Title: On the Road
Rating: PG
Setting: On the road to Minneapolis, post D3.
Summary: Jesse and Tammy are heading home to Minneapolis from New York City for Thanksgiving. Jesse has a spur of the moment surprise.
Feedback: Feel free to review.
Dedication: To Quimby, for her birthday. It's not two years late this time. It's not quite what you requested, but it's all worked in there. :)
Notes: I wrote this for Quimby for her birthday this year. It was inspired by the song 'Tiny Dancer' by Elton John. I've included the exact verse that inspired me below. Enjoy.

blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
pretty-eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
ballerina, you must have seen her, dancing in the sand
and now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer, in my hand
'Tiny Dancer' -Elton John

"Tammy, we gotta get going if we're going to make it to Minneapolis by tomorrow afternoon, are you almost ready?"

"I'm done packing, Jess, I'm just finishing sewing this button back on your jacket, give me five minutes and we'll be all set," she said, and as he came into their bedroom he saw she was sitting at the desk with the desk lamp over her work. Her fingers moved the needle between the buttonholes quickly, almost effortlessly. Jesse's sport-jacket was old, like nearly everything else he owned, but he really liked it and wanted to wear it to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at his family's place in Minneapolis.

Quietly, Jesse picked up Tammy's two bags and carried them down from their apartment to the old Chevy pickup truck in the street and put it on the back bench of the cab beside his own belongings. Most people in New York City didn't have a pickup truck. They used public transportation or had smaller cars. The wealthier people sometimes would be spotted with a Lexus, but a Lexus was way out of Jesse and Tammy's price range. They could barely afford their apartment with the three tiny rooms and the old pickup truck.

A Lexus wouldn't have helped them anyway. The pickup truck had been part of the plan. It carried Jesse's and his band's instruments from place to place.

At twenty, Jesse and Tammy had left Minneapolis for New York City, looking to make it big. Jesse was only three months older than Tammy was, and a few months after they were both legally adults they had told their parents they intended to leave. They had been dating since they were sixteen, and this plan of theirs seemed like a pretty good idea. It didn't go over so well with their parents, especially since their goals were vague. Tammy, who had been dancing and singing since she was a little girl, dreamed of Broadway; Jesse, a musician since the age of six, had his sights set on forming a band.

Their parents had been right. Making it big wasn't nearly as easy as they had hoped it would be. Sure, Jesse's band had formed and played at small clubs, and yeah, Tammy was constantly auditioning and had made it into a couple of chorus lines. But to make ends meet, Jesse had taken another job, working as a waiter during the day in order to help pay bills. Tammy, who could sew much more than just buttons, also took in work as a seamstress.

So they weren't living the dream. But life was really all about how you handled Plan B anyway. They still hadn't given up on the dream, but for now they did well enough to survive on Plan B.

Jesse locked the door of the pickup and headed back upstairs for Tammy. She held up the coat when he walked back through the door.

"Finished!" she smiled proudly with bright, pretty eyes, "All old and beat up, just the way you like it. I wish you'd let me make you a new one."

"I'm attached to this one. I had some good times in this jacket," Jesse grinned, taking it from her. "As I recall, I wore this jacket on my first date with you."

"That date was a disaster," Tammy waved her hand dismissively as they started walking down the stairs from their walkup.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," Jesse smiled.

Tammy rolled her eyes. "Allow me to refresh your memory. The traffic was so bad that you were two hours late picking me up, which was just driving two miles across Minneapolis. I thought you'd stood me up, so I changed out of my dress and tore it trying to get it back on when you finally arrived! So then I had to pick a different dress. It took us another hour to get to the restaurant through traffic, and the restaurant gave away our reservation since neither of us had a cell phone to call them with from the car. And to top it all off, when we finally did get in to eat, the waiter dropped fetuccinni alfredo all over us."

Jesse chuckled. "Good times were had by all. Even you laughed when they told us they were out of eclairs. And you went out with me a second time."

"One of the best mistakes I ever made," Tammy smiled, after Jesse opened her door and climbed into the passenger side of the truck. "The second date was almost as big a disaster as the first."

"It was that stupid party Charlie threw when his mom and Bombay went away for the weekend. Goldberg and Karp got too drunk and threw up their hostess cupcakes all over all us," Jesse sighed, starting the car and checking to make sure he wasn't going to smash into anyone pulling out.

"Yeah that was gross. But the situation was funny because Charlie threw it at Banksie's house," Tammy giggled, "Banks was so afraid his parents would come home early or that we'd destroy the house."

"Portman did destroy the stereo," Jesse pointed out, heading for the Holland Tunnel.

"He only blew out the bass," Tammy smiled, "We managed to pool our money and replace the parts before the Adam's parents got home."

"Peter killed that plant," Jesse snorted, "Remember he stumbled over Fulton's shoes, which were off because in his haze Fulton thought they were filled with snakes, and broke in half that rare Chinese whatever it was plant. It was hanging by that piece of stem."

"Banks explained that away by saying the puppy did it playing, remember? Franetic random activity period or something like that, where the puppy just plays and goes nuts?"

"That was a big puppy," Jesse smiled, "That was going to be one big labrador. I'd believe that lie."

"He was so cute! He is big now though." Tammy stuck her head out the window and craned her neck up. "There's traffic at the tunnel."

"There's always traffic at the tunnel," Jesse half sighed, half groaned. "Hopefully, that'll be our biggest delay."

"It's the biggest travel day of the year," Tammy shook her head. "There's gonna be a lot of traffic. We're going to have to drive through the night, I think."

"Then we'll switch because I'm only driving as far as Chicago without sleep," Jesse smiled, "But it's only 9 AM, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Maybe if we make good time we can stop in a hotel in Chicago?" Tammy asked hopefully. "It'd be nice if we didn't have to drive all night."

"I don't know if we have the money for a hotel," Jesse said. "I checked the savings account. We've got to save a lot of money if we're going to be able to afford gifts for our family and friend this Christmas."

Tammy sighed. "Hopefully I'll get that part in this Guys and Dolls revival. The pay's really good and a lot of revivals do pretty well."

"You've got a good chance, they've called you back for another audition, haven't they?"

"Yeah. This will be the third, I wonder how many there are," Tammy shrugged, "Because I feel like I've sung that Bushel and a Peck song a thousand times and I hate it."

"You know if you get the part you're going to have to sing that song every day," Jesse pointed out. "Maybe twice a day if there's matinees."

"It'll be different once I get paid for it," Tammy smiled. "Then it won't be so bad."

Jesse laughed and wrapped his arm around her, using the standstill traffic as an advantage to look away from the road and kiss her cheek. "Paychecks change everything," he agreed.

"What about that gig? Doesn't that bar want you guys every night for three months or something?" Tammy kissed his cheek too, "That should bring in some nice pay."

"They only want us Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and maybe Sundays," Jesse explained, "I don't know exactly how it's going to work. The guy, Pete, has to get back to us. He said after Thanksgiving."

"Still, that'd be a pretty nice paycheck. It'd make rent easier. That reminds me, actually," Tammy said, "There was a charge on the credit card at some jewelry place in the diamond district. I can't figure out where it came from. I was at an audition and that was the day you were playing at that party, so I don't know what it is."

"I'll call and check it out and straighten it out," Jesse said, though he had no intention of fixing the situation. He'd made that charge in that store and fibbed about his whereabouts. He automatically ran his hand over the small box in his jeans' pocket

"I just don't want somebody to have gotten our credit card number, or have stolen our identity or something. It'd be such a pain in the ass. But it was the only weird charge on the card."

"I'll call on Monday when the holiday is over, I promise. But we have to cut back on food," he smiled to change the subject and knowing they really couldn't afford much food anyway, "That's where the money is going. Too much food."

"Ugh, that'd be fine, I really do need to lose ten pounds," Tammy sighed, "And the holidays are coming. I love all that damn food."

"You're thin enough already," Jesse said conclusively before honking his horn at a Toyota that cut them off, "I don't understand why you need to lose more weight. I don't want to have sex with a guy, you know. You're supposed to have a shape."

"I know, but being thinner makes me more limber when I dance," Tammy explained. "The better I dance, the better my chances of getting more parts."

"I think you're limber enough already," he grinned.

She smacked his arm. "Don't be fresh, you dirty little bastard."

"I'm merely saying I enjoy the dancing of my girlfriend," he nodded innocently. "It's your dirty mind that heads straight for the gutter."

"You mean horizontal dancing, you perv, shut up," she said sternly. Jesse glanced sideways. Tammy was looking out the window but he could see her reflection. Her grin gave her away.

"It'll be nice to see everyone again," he commented. "It's been a while."

"Fourth of July," Tammy giggled, "Tommy misses me."

"Yeah, I'm sure he misses you teasing him constantly," Jesse nodded, "God, you still own his ass."

"It's part of the benefit of being a big sister. He may be bigger, and stronger, and smarter," she nodded, referring to her brother being a freshman at Minnesota, "But I'm still his big sister and I will always be able to kick his ass," she grinned.

"Nice."

"I told him that when he was six. Psychological warfare."

Jesse laughed. "Terry's still afraid of me too sometimes. I can still kick his ass, but we're pretty good friends now. We don't fight like we used to."

"That's because Terry doesn't drive you crazy and tell you that you have chicken legs," Tammy smiled.

"You have nice legs," Jesse nodded, "I don't know why you listen to him."

Tammy laughed. "I don't know, he's my brother. I don't know how to explain it."

"Yeah, sibling relationships are weird."

"How's your sister? How's married life to Connie's brother?"

"I spoke to her two weeks ago, they seem to be doing pretty well. She was talking about them wanting a baby or something."

"Really? That'd be exciting."

"I don't know. I can't picture Jackie and Taylor as good parents," Jesse laughed, "Not after the Independence Day barbeque."

Tammy laughed too; the laugh and smile that had first caught Jesse's attention as a kid. "They were so drunk."

"They tend to have public displays of affection when they're drunk too."

"It was beyond PDA. It was more like 'Get a room for all our sakes!'"

They talked all day and drove all night, stopping for food, but not bothering to stop to sleep in Chicago since they couldn't really afford it. At 2 AM, Jesse pulled the car over to take a two hour nap before continuing driving. He didn't have the heart to wake Tammy up and make her drive. She looked so peaceful and, somehow, happy.

He ran his hand over the small box in his pocket again, always double checking to make sure it was there even though he knew it was. He wasn't sure when he was asking Tammy to marry him, just that he was sure it was the right thing to do. He was sure she'd say yes, and he knew he'd hear it from their families too, about how young they were. But he didn't really care. She was the one, and even though he hadn't worked up the neve to ask her out until he was sixteen, he'd known it since he was twelve years old.

They drove back towards Minneapolis, their home, their families, their friends, most of their everything. The sun was rising. The light shined through the small back window of the cab. Tammy was stirring, and Jesse intuitively knew that was the moment. Quickly pulling the box out of his pocket and opening it, he placed it on the dashboard in front of Tammy so that the light hit the diamond.

He waited for her to wake up.