September 24, 1985
9:43 PM
He has never been so nervous. Santana is playing on the Camino's stereo. She's bopping her head and singing softly along to You Know that I Love You. She secretly likes a lot of the bands he does.
He's only got one hand on the wheel, the other is slung around her shoulders. His reckless driving isn't scaring him. The road they're on is pretty much empty.
The thing that's scaring him is that he's got a ring burning a hole in his pocket. He's been saving up for the ring since they'd gotten back together on New Years Eve of 1983. This is also her birthday present, and he doesn't want to ruin her birthday.
He became more tense when they crossed the border. Not because he technically did it illegally. But because now it was time to ask her.
He pulls over, and brings Jackie and a blanket out into the bed of the truck.
"Where are we?" She asks, curling up against him under the covers. It's too dark to see the forest around them.
"Canada." He answers like its not random.
"Why?" She asks.
The time has come.
"Remember when we were dating in high school, and we promised that we wouldn't talk about getting married in the United States?"
Her eyes go wide.
"Oh my God!" Her excited eyes are exactly what he needs to continue.
"Well," he pulls the velvet box out of his pocket, and hands it to her. "We're not in America anymore."
She smiles and opens the box and gasps.
"Do you like it?" He asks.
"I LOVE IT." She almost shrieks, and throws her arms around him. "And I love you." She whispers.
"I love you too. And I always want you around. Believe it or not." He teases.
"Shut up." She laughs, swatting him playfully.
"If I say yes, will you run away?"
"No." He says with a reassuring kiss.
"Then, yes." She laughs. His heart soars, and he realizes that now he'll get to hear that laugh everyday for the rest of his life. It's a good feeling.
She takes the ring out of the box and slides it on.
"It's pink!" She says happily.
"Yes."
"It's perfect. This is perfect. It's... everything I have always wanted."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. You. A family. A future."
"That sounds great." Steven says. And it does.