"No, you're too kind." Jason laughed as my father apologized for his incessant talking. "I love the stories."

I had decided to invite my boyfriend of four months over to dinner in hopes of getting my parents to loosen up a bit. As far as I could tell, I had been successful--my father hadn't shut up with stories from my childhood, while my mother interjected with quick anecdotes about his tours and how talented her husband was. It was as if my parents were back to being their normal, loving selves again.

"Are we all ready for dessert?" My mother asked as I finished up my last bite of steak and potatoes. "I think that we're having chocolate lava cake."

"That sounds magnificent." Jason replied, grinning from ear to ear. "I think that you're just trying to fatten me up for the winter."

My parents laughed.

"Then we're two months too late." My father commented, pointing to the late February sky outside. "There's little left of our Texas winter."

Jason nodded, agreeing with him as my mother rang for the next course. I rubbed my stomach, unsure if I could fit anything else in there.

"Oh, please." Jason rolled his eyes as he saw my motioning, "You're the most fit person I know. There's no belly there to rub!"

He and my father laughed as I smacked his arm good-naturedly. I was glad that they were getting along, but I wasn't sure if there was anything that I was supposed to be doing differently to ensure that this went well; it seemed like it was going fine without my help.

I had been dating Jason for almost exactly four months now, after our whirlwind night at the busted Halloween party ended with us in the dark in my car. I had neglected that part of the story when telling my parents about Jason, saying that he was a friend of a friend who I had simply never talked to at school before.

They had been four truly spectacular months, filled with little gifts and presents from him and surprise dates to places I had never even heard of. He had been over to my house once before, when neither of my parents were home to make him feel uncomfortable, and he was someone who I had found myself able to trust with little to no hesitation. Something about him was just so right and easy-going.

Jess even liked him.

I had decided to invite him over for dinner after an offhanded suggestion from Farah, who had said that if we were going to get married he should probably have dinner with my parents first. Any and all of my friends made fun of me for the amount of time that Jason and I spent together; it was incessant and constant. But there was something about him that made me never want to leave his side.

I had no suspicions. I had long ago pushed the one nagging thought out of my brain:

"I'm Samantha Greene."

"Oh. I could have sworn someone told me your last name was Carter."

It was just curiosity and confusion, nothing sinister.

Dessert arrived in fashion, individual chocolate lava cakes topped with fresh strawberries and mint leaves.

"It's so beautiful, I hardly want to eat it." Jason commented as a cake was set down in front of him.

"If you don't eat it, I might have to, and we all know I don't need the extra weight." My father grinned, digging into his eagerly as my mother rolled her eyes.

"You're literally famous for being hot."

I almost spit my food out. I hadn't heard my mother's deadpan jokes in what felt like ages.

"I thought it was for my luscious locks."

Jason and I were laughing as my mother jabbed my father in the side, looking over at him with a gaze that I wished I would be able to give to someone one day.

We finished our dessert with more jokes and conversation, and there was nothing that I felt could ruin the evening. Jason had met my parents. They had hit it off. Everything was going smoothly.

I walked Jason to the front door after dessert, ordering my parents to stay behind in the dining room.

"I had a wonderful time, Sam." Jason grinned as he wrapped me into a tight hug. "Your family is incredible, so I can see how you managed to turn out so magnificent."

"Wow. Lots of fancy compliments." I grinned, looking up at him. "You're an amazing guy, Jason. I..."

I trailed off. I didn't want to put myself out there yet.

"You what?" He coaxed, his brows creasing.

I looked at him. Really looked at him. At his eyes, his beautiful eyes, staring down at me with an expression I hadn't seen before.

"I love you."

I wasn't sure what reaction I was expecting. But the reaction I got gave me butterflies flying everywhere in my stomach as my heart soared to Cloud 9.

Jason's face transformed into a huge smile, his eyes lighting up and his mouth opening just slightly, almost going slack in awe. He hugged me tighter, my head being crushed into his chest.

"I love you too." I heard the words whispered in my ear.

<><><>

"It was amazing." I shook my head, smiling widely as I stared up at my ceiling. Two different squeals came from my phone, where Jess and Farah were both on a three-way FaceTime call. "It was like someone actually cared about me. Like someone was actually interested in who I was and interested in knowing me. He said he loved me. He said he loved my family. He..."

"...he's a keeper." Jess finished for me as Farah fanned herself with a piece of paper. "This is incredible."

I grinned again, unable to speak. I was making sure to keep my voice quiet, since my parents had long ago gone to bed, but it was so hard to not start screaming praises to the Heavens.

"I mean, he's just so thoughtful. And trustworth--"

I cut myself off mid-word as a loud crash could be heard from below me. My eyes widened and I hushed my friends before creeping over my door. There shouldn't have been anyone in the house. The staff had gone home. My parents were in bed. Neither of my siblings were visiting.

Before I could reach the door, it opened just a crack and I saw my dad's face peering into my room.

"Alright, you're in here." He whispered. "I'm calling the cops."

My eyes widened and I nodded silently, returning to my bed and my phone.

"Guys I think someone's in my house."

"Maybe is Jason, returning to declare his love for you."

"No Jess, I'm serious. Someone broke in. My dad's calling the cops, I have to go."

I hung up the phone and sat on my bed, unsure of what to do. My heart was racing, my thoughts going even faster. How had someone broken into my house? We had 24-hour security that was constantly watching the perimeter and keeping out any trespassers.

I sat on my bed for what felt like hours before there were headlights outside my window, and the soft patter of feet and whispered commands could be heard from down below. I peeked out the window to see what looked like the entire sheriff's office surrounding our house.

Then the entire house was lit up in floodlights and I fell backwards, momentarily blinded.

"HPD! We have the property surrounded. Come out of the house with your hands in the air!"

I could recognize Sergeant Hanes' voice from anywhere, since he and my father had been friends for years. He was yelling through a microphone, and I felt terrible for the neighbors we were definitely waking up.

There was a bit of scuffling from the floor below me and I could hear glass crashing as the person dropped whatever they were attempting to take before the police showed up. The front door opened and I could hear officers running to grab the person.

"Alright, we have him! It's safe for you to come out, Mr. and Mrs. Carter."

I opened my bedroom door and followed my parents down the stairs, wrapping my bathrobe around myself and tying my hair up in a messy bun to keep the wind from sweeping it across my face. I wanted to get a good look at the creep who had tried to rob one of the most secure and well-protected celebrities in the United States.

We exited through the open front door to see a mob of police officers surrounding a man dressed in regular street clothes, his back facing away from us. Sergeant Hanes approached my parents and me, his face grave.

"I'm so sorry that this happened, Lincoln. Are you and your family alright?"

My father nodded.

"No one's hurt. Did he take anything?"

"He didn't have anything in his hands when he walked out. My officers are checking his pockets right now."

A deputy ran up to Hanes and held out three things: a small gold plated mirror that had belonged to my father's grandmother, a gold bracelet of my mother's that had been laying on the kitchen table when I walked upstairs to go to bed, and one of the silver dishes we usually served dessert on.

"Sergeant, he had his I.D. on him." The officer informed Hanes, who nodded.

"Let's go talk to him."

The five of us walked over, upon which the other officers forced the man to turn around and face us.

"Sam, I'm so sorry--"

"You know him, Samantha?" Sergeant Hanes asked.

"This is despicable!" My father roared, startling everyone around him. "You come into my home, I feed you dinner, and you return just hours later to rob us?"

Jason Watt shook his head.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Didn't mean for it to happen? It's a conscious decision to rob someone's house, son." Sergeant Hanes shook his head in annoyance.

"Jason?" I whispered, tears forming in my eyes. I had just told him I loved him. I had told Jess and Farah that he could be the right one. I had thought that I had found someone, finally, who would never hurt me.

And this hurt in so many ways.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't myself..."

"So does that mean you weren't yourself at dinner? On our dates? In the car? When you told me you loved me?"

"He told you--"

"Not now, Lincoln." My mother shook her head as she slipped her hand into mine, squeezing as tears began to run down my cheeks.

"You're insane." I shook my head, "I never want to see you again."

"Sam..."

"Do you want to press charges?" Sergeant Hanes interrupted, looking at my father. "It's your choice, since he is a minor and seems to be someone you know."

My father looked over at me, and I didn't even want to know what I looked like. My body was shaking with sobs, my shoulders quaking violently and tears streaming down my face as my mother held me in her arms like I was a child. My father's face was hard, his eyes full of a hate I had never seen in them before. He looked like he could kill someone.

"Lincoln? Do you want to press charges?" Sergeant Hanes repeated.

My father turned to look at him, his hands balled into fists.

"Hell yes."

A/N: I don't even have an excuse for the update being a day late, but I hope you guys liked it! This might have been one of my favorite chapters to write. Mainly because I loved Jason and then I hated him. I'm sure the feeling is mutual with a lot of you guys too.

-Katherine