If everything went as planned, tonight would be the night. The night that Buck Merril would remember for the rest of his life. The night he asked Evie Sanders to marry him.

He'd bought her the nicest ring he could afford, which wasn't much – but it would have to do. Evie never much cared about having expensive things anyway. That was one of the things Buck liked about her – she was easy to please, and didn't need material things to make her happy. They were planning on going to see the Nightly Double, and hopefully by the time the movie ended and they drove out to the lake, he would have worked up the courage to ask her to be his wife.

He tucked the ring into the front pocket of his worn-out blue jeans and styled his hair in the mirror, hoping he looked good enough to impress Evie. Even though they'd been dating on-and-off (mostly on) for the past three years, he always felt the need to make sure he looked his best before he left to go pick her up.

He slowly exited from the top floor of his bar, spending a couple minutes making sure everything looked right before he left. On his very first date with Evie, he'd neglected to lock the back door, and a drunken Curly Shepard had broken in and stolen a bunch of beer. Even though he'd definitely gotten Curly back for that one, he didn't want to chance anything happening again.

He left the front door and got into the car, ten minutes earlier than planned. Evie usually was running late, but that was fine – he could just drive around until 6:30 came. As he circled the block where Sylvia Kane (his best friend Dallas Winston's girlfriend) lived, he noticed Steve Randle, Sylvia's next door neighbor, making out with a curly-headed brunette on his front porch. As he craned his neck to see who it was, his heart sunk – it was Evie.

He slammed on the horn as hard as he could, his blood boiling. This was the girl he was going to ask to marry him! He was in love with her! And here she was, making out with Steve Randle of all people. That kid was due for a good beating. Buck pulled the car to a stop along the street and stepped out. Evie and Steve were frozen in place, and a scared expression had settled on both of their faces. Buck and Steve had previously been friends, but that was all gone now. Buck advanced toward them with a menacing look on his face and his blade out.

"Buck, please! It's not what it looks like!" Evie whined, tears running down her face. "Please, baby, don't hurt Steve! Nothing happened!"

Buck ignored her desperate pleas and continued walking toward Steve. Steve stumbled backward in terror and tripped over a rock, falling flat onto the porch. Buck climbed on top of him without hesitation and was poised to slice his head clean off when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as Evie belted him with a flowerpot. As he lost consciousness, the thought swirled through his head that all hopes of getting Evie back were gone now…

Buck came to in the vacant lot, his head throbbing like it had never throbbed before. It took him a moment to recall what had happened, but as soon as it all came rushing back, he wished he hadn't remembered. Feelings of anger and sadness flooded through him as he slowly and painfully dragged himself up off the ground. He reached into his pocket, hoping desperately that Evie and Steve hadn't found the ring. If they had, he would never live it down. Relief flooded through him when he felt the outline of the ring, still there and undisturbed. Finally, something had gone right. He aimlessly got up and wandered in the direction of the Nightly Double, hoping that Dally would be there and that he could give him a ride back to his bar. He just wanted to go to bed and forget about the events of the day.

He stepped up to the fence and surveyed the place, hoping that ANYONE he knew would be there. Dally wasn't around, but he spotted Tim Shepard sitting in the back row cramming popcorn into his mouth. He crawled through the hole under the fence – all he had on him was the ring, after all – and made his way back to where Tim was sitting. "Hey, Shepard, could you give me a ride back to my place? I'll give ya some free beer," Buck whispered loudly, disturbing Kathy and Two-Bit's make out session in front of them. Taking in Buck's distraught appearance (it took a lot to make Buck distraught), Tim quickly agreed and the two walked out to the parking lot, climbing into Tim's nice new Chevy.

Buck handed Tim the promised beers and shooed him out of the bar, just wanting some time to himself. He knew that Dallas was likely here with Sylvia in one of the bedrooms since he wasn't at the movies, and he crept down the hall as quietly as a mouse to avoid running into him.

As soon as he flopped down on his sad excuse for a bed, Buck felt tears running down his cheeks. It'd been years since he cried – probably since he was just a baby! "This is a stupid thing to cry over, Buck. Come on! You're being a baby!" he pleaded with himself, but the tears didn't stop falling. He figured he might as well just give in to the urge to cry, and let the tears fall. Hiccupping sobs racked his body, and he cried himself into a disturbed sleep.

Thanks for reading :]

-paradisecitygirl