Niall was learning to drive and scaring me half to death in the process. I always rode along while his father was teaching him, but I made sure to sit in the middle of the back seat, buckle my seatbelt tightly, and I kept a rosary in my pocket. And I'm not even Catholic.

He approached driving like he approached everything else in life - jumping all in and only stopping for an obstacle when he was absolutely sure he couldn't fly over it. He was aggressive in sports, and just as aggressive in driving. Now if he was driving a Humvee or a tank, that might not be a problem, but he was driving his dad's old Toyota Celica and he wasn't invincible, although he liked to believe he was. His parents and I tried unsuccessfully to convince him of that. I could only hope that when he finally turned 16 and took the official test, the instructor would fail him on numerous counts of unsafe driving, or else that he would drastically improve by then.

"So, how'd I do?" He asked one Sunday afternoon in March. The snow was melting and luckily the roads weren't too slippery. He had parked the car in front of his house and his dad had gone inside quickly, no doubt in search of a stiff drink.

"Great," I muttered. "I just have to go and take a few Xanax and I'll be fine."

He snagged my upper arm and pulled me back to face him, kissing me softly. "I'm not that bad, am I?" He asked with a snicker after he pulled back.

"Do you want the truth? You're a menace! You have to drive more slowly, pay attention to the other drivers, and for goodness sake, start braking more than ten inches from the stop sign!"

"Ahh, you're exaggeratin'", he laughed.

"Am not," I said, pushing against his chest. "I just happen to want my boyfriend to stay alive long enough to finish high school, at least."

He kissed me again in an attempt to convince me that he was careful enough. "I'm never leavin' ya, Meg. I'm too in love with ya."

"It's a good thing I'm in love with you, too," I responded. "How about a super fudge milkshake?"

"Do you even have to ask?" He smirked.

When we had returned from Ireland last summer, we decided to go public with our relationship - at least among friends - even though we expected there would be some teasing. However, most of our friends expressed something along the lines of, "Weren't you already dating?" Or "It's about time!"

Our parents were another story. We had tried to keep our relationship from them, and we succeeded until about Christmas time. We were inseparable over Christmas break because, duh, boyfriend and girlfriend. We managed to persuade our parents to let us have a few sleepovers for old times' sake and they were none the wiser. It wasn't like either of us was ready to have sex yet anyway. But Niall's parents woke up late one night while we were supposed to be watching a movie and instead they found us making out on the couch.

Needless to say, they weren't really surprised, but that put an end to the overnights pretty quickly. They "suggested" I tell my parents as well, which really meant they expected me to tell them or they would do it themselves.

Even so, Niall and I still spent most of our time together; just not overnights.

Spring break came fast - we couldn't believe how quickly the school year was flying by. It was most exciting for me since I was a senior. A few more months and I would no longer be in high school.

"What are you going to do when I'm a college girl?" I teased Niall one afternoon while we were hanging out in my basement. "Not sure I'll be wanting to spend time kissing a high school boy."

He shrugged, "Same goes for me. Why would I be lovin' on an older woman when Rebecca is sat right next to me in class?"

"You did not!" I yelled. I gave him a playful shove and he dramatically fell onto the couch, only he took me with him so that I fell awkwardly on top of him.

He slipped one arm around my waist and pushed an unruly hair out of my face with his other hand. "I'm only jokin', ya know. You're me girl. Nobody else."

"And you're me fella," I said, imitating his accent. He barked out that loud, raucous laughter that I loved about him.

"Dat's right," he said softly. I leaned down to kiss his waiting lips and hummed a little at the feeling.

It never got old, that little thrill of just pressing our lips together and holding each other tight. I suppose that's how people managed to stay in love forever, if they just kept giving each other little thrills like this.

For Spring Break, Niall and I planned a "staycation" since neither of our parents was willing to plan a big trip to Florida or South Padre. (Hey, it didn't hurt to ask.) We revisited all the things we used to do when we were younger, like staying up all night watching the Jurassic Park movies, re-reading the Percy Jackson books, and riding our bikes to Mammoth Cave to explore. I held Niall's hand during the tour, teasing him that I would take care of him if he was afraid. Niall had started the wrestling team in the fall and he was pretty good, so relived our fondness for WWE and dragged out the old mattress to practice our wrestling moves, except that this time, we ended up making out once our bodies were tangled up. We even pulled out our old binder with our Route 66 Road Trip, and once again, I teased Niall about calling our destination the Promised Land.

"The only Promised Land for me is wherever you are," he told me and made my heart quiver.

On the last night of Spring Break, we were cuddled up in my basement, watching movies yet again, and it began to storm. I didn't really take much notice because the movie was intense, but Niall called my attention to it by pulling me onto his lap.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a giggle.

"It's all right, Meg," he said softly, pushing my unruly hair out of my eyes. "I've got ya."

My interest for the movie died completely when I looked into Niall's sweet face. "What are you going on about?" I asked with a smirk.

With a lazy smile, he answered, "I'm keeping you safe from the storm like I did that night in the treehouse."

I couldn't decide whether it was sweet or corny, so I just whispered, "You're kind of a dork," right before I kissed him. He kissed me back with an urgency I hadn't felt before, pulling me tight in his grip and opening his mouth to let his tongue dance against mine. One arm circled my back while the other reached across my hip; soon I felt him maneuvering my hips so that I would turn and face him, my legs straddling his waist. I complied as gracefully as I could, which wasn't very graceful by any means. Still, once I was re-positioned over his lap, our kisses resumed.

Niall's aggressive nature came out during our make-out sessions and this time was no different. With my body wound around his, he had me at his mercy. As he continued taunting me with his tongue, his hands deftly skimmed under my shirt and up my back. I gasped slightly and he shushed me, continuing his upward journey. We had never gone so far physically but I was inclined to let him do whatever he wanted, which he did. He unsnapped my bra and I gasped again, feeling a heavy mixture of embarrassment and excitement. His hands moved steadily around my back to under my arms, but he paused long enough to look straight at me. "If you want me to stop, I will." I shook my head strongly and kissed him again, distracting myself from the fact that he was soon going to make contact with my boobs.

I mean, they were my breasts! I knew exactly what they looked like and felt like and they were nothing special, but to have someone else touch them like this was new and a little nerve-wracking. What if he, too, thought they were nothing special?

When one hand finally landed on its prize, I gasped for a third time and stiffened my back.

"You okay?" he murmured, halting his motion but keeping his hand full.

"Nervous," I giggled softly.

"Don't be," he whispered. "I'd never hurt  ya, Meg, and I'm crazy about ya, every single part of ya."

I nodded, forcing my shoulders to droop and letting myself relax into Niall's touch. He slowly, methodically touched every single inch of skin under my shirt while we kissed. Eventually, I was so relaxed that I never wanted it to stop, but we had to extricate ourselves from one another when we heard footsteps across the kitchen just above us.

I cuddled back in Niall's side as we finished the movie. As he got ready to leave, I wanted to ask him something but I wasn't sure how. "Niall, this is my last year in high school and well, you know I'm not crazy about things like dances and stuff. But my senior prom is in May and I think-"

"Shh," he answered, taking both my hands and turning me to face him. "Let me do it." I nodded, giving him the go-ahead. "Meg, will you go to my senior prom with me?"

"What?!" I burst out laughing. "That's two years away!"

"Still," he shrugged, "I want you to come with me."

"Of course I will," I answered. "But-"

"Shh!" He commanded again. "Maeghan Marie Foster, would you please do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to your senior prom?"

"Yes," I grinned happily. "Absolutely. It's a good thing you asked me out of your own free will because otherwise, I was going to wrestle you to the ground and make you ask me."

The Prom was a success. I had found a plain black satiny dress with a boat neck and a high-low hem; the underside of the hem was silver. My mother called it elegant and understated. I called it the only thing in the store I would be caught wearing since ruffles, lace and sequins were out of the question. I had to admit that Niall and I looked pretty sharp together since he dressed in a black tux with a silver cummerbund and tie that matched the accent in my dress.

"God, Meg, you look amazing," Niall breathed into my ear when he walked over to my house.

"You too," I whispered back before our parents made us pose for a ridiculous number of photos - in the front yard, in the back yard, even in the treehouse, which was kind of fun actually.

Since Niall wasn't sixteen yet (and still a menace on the roads, as far as I was concerned), I borrowed my parents' car to take us out to dinner and the dance. But Niall was definitely the gentleman, opening the car door for me, pulling out my chair at the dining table, and holding the doors open for me when we arrived at the prom.

In an odd twist of fate, Kirsten and Tony were now dating, and of course, Joely had managed to land Manny. That girl could probably date one of the Jonas Brothers if she wanted to. Or all of them, for that matter. Yes, she was that gorgeous, but for once, I wasn't jealous. I had the most handsome date in the school (in the entire world, if anyone wanted to fight me about it) and I was decidedly ecstatic about celebrating the end of our school career with him and my best friends.

Mia came, too, escorted by a younger man, just like me. Spencer Chadwick, who happened to be Niall's best friend, had invited Mia a long time ago. She was certain that he just wanted to go as friends, but Niall and I knew better - Spencer had had a crush on Mia for as long as we could remember, but neither of us ever spilled the beans since Spencer told us he'd have our heads if we did.

I wasn't that great of a dancer and Niall was just as bad, but that didn't stop us from dancing all night with our friends.

After the prom was over, Niall and I went back to my house and decided to watch movies in my basement, just like old times. We were both still dressed in our finery, sprawled out on the sofa bed, enjoying one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We spent a lot of the time making out and we eventually fell asleep holding each other, not one bit worried about whether our parents would find us that way in the morning.

It was the best night of my life.

* * * * *

They're almost grown up - where has the time gone? :'(

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE will you check out my new Harry story called "With Love From the Girl in a Coma"?  I know, I already have two stories to keep up with, but this idea has been brewing for a long time and I finally decided to give it a shot.

Thank you so much! xoxo