Adam was tired and completely beyond the point of caring that seemingly most of Clarity was standing in the Lennox's front yard. The only person he truly saw was Rayne and it was like looking at her with new eyes. How could she have always been that beautiful and perfect without him noticing? Eyes on her, he stepped away from the safety of the truck.

"I can't just let you leave Clarity."

Despite the fact that her heart was beating out of her chest and she could care less who was present, Rayne shook her head. "Adam this isn't the time-"

"Yes it is. I should have done this a million years ago and we would have never got to this point. I'm not letting you go to Chicago without me. All my stuff is in that truck and I'm going with you."

He sounded so determined, so sure in what he was doing, but Rayne knew better than to let him make this mistake. "You can't just move to Chicago. Your family is here. Your friends are here. You have a job here."

Mason quickly spoke up. "Adam?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"You're fired." Norah nodded in agreement as her husband placed an arm around her.

The supportive words garnered a grin from his son. "Appreciate it Dad."

So much for them helping their son listen to reason. "Adam-"

"No. No excuses. Everything I need is in that truck. All you have to do is tell me that I have chance and wherever you go, I go."

Everyone standing in the yard had grown quiet during the exchange and for the first time Rayne felt every eye on them. The faces around them ranged from the curious, the encouraging, to the down right entertained. Catching Lucy's face in the crowd, she silently pleaded for her friend's guidance. Unable to do anything other than smile in return, Lucy waited with everyone else for her response.

Move to Chicago for her. He was standing in front of most everyone she knew giving up his entire life. It would have been sweepingly perfect except for one thing. Adam hadn't said he felt any more than friendship for her. Sure he was saying that he wanted to pull up stakes to go with her, but was it because he was simply wanted to repair their fracturing friendship or because he wanted more?

As much as her heart begged for him, she couldn't handle this. Her voice filled with unshed tears. "Why are you doing this?"

Up until that day, Rayne had thought she knew every smile, every expression that his handsome face was capable of. Then he smiled at her in a way she'd never seen. It was intimate, loving, secure and purely for her. "Because living without someone I love as much as I love you, it isn't an option."

Though the tingling sensation of the goosebumps on her skin told her what she heard was the truth, Rayne refused to trust her ears. "What did you say?"

That smile flashed at her again, even brighter than it was before. Pulling his hands from his pocket, Adam moved from his spot by the truck and strode to the porch with purpose. Pausing on the step directly below her, he looked down into her face. "I said I love you and being without you isn't happening now or ever."

Fighting the urge to bawl, Rayne just nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" She nodded again as a sob hiccupped free. Reaching his hands up to cup her face, he put the urge to kiss her tears away just for a second longer. "So we're going to Chicago?"

Her face went slack with confusion. "What?"

Bending to rest his forehead against hers, he gently swept their noses together. "Chicago, we're moving there together."

"We don't have to go to Chicago. I just want to be where you are, I just want-" His lips covered hers, silencing her reasoning. Melting into their first real kiss, Rayne wondered how she could have possibly thought she could live without him.