Having Tessa around for the past few weeks has been amazing. Over time, she's slowly been opening up to me, coming out of her shell. I've finally gotten to what a truly amazing and hilarious woman she is. Sometimes I feel bad for her when I catch her looking over her shoulder, still worried about the past. I wish there was a way I could put her mind at ease.

I'm folding laundry in my room when I hear the sound of little footsteps. I smile when I turn around and see Mallory. "Hey, there Barbie."

She gives me a big toothy grin. "Hi, Mr. Cowboy." I notice that her hands are behind her back.

"What do you have there?"

Mallory speaks, keeping her hands behind her. "I was watching this show with Liz. If people liked each other, they would give each other flowers."

I nod, they must been watching the Bachelor. "Okay."

"Because you like mommy, and she's like you, I thought you should give her this." She reveals a single rose in her hand my heart melts right there at her sweet gesture.

"Thank you, Mallory," I say and take the rose from her hand. "So, you're mom likes me, huh?"

"Yeah, she loves you."

"She does?"

"She really, really likes you. Do you love her?"

"Of course, I do." I care more about her than I have ever cared about anyone else. I'm going to keep my promise, no one will ever hurt her again.

"Does she know that you love her?"

I realize that I've never said out loud that I love her, she knows how I feel but I have yet to share my true feelings for her. "She will know." I crouch down and hug Mallory. "You have the best dating advice for a little kid."

She pulls away and pouts. "I am not little! Amy says that I'm getting taller!" She stomps out of my room and into the hallway.

Shaking my head, I look down at the rose down again. I know that since our date night, I've been taking things slower between us. I'm scared of doing or saying something that will make her run off. Maybe it's time I tell her that I love her. Walking down the stairs, I take a deep breath and find the atmosphere in the kitchen to be tense. Tessa is sitting down at the table, holding back tears. Elizabeth looks stunned, her hands are holding Tessa's. I don't know what to say when Elizabeth gets up and hugs my girlfriend tightly, whispering something in her ear and then walking past me.

Elizabeth brushes by me and whispers, "If you hurt her, I will beat you up with that rose." She points at my back pocket and goes upstairs.

"Jeez," I say to myself. What did I walk into? I go over to Tessa and hug her from behind while she wipes her eyes. I lean down and kiss her forehead. "Tess, are you okay? What happened?"

"I told Liz everything. About my brother, the Harrisons, and what Hunter did to me."

I hold her tighter. "What did she say?"

"That I'm really brave for going through all that and leaving it all behind me while raising Mallory."

Leaning down, I kiss her on the cheek. "Well, you are brave, and until you believe me....I'm going to keep repeating it. You are so brave, baby."

Tessa smiles and notices something sticking out of my pocket. "What are you hiding?"

"Um...nothing important. Do you want to go outside?"

"Sure." She says and I take her hand in mine.

We sit down on a bench, watching the sunset as the stars peek out across the sky. It's like a picture-perfect moment. I wrap an arm around her, and she rests her head on my shoulder.

Tessa happily sighs. "I will never get tired of this view." I don't say anything as I pull the rose from my pocket and hand it to her. "What's this?" She picks it up and smiles. "How did you know that I like roses? I never told you that."

"Your daughter does give the best dating advice."

"Explain." She says with a chuckle.

"Well, she that she was watching the Bachelor with Liz. Something about giving a rose to someone if you liked them. She knows that I like you, so told me that I should give you a rose. Then she asked me if you knew....that I love you."

"Oh, and what did you say?" Tessa looks into my eyes with a bit of uncertainty.

"That I'm in love with you." I lean down and kiss her perfect lips. "Tessa, you have no idea how much I love you."

She smiles and holds up the rose, admiring it. "Well, now I do." She scoffs. "You know what's funny? I always thought I would end up alone. Sure, I would always have Mallory with me...but I never imagined someone being in the picture with us. Maybe it's because I'm too shy and still running from my demons, but I never thought that I would find someone like you." She pulls me into another kiss. "For the record, I love you too."