For The Love Of The Game

LACEY'S POV

Lacey walked into lunch on Wednesday with a smile on her face. Things were going great. Everything had worked out between Aaron and his dad. Lacey remembered the fight that had happened. She still cringed when she thought about the way Aaron's dad had snapped. But in the end it worked out. Jon was ok with Aaron going to Rockhill and it seemed that their relationship was getting back on track. That was the important thing. But the growing relationship between Aaron and his dad wasn't what had a smile on Lacey's face. A smile that never seemed to leave. No, what had Lacey smiling was the simple fact that she was dating Aaron Matthews. Just thinking about it made the butterflies in her stomach flutter. They were official.

Sunday morning, when Aaron had so sweetly given her her wake up call, he had decided to take Lacey out for the day. After going to the movies, and going out to eat Aaron had asked Lacey what else she wanted to do. It was dark out and there really wasn't much to do on a Sunday night. But Lacey thought about what she would do if she were with her group of friends, and then the idea came. She gave Aaron directions and soon they were pulling into the parking lot of the town's biggest play ground.

"A playground?" he asked her.

"Yes a playground. Now come on!"

Jumping out of the car Lacey took off. This was what her and her friends did all the time. When they had nothing else to do and it was late, playgrounds were always a fun place to go. You had it all to yourself and you could do anything you wanted. There was just something about the colorful play equipment that brought out the kid in her. Lacey immediately ran to the slide and climbed to the top. Looking around she saw Aaron slowly make his way towards her. It was easy to see that he was anything but comfortable here. Lacey thought that it was a safe bet that he hadn't ever done this before. Lacey slid down the slide just as Aaron walked up. Sitting there looking at him, she couldn't help but to laugh.

"You know, normally when you're at a play ground you are supposed to have fun."

"And I did....when I was like 10." he said smirking at her.

Standing up she grabbed his hand. "You need to loosen up. That's the point of going to a play ground, you can pretend like you are 10 again. Now come on, me and my friends do this all the time. It's fun, I promise."

After a little persuading, and flirting, Lacey managed to get Aaron to loosen up. They did everything, from playing on jungle gyms to tag. Finally, after they were both panting and out of breath, they made their way over to the swing set. Slowly rocking back and forth, Lacey looked over at Aaron. He was watching her with a smile.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Ok, whatever. I know that something is going on in that head."

Aaron smiled and looked down at his feet. The moon was bright and Lacey could easily see the dimples that were in his cheeks. "Come on tell me. Please!" She wasn't beyond begging.

After a few more minutes of silence Aaron finally looked up at her. His face took on a more serious look, and Lacey didn't know what to expect. Finally Aaron spoke. "Lacey, will you be my girlfriend?"

Lacey let out a gasp. "What?"

"Will you be my girlfriend? I know that we basically are a couple. There isn't anyone other than you that I want  and I love you more than anything else in the entire world." This made Lacey's heart jump. She would never get tired of hearing him say those three words. "But it occurred to me that I haven't technically asked you. So I want to know, will you go out with me?"

Lacey sat there. She knew her answer. There wasn't an inch of doubt in her mind. She wanted Aaron more than anything else, and he was right. They were basically together. But even after kissing Aaron, even after admitting that she loved him and that he loved her, and even after spending so much time with him, he was still Aaron Matthews. He was still the most popular guy in the entire school. Lacey wondered how many girls had actually dreamed about hearing Aaron say those same words to them. She knew that it was a lot. But to hear them being said to her, it was crazy. Never did she think that he would say them to her. Looking up at Aaron she saw the the doubt in his face. She realized that she must be taking too long to answer.