Madeline's eyes widened a bit at what Dallas had said. "W-what?" she asked, sounding confused.

"I want you to marry me," Dallas repeated, his face full of seriousness.

"Dallas… I want to say yes-"

"Then say yes."

"But we're only nineteen years old! I'm just starting my second year of college, I don't even really live in Tulsa anymore-"

"Then I'll go with you."

Madeline looked up at him then back down. "Dallas, we can't yet…"

"So what're you saying?"

She let out another sigh. "What I'm saying is… yes. I'll marry you. But not just yet. Not until we can both afford our own place somewhere and both have stable jobs. But yes, I'll marry you."

For the second time in her life, Madeline saw Dallas smile. "You promise?" he asked, or even pleaded a bit.

She chuckled. "Yes, I promise that soon enough, I will marry you."

Dallas' smile stayed in place as he cupped her chin and pressed his lips against hers. When Madeline kissed him back, he could feel her smile in the kiss.

-/-/-

Two-Bit, Kathy, Sodapop and Cherry had stopped by the Dingo for something to eat before going to the rodeo. After they finished eating, they all got back into their friends car and drove over to where the rodeo was being held that year.

Two-Bit parked his car out where the lot was and the four got out of the car, first Two-Bit and Kathy, then Soda and Cherry. When Soda and Cherry got out of the car, they got a few weird looks, nothing they weren't used to from when they first started going out. They had gotten used to it at this point. When Two-Bit and Kathy had told them people were looking at them weird, they weren't phased a bit.

"So what kind of events are there?" Cherry asked as they all walked through the entrance.

"Calf roping…"

"Barrel racing…"

"Bull riding…"

"Pole bending…"

"Bareback and saddle bronc riding…"

Cherry nodded, "Uh huh… just to be sure, none of you guys compete, right?"

"Dal does," Two-Bit answered.

"Dallas? You mean Dallas Winston? What's he do?"

"Bareback bronc riding," Soda answered.

Cherry's eyes widened for a moment. Even though she had never been to a rodeo, she knew exactly what they did for each event. A few of her friends had gone a few times and she'd always ask about everything that had happened. And in the summer, every Sunday, her father would get the town newspaper just like every other day of the week. It was how he got his local news. On Sunday's, the town paper had a whole section that was dedicated to everything that had happened at the rodeo the night before. When Cherry was a little girl, she had adored horses and anything about them, so her father would give her the section about what had happened at the rodeo to read. As she got older, her adoration for horses had diminished slightly, but her interest in the events had grown. She would ask her parents to take her but they never did. She would still read the section, so even though she had never been to the rodeo, she knew who all the past and present winners and events were.

"He competes at that? Isn't that dangerous?" she asked, then immediately felt stupid for asking.

"He's Dallas Winston," Kathy shrugged, "If people think something is dangerous, he'll be the first to do it."

"You're worried 'bout your sister, aren't you?" Soda asked his girlfriend in a quiet voice.

Cherry nodded. "Yeah, kinda."

"Look, Cherry," Two-Bit started, "I don't say this too much but Dallas is a good competitor or whatever the hell you wanna call it. He'll be alright. You don't gotta worry about your sister."

Soda took the redhead's hand gently in his. "Red, nothin's gonna happen, alright?"

She smiled a bit. "It's been a while since you called me Red." Her voice was quiet so that only Soda could hear her. His only reaction was a laugh as the four walked to find good seats.

-/-/-

"So Steve's taking you to the rodeo?" Marcia sked Becca.

The two girls were at Becca's house in her bedroom. Becca had only been to the rodeo one time before and she had dressed completely wrong for it. Since Steve was taking her, she really wanted to dress right this time. Marcia had gone before, so she was helping her friend choose the proper clothing to go, while at the same time, still look good for her boyfriend.

Becca had on shorts that were made of denim that were a lighter shade of blue than most things that were made out of denim. Her shirt was a button up shirt that was a shade of white that looked more like cream than white. The sleeves were originally the length of her arm but she had them rolled up to just above her elbow. She wore a pair of white Ked sneakers. Her long blonde hair was tied back into a high ponytail that would slightly bob up and down when she would walk.

Becca nodded, "Yeah… ok, you've been there before, is this ok to wear?"

Marcia inspected the outfit. "It looks good… either way, as long as you don't wear what you wore last time, I think you're fine," she chuckled.

Becca gave a weak smile at her friend. "Can I ask you something?"

"Or course."

"Do you think it's weird that sometimes when I'm out with Steve that I get nervous?"

"Not embarrassed right?"

"No, of course not."

"Then how do you mean nervous?"

"When the two of us are out walkin' around or something, I get scared that someone's gonna try to hurt him and I won't be able to do a thing about it cause I won't know what to do or something. That's someone's gonna try to hurt one of us."

"First question: why do you think someone would try to hurt either you or him?"

"Cause we're going out and I'm from the West Side and he's from the East Side."

"That was all taken care of already, remember?"

Becca nodded a bit, "Yeah, I know, but you don't know. There could still be some bums out there that don't like it or something."

Marcia nodded in understanding. "That's true, I guess. Second question: do you really think that Steve wouldn't be able to handle someone if someone tried to rough him up? Or you?"

The blonde chuckled, "Good point."

The two girls sat there talking in Becca's room until they head a car horn honk a few times from outside. Marcia and Becca ran to the window, Becca smiling when she saw Steve with a smile on his face and waving up at her as he got out from his car. "Good thing your parents aren't home," Marcia said as they ran down the stairs.

"You have no idea," Becca said as she ran out the door.

-/-/-

Sandy picked her daughter up off the changing table in her bedroom and brought her back to the living room and placed her down on the blanket on the floor. The baby girl giggled as her mother did so, causing her to smile at her daughter. She sat down on the floor in front of the blanket that was on the floor.

"Ok," her grandmother started as she walked into the room, "I figured we can go to Tulsa next week or a week and a half. If we leave in a week and a half that gives us more time to book a place to stay and get some plane tickets, so we won't be in as much of a rush. It'd probably be better to go in a week though so then if anything happens that kinda ruins the trip, we can get it done and over with."

"Where would we stay?" Sandy asked her grandmother.

"I know I said a hotel, but I was thinking of calling your father."

"You know that he won't let me-"

"He may not have to let you, but I'm his mother and he has to let me. If I'm there, you and little Sara are gonna be there too, no argument from either you or him." Her grandmother chuckled.

The girl chuckled as well. "By the way, I called a friend I have back in Tulsa and asked about Sara's father. When I asked about him, she told me that he's uh… he was in a car accident. He didn't make it."

The older woman was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry. Did you care about him at all?"

"Only cause he's her father. Other than that, not really. I just feel bad for her cause now she'll never know her real father."

"Not to sound rude or anything, dear, but he didn't sound like such a peach. Not like your ex-boyfriend."

"I know what you're talking about and I'm sorry, Nana, but it takes two to make a baby… and no one was like Soda."

"Are you gonna see him when we get to Tulsa?"

Sandy shrugged, "I don't know. He probably won't talk to me, but I would like to at least try to apologize to him, face to face, instead of writing him that stupid letter."

-/-/-

Dallas' metal band ring now was wrapped around Madeline' left ringer. It wasn't too obvious to those around them that they were actually engaged, a lot of girls wore promise rings on their left hands. Even if people thought it was weird, they wouldn't have the guts to ask.

Dallas had only flaunted one girl that he was ever with, and that was Madeline. When they got back together, word got around quickly. The first time they went out before they broke up, people were afraid to make Madeline unhappy. She knew about Dallas' record and reputation and that it scared most people, but she didn't know why people were now afraid of her too. She had eventually found out that Dallas never really cared about any girl he went out with until they started to go out, so if someone upset her and he found out about it, he'd make sure it never happened again. At first it was weird, but after a while she had grown to get used to it.

Either way, if anyone did ask Madeline about it, her answer would be: "I'm right handed and the sound of the ring on a pen or a pencil annoys me." She had used little excuses like that before and it had always worked. And if anyone in town didn't believe her, they could just talk to Dallas.

The two got to the rodeo lot and went toward the back entrance for those who were competing. Madeline clung to his arm and his hand was wrapped around his tightly. "You know, I really hate how you compete in the bareback bronc riding competition," she said unsurely.

Dallas chuckled, "You've hated everything I've ever competed in since we first met."

"Can you blame me?"

Dallas shrugged. "Guess not. But for some odd reason, you've always worried."

She looked around and held up her left hand. "Yeah, well this gives me a good reason to," she teased.

He rolled his eyes and smirked a bit. "Don't tell me you're gonna be one of those girls?" he teased.

A smirk formed on her face now. "We'll see."

Alright, I really should get to working on my essay so if you wanna see some sort of author's note, go to my story "The Power of Love", go to chapter 16: "September 1, 1973" and look to that author's note. Sorry, but I really got to work on my essay for my college course.

Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=