Hunter pulls into the driveway of Marley's house on the night of Homecoming and immediately feels weird about doing so. For so long, he's been parking down the street and trying his hardest to hide the fact that he was picking her up. Now, he's walking right up to her front door without needing the be worried about being caught. He's worried about not being worried. He's been worried for half a year. His natural state became worried.

Coach Dickson opens the door when Hunter knocks and smiles at him. He pats him on the shoulder. "I'm sure I don't need to give you 'the talk' about treating her right. You already know I'll kill you if you don't."

The comment is meant to be good natured and even humorous, but it freaks Hunter out. Maybe Marley was actually hiding their relationship because her dad wouldn't be okay with it and all this other stuff with Coach Dickson has been a fluke.

"She should be almost ready," Coach Dickson continues. "She's been up there since she got home, so I have to hope she's almost ready. I'll never understand what takes girls so long."

Marley comes out of her room. Hunter smiles when he sees her. She looks beautiful. Coach Dickson catches Hunter smiling, and it makes him smile. All he could want is for his daughter to have someone who looks at her the way Hunter's looking at her now and treats her in a matching manner. It reminds him of the way he looked at his wife before she died.

"Well, you two have fun tonight," Coach Dickson says. "Vargas, get her home by one."

"Yessir," Hunter replies.

At the Harpers' house, Wesley and Landon sit in the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Harper. Rae and Sabina are in Sabina's room finishing getting ready. Sabina got ready in all of thirty minutes including her shower. She's been waiting for Rae and avoiding Rae's attempts to get her more dressed up. 

"Please just wear the heels," Rae pleas, looking at the black hightop Converse Sabina has on. "They'll look so much better with your dress, and I promise I'll stop asking about the makeup in return."

Rae has been trying to convince Sabina to wear more than just mascara and lip-colored lipstick all day.

Sabina looks again at the pair of silver heels and sighs. She unties her Converse and straps herself into the heels instead. Rae squeals in delight when she sees, and as much as Sabina hates it, she has to admit that Rae was right. The heels do look better.

The two girls walk downstairs, and the eyes of everyone in the living room light up. Rae all but jumps into Landon's arms for a hug, and Wesley can't stop smiling at Sabina. 

"You all look so beautiful and handsome," Mrs. Harper says.

Beautiful. That's the only word that Wesley can think of right now. With his eyes glued to Sabina, it's like no other word exists. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her cheek.

Mr. Harper sees the way Wesley's looking at Sabina and clears his throat loudly, obviously trying to get Wesley to look at him instead of his daughter.

Wesley straightens up and loosens his hold on Sabina, suddenly overly aware of the fact that he now has both Harper men watching his every move when it comes to her.

"Have fun!" Mrs. Harper chirps.

"Not too much fun," Mr. Harper adds.

Mrs. Harper slaps his arm. "Dan, stop that!"

Mr. Harper rolls his eyes. "I want both of my children home by midnight."

Now Mrs. Harper rolls her eyes. "Be home by two."

The Harper twins say goodbye to their parents and leave their house. Everyone climbs into Wesley's truck, and he drives to the school, where the dance is being held in the gym. 

The gym is packed with nearly every student from Ruby High as well as teachers and chaperones. The basketball team sits at a table in the corner, clearly bothered by the fact that this is the only time other students go into the gym. Nobody goes to basketball games.

Hunter and Marley meet up with Landon, Wesley, Rae, and Sabina on the dance floor. The four can't help but notice how much happier Hunter looks tonight than he has in weeks. He has his arms wrapped around Marley from behind and is smiling from ear to ear as Marley dances and sings along to the music.

The night goes on with the typical mixture of pop, country, and rap music. Two seniors are crowned homecoming king and queen. He's a Renegade. She's a cheerleader. There are no surprises.

"This is the last song of the night," the DJ announces. The DJ is the school's statistics teacher. The students are surprised every year that he actually knows good songs. He earns respect for about a week, and then it goes away.

I can't count the times
I almost said what's on my mind
But I didn't

Everyone couples off for the night's only slow dance.

Just the other day
I wrote down all the things I'd say
But I couldn't
I just couldn't

Wesley places his hands on Sabina's waist, and she puts hers on his shoulders. She's never actually slow-danced with a guy before, and the first time being with Wesley causes her heart to beat rapidly with anxiety but comforts her at the same. He still makes her nervous, but he makes her feel safe at the same time. She feels like she can be who she is and that he'll still love her for it.

Baby I know that you've been wondering
Mmm, so here goes nothing

Landon and Rae are singing the words quietly to each other.

In case you didn't know
Baby I'm crazy 'bout you
And I would be lying if I said
That I could live this life without you

Wesley tilts his head down, resting his forehead against Sabina's.

Even though I don't tell you all the time
You had my heart a long, long time ago
In case you didn't know

Wesley wants Sabina to know that's how he feels about her. He wants her to know that's how he's always felt about her. He wants her to know that he wishes he could go back and undo most of his life so he could've spent his time with her rather than messing around with everyone else.

Somehow, she's able to feel his thoughts.

The dance ends, and the students file out of the gym. Most of them are going to an after party, but Wesley, Sabina, Landon, and Rae are going to Fatso's and then back to the Harpers'.

Marley and Hunter get Fatso's to-go. Hunter parks his car at the edge of the field behind the diner. They sit in the trunk with the door open, looking out at the view he's only ever seen with Wesley, eating fries, and stealing kisses.

"Let's tell your dad," Hunter blurts after a longer kiss.

"What?" Marley asks.

"Let's tell your dad about us tonight," he repeats. "Tonight was the best night we've had because we were just out and being us. No secrets. No hiding."

She shakes her head. "We can't."

"Yes, we can," he says. "We don't have to tell him about the past six months. We can just say we had a really good time tonight and that we're dating now."

"I don't want to tell him any of it! Why don't you get that?"

His arm has been wrapped around her since they sat down, but he removes it. "Why don't you want to tell him? You've been saying this whole damn time that he wouldn't be okay with it, but he's fine with it. He told me he's fine with us being together. He was happy about me asking you to homecoming. He doesn't care."

Marley shakes her head. "You don't get it."

"You're right; I don't get it. You tell me that you love me and that you want to be with me forever, but you won't even tell your dad about us? So, what? You get to be a part of my family, but I don't get to be a part of yours?"

"I'll tell him eventually, just not yet."

"So when? You talk about forever, so when in forever are you going to tell him? When we go to college together? When I ask you to marry me?" Hunter laughs bitterly. "You're going to send him a fucking wedding invitation and be like 'surprise!'? Oh, or maybe you'll just show up at his house for Thanksgiving one year with me and our kid?"

"Hunter, stop."

"What's your plan, Marley?" His voice is starting to crack. "Or, let me guess. You don't have a plan. You talk about the future with me, but you haven't even really thought about what that means or what that looks like."

"That's not true" is all Marley is able to say. Every future she thinks about has Hunter in it. She just hasn't thought through the logistics of it all. 

"I don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me," he says, his voice practically a whisper. "I want to be fully with someone, and that's not how it is with you. I love you more than anything, but I can't keep lying and hiding. I can't keep doing this."

There's a long silence. He's struggling to believe that he actually said that. She's struggling to believe it, too.

"So that's it?" she asks.

He nods slowly. "Let me drive you home."

The drive is silent. He pulls into her driveway and puts his car in park.

"Hunter..." Marley says. "I love you."

"How much can you actually love me if you won't even tell your dad about me?"

"I'll tell him tonight. Please, Hunter. I love you. I'll tell him right now."

Hunter just shakes his head. "It's too late."

"Hunter..."

"Goodnight, Marley."

She steps out of the car, covering her mouth as she walks into her house to try to muffle the sound of her sobs. Coach Dickson is standing in the kitchen when she walks in and sees the tears running down his daughter's face.

"Oh, sweetheart," he says, rushing over to her and wrapping her in a hug.

"He broke up with me," she cries into his shirt. 

Coach Dickson kisses the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Mars."

"I loved him."

"I know you did." These are the times he really wishes his wife was still alive. He always misses her, but she'd know exactly what to do. She'd know exactly how to help. He's never been overly good at emotional talks, and his heart is breaking for his daughter.

"You knew?" she asks.

He nods. "I've known for months."

This just makes her cry even harder.

Still sitting in the driveway, Hunter pulls out his phone and calls Wesley. Wesley's sitting on the couch in the Harpers' living room. Sabina fell asleep on his shoulder, and the phone ringing wakes her up.

"Let's get fucked up," Hunter says.

"What?" Wesley asks. Hunter hasn't been partying since he and Marley started dating. He went from getting drunk and high with Wes almost every night to basically only spending time with Marley. "I'm with Bean, so I'm going to have to pass, dude."

"I broke up with Marley."

"Okay, pick me up."

"I'll be there in a few minutes." Hunter hangs up.

"What's going on?" Sabina asks.

"Hunter and Marley broke up."

The girls' dresses: Sabina (green velvet), Marley (red), Rae (black with flowers)

The song quoted is In Case You Didn't Know by Boyce Avenue and it is beautiful and everyone should go listen to it