"You're gonna do great, honey," Gwen's syrupy voice came through the phone as Drew sat in the green room at Wake up with Clary. In just a few minutes, he was scheduled to go on air. Gwen added, "The fans can only fall more in love with you. I know I did."

Drew tried not to feel guilty at her last words. How could she tell him so freely that she loved him, when he still couldn't say the words back? What was wrong with him? Why was it so hard to say those three little words? He always tried to tell himself that it was because those words meant so much more to him than they did to others…but what if he was wrong? What if he was just a cold, hard-hearted person who couldn't feel that way about anyone? He barely even said it to his mom, and that wasn't until she said it first. He was seriously messed up.

Instead of taking Gwen's bait, he changed the subject. "I'm excited to see you this weekend. Did you find someone to watch your dogs?"

"No. My mom refuses to take them again, after what happened last time." Drew could just imagine the adorable way her brow furrowed when she said that. "Hazel was just nervous, thinking I was leaving her for months again. My mom should care more about a dog than her carpet. It's not like the carpet is alive or anything," she whined.

"She did just get the carpet put in. Can you understand how she might be upset that Hazel had an accident in the corner?"

Gwen huffed. "It's not like she can't afford to get the carpet cleaned. It's really not that big of a deal."

It would have been a big deal to Drew. He couldn't stand dogs in the house. Sure, they were fine for other people to have, but he certainly didn't need all the trouble they caused. And he didn't love the idea of Gwen's dogs taking over his house once they were engaged. But it was something he'd have to deal with when the time came. He figured if he got to the point of asking her to marry him, a loving wife would be more than worth putting up with yippy dogs chewing on his shoes.

There was a knock on the door. Drew looked over his shoulder to see Kate peeking her head in. She held up five fingers to indicate how much time he had until the stage crew came for him.

He nodded and gestured for her to come in. "Hey, Gwen. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Good luck. I wish I could be there with you."

"Me too. Just a few more months and I'll be showing you off to the whole world."

He hung up and set his phone on airplane mode, and then slipped it into the breast pocket of his sports coat. Drew stood and started buttoning his jacket.

"Are you nervous?" Kate asked.

"A little. I've done interviews like this before, but this is the first time I'll be discussing my personal life and not business. I just hope I can answer those questions without sounding like a robot."

"Do you want to run through them one more time?" Kate offered.

He shook his head. "If I don't have them down by now, it's never gonna happen." He inspected himself in the mirror. He was wearing his favorite Armani suit. "How do I look?"

Kate stepped closer and gazed at his reflection. He tried not to feel nervous under her examination. Her eyes seemed to linger on his neck for a moment.

"You look pretty good. There's just one thing." She touched his shoulder to turn him to face her. "Your tie is crooked."

She leaned in to readjust his tie. "Right there, that's good." She set her hands on her hips and continued to look him over.

Drew watched as she bit her bottom lip, her blue eyes squinting in concentration. His heart raced as he remembered all the times she'd done that when they were younger. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have her working with him so closely. He was supposed to be getting engaged, not remembering all the times he'd fantasized about his best friend’s little sister. Aiden’s married little sister. He wondered what Nolan thought about them working together.

"Did you pierce your ear without me knowing it?" she asked, breaking him away from his thoughts.

"What?" Drew touched his ear lobes to see what might have gotten stuck there.

Kate laughed. "Kidding. I'm totally kidding."

Drew placed both hands on her shoulders, and then he shook her lightly, forcing himself to jump back into his role as her honorary big brother. "What am I going to do with you, girl? I'm about to go on live TV, don't make me any more anxious than I already am."

"Just trying to help you lighten up. You were standing so stiffly."

But Drew couldn't not be nervous. The pressure the producers had put on him was stifling. Everything was riding on him doing a good job. How could he not be anxious about that?

Kate must have seen the apprehension on his face. She touched his arm. "Hey," she said, looking up, her eyes big and sympathetic. "You're going to do awesome. I haven't seen any of this season, but I know you. People have been dying to get a real, honest, hardworking guy to watch for a long time. They're tired of the fame whores who go on these shows for all the wrong reasons. You started this because you're ready to find someone to share your wonderful life with."

And because he knew he needed to move on from the girl he could never have.

But Drew would just keep that last bit to himself.

Kate continued, "You're sincere, and the fans will fall in love with you. Just be yourself and you'll be great. So what if you didn't propose at the end? That's only the last five minutes of the season. You did everything else right. The finale is ten weeks away. Just take a deep breath. You've got this."

And somehow, by the time she was done speaking, Drew did feel a lot better. He was still nervous, but not on the verge of an ulcer attack anymore.

"Now give me a hug and give the crowd some eye candy to ogle over."

Drew embraced her and couldn't help but think how nice she felt in his arms. She's married. And you're getting engaged. He cleared his throat and stepped back. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"It's all true. Gwen's a lucky girl." She smiled, but there was something in her eyes that made him wonder what she was thinking about.

A stagehand knocked and opened the door for Drew, telling him it was time.

Kate followed him out the door to watch him backstage.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked as they checked his mic.

Just having her calming presence nearby was helpful enough, but he decided to switch things up and ask her opinion on something.

"What do you think of dogs?"

Kate screwed up her face in a confused look.

"It's kind of a really important thing for me to know about my handler." Drew gave her the most serious expression he could muster.

She shrugged. "I like them in theory, I suppose. I mean, they're good for other people to have… But to be honest, I'm not really a huge dog person."