It was one of the last days of summer and Tina found herself sitting on Mike's bed as he folded clothes into his bag. He'd be leaving soon, NYU and their dance program with a minor in business. She couldn't lie, she was going to miss him. He was more than her boyfriend, he was her best friend. They'd been together for two years. He was her love, hers.

Quietly, she grabbed one of his shirts and folded in and slipped it into her bag. Mike noticed and quietly laughed.

"Why are you grabbing that?"

Smiling softly, Tina replied, "I need something to remember you."

"And you don't have enough memories for that? We'll make new memories when you finish school."

"Yeah, I guess," she replied hesitantly.

"Well, where are you thinking? NYU has a great performance program, and we'd be at the same school. Or are you thinking of west coast?"

"I'm not sure. Still looking at options."

"Well, whatever school, I hope that I'm not just an option."

"You may not feel that way in a year." It was possibly the worst thing she could have said, but it needed to be said. She wasn't ready to get her heart broke, and guys like Mike, well, she knew it was practically impossible that he wouldn't have a ton of girls trying to date him.

"Come on Mike," she said, trying not to cry, "What are the odds of you staying with me when you're dancing with a bunch of beautiful ballerinas?"

"And what are the odds of Artie not trying to get with you the second that I leave?"

"Stop, you know he'd,"

"Yes, he would. Any man would. God, Tina, you are beautiful and smart and,"

"Only interested in you."

"So why are you trying to break up with me?"

"I'm not, I'm just saying the odds aren't in our favor, so we shouldn't try to plan,"

"Our future?" Mike interrupted her.

"Mike," she paused, "Please don't say that."

"Why not? I'm in love with you, you're in love with me, right?" He stopped and took let his hand touch Tina's chin, and lifted it until her eyes were staring into his. "We've been happy, haven't we?"

Tina tried to pull away, afraid to look in his eyes."Yes, but I don't want you to try and plan your life around me."

"Sorry, but already done. We'll text and talk every night. You'll come and see me when you're in New York for Nationals. I'll be waiting with a huge bouquet of pink and purple tulips and a huge smile on my face. We'll spend next summer doing whatever we want. It doesn't matter where you decide to go to school. If you're on the other side of the country, we'll skype, catch red eye's, have huge cell phone bills and spend Christmas in Lima."

"Mike,"

"And then when we're living in the same state, be it California or New York, I'll propose," he said seriously.

A shocked, "What," left Tina's lips.

"You remember when you made me watch the Notebook with you? And the guy told the girl that he knew that he wasn't her first love, but he wanted to be her last? Well, I don't want someone else to be my last love. I want you to be my first and my last. I love you, you believed in me more than anyone else. That is rare, and I'm not giving it up."

The tears fell. It was inevitable. She felt like a blubbering idiot. Standing up, she walked over to the window. Thoughts flying around, the proud feminist telling her to back off, to not plan her life around a guy, the other, she just loved him. She knew that, and she also knew that she wasn't interested in any other guy.

She stopped, turned around, stared into Mike's eyes and breathed. "Okay," she said softly.

"Okay?" Mike asked, his face filled with hope as he stood and walked over to her.

"Okay, yes, yes to all of it. I'm not going to give you up either. I love you so much." She said loudly, smiling.

"No, I love you so much," he breathed. Picking her up and spinning her around the two met for a beautiful promise kiss. The sweet promise of eternity ran through the two of them. It was true, it was simple. It was them.