October was speeding by too quickly. I can't say I wasn't enjoying it since Louis was always surprising me and spoiling me. But now I totally understood the saying, "Time flies when you're having fun."

Louis was teaching me everyday things, too, like how to do a load of laundry without bleaching everything or turning clothes purple. Who would have known that clothing was so difficult to take care of? And my clothes, especially, seemed to have all these special instructions, so I had to learn to be extra careful with things like silk and rayon.

And then there was the time that I started a small fire by putting something in the microwave with foil on it. We pretty much had to leave the house for the day to let it air out. And we had to buy a new microwave. I managed to figure out the coffee maker on my own, but Preston complained that my coffee tasted like battery acid. He should have been grateful that I was learning how to make it myself.

Lou showed me how to budget, and it was surprisingly easy to live on the small amount of money he proposed. Except when it came to trips to the salon and Brazilian waxes. Louis offered to do the waxes at home, so I reached into his shirt and yanked a few of his chest hairs. "If you get to wax me, then I get to wax this scruff off your chest!" I teased him. Home waxing was never mentioned again. But I had decided to let my hair return to its normal color, with Louis' gentle encouragement. I had it dyed to match my root color so it wasn't so drastic while the blonde grew out, and that meant fewer trips to the salon for coloring.

We fought a little bit about food and entertainment because I always wanted to go to more expensive places, but Louis was trying to reign in my spending habits a little.

I felt like I was learning something new every day, but it wasn't tedious or boring. It was fun to learn to live in a more adventurous way, as Louis put it.

We often walked through our neighborhood in the early evenings so that we could meet some of our neighbors. This was an entirely foreign concept to me. With the exception of my current friends, I'd only made acquaintances through my parents or formal events. Just walking up to someone on the street and saying "hi" seemed bizarre. Besides that, back home all of our neighbors had security gates and they wouldn't be caught dead walking around the neighborhood.

There was a small park a few streets over from ours. We walked there sometimes just to get air and have a little fun on the playground, as well as to meet neighbors.

One evening, Louis was pushing me on the merry-go-round, which I couldn't tolerate for very long. I was laughing, but yelling at him to stop because I felt like I was going to get sick.

A little girl walked up and stood beside Louis. I could hear her tiny little voice speaking to him. "You should stop spinning her. I frew up one time when I rided this."

"You heard her!" I laughed.

He stopped the merry-go-round quickly and helped me off. I looked at the little girl and said, "Thank you for rescuing me."

"I didn't do it," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. Then she pointed to Louis. "He did."

"I know, but you told him to stop, so thank you."

"You're welcome," she said and ran off to play somewhere else.

"Okay, so kids are kind of cute, I'll give them that much," I said, recalling our conversation at Disney. "But I still don't have the faintest clue about how to interact with them."

"You just did!" He said.

"Yes, for like thirty seconds. But I wouldn't know how to entertain a kid."

"Raising children is about a lot more than entertaining them," Louis said as we walked towards Preston, who was chatting with a few young women. They looked like they might be nannies. It was a pretty smart move on Preston's part, coming to the park to find girls.

Louis continued, "Parenting is mostly about instinct, I think. Not that I've ever been a parent. But everyone does it differently, so I think you just have to go with your gut."

Before we reached Preston, the girl from merry-go-round ran toward us, dragging a little boy behind her. "Hi!" She yelled as she approached. "Hey, remember me?"

I had to chuckle at her. Of course we remembered her from like two minutes ago.

She stopped with the little boy still entangled in her grasp. "This is my little bruver, Isaiah, but we just call him Izzy. And I'm Mimi. That's short for Millicent."

"Nice to meet you," Louis said, squatting down to shake their hands. "I'm Louis and this is Ashten. But I bet your mommy might not want you to talk to strangers, so you should make sure she knows where you are, okay?"

Just then, a frazzled looking woman came up, yelling, "Mimi! Stop running off like that!" She was quite young and dressed a little frumpy, but she had a pretty face with bright green eyes and a messy blond ponytail.

She turned to look at us and said, "I'm sorry about that. I hope they weren't bothering you."

"Not at all," Louis said. "But I was telling Mimi that you might be concerned about her talking to strangers."

"You're not a stranger, you're Louis!" She said, as if he had missed that very important fact.

"Woo-wee!" Said her little brother. I giggled at the way he said Louis' name. He couldn't have been very old. He was such a tiny thing, but he'd been running around and keeping up with his big sister, so he clearly was capable of more than I thought would have expected.

Louis extended his hand to the disheveled woman and said, "I'm Louis, and this is Ashten. We just moved to Boston in September."

"Oh," she said. "Do you have any children?"

"Not yet," he said, nudging me playfully. "Actually, we're both starting at Harvard in the winter, so we haven't made plans just yet for marriage and family. But we will one day," he finished, grabbing my hand.

"That's so sweet," she said, putting her hand up to her heart. Then she looked at me and said, "Looks like you found a good one. Hold on to him. My husband left me right after Izzy was born, so you never know what you're gonna get."

I was shocked by her bluntness, but it explained why she looked so run down. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah," she said and waved off my concern. Mimi started running towards another part of the playground while the woman looked helplessly after her. "I'm over it. I've got more important things to worry about now anyway. Sorry, gotta go catch up to those two. Oh, and I'm Carly, by the way." She finished that last part as she speed-walked in the direction of her children.

"Those two look like a handful," Louis remarked. "We should offer to babysit some time."

I stopped and stared at him, waiting for the punchline.

"What?" He asked. "It would be a good experience for us, and it looks like Carly could use a break."

"Except that I don't know if I'd want them in our house," I said with a small laugh. "It looks like they could make an awful mess!"

"That's part of the fun of having kids," Louis said, and I just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Besides, I wouldn't imagine she would respond well to some stranger asking if he could babysit her kids," I said.

"There are tactful ways to go about it. We just have to get to know them a little better."

"Oh, Louis," I said, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You are full of surprises."

Liam's concert came up quickly, at the end of October. We decided to go home for a few days to visit since the concert was right in New York City. Louis stayed with Zayn, however, just so there wouldn't be any questions about why we had come back to New York together.

When I walked in the front door, I took a deep breath and smiled at the familiar sights and smells. My father came rushing into the foyer and picked me up in a giant hug.

"There's my girl!" He bellowed. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too, Daddy," I laughed. "How's Mom?" She had come home from the hospital early in October, but she was still taking a lot of medications, and she was going to therapy a few times a week.

"She's tired, but I think she's doing better," he said.

"So, can I see her, or is she sleeping?"

"I'll go and check," he said, walking away briskly.

I walked into the dining room and then through to the kitchen where I found Lucinda hard at work, as always.

"Hey, Lucinda," I said.

"Oh, my honey girl!" She said, dropping whatever was in her hands. She rushed over and squeezed me into a tight embrace. "I didn't know you were coming home. It ain't been the same without you around here."

"I've missed you," I said. "And I've missed my home." I was serious, I had missed home, even with the traumatic memories of the summer. Things were starting to work themselves out, so I no longer felt imprisoned here.

"Tell me everything that's been going on," she said, handing me a Perrier. She knew me so well.

"Well, I've been getting to know Boston, doing tons of fun things with Preston and Louis. Oh, and guess what!" I said loudly, but then I lowered my voice, remembering where I was. "Louis took me to Disney for a week to celebrate my birthday!"

She stood back and just gave me a knowing look. "And you wouldn't admit it when I first said you had a crush on that boy! Where is he anyway?"

"He's staying with a friend since my parents don't know about us yet. Oh, Lucinda, I'm so in love with him," I said dreamily. "Isn't it sad that, in all those years with Richard, I never really understood what love was? And it only took a few weeks of knowing Louis to realize that I was falling in love with him."

"That boy is one in a million, that's for sure," she said. "You make sure you hold on to that boy!"

"People keep telling me that!" I laughed.

We chatted a bit more about Boston and my new house. "You'll have to come and see it some time," I said. "Maybe I can even steal you away and you can be my cook. Louis is teaching me, but we'll both be pretty busy when school starts."

"I don't know about that," she chuckled. "I'm too old to settle down in a new city. I like it here just fine. But to tell you the truth, I'll probably be retiring soon, and I'll head back to my family in Alabama."

Her words hit me hard. She was my confidante. What would I do without her here?

"Well, when you leave, you make sure I have your phone number, okay?" I told her, feeling a little choked up.

She gave me another hug. "Sure thing. But I reckon I'll stick around long enough to see if there's a wedding some time in the near future," she said with a knowing look. "It sure is nice to see your face, child." Then she went back to cooking.

I went to see my mom since Daddy told me she was awake.

I was expecting her to look frail and gaunt, but she actually looked pretty healthy. She was a little pale, but I was sure that was because she wasn't wearing any make up. She was sitting up in bed, watching some daytime TV show, which she switched off when I walked into the room.

"Hi, Mom," I said quietly.

"Oh, hello Dearest," she said with a weak voice. She extended her arms to me, which was unusual. She'd never shown me much physical affection, but as far as I knew, she didn't show much of that to anyone.

I sat on the edge of her bed and hugged her back. It was kind of nice. I wasn't afraid of her anymore.

"How are you?" I asked.

She shrugged a little. "Feeling tired, I guess. But your father is taking good care of me. You know he's always been so good to me."

Wow, charitable words coming from my mother. She must have been really doped up on medications. But I simply replied, "Yeah. Daddy's one in a million," mimicking Lucinda's words about Louis.

"How is school?" She asked.

I was surprised that she didn't know I hadn't started yet. "Um, I'm going to start second semester. Daddy thought it would be good for me to get used to living in a new place for a bit before starting my classes."

"Oh, right," she said with a small smile. "He did tell me that. I hope you're making some new friends out there. I know the Vanderbilts have plenty of relatives in that area, and they send their kids to Harvard. You should look them up."

I nodded politely, knowing I had no intention of finding more snobby friends.

"Preston and Louis are doing a good job, I hope?" She asked.

"Of course. I couldn't ask for better helpers," I smiled. "Maybe when you're feeling better, you can come and see my new place. Daddy did a fabulous job of finding just the right house."

"That sounds nice, dear," she said with a yawn. "I think I'm going to get some more sleep if you don't mind. I'll talk to you later."

"Sure, Mom," I said, standing up. I was about to leave when I turned back and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. She gave me a surprised little smile in return.

I left her room feeling like maybe everything was going to be okay. I guess I'd made a successful break from her, and now she seemed to be adjusting to that fact.

We were spending several nights in New York, so we had ample time to catch up with our friends. Veronica and Danielle were very busy trying to launch their business. When we met up with them for dinner the first night, they were in the midst of trying to come up with a name.

"How about Dani V?" Danielle suggested.

"You get a name and I get a letter?" Veronica teased. "How about VerDani? You know, it would sound kind of like Versace, only we'd have a better sense of style."

Zayn had come with Danielle, and we were just waiting for Liam to show up before we ordered our food. He pitched his idea. "How about something simple like D & V Style?"

"Ohh, I like that," Danielle said.

"Why not V & D Style?" Veronica whined. "Wait, that's no good. We don't want people to think of venereal disease when they hear the name of our business."

We burst into a round of laughter that made tears stream down our faces.

Just then, Liam joined us. He kissed Veronica, and then he made the rounds to the rest of us, shaking hands or giving hugs.

He sat down and asked, "Are you ready for the concert?"

"You bet!" I answered for all of us.

"I'm a little nervous, to be honest," he admitted.

"You can't be serious," I said. "This is what you do! How can you be nervous?"

"I just want to make sure you all have a good time," he said with a cheeky grin.

"I'm sure it will be fantastic," Louis said.

That night, we went to The Underground, and it was obvious that people had missed Louis. It didn't take long for his friends to coax him and Zayn into singing a few sings, which they gladly did. As I watched Louis on stage, he almost seemed like a different person, which such charisma and confidence.

And sex appeal. Man, my boyfriend was sexy! 

He always had confidence, but somehow when he was onstage, he owned it.

They sang the same song as they had when I first came to The Underground. I remembered feeling that little jolt of sexual excitement when I first heard Louis sing. Little did I know, that was only a precursor to the kind of attraction I'd feel for him in just a few months' time.

When they were done singing, Louis came and kissed me.

"Ugh, you're all sweaty," I laughed.

"Oh, you love it," he teased me. "I'll be back. I have to hit the men's room."

He was gone for a good while, so I started to scan the crowd for him near the back of the club. That's when I caught sight of him talking with someone who looked a lot like that Harry jerk. I left the table and moved closer; sure enough, Louis was standing there, talking with Harry as if they were old friends laughing and joking around together. I walked with more purpose towards them and Louis suddenly turned his back. I knew he'd said something to Harry because Harry leaned in and nodded. When I was about ten feet away, Harry bolted into the crowd and I approached a very nervous-looking Louis.

"Why were you talking to him?" I asked.

"Who?" Louis asked.

"Harry! You were just acting all buddy-buddy with the guy that tried to attack me!"

"Oh, right. Well, I've actually known Harry for a long time. Didn't I tell you that?" It was odd, but he seemed a little jumpy about the whole thing. I'd never seen him act like that before.

"No," I said, fuming. "But I would think you might not want to be his friend anymore after what he did to me!"

"He was really drunk that night," Louis reasoned.

I clenched my jaw and widened my eyes. I couldn't believe that just came out of his mouth. "So that's a good excuse for him to attack me?!"

"I didn't say that," Louis said, reaching down for my hand. "It's nothing like that. I mean, we're acquaintances and we stop and shoot the breeze some time. He doesn't even remember that night."

"I told you that he hit on Veronica and me another time," I reminded him.

He leaned in to my ear and kissed it gently. "I'm sorry, honey. I won't talk to him anymore. I know he's a dirtbag."

That satisfied me for the time being. I didn't really want to make a scene at the club, but it still bothered me that he acted like Harry was his friend.

On the day of the concert, Liam treated us all to lunch at a nice restaurant. He had time to relax and chat for a while before we had to head over to the venue for the concert. Of course, being VIP, we went backstage with Liam and hung out in his dressing room. His pre-concert routine didn't seem very special. He just stayed with us a bit more, and then he went to get cleaned up and have his stylist do his hair.

I had heard some of Liam's music, but when I saw him singing live, he was phenomenal. He had such a strong stage presence, and it was obvious that he was very confident of his abilities. And it wasn't easy to ignore the fact that he was extremely good-looking. My best friend was a lucky woman, that's for sure! My eyes were glued to him for the longest time when Louis leaned over and shouted in my ear, "You're drooling!"

"No, I'm not!" I laughed. "He's just really good! There's only room in my heart for one sexy singer!" Then I leaned in to kiss his cheek, but he grabbed me and gave me a full-on kiss on the lips, lingering for several seconds.

About half-way through the show, Liam introduced us as his special guests.

"First, my lovely girlfriend, Veronica. Then there's Zayn and his girlfriend, Danielle." I looked over at Danielle when he said that, and she was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "And Louis, and his girl, Ashten Norwood!"

Suddenly, my jaw dropped in fear. Why had he chosen to say my last name and no one else's? I looked at Louis and mouthed, "Oh, no!" It would only be a matter of time before the news became public that I was at a Liam Payne concert with Louis, and introduced as his girl! If people didn't manage to tweet that Louis and I were together, someone was still bound to snap a picture or two.

But then thought, So what? 

I was ready for the world to know that he was mine.