Stevie is a nervous wreck, worrying about what Brock has to say. She was rushing around getting ready, replaying his words in her head. Mandatory date, no backing out, important, urgent...not words she really wanted to hear, especially when his tone was so serious.

She pulled on a muted plum dress with long sleeves that fell just below her knees. She wore black tights and boots to complete the look and was working hard on her makeup. Her hands shook and made it quite difficult to be precise but somehow, she managed. She came from her room, smelling and looking beautiful. Lindsey was in Dylan's room discussing work he wanted to do on his board over the summer and he caught a glimpse of her as she passed through to the living room.

"Hey!" He shouted, trying to get her attention. He broke the trance she was in and she turned around, leaning against the door frame. "You look great!"

"Thanks" she said, smiling weakly.

"Don't be nervous. Like I said, someone probably died. Maybe he's even richer now and gets to do even less work"

"Shut up, Lindsey" she said, stifling a laugh. "You're just jealous"

"Of what?" He asked but his smile faded. "Have fun tonight"

"I'll try. When are the guys coming over?"

"In a bit."

"Are you still playing your gig next weekend?"

"Yeah. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, mom is going to watch the kids"

"Why can't we come?" Dylan asks, listening the whole time.

"You can't go to a bar, Dylan. You're a kid"

"I'm 12. That's almost 13 which is almost an adult. Come on, Dad! Let me come watch!" Dylan begs.

"Okay, Mr Adult. You can't come this time but me and the guys are doing a gig in the park for summer kick off in a few weeks. You and your sister, your mom and everybody can come. Deal?"

"Deal" The boy says, flicking his long wavy hair from his eyes.

"When are you getting a haircut, boy?" Lindsey teases.

"When are you?" He asks, referring to his father's rather unruly mop of curls.

"Touché"

"Alright boys, be good and don't pester Callie. She's doing homework with Alyssa tonight. Her mom is coming to pick her up at 10:30"

"Alright, bye Steph" Lindsey says, knowing she has to leave now or she will be late.

"Bye mom" Dylan says, and Stevie waves. They hear the door shut behind her and they go back to talking.

Stevie books it to the restaurant to meet Brock. He has a flight back to Dallas tomorrow so he can't really stay the night. It bummed her out but she was happy just to be with him. He was so busy lately. Maybe someone did leave him more of the company, Stevie thought. She walks in and sees Brock sitting at the bar. He's decked out in western dress- cowboy hat, boots and a fitted white suit.

"Hey there! You look beautiful" Brock says, kissing her passionately.

"Thanks. You look pretty handsome yourself"

"Why thank you."

"You're more than welcome"

"Would you like a drink?"

"Maybe just a small glass of wine. I have to drive home"

"I'm sorry we don't have more time together. I would really like a lot more time with you and that's why I asked you out tonight, made it mandatory."

"Okay..." She's not really sure where this is going. Her wine is placed in front of her and she takes a careful sip.

"Stevie, the company is growing. We bought someone out and I have even more work I've got to do. I'm pretty much the face of Mason since my dad will be stepping down next year"

"Oh"

"I uh, I will be going back to Texas to sign some deals and really get my feet wet, doing what my dad does. I don't have a lot of time" Stevie is quietly listening, nodding for him to continue. "It's been over a year, the longest I've been with anyone like this. You and I...I feel like we've got something real good and I want to make this permanent. When I have to go back, I don't want to go alone. Stevie, will you marry me?" He asks and produces a small velvet box. He opens it up and the diamond was huge. She looked at the ring and looked back up at him. His eyes sparkled and his smile was dazzling. "What do you say?"

"Yes" Stevie whispers, tears falling down her face. He takes the ring from the box and Stevie removes the silver ring from her left wedding finger, letting him replace it with the token of their engagement.

"Oh my god, you've just made me so happy! I will come back for you and the kids. You don't have to worry about a thing. Think it over and let me know when you're ready. We don't have to rush. I'm just so happy you said yes"

"Okay" she says, not registering anything he said yet. She was in shock.

"So let's get a table and eat. We need to celebrate" Brock waves someone down and they are seated instantly. They were in a secluded booth, kissing and groping hungrily. They were really going through with it, he asked her to marry him.

Dinner goes by smoothly and they take their time. They are both pretty disappointed he couldn't stay the night as he usually did when they would have dates these past few months. It is especially a shame when something so major has just happened. She got in her car, tears streaming down her face. She was excited, she was scared, she was nervous, it all hit her at once. She said yes, she said yes to Brock. She parks the car and runs into the house.

"How was it?" Lindsey asks, hearing her come in. He has been sitting up waiting for her on the couch in the living room with the radio on as he always did. He worried about her and always made sure she made it home okay. She did the very same for him.

I know we're just like old friends
We just can't pretend
That lovers make amends
We are reasons so unreal
We can't help but feel that something has been lost

She's silent and he turns to look at her. "What happened?" She is crying so much more now and he goes to her. "Oh...Steph. Did he?"

She nodded. "He..."

"I'm sorry" he says quickly.

But please you know you're just like me
Next time I promise we'll be
Perfect
Perfect

"He asked me to marry him" Stevie says, showing him the impressive ring.

"He...what?" Lindsey was taken aback. "I thought..."

"I said yes."

Perfect strangers down the line
Lovers out of time
Memories unwind

He bites his lip, gathering his thoughts. He forced an odd, almost mechanical smile. "You deserve it, baby" he says and kisses her temple.

"Thank you, Lindsey. I can't believe it. I'm getting married! Stephanie Mason...oh, doesn't it sound darling?"

So far I still know who you are
But now I wonder who I was...

Angel, you know it's not the end
We'll always be good friends
The letters have been sent on

"Adorable, honey." Not as good a Stephanie Buckingham, he thinks to himself. He sits down, no longer listening to her gush. He couldn't believe it either. He had sat there, waiting to save her like he always did when relationships wouldn't work out and finally tell her how he really felt just for it to never matter again.

So please, you always were so free
You'll see, I promise we'll be
Perfect
Perfect strangers when we meet
Strangers on the street
Lovers while we sleep

Perfect
You know this has to be
We always we're so free
We promised that we'd be
Perfect