Summary: Fred is planning to propose to Lex but Lex makes an unexpected move that sets the wedding date much sooner.
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: The story is set before Stuck In the Middle with You, but is not related to the story in any way.
Disclaimer: Lex O’Leary, Jeff Delricci, Sammie Blackburn, Anna Eukovich, Matt McDougal, Chris Mitchell, Anthony Nicholson and their families along with Suspended Motion itself belong to NYgoldfish54. Everything and everyone else belong to me.

---##---¤¤---##---
1. Young Hearts Run Free
---##---¤¤---##---

    There are a few choices in life you have to make that will forever change your existence. Up until the day you move away from home, you turn eighteen or just generally become independent, your parents make all the important decisions for you. What school to go to, what crowd that is ‘acceptable’ for you to hang out with, where to live and what to do, that is all up to them.

    I turned eighteen a little over a year ago, but I still haven’t made any life altering decisions of my own. So far, all I’ve done is moved away from home, something I did when I was fourteen because my parents put me in a boarding school.

    There are only a few mistakes you can make before you start to feel hopeless. There are also mistakes you cannot afford to make at all. I’m not saying that I haven’t done things wrong in my life. Everything I did during my early high school years feels like a mistake.

    When I’m determined to do something, I put all my energy into accomplishing it, no matter what. My latest discovery about life includes the girl I’m madly in love with. Her name is Lex and she’s nothing sort of perfection in my eyes. I met her in high school and I’ve been dating her since sophomore year. I’ve always known we belong together in some way or another. It becomes clear after you spend endless amounts of time with each other, and still feel like it’s not long enough.

    My world revolves around her. When you wake up next to the same person every day (even if you’re not really allowed to be there thanks to the dorm rules), it is impossible not to be affected by it.

    She and I have lived in New York for almost an entire year. We both went to school in Minneapolis; she was there on a musical scholarship and I was there on an athletic one. I had a girlfriend when we first met, but we got to know each other through our science class. She was my partner and her best friend Jeff was my girlfriend’s partner.

    In the beginning, I continuously managed to get on Lex’s nerves during class, because I was clumsy – I still am – and dropped several glass beakers on the floor during every science lab we had. That obviously annoyed the hell out of her, but we eventually got along great, as long as I didn’t ruin too many assignments.

    So, she basically thought I was obnoxious. Despite that, all four of us started to hang out together. After a while she and Jeff were introduced to the rest of the team members on my hockey squad and became part of the gang.

    I loved Lex very much before we even started dating. She became one of my best friends and understood me in a way most people don’t. She cared about me and gave a damn about me, and my concern for her was just as tremendous – probably more.

    We both had the same background and we could relate to one another. We’ve been through a lot together, good as well as bad.

    There were a few reasons to why we decided to move back to New York. First of all, Lex is a native New Yorker and she was always terribly homesick when she went to boarding school. I had no idea where I’d end up living, since I’m originally from Sweden and didn’t have many options to choose from. I could either go home or go to school here, but my grades were never good enough to apply for college with.

    I was the one who suggested we could move in together. Lex wanted to take a break from her studies for a semester or two, so she postponed going off to college. Instead she wanted to devote her time and energy to the band she has with her friends. They’re pretty successful now, mostly because they’ve all worked really hard to succeed for the past year or so.

    The rest of the members in the band were also from New York, so that’s another reason for why Lex went back to live there. When she said that she’d probably end up living with her parents again, I decided to do everything not to let that happen. Her father has always been sort of a jerk and treated her badly for a really long time. He refused to let us move in together at first, but Lex was stubborn and did it anyway.

    I followed her home when she told her parents she was leaving, and her dad wasn’t happy at all. He thought I was the one who had talked her into dropping out of school, so he wasn’t a big fan of me either. Lex’s mom tried to get her to change her mind, but supported her decision when Lex made it clear she wasn’t going to back down. It all got blown out of proportion, maybe because Lex wasn’t of age when she left home. She was only seventeen, but she would turn eighteen the same year. Anyway, she convinced her mom and her dad just had to accept that she was leaving.

    Thanks to my athletic feats in high school, I was offered a scholarship to New York University because they wanted me to play for their hockey team. So I accepted it and moved to New York with Lex in June last year. Sounds easy, but complicated at the same time, huh?

    I’ve studied all year and Lex – who is the lead singer – has worked with the band. About two months ago, in February, we agreed to move to a bigger apartment, because we could definitely afford it and there was really no reason to live in a crowded studio apartment.

    My dad owns a world wide company, which is why I’ve always had more money than I can manage. Lex’s parents both work on Wall Street, so she’s also from a wealthy family. When she turned eighteen she was allowed to manage her own money and trust fund.

    We bought the new apartment together and for the past month, we’ve been moving our stuff from the old place.

    Ever since our relationship started to get serious, I’ve thought about maybe asking her to marry me. I’ve mentioned it several times, but never gave it too much thought. The last months of high school, I struggled so much with accepting that my life would soon change. Everything after graduation was undecided for me. That’s when I started thinking about marriage.

    At first I thought my desire to get married was based on the fact that I didn’t want things to change between me and Lex. It would’ve been so screwed up to marry her just because I’m afraid to lose her. My mind works in hysterical ways sometimes.

    After I stopped being stressed, it seemed to be a much better idea. It had been a crazy thought from the start, but after some consideration, it still didn’t feel wrong. It’s been a year since high school ended, so believe me when I say that I’ve thought it through both long and hard.

    My life altering decision will be to propose to the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with, and I will make sure that she knows just how happy I’ll make her. My determination won’t let me rest until she says yes.

---##---¤¤---##---