frown and make a sad puppy dog face. "Forgive me."

"Of course I do." Harry kisses me deeply.

After he pulls away, he cautiously says, "Katie...." When I give him a little encouraging smile, he continues, "Katie, you don't have to be sorry. I'm the one who's sorry if I haven't made it clear that I am falling for you." My heart jolts  in my chest as if it's been struck by lightning. "At first, I thought it was foolish to think I could love you after just a few weeks – after a few days, even – but I think we have something special, Katie. I'm not afraid to say it any more, because I'm pretty sure you feel the same way."

I sigh and tell him, "Well, you must really like me if you're sitting here saying all this mushy stuff after the way I just acted. And when I look like this!"

"Katie," he whispers. He caresses my cheek with the palm of his hand as he says, "You're beautiful. And I love you."

The tears begin to fall freely – tears of happiness, tears of embarrassment, tears of fatigue – and he tugs me in as close to him as he possibly can. He kisses my ear, my neck, my hair, my forehead, my cheeks. He pulls back and wipes my tears away gently with his thumb.

I break into an uncontrollable grin and then kiss him hard on the lips. Suddenly I feel free to say what I've been trying not to admit to myself all this time. "I love you, too." I watch his face as he hears the words from my mouth for the first time. He seems to light up from the inside, green eyes luminous with happiness.

"But now you know what you're getting yourself into. I'm a huge mess when I'm stressed out and don't get enough sleep," I sigh.

He laughs and then he leans in to kiss me. A tender, open-mouthed kiss, with his tongue dancing against mine, making me feel so giddy I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep for days. His hand reaches around my neck and secures into my hair, causing me to want to be closer to him. I lean in more tightly against him and thread my hands into his hair as well.

I lose track of how long we kiss until we hear an obvious, "Ahem," from the doorway.

Great, my dad just caught us practically making out on the couch.

Ever the gentleman, Harry gets up and makes his way to my dad. I hardly notice the crutches anymore. He swings them aside and extends his hand to my dad. "Nice to see you again, Ed."

My dad gives me a little teasing smile because he knows I'm dying of embarrassment, but then he accepts Harry's handshake. He says, "I hope you can stay for lunch. It will give Kate a chance to get cleaned up."

"Nice, Dad. Really subtle," I laugh. I take the stairs two at a time as I prepare to take the fastest shower of my life.

~*~*~

"Katie? Are you still alive?" I hear Harry's voice over the sound of the blow dryer, so I switch it off and poke my head out of the bathroom door.

"What are you doing up here? What if I wasn't dressed yet?"

"Oh, sorry about that." His face reddens slightly but then he whispers, "That would have been okay with me." I giggle and swat him playfully. "Your sister gave me permission to come up and find you," he finally explained.

"Well, now you can witness, first-hand, the intense work that goes into making my hair presentable." I turn the blow-dryer back on and proceed to comb through each section of my hair meticulously as the dryer offers some help in creating much-needed volume. Harry stares at me the entire time. I can't believe he isn't bored. It takes me a long time to get my hair just right.

Just before I'm ready to give it a spritz of spray, he scoots up behind me and moves my hair off the side of my neck. He plants a kiss just where my neck meets my shoulder. It feels like a little electric current runs through my body, radiating from that spot. I can feel his breath as he whispers, "Have I told you that you're beautiful?"

"Yes, you've mentioned that," I say with another giggle. "Thank you."

When Harry heads down the stairs ahead of me, I stand back to educate myself on how he does it. Two feet and two crutches seems like a recipe for disaster, but he makes it look effortless.

When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he turns around and says, "What are you doing? Are you checking me out?" He shakes his backside at me, prompting a gigantic laugh from my gut.

I bound down the stairs behind him and admit, "No, I was just watching you use those. You're pretty agile for a...." my sentence trails off. "Are you disabled? I mean, is that the word I should use?" I feel a little stupid for asking such a naïve question.

"Yeah, I guess that's the technical term. I don't often think of myself that way, but I guess it's how you could describe me."

"Well, I'd rather describe you as my adorable, amazing boyfriend, if that's okay," I say, biting my lip and he gets this irresistible little grin on his face, one I think I haven't seen before, as he nods in agreement. "I don't know how you do it," I marvel.

"Do what? Move around with these sticks attached to me all the time?"

"No," I say. "How do you keep your attitude so positive? You went through something really life-changing, but I've never seen you feel sorry for yourself or get really angry about it."

"That's because you didn't know me two or three years ago when I was still dealing with it. You know, when I was still grieving the loss of my old body. Of course, I told you that God helped me a lot, but I still went through the grieving process. I used to get so mad because I wanted to run. I told you that I was a runner, and the accident put an end to that pretty quickly. It wasn't as hard to let go of the other sports, but I still miss running."

"Is that why you were surprised to see me running the other day?" I ask. "I mean, was that difficult for you, to learn that I'm a runner, too?"

He nods and continues, "And self-pity? I think I spent at least a year feeling sorry for myself. But once I had worked really hard and mastered the use of the crutches, I figured, Okay, this is my baseline. I can start from here. I can do a lot more with crutches than I can with a wheelchair."

"Scarlett's encouragement helped me a lot. I mean, you know she prayed for me, but God used her to draw me closer to Him. I've always been a pretty positive person in general, but I think he definitely helped me to get past the challenges in the past four years. He gave me perspective. I lost something, but I still have so much to be thankful for. So, I know this is how strong I am right now, but I can always get stronger. Maybe some day I won't need these at all."

"You really are the strongest person I know," I whisper in his ear and plant a kiss on his cheek.

* * * * *

Sorry it's been a while, peeps. Hope you enjoy the chapter <3