Now I panic?

"Kortney honey, how do you feel about having the wedding in Europe?"

I look up in complete shock. "What?"

"Europe, darling. A European wedding. Would you like that?"

I stare at Zach's mom, trying to wrap my head around this idea. "Why wouldn't we just have the wedding here? Makes it a bit more simple..."

She looks at me like i've lost my mind. "Why on Earth would you want a simple wedding? This is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. You should want to completely and totally splurge on yourself. I know my husband and I did."

I pick at the design on my jeans, uncomfortable. Thinking of marrying Zach always makes me feel nervous. I still don't know if he's really okay with it or not.

"I don't really care..."

At this, she starts to look concerned. "Kortney... are you alright? I thought you were fully on board now. Was I wrong?"

I shake my head slowly. "I was... and I am... I think. But I just don't know if Zach is."

She dismisses this thought with a quick shake of her head. "He'll do it whether he wants to or not, dear."

"That's just the thing though. I don't want him to marry me because he has to. I want him to marry me because he wants to."

Right on time, Zach strides into the kitchen, moving quickly. "Kortney are you busy?"

He looks at his mom pointedly. "Are you bothering her about the wedding again?"

She smiles innocently. "Of course not, sweetie."

Zach obviously doesn't believe her at all, and they start to argue, giving me a chance to take in his appearance.

He's just gotten out of the shower, so his blonde hair has that cute stringy look to it that guys look good with. He's wearing a grey Paramore t-shirt, and the same black jeans he wore yesterday, with grey and black sneakers.

"Kortney?"

My head snaps up and my eyes lock with Zach's. He grins, amused. "What're you looking at?"

Like he doesn't know. I duck my head, looking at the carpet. "What did you want, exactly?" Good, that came out nice and calm. Not like he's driving me crazy...

"I'm taking you with me to see Derek. He wanted me to bring you. Come on."

He grabs my arm, hauling me to my feet, and practically drags me out of the house. "Zach! Calm down. I can walk on my own."

He lets me go, not breaking stride. Why is he excited?

When we're on the road officially, he pulls his shades out of the glovebox, slipping them off as if by instinct. Why do the rich have to wear shades almost 24/7? I ask him, and his head turns towards me.

"It's just... a statement. Don't ask me what it says... but it's just what we do. You want a pair?"

I shake my head, going back to staring out the window. I will never understand the rich. I really never will.

The scenery seems to be in levels. The super rich, with the gigantic mansions, with glass everything, to the moderately rich, with the smaller, yet no less glamorous houses... it's all just too much if you ask me.

I turn, discreetly, to look at Zach again. He looks totally calm and relaxed in this environment, unlike me. I wonder what he'd do if he was forced to live in my life for awhile. Without all his fancy clothes and stuff.

"Kortney you've been staring at me all day, trying to hide it. You can look at me if you want to without hiding, but do you want to tell me what's going through your head? Because I can't figure out what you're thinking about."

He reaches over, and outs a hand on my thigh. I stare at it, suddenly realizing something. Have we really reached a point in our relationship where he can do this without it seeming pervy? I had no idea we'd gotten this close. But I guess we have after all.

"And now you're just gonna stare at my hand? Am I making you uncomfortable?" He removes his hand, and I miss it instantly. But I wont tell him that...

I run a hand over my face, pulling my legs into my chest, my feet on the seat. Why can't I just tell him how I feel?..

Zach's POV........................................................

Kortney seems to fold into herself when I remove my hand. What is going on with her? She obviously has something she wants to say, but she refuses to say it. I wish she'd just be open with me, like she is with her friends. I assume she's open with them, anyway.

We pull into Derek's driveway, and her face seems to light up. She quickly unbuckles and leaps out of the car, running up to the house without me. What in the world...

I follow her, confused, and watching to see what she's gonna do.

She knocks on the door, and bounces on her heels in unconcealed excitement.

The door opens, and Derek smiles down at her, obviously amused. "Hey Kortney... what's up?"

She bounds forward to hug him, causing him to stumble slightly. He looks at me over her shoulder in bewilderment. I shrug at him.

"You're not rich!" Kortney exclaims in merriment, not upset by the idea one bit.

"Uhh... no?"

"I am so happy that you're not. You have no clue. I've been living in mansions for the past week or so. With maids and cooks and expensive clothes and-"

"Alright calm down, Kortney. Come inside first, then you can continue your... whatever you're talking about. Hey man." He finally turns to me, grinning broadly.

Kortney runs ahead into the house without us, and Derek's eyes trail her. I glare at him.

"Back off Derek. I've worked too hard to get to where I am right now with her. I'm not gonna let you ruin it. She's mine."

He nods, still looking in the direction that she went. "What's she so excited about?"

"I think she was starting to feel weird living like the rich again. You're house must remind her of home or something."

He nods. "We should go see where she went before she gets into something she shouldn't"

We find her in the living room, sorting through video games, and organizing them at the same time on the shelf. "I don't know how you can find anything in this mess."

In less then twenty minutes, she's organized all of the games alphabetically, and found the one she was looking for. "Can I play this, Derek?"

He looks at her work appraisingly. "I've been meaning to do this, but never had the motivation. Thanks. And yeah, you can play that. Just don't delete my save file."

Kortney turns on the PS3 and inserts the game, and I sit next to her to watch. During the next ten minutes, she shows Derek and I both how much we suck at this game compared to her. She beats us, alone, five to zero.

"Woo! In your faces. Want another rematch?"

Derek stands, running a hand through his hair. "No. I've had enough of defeat for one day. You are really good. Zach must be pretty mad. You beat his high score."

I look at Kortney, standing there, glowing with her victory, and can't help but laugh. "I'm not mad. It's good to finally not be the best at everything."

It takes a few minutes for Derek to catch the joke, but when he does, he's furious. "Excuse me?! You think you're the best at everything. You're so not. I just let you think that."

Kortney stretches, laughing, and her shirt rides up from her stomach. I notice a long, dark scar, that stretches across, just below her belly button. "What happened to your stomach?"

She looks confused, before looking down at the scar. Then she hurries to pull her shirt down over it, looking panicked. "That's nothing. Don't worry about it? Do you have anything to eat, Derek?"

Derek leads her into the kitchen, and, not trusting him to be alone with her, I follow. I wonder what's up with that scar? Did something really bad happen? Did someone do it to her? Did she do it to herself?

The last thought scares me a bit, but I can't rule anything out with her. I'l be sure to ask her when we're alone.